Comics Lowdown: Chelsea Saunders wins Locher Award

Plus Riverdale 10 years later, UK war comics reprinted, and a Scott Adams controversy… again.

Awards: Chelsea Saunders, whose work is often published at The Nib, is the winner of the 2019 Locher Award for emerging editorial cartoonists. Hit that link for some good reading, because the runners-up have a lot of talent as well.

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Smash Pages Q&A: Gary Phillips

The crime writer discusses his latest comic, ‘The Be-Bop Barbarians,’ and more.

Gary Phillips is best known as one of the great crime writers of his generation. His Ivan Monk mystery novels stand out as one of the best series of the 1990s and he’s written many others including The Warlord of Willow Ridge, High Handand The Underbelly. He’s written many short stories and edited anthologies like the recent Culprits: The Heist Was Only the Beginning and The Obama Inheritance: Fifteen Stories of Conspiracy Noir.

He’s also been writing comics for years. From Shot Callerz and Midnight Mover at Oni to The Rinse and High Rollers at Boom to Angeltown and Cowboys at Vertigo he’s written some of the best crime comics in the 21st Century. He wrote a webcomic Bicycle Cop Dave, which was collected in Beat LA, with Christa Faust he wrote the debut series for the Hard Case Comics imprint, Peepland, and wrote the relaunched Vigilante at DC Comics. His new graphic novel, which is out now from Pegasus Books, is The Be-Bop Barbarians.

While his comics tend to be crime stories, The Be-Bop Barbarians is different, but readers of his novels will find it familiar. One of Phillips’ great strengths as a writer is the way he is able to use fiction to incorporate historical details and history as it is lived in a way that provides a fuller understanding of the present. The Be-Bop Barbarians is about three African-American cartoonists living in New York in the 1950s and though they’re vaguely based on real life figures, Phillips uses them to talk about the comics business, to discuss politics, and get an understanding of the historical moment and the progress that has been made.

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Watch Brian Michael Bendis discuss comics with Seth Meyers

Bendis discusses Legion, Naomi, Miles Morales and how he tries to think like Superman.

Superman writer Brian Michael Bendis returned to Late Night with Seth Meyers this week to once again talk about his work with late night host and comics fan Seth Meyers.

The two hit on a myriad of topics, including the success of Miles Morales (who Bendis co-created, he noted to Meyers in a small but important moment in the interview; hat tip to artist Sara Pichelli), the challenges of writing Superman, the origin of Naomi and his work on the upcoming Legion of Super-Heroes relaunch.

Watch the full segment below:

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Michel Fiffe loads another round of ‘Copra’ in October

A new first issue arrives Oct. 2 from Image Comics.

Michel Fiffe’s wonderful Copra moved to Image Comics earlier this year, bringing new editions of the five previous trade paperbacks to stores in May. But since then fans have been asking, “When will we see a new Copra series from Fiffe?”

The answer: October.

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Read Colleen Coover’s Lana Lang fan comic

Superman and Lana hang out in this “unsanctioned” but fun story.

Eisner Award-winning comics creator Colleen Coover has posted an “Unofficial, Unsanctioned, Unsolicited” new comic starring Superman’s ex-girlfriend, Lana Lang. Hey, if Lois Lane and Mary Jane Watson can get their own comics, why not Lana?

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Smash Pages Q&A: Teresa Wong

‘Dear Scarlet: The Story of My Postpartum Depression’ is a deeply personal look at the weeks after the birth of Wong’s first child.

Teresa Wong still thinks of herself as a writer, but the Calgary-based creator just had her first graphic memoir as writer and artist published by Arsenal Pulp Press. Dear Scarlet: The Story of My Postpartum Depression is a deeply personal look at the weeks after the birth of her first child.

The text is written in the form of a letter to her daughter, but the book is unsparing in looking at the physical and emotional costs of motherhood. In recent years, the stigma around postpartum depression has lessened as more women have begun to open up about their experiences, and Dear Scarlet helps to open the conversation around motherhood and parenting in important ways.

Wong and I spoke recently about depression and how Raina Telegemier helped her make the book, and we laughed about Coldplay.

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‘Red Rain’ Batman sinks his teeth into ‘Secrets of Sinister House’ one-shot

DC’s annual Halloween anthology features new stories by John Layman, Paul Dini, Rafael Albuquerque, Tom Raney and more.

DC’s annual Halloween anthology will return in October with a new story set in the world of Batman & Dracula: Red Rain, among other stories.

Rafael Scavone and Rafael Albuquerque will co-write the story about vampire Batman, with art by Rafael Albuquerque. Albuquerque’s the co-creator of American Vampire, so he’s very familiar with fanged monsters. Released in the 1990s and created by Dog Moench and Kelley Jones, Red Rain was one of the earliest “Elseworlds” stories published by DC. It spawned two sequels.

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Smash Pages Q&A: Cullen Bunn on ‘Blossom 666’

The writer of ‘Harrow County,’ ‘The Sixth Gun,’ ‘X-Men Blue,’ ‘Unearth’ and more discusses the recently wrapped-up Archie Horror title.

Cullen Bunn has written a lot of horror comics in recent years – along with a lot of comics in a lot of other genres. In comics ranging from Harrow County to The Empty Man to Bone Parish to The Damned, he’s played with the genre in different ways.

The five-issue miniseries Blossoms 666 which Bunn made with artist Laura Braga just wrapped up, in which Cheryl and Jason Blossom compete to become the Antichrist. The Archie Comics horror line has a reputation for being shocking and brutal in a lot of strange and creative ways, but Blossoms 666 is a much quieter book compared to the others, with the horror being much more subtle and running under the seemingly placid surface.

Now that the series has wrapped up, Bunn answered a few questions about the comic and playing with an ideal version of Riverdale.

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Nominees announced for the 2019 British Fantasy Awards

Lucy Bellwood, Hellboy, ‘Saga’ and more are among this year’s nominees.

The British Fantasy Society has announced the nominees for the 2019 British Fantasy Awards, which include a “Best Comic/Graphic Novel” category.

The entrants are selected after two rounds of nominations, and votes are tallied from the members of the British Fantasy Society and FantasyCon. Winners will be announced Oct. 20 at FantasyCon 2019 in Glasgow, Scotland. Monstress took home the award for the past two years, but isn’t nominated this year.

The nominees are:

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Oni Press announces Katie O’Neill’s ‘Dewdrop’ for early 2020

The creator of ‘The Tea Dragon Society’ returns with a new graphic novel aimed at younger readers.

The creator of the award-winning The Tea Dragon Society will return with a new graphic novel, Dewdrop, in 2020.

Katie O’Neill announced the young reader’s project during the Oni Press panel at Comic-Con International this past weekend.

“I’m so happy to be creating a book for younger readers, especially one with themes of mindfulness and self-fulfillment,” Katie O’Neill said. “I hope the ideas in Dewdrop will sew seeds that may stay with children in some small way, and eventually grow when they need them most. It’s also a real honor to help with starting kids reading in any way I can, so I am very excited for them to meet Dewdrop and his friends!”

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Fund me Monday: Domino Books, Jay Stephens and more

Find out about crowdfunding projects by Austin English, Vera Greentea, Charlie Stickney and Black Eye Books.

As crowdfunding continues to be a viable method for creators to fund their creative endeavors and connect directly with fans, comic-related projects flourish on sites like Kickstarter, Patreon, IndieGoGo and others. Here’s a look at a few recent campaigns that caught our eyes.

New Comics + Distribution by DOMINO

Who is involved? Domino Books, a small press publisher run by Austin English
Deadline: July 31
Goal: $6,000

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Quoted: Warren Ellis on Alan Moore’s retirement

“He changed everything.”

The publication of the last issue of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen brings the end of Alan Moore’s comic book writing career. In his weekly email newsletter, Warren Ellis marks the occasion with a few words about the writer:

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