Catch It at the Comic Shop March 6th, 2019

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:

Paper Girls #26 by Brian K. Vaughan, Cliff Chiang, Matt Wilson and Jared K. Fletcher, published by Image Comics
This is probably my favorite comic being published today. If you're looking for a story with humor, heart, great friendships, weird twists and turns, and a crazy wonderful coming of age story, this is the book for you. Not to mention that the art is always off-the-charts good. Seriously, the team of Cliff Chiang an Matt Wilson are really peerless. 



Black Hammer '45 #1 by Jeff Lemire, Ray Fawkes, Matt Kindt and Sharlene Kindt, published by Dark Horse
I'm loving the way that Jeff Lemire has been expanding the Black Hammer universe. It's a broad superhero universe that feels like it contains many different sub-genres. Ths is a WWII-set story of flying aces, it's drawn by Matt and Sharlene Kindt, which means that it is an absolute draw for me.


Meet the Skrulls #1by Robbie Thompson and Niko Henrichon, published by Marvel Comics
Robbie Thompson is a strong writer; he wrote the Silk series which I really enjoyed. And Niko Henrichon is an incredible artist. He was the artist on the Noah graphic novel (based on the first draft of the movie script), and his work there is staggeringly beautiful. You also might know his work from Pride of Baghdad, another amazing comic. In a story about Skrulls hiding among us, trying to live as a normal family? Holy cow this is something I want to read.  


Doomsday Clock #9 by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank, published by DC Comics
Doomsday Clock is a weird comic that kind of shouldn't exist, but I have to admit I'm really hooked by it. It's weird and ambitious - bringing Watchmen and the main DC universe together seems cynical and ridiculous, but when you've got a team as talented as Geoff Johns and Gary Frank, they might just be able to pull it off.

Kirk's Picks:

Die 4 by Stephanie Hans and Kieran Gillen, published by Image Comics
I know I keep suggesting this title very week when it's new installment is due and as long as the caliber of every issue is as good as the last, that's probably not going to change. Stephanie's art is cover worthy in every panel. And the stakes are raised as we learn more about our gaming party cast of characters and watch them compromise their real-world integrity in order to survive the very real threats that they encounter in-character that is the DN'd inspired fantasy hell world of Die.

Paper Girls 26 by Cliff Chang and Brian K. Vaughan, published by Image Comics
Saga is still on hiatus, but we still have he and Chang's creator owned time jumping epic. Part back to the future, part Goonies. Even though our main characters are from the 80's, the series doesn't make the mistake of leaning in to nostalgia territory. An 26 issues in, I emphatically encourage you to catch up the collected trades if you haven't stayed up on this series to get over your Saga withdrawals.

Black Hammer '45 by Jeff Lemire, Ray Fawkes, Matt Kindt, and Sharlene Kindt, published by Dark Horse
In less than 4 years, Jeff Lemire, one of the most prolific writer in comics today, has created a fully realized and emotionally complex golden-age inspired superhero universe where the choices it's consequences loom large. A feat that's hard to pull off in today's current comic climate. Every series that occupies this universe has been a winner. With this superstar creative team behind this, '45 is a no brainer to pick up. Especially as a jumping on point.

Ronin Island by Greg Pak and Gianni Milonongiannis, published by Boom! Studios
I'm going into this blind. Pak's last indie title I fell in love with was Mech Cadet Yu. A title I suggest often to younger readers looking for something more than super heroics in tights. Pam has been haVing g a lot of fun writing all the Hulks and Wolverines over at Marvel recently, but with his indie work, he gets to exercise a different set of writing muscles that tell stories at a more nuanced and patient pace.