With San Diego Comic Con going it’s easy to get caught up on the exclusive hype. I do it too. But let’s not forget about the the bread and butter of the comic book scene, order order comics that all shops have access to.
In this post we’ll take a look at the top non Star Wars picks for next week’s NCBD and final order cutoff from sequential_art and Don from the Department of Comics Discord server. There may be more added after this goes live so be sure to check back!
Also, if you love comic speculation, and if you’re reading this you probably do, the Department of Comics is a super fun and positive online community for comic fans. If you want to hang out, here’s the join link.
DISCLAIMER: The picks in this post are just opinions and the comics listed are not guaranteed to go up in value. Your money is your money. You work hard for it. Please only buy things you really want or that you agree will go up in value (if that’s your thing).
READ NEXT: What is the first comic appearance of The Bad Batch?
With that being said, let’s dive in. Here are the Department of Comics NCBD, FOC, and SDCC 2023 picks of the week for the week of July 24, 2023.
NCBD Comic Speculation Picks
See everything that’s coming out this week on TFAW here.
The Incredible Hulk #2 Cover D Incentive (1:25) Leinil Francis Yu Variant Cover | Marvel Comics
Submitted by sequential_art
In-Store Date: 7/26/23
I completely missed this on FOC, but it’s going to be an important, key book. This 1:25 ratio variant has the first cover appearance of Charlie (Charlene), whose first appearance was in the issue prior, The Incredible Hulk #1 (same series/run). I’m going to be chasing it this week (which is why it’s so important to stay ahead of FOC and pre-order with your shop!).
There’s a lot of good reader buzz on this new Hulk run by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Nic Klein, which extends back to Hulk Annual #1 (first appearance of The Eldest). This is one I still need to read, both the Annual and #1 are in my reading pile, and I’m looking forward to it!
Get Yours:
Venom #23 Cover E Cafu Spoiler Variant | Marvel Comics
Submitted by sequential_art
In-Store Date: 7/26/23
No spoilers, here, but they are out there, for sure – there’s a new symbiote appearing in this issue, and this is the cover appearance book. It was solicited with the black/blank ‘Spoiler!’ cover, but the art is making its rounds after a cover in the October catalog dropped and let the proverbial cat out of the bag (and, no, that’s not a spoiler, either, lol). First cover appearances of new symbiotes are worth picking up, especially when they’re open order and cover price or less.
Marvel has really taken us on a rollercoaster of emotions with spoiler variants in the last few months (Spider-Man #7 turned out to be Spider-Boy’s first cover and appearance, but Amazing Spider-Man #26 was an actual blank cover, and if you want to go looking for it, the art for Amazing Spider-Man #36 JTC Spoiler is out now, too), so it’s tricky to know how heavily this was ordered and printed. There are exclusives out there that will have this new symbiote on the cover, too, but this is my pick for the first cover and appearance.
Get Yours:
Dead by Daylight #1 (of 4) 2nd Printing Jae Lee B&W Variant | Titan Comics
Submitted by sequential_art
In-Store Date: 7/26/23
Rumor is that this book was a set print run of 2,000 and was heavily, heavily allocated. Expect shops to not receive as many copies as they ordered or not receive any copies at all.
Allocations and short prints always make for good books to pick up! It doesn’t hurt that this cover is the line art variant from the always-popular Jae Lee and it’s a prequel to an already very popular video game.
Get yours here:
FOC Comic Speculation Picks
See everything with a final order cutoff next week here on TFAW and here on The Comic Corner
Void Rivals #1 3rd Printing | Image Comics (Skybound)
Submitted by sequential_art
FOC Date: 7/24/23
In-Store Date: 8/16/23
Don’t let up on additional printings of Void Rivals #1. These additional printings will all be lower print runs than the first printing, and one or more of them is bound to end up being a lot lower printed than the market will demand. This is a book that you pre-order, don’t leave it to chance that your shop will have copies for you on the shelf on NCBD when it releases.
Get Yours:
Void Rivals #2 2nd Printing | Image Comics (Skybound)
Submitted by sequential_art
FOC Date: 7/24/23
In-Store Date: 8/16/23
If I’m being honest, I did not pre-order Void Rivals #2 (I tend to read in trades, which means I’m not pre-ordering #3, either, which is also on FOC this week), but I am going to pre-order this second print. I expect a big fall off on the print run between first and second printings. This second printing is also the first cover appearance of a Skuxxoid from the original Transformers animated series (who also appear in the issue).
Get Yours:
Chilling Adventures Presents Strange Science| Archie Comics
Submitted by Don
FOC Date: 7/24/2023
In-Store Date: 8/16/2023
This one is likely going to be under ordered. These horror Archie books don’t really have a big following. This one, however, reintroduces a character (Danni Malloy) as a trans character. Will it be controversial? Maybe. I will be grabbing a few copies. The original 1st appearance for the character can also be found very cheap (Dilton’s Strange Science 1).
Get yours:
