The Gosh! Authority 25.08.21

Hello!

It's two weeks late, but Saturday 28th August sees Gosh celebrate FREE COMIC BOOK DAY! While stocks last, we'll be giving comics away from opening at 10.30am on Saturday the 28th August. As has been previously mentioned, we're doing things a little differently this year (for obvious reasons). Rather than our usual free choice, we'll be giving a grab bag of 5 FREE grown-up comics with a purchase, and giving bags of 3 random kids comics to any kids who come in. Sadly we won't be offering any of the usual events that make our FCBD's so special, but fingers crossed we'll be back in full effect next May!

It's a bank holiday on the 30th and you know what that means: our delivery will be arriving late that week, not getting through our door until the Wednesday morning (fingers crossed), and so not out on the shelves until later in the day than usual. Don't come first thing, because you'll be disappointed!

I'm off away camping this week, so I thought I'd better get this out to you as early as possible. Send in your reservations and requests as normal: my fellow Gosh-ers will have you covered. It's another big week, so let's tuck in....

HIGHLIGHTS THIS WEEK

• ECHOLANDS #1 - JH Williams' long-awaited new creator-owned series with frequent co-writer W Haden Blackman debuts from Image at last! It's a colossal mash-up of different genres and our hero Hope Redhood crosses worlds in her battle with a tyrannical wizard. And my lord, you should see the art on this thing. We all know that Williams is no slouch, but this is obviously a passion project that he and Blackman have been developing for a decade, and it shows. Williams' art has never been more lush or detailed, and presents as a series of landscape spreads, broken down into action and story beats as he experiments with storytelling and style. You don't want to miss this one folks!
  

• NIGHT BUS GN - Up and coming Chinese alt cartoonist Zuo Ma makes his English language debut with this surreal graphic novel that takes us on a trip through the increasingly strange, sometimes disturbing landscapes of a deteriorating memory. A young cartoonist who is trying to learn his craft cares for his elderly grandmother, while a young bespectacled girl rides a night bus through ever-more bizarre terrain.
  

• SUPERMAN 78 #1 - Like Batman '69, Wonder Woman '77 and (lightning fast sellout) Batman '89 before it, Superman '78 picks up where a classic filmed rendition of the character leaves off. Robert Venditti and Wilfredo Torres pick up Richard Donner's baton to expand the universe of Christopher Reeve's Superman. Enter: BRAINIAC!
  

• SUPERMAN VS LOBO #1 - Money Shot writers Tim Seeley and Sarah Beattie team up with artist Mirka Andolfo for a Black Label beat-down between the Last Czarnian and the Last Son of Krypton. Expect swears, some OTT violence and some tongues rammed firmly into cheeks.
  

• OLD HEAD TP  - Kyle Starks, currently riding high with 6 Sidekicks of Trigger Keaton, brings us another high-octane solo graphic novel in the tradition of Sexcastle and Kill Them All. A basketball star returns to his hometown to bury his mother, only to find himself embroiled in a family blood feud with Dracula. We do love some Kyle Starks.
  

• MARVELS VOICES IDENTITY #1 - The latest Marvel's Voices special focuses on the Marvel Universe's Asian and Asian-American characters, as depicted by Asian writers and artists.
  

• KING SPAWN #1 - The first new title of the Toddster's intended world-conquering expansion of the Spawn universe. Spinning out of the Spawn's Universe one shot, Spawn is faced with all new enemies from Heaven and Hell as they assert their powers on earth.
  

• GHOUL NEXT DOOR GN - One man horror comic factory Cullen Bunn has decided adult horror fiction isn't enough any more, so makes his first move to conquer the middle-grade GN horror scene. It's kind of (very vaguely) like Romeo and Juliet with Humans and Ghouls instead of Montagues and Capulets. And presumably less mutual suicide. Eleven year old Grey is a bit shocked to discover that his gift-leaving secret admirer is a young subterranean ghoul named Lavinia. But according to ghoul tradition, their relationship cannot be. Truly, Grey, the world is not thy friend, nor the world's law.
  

• CABLE RELOADED #1 ANHL - Old man Cable is back! Al Ewing and Bob Quinn bring Rob Liefeld's bouncing baby boy back to the fore in a new one-shot that ties into The Last Annihilation.

• PUNDERWORLD TP VOL 01 - Linda Sejic takes the myth of Hades and Persephone and turns it into a screwball romantic dramedy in this original graphic novel.
  

• WINTER GUARD #1 (OF 4) - Ryan Cady and Jan Bazaluda bring the Winter Guard (as recently re-envisioned by Jason Aaron) to their own mini-series. White Widow and Red Guardian are being hunted by the Guard for daring to dig into Russian state secrets. Thrills! Spills! Movie-inspired reinterpretations of old characters!
  

• DARKHAWK #1 (OF 5) - He poked his head above the parapet in the recent Heart of the Hawk one-shot, and now new Darkhawk Connor Young is back in an ongoing series. Kyle Higgins and Juanan Ramírez reintroduce us to that most 90's of characters: Darkhawk!
  

And that's it from me! See you next time, when I'll be back from a week of living in a field, enjoying the luxury of a proper roof, beneath which I'll sleep (properly) in a proper bed.

Andrew.