‘Body Bags’ creator Jason Pearson passed away in December

The artist’s family announced this week that Pearson died from natural causes at the age of 52 last month.

Jason Pearson, the creator of Body Bags and a founding member of Gaijin Studios, passed away on Dec. 19 at the age of 52. His family revealed that he died on his Facebook page.

“Jason leaves behind a legacy of work that will be cherished by readers for decades to come,” their statement reads, which says he passed away from natural causes. “His hyper-kinetic style and breathless pace will be studied by both aspiring artists and seasoned professionals as long as the comic book medium exists. While sometimes a controversial figure, no one could ever question his commitment to the craft or the quality of work he produced as both a writer and artist.”

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Can’t Wait for Comics | Kelly + Niimura reunite for ‘Immortal Sergeant’

Check out new comics and graphic novels by Joe Kelly, Ken Niimura, Al Ewing, Kasia Nie, Michael Moreci, Nathan Gooden, Joshua Williamson, Howard Porter, Tim Seeley and more.

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

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:

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.

Continue reading “Can’t Wait for Comics | Kelly + Niimura reunite for ‘Immortal Sergeant’”

Emily Carroll’s ‘A Guest in the House’ will haunt your dreams in August

First Second will publish the new graphic novel by a contemporary horror master.

Horror fans take note — Emily Carroll’s next project will arrive from First Second in August.

A Guest in the House is about a woman who marries a widower and moves in with him and his daughter, only to become haunted by the memory of his dead wife — and obsessed with finding out what really happened to her.

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Marvel + Scholastic will release a new Shang-Chi graphic novel this fall

Victoria Ying will write and draw the adventure of a young Shang-Chi and his sister Shi-Hua.

Victoria Ying will write and draw a new all-ages Shang-Chi graphic novel as part of the partnership between Marvel and Scholastic.

Shang-Chi and the Quest for Immortality will take a young Shang-Chi and his sister Shi-Hua out of their father’s castle and into the larger world, as Shang-Chi seeks a means to help his father restore his immortality.

“One of the things that intrigued me the most about Shang-Chi as a character was his complicated relationship to his father,” Ying told Marvel.com. “I wanted to explore what it would be like to be a young person and what it felt like to constantly crave and strive for approval, before throwing it all away and rejecting the need for understanding from his father. It’s a journey I can relate to and I wanted to show Shang-Chi in the years before he set out against his father.”

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Sunday Comics | Legendary Lynx, lie detectors, horses and elbows

Check out recent webcomics by Alex Segura, Sandy Jarrell, Lisa Hanawalt, James Kochalka and more.

Here’s a round up of some of the best comics we’ve seen online recently. If we missed something, let us know in the comments below.

Readers of Alex Segura’s novel Secret Identity — a murder mystery set in the 1970s comics industry — have probably been wondering, “Hey, do you think maybe they’ll do a real The Legendary Lynx comic?” Well, wonder no more, because Segura has launched a Lynx comic via Zestworld.

The Lynx, of course, is the faux comic made up by Segura for the novel — which actually includes pages from it as part of the story. While the credits stick to the in-story names for the creators, the comic is actually being written by Segura, with Sandy Jarrell providing the art, Grey Allison on colors and Jack Morelli doing letters, all under the watchful eye of editor Allison M. O’Toole.

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Punk rock Storm flies again in a new miniseries

Ann Nocenti and Sid Kotian team up for a story set in the X-Men’s past.

Ann Nocenti, a former editor of Marvel’s Uncanny X-Men title, will return to the characters in May, this time as a writer. Nocenti will team with artist Sid Kotian for a new miniseries featuring Storm.

The miniseries will pit the mohawk-wearing leader of the X-Men against a new threat.

“I joke about how cool it is that Marvel ‘brings back us old timers to sing our greatest hits’ for the Legends series, but it truly is an honor and a joy,” Nocenti said. “When Editors Mark Basso and Drew Baumgartner then asked me to write a story with ‘punk’ Storm, I wanted the story to reflect her outfit. I thought about punk musicians like Iggy Pop and the Sex Pistols, and their apocryphal rebellious attitude. So it was exciting to start from there, and think, ‘What would Storm rebel against?’ Her own powers? The X-Men? Being Team leader?”

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‘Groot’ gets an origin story in May

Dan Abnett and Damian Couceiro will revisit Groot’s origins in a new miniseries.

As Marvel’s new Guardians of the Galaxy series sets the stage for the future of the team, a new miniseries will explore one character’s past.

Groot by writer Dan Abnett and artist Damian Couceiro will reveal the origin story of everyone’s favorite alien tree, bringing Abnett back to a character he helped to redefine.

“I am Groot! No, that’s not right… I am delighted to be back WITH Groot for this series that will explore his early life and adventures, reveal some secrets of his home and his people, introduce some fantastic new characters, reveal a couple of big secrets… and also guest star some VERY unexpected Marvel characters,” Abnett told Marvel.com. “So it’s back to the future for a blast from the past…. no, that’s not right either… If you like Marvel Cosmic, you’re going to LOVE this.”

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It’s Vader time in the latest ‘Black, White & Red’ anthology from Marvel

The four-issue anthology miniseries will launch in April.

Darth Vader joins the likes of Elektra, Deadpool and Wolverine later this year as the Star Wars villain headlines in his own Black, White & Red miniseries.

Marvel’s Black, White & Red series feature stories by a variety of creators told in three colors. Luckily Vader’s lightsaber fits the theme.

“This is a project we’ve been waiting to do for a while and we’ve got more amazing talent lined up that I can’t wait to announce,” Editor Mark Paniccia told Marvel.com. “It’s such a thrill to use this unique storytelling approach on one of the greatest villains in the galaxy.”

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‘Day of Blood’ flows through IDW’s Star Trek titles this summer

Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, Christopher Cantwell and Mike Feehan will kick off the crossover event on Free Comic Book Day.

Two of IDW’s ongoing Star Trek titles will come together for a crossover event later this year — Star Trek: Day of Blood. The story will kick off in IDW’s Free Comic Book Day issue on May 6, then run through issues of Star Trek and Star Trek: Defiant.

Prelude to Day of Blood, the Free Comic Book Day issue, will be co-written by Star Trek writers Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly, and Star Trek: Defiant writer Christopher Cantwell. Mike Feehan will provide the art.

“I’ve been nothing short of ecstatic to be a part of this new, larger Star Trek initiative at IDW,” says Cantwell. “There were moments in our writers’ room with Jackson and Collin where I couldn’t believe we were really doing this—not just telling one Star Trek story but weaving together multiple Trek stories at the same time, with plotlines from Star Trek and Star Trek: Defiant converging. We threw all our boldest ideas and best character pairings into a story of pure chaos, starship battles, and real epic dramatic resonance you can only achieve in the scope of comics.”

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Betty + Veronica ditch the Archies to form Rock Candi

The Riverdale music scene will never be the same.

Move over, Mary Janes — there’s a new band of girl rockers set to shred your comics. In a story written and drawn by Holly G!, Betty and Veronica have quit The Archies and teamed up with drummer Jola Kitt to form a new band, Rock Candi. 

It all goes down in Betty & Veronica Friends Forever: Rock ‘N’ Roll in March.

Joined by Bob Smith, Glenn Whitmore and Jack Morelli, Holly G! will introduce another new character to Riverdale, following the debut of Cassie Cloud in the Valentine’s Day special coming next month. She’s also breaking up The Archies — or at least sending them in a new direction, a band that’s been part of the pop culture circuit since the 1960s.

“Rock Candi proves that girls can ROCK!” Holly said in a press release. “No more tambourine shaking or backup vocals; these girls are shredding guitars, writing their own songs, and singing them. The story is more drama than comedy — it’s about not letting someone keep your light from shining, and how a band is supposed to support one another. I’m excited for more Rock Candi stories to come!”

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Can’t Wait for Comics | Chaos reigns in DC’s ‘Lazarus Planet’

Check out new comics and graphic novels coming out this week by Mark Waid, Riccardo Federici, Paul Dini, Alan Burnett, Paul Levitz, Alan Davis, Kelly Thompson, Dan McDaid and more.

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

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:

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.

Continue reading “Can’t Wait for Comics | Chaos reigns in DC’s ‘Lazarus Planet’”

Karma gets a new first name in Trung Le Nguyen’s ‘Karma in Love’

The Vietnamese character now has a first name more befitting of her background and culture.

A classic New Mutant received a name change — well, more of a name tweak — in a recent Marvel Unlimited Infinity Comic. Karma, whose real name was Xi’an, is now Xuân.

The Magic Fish creator Trung Le Nguyen, who is also Vietnamese like the character, wrote and drew “Karma in Love,” the story where the new name was noted. He spoke to Marvel.com about the change.

“I’ve had quite a journey around Karma’s civilian name. As a reader who spoke Vietnamese as a child, it was really difficult for me to connect with Karma because I knew her name was gibberish,” he said, noting that the “sh” sound in “Xi’an,” which was shown to be pronounced as “Shan” in various comics, didn’t exist in the Vietnamese language.

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