New Comics Day: 'DC Finest: Horror – Where Dead Men Walk,' 'You're a Pal, Snoopy,' 'Star Wars Comics Library Vol. 1: 1977-1979'

Items of note out this week. Click the links to order from Bookshop.org.

DC Finest: Horror – Where Dead Men Walk

DC Finest’s celebrated horror anthology shambles ahead with an all-new volume filled to bursting with otherworldly adventures and uncanny encounters, all carefully crafted by some of comics’ greatest talents!

Featuring frighteningly fantastic work from the likes of Len Wein, Bernie Wrightson, Alex Toth, Gerry Conway, Marv Wolfman, Jack Sparling, and Gray Morrow (to name just a few), this eldritch tome reprints a host of timeless tales, including “The Symbionts,” “Dark City of Doom,” and “Death Has Marble Lips!” from the long-lost years of 1970 and 1971.

Collects House of Secrets #86-90, House of Mystery #186-190, The Witching Hour #8-12, and The Unexpected #118-123. 

You're a Pal, Snoopy

This facsimile edition features 122 classic comic strips from 1964-1965 and features many classic characters, including Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus, Frieda, Sally, Schroeder, Pig-Pen, and the introduction of Charlie Brown’s Summer Camp friend, Roy. Join them as they navigate their way through school, summer camp, algebra, the complexities of baseball, the Great Pumpkin and the world of the forever unseen grown-ups and their crazy rules.

Star Wars Comics Library Vol. 1: 1977-1979

In January 1976, as George Lucas prepared to shoot his new film, then titled The Star Wars, he asked Marvel Comics to publish a comic book for the film's release. Marvel's initial reluctance abated once they understood that Lucas was prepared to give the rights for free. Royalties would only be paid if the comic sold more than 100,000 copies.Upon the movie's release in May 1977, Marvel soon realised that they had a mega-hit on their hands. 

The first issues, scripted by Roy Thomas and drawn by Howard Chaykin, a young artist Lucas had spotted in the indie comic Star*Reach, sold over one million copies, four times the number of Marvel's top superhero title: The Amazing Spider-Man. Hence, Star Wars became a monthly publication.

With no new film due to drop for at least a few years, and fans ravenous for more stories, Lucasfilm released several novels. But the only regular source of new material was the comic. It continued to outsell all Marvel's other titles, thanks to the quality of the creators guiding the stories. Thomas and Chaykin were soon joined by writer Archie Goodwin and penciller Carmine Infantino, who took Luke, Han, Leia and Darth Vader all over the galaxy, exploring new worlds and introducing new characters.

The first 23 issues have now been digitally remastered to correct the original era's inexpensive, imperfect printing, while still capturing the spirit and texture of the comics' historic first release, and collected in an XXL-sized edition: bigger even than a Death Star. This truly out-of-this-world collection includes an in-depth history by comic book historian Peter Sanderson.