The Gosh! Authority 21.04.21

Hello!

Phew! Been quite the hectic week for us, but we're still standing and open for business. We've also been twiddling away with the webstore and have added a couple new categories of note on there.

First up, we now have a Recycled Books section, which is a mix of cheap second-hand items, collectible out of print books and liquidation stock. That'll be getting updated regularly, so do keep an eye on it, as most of the books there are one-and-done inventory. Once they're gone, they are gone for good.

And then we're in the process of adding a much-requested section: our Small Press shelves are slowly being populated onto the webstore, featuring a mix of wonderful (and in many cases UK exclusive) imports and home-grown small press treasures. Want to see the cutting edge of what's happening in comics? This is the place to look.

I'm working from a preliminary list again this week. Should be pretty much correct, but don't throw things at me if there are any inconsistencies with what actually comes through the door. I'll update the In Store post as soon as I get our invoice.

HIGHLIGHTS THIS WEEK

• OLD GUARD TALES THROUGH TIME #1 (OF 6) - A brand new anthology series featuring Greg Rucka and Leandro Fernández's immortal warriors as envisioned by a murderer's row of creative talent. This first issue features stories by Rucka & Fernández and ex-Gosh regular Andrew Wheeler and artist Jacopo Camagni (of Nomen Omen fame). Future issues see the likes of Vita Ayala, Brian Michael Bendis, Kelly Sue Deconnick, Matt Fraction, David F. Walker, Horacio Altuna, Rick Burchett, Valentine De Landro, Justin Greenwood, Kano, Nicola Scott and more! Also, variant watchers, we have favoured the interconnecting covers as our default, so if you have another preference (that we can get) do let us know.

• HAWAY MAN, KLAUS GN - A collection of Gosh fave Richard Short's Klaus cartoons, embracing the short form cartooning of Charles Schulz, Tove Jansson, Ernie Bushmiller and company. But true to form, Short treds his own path of screwball comedy, scathing satire, gentle pathos and reflective poetry. Klaus still feels like an undiscovered gem to many, a real piece of classic British cartooning happening right now, skimming under most people's radars. Consider this your chance to rectify that!

• MANY DEATHS OF LAILA STARR #1 (OF 5) - The ever-industrious Ram V is back with a brand new creator-owned series, this time working with artist Filipe Andrade (who's been doing some great stuff over at Marvel for a while now). As mankind reaches the landmark moment of discovering immortality, Death is dismissed from her position and cast down into the body of Laila Starr, a young woman living in Mumbai. By all accounts this book really hits it out of the park, and is a sell-out at the publisher before it even hits the stands. We've got a lot of faith in Ram's ability to juggle the fantastic with the human to offer us an entertaining, meaningful read. Definitely a book to watch.

• BATMAN FORTNITE ZERO POINT #1 - Yeah, you read that right. DC's most popular hero mixes it up with the iconic characters from one of the world's most popular games, and it actually promises to do more with the concept than simple fan service. Apparently secrets about the game world of Fortnite that have never been revealed in-game will be uncovered in this mini. Sounds like there's also some more crossover madness coming up as well, with a future issue at least featuring GI Joe's Snake Eyes. But most importantly to Fortnite fans, each issue comes with an activation code for DC-themed Fortnite items!

• WAY OF X #1 - The latest book from the X-stable, and a welcome one for many as Nightcrawler gets to take charge of his own team. Their mission? To fight for the soul of Krakoa, ensuring that mutantkind doesn't succumb to the darkness that threatens to consume many of them. Simon Spurrier and Bob Quinn do the honours on this one (and we're always happy to see Spurrier get his hands on Dr Nemesis, the kind of character he was born to write).

• LOVESICKNESS HC - A new collection of ooky, spooky Junji Ito tales! Honestly, we seem to be getting one every other month right now! But we're okay with that, given the years of Ito drought we had to suffer through. This one features the stories "Lovesickness," "The Strange Hikizuri Siblings" and "The Rib Woman," along with seven more!
  

• COJACARU THE SKINNER #1 (OF 2) - The latest from the Mike Mignola & Christopher Golden universe of books that they're now calling Tales from the Outerverse (the world of Baltimore, basically). As World War II kicks off, a small group of resistance fighters and white witches in a French town call across time to the ghost of witch-killer Cojacaru the Skinner for help. Mignola & Golden write, with the always reliable Peter Bergting on art.

• WOMEN OF MARVEL #1 - A celebration of the women of Marvel, characters and creators both! Sophie Campbell, Natasha Alterici, Anne Toole, Nadia Shammas, Elsa Sjunneson, Eleonora Carlini, Joanna Estep, Kei Zama & Skylar Patridge all spin tales of Marvel's most formidable women.

• MIGHTY VALKYRIES #1 (OF 5) - Spinning out of King in Black Return of the Valkyries, Jane Foster and her newly discovered Valkyrie sisters get a five issue Knull-free mini-series thanks to Jason Aaron, Torunn Grønbekk and Mattia de Iulis.

And that's it for this week! Take care all, and we'll see you next week for more comic book fun.

Andrew.