Author: JK Parkin

Marvel teams with Penguin Random House Publisher Services as its direct market distributor

Marvel signs an exclusive distribution deal with the publishing house that begins in October.

Marvel has announced a new agreement with Penguin Random House Publisher Services to distribute their comics and graphic novels to the direct market, beginning Oct. 1.

The deal is “an exclusive worldwide multi-year sales and distribution agreement for Marvel’s newly published and backlist comic books, trade collections and graphic novels to comics shops.”

This effectively replaces Diamond Comics Distributors as Marvel’s route to comic book stores. Diamond, however, will still act as a wholesaler and will receive product through Penguin, so retailers can still choose to order Marvel’s products through them.

Continue reading “Marvel teams with Penguin Random House Publisher Services as its direct market distributor”

DC wants you to help name Nightwing’s dog

DC has opened a poll on their community boards that ends March 30.

Nightwing’s got a new dog, and that dog needs a name. So DC is running a poll on their DC Universe Infinite community boards with four choices.

Unfortunately, you have to have a login to access the boards and the poll, which means you have to live in the United States. But writer Tom Taylor took to Twitter to offer an “informal” option for those who live outside the U.S.:

https://twitter.com/TomTaylorMade/status/1374757908311801856
Continue reading “DC wants you to help name Nightwing’s dog”

Top Cow to publish J. Gonzo’s ‘La Mano del Destino’

The collection of Gonzo’s original six-issue miniseries arrives in May.

Here’s one I missed when Image’s solicitations came out for May, but Top Cow reminded me of it with a press release: After self-publishing six issues and crowdfunding a bilingual flipbook, J. Gonzo‘s epic luche libre comic La Mano del Destino will be collected and published by Top Cow in May.

“Top Cow is a place where creative ideas win,” Gonzo said in a press release. “If you look at their current projects, or even their back catalog, there is a rich variety of story types and approaches that is unlike most other publishers or studios. They are less interested in a homogeneity of some house style and truly promote the best, creative ideas. It really is an ‘artist’s company.’”

Continue reading “Top Cow to publish J. Gonzo’s ‘La Mano del Destino’”

AHOY announces ‘Black’s Myth’ by Palicki + Cavalcanti

The five-issue miniseries about L.A.’s supernatural underground debuts in July.

After writer Eric Palicki teased it on Twitter earlier this year, AHOY Comics has formally announced Black’s Myth, a black-and-white “punk rock horror story” by the writer of Atlantis Wasn’t Built For Tourists and No Angel, and BlackAcre artist Wendell Cavalcanti. Sarah Litt will edit it.

“Like all the best punk rock narratives, Black’s Myth is about outcasts finding each other and accepting their place in the world,” Palicki said. “In its own subtle way, it’s about being part of the comics community.”

Continue reading “AHOY announces ‘Black’s Myth’ by Palicki + Cavalcanti”

Image Comics maps the route to eternal life in ‘Compass’

The adventure comic from Robert Mackenzie, Dave Walker and Justin Greenwood debuts in June.

Robert Mackenzie and Dave Walker, who worked on Lazarus Sourcebook with Greg Rucka, will team up with artist Justin Greenwood for a new adventure series set in 13th century Britain, titled Compass.

“Compass was born out of our desire to tell a story of discovery without colonialism, of adventure without exploitation—something with the verve and energy of the pulps, but with a perspective that hadn’t been seen much in that genre,” said Mackenzie. “Getting there was its own process of discovery, and it’s been a joy to work with co-creators who have the talent to truly unearth Shahidah‘s quest. I’m so pleased to be able to share Compass with the world.”

Continue reading “Image Comics maps the route to eternal life in ‘Compass’”

Can’t Wait for Comics | ‘Harley Quinn,’ ‘Firefly,’ ‘Alien’ and more

See what’s arriving in comic shops and on digital this week.

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

Check out a few highlights below, or visit ComicList for this week’s full list of new comics arriving in stores, and the comiXology new releases page for what’s available digitally.

Continue reading “Can’t Wait for Comics | ‘Harley Quinn,’ ‘Firefly,’ ‘Alien’ and more”

Matt Kindt jumps into the controversial world of NFTs with a new ‘Mind MGMT’ story

The one-of-a-kind story will go to the highest bidder of an NFT auction.

Creator Matt Kindt is exploring the world of non-fungible tokens with Mind MGMT: The Artifact, a full-length comic that’s currently up for auction on the NFT auction website OpenSea.

Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, have been making headlines recently; they’re a type of code that acts sort of as a unique certificate of authenticity for a digital piece of art, tied to bitcoin and block chain technologies. The Verge, Bankrate and NPR have Q&A’s up on what NFTs are and how they’re being used right now in the art world.

“I wanted to create an original Mind MGMT comic book narrative that would explore the nature of belief and the value of ideas and their intangible nature as a way of exploring the idea of NFTs,” said Kindt. “The best way to explore this idea was for the actual story – the Mind MGMT narrative – to become what it is about. This story is written as a Mind MGMT espionage narrative – an agent sent on a mission to retrieve a priceless artifact. There are secret codes, monk-ninjas. LOTS of monk-ninjas and a teenage immortal intent on stealing this priceless artifact. It is both a real apple…and a drawing of an apple.”

Continue reading “Matt Kindt jumps into the controversial world of NFTs with a new ‘Mind MGMT’ story”

Meet the unluckiest teens in the world in Erman + Simeone’s ‘Good Luck’

New miniseries will debut from BOOM! Studios in June.

In a world where luck is quantifiable and something you’re born with, creators Matthew Erman and Stefano Simeone will tell the story of the Unfortunates, a group of teens with no luck at all, in the upcoming comic Good Luck.

The five-issue miniseries will debut in June from BOOM! Studios.

“Good Luck is not only a mind-bending sci-fi adventure about the four unluckiest teens on the planet but also one of the hardest and biggest things I’ve ever written. It wound up being one of the most personal, as well, because it’s a story about unlucky people taking wild swings and hoping for the best, despite what they may believe about themselves,” said Erman, the co-creator of Long Lost. “I’m so excited for you all to meet the unlucky Artie, Cherry, Hilde and Joseph, who live in a universe with a lot of weird little inspirations—Annihilation, Talking Head songs, X-Men, Chrono Trigger—that make this series so unique and hopefully very fun for readers to jump into!”

Continue reading “Meet the unluckiest teens in the world in Erman + Simeone’s ‘Good Luck’”

What Are You Reading? | ‘Witchblood,’ ‘Nightwing,’ ‘Black Knight’ and more

See what the Smash Pages crew has been reading lately.

Welcome to What Are You Reading?, our weekly look at what the Smash Pages crew has been checking off their “to read” list lately.

Let us know what you read this week in the comments or on social media.

Continue reading “What Are You Reading? | ‘Witchblood,’ ‘Nightwing,’ ‘Black Knight’ and more”

Bunn + Scharf reunite for supernatural horror series ‘Basilisk’

The new series debuts from BOOM! Studios in June.

Following the news of Parasomnia this week comes another horror-themes series written by Cullen Bunn — Basilisk, where he reunites with his Bone Parish collaborator Jonas Scharf for a new supernatural horror series from BOOM! Studios.

They’re joined by colorist Alex Guimarães and letterer Ed Dukeshire.

“Basilisk is an epic, dark, fantasy horror story, and I can’t wait for readers to meet the players on both sides of this tale of revenge. Here we have a woman who has absolutely nothing left to lose hunting down a group of would-be gods, each of whom can use one of the five senses to destroy those around them. They’re terrifying in their own way–the heroes and the villains,” said Bunn. “This is another collaboration with the amazing Jonas Scharf, who worked with me on Bone Parish, and I think his work here is even more amazing, even more deific, even more haunting.”

Continue reading “Bunn + Scharf reunite for supernatural horror series ‘Basilisk’”

Bunn + Mutti’s ‘Parasomnia’ awakens in June

The four-issue miniseries from Dark Horse details one man’s journey through a nightmarish dreamscape.

Cullen Bunn and Andrea Mutti set off on a horrific adventure through the land of nightmares in the new miniseries Parasomnia.

“Parasomnia is an eerie dark fantasy adventure. Part of it is set in our world–the waking world–and part of it is set… someplace else,” Bunn said. “A land of ruthless highwaymen and forgotten gods and fierce monsters. It’s a little bit sword and sorcery, a little bit mystery, a little horror, and a whole lot of action adventure.”

Continue reading “Bunn + Mutti’s ‘Parasomnia’ awakens in June”

Marvel announces ‘Immortal Hulk’ spinoff ‘Gamma Flight’

Puck, Rick Jones, Titania and more join forces in the new series.

Puck, Titania, Absorbing Man, Doc Sasquatch and Rick Jones will assemble under a familiar name with a clever twist: Gamma Flight. The spinoff from Immortal Hulk will be written by Al Ewing and Crystal Frasier, who have worked together previously on Immortal Hulk, with art by Lan Medina.

“Gamma Flight is an opportunity to explore some of the concepts and plant some of the seeds from Immortal Hulk in their own space, building off the found family that came together in those pages and putting them into action against some strange and ugly doings in the unexplored corners of the gamma world,” Ewing told Marvel.com. “We’ve been ricocheting ideas off each other for a while on this one, and I suspect the result is something that’ll tickle Hulk fans old and new.”

Continue reading “Marvel announces ‘Immortal Hulk’ spinoff ‘Gamma Flight’”