Catch It at the Comic Shop May 20th, 2020

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:

Deadly Class #44 by Rick Remender, Wes Craig and Jordan Boyd, published by Image Comics
I...honestly don't remember where Deadly Class left off. But I don't even care. I'm so excited to have new comics to read, so I'll just go with it and enjoy this issue for whatever exciting twists and turns it has. If you're not reading Deadly Class, I strongly recommend it as one of the best series of the last 10 or so years. It's about a secret high school for assassins in 1980's San Francisco, but it's about a lot more than that. It's about trauma and friendship and love - but also a lot about ninjas and Yakuza and all kinds of weird stuff. The art from Wes Craig (with the terrific Jordan Boyd on colors) is trule something special. This is a fantastic series, deserving of all the praise it gets.

Superman Smashes the Klan by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru, published by DC Comics
Superman Smashes the Klan is a really terrific series that was originally released in 3 digest-sized paperbacks and now being collected into a single paperback. It's great for kids and kids of all ages. This is the Superman of the 1930's - he can't fly yet, so he runs on electric wires. But there's a Chinese-American family that's new to town and this story goes deep into racism and classism and deals with different kids of bias in a really smart and thoughtful way. It's really a joy to read, and that's due to a great story by Yang and incredibly appealing, cartoon-style art from Gurihiru. Superman Smashes the Klan is a great read for kids and anyone who needs to be reminded that racism is still bad.

Rob's Pick:

Abraham Stone by Joe Kubert and Others, published by Dark Horse
Joe Kubert is probably best known for either being Adam and Andy's father, the guy who created an amazing Art School, or the really awesome war comic artist for DC. The fact is, Joe did all sorts of comics over the years, and it seems like the vast treasure trove of backstory for Kubert isn't fully mined yet. This is one I hadn't heard of, but it ticks a lot of my interest boxes: Legendary Creator, Western-themed, and Noir-tinged. Kubert is one of the all-time great storytellers and here he moves a character across North America, interacting with a formative world that was just lurching into the modern age. I can't wait to read this one, and I bet a lot of our readers will be interested in Abraham Stone, too.