Author: JK Parkin

Can’t Wait for Wednesday | Enter the ‘House of Brainiac’

Check out what new comics and graphic novels are arriving this week by Joshua Williamson, Rafa Sandoval, Tony Fleecs, Dave Wachter, Erica Schultz, Cullen Bunn, Patrick Piazzalunga, Kevin Maguire, Travis Dandro, Emily Carroll and more.

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

This week the House of Brainiac kicks off in the Superman Family and related titles, while another comic emerges from the Spawn universe. Meanwhile, Winnie-the-Pooh entering the public domain nets us a beautiful new graphic novel, while a classic by Emily Carroll returns to print.

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:

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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‘Gender Queer,’ ‘Flamer’ among the most banned books of 2023

For the third year in a row, a record number of books were challenged in libraries and schools.

Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe was once again the most challenged book in libraries in 2023, as reported today by the American Library Association. This makes the third year in a row that the graphic novel about gender identity has topped the list.

Gender Queer was one of seven books in the top 10 that was challenged based on LGBTQIA+ content, along with two other graphic novels — Flamer by Mike Curato, which was the fifth most challenged book, and Let’s Talk About It by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan, which was the ninth.

“In looking at the titles of the most challenged books from last year, it’s obvious that the pressure groups are targeting books about LGBTQIA+ people and people of color,” said ALA President Emily Drabinski. “At ALA, we are fighting for the freedom to choose what you want to read. Shining a light on the harmful workings of these pressure groups is one of the actions we must take to protect our right to read.”

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‘Dark Knights of Steel’ sequel ‘Allwinter’ begins in July

DC enlists fantasy novelist Jay Kristoff and Spanish artist Tirso to continue the Elseworlds story.

As announced last year at the New York Comic Con, DC has several Elseworlds projects in the works for 2024. While June will bring Gotham by Gaslight: The Kryptonian Age #1 by Andy Diggle and Leandro Fernandez, DC has shared more details on July’s Dark Knights of Steel: Allwinter this week.

The spinoff of Dark Knights of Steel will continue the story of a medieval world populated by versions of DC characters. It’s by fantasy novelist Jay Kristoff and Spanish artist Tirso, who recently signed an exclusive contract with the publisher.

The duo will continue the story from the first volume by Tom Taylor and Yasmine Putri. Taylor returns to write a back-up story for the miniseries, with art by Riccardo Federici.

“Dark Knights of Steel was one of my favorite reads; it combines a super-attractive universe with an unbeatable team dynamic,” Tirso said. “Working as a team with Jay, in this universe, has been one of my best professional experiences so far.

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Slugfest | Black Widow gets ‘Venomous’ in a new one-shot

Plus news and announcements on Hellverine, Misty, Nick Cagnetti, Paul Pope, Blood Hunt, Briar, Joy Operations and more!

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you that we haven’t otherwise covered. Hit the links for more information.

If you’ve been reading Venom of late, you know that the Black Widow — who already has a cool spider name — has gone and gotten herself a symbiote. This summer, writer Erica Schultz and artist Luciano Vecchio will “unleash Natasha Romanoff’s full potential as a symbiote warrior” in a new one-shot.

Black Widow: Venomous will not only show the super-spy figuring out how to work with her new partner, but will also set the stage for the upcoming Venom War event.

“Who doesn’t want to write Natasha Romanoff? And with a badass symbiote, it didn’t take much to convince me,” Schultz said. “Luciano Vecchio’s art is so amazing. It’s been so fun to delve into Nat’s spy craft techniques, and you just may learn something new about her.”

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Clay McCormack + Ricardo López-Ortiz tag-team on the wrestling crime drama ‘Hard Style Juice!’

The five-issue digital series will debut from Comixology Originals on April 16.

Just in time for Wrestlemania, Comixology Originals has announced Hard Style Juice!, which brings together the worlds of family crime and pro wrestling.

Writer Clay McCormack, artist Ricardo López-Ortiz, colorist Heather Moore and letterer DC Hopkins have formed a stable and will bring the story of King Castro and his family to the arena. Or, in this case, to Amazon and their digital comics platform.

“Pro wrestling and comic books have always felt like two sides of the same coin for me, so combining the two was a no-brainer,” McCormack said. “Hard Style Juice! is a crime drama, but instead of organized crime the family is dedicated to the glitz and spectacle of professional wrestling.”

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‘Robin Lives!’ will show what might have happened if Jason Todd never died

‘From the DC Vault: Death in the Family: Robin Lives!’ kicks off in July.

The death of Jason Todd at the hands of the Joker — aided by a 1-900 number and 5,343 fans — is a story that has lived in infamy within the annals of comicdom since “Batman: Death in the Family” first hit comic shelves in 1988. But what if Robin hadn’t died? What if 73 more people had called the number that asked DC not to kill him?

Writer J.M. DeMatteis and artist Rick Leonardi will explore that alternate reality in From the DC Vault: Death in the Family: Robin Lives! (Which is quite the title; maybe they should have just called it “Life in the Family”) The four-issue miniseries follows last year’s “faux-simile” edition of Batman #428, which featured the alternative ending to the story that Jim Starlin and Jim Aparo created back in the 1980s in case fans showed Jason Todd mercy.

“Continuing this classic, and controversial, story and following in the footsteps of Jim Starlin and Jim Aparo, two creators I greatly admire, has been both a challenge and a joy,” said DeMatteis. “This is a great opportunity to tell a story that’s big on action, but also takes a very deep dive into the heads of our main characters as we ponder what would have happened if Jason Todd had survived The Joker’s brutal attack. And having a master like Rick Leonardi bringing it to life visually? I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

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Mad Cave announces the supernatural horror series ‘The Last Wardens’

Elliot Sperl, Amit Tishler and Rui Silveira head back to the 1970s for a grindhouse-inspired adventure.

Co-writers Elliot Sperl and Amit Tishler will team with artist Rui Silveira, colorist Francesco Segala and letterer Frank Cvetkovic for The Last Wardens, a “supernatural crime drama” coming from Mad Cave Studios this summer.

“The Last Wardens is a sheep in wolf’s clothing,” Tishler said. “It’s designed to subvert expectations! The setting, atmosphere and visual style are clearly inspired by classic horror films, but the story’s lore, setting and structure are more akin to modern epics. Chaotic violence clashes with complex emotional drama, as the comic explores the theme of FAILURE, and how to chew it up, spit it out and ask for seconds. The series is the brainchild of a creative collaboration between Elliot and me, and despite differing in tone from personal works, it has all the elements I love in a story: historical fiction, supernatural elements, a slowly unraveling mystery…and some ridiculous amount of gore.”

The story focuses on small-town girl Daneille, whose long-lost brother returns from the Vietnam War in the 1970s with a mutation and a team of paranormal misfits on his trail.

“I’m a huge fan of ‘Rubber Monster Suit’ horror movies, and creating a comic that harkens back to the VHS-era has been a blast! But packing references into The Last Wardens was never the end goal, EVERY design choice in this series is intentional,” Sperl said. “For example, the 1970s setting plays a major role in our cast’s journeys, skills and the tools they have at their disposal. But the story wouldn’t pack half the punches if it wasn’t told through the lens of our POV character. Danielle Pryer is the heart and soul of this story, and the heartbreaking choices she’s forced to make are what turn this mayhem-fueled adventure into something that readers can connect with on a deeper level.”

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‘Misery’ doesn’t love company in this new Spawn Universe title

The new title by Todd McFarlane and Szymon Kudrański featuring a classic Spawn character kicks off in May.

The expansion of the Spawn universe continues in Misery, a four-issue miniseries about Cyan Fitzgerald, the daughter of Spawn’s wife, Wanda, who passed away in 2016. Cyan, now 17, has a “healing” power that forces her to distance herself from those she loves.

McFarlane will write the series, which will be drawn by Szymon Kudrański, artist of Blood Commandment. It’s part of the much bigger Spawn Universe that McFarlane is building out this year.

“Having two daughters myself, I watch them both grow older, see them flourish and struggle, as they become young women,” said McFarlane. “To also try and imagine that they’ve lost their biggest supporter, their mom—it would have been so very impactful on their lives. This was the inspiration for the idea of this book: What if, at the most crucial time in a young person’s life, instead of embracing all that life has to offer, they instead had to shield themselves from society. What would that do to their maturing personalities? That’s what this book will explore while also bringing in a dark element of horror that will haunt the Cyan character.”

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Return to the world of ‘Mezo’ for ‘The Trial of Roden’ this May [Exclusive Preview]

Tyler Chin-Tanner, Val Rodrigues, Gab Contreras and Varga Tomi are joined by Jarred Luján for the next chapter in the magical Mesoamerican saga.

Things will go from bad to worse for Roden, the soldier who showed mercy to his enemy in 2022’s Mezo: Battle at Coban Rock. Creator and writer Tyler Chin-Tanner and artists Val Rodrigues, Gab Contreras and Varga Tomi
return to the world of Mezo this May with Mezo: The Trial of Roden.

The five-issue miniseries from A Wave Blue World will kick off on May 1, when Chin-Tanner will welcome co-writer Jarred Luján to the team. While Mezo is set in a past where magic is real, the book’s strength comes from its gripping wartime adventure, political intrigue, old-world combat and character moments.

“There really is some beautiful character work in Mezo, and this entire volume, I think, speaks to that,” Luján said. “While the book obviously centers on Roden after his arrest for sparing Uhna’s life, one of my favorite parts really is Kyma and her quest for vengeance against Phegor. A lot has happened in two volumes of this series, but this really feels like the biggest collision point since Vuh started this war back in the debut issue.”

Courtesy of A Wave Blue World, we’re pleased to present an exclusive preview of Rodrigues’ art from the first issue.

“One of the things I was most excited for when we got back to Mezo was to see how Val would apply some of his new art techniques. He’s been visualizing this unique fantasy world through volumes 1 and 2, and he’s taking it to a whole new level with volume three. You can see how he’s starting to play around with page layout and make the visual style of this series his own,” said Chin-Tanner.

Check out the first issue’s covers, solicitation information and the preview below.

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Rest in peace, Mark D. Bright

The artist of ‘Quantum & Woody,’ ‘Iron Man,’ ‘Icon’ and more was 68.

Mark “M.D.” Bright, an artist whose resume included drawing iconic runs on Iron Man and Green Lantern, as well as co-creating the Valiant Comics series Quantum and Woody and the Milestone Media series Icon, has passed away.

Bright died on March 27 at the age of 68. While no cause of death has been reported, an obituary posted by the funeral home notes he passed away “peacefully.”

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Take a look at one of the stories from the ‘Death of Comics Bookcase’ anthology

Zack Quaintance and a host of great artists are crowdfunding an anthology of stories as told by a talking bookcase.

Comics blogger Zack Quaintance left his former blog, Comics Bookcase, behind a few years ago, but now he’s circling back to finish it off in Death of Comics Bookcase, Vol. 1, which is now up on Kickstarter.

“I shut down my comics site a couple years ago to focus on creating comics,” Quaintance said. “Now, I’m dusting it off to tell the tale of the titular Bookcase’s demise. There will be blood…and bookcases…and comics. It’ll be great!”

The 48-page anthology features six stories, all written by Quaintance and featuring artwork by Anna Readman, Nick Cagnetti, Luke Horsman, PJ Holden, Pat Skott, Ryan Lee and more.

Courtesy of Quaintance, we’re pleased to share a preview of one of the stories from the anthology titled Next Door #2, a “subtle neighborhood crime short” that follows up the 2021 comic Next Door, which features art by Skott, colors by Ellie Wright and letters by Rob Jones. You can check out the preview and more information about the book below.

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Rest in peace, Ed Piskor

The creator of ‘Hip Hop Family Tree’ passed away on Monday.

Ed Piskor, the creator of Hip Hop Family Tree and X-Men: Grand Design, has passed away at the age of 41.

According to the obituary posted on the Savolskis – Wasik – Glenn Funeral Home website, Piskor passed away “unexpectedly” yesterday. His sister, Justine Cleaves, confirmed her brother’s passing on Facebook.

The news followed a week of allegations against the artist for inappropriate behavior and grooming of an aspiring artist. The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust  indefinitely postponed a gallery showing of Piskor’s artwork as a result of the allegations, and his longtime podcast partner Jim Rugg announced he was ending his working relationship with Piskor. Piskor posted an apparent suicide note on social media yesterday several hours before it was revealed he had died.

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