Previews

David Petersen found great acclaim in comics as the creator of Mouse Guard, a series about intelligent mice living in a medieval society. His latest project is neither a comic nor his own creation, but it's obviously a labor of love directed toward one of Mouse Guard's obvious influences. Petersen has spent three years creating beautiful illustrations for The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame's 1908 novel about anthropomorphic animals living in the English countryside, and now IDW is publishing a hardback edition of the novel with Petersen's illustrations.

I don't want to blow anyone's mind here, but I have the sneaking suspicion that the Joker who's been hanging around in the pages of Harley Quinn for the past few issues claiming that he's changed and wants to apologize to her for years of abuse isn't quite what he seems. Regardless, he's been trying to get some facetime with Harley for the last three issues, and in next week's Harley Quinn #13 by Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti, and John Timms, he's finally going to get a little more than he bargained for. Check out a preview below!

I'm not going to lie to you, folks: Things are looking pretty grim for everyone's favorite ponies. I mean, sure, they're having a good time on the cover for their next issue, celebrating the milestone 50th issue with a big party, complete with cake, presents, candy apples, and even some festive hats. Inside, however, things aren't quite so festive.

The big news for Archie this week is, of course, the launch of Riverdale as a prime-time TV drama that's already garnering interest by building its first storyline not around a botched double-date or a milkshake with too many straws, but the discovery of a dead body that may or may not have been murdered by one or more members of the cast. Really, though, dead bodies? That's small potatoes compared to the shocking and tragic events that are going to be playing out in the comics next month: There's just so much Reggie Mantle.

Set for release in early April, Leila del Duca and Kit Seaton's Afar is a story that weaves together astral projection, mysticism, strange alien creatures, and personal stakes playing out on a cosmic scale. Check out an exclusive preview.

Marvel is expanding its Daredevil family of titles under the banner "Running With The Devil", and as part of the new initiative, Matt Owens and Juann Cabal are taking over on a new volume of Elektra that takes the master assassin to Las Vegas for a run in with the ultimate gamesmaster supervillain, Arcade! Marvel has provided us with a first look at Elektra #1, out late next month, which sees the former leader of The Hand testing her luck as a high roller.

The Universe is a lonely place. Especially for an astronaut traveling to dead worlds and investigating what killed their populations. That's the mission facing Sarah, the protagonist of World Reader, a new sci-fi series written by Jeff Loveness with art by Juan Doe. And it's more than just that. Sarah's trying to discover the cause of death of all these planets in the hope of keeping Earth from being the next to die, and it looks like Death itself may be on her heels.

Courtesy of Marvel, ComicsAlliance brings you an advance look at new periodical comic books, collected editions and graphic novels going on sale in April 2017 (and in some cases beyond) from the publisher’s mainline Marvel Universe titles, its licensed properties, and the creator-owned label Icon. There's a number of big debuts and first issues in March, with the entire X-Men line getting a short in the arm thanks to Ressurxion. April also sees the launch of Black Panther and The Crew and Nick Fury, and major developments in the Captain America titles that seem to point towards Marvel's big 2017 event, Secret Empire.

Courtesy of DC Comics, ComicsAlliance brings you an advance look at new periodical comic books, collected editions, graphic novels and collectibles going on sale in April 2017 (and in some cases beyond) from the publisher’s superhero line and the mature readers Vertigo imprint. All of the following books can be purchased at finer comic book shops, where you can also pre-order your selections to ensure you’ll get a copy before they sell out.

As Ladycastle #1 begins, Aeve is a princess in the grand Disney-esque tradition, singing a song to welcome in the day and introduce us to her world. But from the very beginning of this comic, things are a little off-kilter. Aeve's song is about the terrible cabin fever that she feels from being trapped in a tower, and her pet is a two-headed snake. Even at this point, before the narrative turns fairy tropes on their head as we know it will, it's clear that this world is different, and so is this princess.