Jumping On — Series Premieres, One-Shots, And New Story Arcs Kicking Off On August 7, 2024

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 a few New Story Arcs, Series Premieres, and One-Shots that caught my eye for this upcoming New Comic Book Day, Wednesday, August 7, 2024.

Featured Series Premieres, One-Shots, and New Story Arcs:

Garfield #1, BOOM! Studios/KaBOOM!

Getting home from school in the 80’s, one of the first things I did was grab an apple and the D section of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat to sit down under the massive oak tree in our back field and read the comics. Most of the strips were hit or miss, but the one that consistently delivered was Jim Davis’ Garfield. 

The Saturday morning cartoon sucked, partly because of the Childrens’ Television Act, which required kids’ shows to have educational elements (and knowing is half the battle!), but that daily strip killed it, every single day. I don’t need He-Man telling me to look both ways before crossing the street. Give me a fat, lazy, pasta eating, introverted smartass telling me that people generally suck. 

This 4-issue mini is likely tied into the upcoming movie release, but hopefully they lean more into Garfield’s comic strip roots and less into the film.

Gilt Frame #1, Dark Horse Comics/Flux House

This one is a Matt Kindt joint, and that means it’s in my pull box. The Grass Kings scribe is dipping into ‘classic whodunit murder mystery,’ and I can’t wait to see him get weird with it. The Gilt Frame hustle spans the globe from Paris to Hawaii to Montenegro to keep up with the most unlikely murder-solving duo in the history of murder-solvers.

Sam is in his early twenties, is an orphan, and was taken in when he was younger by his well-off Aunt Merry who has an eccentric taste for antiques and travel. Together, Sam and Merry have solved some of the most notorious murders in the world. True to form, their Parisian vacation is cut short when they stumble upon a murder scene so bizarre that only a raging psychopath could have produced it.

To solve the crime, they have to wrestle with jewel thieves, art forgers, gun-runners, a lost puppy, and a master French detective who may just solve the crime before they do.

Arkham Horror: The Terror at the End of Time #1, Dark Horse Comics

Speaking of weird mysteries, Cullen Bunn has a new one dropping this week, except his has cults and eldritch horrors thrown in. 

Adventuring socialite Jenny Barnes was living life like it was just one big game. That was, until her sister Izzie was abducted by a dangerous cult. Although Jenny thwarted the cultists’ sacrificial endeavors, and battled the eldritch monsters at their command, the high priestess Abigail Olmstead fled, taking Izzie with her. 

Private investigator Joe Diamond may not understand Jenny’s story but he understands loss. Joe and Jenny must work together and follow the clues to find Izzie, but more horrors await them in Arkham, Massachusetts, and time appears to be running out…

More Series Premieres, One-Shots, and New Story Arcs: