Jumping On: This Week’s New Story Arcs, Series Premieres, And One-Shots

One of the most frustrating things about finding new comics to read and enjoy is finding a good jumping on point. It can be confusing and disheartening to pick up a single issue from the middle of an arc without having the context of the previous chapters.

With that in mind, here are some New Story Arcs, Series Premieres, and One-Shots available this upcoming New Comic Book Day, Wednesday, September 6, 2023:

Birds of Prey #1, DC

BREAKING HEARTS AND FACES—THE BIRDS OF PREY ARE BACK! Every mission matters. Every life saved is a miracle. But this time, it’s personal. Dinah Lance is one of the DCU’s most elite fighters, and combined with her sonic scream, she’s a fearsome foe in any scenario…but sometimes even the Black Canary needs help. Faced with a personal mission brought to her by a mysterious new ally, and up against near-impossible odds, she re-forms the Birds of Prey with an unrivaled group of badasses—Cassandra Cain, Big Barda, Zealot, and Harley Quinn—and only one goal: extraction without bloodshed. What could possibly go wrong? 

Kelly Thompson (Captain Marvel, Black Widow) makes her long-awaited DC Universe writing debut, and is joined by her Hawkeye partners-in-crime Leonardo Romero (BATMAN) and Jordie Bellaire (WONDER WOMAN) to debut an all-new, all-deadly Birds of Prey series…still breaking hearts and faces after all these years!

Ghost Rider / Wolverine: Weapons of Vengeance – Omega #1, Marvel

LOGAN AND JOHNNY VERSUS THE “STITCHER”! All bad things must come to an end…but will WOLVERINE and GHOST RIDER meet their untimely demise at the hands of the demonic force known as “STITCHER”?! And who is the mysterious FATHER PIKE? The secret behind the demon’s birth is revealed as the fate of our heroes, and the boy who started it all, are sealed! Benjamin Percy (WOLVERINE, GHOST RIDER) and Geoff Shaw (THANOS, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY) bring the hellfire in this fiery crossover finale you can’t afford to miss!

Batman / Catwoman: Prelude to Gotham War #1, DC

The Gotham War is set to fracture the Bat-Family this fall, as Batman and Catwoman find themselves on opposite sides of a conflict more than a year in the making! Prepare for war with this Special Edition comic book, featuring a 10-page original prelude story and preview pages from Batman/Catwoman: The Gotham War: Battle Lines #1, which sets the stage for a fateful fight for Gotham City’s future!

Blue Beetle #1, DC

Jaime Reyes’s graduation is over, but his new life in Palmera City and as the Blue Beetle has only just begun! With two new Beetles to train in Dynastes and Nitida, Jaime has his hands full navigating being a leader. Thankfully, he has Paco and Brenda by his side as they settle in at Palmera State University. But what lurks in the shadows of Blue Beetle’s new home and what does it mean for the Blue Beetle legacy?

Sheena: Queen of the Jungle #1, Dynamite

Which contest will be tougher for our feral champion of the wilderness to face – the savage, claws-out battle for domination of her jungle home, or the savage, claws-out battle for domination of… the world’s most exclusive girl’s boarding school? Yup, Cardwell Inc. is betting that some formal education will teach their long-lost, “raised by wolves” scion the niceties of civilization – while also conveniently removing her from her beloved Val Verde rainforest while they continue to relentlessly exploit it!

But while you can take the girl out of the jungle, you can’t take the jungle out of the girl – and when Sheena discovers the school’s centennial celebration is the target of a deadly plot, classes won’t be the only things the Queen of the Blackboard Jungle will have to cut!

Featuring an expertly crafted syllabus from instructors WES CLARK JR., STEVEN E. DE SOUZA, and EDIANO SILVA, this exciting new course is sure to bring learning to life!

Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville #1, DC

Things could not possibly be worse for Fire and Ice, in Beatriz da Costa’s professional opinion. Superman sent the former Justice Leaguers packing for Smallville following an extremely public and utterly disastrous mission (that was all Guy Gardner’s fault, thank you very much) and in doing so doomed them to a fate worse than death: irrelevance. Ice finds herself drawn to the quiet life and dreams of planting roots. But Fire…well, Fire will do just about anything to get the heck outta Dodge and back on the hero circuit—including challenging the DCU’s biggest villains to a knock-down, drag-out, live-streamed brawl in the streets of Smallville! A raucous, timely, unflinching comedy about a decades-long friendship on the brink of disaster and what it means to be a superhero at a crossroads in your life, Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville reintroduces the iconic duo to the Dawn of DC, in a series from rising star Joanne Starer (The Gimmick, Sirens of the City) and Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur co-creator Natacha Bustos!

Spider-Gwen Annual #1, Marvel

GHOST-SPIDER vs. WHITE FOX! Gwen Stacy technically isn’t even supposed to be in this universe, and now she’s cutting chem lab to go to…a theme park?! Wait, something doesn’t feel right here—and why is this masked fox attacking her? It’s symbiote versus the supernatural when GHOST-SPIDER and WHITE FOX get caught in Agatha Harkness’ tangled web in this rollercoaster of a rumble!

Silver Surfer Rebirth: Legacy #1, Marvel

The Sentinel of the Spaceways has taken the son of Captain Mar-Vell, Genis, under his wing, but even the Power Cosmic can’t replace the love of a father! The Surfer knows something that might just be able to soothe a broken heart, but is it worth a clash with THE INFINITY WATCH? Beloved creators Ron Marz and Ron Lim return to a story from their celebrated run on Silver Surfer and they’re not the only time travelers…

Kill Your Darlings #1, Image

SERIES PREMIERE

Eight-year-old Rose loves nothing more than to play pretend in a magical land of her own creation. To her, that world is as real as our own; from her fluffy friends to the terrible evil that lurks at the center of it all. In one night, the line between fantasy and reality will disappear, an ancient hunger will feed again, and Rose will be pulled into a gruesome saga that began centuries before her birth. A new epic begins from debut writers ETHAN S. PARKER and GRIFFIN SHERIDAN, and superstar art team BOB QUINN (Knights of X) and JOHN J. HILL (VANISH)!

Hunt for the Skinwalker #1, BOOM!

Unidentified flying objects. Animal mutilation. Terrifying otherworldly cryptids. Countless strange phenomena. For more than 50 years, a remote ranch in the Uinta Basin has been the most significant nexus for the paranormal.

Inspired by one family’s confrontation with the unexplainable and terrifying… and what happened when they invited the largest scientific investigation of the paranormal to their ranch.

Based on the 2005 groundbreaking, electrifying nonfiction book by Dr. Colm Kelleher and veteran investigative journalist George Knapp that revealed the captivating true history of Gorman Ranch for the first time, seizing mainstream imagination and inspiring high profile investigations, documentaries, and genre fiction in various media.

Now, working hand-in-hand with Kelleher and Knapp, and incorporating never-before-seen new revelations, writer Zac Thompson (X-Men Unlimited, Undone By Blood) with Valeria Burzo (Castle Full of Blackbirds) adapts the category-defying tale in a series perfect for fans of I Hate This Place and The Low, Low Woods!

A Little White Lie #1, AfterShock

A Brand-New Horror Prestige Format One-Shock from Ray Fawkes!

When wealthy identical twin brothers find a bizarrely seductive shape-shifting creature living on their isolated estate, they get drawn into a mind-bending battle of predator and prey against an enemy that turns all their greatest strengths against them.

From Ray Fawkes (JACKPOT!, ALL NIGHT & EVERY DAY, Constantine) and Mark Torres (PHANTOM ON THE SCAN, Cold Spots, Hellraiser) comes a viscerally horrifying new prestige format One-Shock in which the truth might be the greatest liability.

Masters of the Universe: Forge of Destiny #1, Dark Horse

A “He-Man Year One” prequel to the hit Netflix series Masters of the Universe: Revelation! On the world of Eternia, a fragile balance exists between science and magic, a balance kept by the universe’s mightiest hero, He-Man! On a peaceful mission to the island nation of Anwat Gar, the royal Eternian caravan comes under attack by the minions of the evil Skeletor! And on the island itself, the nefarious Evil-Lyn sets in motion a plan that could lead to all-out war!

Firefly: The Fall Guys #1, BOOM!

The crew is broke and out of luck, and will have to deal with some less-than-trustworthy associates if the Serenity is going to keep flying.?

What seems like an easy job in town for half the crew, is primed to turn sideways with feds, uneasy locals, and a high profile politician in the mix…

Superstar Marvel and DC writer Sam Humphries (Star-Lord: The Saga of Peter Quill, Harley Quinn) teams up with fan-favorite artist Jordi Pérez (How I Became a Shoplifter) to bring Firefly fans a new limited series filled with assassins and organized crime!

Tear Us Apart #1, Dark Horse

Deep in the Canadian wilderness, a vicious cult, dedicated to an ideology of pain, trains children to become deadly assassins. In the midst of this world of cruelty, two teenagers break the cardinal rule-by falling in love. The only thing standing between them and happily ever after is an army of murderers with a taste for blood.

Project: Cryptid #1, Ahoy

New AHOY anthology series, featuring Bigfoot, Yetis, Nessies, Jersey Devils, and more! AHOY presents a deep dive into all things cryptid, legendary, tall tale, and fanciful, written by some of your favorite writers. Issue 1 features Mark Russell’s Yeti and Paul Cornell’s Mongolian Death Worm. Also: to celebrate AHOY’s fifth anniversary, all books from Sep-Nov feature an epic multi-writer prose story—starting here, with a 7-page opening chapter by Grant Morrison!

Godzilla: Best of Mechagodzilla #1, IDW

As King of the Monsters, Godzilla has an awesome might few natural beings can withstand. But sometimes, a manufactured warrior arises to stand in its way…Mechagodzilla! Godzilla’s robotic counterpart stands against the fearsome lizard as a mechanical reflection! Experience the best of the metal monster in stories from Godzilla: Rulers of Earth, Godzilla: History’s Greatest Monster, Godzilla: The Half-Century War, and Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters!

Crusader #1, Mad Cave

A Templar Knight finds himself transported to a dangerous realm known as the Beastlands. With sinister entities known as The Masters hunting him down, all he has is his sword and a weird, goblin-like creature named Grimbel to guide him through this strange new world.

Bad Girl Ashcan, Source Point Press

From the pages of Good Boy- Bad Girl follows an excommunicated mercenary who is pulled back into service for one reason: kill Flint Sparx.

Sabrina the Teenage Witch: Annual Spectacular #1, Archie

BRAND NEW STORY: “Power of Three.” Amber Nightstone, Sabrina’s new nemesis, refuses to be defeated, and her power in numbers is growing. Now with two brand new comrades by her side, Jade and Sapphire, Amber has a thirst for power. She decides to kidnap any magic-doers she can find, including members of Sabrina’s family. Sequestering them away to gain their magical insights, Sabrina’s going to have to go at defeating Amber and her cronies alone… unless she can find other magical beings to help her out. All that plus more magical Sabrina content!

Bad Omens: Concrete Jungle #1, Sumerian

From the mega-viral and chart-topping band known as Bad Omens comes this comic series based on their newest record, The Death of Peace of Mind.

Bad Omens is one of many crime syndicates that operate in the largest district of the lawless and predominantly self-governed Concrete Jungle. Their members toe-the-line morally when it comes to their revolving door of methods and motives, but in the end they could be the antiheroes the city needs and the true kings of the concrete jungle.

After the Bad Omens take possession of a local museum containing some of the last art pieces not in possession of “You Know Who,” they face off against the previous owner – a vicious crime lord who won’t let his property go without a fight. A high-octane battle breaks out amongst the priceless artifacts packed with gun fu à la JOHN WICK!