Aquaman: Andromeda Review (Ram V, Christian Ward)

An alien spacecraft crashes into the ocean and suddenly the race is on to recover it and unearth its secrets - but what awaits inside…?

My Autobiography Review (Joe Wilkinson, Henry Paker)

If you’re a fan of British comedy panel shows, you’ll probably be familiar with Joe Wilkinson, the substitute teacher-looking chap. He’s written a book which is as much a real autobiography as Dr Pepper is a real doctor. Unusually for “celebrity” autobios, he’s opted to present it in comics form and it’s drawn by Henry Paker in a Rick and Morty-esque fashion.

Boy's Abyss, Volume 3 by Ryo Minenami Review

Boy’s Abyss has been my manga north star of 2023 - not that it’s been the most amazing series, but it has been consistently decent, and that’s very rare in ongoing titles. Especially manga, where subsequent books to a strong/solid first volume usually sees a marked drop in quality.

Pretty Ugly Review (David Sedaris, Ian Falconer)

What can the brilliant essayist David Sedaris bring to the children’s picture book genre? Nowt much it turns out. A little girl ogre makes faces - until one day her face gets stuck like that.

Four Gathered on Christmas Eve Review (Eric Powell, Mike Mignola)

Four Gathered on Christmas Eve is a short anthology of Christmas ghost stories in the Victorian tradition by Eric Powell, James Harren, Becky Cloonan, and Mike Mignola. Despite the big names though it’s a pretty weak collection of stories.

Several People Are Typing by Calvin Kasulke Review

Gerald is stuck in Slack - quite literally! But how did his soul get into it and how can he escape? Meanwhile, his colleagues at their NYC copywriting firm continue work on their latest crisis client, Bjark Dog Food, whose products are somehow only killing pomeranians and they need to urgently handle the public response. And what’s going on with Lydia who can hear howls outside her apartment all day every day but can’t see any dogs or wolves - and each day the howls are getting closer…

Monica by Daniel Clowes Review

Dan Clowes is back with his first book in seven years: Monica - unfortunately though it’s even worse than Patience, so that makes it twelve years now since he put out a good comic (the last one being 2011’s The Death-Ray).

The Amazing Spider-Man, Volume 6: Dead Language, Part 2 Review (Zeb Wells, John Romita Jr)

Spidey and co. face down the wannabe god of death the Emissary in a final battle. Also revealed at last is what happened with MJ - how did she suddenly get a family separate from her relationship with Peter? All this and more in the second and final part of Dead Language.

When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamin Labatut Review

Benjamin Labatut tells the story of a group of 20th century scientists and mathematicians whose work changed the world and completely changed how we used to think the world worked, adding uncertainty and chaos where once was order.

Asterix and the White Iris Review (Fabcaro, Didier Conrad)

With Caesar’s legions demoralised from losing constantly to the Armorican village that perpetually resists them, his head physician, Viceversus, decides to spread his gospel of positive thinking to the region to both boost the troops’ mindset and sow dissent among the small Gaulish village. But not if Asterix and Obelix have anything to say about it!

Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon by Michael Lewis Review

Sam Bankman-Fried was one of the richest people in the world, running the crypto exchange FTX and crypto trading firm Alameda Research, until the whole thing came crashing down spectacularly in late 2022 when the companies went bankrupt - crypto’s a mug’s game, who knew?! Bankman-Fried was arrested on a whole raft of charges including fraud and money-laundering, of which he was recently found guilty and faces decades in prison at his sentencing in March next year.

My Pancreas Broke, But My Life Got Better by Kabi Nagata Review

Kabi Nagata published a book about her alcoholism a few years ago called My Alcoholic Escape From Reality and My Pancreas Broke But My Life Got Better (she’s got quite a way with titles) is essentially Part 2 of that book. This one follows her relapses into drinking, dealing with pancreatitis and going in and out of rehabs and hospitals as she fights to get sober.

The Impending Blindness of Billie Scott by Zoe Thorogood Review

Young artist Billie Scott receives news that she’s getting her own exhibition - but oh no she’s going blind in 2 weeks and needs to do her 10 paintings before then!

The Captain of the Pole-Star Review (Arthur Conan Doyle, Seth)

It’s the 19th century and a whaling ship is trapped in the ice. Rations are dwindling, the captain’s slowly going bonkers and there’s a spooky apparition appearing on the ice. Will they escape? Is it really a ghost? … zzz…

Worldtree, Volume 1: Terminal Review (James Tynion IV, Fernando Blanco)

A group of chums fooling around on the internet of yore stumble across a level of cyberspace under the regular internet which they imaginatively call: the Undernet. But what’s that they find inhabiting that jolly space? Oogie-boogies! So, after documenting the nasties on a forum called Worldtree (I’m not doing the silly spelling), they somehow seal it away from the rest of the internet. But oh no, 20 years later and it’s back somehow! Did anyone say cyberpunk-flavoured IT? Well, that’s what you got regardless.

Batman - One Bad Day: Catwoman Review (G. Willow Wilson, Jamie McKelvie)

A brooch belonging to Selina’s ma pawned for nothing years ago is now being sold at auction for a substantial sum. Selina plots to take back the family heirloom thus, in her eyes, righting the wrongs of the past - but she encounters an unexpected adversary on what will be for her One Bad Day.

A Stroke of the Pen by Terry Pratchett Review

In 2022, a fan of Sir Terry’s reached out to his agent, Colin Smythe, to find out more about a comedic fantasy story he had cut out of a newspaper in 1984 called “The Quest for the Keys” - which Smythe had never heard of before. A couple of scholars delved into the newspaper archives, starting in the ‘70s and working their way forwards, and, along the way, unearthed a trove of previously unknown Terry Pratchett stories which he had published in the Western Daily Press under the pseudonym “Patrick Kearns” (“Patrick” sounds like “Pratchett” and “Kearns” was his mother’s maiden name). The 20 unearthed stories are published here - a new Pratchett book 8 years after his death - in A Stroke of the Pen: The Lost Stories.

Batman Incorporated, Volume 1: No More Teachers Review (Ed Brisson, John Timms)

It’s been a decade since Grant Morrison’s Batman Incorporated and it’s only now that DC has decided to give the series another chance. I’m glad they didn’t let it languish indefinitely - it’s not so terrible a concept as to be written off entirely - but I also think the series needs more of a surer foundation than simply setting it up as another generic superhero team book, which is what we get with Ed Brisson and John Timms’ version of Batman Incorporated in their first volume, No More Teachers.

Good Comics for Bad People: An Extra Fabulous Collection by Zach M. Stafford Review

Image/Skybound saw what Andrews McMeel has been doing for years - publishing the collected strips of popular online cartoonists - and said, I’ll have a piece of that! and now we has Zach M. Stafford’s Good Comics For Bad People: An Extra Fabulous Collection.

Adventuregame Comics 2: The Beyond by Jason Shiga Review

Mario Rivera dies and ends up in the afterlife… which turns out to be a waiting room with a lot of magic books and a mysterious castle in the distance. What will Mario do next? You decide!

Proof That the Devil Loves You by Gilbert Hernandez Review

It’s worth mentioning right at the top that Gilbert Hernandez’s Proof That The Devil Loves You isn’t a totally new comic. The book collects stories that have appeared previously in Love and Rockets: New Stories, Volume 3 #4, #5 and #6, Blubber #1, and Love and Rockets: New Stories, Volume 4 #5. I think if I’d known this beforehand, I wouldn’t have bothered with this book so just a heads up to anyone considering splashing out on this one, especially Beto fans like me who have probably read the aforementioned L&R comics: there’s some new stuff but it’s mostly a clip show unfortunately.

The Maniac by Benjamin Labatut Review

John von Neumann was probably the smartest man of the 20th century. An Austro-Hungarian polymath who made significant contributions to physics, maths, computer science, and one of the defining moments of the century, the creation and deployment of the atomic bomb, he was so unfathomably intelligent that he was referred to by some as an alien. Benjamin Labatut’s The MANIAC is about his life, work and legacy as it is felt today with the emergence and proliferation of artificial intelligence, and where never-ending technological progress may be taking us…

Batman: One Operation Joker, Volume 1 Review (Satoshi Miyagawa, Keisuke Goto)

Manga sales are absolutely demolishing traditional superhero comics’ sales right now so DC, knowing they can’t beat them, is attempting to join them by putting their most famous characters into manga. Even in manga form though, DC’s comics stink! Here’s the pitch for One Operation Joker:

Werewolf at Dusk by David Small Review

David Small is back with a new comic, this time a collection of three short stories: an adaptation of two stories by other writers, The Werewolf at Dusk by Lincoln Michel, and The Tiger in Vogue by Jean Ferry, and an original, A Walk in the Old City. I wish Small had produced a comic only of his own material because his story is easily the best and the others are disappointingly poor.

MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios Review (Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzales)

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is the most successful film franchise there’s ever been. Starting in 2008, the series turned former B-list characters like Iron Man, the Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain America into household names, as famous and iconic as the likes of Spider-Man and the X-Men. It was an unstoppable, money-making juggernaut that only became more and more popular over the years, leading up to the incredible double-whammy finale of Infinity War and Endgame.

H.P. Lovecraft's The Shadow Over Innsmouth by Gou Tanabe Review

Gou Tanabe continues his HP Lovecraft manga adaptations with one of HP’s more famous stories, and the only one that was published in book form in his lifetime, The Shadow Over Innsmouth.

Sgt. Rock vs. The Army of the Dead Review (Bruce Campbell, Eduardo Risso)

It’s the closing stages of the war in Europe and Hitler’s running out of soldiers. The solution? Reanimating dead soldiers to fight once more - but not if Sgt. Rock and Easy Company has anything to say about it!

The Bookstore Sisters by Alice Hoffman Review

Isabel is divorced, a failed artist, and walking dogs for a living in New York when her estranged sister Sophie, a widowed single mother living on Brinkley’s Island, Maine, breaks her leg and needs help. Returning home, the two sisters are confronted with one of many points of contention in their relationship but none more so than their dead father’s beloved, but deeply unprofitable, bookshop. Can they become friends again and turn the shop into a viable business?

The Mysteries Review (Bill Watterson, John Kascht)

Bill Watterson retired Calvin & Hobbes, and seemingly himself, on 31st December 1995 when the last strip was published - and then Watterson published nothing further, Calvin & Hobbes or otherwise! Until now. Nearly 28 years later and Watterson’s follow-up has just been released: The Mysteries.

Gotham City: Year One Review (Tom King, Phil Hester)

1961, Gotham City, and Batman’s grandparents, Richard and Constance Wayne, have their baby daughter Helen kidnapped - by Batman?! There’s only one man with a name sillier than Batman who can solve the case: private investigator Slam Bradley!

We Spread by Iain Reid Review

Elderly widow Penny has a fall in her flat and ends up in a care home. But it’s an unusual place - just four residents and two care workers. Is the manager taking blood samples from the residents without their consent? Why can’t they go outside? Time seems to pass differently here and Penny begins to suspect that bad things are going on in the dark areas of the care home…

Spawn Kills Everyone Review (Todd McFarlane, JJ Kirby)

I had a bad idea recently and decided to check out Todd McFarlane’s “classic” Spider-Man: Torment - turned out it was as crummy as I’d heard (though I enjoyed the nostalgic artwork)!

Transformers #1 by Daniel Warren Johnson Review

A couple of stargazing-loving kids witness a spaceship crash-land into the side of a mountain. Inside? Buncha “dead” robots! What the Shia LaBeef’s going on?!

Bakuman, Volume 3: Debut and Impatience Review (Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata)

Wannabe manga creators Mashiro and Takagi are starting to get some recognition for their indie work but decide to change tack by going all-in on mainstream battle manga as their ticket to the big time. Meanwhile, manga prodigy Eiji Nizuma is plowing well ahead of all rivals and even their ladies are starting to overshadow them with their successes in anime voice acting and cell phone novels (ah, Japan!).

Batman & The Joker: The Deadly Duo by Marc Silvestri Review

Joker’s somehow become superpowered and is on yet another killing spree and Gordon’s been kidnapped. But wait - it’s not the Joker but a small army of superpowered Joker zombie things. Who made them and why? Batman teams up with Joker for some reason to find out.

Beast in the Shadows by Edogawa Rampo Review

A crime novelist meets a married woman who tells him about another crime novelist, her ex, who’s been sending her threatening letters and begun stalking her. These crime novelists, eh - they’re everywhere these days, especially in crime novels!

Paul Bunyan: The Invention of an American Legend by Noah Van Sciver Review

Like in his Johnny Appleseed comic, Noah Van Sciver takes a look at another American legend, Paul Bunyan, the giant lumberjack that literally shaped the physical geography of America, with his trusty giant blue ox Babe.

Immortal Sergeant Review (Joe Kelly, Ken Niimura)

Detective Sergeant James Sargent (hoho geddit…) is begrudgingly retiring from the police. Worse, his estranged son Michael and his family are coming to visit for the retirement party. But Jim has other plans. A decades-old case haunts him and he’s determined to find justice for the dead before he hands in his badge…

Haunted Castles: The Complete Gothic Stories by Ray Russell Review

Haunted Castles collects horror writer Ray Russell’s “S” trilogy - Sardonicus, Sagittarius, and Sanguinarius - as well as the short stories Comet Wine, The Runaway Lovers, The Vendetta, and The Cage. The only good story in this collection is Sardonicus, which is also the most famous of the bunch, and it’s easy to see why.

Ice Cream Man, Volume 9: Heavy Narration Review (W. Maxwell Prince, Martin Morazzo)

Nine volumes in and Ice Cream Man is still able to put out a pretty decent collection - so it goes with Volume 9: Heavy Narration.

The Punisher: Year One Review (Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning)

Frank Castle’s family was gunned down by mobsters in Central Park; he survived and became The Punisher, a vengeance-fuelled killing machine waging a one-man war on organised crime.

The Butcher Boy by Patrick McCabe Review

Small town Ireland in the early 1960s and young Francie Brady is enjoying his yoof, horsing around with his best mate Joe, knocking off school, and generally being an incorrigible roustabout. Except an older Francie is narrating this story and he apparently did something to a perceived enemy of his, Mrs Nugent…

All Tomorrow's Parties: The Velvet Underground Story by Koren Shadmi Review

Koren Shadmi continues his series of biographical comics, this time focusing on the 1960s avant-garde rock band The Velvet Underground. It covers the Lou Reed-era of the group - there were other lineups and albums that followed after he left, but this is the most famous and notable era of the band so it’s a good choice by Shadmi to only highlight these years.

The Sentry Review (Paul Jenkins, Jae Lee)

Bob Reynolds is an ordinary chap with strange dreams of being a superhero called The Sentry. As those dreams turn out to be repressed memories, Bob realises he must make sure everyone else remembers who he is before his archenemy, The Void, returns.

I Was Dora Suarez by Derek Raymond Review

An axe murderer kills a trio of victims one night - Detective Sergeant No Name is on the case!

Derek Raymond was apparently one of the UK’s founders of noir. I’ve tried reading noir many times before and I feel like I enjoy the idea of it more than the books claiming to be it. So maybe Raymond truly is a noir writer because I didn’t like his novel I Was Dora Suarez very much.

Boy's Abyss, Volume 2 by Ryo Minenami Review

Reiji’s teacher, Ms Shiba, stops him and former idol Nagi from making a big mistake in the middle of a typhoon. But Reiji’s choice makes her reassess her own life and its shortcomings - and leads to her making her own, potentially dangerous, mistake.

Palookaville #24 by Seth Review

Seth’s back with a new “issue” of Palookaville even though they’ve stopped being single issue comics for some time now and have morphed into high-end glossy, pricier hardcovers over the years. Palookaville #24 has the fourth instalment of Nothing Lasts, a photo essay on a short film collaboration called The Apology of Albert Batch, a copy of the short film, and Selections From Sketchbook Thirteen, a series of short comics.

Soichi by Junji Ito Review

Soichi is an antisocial little boy who likes putting nails in his mouth and hammering them into voodoo dolls of people to cause them pain. Why does his family put up with this kind of behaviour? Because there’d be no book otherwise! How is he able to make voodoo dolls, or any of his other spells, work? No idea - he just can. Just consume and move on - thinking is for suckers!

Borb by Jason Little Review

Borb is the story of Bob, a homeless drunk, and his day-to-day misadventures which are both unbelievably horrible and surprisingly funny.

Batman, Volume 2: The Bat-Man of Gotham Review (Chip Zdarsky, Mike Hawthorne)

Oh good lord, save us from this endless torrent of multiverse shite that’s covering all things superhero these days. It worked in the first Spider-Verse movie and now everyone’s doing increasingly garbage versions of it.