Anthony’s comics picks for November 2019

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Last updated on December 10th, 2021

Here’s my look at what comics of interest are coming out in November 2019.

DC Comics

A full list of solicitations is available here.

  • Legion of Super-Heroes #1, on sale Nov. 6, $4
  • Diana, Princess of the Amazons GN, on sale Jan. 1, $10
  • Green Lantern: Legacy GN, on sale Jan. 15, $10
  • Wonder Woman: Warbringer GN, on sale Jan. 1, $17

Marvel

A full list of solicitations is available here.

  • The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #50, $4 (final issue)
  • Black Panther Book 8: The Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda part 3 TPB, $18
  • Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur vol. 8: Yancy Street Legends TPB, $18
  • Ms. Marvel Team-Up TPB, $18

Archie

A full list of solicitations is available here.

  • Cosmo the Mighty Martian #1 (of 5), on sale Nov. 13, $4
  • Sabrina the Teenage Witch (2019 miniseries) vol. 1 TPB, on sale Nov. 20, $15

Boom! Studios

A full list of solicitations is available here.

  • Lumberjanes #68, $4
  • The Avant-Guards #10, $4
  • Rocko’s Modern Afterlife TPB, on sale Jan. 2020, $15

Comments

The Legion of Super-Heroes returns

LOSH #1
“Legion of Super Heroes” #1 (November 2019). Art by Ryan Sook.

DC’s putting out the first of their long-awaited all-ages graphic novels, mostly starting in January. They’re also finally relaunching the Legion of Super-Heroes, under Brian Michael Bendis’ authorship.

From what I can gather, the new Legion features A) an aged-up Jon Kent Superboy (which seems a very ill-conceived idea, given the “Super Sons” graphic novels) and B) a more diverse Legion roster, including what looks like an African-American Lightning Lad (yes, I know).

More favorite books canceled?

There’s no sign of “Moon Girl” under Marvel’s solicitations again. I’m left to assume that her series has been quietly cancelled. Given she’s getting a TV series, perhaps she’ll be back in comics. Similarly, this month is the last issue of “The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl,” which was one of my favorite Marvel titles.

The absence of these two books (plus “Scooby-Doo Team-Up” recently ending) leaves me with not much in the way of monthly Big Two comics to read. That said, I suppose it’s just as well. My interests and reading habits these days are more centered on non-Big Two books, digital subscriptions/”trade waiting,” and webcomics.

Archie’s here… except as a monthly single-issue comic publisher

Cosmo
Art by Tracy Yardley.

Archie’s launching a new miniseries for “Cosmo the Merry Martian.” Cosmo’s a Martian character created during the 1950s; he’s seen a revival at Archie in recent years, including starring in a previous miniseries.

That said, Archie’s solicitations made me notice that at this point, Archie currently has just one ongoing monthly comic, the flagship “Archie” title. Other than that, Archie’s output is exclusively either various miniseries, trade paperback reprints, or the still-running digests (featuring the “classic” versions of the Riverdale gang). The latter are all branded as “Jumbo Comics Digests,” versus the old “Double Digests” branding. Digests include: “Archie,” “Archie and Me,” “Betty and Veronica,” and “World of Archie.” (“Archie and Me” was originally a secondary comic title published between 1964 and 1987, mostly revolving around Archie and Mr. Weatherbee.)

This seems a very big change for a long-running American comic publisher, especially one that’s gone through the effort of revamping/modernizing its line over the past decade. It might suggest that it’s possible for a publisher to survive without the stereotypical monthly comic book, relying instead on digital, miniseries, and graphic novels (or digests in Archie’s case). Given current prevailing trends in comics, I wonder if this trend will spread to other publishers.

Anthony Dean

Anthony Dean is the owner of Diverse Tech Geek and Diverse Media Notes.

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