Month: June 2019

Canadian creators unite for new ‘Alpha Flight’

A one-shot featuring three stories about the Canadian super team arrives in September.

Marvel is all about the one-shot specials in September, as they continue to celebrate their 80th birthday with special projects. You’ve got Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz doing New Mutants; Erik Larsen, Gerry Conway and Mark Bagley on Amazing Spider-Man; Roger Stern returning to Avengers; and, heck, you’ve even got Obnoxious the Clown in a Crazy one-shot.

But wait — there’s more! Also announced for September is a one-shot featuring a whole bunch of Canadian creators tackling Canada’s No. 1 team, Alpha Flight. Jim Zub, Scott Hepburn, Jed MacKay and more will contribute to Alpha Flight: True North.

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DC announces new YA/DC Kids projects at ALA

New titles for 2020 and 2021 announced at the American Library Association’s annual convention.

Although they may be dropping the DC Ink and DC Zoom (the latter is still a better name than DC Kids) brands, DC has announced a slew of new projects and updates for their young readers line at the American Library Association’s annual convention this weekend.

Of note in this latest list are several new Teen Titans Go! books; with the comic cancelled as of September, it’s good to see that the young reader-friendly material based on the show will continue. You’ve also got new material by Jeffrey Brown, Art Baltazar and Franco, Louise Simonson, Mariko Tamaki and Leila del Duca. And finally, John Constantine, of all characters, will finally make the leap into a YA title, courtesy of Ryan North and Derek Charm.

Check out the full list below.

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Of course Shannon Wheeler is working on a Mueller Report adaptation

“It’s the Mueller Report… with pictures… and funny.”

I’d be very disappointed if Shannon Wheeler, creator of Sh*t My President Says, wasn’t working on a comic book adaptation of the Mueller Report.

“It’s the Mueller Report… with pictures… and funny,” Wheeler said in the press release.

Wheeler will once again work with his Oil & Water collaborator Steve Duin to adapt the more than 400-page legal document assembled by Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III on his investigation into Russia’s interference with the 2016 U.S. election. IDW promises they’ll produce “a comprehensive, understandable and readable graphic novel version of the book every patriot needs.”

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DC rebrands its publishing; Vertigo to go away at end of the year

Black Label will survive as Vertigo, DC Ink and DC Zoom all get the axe.

Rumors of Vertigo’s demise have proven to be true, as DC Comics has announced a rebranding of its content into three age-specific labels: DC Kids, DC and DC Black Label. The Vertigo imprint will be “sunset” at the end of the year, along with the DC Zoom and DC Ink labels.

“We’re returning to a singular presentation of the DC brand that was present throughout most of our history until 1993 when we launched Vertigo to provide an outlet for edgier material,” said DC Publisher Dan DiDio in a press release. “That kind of material is now mainstream across all genres, so we thought it was the right time to bring greater clarity to the DC brand and reinforce our commitment to storytelling for all of our fans in every age group. This new system will replace the age ratings we currently use on our material.”

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‘Perry Bible Fellowship’ gets an ‘Almanack’ for its birthday

Nicholas Gurewitch’s strip gets a fancy collection in November.

The Perry Bible Fellowship turns 10 this year, and fans of the alt.newspaper-turned-webcomic strip are getting a gift, as Dark Horse puts together an “Almanack” of Nicholas Gurewitch‘s creation.

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Larsen, Conway, Bagley return to ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ for Marvel’s 80th

Dream team of Spider-Man creators brings decades of experience working on the character.

The guest list for Marvel’s 80th anniversary blowout continues to grow, as the publisher has announced Savage Dragon creator and Image Comics co-founder Erik Larsen will return to do an Amazing Spider-Man one-shot in September. He’ll be joined by two other creators known for their work in the character – Gerry Conway and Mark Bagley.

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Smash Pages Q&A: June Brigman

The cat is out of the bag for the Mary Worth illustrator

June Brigman has had a long, varied career in comics. She started working in comic books where she co-created Power Pack with Louise Simonson at Marvel, and drew a wide variety of projects including Supergirl, Star Wars: River of Chaos, and adapting and illustrating Black Beauty into comics. She’s also been working in comic strips for decades. She drew Brenda Starr from 1995 to when the strip ended in 2011, and since 2016 she’s been drawing Mary Worth seven days a week.

Brigman returned to comic books last year with arguably her best work to date, the miniseries Captain Ginger. The science fiction series features cats who have outlived the human race, and it’s a funny and dark and inventive story. The trade collection of the miniseries is out from Ahoy Comics this month, which also announced that there’s a sequel in the works – though readers are unlikely to forget the comic’s final page that sets it up.

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Berger Books will bring you ‘Everything’ in September

Christopher Cantrell and INJ Culbard bring megastore mayhem to Michigan in a new ongoing series.

Karen Berger’s line of comics at Dark Horse will expand in September to include, well, Everything.

“I love Everything!” said Karen Berger. “It’s like if Twin Peaks and Stranger Things had a baby and Ray Bradbury was the godfather. It’s truly one of the strangest and most surreal series I’ve ever published, while being incredibly moving and relatable.”

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Zub + Medina assemble “Agents of Wakanda” this September

New team spins out of Jason Aaron’s ‘Avengers.’

In Avengers #12, Jason Aaron introduced a new team of “Secret Avengers” called the Agents of Wakanda, who carry out various missions for the Black Panther under the guidance of Okoye. Agents like the original Wasp, Ka-zar, Gorilla-Man and Fat Cobra carry out secret missions and gather intel to help the bigger Avengers team.

Now those secret missions are becoming unclassified, as writer Jim Zub and artist Lan Medina team for Black Panther and the Agents of Wakanda

“This book is Kirby-fueled Mission: Impossible,” Zub said in an email. “We’re taking the kind of fun and frenetic action that movie-goers enjoyed so much in the Black Panther film and combining it with mysteries and mayhem in the Marvel Universe.”

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Smash Pages Q&A: Maria Llovet

The multi-faceted comic creator talks about illustrating Faithless, collaborating with Azzarello, and gives insight on her work.

The big name on the new comics series Faithless is writer Brian Azzarello, but it’s artist and colorist Maria Llovet who has really blown readers away with her style and aesthetic choices, her sense of fashion and her use of color. Her approach has helped to define and shape the book in the way that a good artist and a good collaboration should be able to do.

Llovet has written and drawn a number of books that were published in Spain, including Eros/Psyche, Porcelain, Heartbeat and Insecto. She also drew There’s Nothing There, which was written by Patrick Kindlon and published in the U.S. Spending some time on her website and social media, it’s clear that Llovet is a busy and inventive artist with an agile mind. She was kind enough to take the time to answer a few questions by email about Faithless, another book coming out in the U.S. later this year and how she works.

Please note this interview includes preview art containing nudity that is NSFW or for kids.

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Stjepan Šejić explores Harley Quinn’s origin

‘Harleen’ is about good people ‘falling in love, falling from grace and falling apart.

DC Comics’ Black Label line continues to grow this September with the addition of Harleen, a new miniseries by Stjepan Šejić (Sunstone).

The miniseries will offer a different take on the origin of Harley Quinn, exploring her past as a psychologist and her first meeting with The Joker.

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Claremont + Sienkiewicz return to ‘New Mutants’

The ‘New Mutants: War Children’ one-shot will arrive in September.

Back in the 1980s, Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz had a critically lauded run on New Mutants, introducing Warlock, the Demon Bear and more. Now the two creators are reuniting for a new one-shot, New Mutants: War Children.

The comic will feature Magik, Wolfsbane, Cannonball, Cypher, Mirage, Karma, and Sunspot, with a guest appearance by Kitty Pryde, as they have to deal with a haywire Warlock and Magik’s Darkchylde.

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