Posted by Andrew on 30th May 2023

The Gosh! Authority 31.05.23

Hello!

Bit of déjà vu as I once again plug our Gilbert Hernandez signing happening this Thursday, 6-7pm. It's a rare opportunity to meet one of the architects of Love & Rockets, one of the most influential comics of the late-20th Century. Gilbert hasn't been in the UK since 1989, and who knows when we'll see him again, so don't snooze on it! Details here.

The usual post-bank holiday reminder that this week's books will be arriving to go out on Wednesday, so give it a few hours before heading in this week, especially as we're quite lightly staffed (I'm off looking after the kids, for one) and it's half term (and therefore pretty busy). Best to give us a shout in advance if you're making a special trip for them. At least we've got good weather for the holiday, right?

Quick update on the missing Marvel and IDW titles from last week that were lost in the truck crash. The good news is that we should be seeing everything replaced, the slightly bad is that the majority of them will be released on the 14th June. Better late than never! There's also a question mark over the availability of incentive variants, but I won't know the details on that until things ship.

HIGHLIGHTS THIS WEEK

  • ROCKETEER ONE SHOT - A proper treat for Rocketeer fans, this one-shot contains three stories, headlined by a story from Rocketeer movie writers Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo, and artist Adam Hughes. Then Seven Sons creators Robert Windom and Jae Lee contribute a story before rounding the issue off with a tale from Dave Stevens documentarian Kelvin Mao and artist Craig Cermak. It's packed with the usual pulp thrills one would expect from the Rocketeer, and is an absolute stunner to boot.

  • DC PRIDE 2023 #1 - DC's annual celebration of the LGBTQ+ community comes around again for Pride month. This year we have stories by (deep breath) Grant Morrison, Rex Ogle, Josh Trujillo, Leah Williams, Christopher Cantwell, Nadia Shammas, Nicole Maines, Mildred Louis, A.L. Kaplan, Stephen Sadowski, Paulina Ganucheau, Babs Tarr, Ted Brandt, Claire Roe, Hayden Sherman, Maria Llovet, Skylar Patridge, Don Aguillo, Bruka Jones & Noah Dao! 

  • POWER GIRL SPECIAL #1 - In advance of her upcoming series, Kara Zor-L / Karen Starr / Power Girl gets a one-shot that sees her dealing with the new powers she has acquired in the wake of Lazarus Planet, all while taking on the sinister psychological shenanigans of Johnny Sorrow. That lead is by Leah Williams and Marguerite Sauvage, and the backup story starring Fire and Ice (also teasing their upcoming mini-series) is by Joanne Starer and Natacha Bustos.

  • CAT FIGHT #1 - Old pal of Gosh Andrew Wheeler debuts his new series with artist Ilias Kyriazis, which gets the high-concept pitch of "John Wick meets Kill Bill meets Cats." Though to be honest that might just be an over-enthusiatic ad copy writer, because what it looks like to me is a slick, witty look into a dynasty of cat burglars and the deadly politics therein.

  • SAVAGE STRENGTH OF STARSTORM #1 - Did you know that Wes Craig had a comics-making brother? Nor did I, but Drew Craig, writer and artist on SSOS is indeed that brother, and he's made a book that will feel very familiar to those who came of comics reading age in the 90s. Watchmen it's not, but there's an earnest energy to it that's quite appealing if I'm being honest. Broad strokes stuff.

And that's it for this week! See you next time!

Andrew.