Category: Comic Books

The Power Rangers will meet Usagi Yojimbo in a one-shot this fall

Ryan Parrott, Shawn Daley and James Fenner send the Power Rangers back in time to meet Stan Sakai’s samurai rabbit.

Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo will receive some visitors from the future in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers/Usagi Yojimbo, a one-shot coming from BOOM! Studios and Dark Horse Comics in September.

The time-displaced tale will be told by writer Ryan Parrott, artist Shawn Daley and colorist James Fenner.

“I think one of the most exciting elements of comics is the unexpected crossover, so when BOOM! Studios asked me if I was interested in pairing the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers with Usagi Yojimbo, I didn’t hesitate,” said Parrott, a veteran of the Power Rangers franchise. “I’ve been a fan of Stan Sakai’s work and the epic story he’s been telling my whole life, so it was a true honor to get to step into that world and play with those characters. Plus, the moment I saw Shawn Daley’s artwork, I knew this had the potential to be an insanely fun, one of a kind ride that hopefully both Ranger and Samurai fans will enjoy.” 

Although it doesn’t appear that Sakai is involved with creating the comic (except for a variant cover), he did endorse it in the press release:

“I’m really excited with Usagi’s crossover with the Power Rangers,” Sakai said. “This is the first time Usagi has teamed up with real superheroes (that do not have shells)!  It’s a great story with fantastic art!”

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Marvel’s ‘Star Wars’ titles draw to a close this September

The post-Empire Strikes Back era will end, preparing for something new later this year.

Marvel’s current Star Wars line will end in September to make way for “a different era of the galaxy, far, far away.”

Longtime readers of Marvel’s Star Wars comics will remember back to 2019, when Marvel’s post-Star Wars, pre-Empire Strikes Back comics came to an end, only to be rebooted a few months later in a post-Empire Strikes Back timeline. With the current storyline getting closer and closer to the Return of the Jedi, it makes sense that something new is coming up. Could it be something set post-Return of the Jedi? One can only hope, as that’s a pretty unexplored, fertile era for stories, at least when you’re talking about Luke, Leia and the gang. There are also plenty of other characters now for them to interact with, as we’ve seen in the Disney+ series The Mandalorian, Ashoka and the like.

In any event, September brings two oversized, 50-page issues: Star Wars #50 and Star Wars: Darth Vader #50:

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All the Ghost Riders unite in ‘Spirits of Vengeance’

Sabir Pirzada and Sean Damien Hill bring together Johnny Blaze,Danny Ketch, Robbie Reyes and more this fall.

The many heroes (and villains) who have hosted the Spirit of Vengeance will assemble in a new title this September by writer Sabir Pirzada and artist Sean Damien Hill.

The aptly titled Spirits of Vengeance will bring together Johnny Blaze, Danny Ketch, Robbie Reyes, The Hood and Kushala, as well as Michael Badilino, aka Vengeance.

“It’s finally time for Michael Badilino to make his long-awaited return as Vengeance, aided by the likes of Johnny Blaze, Danny Ketch and more,” Pirzada teased. “The bloody new era for the Spirits of Vengeance starts here—with a shocking ending you won’t see coming.”

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Cody Ziglar + Ryan Lee will unleash ‘Goobers’ on the world this fall

The comedic horror comic draws from b-grade films like ‘Night of the Creeps’ and ‘Ghoulies.’

Spider-Punk and Miles Morales writer Cody Ziglar steps away from the Spider-verse and returns to his small-town roots with artist Ryan Lee (Rick and Morty) for Goobers, a new title launching at Vault Comics this fall.

The title will be colored by Kurt Michael Russell, lettered by Andworld and designed by Adam Cahoon, and it pulls from such inspirations as Night of the Creeps, Garbage Pail Kids, Get Out and Ghoulies, among others.

“I  grew up watching ’80s and ’90s b-horror films,” said Ziglar. “I also grew up in a small country town. Goobers is a love letter to both! I love being able to smash some of my favorite genres, movies, and comics together with my love of North Carolina. I also loved being able to voice the frustration of growing up in a small town and being self-conscious about what they thought of me and how I lived my life. Back in 2021 during peak COVID, I moved back home for six months to spend time with my parents and that’s where Goobers was truly born.”

Ziglar said that return to his home town inspired the story — along with some of his favorite horror films, of course.

“I kept wondering what made certain towns feel the same, even if there are small changes, and landed on the obvious answer: alien worms must invade and body-snatch folks,” Ziglar said. “Goobers, in many ways, in just my comedic look on processing those emotions while also paying homage to some of my favorite films like Shaun of the Dead, Night of the Creeps, Get Out and Revenge of the Living Dead.”

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Gerry Duggan + John McCrea bring ‘Dead Eyes’ back to life at Image Comics

‘Dead Eyes: The Empty Frames’ kicks off in September.

Dead Eyes, the series by Gerry Duggan and John McCrea that started life back in 2018, will return with a new miniseries this fall — Dead Eyes: The Empty Frames.

Originally titled Dead Rabbit, the series was recalled after release due to a lawsuit from a New York bar called “Dead Rabbit.” It returned under the new title, Dead Eyes, with four issues being published in total, plus a collection. It’s about a former mercenary/gun-for-hire who gets pulled back into the life after retirement.

“The unkillable Dead Eyes is back! We’ve never stopped working on Dead Eyes, and The Empty Frames has more tragical hilarious action than the first one. As always, McCrea, and colorist Mike Spicer really show off in this new volume and prove once again why they’re one of the best teams in the business,” said Duggan.

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Jeff Lemire conjures ‘Minor Arcana’ at BOOM! Studios

The new series will be written, drawn and colored by Lemire, and it launches in September.

Jeff Lemire has revealed his new project with BOOM! Studios that was teased back in April — Minor Arcana, an ongoing series that he will write, illustrate and color.

The series is about the daughter of a small-town “psychic” who returns to town to take care of her ailing mother — only to discover that unlike mom, she may have actual psychic powers.

“If Black Hammer was my love letter to the superhero comics I grew up reading then Minor Arcana is my love letter to the classic Vertigo comics of my teenaged years, but all filtered through my own style,” Lemire said in his newsletter. “I really want to get back to doing a true ongoing series that focuses on the importance of single issues again.”

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Pornsak Pichetshote assembles an all-star creator line-up for ‘The Horizon Experiment’

The project includes five one-shots by Terry and Rachel Dodson, Sabir Pirzada, Michael Walsh and more.

With all the great comics Pornsak Pichetshote has been writing over the last few years, sometimes it’s easy to forget he used to edit award-winning books at Vertigo. He’s putting both skills to work with The Horizon Experiment, a line of one-shots by various creative teams “featuring original protagonists from marginalized backgrounds set in a popular genre and inspired by pop culture icons.”

Pichetshote is working with co-editor Will Dennis on the line, which will feature contributions from Sabir Pirzada, Michael Walsh, Tananarive Due, Kelsey Ramsay, J. Holtham and more. Pichetshote is also writing the first one-shot, The Manchurian, which will feature artwork by Terry and Rachel Dodson.

“I’m fascinated with taking popular genres, like horror and noir, and seeing what they’d look like from diverse perspectives—I explored this in my Image Comics books Infidel and The Good Asian. But, I’ve been limited to my own experiences. So, for The Horizon Experiment, I decided to use the same mentality but open it up to other people, inviting some of the most talented people I know to work on it,” Pichetshote said. “Each one-shot is the equivalent of a pilot for a new creator-owned series, with the potential of continuing should there be demand for more. Each team of creators have had different approaches—all of them have knocked me out, and I couldn’t be more proud that the end result is five very unique books, all connected by the same ambitious spirit.”

Here’s a look at each of the one-shots, starting with The Manchurian:

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Corporate greed + revenge fuel the new series ‘The Body Trade’ from Mad Cave Studios

Zac Thompson, Jok and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou kick off the neo-noir series this September.

Writer Zac Thompson, artist Jok and letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou are heading down to Florida for the tale of an ex-convict trying to find his son’s corpse in The Body Trade, a new series coming from Mad Cave Studios this fall.

“I’ve wanted to create this comic for years and collaborating with Jok is a dream,” Thompson said. “Through his lines and colors he’s built this incredible mood on the page that captures the gaudy excess of Florida balanced against the horrific stylings of an industry of death. Together we’ve created a story that’s both a fierce revenge yarn and an interrogation into a seedy corporate underbelly of America. The Body Trade is a raw and unflinching neo-noir where an ex-convict goes up against the intense might of corporate power and will do anything to win. But what when there’s nothing illegal about what you’re up against—how do you expose the truth?! And will anyone care when you do?”

Thompson has been quite busy lately, with Into the Unbeing, Blow Away and Cemetery Kids Don’t Die all debuting in the first half of 2024.

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Daniel Warren Johnson + Riley Rossmo team up for ‘The Moon Is Following Us’

The new series will debut from Image Comics in September.

Daniel Warren Johnson and Riley Rossmo are teaming together for a new creator-owned series coming from Image Comics this fall. The Moon Is Following Us is “about family and about parenthood, but it also has sweet snake monsters,” Johnson said, as two parents go to extreme lengths to rescue their daughter.

In his email newsletter, Johnson revealed a look at the project, which he will write and then split the art duties with Rossmo. Mike Spicer will color the series.

“Needless to say, we are both bringing everything we got with this one,” Johnson writes. “Also, while I am writing it, we’re also splitting interior art duties, with Riley taking about 85%, and me the rest. It’s a super collab, and I haven’t seen different art styles used this way in storytelling yet.”

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Donald Duck proves himself worthy this fall

‘What If Donald Duck Became Thor?’ by Steve Behling, Riccardo Secchi, Lorenzo Pastrovicchio + more brings the thunder in September.

We’ve seen everyone from Captain America to Beta Ray Bill to even Wonder Woman deemed “worthy” to hold Thor’s enchanted hammer, Mjolnir, and this fall you can add another name to the list — Donald Duck.

Following Marvel’s foray into the world of Disney’s Duckburg later this month in Uncle $crooge and the Infinity Dime #1 and July’s Donald Duck/Wolverine mash-up, What If Donald Duck Became Thor? will explore what happens when Donald Duck discovers an ancient cane that allows him to transform into Thor — much like another Donald, Donald Blake, did back in the 1960s. It sounds like you can expect the one-shot to pull from a lot of that early Thor lore.

“When we saw the designs for the Stone Ducks of Saturn and The Destroyer we literally laughed out loud,” the book’s editor, Mark Paniccia, said. “I can honestly say I never thought I’d see something like this in my career. I gotta pinch myself to make sure it’s not a dream.”

This particular mash-up comes courtesy of writers Steve Behling and Riccardo Secchi and artist Lorenzo Pastrovicchio.

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Cullen Bunn + Christopher Mitten enter ‘The Autumn Kingdom’ this fall

An author and his family discover a dark fantasy kingdom in the new miniseries coming from Oni Press.

Sept. 4 may technically still be summer, but autumn is coming early this year. Oni Press has announced The Autumn Kingdom, a new miniseries by horror masters Cullen Bunn and Christopher Mitten, will launch on that day.

The Autumn Kingdom is about an author and his family who head to an isolated cabin in Sweden so he can finish his latest dark fantasy novel, only to land in one themselves. The miniseries is colored by Francesco Segala and lettered by Taylor Esposito.

“The words ‘The Autumn Kingdom’ have been written in one of my oldest journals for decades,” Bunn said. “Over the years, I’ve returned to them again and again. I knew I wanted to tell a dark fantasy tale about the fairy realms. I just wasn’t sure what that story might be until I stumbled onto the idea of Sommer and Winter, a pair of young sisters who find themselves alone, facing the forces of a supernatural realm. Their lives—and the lives of their parents—are on the line. Thank goodness they’ve discovered a nasty, death-dealing blade that seems to hunger for the blood of elves and trolls and goblins. Sommer and Winter are thrown down a violent path from which there may be no escape. No matter what, they won’t get through this journey unscathed and unchanged.”

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Nelson Greaves + Davide Castelluccio enroll at ‘The Carlyle School for Kings’ this fall

Class is in session at Dark Horse Comics this October.

School is in session at The Carlyle School for Kings this fall, which features classes in revenge, friendship, romance and betrayal.

The story is by screenwriter Nelson Greaves, who wrote the 2014 film Unfriended, and artist Davide Castelluccio. They’re joined by colorist Francesca Vivaldi and letterer Frank Cvetkovic for the story of Emmelene Heron and her time at a school that prepares you to be king.

“Carlyle was born from the trauma I experienced as a country boy at a cut-throat Ivy League university,” said Greaves, who attended Harvard. “The culture encouraged us to win by any means necessary, and it wasn’t a Monday if you weren’t getting torn down, mocked and stabbed in the back. Unlike Emme, no one actually tried to kill me, and there wasn’t a giant living under my dining hall, but school still felt like a fight for my life, and I wanted to tell a story for anyone who’d felt that way, too.”

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