The Gosh! Authority 23.08.20

Hello!

All lights are green this week, with delivery arriving on time and all publishers present and correct, including last week's Marvel. So this week is an absolute monster! 

Shall we begin?

HIGHLIGHTS THIS WEEK

• X OF SWORDS CREATION #1 - The big X-crossover that spans all the titles for the next two months starts here! It's the next big chapter in Jonathan Hickman's X-Men masterplan, and runs as a coherent story throughout the X-books. Just so we're all on the same page, I'll explain what I'm doing with these. I have created an order title called X of Swords and copied all orders for X-Men onto it. Each week I'll copy that X of Swords title onto any actual chapter of the main story starting with Creation (so no spin-offs or incidental titles). If you get X-Men but don't want to get all the chapters, or want to stop getting them at any point, just let me know and I'll cancel X of Swords from your order. If you don't get X-Men but do want to get all the chapters, let me know and I'll add you. Hope that's all clear! 

• GIANT SIZE X-MEN STORM #1 - The much-delayed Ororo-focused special by Hickman and Russell Dauterman, picking up on the events of previous Giant Size issues. Storm journey's into The World to try and find a means of saving herself from the techno-organic virus she contracted while in the Vault (back in X-Men #5). If there's one thing we love about Hickman it's his juggling of plot threads. Reminds us of the old Claremont days where you'd get a one-page interlude that would pay off a year down the track.

• IRON MAN #1 - It's a back-to-basics approach for Tony Stark as Christopher Cantwell & CAFU take the reins for this new relaunch. Eschewing a lot of the high-tech AI trickery of his recent adventures, Stark gets the armour back on to get his hands dirty with some good old fashioned superhero-ing.

• IMMORTAL SHE-HULK #1 - Spinning out of the events of Empyre, Al Ewing and Jon Davis-Hunt give Jen Walters the Immortal treatment with a horror-tinged one-shot! We'll be copying this over for Immortal Hulk standing orders, but also coming this week which we won't be copying is...

• IMMORTAL HULK #0 - Largely reprints with a short new story by Al Ewing and Mattia De Lulis, this bumper issue highlights two of the most important stories that inspired the Immortal take on Bruce Banner. Let me know if you'd like this one!

• JUGGERNAUT #1 (OF 5) DX - Another long-delayed book, with classic X-scribe Fabian Nicieza at the helm along with artist Ron Garney (who definitely makes this worth the price of entry). Cain Marko tries to pick up the pieces of everything he's managed to destroy in this redemption tale.

• UNKINDNESS OF RAVENS #1 - A new teen-witch book that's equal parts Buffy and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. The Ravens are the descendents of Salem witches who now protect the ancient secrets of witchcraft. When one of them disappears, the whole coven may be at risk, and their only hope might be a new girl at school who bears a strong resemblance to the girl who's gone missing.

• MILES TO GO #1 - Been a while since we've seen B Clay Moore in the comics world! He teams up with artist Stephen Molnar for a story of a former child-assassin who comes out of retirement when her mentor is killed and her daughter's safety is threatened.

• X-MEN MARVELS SNAPSHOT #1 - Another one-shot flashback through the eyes of bystanders to the birth of the Marvel Age, this time joining a young Scott Summers. From his viewpoint of an orphange in Nebraska, the birth of the age of heroes gives this young man a purpose and direction that will shape the rest of his life. (Spoilers: he'll become Cyclops.)

• BROOKLYN GLADIATOR #1 (OF 6) & FISHKILL #1 (OF 4) - Two new books written by Walking Dead and Fantastic Beasts actor Dan Fogler that are mainly notable for the artists he's managed to get on board. Brooklyn Gladiator brings The Biz himself, Simon Bisley, in story of a grim near-future America that doesn't look to be straying too far from his artistic playgrounds. Meanwhile Ben Templesmith is on board for Fishkill, a conspiracy-drenched noir thriller.

• AUTUMNAL #1 - A new small-town horror tale by Daniel Kraus & Chris Shehan that tackles themes of loss and family secrets. Fans of The Plot or Hereditary should check this out.

And that's all the news that's fit to print! See you next week, when I'm sure everything will be fine...

Andrew.