Author: JK Parkin

Nevada Jones rides again while Kevin Keller has eyes for Ghost Fox in ‘Betty & Veronica Jumbo Comics Digest’ #312

Check out an exclusive preview of two new stories coming in next week’s digest from Archie Comics.

Courtesy of our friends at Archie Comics, we’re happy to present a preview of two new stories from Betty & Veronica Jumbo Comics Digest #312, which comes out March 15.

The first story, “Real Horse Power,” features a classic Archie deep cut, Nevada Jones. The “Cattle Detective” appeared in back-ups stories in Pep Comics and Zip Comics back in the day, and his modern equivalent appears in a story set at the Lodge Ranch (You might be asking, “Veronica’s dad owns a ranch?” Of course he does). This one is by Ian Flynn, the Kennedy Brothers, Bob Smith, Glenn Whitmore and Jack Morelli.

The second story features the return of Ghost Fox, who we saw last week trying to save his dad from Mr. Smile. This time around, he’s being investigated, but not by a villain — Kevin Keller wants to know who the new kid is from Red Circle High, and he enlists Veronica to help him figure it out. Flynn also wrote this one, with Steven Butler and Jim Amash providing the artwork, and Whitmore and Morelli on colors and letters, respectively.

Below you’ll find previews of both stories, plus, in keeping with the horse theme, a classic story featuring Betty and Veronica at the Riverdale Riding Academy.

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Bendis’ ‘Fortune and Glory: The Musical’ debuts on Substack

Brian Michael Bendis returns to autobiographical comics to talk about that time he was asked to work on ‘Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.’

Brian Michael Bendis has kicked off the long-awaited sequel to Fortune and Glory this week on his Substack.

Bendis wrote and drew the original Fortune and Glory, which was published as a three-issue miniseries by Oni Press in 1999-2000. Dark Horse plans to release a new printing of the collected series in April.

“Fortune and Glory was a graphic novel I did years ago, pre-Marvel, about my first adventures in Hollywood as a young independent comic book creator,” he wrote. “It was one of the books that got me where I am. I always wanted to do a sequel. Many of you have asked for one over the years. I loved doing an autobiographical comic book. I always thought I would do another one, or a bunch of them, but Spider-Man kept getting in the way.”

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Marvel announces a new creative team for ‘Incredible Hulk’

Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Nic Klein will put the Hulk against an army of monsters.

The Hulk will get back to his monstrous roots in The Incredible Hulk, which Marvel will relaunch this summer by Phillip Kennedy Johnson (Action Comics) and Nic Klein (Thor).

The Incredible Hulk will see “a legion of the world’s most depraved creatures” coming after the Hulk, as the unite in “a fiendish new scheme” led by a mysterious immortal.

“The significance that we’re finally bringing back the classic title Incredible Hulk is not lost on me. It’s a tremendous honor, and Nic and I have the clearest possible vision for what we want to do with this story,” Johnson said. “Nic Klein is a genius, and working with him is pushing me to write a story worthy of his very best.”

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Quick Hits | ‘Dilbert’ fallout

Also: news on Dina Norlund, Cartoonist Cooperative, the Minicomic Awards and more.

With the comic strip Dilbert being dropped by both newspapers and its distributor after its creator’s racist remarks on YouTube, many newspapers have a gap to fill on their comics page. The Washington Post will fill their Dilbert-sized hole with Heart of the City by Steenz, and Women Write About Comics caught up with the cartoonist at the Emerald City Comic Con to talk about the change.

“I think it’s a big deal because of two reasons,” Steenz told WWAC. “Reason number one is that I’m Black, and he hates Black people. [laughs] No, but it’s a nice way to just stick it to him, you know? But it’s also a big deal because we still rarely see a new influx of creators and syndicated comic strips, and I would like to see more of that. Obviously, legacy comics are there for a reason. Everyone’s going to want to keep reading Zits, everyone’s going to keep reading, you know, Jump Start, because those creators are still around and they want to keep making those comics. But I also want to see some new things. You should be able to get a newspaper and find someone new and not just have the old standards.”

In related news, the Associated Press spoke with several cartoonists about Scott Adams and his remarks, including Candorville creator Darin Bell, who is running a response to Adams in his comic strip this week.

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Szymon Kudrański has ‘Something Epic’ planned for May

The new series starts in May.

Szymon Kudrański has big plans for his new series, Something Epic, which will kick off in May — plans so big you might call them as epic.

The Spawn and Punisher artist will pull inspiration from the many comics projects he’s worked on over the years for this new ongoing series, which he will write and draw.

“Over the years I’ve had the privilege to drawn many different characters—from the dark Spawn to the righteous Superman, through to self-justified antiheroes like Punisher, and horror legends in A Town Called Terror,” said Kudrański. “At some point, I wanted to create an epic plot where all the characters from these different genres and art forms shared a common story. The only logical ground to unite all these worlds and art forms was their source… imagination.”

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What strength! Ninja Turtles and Street Fighter enter the arena in May

Paul Allor, Ariel Medel and Sarah Myer bring together the two crews in a prestigious fighting tournament.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have teamed up with everyone from Batman to the Power Rangers, and in May they’ll add the bare-knuckle battlers from Capcom’s classic video game Street Fighter to the list.

The five-issue Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Vs. Street Fighter by writer Paul Allor, artist Ariel Medel and colorist Sarah Myer will kick off in May.

“It feels amazing to bring these iconic brands together,” says Allor. “I grew up with all these characters, though in very different ways—watching TMNT cartoons on Saturday mornings, and then a few years later, desperately smashing buttons while being absolutely destroyed at Street Fighter™ II. Readers are going to have so much fun watching these characters come together as they face an enormous threat to both teams, from Mikey and Chun-Li’s unlikely bond to Raph and Guile’s rivalry and mutual—but very grudging—respect. This book has it all: humor, danger, a massive number of twists and turns, and a ton of amazing, brutal, over-the-top, bonkers fight scenes! It’s gonna be a blast.”

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Oeming + Santos go gonzo in conspiracy-filled ‘Project Monarch’

The new graphic novel arrives from Dark Horse in September.

Michael Avon Oeming (Powers) and Victor Santos (Polar) are pulling out all the stops in their new graphic novel Project Monarch — a story that will involve fake moon landings, the Illuminati, child stars turned assassins and a film that can control minds.

It sounds bonkers and like a lot of fun.

“This story was born in a time when we needed to deal with uncertainty everyday,” said Santos. “So this is a book about embracing chaos and living nonetheless, and I can’t imagine a better partner for this crazy trip than Mike Oeming.”

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Can’t Wait for Comics | Jon Kent flies solo, Stoneheart debuts and what the heck happened to Peter and Mary Jane?

New comics and graphic novels arrive this week by Zeb Wells, John Romita Jr., Tom Taylor, Clayton Henry, Emma Kubert, John Ridley, Kami Garcia, Gabriel Picolo, K. O’Neill and more.

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

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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Slugfest | Scholastic outlines their plans for the new ‘Dog Man’ book

Plus: The Oloris, Poison Ivy, The X-Cellent, Whistleblowers, Patrick McDonnell and more.

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you. Hit the links for more information.

The graphic novel phenomenon Dog Man will return at the end of the month with a new book, Dog Man: Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea, continuing the adventures of our hero, Li’l Petey, 80-HD and the rest of the gang.

Scholastic has announced their promotional plans for Dav Pilkey’s latest, which include a Free Comic Book Day issue, the return of Dog Man: The Musical and Dog Man Day celebrations.

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Sunday Comics | Several Tapas series will come to print via Dark Horse

Plus webcomics by Reimena Yee, Kazu Kibuishi and more.

Here’s a round up of some of the best comics we’ve seen online recently. If we missed something, let us know in the comments below.

Dark Horse Comics and Tapas Entertainment have announced a new partnership that will see the longtime independent comics company bring the webcomics platform’s comics to print.

Much like their deal with Comxiology, Dark Horse will collect titles like Animalheads, Signals, The Flying Ship and Tomahawk Angel, with the first collections due out in October.

“We couldn’t be more excited about this partnership,” said Alex R. Carr with Tapas Entertainment. “Seeing these creators and their stories in the Dark Horse pantheon is a dream come true for all involved.”

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‘Marvel’s Voices: Spider-Verse’ will introduce two new spidersonas

Recluse and Spider-Friend make their debut in April.

Next month’s Marvel’s Vices: Spider-Verse special will put the spotlight on several existing Spider-folks, including Miles Morales and Silk, but they’ll be joined by two new characters: Recluse and Spider-Friend.

Spider-Friend will debut in a story written and drawn by Jason Loo, co-creator of The All-Nighter and the award-winning Afterlift. According to Marvel.com, he “comes from a corner of the Marvel Multiverse that’s filled with laugh tracks and filmed in front a live studio audience.”

Recluse, meanwhile, is co-created by Cheryl Lynn Eaton (Batman Secret Files, Bitch Planet) and Julian Shaw (Marvel’s Voices: Legacy). This spidersona lives on a dystopian world where Electro controls the power grid.

Here’s a look at the two new characters, who share the spotlight on a variant cover for the issue by InHyuk Lee:

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Dark Horse will publish Caitlin Like’s debut graphic novel ‘The Hundredth Voice’

The new graphic novel will hit stores in October.

Dark Horse Comics has announced plans to publish The Hundredth Voice, a graphic novel by a new voice, Caitlin Like.

“The Hundredth Voice was written for kids getting into bootleg musical theater and trying to communicate with ghost,” Caitlin said. “It’s about being an artist, especially the serious resolve that feels like life or death when you’re young and told you’re gifted- that fear that you’re going to run out of time, even when you’re still a kid.”

While this is Like’s debut graphic novel, it’s far from her first comics work. She’s the creator of the webcomic Maiden of the Machine, and she also drew Dark Horse’s collaboration with Portland General Electric, a comic called Climate Keepers: Agents of Project Zero. But what really caught my eye on her website were the Supernatural fan comics she did.

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