Cantwell’s run on ‘Iron Man’ will wrap up with the oversized ‘Iron Man’ #25

Marvel celebrates 650 issues of ‘Iron Man’ in November with stories by Christopher Cantwell, Angel Unzueta, Kurt Busiek and more.

November brings not only the 65oth issue of Iron Man, if you go by Marvel’s “legacy numbering” system, but also the finale of Christopher Cantwell’s run on the title.

Iron Man #25 is an “oversized celebration” of Iron Man, featuring stories by a variety of creators, including Murewa Ayodele, Dotun Akande, Kurt Busiek, Ben Dewey and more. But the main story will focus on “Iron Man Day” in New York, as Cantwell and Angel Unzueta bring their run to a close.

“I have come to love this guy so much. This book has been a highlight of my career,” Cantwell said on Twitter. “I will miss Tony. I already do.”

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Image announces new ‘Astro City,’ ‘Arrowsmith’ + more from Kurt Busiek

The publisher will reprint several older Busiek comics, as well as new series like ‘Free Agents.’ Plus, more ‘Autumnlands’!

Image Comics today has announced enough new Kurt Busiek projects to fill that empty space you’ve been saving on your bookshelf. In fact, you may need a bigger bookshelf …

Next year the publisher will launch new volumes of Astro City and Arrowsmith, as well as a new comic called Free Agents. Autumnlands, Busiek’s Image Comics series with artist Benjamin Dewey and Jordie Bellaire, will also return, and the publisher plans to release new editions of Shockrockets, The Wizard’s Tale and Superstar: As Seen on TV.

“I’m thrilled to be back at Image and glad to be working with Eric Stephenson and the whole crew here,” said Busiek. “Image is the best comics publisher for creator-owned work, so it’s very nice to be bringing my books together here, where they can be available as a group, supported by the team here—and sitting alongside such great series as Saga, The Walking Dead, Criminal, Savage Dragon and so many more. And not just because Image is only about 20 minutes from where I live, so I can actually drop by the place, once the pandemic is in the rearview. My creative partners and I are looking forward to a having a home for the work we’re doing now and lots of new ideas to come.”

Here’s a look at what to expect:

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New ‘Beasts of Burden’ miniseries tells a story from the past

‘Beasts of Burden: Occupied Territory’ heads to post-WW2 Japan in April.

The Eisner-winning Beasts of Burden returns in April with a new miniseries, Beasts of Burden: Occupied Territory.

Writers Evan Dorkin and Sarah Dyer tell a story set in post-World War II, as a member of the Wise Dogs must deal with a curse that creates an army of crawling heads. They’re joined by artist Benjamin Dewey and letterer Nate Piekos, while series co-creator Jill Thompson will provide a variant cover for issue #4.

“I’m very excited to have a new Beasts of Burden story for the fans and I’m extremely happy with the way everything came together working with Sarah, Benjamin and Nate,” Dorkin said. “Why post-war Japan? I used to half-jokingly ask editor Daniel Chabon if we could have his Shiba Inu, Zell. He said we should have a Shiba in the series, instead. One thing led to another, one idea led to three more, and that’s where our latest story of dogs fighting supernatural evil ended up.”

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Smash Pages Q&A: Evan Dorkin

The writer and co-creator of ‘Beasts of Burden’ discusses his long career in comics, his collaborations, ‘Blackwood’ and much more.

Evan Dorkin seems to have many careers. For many comics readers, he’s the writer and artist behind Dork, Milk and Cheese and The Elitingville Club. He wrote and drew Bill and Ted’s Excellent Comic Book series for Marvel back in 1991-92, which has since been reprinted. He’s contributed to MAD Magazine and other outlets. In television, he’s worked extensively with his wife, the noted creator Sarah Dyer, on shows like Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Superman: The Animated Series and others.

He is also the writer and co-creator of the award winning comic series Beasts of Burden. Dorkin’s approach to horror and suspense and his skill at writing animal protagonists — combined with the painted artwork of initially Jill Thompson and later Benjamin Dewey — have made the books a favorite among readers and critics. Beasts of Burden: Neighborhood Watch was just released by Dark Horse, which collects a lot of the one-shots and other stories featuring the supernatural-battling pets, including a crossover with Hellboy co-written by Mike Mignola.

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‘Beasts of Burden’ returns in May

A two-part series by Evan Dorkin, Jill Thompson and Benjamin Dewey will complete the second Burden Hill collection.

Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson will return to Burden Hill for another round of Beasts of Burden, their award-winning series about guardian dogs and cats facing supernatural menaces.

Beasts of Burden: The Presence of Others Part One will arrive in May, featuring artwork by Thompson, who co-created the series with Dorkin. Part Two will feature artwork by Benjamin Dewey, who drew the most recent Beasts of Burden series, Beasts of Burden: Wise Dogs and Eldritch Men. It will “complete the second Burden Hill collection begun with the Hellboy crossover published in 2010,” Dorkin revealed.

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Inktober Spotlight: Benjamin Dewey’s super-pets

The ‘Beasts of Burden’ artist creates Jean Greyhound, The Green Labtern, Barkseid, Mews Wayne and more for Inktober.

October is also known as Inktober in artist circles. During Inktober, artists from all over the world create a different ink drawing every day of the month. While the official Inktober site provides a list of “prompts” to help inspire artists, many of them choose their own themes.

With many comic artists once again participating this year — you can find a lot of them on Twitter or Tumblr using the #inktober hashtag, and we’ve been posting a bunch on our own Tumblr — we thought we’d spotlight a few of the fun ones we’ve seen so far.

Today we spotlight Benjamin Dewey, the artist of Beasts of Burden: Wise Dogs and Eldritch Men and The Autumnlands, and the creator of the Tragedy series. Given his resume, it makes sense that for Inktober he’d focus on turning pets into superheroes — or turning superheroes into household pets. Take your pick.

Check out some of his Inktober contributions below; you can see more on his Twitter feed, and you can buy several of them as prints on his Etsy shop.

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‘Beasts of Burden’ returns in August from Dorkin + Dewey

Guest artist Benjamin Dewey heads to Burden Hill to help Dorkin tell a tale featuring the Wise Dogs.

Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson’s Beasts of Burden has appeared as a series of miniseries and one-shots over the years, winning awards and sharing tales from the fictional town of Burden Hill, where a group of dogs and cats defend their world against supernatural threats.

In the background of these stories has been another group called the Wise Dogs, who seem to have a much bigger jurisdiction than just Burden Hill. Dorkin and guest artist Benjamin Dewey (The Autumnlands, The Tragedy Series) will explore this other group in Beasts of Burden: Wise Dogs and Eldritch Men. Nate Piekos will letter the four-issue miniseries.

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Prepare for winter with Benjamin Dewey’s ‘Game of Thrones’ prints

Have Jon Snow and Daenarys Targaryen face off on your wall before they face off on TV.

Benjamin Dewey, artist for The Autumnlands and creator of The Tragedy Series, will help hype you for the return of A Game of Thrones with these two prints, featuring everyone’s favorite Mother of Dragons and King in the North.

It’s more than likely that we’ll see Jon Snow and Daenarys Targaryen stand face to face at some point before the series ends, so why not hang these two prints up facing each other and live out that scene now?

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DC previews ‘Bug,’ announces ‘Cave Carson’ back-up at WonderCon

Gerard Way shares that ‘Doom Patrol’ lives, announces Mike Allred will draw an issue in July.

WonderCon returned to Anaheim this weekend, and the crew behind DC’s Young Animal imprint were there for a panel on everybody’s favorite pop-up imprint. DC shared some of the highlights from the panel, including:

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Rich, Dewey head ‘Back to the Gutters’ in comics creator interview series

Vertigo editor Jamie S. Rich and artist Benjamin Dewey interview Joelle Jones, Jeff Parker and more in the returning interview series.

Vertigo Editor and comics writer Jamie S. Rich is heading back to the studio for another round of in-depth interviews with comic industry folks. “Back to the Gutters,” a follow-up to the original “From the Gutters” series, will feature both Rich and Autumnlands artist Benjamin Dewey, interviewing creators like Jeff Parker, Joelle Jones and more. The series is produced by Ryan McCluskey.

“Our intent with ‘Back the Gutters’ is to peel back the page a bit and show you the creators behind your favorite comics — both as artists and as people,” Rich said in a press release. “We’re going to dig down to uncover the motivations behind choosing comics as a profession, and the personalities that bring these stories to life, so that we can start to see the art and the artist as a singular unit.”

Rich’s hire mid-shoot as an editor at Vertigo required the team to recruit a new host mid-stream. “We started out interviewing Ben, who is just a terrific talent,” McCluskey said, “and the last three shows are hosted by Ben — because we lost Jamie to Vertigo in the middle of shooting.”

Here’s a list of who you can expect to see:

• Joelle Jones

• Sierra Hahn

• Jeff Parker

• Ibrahim Moustafa

• Robbi Rodriguez

• Randy Bowen (Bowen Designs)

• Emi Lennox

• Steve Lieber

• and Jamie S Rich … interviewed by his frequent collaborator Joelle Jones.

Watch the trailer below.