In Stores 5/14/14

By Derek Drymon, Jerry Ordway, Vince Deporter

Cover by Jacob Chabot, Jerry Ordway, Rick Neilsen

It all starts here! SpongeBob's first soggy serialized adventure "Showdown at the Shady Shoals" pulls anchor and begins a 5-issue voyage into aquatic action! In a tale featuring the art of Jerry Ordway (World's Finest, The Human Bomb), SpongeBob must find out who's stronger: his idol, Mermaid Man, or that noble anti-hero, the proud, muscular, poofy-haired sea king Viro Reganto? It's a question that will send SpongeBob, Mermaid Man, and Viro into a quest that spans decades--from the Briny Age of comics to the pulse-pounding present! Then, in "Squidward's Shell Phone," SpongeBob learns a new way to stay in constant contact with his best buddy,  Squidward--and Squidward is thrilled! Did you hear the sarcasm there? Plus: SpongeBob's strange haircut ritual, a fill-in comic, SpongeFunnies by James Kochalka, and a guide to the ancient undersea language of…Esperanto?