The Gosh! Authority 29.10.25

Hello!

Happy Halloween!

Two events this week. First up, this Thursday, we're launching Bone Broth, the debut graphic novel of Alex Taylor, winner of the 2023 First Graphic Novel Award! Get the details here.

Then on Friday night, meet here at 6.30pm before heading to pub at 7pm for our monthly Drink & Draw! This month's Halloween-y special guests are Shane Melisse and Zen K, as well as our ever-terrifying resident cartoonist, Mark Stafford! Details here.

HIGHLIGHTS THIS WEEK

• ABSOLUTE BATMAN 2025 ANNUAL #1 - I mean, if you're going to do an annual for the most popular book on the market, why not enlist Daniel Warren Johnson to do the lead story for it? Not enough? Why not rope in James Harren and Meredith McLaren as well? Looks to be an absolute corker of a book, don't miss out!

• SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN REFORGED #1 - A mini-series that reprints some of the best stories from the original Savage Sword of Conan, sympathetically coloured (which is to say, nice, flat colours). This first issue alone has Buscema and Smith: that's some good comics bang for your buck! Well...your £9.80, but hey! This is good comics!

• SUPERMAN RED & BLUE 2025 SPECIAL #1 - Michael Walsh, Dan Abnett, Paul Dini, Rainbow Rowell, Caitlin Yarsky, Cian Tormey & Mirka Andolfo all contribute colour-coded tales of the Man of Steel for this one-shot with s pretty stunning Chris Samnee cover (who I wish was in the book, but I'm a bit of a spoilt brat like that.)

• SYNTHETICS VOLUME ONE #1 - J Michael Straczynski returns to creator-owned comics along with artist Tony Parker. We're off to a dystopian future where humankind is slowly self-destructing. Enter the new kind of human, built to save the world from itself (or possibly destroy it).

• CLOAK OR DAGGER #1 - Justina Ireland and Lorenzo Tammetta bring us to the tragic future of Cloak and Dagger, where the now married couple can no longer be on the same plane of existence at the same time. Does anyone actually have a good time in the Age of Revelation?

• EXPATRIATE X-MEN #1 - A group of mutant rebels led by Ms Marvel control the Mississippi River - border between human and mutant in the Age of Revelation - in this mini by Eve L. Ewing and Francesco Mortarino.

• UNDEADPOOL #1 - Wade Wilson has become a kind of mutant vampire, stalking the Revelation Territories sucking the life out of mutants. There's also an old ally waiting in the wings in this mini by Tim Seeley and Carlos Magno.

• X-VENGERS #1 - Jason Loo and Sergio Fernández Dávila take the Avengers into the Age of Revelation. The Avengers are all mutants now, with Dani Moonstar in charge, and they have to balance protecting mutants with protecting the planet. Easy!

• BEAUTY #1 - With a TV adaptation on the horizon, Jeremy Haun returns to the world of The Beauty, a sexually transmitted infection which reshapes them into the most beautiful version of themselves...until their untimely death. This new series with co-writer Jason A. Hurley and artist Emanuela Lupacchino looks at the wider impact of the disease through the eyes of three characters.

• RETURN TO SLEEPY HOLLOW #1 - Oddly specific: a direct sequel to Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow film from 1999. Casey Gilly and Savanna Mayer revisit the haunted town as Ichabod Crane is drawn back for an investigation into the town's origins.

• SUPERNATURAL #1 - Greg Pak and Eder Messias give us Season 1.5 of the popular demon-hunting show as the Winchesters continue their quest for the truth across the US of A.

And that's that! I'm off for a spooky half-term in the Forest of Dean, so see you next week!

Andrew.