‘Stone Fruit,’ ‘Thirsty Mermaids’ among the nominees for the 2022 Lambda Literary Awards

The annual awards recognize LGBTQ books, poetry, comics and more.

The nominees for the 34th annual Lambda Literary Awards have been announced, celebrating “the very best in LGBTQ literature.” The awards include an “LGBTQ Comics” category.

According to the press release, this year was the “most competitive yet,” with the highest ever submission volume in Lammy Award history. “We are particularly inspired by such amazing numbers in the LGBTQ Young Adult and Children’s/Middle Grade categories,” the unnamed awards manager said. “The modern movement to ban access to LGBTQ books for young people is horrendous, but we hope the publishing industry continues backing these remarkable works in volume to meet that resistance.”

The nominees in the “LGBTQ Comics” category include:

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DC announces ‘Black Adam’ by Priest + Sandoval

The new series finds the ruthless anti-hero infected with a plague that’s destroying his immortality.

Before launching into his own film later this year, DC’s Black Adam will star in a new comic series by Christopher Priest and Rafa  Sandoval, as the former villain and current Justice League member faces his own mortality.

“Forgive the cliché, but I’ve rarely been this excited about a new project,” Priest said. “DC has provided an amazing opportunity for me to explore and, to some degree, reimagine this character in a very new light while bringing new challenges and consequences to a man who has lived far too long and is desperate for redemption. Rafa Sandoval brings palpable voltage to every panel, bringing out my Kirby-Simonson Big Noise instinct as Rafa’s gifts take me to places I never knew I wanted to go. My only regret is we only have 22 pages a month for this.”

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Paging Scott + Ponce for Dark Horse’s ‘The Ward’

The new supernatural medical drama kicks off in June.

Cavan Scott and Andres Ponce will put a supernatural spin on the medical drama in The Ward, the story of a hospital and its staff that treat minotaurs, ghosts and more.

The four-issue miniseries kicks off in June from Dark Horse Comics.

“I’ve always been fascinated in ordinary people doing extraordinary things in the most incredible of situations, and that certainly describes the indomitable Nat Reeves as she plunges head first into a shift in the world’s only emergency room for supernatural entities,” Scott said. “From murderous minotaur to gelatinous cubes with severe cases of food poisoning, no two patients are alike at St. Lilith’s.”

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Guest Column: Jarrett J. Krosoczka on his early influences

The creator of ‘Hey, Kiddo’ and the ‘Lunch Lady’ series shares his love for Batman, the X-Men, Gummi Bears and more.

Before becoming an award-winning cartoonist and the author of Hey, Kiddo, the Lunch Lady series and other books, Jarrett J. Krosoczka was a fan, wearing his love for the Smurfs, Gummi Bear, X-Men and more on the sleeve of his Batman T-shirt.

Now, with the re-release of the Lunch Lady series as two collected editions, we’re happy to present this guest essay from Krosoczka about those early influences on his work and the escape they provided for him as child.

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Ewing + Rodríguez pit the Defenders against the Beyonder in June

Blue Marvel, Loki, Tigra and more team up to face a Jheri-curled threat from beyond.

Al Ewing and Javier Rodríguez will re-team for another Defenders miniseries later this year, titled Defenders: Beyond. The new story will focus on a different set of characters than last year’s miniseries and will feature the return of the cosmic being The Beyonder.

“So in this book, we’re going on a magical journey into the Mystery itself, mapping the Marvel Godhead and bringing back knowledge that ties into what has gone before, some seismic things to come… and if we’re lucky, maybe a little off-the-page magic to feed your hungry head,” Ewing told Marvel.com. “We’ve got an eclectic new crew of Defenders chosen for the task by the final spell of Stephen Strange – I’m saying what’s probably a final goodbye to a lot of stuff from the past 10 years with this one, and for at least one character, this will be the last adventure. Hope you survive the psychedelic experience, pilgrim!”

This new miniseries will star Taaia, the mother of Galactus, who was introduced in the previous series, along with Blue Marvel, America Chavez, Tigra and Loki.

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Jessica Jones teams with herselves in ‘The Variants’

Gail Simone and Phil Noto teams up multiple versions of the cantankerous P.I. from across the universe.

Jessica Jones will meet her match in June, and that match is herself. Herselves? I don’t know if that’s really a word, but Marvel’s favorite super-powered P.I. is getting a new miniseries this summer where she’ll team up with different versions of herself from across the multiverse.

Gail Simone and Phil Noto will team for The Variants, a five-issue miniseries that will have Jones “question everything she thought she knew about her life and her choices.”

“First, let me get this out…when Tom Brevoort offered me this project, I went and re-read all the Jessica stories, from the classic, groundbreaking [Brian Michael] Bendis stories to the more recent and fantastically good Kelly Thompson stories (that you definitely should read!), and they’re just exciting, compelling reads. There isn’t another comics character like her. That was immensely exciting,” Simone told Marvel.com.

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Nominees announced for the Bram Stoker Awards

Comics by Grant Morrison, Dan Panosian, Marianna Ignazzi, Mico Suayan, Kami Garcia and more have been nominated for the annual awards for horror fiction.

Following the reveal of the preliminary ballot earlier this year, the Horror Writers Association has announced the final nominees for the 2021 Bram Stoker Awards.

The annual awards recognize “superior achievement” in horror/dark fiction. This year BOOM! Studios dominates the list with three nominees, while DC and Independent Legion Publishing each garnered one nomination.

Winners will be announced during the Annual Bram Stoker Awards Banquet held during StokerCon 2022 in Denver. Here are the nominees in the graphic novel category: 

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Buy this ‘Gideon Falls’ shirt to support Ukraine relief efforts

Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino announce efforts to support Unicef’s efforts to help Ukrainians during the Russian invasion.

Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino are raising money to support Unicef’s efforts to support Ukrainian children with a special Gideon Falls T-shirt that’s now available on their Threadless shop.

Proceeds from sales of the shirt will be donated to the organization’s efforts to provide humanitarian aide to children and families affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Lemire said in his Substack newsletter that he also plans to donate any profits from sales of his original art through Cadence Comics Art to the organization for the next two months.

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Hero Initiative will bring ‘JLA/Avengers’ back into print

Marvel and DC’s biggest and arguably best crossover event returns to print next month in honor of artist George Perez.

JLA/Avengers, arguably one of the greatest comics crossover events ever and, hell, probably a contender for one of the greatest Avengers AND Justice League stories of all time, will find its way back into print later this year thanks to the Hero Initiative.

The organization announced a special limited-edition reprint collecting the stellar miniseries by Kurt Busiek and George Perez, with the intent to honor “one of George Pérez seminal bodies of work and his long-time support of Hero.” Perez is a founding member of their board of directors and has served as chair of its Disbursement Committee, and this of course follows the news from last year that the legendary artist was diagnosed with Stage 3 Pancreatic Cancer.

JLA/Avengers walked a long and winding road to publication, with many speed bumps and false starts along the way.

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Can’t Wait for Comics | A new ‘Iron Fist’ emerges in this week’s comics

New comics and graphic novels arrive this week from Tim Seeley, Ilias Kyriazis, Greg Pak, Takeshi Miyaza, Garth Ennis, PJ Holden, Darryl Cunningham and more.

Welcome to Can’t Wait for Comics, your guide to what comics are arriving in comic book stores, bookstores and on digital this week.

I’ve pulled out some of the highlights below, but for the complete list of everything you might find at your local comic shop and on digital this week, you’ll want to check out one or more of the following:

Please note that I have changed the link above to the new Amazon page for comiXology. You can still get to the comiXology new releases page for now, but I’m not sure how long it’ll be around.

As a reminder, things can change and what you find on the above lists may differ from what’s actually arriving in your local shop. So always check with your comics retailer for the final word on availability.

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DC’s 2022 Free Comic Book Day line-up

Super Pets, ‘Dark Crisis’ and a new hero arrive on May 7.

DC Comics has announced the rest of their Free Comic Book Day titles for 2022, following last week’s announcement of Dark Crisis and its debut on May 7.

Joining Dark Crisis #0 FCBD Special Edition will be Galaxy: The Prettiest Star Free Comic Book Day Special Edition and DC League of Super-Pets: The Great Mxy-Up Free Comic Book Day Special Edition. Both offer previews of upcoming graphic novels from DC that will arrive in stores 10 days later on May 17.

Here’s more info on all three:

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‘Thunderbolts’ returns in May from Zub + Izaakse

Jim Zub and Sean Izaakse bring together Hawkeye, Spectrum, America Chavez and more for a new take on the classic team.

A new iteration of Marvel’s Thunderbolts will strike in May, courtesy of writer Jim Zub and artist Sean Izaakse.

The new team springs from the events occurring in Devil’s Reign, the event series featuring New York’s heroes running up against former-crime-boss-turned-mayor Wilson Fisk, aka the Kingpin. In that series, the Kingpin has enlisted his own team of villains to serve as his law-enforcing Thunderbolts, but this new team is another animal completely. While previous Thunderbolts titles have featured, for the most part, villains seeking redemption, this new team is heavy on the heroes.

“My elevator pitch for this series was essentially ‘Ted Lasso by way of the Avengers,'” Zub said in an email. “I wanted to craft a story that was full of heart and interpersonal struggles and I’m incredibly proud of how it’s all coming together. I’ve built a reputation for writing team dynamics well and this book has already been one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve had doing just that.”

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