The Gosh! Authority 18.09.24

Hello!

Hold on to your hats, folks, because we've got one hell of a day of signings lined up for you this Saturday the 22nd in celebration of Batman Day! By happy accident it also acts as a great day out for DSTLRY fans as well, with some of their biggest names in attendance.

First up, from 1-2pm, we have our old friend and ever-rising star Christian Ward here to sign copies of Batman City of Madness, his Lovecraftian tale of the tentacle-mawed Batman of a nightmarish Gotham underworld breaking free to the surface. We've also got a wicked mini-print to go with this which you can get signed on the day. And of course you're very welcome to bring along your copies of Christian's DSTLRY horror Spectregraph while you're at it. Get your details here.

Then from 2-3pm we'll have Becky Cloonan and Tula Lotay here to sign DSTLRY book Somna, their folk horror tale of witchcraft, psychosexual satanic manipulation and female empowerment. Plus of course Becky and Tula are no strangers to the denizens of Gotham, with covers and stories for you to bring along and get signed. Details here.

And finally from 3-4pm we'll have Andy Diggle and Jock along to sign all of their Bat-books, including Andy's current Gotham by Gaslight Kryptonian Age mini, and Jock's One Dark Knight. Plus we'll have a stack of Jock's DSTLRY book Gone as well! Details here.

We'll also be giving away the free Batman Day comics for anyone buying Batman comics while stocks last. Not to mention we'll be stocking the new Batman Day editions of comics like Batman Elmer Fudd (including a black & white Noir version) and a Detective Comics #27 Facsimile Edition printed at Golden Age size!

In other exciting news (for those who were waiting), the corrected printing of Helen of Wyndhorn #4 is showing up this week.

HIGHLIGHTS THIS WEEK

• JOKER THE WORLD HC - Remember Batman The World? A hardcover collection of short stories by talents from around the world telling localized Batman tales. Well, now it's the Joker's turn, tripping around the world causing havoc courtesy of talent ranging from Spain to Japan, and many more places between.

• DAZZLER #1 - The Taylor Swift / insert-current-top-popstar-here of the X-Universe is back in a solo book thanks to Jason Loo and Rafael Loureiro. She's literally doing her version of the Eras Tour, with an entourage including Domino, Strong Guy and Jamie Madrox. What could possibly go wrong?

• ABSOLUTE POWER SUPER SON #1 - Jonathan Kent isn't doing too well in this whole Absolute Power situation. But the fightback starts in this one-shot by Sina Grace, Nicole Maines, John Timms and Travis Mercer. Time for a bit of soul-searching and coming to terms with his past, as he fights to define what exactly his future role will be.

• DEATHLOK 50TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL #1 - Justina Ireland, Christopher Priest, Dale Eaglesham, Carlo Pagulayan, Denys Cowan, Luke Ross, and Matthew Waite take on everyone's favourite killer cyborg. And it's Deathlok as you knew him, a warrior in a devastated future America, a reluctant hero fighting to find out the truth in the way only a hero created in the wake of Watergate can.

• TIN CAN SOCIETY #1 - This looks really interesting, a kind of superhero/mystery hybrid of a book that follows the old friends of a murdered billionaire that investigate his death. The catch is that on top of being a tech-genius who improved the lives of those with disabilities (including himself), he was also a tech-suited hero, and said suit has now been stolen. The race is on to find the answers, and Peter Warren and Francesco Mobili will bring you along if you like.

• SPIRITS OF VENGEANCE #1 - It's all your favourite flame-headed heroes in one book! Sabir Pirzada and Sean Damien Hill bring 'em all together, with Johnny Blaze being front and centre in the action. As well he should be! #johnnyblaze4eva 

• MULTIVERSUS COLLISION DETECTED #1 - The videogame where Batman gets to kick the hell out of Bugs Bunny while Steven Universe and Finn from Adventure Time give each other dead arms gets its own comic. Bryan Q. Miller and Jon Sommariva bring us this tie-in that my daughter will dig and my son will secretly enjoy too, even though he'll claim it's too kiddie-ish for him.

• LILITH #1 - Corin Howell, artist on the overlooked Shadow Service from a few years back, writes and draws this supernatural romance. Outcast from Hell, Lilith disguises herself as a model, finding prey among her unsuspecting fans. But she's desprate to get back home, and a girl she had her sights on might have the answer. But their relationship might also be developing into more than just predator and prey. 

• BODY TRADE #1 - A pretty grim-sounding tale of revenge and its consequences from Zac Thompson and Jok. A man recently released from prison discovers that his estranged son has died. But when the body is stolen, sold into America's black market for cadavers, the man heads onto a path of violent retribution as he tries to find his lost son.

• GRAVEYARD CLUB #1 - A new YA horror series from the one and only R.L. Stine and artist Carola Borelli. A group of kids live in a small town in middle America, unremarkable but for the fact that it is surrounded by graveyards. And of course, where graveyards go, eerieness follows!

• BATMAN LONG HALLOWEEN THE LAST HALLOWEEN #0 - This is a reprint of the final book that Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale did together, 2021's Long Halloween Special. Now repurposed as a prequel to the upcoming Last Halloween storyline that Loeb and Sale had planned before Sale's untimely death, it's a chance to grab a copy if you missed it first time around!

• BENEATH THE TREES WHERE NOBODY SEES TP - And finally this week, the collection of Patrick Horvath's anthropomorphic thriller hits shelves at last! Samantha Strong is a pillar of the community in idyllic Woodbrook. She's also a serial killer who has the good sense not to take any victims in her backyard. So when some other killer begins to operate in the town, she'd better take things into her own hands and fast, before anyone starts looking her way. We love this book, love it so much we have a bookplate edition of it! Get yours here.

Until next time, I remain your faithful servant,

Andrew.