It was a robust week of news and news-adjacent things in comics, so there’s a lot to pick from in this edition of Comics Disassembled. But because I’m me, this look at ten things I liked or didn’t like from the week of comics begins with a book that seems to have been announced seven months ago, but I don’t even care because it looks great and it’s new to me, dang it!

Record Journey, Appealing!

This might be an unexpected place to start, but the heart wants what the heart wants, so shouts to SKTCHD and Off Panel veteran Mark Tweedale for pointing this book out, as it immediately becomes one of my most anticipated comics of the year (and I suspect it will become one of John Allison’s, sorry not sorry, John). This week’s big discovery was Record Journey Vol. 1 by Ryoichiro Kezuka, and this upcoming manga finds this self-published collection of short stories being translated into English for the first time over at Titan in May. What’s it about? Well, here’s the write-up from the solicit.

“At the heart of these stories is a young woman working at a small record store in Tokyo. Each story introduces a new visitor to the shop—each with a unique past, a specific record in mind, and an emotional thread waiting to be uncovered. As the needle drops, so do the walls between strangers, revealing bittersweet moments, long-lost connections, and the smooth healing of sound.”

Slice of life? Emotional connections? Record stores? The power of music? I guess Ryoichiro Kezuka has been reading my dream journal because dang, Record Journey could not be any more up my alley. Oh, and its art and cover are gorgeous, with the latter acting as a personal Highlights Magazine-like hidden pictures activity with all those record covers it’s practically begging me to look through. Is this the week’s biggest news, or even “news” in a traditional sense? No. But is it a comic I’m now extremely excited about thanks to Mark pointing it out? Absolutely, and that makes it an easy pick for this week’s top spot. I cannot wait to read this in May.

Chip Zdarsky, Being MAD

This is one I knew about early, and when Chip Zdarsky brought it up, my reaction was something along the lines of, “What???” and then “That’s perfect.” It’s the exact right response to the reveal of MAD About DC, a “MAD Magazine-style DC comic book parody” that…really looks like a regular MAD Magazine issue (down to Alfred E. Neuman’s presence on each cover) except it’s 64 pages and comic book sized.

Not only does this beauty exist but it’s guest edited by Zdarsky and it features an insane lineup of creators in its 64 pages, including *takes deep breath* Sergio Aragonés, Ryan Browne & Charles Soule, Jim Zub & Ramon Perez, Kyle Starks, Rainbow Rowell, Vita Ayala, Erica Henderson, Ryan North, Mattie Lubchansky, Matt Fraction, Lee Gatlin, and, like, a million other people, all of whom will be teaming with Zdarsky to roast and parody the DC universe. It’s honestly insane, and insane that DC let Zdarsky bring his premium Zdarsky Comic News energy to his variant cover. I’m so in on this, and I love how continuously outside-the-box DC is willing to get with these quarterly releases. They’re getting weirder and weirder, and I really appreciate that.

Oh, and bonus points to DC for publishing both this and the next title’s debut on April Fools’ Day, too. It’s just perfect.