Updated on August 7, 2022
Kicking off the new year slightly early, here’s my monthly look at graphic novels, trade paperbacks, and manga of interest coming out in January 2022 (and beyond).
Disclosure: The blog is an affiliate of Bookshop.org, and will earn a commission for purchases made through Bookshop links.
Graphic novel picks
IDW
A full list of solicitations is available here.
Marvel
A full list of solicitations is available here.
- Women of Marvel, on sale Feb. 23, $25 (Amazon, Bookshop)
- Ororo: Before the Storm, on sale Feb. 16, $13 (Amazon)
Viz
A full list of solicitations is available here.
- Moriarty the Patriot, vol. 6, on sale Jan. 4, $10 (Amazon)
Other
Graphic novel thoughts
“Women of Marvel” is a collection of stories by women creators. The collection features some of Marvel’s top women heroes: Storm, She-Hulk, Jean Grey, Peggy Carter, etc.
“Ororo: Before the Storm” is a reprint collection of stories about Storm; basically, a retelling of her origin and backstory.
“Coming Back” is a graphic novel by Jessi Zabarsky. It’s a fantasy same-sex romance about two women: one who’s magical, the other an ordinary human. The art looks nice, and it’s nice to see more same-sex fantasy romance stories (an interracial one in this case).
Archie’s solicitations are all digests
Archie’s solicitations for January 2022 consist of four digests and one trade paperback, and that’s it. The digests at this point have pretty much replaced single-issue comics as Archie’s flagship books; each one contains at least one new story, along with the usual reprints. Given the digests are still widely available (at supermarkets, drugstores, etc.), and single-issue comics are only found at comic book shops, maybe it’s for the best.
That said, I wonder how the company’s faring financially. The ongoing children’s comic boom means a lot more choices for (and competition for) kids’ comics. While Archie’s modernized its line in recent years, rival kids’ books also offer similar elements (teen romance/humor), or feature even more modernized or diverse elements, themes, and characters. (Admittedly, going up against “Dog Man” and Raina Telgemeier isn’t an easy feat.) The adult-oriented Archie horror books seem to only come out sporadically; in my opinion, they’d be better off being released as graphic novels. Finally, “Riverdale,” while popular, can’t go on forever.
Still, it’s impressive that Archie’s the sole non-DC/Marvel Golden Age American comic publisher that’s still around. And unlike DC/Marvel, Archie also hasn’t been bought out by a larger conglomerate.
Image from “Coming Back.” Art by Jessi Zabarksy. (Random House)
