New Comic Book Day: This Week’s Must-Have Indie New Releases (12/21)

New Comic Book Day this coming Wednesday (12/21) has some great new releases, debuts, and variants galore. PopCultHQ has compiled a list of new releases from indie publishers that we think are must reads and ones to watch. Our top picks this week are from Action Lab & Action Lab: Danger Zone, AfterShock Comics, Aspen Comics, Black Mask, BOOM! Studios, Dark HorseIDW Publishing, Image Comics, and Valiant.

Check out all the available covers, read up on each one’s synopsis, and then check them out this coming Wednesday! #NCBD

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ACTION LAB ENTERTAINMENT

Cover A – Laura Neubert

Peter David’s Artful #1

Writer: Nicole D’Andria
Art: Laura Neubert
Cover:Laura Neubert

Cover Price: $3.99

Award winning author and comics legend, Peter David, brings the adaption of his novel, Artful, to Action Lab! Artful is the dark, funny, and action-packed story of one of the most facinating characters in literary history, the Artful Dodger from the classic Oliver Twist, this time with a twist: Vampires.

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COVERS AVAILABLE


ACTION LAB: DANGER ZONE

Cover A – Winston Young

Vampblade #11

Writer: Jason Martin
Art: Winston Young
Cover:Winston Young

Cover Price: $3.99

As Katie’s search for the new Vampblade costume continues, will one giant blade give this warrior angel enough nerve to take on the latest and greatest other-dimensional foe?!? It’s Vampblade 2.0 – harder, faster, stranger!!! Features 3 regular and risqu? variants showcasing another all new Vampblade costume!!

COVERS AVAILABLE


 

AFTERSHOCK COMICS

Alters #3

Writer: Paul Jenkins
Art: Leila Leiz
Cover: Brian Stelfreeze

Cover Price: $3.99

Chapter 3: Hello, Goodbye Reeling from the tragedy surrounding her first interaction as an Alter, Chalice must reconcile her public persona and her civilian identity. Her transformations are now set in motion, and she struggles to deal with both. Yet in the midst of this turmoil, new Alters are revealed?including one undergoing alteration very close to home. Continue the journey with Eisner Award-winning writer PAUL JENKINS (Wolverine: Origin, Sentry, Inhumans) and incredible artists LEILA LEIZ and TAMRA BONVILLAIN!

Standard cover

Animosity #4

Writer: Marguerite Bennett
Art: Rafael de Latorre
Cover:Rafael de Latorre

Cover Price: $3.99

Fleeing civilization with their new companions, the Bloodhound and his daughter navigate the wilderness, where a hungry new horror is waiting for them…

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COVERS AVAILABLE


ASPEN COMICS

Cover A – Randy Green

Executive Assistant Iris: Enemies Among Us #1

Writer: David Wohl
Art: Randy Green
Cover: Randy Green

Cover Price: $4.99

Aspen’s critically acclaimed and best-selling series from creator David Wohl (Witchblade, Legend of the Shadow Clan) returns for this pulse pounding action-packed one-shot! With the new Aspen Universe forged and taking shape, Executive Assistant: Iris’ past secret case files are brought to the forefront, uncovering two new and thrilling adventures that may just reveal that the seeds of Iris’ role in this new era began to grow long ago!

COVERS AVAILABLE


BLACK MASK

4 Kids Walk Into A Bank #3

Writer: Matthew Rosenberg
Art: Tyler Boss
Cover: Tyler Boss

Cover Price: $3.99

The epic third installment of this tale of children with bad ideas brings us chemistry classes, remote control cars, and poorly planned capers. And there’s a dog.

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BOOM! STUDIOS

Klaus and the Witch of Winter Main Cover by Dan Mora

Klaus & Witch Of Winter (One Shot) #1

Writer: Grant Morrison
Art: Dan Mora
Cover: Dan Mora

Cover Price: $7.99

* Klaus returns for an epic oversized one-shot, perfect for any comic fan’s stocking! * Brought to you by legendary creator Grant Morrison and 2016 Russ Manning Award winner Dan Mora, join the continuing adventures through space and time of the man that would become Santa Claus.

COVERS AVAILABLE


DARK HORSE

Briggs Land #5

Writer: Brian Wood
Art: Mack Chater
Cover: Tula Lotay

Cover Price: $3.99

Grace Briggs looks for alliances where she can, both to stave off the out-of-state Aryan Nations moving into her territory and to maintain the integrity of Briggs Land in the face of legal troubles. ATF agents Zigler and Nolan, who are conducting a terrorism investigation into her family, may be Grace’s best bet.

 

Cover A by Dave Johnson

Dead Inside #1

Writer: John Arcudi
Art: Toni Fejzula
Cover: Dave Johnson

Cover Price: $3.99

The Jail Crimes Division of the Sheriff’s Office in Mariposa County investigates crimes committed inside county jails. With a limited number of suspects who can’t escape, these are usually easy cases to solve-but not this one. As Detective Linda Caruso gets closer to the heart of the case, she discovers uncomfortable truths about her friends, her job, and herself. o Perfect for fans of crime and prison television, such as Law & Order, NCIS, Orange Is the New Black, American Crime Story, or Making a Murderer. o A new series from Rumble writer John Arcudi and Veil artist Toni Fejzula.

COVERS AVAILABLE


IDW PUBLISHING

Cover A – Gabriel Rodriguez

Locke & Key Small World #1

Writer: Joe Hill
Art: Gabriel Rodriguez
Cover: Gabriel Rodriguez

Cover Price: $4.99

Three years after wrapping up their award-winning, best-selling Locke & Key saga, the team that built Keyhouse returns to Lovecraft, Massachusetts with a new tale of terror and suspense! An impossible birthday gift for two little girls unexpectedly throws open a door to a monster on eight legs! You never thought it’d happen but? the Eisner-winning series returns to unlock a special tale from Keyhouse’s sordid past! All-new 24-page story by series creators Joe Hill, Gabriel Rodriguez, and Jay Fotos! Variant cover by ‘Behind You’ creator Brian Coldrick, Mouse Guard’s David Petersen, Wraith’s Charles Paul Wilson III, and an incentive Small World Key photo cover from Skelton Crew Studios, too.!

COVERS AVAILABLE


IMAGE COMICS

Horizon #6

Writer: Brandon Thomas
Art: Juan Gedeon
Cover: Jason Howard

Cover Price: $2.99

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END OF STORY ARC Zhia Malen fights only one way: to the death.

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VALIANT

Cover A by DOUG BRAITHWAITE

Bloodshot U.S.A. #3

Writer: Jeff Lemire
Art: Doug Braithwaite
Cover:Doug Braithwaite

Cover Price: $3.99

War for the home of the brave! New York City is in fl ames. From the Bronx to Broadway, panic has taken hold?and Project Rising Spirit’s latest experiment – an airborne weapons test designed to turn eight million New Yorkers into nanite-infected killers – is already paying dividends. America’s politicians have demanded action…and you can bet your bottom dollar they’re going to get it when Bloodshot and Deathmate make a last stand to defuse NYC’s very own armageddon! The explosive standalone comics event of the fall reaches a fever pitch as New York Times best-selling writer Jeff Lemire (BLOODSHOT REBORN, Moon Knight) and superstar artist Doug Braithwaite (ARMOR HUNTERS, Justice) unleash the next barrage in Bloodshot’s borough-busting battle royale!

COVERS AVAILABLE

 

Cover A by JELENA KEVIC-DJURDJEVIC

Divinity III – Stalinverse #1

Writer: Matt Kindt
Art: Trevor Hairsine
Cover:Jelena Kevic Djurdjevic

Cover Price: $3.99

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Earth has a new god. The world you know is gone. Welcome to the Stalinverse, comrade.

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COVERS AVAILABLE

 

Cover A by DARICK ROBERTSON

Harbinger Renegades #2

Writer: Rafer Roberts
Art: Darick Robertson
Cover: Darick Robertson

Cover Price: $3.99

Kris Hathaway, Peter Stanchek, Faith Herbert, and John Torkelson thought they could go underground. They thought they could get their old lives back. They were wrong. As four psionically powered “psiots” that can defy the laws of physics with a thought alone, this extraordinarily dangerous team of renegades won’t be able to escape the fight that society has brought to their door. As a violent, new superpower movement spreads across the suburbs, America’s only hope will be the teenagers it wished it could forget.

COVERS AVAILABLE