Catch It at the Comic Shop November 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:

Wasted Space #11 by Michael Moreci, Hayden Sherman, Jason Wordie and Jim Campbell, published by Vault Comics
Wasted Space is a science fiction comic that's both funny and serious, and is playing with both big ideas and has plenty of sex jokes. It's one of the best comics being published and I highly recommend it. Moreci continues to do excellent work writing, and the team of Hayden Sherman and Jason Wordie bring the story to life in a wonderful way. Sherman keeps getting better and better, and his scratchy style belies some very precise work.

Heist #1 by Paul Tobin and Arjuna Sussini, published by Vault Comics
Heist fits in well with fans of Wasted Space, as it's a fun, very entertaining science fiction series set in a grimy, lived-in cosmos. If you love Star Wars but think "you know, I don't really care about the Force or the Jedi or anything, I just want to know about the criminals" then this is the story for you. I've read the first issue and Paul Tobin and Arjuna Sussini combine for a strong, funny, engaging, assured debut issue.

November Vol. 1 by Matt Fraction, Elsa Charretier, Matt Hollingsworth and Kurt Ankeny, published by Image Comics
Matt Fraction is one of the funniest comic writers out there. But even his funniest comics (Sex Criminals, Hawkeye) are also simultaneously comics where Fraction is completely unafraid to look at darkness and all of the weird and messy parts of the human condition. So, I'm excited here to see what he brings to what feels like more of a film noir setting. He's paired with the spectacularly talented Elsa Charretier, who's got a beautiful, expressive, classic old-school style (evocative of Darwyn Cooke) she's going for something grittier, and less pretty, in this story. I've read some of November, and it's pretty interesting and I'm looking forward to reading more.

New Mutants #1 by Jonathan Hickman, Ed Brisson and Rod Reis/X-Force #1 by Benjamin Percy and Joshua Cassara, both published by Marvel Comics
I have never had any sort of connection to the New Mutants, and I haven't particularly been interested in an X-Force book since Uncanny X-Force by Rick Remender, Jerome Opeña, et al. (which was 6+ years ago). But this is the Dawn of X, and I'm reading and very much enjoying all of the new X-related books. In X-Force, I'm excited to see how they explore the X-Force concept now that Krakoa is its own nation.  In New Mutants, I'm mostly excited because Hickman is co-writing, and the art is from Rod Reis (whose work I love). Thus far all the books have been a lot of fun.

Mike's Picks:

Locke and Key: Dog Days by Joe Hill, Gabriel Rodriguez, and Jay Fotos, published by IDW Entertainment
I remember when I bought the first trade of Locke and Key years ago. It was a welcomed recommendation from my friends at Third Eye, because it wasn’t something I’d have thought to pick up. I’m not a horror guy, and I inevitably miss things that would be in my wheelhouse outside of a half-hearted genre aversion. But Locke and Key quickly became a favorite, and my wife and I devoured the entire series. To see its unexpected return, even for a one shot that’s impetus stems from the upcoming television adaptation, fills me with excitement. It might be one of my favorite series of all time, and I can’t wait to re-enter the world of Lovecraft

Wasted Space 11 by Michael Moreci, Hayden Sherman, Jason Wordie, and Jim Campbell, published by Vault Comics
Wasted Space is my favorite ongoing book. It’s the series I put to the top of my read pile when it arrives in shops. I was thinking about something profound to say about it. I’ve gone on about how it’s both a love letter and a satire of the genre, how it functions both as a self-contained story and an allegory, and how it manages to continually drive a plot with twists and turns that don’t feel hokey or cliché. So, I was trying to come up with something new, something clever, when I saw our friend Zack from Batman’s Bookcase refer to it as Space Opera by way of David Foster Wallace, and yeah I got nothing it’s a great series go buy it.

Heist, or How to Steal a Planet 1 by Paul Tobin, Arjuna Susini, and Vittorio Astone, published by Vault Comics
Yes, two Vault comics for me this week. I’m probably not alone here. There’s a good chance if you’re into something like Wasted Space, you’ll also dig Heist, a book that promises to continue Vault’s record for diverse, unique stories that beautifully bend genres. I’m not incredibly familiar with Paul Tobin outside of Bandette and Made Men, but I was impressed by his pacing and setup, as well as the way he was able to subsume tropes from both the crime and sci-fi genres. This is a great looking book, and if you’ve never read anything featuring Vittorio Astone’s (Maxwell’s Demons) colors before, you’re certainly in for a treat.