Guest Column: Jarrett J. Krosoczka on his early influences

The creator of ‘Hey, Kiddo’ and the ‘Lunch Lady’ series shares his love for Batman, the X-Men, Gummi Bears and more.

Before becoming an award-winning cartoonist and the author of Hey, Kiddo, the Lunch Lady series and other books, Jarrett J. Krosoczka was a fan, wearing his love for the Smurfs, Gummi Bear, X-Men and more on the sleeve of his Batman T-shirt.

Now, with the re-release of the Lunch Lady series as two collected editions, we’re happy to present this guest essay from Krosoczka about those early influences on his work and the escape they provided for him as child.

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Ewing + Rodríguez pit the Defenders against the Beyonder in June

Blue Marvel, Loki, Tigra and more team up to face a Jheri-curled threat from beyond.

Al Ewing and Javier Rodríguez will re-team for another Defenders miniseries later this year, titled Defenders: Beyond. The new story will focus on a different set of characters than last year’s miniseries and will feature the return of the cosmic being The Beyonder.

“So in this book, we’re going on a magical journey into the Mystery itself, mapping the Marvel Godhead and bringing back knowledge that ties into what has gone before, some seismic things to come… and if we’re lucky, maybe a little off-the-page magic to feed your hungry head,” Ewing told Marvel.com. “We’ve got an eclectic new crew of Defenders chosen for the task by the final spell of Stephen Strange – I’m saying what’s probably a final goodbye to a lot of stuff from the past 10 years with this one, and for at least one character, this will be the last adventure. Hope you survive the psychedelic experience, pilgrim!”

This new miniseries will star Taaia, the mother of Galactus, who was introduced in the previous series, along with Blue Marvel, America Chavez, Tigra and Loki.

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Jessica Jones teams with herselves in ‘The Variants’

Gail Simone and Phil Noto teams up multiple versions of the cantankerous P.I. from across the universe.

Jessica Jones will meet her match in June, and that match is herself. Herselves? I don’t know if that’s really a word, but Marvel’s favorite super-powered P.I. is getting a new miniseries this summer where she’ll team up with different versions of herself from across the multiverse.

Gail Simone and Phil Noto will team for The Variants, a five-issue miniseries that will have Jones “question everything she thought she knew about her life and her choices.”

“First, let me get this out…when Tom Brevoort offered me this project, I went and re-read all the Jessica stories, from the classic, groundbreaking [Brian Michael] Bendis stories to the more recent and fantastically good Kelly Thompson stories (that you definitely should read!), and they’re just exciting, compelling reads. There isn’t another comics character like her. That was immensely exciting,” Simone told Marvel.com.

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Smash Pages Q&A | Eric Palicki on ‘Black’s Myth’

With the collection now out from Ahoy Comics, writer Eric Palicki talks about the first volume of the supernatural ‘L.A. noir’ comic ‘Black’s Myth.’

In the past few years Eric Palicki has developed his reputation as a writer and editor thanks to comics like Atlantis Wasn’t Built for Tourists, Fake Empire and No Angel, and anthologies like All We Ever Wanted, Dead Beats and This Nightmare Kills Fascists. For the Ahoy Comics series Black’s Myth, the collection of which was just released, Palicki re-teamed with artist Wendell Cavalcanti to tell the story of a werewolf named Strummer who lives in Los Angeles and avoids the supernatural world. Or tries to, at any rate.

The book is a dark noirish tale with a lot of humor, with Cavalcanti’s black and white artwork inside contrasted with the neon colors of Liana Kangas’ covers, the book screams “L.A. noir.” The supernatural angle, though, is all Palicki, and Black’s Myth feels like a book he’s been building towards, both in terms of subject and sensibility, and in his skill at storytelling.

The trade collection of the first was just released with a second volume coming out in the fall, and Palicki answered a few questions about the book.

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Nominees announced for the Bram Stoker Awards

Comics by Grant Morrison, Dan Panosian, Marianna Ignazzi, Mico Suayan, Kami Garcia and more have been nominated for the annual awards for horror fiction.

Following the reveal of the preliminary ballot earlier this year, the Horror Writers Association has announced the final nominees for the 2021 Bram Stoker Awards.

The annual awards recognize “superior achievement” in horror/dark fiction. This year BOOM! Studios dominates the list with three nominees, while DC and Independent Legion Publishing each garnered one nomination.

Winners will be announced during the Annual Bram Stoker Awards Banquet held during StokerCon 2022 in Denver. Here are the nominees in the graphic novel category: 

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Buy this ‘Gideon Falls’ shirt to support Ukraine relief efforts

Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino announce efforts to support Unicef’s efforts to help Ukrainians during the Russian invasion.

Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino are raising money to support Unicef’s efforts to support Ukrainian children with a special Gideon Falls T-shirt that’s now available on their Threadless shop.

Proceeds from sales of the shirt will be donated to the organization’s efforts to provide humanitarian aide to children and families affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Lemire said in his Substack newsletter that he also plans to donate any profits from sales of his original art through Cadence Comics Art to the organization for the next two months.

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Three women nominated for Grand Prix d’Angouleme

Penelope Bagieu, Julie Doucet, and Catherine Meurisse are on the shortlist for the prestigious lifetime award.

For the first time ever, the final nominees for the Grand Prix d’Angouleme are all women. Pénélope Bagieu, Julie Doucet, and Catherine Meurisse were chosen by a jury of their peers—literally: All comics creators whose work is published in France are eligible to vote for the nominees.

The winner will be announced on March 16.

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LA Times Graphic Novel Shortlist

Works by Michael DeForge, Keum Suk Gendry-Kim, Hiromi Goto and Ann Xu, R. Kikuo Johnson, and Lee Lai made the shortlist.

The Los Angeles Times has announced the shortlists for its annual book prizes, and the finalists in the Graphic Novel category are

  • Heaven No Hell, by Michael DeForge (Drawn & Quarterly)
  • The Waiting, by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim, translated by Janet Hong (Drawn & Quarterly)
  • Shadow Life, by Hiromi Goto and Ann Xu (First Second)
  • No One Else, by R. Kikuo Johnson (Fantagraphics)
  • Stone Fruit, by Lee Lai (Fantagraphics)

All these titles will likely be familiar to Smash Pages readers. Stone Fruit won two Ignatz Awards last year, as did DeForge’s Birds of Maine, and Gendry-Kim’s earlier graphic novel, Grass, made the 2020 LA Times shortlist, as did DeForge’s Leaving Richard’s Valley.

The judges for the Graphic Novel section were Sloane Leong, Joel Christian Gill, and Cathy G. Johnson.

Hero Initiative will bring ‘JLA/Avengers’ back into print

Marvel and DC’s biggest and arguably best crossover event returns to print next month in honor of artist George Perez.

JLA/Avengers, arguably one of the greatest comics crossover events ever and, hell, probably a contender for one of the greatest Avengers AND Justice League stories of all time, will find its way back into print later this year thanks to the Hero Initiative.

The organization announced a special limited-edition reprint collecting the stellar miniseries by Kurt Busiek and George Perez, with the intent to honor “one of George Pérez seminal bodies of work and his long-time support of Hero.” Perez is a founding member of their board of directors and has served as chair of its Disbursement Committee, and this of course follows the news from last year that the legendary artist was diagnosed with Stage 3 Pancreatic Cancer.

JLA/Avengers walked a long and winding road to publication, with many speed bumps and false starts along the way.

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Smash Pages Q&A: Jeffrey A. Brown

The pop culture scholar discusses his latest books on superheroes, diversity and gender.

Jeffrey A. Brown is an associate professor at Bowling Green State University in Ohio and over the past few years has written a number of books that have looked at comics, fandom and popular culture through the lens of gender and race. Some of those titles include The Modern Superhero in Film and Television; Beyond Bombshells: The New Action Heroine in Popular Culture; Dangerous Curves: Action Heroines, Gender, Fetishism, and Popular Culture; and Black Superheroes, Milestone Comics, and Their Fans.

Last year Rutgers University Press published two books by Brown. At the beginning of the year they published Panthers, Hulks, and Ironhearts: Marvel, Diversity and the 21st Century Superhero and at year’s end, Love, Sex, Gender, and Superheroes. What struck me most about his work is the way he manages to combine a broad reading – his new book looks at the comics and how portrayals have changed over time, film and TV adaptations, fan fiction and porn parodies, and everything in between. He combines a close reading of the comics with a broad look at these subjects across media and culture, and he does so in ways that fans can relate to and talk about.

We spoke in late 2021 about his new book and his work more broadly, and the need to be a fan of what you study.

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Can’t Wait for Comics | A new ‘Iron Fist’ emerges in this week’s comics

New comics and graphic novels arrive this week from Tim Seeley, Ilias Kyriazis, Greg Pak, Takeshi Miyaza, Garth Ennis, PJ Holden, Darryl Cunningham and more.

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

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:

Please note that I have changed the link above to the new Amazon page for comiXology. You can still get to the comiXology new releases page for now, but I’m not sure how long it’ll be around.

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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DC’s 2022 Free Comic Book Day line-up

Super Pets, ‘Dark Crisis’ and a new hero arrive on May 7.

DC Comics has announced the rest of their Free Comic Book Day titles for 2022, following last week’s announcement of Dark Crisis and its debut on May 7.

Joining Dark Crisis #0 FCBD Special Edition will be Galaxy: The Prettiest Star Free Comic Book Day Special Edition and DC League of Super-Pets: The Great Mxy-Up Free Comic Book Day Special Edition. Both offer previews of upcoming graphic novels from DC that will arrive in stores 10 days later on May 17.

Here’s more info on all three:

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