U.S.Agent suits up for a new series by Priest + Landini

The former Captain America returns in an ongoing series this November.

Marvel has announced plans to launch a U.S.Agent series this fall, from the creative team of Christopher Priest and Stefano Landini.

The first arc, titled “American Zealot,” starts with the former Captain America, John Walker, operating as an independent contractor for the U.S. government. His latest job pulls him into a conflict between a small town and a big corporation, as he suits up in a new costume, recruits a new sidekick and takes on a new enemy.

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Comics Lowdown | IDW ‘has parted ways’ with Publisher Jud Meyers

Plus: How the pandemic has impacted Scholastic and VIZ Media, the ‘Thundarr the Barbarian’ comic that almost was and more!

IDW Publishing has “parted ways” with Jud Meyers, who they had named as their new publisher on July 22.

“IDW Publishing has parted ways with Jud Meyers and would like to thank everyone for their discretion,” the company said in a short statement. Meyers was named publisher after longtime publisher Chris Ryall departed the company, but was then placed on administrative leave a few days after the announcement.

Publishing: Publisher’s Weekly looks at Scholastic’s fourth-quarter and full year results for fiscal year 2020, which ended May 31 for the company. Not surprisingly, given the COVID-19 pandemic, they were down significantly compared to last year. Revenue was down $187 million, or almost 40%, leading to a 10% drop in their full-year revenue for FY20.

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Smash Pages Q&A: Sean Damien Hill

The artist of ‘The Hated’ discusses how he works, his influences, drawing horses and more.

Sean Damien Hill has been working on comics for years now, on projects ranging from Dark Shaman to Route 3 to The Gilded Age. His linework shows traces of a number of influences, finding ways to incorporate manga and classic American illustrators. The result is work that manages to be detailed and dynamic, with an impressive sense of design and layout.

Hill is an immensely talented young artist, and his new project, with David Walker, is The Hated #1. The comic is a Western set in an alternative world that Walker described as part spaghetti Western and part blaxploitation. It’s out now from Solid Comix, and Hill was kind enough to answer a few questions about the book and how he works.

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Wally West can’t stop running

Tom Bondurant recounts the history of Wally West, from reluctant superhero to generational avatar.

For many superhero-comic readers of the 1980s and ’90s (not to mention viewers of the Justice League animated series in the 2000s), Wally West was the Flash – the fastest man alive. Created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino for January 1960’s The Flash issue #110, Wally gained super-speed just as his idol did, by being doused in Barry Allen’s laboratory chemicals and struck by lightning. Today Wally has become a symbol of DC Comics’ superhero legacies, so much so that his role in 2016’s DC Universe Rebirth special signaled a wholesale return to a previous timeline. However, when editorial fiat dispatched him in 2011, Wally had arguably done everything he’d set out to do. Indeed, Wally’s history includes a couple of prominent retirement periods already. Now he’s inherited Metron’s Mobius Chair and Doctor Manhattan’s powers, but the question still remains: What’s left for Wally West?

Wally started out as Kid Flash, sidekick and sometimes backup-feature star. At first he wore a kid-sized Flash costume, so his more familiar duds (acquired in March 1963’s Flash #135) represented a significant step in his development. He was a charter member of the Teen Titans from its primeval beginning (June-July 1964’s Brave and the Bold #54) to its February 1978 dissolution (Teen Titans #53). Shortly thereafter, in 1978’s DC Special Series issue #11, writer Cary Bates and artist Irv Novick had Wally tell his family that he would only be Kid Flash through the end of his college career; and upon graduation, he’d retire from superheroics.

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Smash Pages Q&A: Marco Finnegan

The artist of ‘Crossroad Blues’ returns with a new YA graphic novel about the Zoot Suit Riots, family tension and lizardmen.

In the early 1940s, racial tension between the Chicano community and white servicemen in the Los Angeles area led to the Zoot Suit Riots, named for the baggy suits worn by Mexican-American youths at the time.

Lizard in a Zoot Suit is a new graphic novel from Marco Finnegan (Crossroad Blues) that uses these riots as a backdrop for a socially relevant tale of racial tension, family and magical realism. Inspired by playwright Luis Valdez and movies like LA Confidential, Lizard in a Zoot Suit features two sisters who discover a lizardman — a lost member of an underground species who just wants to get home. Amidst the chaos, the sisters do what they can for their new friend in a beautiful tale told in two colors.

I spoke with Finnegan about the book, his inspiration for it and more.

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‘Monstress’ gets a spinoff miniseries this fall

‘Monstress: Talk-Stories’ will follow the conclusion of the title’s fifth story arc.

Image Comics has announced that Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda’s award-winning Monstress will get a spinoff this fall, titled Monstress: Talk-Stories.

The two-issue miniseries will fill the gap between the fifth and sixth story arcs of Monstress and “invites you to eat dumplings beside the fire and listen as Kippa recounts a defining moment from her childhood.”

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The Justice League at 60, Part Three: Into Orbit

Tom Bondurant jumps into the ‘Satellite Era’ of the 1970s and ’80s this week, as he continues his look 60 years of the Justice League.

Check out part one and part two of this series!

What we’re calling the “Satellite Era” of Justice League of America began in November 1968’s issue #66, several issues before the team would move into its new headquarters stationed geosynchronously 22,300 miles above Metropolis. Still, writer Gardner Fox’s departure with #65 was the end of an era which stretched arguably back to the Justice Society; and successor Denny O’Neil was making changes even before the satellite was built.

Just as the Silver Age was dominated by Fox and artist Mike Sekowsky, the Satellite Era would be directed mostly by writer Gerry Conway and artist Dick Dillin. This period lasted until November 1984’s issue #232 (after which the team had moved out of the satellite for good); and of those 164 regular issues and two Annuals, Conway wrote 81 and Dillin pencilled 116. Because Conway arrived long after Dillin started, the two only collaborated on 39 issues. Nevertheless, one or the other was part of just about every JLA issue from November 1968 through February 1984.

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Smash Pages Q&A: Mark Schultz

The creator of ‘Xenozoic Tales’ talks about the Kickstarter project for three new books, which include an Al Williamson book and more.

Mark Schultz has had a long career as a writer and artist. People might know him for writing the long-running comic strip Prince Valiant, which he’s been writing since 2004. He’s written graphic novel The Stuff of Life and comics ranging from Superman to Aliens vs. Predator to The Spirit. As a writer and artist, he made the acclaimed series Xenozoic Tales, wrote the heavily illustrated novella Storms at Sea and has had a long career as an illustrator.

Today Flesk Publications launched a Kickstarter for three new books: a new Carbon, the most recent in a series of art books by Schultz; a new edition of Xenozoic; and a book about Al Williamson. Schultz was kind enough to answer a few questions about his work and the Kickstarter campaign.

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Cullen Bunn digs down into ‘Deepest Catacombs’

The webcomic will debut on his Patreon the week of Aug. 9.

Cullen Bunn will channel those one-page advertisements for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game that used to run in 1980s comics with Deepest Catacombs, a new webcomic he’s launching via his Patreon. He’ll work with different artists for each one-page installment, which together will form a 24-page comic.

“When I was a kid, I absolutely loved the D&D ads that ran in my favorite comics,” Bunn said. “These were one-page comic strips that introduced a band of heroes—Grimslade, Valerius, Saren and Indel—who were adventuring into a dungeon in search of treasure. They met up with werewolves and goblins and green slime and dragons. The story continued from strip to strip, and I was always eager to see what would come next. Sometimes, I was more excited about the ads than the actual comics!”

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Can’t Wait for Comics | Vampires, nightmares and bastards

New comics and graphic novels arrive this week from Robert Kirkman, Chris Samnee, Jonathan Hickman, Tim Seeley, Tini Howard, Peter David, Dale Keown and more.

The Smash Pages crew is back again with a look at what’s arriving in comic shops, bookstores and on digital this week.

If you’re wondering what to get this week, check out a few recommendations below. You can check the Comic List page to see what’s arriving in your local shop, and the comiXology new releases page for what’s available digitally.

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Rafael Albuquerque puts down his pencil, grabs the keyboard for ‘Funny Creek’

Albuquerque co-wrote the new miniseries with Rafael Scavone for comiXology Originals.

Although probably best known for his award-winning work as an artist on American Vampire, Rafael Albuquerque will take a different role on Funny Creek, a new miniseries debuting from comiXology Originals this week.

Rafael Albuquerque co-wrote the miniseries with Rafael Scavone. Eduardo Medeiros drew it, with colors by Priscilla Tramontano and letters by Bernardo Brice. Bis Stringer Horne edited the project. Funny Creek is the first of four comic books coming out of the comiXology Originals multi-book deal with Stout Club Entertainment.

“We’ve wanted to collaborate in a new project for a long time and finally decided on a book aimed for young readers, which is not our comfort zone at all,” said Albuquerque. “While brainstorming ideas, heavy subjects kept coming to our minds, and we decided that we should not avoid, but embrace them—figuring out how an 8-year old kid would deal with things like loss, guilt and grief. That was the path where we found something unique and interesting for both young and mature audiences.”

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What Are You Reading? | X-Factor, Jughead, Suicide Squad 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 — including comics from past centuries and some from the past week.

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

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