‘Batgirls’ launches in December from DC Comics

Becky Cloonan, Michael Conrad, Jorge Corona and Sarah Stern bring Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown and Barbara Gordon together for a new series.

Three former Batgirls will share the spotlight in a new ongoing series, appropriately titled Batgirls. Becky Cloonan and Michael Conrad will write the new series, with Jorge Corona and Sarah Stern providing art.

The all-ages title features Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown and Barbara Gordon, “who are only able to navigate the dark, gritty, and oftentimes scary Gotham City by leaning on each other’s friendship.”

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Archie + Webtoon will launch ‘Big Ethel Energy’ on Sept. 21

Keryl Brown Ahmed and Siobhan Keenan team up for a new webcomic about Ethel’s life after leaving Riverdale.

Archie Comics and Webtoon have announced the first webcomic they plan to release as part of a deal between the two companies that was shared at last year’s New York Comic Con.

Big Ethel Energy, which will feature an older version of the character Ethel, will launch on Sept. 21. It’s by writer Keryl Brown Ahmed and artist Siobhan Keenan.

”We’re so excited for this partnership with Webtoon,” said Archie Comics Senior Director of Editorial Jamie L. Rotante. “The work they’ve been doing is incredible, and the modern sensibilities they bring to their storytelling, along with the gorgeous and colorful art, aligns perfectly with Archie’s vision. It’s been amazing working with Webtoon and watching the evolution of Ethel take shape.”

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AfterShock plans to ruin your childhood with ‘Tales of Mother F. Goose’

The one-shot by Frank Tieri and Joe Eisma mashes up fairy tales with a mobster murder mystery.

Writer Frank Tieri, artist Joe Eisma, colorist Matt Herms and letterer Carlos M. Mangual are teaming up to put a new spin on some really old classics.

Tales of Mother F. Goose, a prestige format one-shot, will continue the fairy-tales-meet-gangster-movie world set up in AfterShock’s Shock anthology and the upcoming AfterDark Halloween special.

“Basically both these projects expand on the world we set up in ‘Little Red Hood’ — and they do it through the mob boss who is essentially the glue that holds all this shit together, Don Francesco Orca, our Mother F. Goose. (Orca means Goose in Italian. And yeah, his name is Francesco. What did ya think the F stood for? ;))” Tieri said.

It’s a world where the Three Little Pigs own a casino, Little Miss Muffet is a cop and The Three Blind Mice are assassins.

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Archie celebrates 10 years of Kevin Keller with a crowdfunded omnibus

Dan Parent spearheads a Kickstarter campaign for a collection of Kevin Keller stories.

Dan Parent, a veteran Archie Comics artist and creator of Kevin Keller, is celebrating 10 years of the character with Kevin Keller Celebration!, a 700-page omnibus collecting stories featuring the character, from his first appearance to the Life with Kevin graphic novel that showed the character’s future.

The project is current being crowdfunded on Kickstarter, where they’re looking for almost $50,000 in support.

“For the past 35 years, I’ve had the pleasure to work on multiple characters and titles for Archie, but my heart always comes back to my heart and soul, Kevin Keller,” Parent said. “Being able to spearhead this campaign with the support of Archie Comics is the perfect way to continue the legacy of the character as well as celebrate the 80th anniversary of Archie Comics.”

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Can’t Wait for Comics | Get ready for Batman Day

Check out new comics this week from Kieron Gillen, Dustin Weaver, Dan Slott, Mark Waid, John Romita Jr., Jeff Lemire, Andrea Sorrentino 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.

Check out a few highlights below, or visit Diamond’s website for this week’s almost complete list of new comics arriving in stores. You can visit Lunar Distribution’s home page to see DC’s releases, and the comiXology new releases page for what’s available digitally.

I should also add that the list of what is actually arriving at your local shop can vary from what’s on anyone’s official website for a myriad of reasons — so always check with your comics retailer for the final word on availability.

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Mignola will write + draw a new Hellboy-verse comic

‘Sir Edward Grey: Acheron’ arrives in December.

Dark Horse has announced that Mike Mignola will write and draw a new one-shot, Sir Edward Grey: Acheron, set in the Hellboy universe. This is Mignola’s first interior artwork since 2016’s Hellboy in Hell.

The new story follows B.P.R.D.: The Devil You Know, where Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense fought off monsters on Earth long enough for humanity to barely escape underground.

“Even after Hellboy was finished with Hell, I knew I wasn’t. I’d relocated two of my favorite characters there—Edward Grey and Koshchei the Deathless,” said Mignola. “I figured the two of them were bound to run into each other (and they will), but first I had an unfinished bit of business for Ed to take care of on his own. It was a real pleasure to dive back into that world, and I look forward to getting back there again before too long.”

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Mail Call | Tynion offers first ‘Blue Book’ for free

Check out news and updates from Marvel, Dark Horse, Top Shelf, Image Comics and more.

Mail Call is a roundup of cool things we’ve received in our mailboxes recently from comics publishers, creators and more. Hit the links for more information.

James Tynion IV was one of the first creators out of the gate with his plans for his premium Substack newsletter subscription, announcing a new comic called Blue Book with artist Michael Avon Oeming that he planned to share with paid subscribers.

But even if you aren’t a paid subscriber, you can still check out the first one, which he posted for free a couple days ago.

Blue Book is a passion project for myself and Michael Avon Oeming,” Tynion wrote. “We share a lifelong fascination with UFOs and a lifelong frustration with how those stories have been adapted into other media. There is a strangeness in the original accounts of UFO sightings that usually gets swept aside, but Michael and I want to lean into the strangeness. These are human stories of ordinary people who brush against the unknown and must grapple with what they see there. There is a deeper truth, whether you believe in the accounts or not, that lies in the many ways people tell these stories.”

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What Are You Reading? | ‘Punderworld’ delivers ‘a fully fleshed out world of relationships, Greek lore and bang-on comedic timing’

See what the Smash Pages crew has been reading lately, including ‘JLA,’ Ka-Zar, ‘Defenders,’ ‘Blue & Gold’ and more.

Welcome to What Are You Reading?, our look at what the Smash Pages crew has been checking off their “to read” list lately. Today’s edition includes thoughts on recent issues of Defenders, Justice League Infinity, Ka-Zar: Lord of the Savage Land and The Me You Love in the Dark, as well collections of JLA, Punderworld and SHIELD, among others.

Let us know what you’ve been reading lately in the comments or on social media.

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Top Shelf will publish Peter and Maria Hoey’s ‘Animal Stories’

Top Shelf will release the six-story collection in December.

Top Shelf Comix has announced a new graphic novel by Peter and Maria Hoey, creators of Coin-Op Comics.

Animal Stories will collect six stories by the siblings that explore “the mysterious relationships between humans and other animals.”

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Avengers of the Multiverse will assemble in ‘Avengers Forever’

Jason Aaron and Aaron Kuder send ‘shockwaves across all of reality’ this December.

Marvel is resurrecting the “Avengers Forever” name for a new series from Jason Aaron and Aaron Kuder. While the Kurt Busiek/Carlos Pacheco classic miniseries brought together Avengers from throughout time, this new series will bring together Avengers from throughout the multiverse.

Avengers Forever, one of the eight new tentpole titles coming this winter that Marvel announced last week, will arrive in December. But Aaron says the story actually begins in Avengers #50.

Avengers #50 lights the fire. Avengers Forever is the explosion that follows,” Jason Aaron told Marvel.com. “A slam bang supernova of a megabomb that sends shockwaves across all of reality, to earth after earth that’s been defaced by the new Multiversal Masters of Evil, to the ruins of Asgard at the end of time, to an Avengers Tower that sits atop a bedrock of fallen gods at Infinity’s End. Along the way, we meet some new versions of Avengers we know, as well as witness the return of some dear old friends, in a series that will swing for the fences with each and every issue, as the Mightiest Heroes of all the Earths in the heavens look to assemble as never before.”

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D + Q will publish Michael DeForge’s ‘Birds of Maine’ next year

Honorable librarians rejoice: DeForge’s award-nominated Instagram comic is coming to print.

Michael DeForge’s Birds of Maine will migrate from Instagram to print next year, as Drawn and Quarterly have announced plans to publish it as a graphic novel in the Spring of next year.

DeForge has been posting comics featuring a post-apocalyptic reality where birds live their best lives after the fall of humanity — until the last-remaining human crash lands from the moon.

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‘Timeless’ sets up Marvel’s future this December

The one-shot written by Jed MacKay has an artist change since it was announced last week.

Timeless, one of the eight new tentpole titles coming out this winter that Marvel announced last week, will arrive in December with a boom — but without Joe Bennett.

The Immortal Hulk artist was originally announced to be working on the one-shot, but as confirmed by Newsarama, the artist will not be working on any future Marvel projects. While Marvel did not give a reason, Bennett has been in the news lately both for the anti-semitic imagery being displayed in the background of a panel of Immortal Hulk and for a controversial drawing he did of Brazil President Jair Messias Bolsonaro.

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