Virginia politicians seek restraining order to prevent Barnes & Noble from selling ‘Gender Queer’ to minors

The move comes a week after the Virginia Beach school board removed the book from library shelves.

Virginia State Delegate and lawyer is seeking a restraining order against Barnes and Noble and Virginia Beach Schools “to enjoin them from selling or loaning” the graphic novel Gender Queer and the novel A Court of Mist and Fury to minors without parent consent, according to Book Riot.

On his Facebook page, Tim Anderson, a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, says he is seeking the restraining order on behalf of his client, Tommy Altman, who is currently running for U.S. Congress in Virginia.

“Today, the Virginia Beach Circuit Court has found probable cause that the books Gender Queer and a Court of Mist and Fury are obscene to unrestricted viewing by minors,” Anderson posted. “My client, Tommy Altman, has now directed my office to seek a restraining order against Barnes and Noble and Virginia Beach Schools to enjoin them from selling or loaning these books to minors without parent consent.”

The move follows a decision from last week by the Virginia Beach school board to remove Gender Queer from shelves in the school district’s libraries.

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‘Shirtless Bear-Fighter’ returns in August to battle Ursa Major

The shirtless one fights again!

The day you’ve been waiting for has finally arrived — the day you find out there’s going to be a second Shirtless Bear-Fighter miniseries from Jody LeHeup and Nil Vendrell.

And if this is the day you discover there was a first Shirtless Bear-Fighter miniseries, then oh my — what a day to be alive. Image Comics announced the news with a press release filled with an appropriate number of bear puns.

“Shirtless Bear-Fighter is quite possibly the most joyful comic of all time and given the events of the last few years, we could all use some of that joy right now,” LeHeup told ComicBook.com. “So I’m absolutely thrilled to announce Shirtless Bear-Fighter 2. We always said we wouldn’t do more unless we found the right story and boy did we find it. I cannot wait for fans to see what Nil and I have in store. If you thought volume one was wild, you haven’t seen anything yet. Prebear yourselves!”

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Archie goes Jurassic in ‘Archie Jumbo Comics Digest’ #330 [Exclusive Preview]

Check out a preview of ‘Archie Jumbo Comics Digest’ #330.

There’s no time better then summertime, and what does summertime bring? Sun, surf and dinosaur movies! Wait, what? OK, this summer does, and it also brings a brand new story featuring a prehistoric version of the Archie gang.

Courtesy of the fine folks at Archie Comics, we’re pleased to present an exclusive look at next week’s Archie Jumbo Comics Digest #330, which features 192 pages of comics — including a new story by Dan Parent, Bob Smith, Glenn Whitmore and Jack Morelli, titled “Jurassic Farce!” We’ve got a snippet of the new story, as well as a complete Frank Doyle/Harry Lucey story from the archives.

You can find all the solicitation details and the preview below:

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Slugfest | A round-up of comics publishing news

Ultraman, Blink, Sleeper Agent, Human Target and more slug it out in our first Slugfest comics publishing news round-up.

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you from comics creators, publishers and more. Hit the links for more information.

Ultraman returns in August

Marvel has announced a third Ultraman miniseries by Kyle Higgins, Mat Groom and Davide Tinto. Subtitled ‘The Mystery of Ultraseven,” the story will include “an enigmatic new Ultra and a secret that has remained hidden for decades.”

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Graphic Mundi announces four new graphic novels for later this year

Look for new work by Fabien Toulmé, Catherine Pioli, Kathleen Founds and Maureen Burdock in the fall.

Graphic Mundi, the graphic novel imprint of Penn State University Press, has announced four new graphic novels they’ll publish later this year.

The line-up includes a third Hakim’s Odyssey book from Fabien Toulmé (who was nominated for an Eisner earlier today), plus new works by Catherine Pioli, Kathleen Founds and Maureen Burdock.

The Graphic Mundi imprint, which was announced at the end of 2020, spun out of PSU Press’s Graphic Medicine line. But it’s featuring graphic novels on a broader set of topics, including health and human rights, politics, the environment, science and technology. And despite only being around for a short time, they’ve already picked up two Eisner nominations.

Here’s a rundown of the four new books:

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Nominees announced for the 2022 Eisner Awards

Winners will be announced at Comic-Con International in July.

Comic-Con International has announced the nominees for this year’s Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards. This is the 34th year for the awards, which will be given out at this year’s Comic-Con International on July 22 — a return to a live awards show.

In terms of publishers, DC received the most nominations, followed by Image, Fantagraphics and IDW. Creator-wise, James Tynion IV led the pack with five nominations. Hall of fame nominees and inductees were announced earlier this month.

Check out the full list below.

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Taylor + Hairsine pit DC’s heroes against an undead Darkseid in ‘DCeased: War of the Undead Gods’

The finale of the ‘DCeased’ saga will rise in August.

Writer Tom Taylor and artist Trevor Hairsine will reunite one more time for the final chapter in the DCeased storyline — DCeased: War of the Undead Gods.

The eight-issue monthly limited series will take the action into the cosmos, as the Anti-Life Equation spreads among the stars and the surviving heroes from Earth prepare to battle a reborn, undead Darkseid — who has also infected the New Gods. Taylor and Hairsine talk about the new series in a launch trailer:

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Oswalt + Blum + Hepburn make ‘Minor Threats’ at Dark Horse

The new superhero series arrives in August.

Patton Oswalt and Jordan Blum, the showrunners behind the unjustly canceled Hulu series Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K., will co-write a new series for Dark Horse — Minor Threats, “a genre-bending crime drama about superheroes and villains and the last gasp of the colorful innocent days of the silver and bronze era of comics before they are dragged into the grit-soaked modern times.”

They’re joined by artist Scott Hepburn, with colors by Ian Herring and letters by Nate Piekos, on this four-issue series.

“Every comic book fan dreams of creating their own universe,” said Oswalt. “This one is mine and Jordan’s. There is fun and danger and violence and sadness just like in real life, but with WAY brighter colors. I can’t wait to see you guys experience it.”

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Batman villains steal the spotlight in ‘One Bad Day’ one-shots

Tom King, Mitch Gerads, G. Willow Wilson, Jamie McKelvie and more tell new stories about Riddler, Catwoman, Bane and more.

DC Comics spent the day on social media revealing a series of eight one-shots starring Batman’s villains by a variety of comics’ finest.

The 64-page one-shots will feature The Riddler, Two-Face, The Penguin, Mr. Freeze, Catwoman, Bane, Clayface and Ra’s al Ghul, by the likes of Tom King, Mitch Gerads, John Ridley and more. They’ll be released monthly starting in August.

Here’s a rundown of who is doing what, along with cover art for six of the projects:

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Quick Hits | Rest in peace, Dijjo Lima

A round-up of news on colorist Dijjo Lima, ‘Heartstopper,’ ‘Batman: The Dark Knight Returns’ and more.

Passings | Artist Mike Deodato, Jr. announced on Twitter that colorist Dijjo Lima, whose work included X Deaths of Wolverine, Devil’s Reign: Omega, Amazing Spider-Man and many other titles, passed away. A cause of death was not given. Multiversity Comics has posted an obituary for the 34-year-old Brazilian. You can see more of his work on his website.

Original Art | Frank Miller and Lynn Varley’s original art for the cover of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #1 will go up for auction on June 16, and Bloomberg is reporting it could go for up to $2 million.

Crowdfunding | If Kickstarter’s weird blockchain announcement from late last year left you scratching your head, Erin Ptah writes up a lengthy explanation about what it all means for The Beat.

Webcomics | Writing for Cherwell, Hetta Johnson provides some background on Alice Oseman’s Heartstopper, the webcomic turned hit Netflix adaptation.

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Dark Horse announces ‘Frankenstein: New World’

Mike Mignola’s take on Mary Shelley’s famous creation shambles into shops in August.

Dark Horse has announced a new miniseries set in the Hellboy universe featuring Mike Mignola’s take on a familiar character: Frankenstein: New World, an all-new four-part miniseries.

Mignola will be joined by writers Christopher Golden and Thomas Sniegoski for the project, which will feature art by Peter Bergting, colorist Michelle Madsen and letterer Clem Robins.

“At the end of B.P.R.D.: The Devil You Know when we burned down the world and then started it again with frog people, I really did think that would be all we’d see of it,” Mignola said in the press release. “And in that same issue, that little glimpse of the Frankenstein monster in the center of the earth, that’s the last I thought we’d see of him. But…when Chris and Tom came to me with the idea of having Frankenstein’s adventures in Frog World, I think it took me about ten seconds to say YES. And then two minutes later I think we were on the phone talking about all the possibilities. I just don’t seem to be able to put a lid on this thing—which I guess is a good thing.”

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‘Superboy’ by Porter + Lindsay wins the second DC Round Robin tournament

It will be published by DC later this year.

History has a way of repeating itself, so the results of the second DC Round Robin fan tournament should be no surprise — another teen sidekick comic has beaten out the Suicide Squad.

Superboy: The Man of Tomorrow by Kenny Porter and Jahnoy Lindsay was chosen by fans voting on the DC Universe Infinity message boards. The vote was not close:

It will go on to become a real comic later this year.

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