Gail Simone + Eddy Barrows promise a ‘huge in scope and fun as hell’ Superman story this summer

The duo revisit Superman’s early years as he battles an alien threat starting in ‘Action Comics’ #1067.

After making room for the House of Brainiac crossover, Action Comics will return to its Superman Superstars initiative and a cast of rotating creative teams in July. Action Comics #1067 will kick off a new story by Gail Simone and Eddy Barrows set at the beginning of Superman’s career titled “Superman and the Challenge from the Stars.”

The storyline will run for three issues, and features a massively powerful alien race making Earth their arena. Danny Miki, Rex Lokus and Dave Sharpe round out the creative team.

“I love the classic Superman cast, and this story is deliberately meant to echo my all-time favorite Superman time period,” Simone said. “We didn’t want to tell a quiet story of Superman in a diner; we wanted to have a massive threat, a war taking place all over the world, and only Superman could possibly protect his adopted planet. It is unapologetically huge in scope and fun as hell, with one of the best art teams I’ve ever worked with…Eddy Barrows, Danny Miki, and Rex Lokus on colors!”

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Erica Schultz + Michael Dowling pit Elektra against Crossbones in ‘Daredevil: Woman Without Fear’

The four-issue miniseries kicks off in July.

Elektra Natchios will once again headline her own miniseries in Daredevil: Woman Without Fear by Erica Schultz and Michael Dowling, which kicks off in July.

The four-issue miniseries will see the assassin- turned-superhero head out on a quest that will take her to Madripoor and put her in the crosshairs of Crossbones, the new Punisher and more.

“To say that I am excited about writing Daredevil again is an understatement,” Schultz said. “I love the mantle of Daredevil, but I really love Elektra as Daredevil. Having written both Matt and Elektra wearing the red DD, I kind of lean toward the latter now!”

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‘It’s life, death and the hunger in between’: Mad Cave Studios announces ‘Soul Taker’

Tom Sniegoski, Jeannine Acheson and Valeria Burzo present the story of Amarantha, a centuries-old creature living a peaceful existence in a retirement community — until it’s not so peaceful.

Co-writers Tom Sniegoski and Jeannine Acheson and artist Valeria Burzo have teamed up for a new title coming from Mad Cave Studios this summer — Soul Taker, which is about “the sweet little old lady living next door to your mother” who is actually a centuries-old creature that sucks the life out of humanity.

Amarantha, as she’s called, is the last of her kind and is just trying to live out the rets of her life peacefully — until some old enemies come looking for her. Colorist Emilio Lecce and letterer Jim Campbell round out the creative team on this new horror title.

“When Jeannine brought me the germ of an idea—an old lady aging backwards while living in elderly housing—I knew that the project that would eventually come from it would be something special, and that it would need a special home,” Sniegoski said. “We continued to work on the idea which would eventually become Soul Taker, hoping that we would find a publisher that understood the kind of story we were trying to tell, and luckily we did with Mad Cave Studios. Jeannine and I are incredibly excited for everybody to experience the unique characters we have created, and the world in which they live.”

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Jason Loo + Sergio Dávila’s ‘Werewolf by Night’ spins out of ‘Blood Hunt’

The ‘Red Band’ title will be aimed at mature audiences.

Jack Russell will play his part in this summer’s Blood Hunt event, but that’s only the beginning for the character.

Werewolf by Night: Blood Hunt writer Jason Lee will team with Sergio Dávila on a new Werewolf by Night ongoing series, which Marvel says will be in the same “Red Band” format they’re using for the more mature version of Blood Hunt — aka the one with the blood’n’guts that’ll come bagged with a warning. Each issue will be “labeled with a Parental Advisory and polybagged to keep those weak of heart from experiencing its intensity,” so, y’know, Little Timmy, stay away. This IS your daddy’s comic.

“Our team is delivering a very metal, monster comic and we’re not holding back,” Loo said. “I’m both shocked and impressed at myself for conjuring up these gruesome scenes from the dark recesses of my mind, then seeing them come to life with every gory detail thanks to penciler Sergio Dávila and inker JP Mayer, as our editors keep giving us the thumbs up of approval. This is literally our smash room in a Red Band comic.”

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James Tynion IV, Álvaro Martínez Bueno, Jordie Bellaire reunite for ‘The Nice House by the Sea’

The award-winning team behind ‘The Nice House on the Lake’ return for more end-of-the-world shenanigans.

The award-winning team behind The Nice House on the Lake returns in July with another house, another cast and more end-of-the-world drama in The Nice House by the Sea.

James Tynion IV, Álvaro Martínez Bueno, Jordie Bellaire and Andworld Design reunite for the story of Max, a woman who invites several “titans of industry” to her house by the ocean as the human race is being eradicated.

“The people in this house do not like each other,” Tynion said. “They don’t want to spend time with each other. There have been some weak bonds that have formed over time, but none of them are particularly affectionate toward each other. This is a house of strangers and tension much more than a house of friendship, and we’re going to see the way that guilt, boredom and loneliness has twisted each of them.”

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Past TMNT creators return to celebrate 40 years of Turtles

The oversized one-shot ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: 40th Anniversary Comics Celebration’ will arrive in July.

IDW has revealed more details on another project that ties into the 40th anniversary of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles — the aptly titled Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: 40th Anniversary Comics Celebration.

The 70-page special will include contributions from creators who have worked on the Turtles across their 40-year history, including Jim Lawson, Sophie Campbell, Freddie E. Williams II and more. Co-creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird drew the main cover, while Eastman will also have a story in the one-shot.

“Having a childhood dream – in my case, to write and draw comics for a living – is one thing. To then actually spending every minute of the next 40 years doing it is a whole other matter altogether – humbling is the first word that comes to mind,” Eastman said. “My co-creation of TMNT with the amazing Peter Laird has been the driving force of living that dream, and working with a number of really talented writers and artists along the way has made, and still makes, the journey the greatest shared experience I never imaged and could not be more grateful for.”

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Old Man Donald: Marvel + Disney announce ‘What if…? Donald Duck Became Wolverine’

Writer Luca Barbieri and artist Giada Perissinotto reimagine Duckburg as a superhero wasteland.

At first I thought these were just variant covers or maybe an April Fool’s Day joke that someone forgot to post, but no, this is a real comic — Disney and Marvel will release Marvel & Disney: What if…? Donald Duck Became Wolverine #1 this summer.

And I think that the greatest part of this announcement isn’t that it’s a Donald Duck/Wolverine mash-up — it’s that it’s a Donald Duck/Old Man Logan mash-up, featuring characters like Mickey-Hawkeye, Goofy-Hulk and Pete-Skull, who turns Duckburg into a wasteland. It’s by two acclaimed Italian comics creators — writer Luca Barbieri and artist Giada Perissinotto

“Donald Duck and Wolverine are two characters that seem almost impossible to make coexist, but in fact they possess very similar personality: they are both hot-tempered and unlucky, but in adversity they do not lose heart and always show that they have a big heart,” Barbieri said. “Once this point was focused, writing the story turned out to be easy and fun!”

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Ms. Marvel, Laura Kinney + more star in the revived ‘NYX’

Marvel resurrects an early 2000s title by the creative team of Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing and Francesco Mortarino.

Marvel is reviving an old title for a new run as part of the X-Men: From the Ashes publishing initiative.

NYX by writers Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing and artist Francesco Mortarino will debut this summer alongside X-Force, Phoenix and the three X-Men titles that follow the end of the Krakoa era. NYX will focus on five young mutants — Kamala Khan, Laura Kinney, Anole, Prodigy and Sophie Cuckoo — as they navigate living as young mutants on the Lower East Side of New York City.

“This is the kind of book we came to Marvel to create,” Kelly shared. “When the Hivemind first formed, Collin and I bonded over books like Runaways, Young Avengers and the original NYX—stories that showcased that tense, wonderful place where the mundane world and marvels collided. And no book has embodied that more in recent years than Ms. Marvel—Kamala Khan is one of the most definitive protagonists in the Marvel canon and we’re deeply honored to be inheriting the character from Iman [Vellani] and Sabir [Pirzada], while chronicling a whole new phase in her growth as a young adult.”

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Jeff Lemire + BOOM! tease something new for this fall

“… as both a comics fan and a creator, I have been craving longer format stories again.”

BOOM! Studios has announced that Jeff Lemire, creator of Sweet Tooth, Essex County, Fishflies, The Nobody and many other comics and graphic novels, will launch a new ongoing series at the publisher this fall.

Lemire will both write and draw the new title. No title or artwork was shared, beyond the “Eye of Providence” sketch shown above.

“For a while now I have felt like the ‘ongoing series’ in comics is a dying breed,” Lemire said. “I’m guilty of this myself, having put out a lot of shorter projects over the last several years. But as both a comics fan and a creator, I have been craving longer format stories again. Series like the classic Vertigo monthlies that would drive me to the comic shops every week when I was younger.”

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Stephanie Phillips + Alessandro Miracolo send ‘Phoenix’ into space this summer

Jean Grey once again wields the power of the Phoenix in the new ‘From the Ashes’ series.

Jean Grey will once again soar the spaceways as Phoenix in a new series coming later this year by Stephanie Phillips (Grim) and Alessandro Miracolo (White Widow).

Part of the “From the Ashes” publishing initiative that follows the end of the current Krakoa era in the X-Men titles, the new series will spin directly out of the final Krakoa issues we’re seeing hit stores between now and the summer, in particular X-Men Forever and Rise of the Powers of X. While Marvel’s a little coy on what exactly happens to bring Jean Grey and the Phoenix back together, the new series has them working in apparent harmony.

“Jean is one of the most powerful characters I’ve ever written,” Phillips said. “The beauty and challenge to Jean is that she is imbued with a cosmic force alongside the morals, shortcomings, and empathy of a human being. The dichotomy between those two is something incredibly special about Jean, and means that she is constantly doing a dance between humanity and absolute power.”

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Fantagraphics will release Joe Matt’s final issue of ‘Peepshow’ this summer

The new issue will arrive almost 17 years after issue #14 was released.

Fantagraphics has announced plans to release Peepshow #15, the final issue in the series by late cartoonist Joe Matt.

Matt passed away unexpectedly last year before finishing the issue after a 17-year gap since issue #14 was released. With only four pages of art left to be inked, Fantagraphics enlisted cartoonist Chester Brown to finish the issue.

Peepshow is amongst the great bodies of autobiographical work in the history of comics,” said Eric Reynolds, VP and Co-publisher of Fantagraphics. “I’m grateful to Joe’s friends, and to Joe’s family, who have come together to put his final work out into the world where it belongs.”

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Geoffrey Thorne + Marcus To will bring X-Force back ‘From the Ashes’ this summer

Forge, Betsy Braddock, Rachel Summers and more will headline the rebooted X-title.

Forge, the X-Men’s resident inventor, has a plan to repair the world, and that solution is X-Force. Geoffrey Thorne and Marcus To will helm the new team book with a familiar title this summer as a part of Marvel’s “From the Ashes” X-Men reboot.

First launched in the early 1990s by writer/artist Rob Liefeld, X-Force has long held the role of the team that would go to extremes to help mutantkind. In this latest iteration, Forge “will bear witness to everything broken in the world,” and he assembles an “off the books” team to fix it that includes Rachel Summers, Betsy Braddock, Sage, Surge and Tank.

“I cannot believe the reaction to my pitch with, ‘That sounds like X-Force to us,'” Thorne said. “It’s a new vibe and a different mission, but it’s still X-Force. Looking at all the books coming out under this banner, I’ll just paraphrase the prophet, Sheryl Crow: ‘All I wanna do is have some fun.’ Looking at what I’m getting to do and what the others are bringing, I’m absolutely not the only one.”

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