‘Toxic Avenger’ returns to comics courtesy of Matt Bors + Fred Harper

Ahoy Comics takes us back to Tromaville this fall.

The Toxic Avenger, the star of the 1984 Troma movie of the same name, will return to comics this fall in a new series by Matt Bors (The Nib, Justice Warriors) and Fred Harper (Snelson).

Ahoy Comics will publish the series, which Bors says will combine elements of the original films — it had several sequels — and the Toxic Crusaders cartoon. The original film was about a New Jersey teenager named Melvin who fell into a vat of toxic waste while fleeing bullies and became the Toxic Avenger.

The Toxic Avenger is first and foremost an environmental satire, one about a small town and its unremarkable people trapped and transformed by circumstances they don’t control,” Bors said. “The story Fred Harper and I are telling is about people frustrated by authorities telling them not to worry about their life, that things are fine, even as their dog mutates in front of their eyes. And at its core it is about a powerless boy, Melvin, who finds out he can be incredibly strong, hideously mutated, well-admired, and incredibly heroic… but still ultimately powerless over human behavior.”

Continue reading “‘Toxic Avenger’ returns to comics courtesy of Matt Bors + Fred Harper”

DSTLRY announces Jamie McKelvie’s ‘One for Sorrow’

The gothic thriller will launch from the fledgling publisher in June.

DSTLRY has announced another new series from one of their founding creators, Jamie McKelvie, which will arrive in June. One for Sorrow, which he will write and draw, is described as a “gothic suspense thriller” about a turn-of-the-century serial killer called the Magpie.

“DSTLRY has given me the perfect environment to create One for Sorrow,” McKelvie said. “This series is an opportunity to not only explore themes of darkness and redemption, but also to challenge myself artistically as the sole creator on this project.”

McKelvie has created two different covers for the first issue:

Continue reading “DSTLRY announces Jamie McKelvie’s ‘One for Sorrow’”

Deniz Camp + Juan Frigeri relaunch ‘The Ultimates’ in June

A familiar title returns as a part of Marvel’s new Ultimate Universe line.

Marvel’s new Ultimate Universe line will get a familiar addition this summer, as The Ultimates, featuring an Avenger-esque team with Iron Lad, Captain America, Thor, Sif and more, will debut from the team of writer Deniz Camp and artist Juan Frigeri.

The title joins Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate X-Men and Ultimate Black Panther as part of the Jonathan Hickman-architected line-up of what could arguably be called Marvel’s most exciting launch in quite awhile.

“The new Ultimates line is the most exciting super hero comics event in years, and it’s humbling to be a part of it,” Camp said. “We are reinventing these classic characters and archetypes to be as surprising and vital as when they were first introduced. Our Ultimates is an evolution not just of the Avengers, but of the whole super hero team concept; from the grand and operatic to the small and personal, The Ultimates will feel like no Avengers or Ultimates comic ever before! That’s our ambition, anyway; tune in to find out if we succeed.“

Continue reading “Deniz Camp + Juan Frigeri relaunch ‘The Ultimates’ in June”

Hulk, Werewolf by Night make the leap into ‘Blood Hunt’

Marvel reveals the final two comics in their Blood Hunt crossover event.

It looks like we’ve finally made it to the end of the list of tie-ins for Marvel’s Blood Hunt event, the big vampire apocalypse crossover that’s coming this summer. I mean, maybe we have — there’s always a chance they could add in an epilogue or whatever. But these final two one-shots at least fill in the scorecard they shared.

The final two one-shots will feature the Hulk and Werewolf by Night, which both feature regular old humans who can transform into something more monstrous.

Jason Loo and Adam Gorham will show us what Jake Gomez, the new Werewolf by Night, is up to during the event in Werewolf by Night: Blood Hunt. While started as an artist, working on the Eisner-winning Afterlift with Chip Zdarsky, he’s proven to be an accomplished writer on several Marvel projects.

Continue reading “Hulk, Werewolf by Night make the leap into ‘Blood Hunt’”

Dark Horse will bring Neil Gaiman’s ‘Anansi Boys’ to comics

Marc Bernardin and Shawn Martinbrough will bring the story of Anansi’s twin sons to comics.

Dark Horse Comics will continue their line of adaptations of Neil Gaiman’s prose stories with Anansi Boys, an eight-issue miniseries based on the 2005 fantasy novel.

Writer Marc Bernardin, artist Shawn Martinbrough, colorist Christopher Sotomayor and letterer Jim Campbell will bring the story of the trickster god Anansi and his twin sons.

“Despite having many Neil Gaiman collections on my bookshelf, surprisingly I had never read The Anansi Boys,” Martinbrough said. “When Dark Horse approached me to illustrate this adaptation, I jumped at the chance to tell this funny, fantastical story full of rich and charming characters. Designing the larger than life figures of Papa Nancy and Spider has been a delight, but my favorite by far, was capturing the endearing quirks and idiosyncrasies of Fat Charlie.”

Continue reading “Dark Horse will bring Neil Gaiman’s ‘Anansi Boys’ to comics”

Destiny and Mystique are goin’ to the chapel in ‘X-Men: The Wedding Special’

Kieron Gillen, Tini Howard, Wyatt Kennedy, Tate Brombal and more will contribute to the special.

The relationship between Mystique and Destiny has been explored and tested in the X-Men titles over the past few years, between Immortal X-Men and the recent X-Men Origins Blue special that cleaned up Nightcrawler’s origin. But now the two of them will take the center aisle in X-Men: The Wedding Special.

Immortal X-Men writer Kieron Gillen will write a story that sees the two mutants renew their vows.

“They’ve been through hell, mainly at my pen. Finally, giving these two a happy day? How can I say no,” Gillen told Marvel.com.

The comic serves as this year’s Marvel’s Voices: Pride special, and will feature additional stories by LGBTQIA+ talent like Tini Howard, Wyatt Kennedy, Tate Brombal and Yoon Ha Lee, among others.

Continue reading “Destiny and Mystique are goin’ to the chapel in ‘X-Men: The Wedding Special’”

Ennis + Burrows bring ‘deeply disrespectful humor’ to the fantasy genre in ‘Babs’

The new miniseries debuts from Ahoy Comics in July.

Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows’ partnership is going on about 20 years now, having started at Avatar with 303 and continued into Crossed, Punisher: Soviet and the upcoming Get Fury. But the duo will head into a different direction this summer in Babs, a sword-and-sorcery satire coming from Ahoy Comics.

This sounds like something that will appeal to fans of Ennis’ work on titles like Hitman and Dicks.

“Writing Babs was an absolute hoot,” said Ennis. “The character is one of my favorite types—good at the job but crap at life, with a lousy attitude to boot—and the world of ‘Sword & Sorcery’ provides endless opportunities for deeply disrespectful humor. Having our heroine smash her way through goblins, ogres, imps, incels and other vermin was extremely satisfying; nobody’s going to be Making Middle Earth Great Again while she’s around.”

Continue reading “Ennis + Burrows bring ‘deeply disrespectful humor’ to the fantasy genre in ‘Babs’”

Smash Pages Q&A | Zac Atkinson on ‘The Omega Eleven’

The artist talks about his inspiration for the project, creating his own versions of well-known characters and more.

Last week James Aquilone and Zac Atkinson’s Kickstarter for The Omega Eleven #1 launched, making short work of its goal in a matter of hours. The comic series stars history’s greatest thieves in a time travel heist, as they attempt to steal the Philosopher’s Stone from Merlin.

I spoke with Aquilone about the project when it launched, and today I’m happy to share my interview with Atkinson. We talk about his inspiration for the idea behind the series, his character designs for well-known characters like Merlin and Artful Dodger, and more.

Continue reading “Smash Pages Q&A | Zac Atkinson on ‘The Omega Eleven’”

Emgård + Aira bring eldritch horror to a new battleground in ‘Beyond the Pale’

The four-issue miniseries kicks off from Dark Horse Comics in June.

Christofer Emgård and Tomás Aira, who previously combined eldritch horror with war stories in Dark Horse Comics’ The Secret Land and The Whispering Dark, will once again team for Beyond the Pale. Letterer Maguro Mantella joins them on the new miniseries, which brings their trademark “impending doom” approach to the Vietnam War.

“The senseless insanity of the Vietnam War lends itself especially well to tales of inexplicable horror,” Emgård said. “Beyond the Pale is my humble attempt to capture some of that madness onto the page, and Tomás has outdone himself in depicting the moist, suffocating jungle and the young, forsaken soldiers lost in its dark embrace.”

Continue reading “Emgård + Aira bring eldritch horror to a new battleground in ‘Beyond the Pale’”

Nominees announced for this year’s L.A. Times Book Prize

Sammy Harkham, Derek M. Ballard, Emily Carroll and more were nominated this year.

The Los Angeles Times has announced the finalists for this year’s L.A. Times Book Prize, which includes a category for Graphic Novels/Comics. The prize recognizes books published in 2023.

The Los Angeles Times has given an award in the graphic novel category since 2009, when Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli won the award. Other previous winners include The Love Bunglers by Jaime Hernandez, Duncan the Wonder Dog by Adam Hines, Beverly by Nick Drnaso, Tillie Walden’s On a SunbeamThe Hard Tomorrow by Eleanor Davis and R. Kikuo Johnson’s No One Else. Jamila Rowser and Robyn Smith’s Wash Day Diaries won the award last year.

The winners will be revealed on April 19. Check out the finalists below.

Continue reading “Nominees announced for this year’s L.A. Times Book Prize”

Marvel announces ‘Blood Hunt’ one-shots for Magik, Psylocke, Jubilee + Wolverine

The X-Men will enter the vampire apocalypse, just not all together.

Four of Marvel’s mutants are getting one-shot tie-ins to this summer’s big Blood Hunt crossover event, including Psylocke, Magik, Jubilee and Wolverine — no, not him, the other Wolverine, Laura Kinney.

According to Marvel.com, the reason for the solo one-shots is story driven –“This bloodbath of terror couldn’t come at a more dire time for mutantkind. Currently scattered after the fall of Krakoa, the X-Men won’t be able to strike from a united front.”

So instead, four of them will go solo — one who is a former vampire, and three who are really good at stabbing things. But all of this is happening after Fall of the House of X and, it sounds like, before the launch of the Tom Brevoort-edited X-Men: From the Ashes, which we don’t really know anything about except that it’ll be previewed on Free Comic Book Day.

Anyway, here’s a rundown of the four one-shots, which leaves us with two as-yet-unrevealed one-shot tie-ins that’ll be announced tomorrow.

Continue reading “Marvel announces ‘Blood Hunt’ one-shots for Magik, Psylocke, Jubilee + Wolverine”

Scarlet Witch returns to her own solo title in June

Steve Orlando and Jacopo Camagni reopen the door for new adventures starring the magical Avenger.

Following her current five-issue team-up with her brother in Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, Wanda Maximoff will return to her own solo title in June, courtesy of Steve Orlando and Jacopo Camagni.

Orlando has been writing the character since Marvel’s Darkhold event in 2021, which was actually delayed because of the pandemic, so his tenure with the character goes even further back. In her previous solo title, Orlando established her as the proprietor of a shop that will open itself to souls in need — leading to all sorts of adventures for her and her partner in magic, Darcy Lewis.

Camagni, meanwhile, is known for his work on X-Men Red and Longshot Saves the Marvel Universe, among other titles.

“The news is out and I couldn’t be more excited,” Orlando said. “Scarlet Witch has been a dream job, and getting to return to her once again and continue Wanda’s adventures is something I could never say no to. And Wanda’s going to keep climbing! Here, we’ll be bringing the blockbuster storytelling of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver to the focused, personal journey Wanda began in Darkhold and Scarlet Witch. And standing in her way? Only one of Marvel’s most powerful and climactic entities, bent on destroying everything Wanda stands for.”

Continue reading “Scarlet Witch returns to her own solo title in June”