New Year, new great comics! Catch It at the Comic Shop January 4th, 2023

Welcome to Catch it at the Comic Shop, where the Panel Patter team looks at what's coming out at your favorite store or digital device this week. Each one of us that participates picks up to five items due out this week, with a little bit about why we like them. (NOTE: We use solicitation material for this, so if we miss creators, please talk to your publisher!) Sometimes we might only have a few items to share, other weeks, keeping it to five will make for hard choices. Here's what the team wanted to highlight this week...

James' Picks:


Spy Superb #1 by Matt and Sharlene Kindt, published by Dark Horse/Flux House
I am here for any new content from Matt and Sharlene Kindt, particularly if it is drawn by Matt and colored by Sharlene. I love Matt Kindt as a comics writer, but I particularly am a huge fan of when he and Sharlene go full cartoonist. Mind MGMT is an all time favorite of mine, and Dept. H is another beloved series by the same team. One of Kindt's earlier series, Super Spy, is another favorite of mine, as it has many different interconnected spy stories set in the same universe (and was just rereleased by Dark Horse in a beautiful hardcover). Spy Superb is the new series from the Kindts, and is concerns the delightful premise of a spy that does not know he is a spy. Or maybe he thinks he is a spy but doesn't actually know what his real missions are. I'm not sure, but it sounds fun and delightful. I'm not sure if it relates to the world of Super Spy or if it is its own thing, but I'm excited either way.


Gotham City: Year One #4 by Tom King, Phil Hester, Eric Gapstur, and Jordie Bellaire, published by DC Comics
Gotham Ciyt: Year One is a crime series set in the Gotham City of the 1960's, when the city was still full of hope and promise and wasn't the home of all manner of insane costumed villains, and a vigilante that's as scary as the villains. This story is about the Wayne family and a kidnapping that took place two generations prior to Bruce Wayne and Batman being active in the city. It's a terrific crime/detective series, with wonderful art drawn by Phil Hester, inked by Eric Gapstur, and colored by Jordie Bellaire. The art has a terrific angular quality to it, and everone is exaggerated but it suits the story perfectly and is never distracting. King has a great ear for the old-timey dialogue of the story, and it flows very well. This is a highly compelling read. 


Scarlet Witch #1 by Steve Orlando and Sara Pichelli, published by Marvel Comics
Scarlet Witch has been through a lot in comics recently. I'm pretty sure she died, and people are still mad at her about that whole "no more mutants" thing years ago. Anyway, she seem to be better these days, and she's opened her door to help other people who don't have any other place to turn. I'm excited to pick up this book - Orlando writes fun stories, so I'm sure he will bring a strong voice to the comic. And Pichelli does absolutely beautiful work on comics like Spider-Man and other books. This should be a lot of fun. 


Kaya #4 by Wes Craig, Jason Wordie, and Andworld, published by Image Comics
Kaya has been a really fun, enjoyable adventure series so far, from writer/artist Wes Craig. For those who only know Craig from Deadly Class, his art is as dynamic and fun as ever, but the subject matter is so different, and a lot more family-friendly. He keeps getting better and better. The colors from Jason Wordie have been excellent. This is a fun, dramatic, action-packed adventure story that you don't want to miss. 


Children of the Black Sun #1 by Dario Sicchio and Letizia Cadonici, published by Ablaze Comics
Ablaze has had a number of recent intriguing comics, like the Boogyman, Elle(s), and more. So I'm very intrigued to pick up Children of the Black Sun which sounds like an intriguing story. These are all children that were born during a very rare phenomenon known as the "black sun", and they all have a distinctive appearance, but they are hated and feared. I'm very curious to see where this will go - the preview of the art that I saw looks very promising.