The Gosh! Authority 23.06.21

Hello!

In case you missed it, this week we announced a signing with Sean Azzopardi to celebrate the release of his new book The Sea Shepherd, a history of that marine conservation organisation and its founder Paul Watson. We'll of course be observing covid-safety rules during the signing. We're really happy to be able to host this: Sean is an old friend of the shop and an elder statesman of the UK self-publishing scene. He's be here on Saturday 26th June, 1-2pm. Full details here.

We also announced a couple of new bookplate editions: Grandville L'Integrale by Bryan Talbot and It's Not What You Thought It Would Be by Lizzy Stewart. 

Both excellent books by excellent creators that we are very happy to support.

And lastly, some not so good news for those who have ordered the much-delayed Black Mask title White from us. I haven't seen our invoice yet for this week, but I know from the experience of US stores that heavy allocations are taking place, with many stores only receiving 1-2 copies, and many others receiving none at all. The book had a print run of 2,500 and orders of 40,000, so our chances of filling orders on it with the first printing are slim. The good news is that Black Mask have announced a second printing which we will be ordering and using to fulfill your orders. If you are happy to accept a second printing than hopefully it should be in early July. If you ordered the book but don't want the second printing then do please let me know.

HIGHLIGHTS THIS WEEK

• BATMAN REPTILIAN #1 - Garth Ennis and Liam Sharp team up for a horror-tinged Black Label Batman mini-series.  Gotham's villains are hunted by an even more fearsome opponent than old Bats, one whose methods are considerably more lethal. Batman is put into the unusual position of having to defend his worst enemies against this new menace. Previews look fun, in a gruesome kind of way!

• INFINITE FRONTIER #1 - Multiverse-lovers, this is your lucky day! Alan Scott and a group of other heroes restored in the wake of Death Metal search the universes for other heroes who should have come back, but haven't. Plus President Superman! Darkseid! Barry Allen! And some new outfit called Justice Incarnate! All brought to you by the creative team of Joshua Williamson and Xermanico.

• CHECKMATE #1 (OF 6) - The long-promised Event Leviathan follow-up by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev. DC's super-spies, now lead by a myserious figure known as Mr King, are on the trail of Leviathan. Expect plenty of guest stars and new faces in the six-issue mini.

• SPAWN UNIVERSE #1 - Todd McFarlane (along with Stephen Segovia, Marcio Takara & Jim Cheung) busts out his new Spawn-related superhero universe with his bumper-sized one-shot. Three new series will be spinning out of this, and McFarlane seems committed to trying to build some of that old Image excitement around them. Will he suceed? Your guess is as good as mine, but it'll be an exciting time for all you Spawn fans.

• MARVELS VOICES PRIDE #1 - Hot on the heels of DC's Pride one-shot, Marvel have their 84-page one-shot dedicated to its LGBTQ+ characters. A huge roster of creators bring you shorts featuring characters such as Hulkling, Wiccan, Daken, Northstar, Iceman and many more, including reprints of some of the Marvel universe's key LGBTQ+ moments. 

• BLACK HAMMER REBORN #1 - A new sequel series to Jeff Lemire's much-loved superhero saga, with all-new artist Caitlin Yarksy. Set 20 years after the original series, we rejoin Lucy who has retired her hammer and settled into an ordinary, domestic life. But as her marriage begins to fall apart, the secrets behind why she set down her hammer begin to reveal themselves.

• GOOD LUCK #1 (OF 5) - Fun-looking new series from creators Matthew Erman & Stefano Simeone. In a world where everyone has a quantifiable luck level, some poor souls are born without any. These luckless Unfortunates, as they're called, become the earth's only hope when everything is plunged into apocalyptic, reality-warping chaos.

• WONDER WOMAN BLACK & GOLD #1 #1 - You know the drill: short stories by an impressive bunch of creators in black and white and (if you're lucky) a spot colour. It's Wonder Woman's turn, with this issue featuring John Arcudi, Nadia Shammas, AJ Mendez, Becky Cloonan, Amy Reeder, Ryan Sook, Ming Doyle & Morgan Beem.

• GAMMA FLIGHT #1 (OF 5) - They helped the Immortal Hulk and now they're paying the price. Gamma Flight - Puck, Absorbing Man, Titania, Doc Sasquatch, Dr. Charlene McGowan and - Rick Jones are on the run courtesy of Al Ewing, Crystal Frasier and Lan Medina in this 5 issue mini.

And that's it! See you next time folks!

Andrew.