NEW COMIC BOOK DAY: Notable Releases 12/13/17

It's another action-packed week of comics starting with Mister Miracle, Lady Killer (TPB), Faith and the Future Force (TPB), Monstro Mechanica, The Defenders (TPB) and so much more!

That's a lot of great trade paperbacks to lost in this holiday season. Check out the single on-going issues as well like Michael Cray, Port of Earth, Sheena, Bloodshot, Catalyst Prime Superb, The Archies, and more. Take a look at this week's other recommendations. Happy reading!

(W) Jo?lle Jones (A/CA) Jo?lle Jones
The killer housewife is back! The Schuller family has moved to Cocoa Beach, where life carries on as usual. Josie continues to juggle Tupperware parties, her kids, and a few heads-and things don't get any easier for the entrepreneur hit lady when her past comes back to haunt her. Collects issues #1-#5 of the series.

(W) Julie Benson, Shawna Benson (A) Roge Antonia (CA) Yanick Paquette
"MANSLAUGHTER" finale! A mysterious plague has infected all the men in Gotham City! The Birds of Prey have united the city's female heroes to stop whoever's behind this manfluenza, but even their combined might may not be enough to defeat the Daughters of Gotham and their mysterious leader, Patient Zero. They'll have to act quickly if they want to save Batman and the men of Gotham before they succumb and the virus spreads far beyond the city limits.
RATED T

(W) Tom King (A) Mitch Gerads (CA) Nick Derington
How do you spend your last night on Earth? Why, with the one you love, of course! Having been condemned to death by the new Highmaster, Mister Miracle is going to have to return to New Genesis for his execution. Before he does, he and Big Barda go on one last date. But if Scott Free truly is infected by Darkseid, as Orion says, you can bet some dark force will intervene-only to what end?
MATURE READERS

(W) Bryan Hill (A) N. Steven Harris, Dexter Vines (CA) Denys Cowan, Bill Sienkiewicz
Crime forensics expert Barry Allen has a dark secret-and a prototype suit that makes him the fastest man alive. Michael Cray wants to make him pay for his sins, but is he able to catch a man faster than justice? And what will happen when Barry Allen turns his psychosis on Cray at hyper-speed?
RATED T+

(W) Peter Milligan (A/CA) Tess Fowler
"Lost in Franz" Part 3 of A Lad Insane. Bury the past and it turns into monsters. Or in Kid Lobotomy's case, a disgusting cockroach man. As our troubled Kid flees deeper into the lower depths to escape his sister's arrival, he encounters more mystery and confusion. Bug-on-bug sex, spontaneous combustion and Franz Kafka are among the many dubious delights at "The Suites," America's Strangest Hotel.

•   BLACK CROWN's inaugural hit series about a dysfunctional family of hoteliers continues!
•   Letter column, interviews, behind-the-panel process pages & more!

(W) Kieron Gillen (A) Kris Anka, Chynna Clugston Flores, Carla Speed McNeil, Rachael Stott, Emma Vieceli (CA) Jamie McKelvie (A/CA) Matt Wilson
JAMIE said "It's a shame we never saw any of the gods' early funtimes," and KIERON said "Yeah," and then they looked at each other, and then called all their talented friends to do a Christmas album of (mostly) fan service! Inanna and Baal getting it on! Lucifer and Sakhmet getting it on! Dionysus giving Baphomet a lift in a crappy car! And more! This one has it all.

(W) Zack Kaplan (A/CA) Andrea Mutti
Aliens have come to Earth with a business deal: a spaceport on our planet. Now Earth's Security Agents are hunting down a dangerous rogue alien who's broken loose on the California coast, but one agent's personal feelings about Earth's deal with the aliens may push him to defy protocols and threaten the mission.

"Your new sci-fi obsession is here, and its name is DESCENDER..."- Entertainment Weekly
Young Robot boy Tim-21 and his companions struggle to stay alive in a universe where all androids have been outlawed and bounty hunters lurk on every planet.
Written by award-winning creator, JEFF LEMIRE, DESCENDER is a rip-roaring and heartfelt cosmic odyssey. LEMIRE pits humanity against machine, and world against world, to create a sprawling epic.
Collects DESCENDER #1-16
Deluxe Hardcover format: 7.25" x 10.875"

(W) Ryan North (A/CA) Erica Henderson
THE FORBIDDEN PLA-NUT Part 1
What happens when we take Squirrel Girl back to her roots? Well, we shoot her into space, OBVIOUSLY. Nancy and Tippy find themselves on an alien world where all is not what it seems. Squirrel Girl needs to find a way to get to the other side of the universe to save 'em, STAT. Intergalactic transport through the cosmic realm? This sounds like a job for the Sorcerer Supreme! I'm sure Doctor Strange will be happy to he - I'm sorry, what's that? Doctor Strange is gone and now LOKI is Earth's Sorcerer Supreme? Oh. Well, I'm sure he'll do his best. After all, what could possibly go wrong? Guess what, in this issue, everything possible goes wrong! PLUS: Includes 3 bonus MARVEL PRIMER PAGES!
Rated T

(W) Brian Michael Bendis (A/CA) David Marquez
Daredevil! Luke Cage! Jessica Jones! Iron Fist! Individually, these four heroes have been on the front lines of countless battles to keep the city safe and secure. But now, with a deadly enemy from the past making a major move to unite the underworld, they must become more - they must be Defenders! If the streets weren't mean enough already, they get more dangerous than ever when the Punisher sets his sights on his fellow vigilantes! As chaos threatens to engulf New York, can this group of socially maladjusted heroes trust each other enough to function as a team? Or will the power vacuum caused by the Kingpin's absence lead to all-out gang war? Only one thing could make life worse for the Defenders: Deadpool! Collecting DEFENDERS (2017) #1-5 and material from FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2017 (GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY) #1.
Rated T+

(W) Alex Segura, Matthew Rosenberg (A) Joe Eisma (CA) Greg Smallwood
New Ongoing Series! Featuring internationally bestselling artist CHVRCHES! As The Archies face a rocky start to their first-ever tour, they find unexpected drama among the members! Can Betty and Archie reconcile their artistic differences? Can real-life indie Scottish synthpop trio CHVRCHES provide the guidance they need to weather the storm?

CATALYST PRIME SUPERB #5
LION FORGE

(W) David Walker, Sheena C. Howard (A) Alitha Martinez (A/CA) Ray-Anthony Height
BEGINNING OF A NEW STORY ARC
The world's new teen superhero duo of Cosmosis and Amina is ready to rescue their kidnapped parents from the Foresight Corporation, unaware that a new superpowered resistance force in the works.
How will secrets from their past affect the mission?
Is there more to their inventor ally, Abbie, than meets the eye?

(W) Jody Houser (A) Stephen Segovia, Barry Kitson, Diego Bernard, Cary Nord (CA) Kano
Every second will count when acclaimed writer Jody Houser (Mother Panic, Star Wars: Rogue One), explosive artist Stephen Segovia (Ninjak, Action Comics), comics legend Barry Kitson (Fantastic Four), and special surprise guests push faith into a centuries-spanning fight for existence alongside the greatest heroes of the valiant universe...past, present, and future!
Faith "Zephyr" Herbert - former member of Unity, current Harbinger Renegade, and Los Angeles' #1 superhero - is the universe's last, best chance at survival! Centuries from today, a devious artificial intelligence has unleashed a blistering attack on the very foundations of time...one that is the unwriting history from beginning to end! Now, with her options exhausted, Neela Sethi, Timewalker - the self-appointed protector of what is and will be - has returned to the 21st century to recruit Earth's greatest champions of today and tomorrow to oppose this existential threat...and she needs Faith to lead them! But why Faith? And why now?
Fly to the farthest edges of the future right here in a death-defying race to save time itself as Faith leads the charge alongside Valiant's greatest heroes...and becomes a new legend for the ages!
Collecting FAITH AND THE FUTURE FORCE #1-4.

(W) Marguerite Bennett, Christina Trujillo (A/CA) Moritat
Monsters out of myth and nightmare explode from the rot of time, hungry for living flesh! Sheena now must find a way to stop both the creatures and Cadwell's men before the unthinkable happens and the forest she calls home is forever destroyed.

(W) Paul Allor (A/CA) Chris Evenhuis
A new series starring Leonardo da Vinci, his female apprentice and their wooden robot!

At the height of the Renaissance, warring factions vie for control of Leonardo da Vinci's destructive arsenal. The only thing standing in their way is Leonardo's young apprentice and her nine-foot tall mechanical bodyguard. Together, they navigate a world of wicked men and war machines, determined to save Leonardo from the world-and the world from Leonardo.
      From creators Paul Allor (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) and Chris Evenhuis (Wynonna Earp) comes this swashbuckling adventure story about war, identity and the birth of the modern world!

(W) Jaime Hernandez (A/CA) Jaime Hernandez
Angels and Magpies collects the Gods and Science: Return of the Ti-Girls and Love Bunglers storylines from the Love and Rockets: New Stories series, as well as Hernandez's 2006 New York Times serial. In the Ti-Girls segment, superheroics get a screwball spin and in "Love Bunglers," perhaps Hernandez's greatest masterpiece and one of the great graphic novels of all time, the past and present converge as Maggie and Ray's reunion is threatened by long-buried family secrets.

(W) Jeff Loveness (A/CA) Jakub Rebelka
Emmy and WGA Award-nominated writer Jeff Loveness (Marvel's Nova) presents an exploration of the classical biblical character, perfect for fans of Preacher and The Goddamned.
Judas Iscariot journeys through life and death, grappling with his place in "The Greatest Story Ever Told," and how much of his part was preordained. In a religion built on redemption and forgiveness, one man had to sacrifice himself for everyone...and it wasn't Jesus.