Nominees announced for the 32nd GLAAD Media Awards

Nominees include ‘Empyre,’ ‘The Magic Fish,’ ‘Far Sector’ and more.

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, or GLAAD, have announced the nominees for their 32nd annual Media Awards, which recognize and honor media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the LGBTQ community and the issues that affect their lives.

10 comics and graphic novels have been nominated in the “Outstanding Comic Book” category, including four from DC Comics, three from Marvel, two from BOOM! Studios and one from Random House Graphic. Doctor Aphra, the Marvel comic featuring the character from the Star Wars universe, won the award last year.

The nominees for “Outstanding Comic Book” are:

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Comics Lowdown | Youth Media Awards announced

Plus: Egyptian cartoonist arrested; columnist proposes banning MAGA wear at conventions.

Library Talk: The American Library Association’s Midwinter meeting just ended, and the big event, as always, is the Youth Media Awards—this is when the Newbery and Caldecott medals, and a host of other awards, are announced. For over 10 years, graphic novels have won some of these awards; last year, Jerry Craft’s Class Act won the Newbery Medal, the first graphic novel to be so honored. This year’s awards:

  • Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang, with color by Lark Pien, was a Printz Honor Book (runner-up for the Printz Award for excellence in literature for young adults);
  • When Stars are Scattered, by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed, illustrated by Victoria Jamieson, color by Iman Geddy, was a Schneider Family Book Award honor book (for “books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience”);
  • Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio by Derf Backderf and Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh were among the ten winners of the Alex Award for adult books that appeal to teen audiences;
  • Catherine’s War, by Julia Billet, illustrated by Claire Fauvel, and translated from French by Ivanka Hahnenberger, was an honor book for the Mildred L. Batchelder Award for translated books.

On Twitter, librarian Matthew Noe took a tour of the virtual booths of all the comics publishers at the show, with a word or two about each one. If you are interested in learning more about comics publishing and who does what, this is a great place to start!

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Voting for the X-Men: The time is right for Tempo

With Marvel allowing fans to help chose the final member of the X-Men, the Smash Pages crew shares their endorsement(s).

In the grand tradition of voting for the leader of the Legion of Super-Heroes and whether Jason Todd would live or die, Marvel has launched a website where you can vote for the final member of the X-Men.

The campaign ties into the current X-Men storyline, where Cyclops and Jean Grey have decided to recruit a new team of mutants to protect the mutant nation of Krakoa. Marvel has offered up 10 options for fans to choose from: Banshee, Polaris, Forge, Boom-Boom, Tempo, Cannonball, Sunspot, Strong Guy, Marrow and Armor.

Voting is open from now until 11:59 p.m. Eastern, Feb. 2, 2021.

We here at Smash Pages have our own thoughts about who the new member should be — with one dissension — so please read our heartfelt pleas for your vote below.

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Can’t Wait for Comics | New eras for ‘Firefly,’ ‘Monstress’ and more

New comics arrive this week from John Ridley, Giuseppi Camumcoli, Steve Wands, Mark Russell, Steve Pugh, Gene Yang, Greg Pak, Pius Bak, Dustin Weaver, Marjorie Liu, Sana Takeda and more.

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

This week brings another wave of DC’s Future State, as well as the second issue of The Other History of the DC Universe. New story arcs for Firefly and Monstress debut, while Marvel wraps up Shang-Chi.

You know the drill — check out a few recommendations below, or visit ComicList for this week’s full list of new comics arriving in stores, and the comiXology new releases page for what’s available digitally.

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Eric Palicki teases ‘Black’s Myth’ from AHOY Comics

The ‘Atlantis Wasn’t Built For Tourists’ writer teases a new project with artist Wendell Cavalcanti.

Writer and editor Eric Palicki has teased a new series he’s working on, Black’s Myth, on Twitter:

He’s working with artist Wendell Cavalcanti, who he collaborated with on Atlantis Wasn’t Built For Tourists at Scout Comics. Liana Kangas will provide covers and AHOY Comics will publish it, which they confirmed in their most recent email newsletter.

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‘Heroes Reborn’ imagines a world with no Avengers

The series spins out of Jason Aaron’s work on ‘Avengers.’

Marvel has announced Heroes Reborn, a new project by Jason Aaron and Ed McGuiness that asks the question, “What if the Avengers never assembled?”

The story spins out of Aaron’s current work on Avengers, as the world is “reborn” after the Phoenix burns it to ashes — at least that’s what Executive Editor Tom Brevoort says.

“It’s only natural that after the Phoenix burns the world to ash, there should come a rebirth, and so REBORN is the next big step in the massive super-story that Jason and Ed have been crafting in Avengers,” he said. “Prepare to enter a very different yet hauntingly familiar Marvel Universe!”

In the reborn world, Tony Stark never built his armor, Thor avoids hammer and a frozen Captain America was never found. Only Blade seems to remember the way things were, as he looks for what shifted reality. The story will feature the Squadron Supreme, who have been a thorn in the Avengers side as of late, and also, if you look closely at the teaser image, Mephisto — another thorn who has popped up in Aaron’s run.

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What Are You Reading? | ‘King in Black,’ ‘Legion,’ ‘Teddy’ and more

See what the Smash Pages crew has been reading lately.

Welcome to What Are You Reading?, our weekly look at what the Smash Pages crew has been reading lately. We’ve got a packed room today, as we talk about comics from the last few decades or so — including old Spider-Man and Milestone Media, as well as newer stuff like Wretches, Batman/Catwoman and King in Black.

Let us know what you read this week in the comments or on social media.

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Image Comics ignites ‘Jules Verne’s: Lighthouse’ in April

The Shadowline series by David Hine and Brian Haberlin is inspired by a lesser-known Jules Verne story.

David Hine and Brian Haberlin, who have worked together previously on The Marked and Sonata, will team up once again on Jules Verne’s: Lighthouse, a new miniseries coming from Image’s Shadowline imprint in April. They’ll be joined by Geirrod Van Dyke on a story, as the title implies, inspired by the work of author Jules Verne.

“Brian introduced me to this lesser-known Jules Verne story of dastardly brigands and survival on a lonely, windswept island,” said Hine. “We did the obvious thing and transformed it into an epic science-fiction tale of space piracy, wormholes, galaxy-spanning conflict and a glitchy but lovable robot called Moses.”

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‘Home’ miniseries will follow an asylum seeker who develops superpowers

New miniseries from Julio Anta, Anna Wieszczyk and Bryan Valenza comes out in April.

Image Comics has announced the very topical Home, the first miniseries from creators Julio Anta and Anna Wieszczyk, who are joined by colorist Bryan Valenza. It’s about a boy taken from his family as they seek asylum in the U.S. — and then he develops superpowers.

“As the son and grandson of Cuban and Colombian immigrants, and now a parent myself, the news of the governments family separation policy both broke my heart, and filled me with anger,” Anta told The Hollywood Reporter. “Home is an attempt to channel those complicated feelings about what it means to be an American into a story about empowered Latinx characters dealing with the cruelty of our modern immigration laws.”

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Top Cow announces ‘Helm Greycastle’ by Barajas + Handoko + Valenza

New miniseries combines high fantasy with Aztec myths.

Henry Barajas, Rahmat M. Handoko and Bryan Valenza are teaming up on a new comic that combines high fantasy with Aztec mythology. Helm Greycastle — both the title of the miniseries coming from Top Cow and the name of the main character — is both an ode to J. R. R. Tolkien and Dungeons and Dragons, and an opportunity for the creative team to showcase Mesoamerican history.

“What if the Aztec Empire defeated the Spanish Conquistadors? As a Mexican-American who has had no formal education on my indigenous background, writing this book has been very empowering,” said Barajas. “I’m excited to share some Mesoamerican history while mixing it with swords and sorcery.”

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The State of Future State, Part 2

JK, Shane and Tom continue their look at DC’s Future State titles, this time around focusing on ‘Justice League,’ ‘Green Lantern,’ ‘Harley Quinn’ and ‘Swamp Thing.’

Following part one from earlier this week, Shane Bailey, Tom Bondurant and I are back to talk more about of DC’s Future State comics, roundtable style.

This time around, Shane and I finish off week one by discussing Harley Quinn and Swamp Thing, and then Tom rejoins us as we jump into week two’s Superman of Metropolis and Green Lantern.

As always, the timeline DC provided helps put these stories into context:

So let’s get to it …

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BOOM! Studios acquires the license for ‘Magic: The Gathering’ comics

Jed MacKay, Ig Guara, Arianna Consonni and Ed Dukeshire team up for ‘Magic,’ which debuts in April.

BOOM! Studios has announced that they’ve acquired the rights to publish comics based on Magic: The Gathering, the popular card game made by Wizards of the Coast. They plan to start publishing Magic: The Gathering comics in April with, appropriately, a comic called Magic.

Writer Jed MacKay, artist Ig Guara, colorist Arianna Consonni and letterer Ed Dukeshire are the creative team for Magic, which will feature names and concepts that most Magic: The Gathering fans will recognize.

“Magic: The Gathering is more than a game—it’s a rich, expansive multiverse and mythology you can really live in and spend an infinite amount of time traversing. This all-new and unique story we’re launching into is full of beloved characters and shocking reveals from the world of Magic that are going to entertain readers new to the brand and surprise lifelong fans in the best possible ways,” said Bryce Carlson, Vice President, Editorial & Creative Strategy, BOOM! Studios. “Jed, Ig, Arianna, Ed, all of our incredible cover artists, and the entire team at BOOM! Studios are firing on all cylinders so I can confidently say that this is far and away the best Magic: The Gathering has ever been executed in the comics medium. Period.”

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