Baron + Carbonetti open the door on the mystery of Jim Morrison’s death

The new graphic novel from the ‘Paul Is Dead’ team will arrive in June.

Image Comics has announced that the creators of Paul Is Dead, which featured the Beatles, will turn their attention to another 1960s icon for their next graphic novel — Jim Lives: the Mystery of the Lead Singer of The Doors and the 27 Club.

Paolo Baron and Ernesto Carbonetti will reunite for the graphic novel, which is about a father looking for his son — a correspondent for a popular American newspaper — who vanished after sending one last message: “jim morrison isn’t dead, he’s hiding out here in italy, i saw him with my own eyes.”

I wrote Jim Lives by continuously listening to The Doors vinyl records while I was in the small village where I set the story,” said Baron. “At one point I really saw him. I mean Jim.”

Continue reading “Baron + Carbonetti open the door on the mystery of Jim Morrison’s death”

Scholastic to publish ‘Magical Boy’

The award-winning webcomic created by The Kao will be compiled into print for the first time next fall.

Scholastic has announced plans to publish Magical Boy, the award-winning webcomic created by The Kao. The comic appears on the webcomics site Tapas.

“I am absolutely thrilled and honored to have Magical Boy be part of the Scholastic library and so thankful to Tapas for continuing to find ways to share my story,” said The Kao, aka Vincent Kao, who also creates Mondo Mango on the Tapas site. “As someone who spent my childhood reading Scholastic books, this is truly a dream come true. I can’t wait for readers everywhere to meet Max and join him on his journey of self-acceptance and magical misadventures. I hope Magical Boy will capture the hearts and imaginations of readers the same way that I was inspired by Scholastic stories when I was a younger reader.”

Continue reading “Scholastic to publish ‘Magical Boy’”

IDW announces six new graphic novels for 2021

New middle-grade graphic novels from Stan Sakai, Kim Dwinell, India Swift, Ray Friesen and more will arrive next year.

IDW has announced six new graphic novels aimed at the middle-grade (9-12 years old) audience, coming in summer 2021 from both IDW Publishing and their Top Shelf imprint.

The line-up includes new books by Kim Dwinell, India Swift, Ray Friesen and more. Plus: Chibi Usagi!

“Today’s young readers have an insatiable appetite for vibrant, thoughtful stories, so we’re thrilled to deliver an inspired mix of titles that showcases the full potential of graphic storytelling,” said Justin Eisinger, Editorial Director, Graphic Novels & Collections for IDW. “These books run the gamut from outright fun to introspective and even educational, further evidence that IDW and Top Shelf are home to an eclectic, necessary library of fiction and non-fiction graphic novels.”

Here are the publisher’s descriptions on what was announced:

Continue reading “IDW announces six new graphic novels for 2021”

Baker + Goux reteam for ‘Everyone Is Tulip’

The creators of ‘F*Ck Off Squad’ reunite for a new graphic novel about fame and the internet.

Dark Horse has announced a new graphic novel by the team of Dave Baker, Nicole Goux and Ellie Hall titled Everyone Is Tulip that examines the price of fame in the internet age.

“This project is a deeply personal work for me. It’s mined from experience, both personal and observed,” Baker said. “Everyone Is Tulip is a narrative centered around compromise. It seems to be the singular constant in the existence of most artists. How to mitigate it, how to embrace it, and how to live with it.”

Continue reading “Baker + Goux reteam for ‘Everyone Is Tulip’”

Dark Horse will publish Dave McKean’s ‘Raptor’ next summer

The OGN will be available in a standard edition and as a limited edition hardcover.

Dark Horse will publish Raptor: A Sokol Graphic Novel by Dave McKean next year.

McKean is the award-winning artist who worked on Batman: Arkham Asylum Violent Cases, Signal to Noise and Cages, and provided the covers for The Sandman. More recently he worked on Black Dog: The Dreams of Paul Nash and founded the record label Feral Records.

Continue reading “Dark Horse will publish Dave McKean’s ‘Raptor’ next summer”

Drawn + Quarterly announces four new titles for Fall 2021

New titles by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim, Philippe Girard, Rutu Modan and more will arrive next year.

Drawn + Quarterly has been slowly revealing their Fall 2021 line-up ove rthe past several weeks, including new titles by Michael Dumontier and Neil Farber, Keum Suk Gendry-Kim, Philippe Girard and Rutu Modan.

Here’s a rundown of what to expect next year:

Continue reading “Drawn + Quarterly announces four new titles for Fall 2021”

Vault’s Wonderbound imprint to publish Sam Beck’s ‘Verse’

The Young Adult fantasy webcomic will arrive in print in Fall 2021.

Sam Beck‘s excellent webcomic Verse is coming to print, as part of Vault Comics’ Wonderbound imprint. The book is due out in Fall of 2021.

“The story of a shared journey is one that feels timeless,” Beck said in the press release. “It isn’t the promise of adventure or the fantastical things you unearth that draw us back to them. It’s getting to see how each character grows and develops along it, testing the bonds they form over and over again. And even when paths diverge, as they often do, seeing how they manage to find a way back to each other.”

Continue reading “Vault’s Wonderbound imprint to publish Sam Beck’s ‘Verse’”

Third ‘Batman: Earth One’ graphic novel coming in June

Geoff Johns and Gary Frank return to tell a third tale of a younger Batman.

Geoff Johns and Gary Frank will once again team up to tell another story about the Earth One Batman. The third graphic novel in DC’s series will arrive next June.

Johns and Frank will be joined by Jon Sibal and Brad Anderson, who they worked with on previous volumes in the series. Johns, Frank and Anderson also worked together on Three Jokers, which recently wrapped up, and will team up on the new Image title Geiger.

Continue reading “Third ‘Batman: Earth One’ graphic novel coming in June”

‘Goblin’ coming from Grissom + Perkins next year

The middle grade graphic novel will be published by Dark Horse.

Eric Grissom and Will Perkins, the creators of Gregory Suicide, will team up once again for a new middle grade graphic novel, Goblin.

The story’s about a goblin named Rikt who embarks on a journey of loss, self-discovery and sacrifice. Dark Horse will publish it next summer.

“Time and time again, from folklore to video games, goblins have been seen as an enemy to be overcome, a monster a ‘hero must defeat,” said Grissom. “With Goblin, I wanted to tell a story that flipped that idea. Not every monster is a villain, and not every person that looks like a hero acts like one. We set out to make the world of Goblin a wonderful, mysterious place, and I can’t wait for readers to get lost within it.”

Continue reading “‘Goblin’ coming from Grissom + Perkins next year”

Dark Horse to publish Lesniewski’s ‘Static’ in 2021

Lesniewski will write and draw the horror/science fiction graphic novel.

Following the news that Matt Lesniewski will work with writer Matt Kindt on the miniseries Crimson Flower, Dark Horse has announced plans to publish an original graphic novel from Lesniewski title Static.

The Eisner-nominated creator of The Freak will write and draw the OGN, with Carlos Badilla providing colors.

“Before ever writing or drawing a thing, I had been thinking about the idea for this story for several years,” Lesniewski said. “It went through many different iterations, but the core idea never went away: a character who one day realized their life had passed them by, leaving them ‘stuck’ in place all this time with no idea how to break from the cycle they’ve been in all these years. Hence, the title Static. Ironically, this story would sometimes leave my mind, but it always came back, never really going anywhere.”

Continue reading “Dark Horse to publish Lesniewski’s ‘Static’ in 2021”

Brubaker + Phillips get ‘Reckless’ in December

The first of three original graphic novels from the ‘Criminal’ creators arrives this year, followed by the second next April.

Image Comics has announced the first of three new graphic novels from Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, the creators of the critically acclaimed Criminal and Pulp.

Reckless stars Ethan Reckless, a private eye whose past as student radical comes back to bite him in 1980s Los Angeles.

Reckless comes from my love of pulp heroes and private eyes,” said Brubaker. “When I’m craving escapism, I pick up a Jack Reacher book… or a Lew Archer, or a Claire DeWitt, or a Travis McGee, or an Easy Rawlings, or a Parker… and I get taken away by these characters and their worlds.

Continue reading “Brubaker + Phillips get ‘Reckless’ in December”

Two laureates team up for ‘The Exquisite Triumph of Wormboy’

James Kochalka and poet Sydney Lea bring you the adventures of a worm with a human face.

The first Cartoonist Laureate of Vermont has teamed up with a former Vermont Poet Laureate for a new book called The Exquisite Triumph of Wormboy.

James Kochalka drew the new book, while poet Sydney Lea added verse to describe the adventures of the tiny invertebrate hero.

“I drew a wordless 50 page story about a worm with a human face, which was versified as an ekphrastic epic by Vermont Poet Laureate Sydney Lea,” said Kochalka on Tumblr. “And it really is an incredible piece of work, unlike any graphic novel you’ll find anywhere.”

Continue reading “Two laureates team up for ‘The Exquisite Triumph of Wormboy’”