The Gosh Authority 24.02.21

Hello!

Hope you're all doing okay out there. Things progress towards our April 12th reopening and hopefully there won't be cause for that to be delayed. It's hard not to feel optimistic, with improving weather, daylight savings coming on the 28th, increasing numbers of vaccinated folks, and every day more signs of the West End coming back to life.

Meanwhile we continue to trade via mail order and click and collect. We're constantly tweaking and updating the website, recently adding a Small Press category (which will be significantly updated soon). We'll also have a Recycled Books category coming soon for once-they're-gone-they're-gone second-hand and liquidation items, so keep an eye out for announcements about that. And don't forget that we still have an active profile on bookshop.org, the bricks and mortar supporting Amazon alternative that gives a share of revenue to independent bookstores. Buy your graphic novels direct from us if possible, but search for and buy any other books you're looking for from our store page and we'll receive 30% of your purchase price.

Okay, enough plugging, on with the comics!

HIGHLIGHTS THIS WEEK

• TONO MONOGATARI GN - Mizuki stands as one of the great masters of manga. His his history of Showa-era Japan, Showa, is a must-read, as is currently unavailable autobiographical tome A Drifting Life. But he's probably best loved as the creator of Kitaro, a series which repopularized stories of yokai - monsters and spirits of Japanese folklore. I won't lie, I'm a soft touch for Mizuki. His cartoonish figures live in lushly detailed landscapes, giving everything an unreal, fairytale tone. Tono Monogatari is his loving adaptation of a classic of Japanese literature, a collection of short yokai tales from the northern region of Tono as recorded by the scholar Kunio Yanagita in the early 20th Century. Lovely stuff!
  

• ALIEN #1 - Marvel gains the Alien license thanks to the devouring maw of Disney! It's been interesting to see Marvel throw themselves back into the licensed property game, with Star Wars, Conan, the odd Disney theme park property and Warhammer (!) all coming from the House of Ideas in the last 5 years. Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Salvador Larroca are the debut creative team for this series, which we assume will run in story arcs showcasing different characters. To kick us off, we follow an ex-Weyland Yutani employee who just can't seem to escape the menace of those pesky xenomorphs.
  

• TEEN TITANS ACADEMY #1 - Nightwing, Starfire, Raven, Cyborg, and Beast Boy take on the role of teachers to a new generation of teen heroes. This can only end well, right? (Little Future Shock Teen Titans gag there for all you FSTT fans! High five!) Tim Sheridan writes, Rafa Sandoval draws, you read.
  

• LADY BALTIMORE WITCH QUEENS #1 (OF 5) - A decade after the death of Lord Baltimore (spoilers!), evil stalks the land once more at the dawn of World War II. Sofia Valk, once Baltimore's most trusted ally, takes up his cause and title. Baltimore regulars Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden are back, but Bridgit Connell on art.
  

• HARLEY QUINN #1 - In the wake of Joker War (remember Joker War?), Harley does her chaotic best to help Gotham rebuild, taking on new underworld types who are trying to consolidate their power. Stephanie Phillips writes, with the singular Riley Rossmo bringing the anarchic artistic fun.
  

• DETECTIVE COMICS #1034 - Mariko Tamaki and Dan Mora made for a great team on Future State Dark Detective, so it's nice to see them continue that chemistry in the pages of Detective. Bruce Wayne deals with the aftermath of losing his fortune and increasing hostility to vigilantes from Gotham's new mayor, and meanwhile there's even an honest-to-goodness murder mystery to solve!
  

• CARNAGE BLACK WHITE AND BLOOD #1 (OF 4) - You're not going to believe this: short stories of Carnage by an all-star roster of talent, rendered in only black, white and red! What a concept. Where do they even come up with these ideas??? Okay, snark aside, Al Ewing, Benjamin Percy and Tini Howard write, and Ken Lashley, John McCrea and Sara Pichelli are on art. So although I'm being a smart-ass about it, I'll definitely be reading.

And that's me done! See you next week, when I'll be talking about cool stuff like Easter deliveries, an exciting new print we're launching this week, and maybe - if you're very luck - an exhortation for people to collect their standing orders!

Andrew.