Geoff Johns, Brad Meltzer, Francis Manapul, Bryan Hitch + more form ‘Ghost Machine’

The creator collective will publish new comics across several genres through Image Comics.

Geoff Johns and Gary Frank are doubling down on their creator-owned projects, and they’re bringing a bunch of friends with them.

Along with Jason Fabok, Bryan Hitch, Lamont Magee, Francis Manapul, Brad Meltzer, Peter J. Tomasi, and Maytal Zchut, they’ve formed Ghost Machine, a “first-of-its-kind creator-owned and operated media company,” per the press release, where creators will co-own all the characters and universes developed, “sharing in all publishing, media, merchandise, and beyond.” They point to the recent Hollywood strike as an example of why creators need more empowerment in the current media landscape.

“Our ambition for Ghost Machine is to push beyond superheroes, introducing new genres, characters and shared universes, completely co-owned by all the creators involved. We see this as the future of how creatives will work and retain creative control and meaningfully participate in success like never before,” reads the Ghost Machine founding creators’ joint statement. “Our passion is for the magic of graphic storytelling and the emotional resonance of compelling characters. But we are not just a comic book company—we are the first wholly creator-owned and operated media company of its kind, born out of a desire to create and succeed together.”

The founders released a video explaining their vision for Ghost Machine:

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Marvel celebrates 84 years with ‘Marvel Age #1000’

J. Michael Straczynski, Kaare Andrews, Steve McNiven, Ryan Stegman and more will contribute stories to the new anthology.

The 84th anniversary of Marvel Comics #1, published by Timely in 1939, is coming up on Aug. 31, and to mark the occasion Marvel will release Marvel Age #1000. The one-shot will feature stories by Dan Slott, Mike Allred, Mark Waid, Kaare Andrews, Jason Aaron, Rainbow Rowell and more.

That 1939 issue kicked off what was effectively the Marvel Age of Comics, introducing the Golden Age Human Torch and featuring the first widely available appearance of Namor. “Marvel Age” was also the name of a promotional magazine that Marvel published in the 1980s and 1990s, so if you were hoping this was a celebration of interviews, house ads and Fred Hembeck, you might want to hold your excitement until August.

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Hulk + Thor collide next year in ‘Banner of War’

Donny Cates and Martin Coccolo set two Avengers on a collision course in a five-issue crossover that begins in April.

Two Donny Cates-written characters will cross over next year in Hulk vs. Thor: Banner of War.

The story, which kicks off with an “alpha” issue from Marvel before erupting into the Hulk and Thor monthly titles, will find the two Avengers brought together by “mysterious circumstances.” And then the fighting starts.

“Well, I was a little surprised that Marvel approached me to write this, if I’m being honest. I’m mostly known for writing very small, very quiet, intimate comics, so I had to—ha!! Sorry. Couldn’t keep that up. Yeah, this is gonna be bonkers as hell, guys,” Cates told Marvel.com. “We’re going to break EVERYTHING! Happy birthday, Hulk and Thor! Hope you enjoy MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF VIOLENCE!” 

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Marvel will celebrate 200 issues of Black Panther in January

John Ridley and Juann Cabal send T’Challa to Mars to visit his ex-wife Storm in the oversized issue.

Marvel’s latest Black Panther series will only reach issue #3 in January, but if you add up all his previous series, you get 200 issues — so Marvel’s celebrating with an oversized issue.

The comic is already pretty special, as it’s the third issue of the new series by Academy Award-winning screenwriter John Ridley and artist Juann Cabal. Ridley follows Ta-Nehisi Coates on the title and promises the comic will be a “hybrid espionage-Super Hero thriller, but at its core, it’s a love story.”

The cover to the first issue teased an appearance by Storm, and she’s front and center on issue #200:

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‘Geiger 80-Page Giant’ will include a preview of Johns + Frank’s next comic

The oversized issue will also include contributions from Bryan Hitch, Jay Faerber, Peter J. Tomasi and more.

Geoff Johns and Gary Frank will release a Geiger 80-Page Giant through their publisher Image Comics in November, featuring a variety of creators playing with the characters and world they’ve created in the regular series. It will also include a preview of their next project, Junkyard Joe.

Creators contributing to the oversized issue include Bryan Hitch, Jay Faerber, Sterling Gates, Janet Harvey, Leon Hendrix III, Peter J. Tomasi, Pornsak Pichetshote, Staz Johnson, Joe Prado, Paul Pelletier, Sean Galloway, Peter Snejbjerg, Kelley Jones and Megan Levens.

“A really cool bonus to working on the original Geiger series was getting to see the interpretations of some of our favorite artists on the variant covers,” said Frank. “Now we get the thrill of seeing other artists AND writers bringing these characters to life in new and wonderful ways!”

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‘Justice League Incarnate’ spins out of ‘Infinite Frontier’ in November

Joshua Williamson and Dennis Culver helm the miniseries featuring the multiverse’s Justice League.

Joshua Williamson and Dennis Culver will follow up this summer’s Infinite Frontier miniseries with Justice League Incarnate, a five-issue oversized series. The first issue features artwork by Andrei Bressan and Brandon Peterson.

The series will feature the team made up of members from each world in the multiverse, including their recent addition, Flashpoint Batman, and a new character, Dr. Multiverse from Earth-8. Earth-8 is the Marvel-equivalent world that’s home to the Extremists and the Retaliators.

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‘Batman: Earth One’ Vol. 3 ‘reframes a number of classic elements in an entertaining way’

Tom Bondurant reviews the latest in DC’s line of Earth One graphic novels, the long-awaited third part of Geoff Johns and Gary Frank’s Batman trilogy.

This week I read a lot of Batman, which sounds stereotypical, but it’s kind of unavoidable. The new issue of Detective came out this week, along with the third issue of Batman: The Detective; and both featured Bruce Wayne battling overmuscled man-mountains with handlebar mustaches and crazy glints in their eyes. There was also issue #3 of The Batman/Scooby-Doo Mysteries, plus a decent amount of the Darknight Detective in issue #2 of Justice League: Last Ride. And I’m still in the middle of a New 52 Batman re-read, getting into the “Zero Year” epic.

All that said, I’m going to talk about Batman: Earth One Volume Three, written by Geoff Johns, pencilled by Gary Frank, inked by Jon Sibal and colored by Brad Anderson.

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DC announces ‘Superman: Red & Blue’ anthology miniseries

The series will feature stories told in red and blue.

If Batman has his Black & White series, then naturally Superman would get a “red & Blue” one. DC announced this week Superman: Red & Blue, an anthology miniseries featuring the Man of Steel told in shades of red and blue (or magenta and cyan, to be specific).

The first issue will include a Clark Kent story by John Ridley, whose name is all over DC lately, with artist Clayton Henry. Brandon Easton and Steve Lieber will have a “street level” story set in Metropolis.

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Third ‘Batman: Earth One’ graphic novel coming in June

Geoff Johns and Gary Frank return to tell a third tale of a younger Batman.

Geoff Johns and Gary Frank will once again team up to tell another story about the Earth One Batman. The third graphic novel in DC’s series will arrive next June.

Johns and Frank will be joined by Jon Sibal and Brad Anderson, who they worked with on previous volumes in the series. Johns, Frank and Anderson also worked together on Three Jokers, which recently wrapped up, and will team up on the new Image title Geiger.

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Image Comics to publish Johns + Frank’s ‘Geiger’

The creator-owned title by the team behind ‘The Doomsday Clock’ launches next April.

The Doomsday Clock creators Geoff Johns and Gary Frank will re-team for a creator-owned series called Geiger, coming from Image Comics next year. Brad Anderson will color the title.

While Johns and Frank are certainly not strangers, this does mark their first creator-owned work together. It’s also the first time in more than a decade that Johns, DC’s former Chief Creative Officer, has worked for another publisher besides DC.

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DC Comics reveals new artwork from ‘Aquaman,’ ‘Flash: Year One,’ ‘Three Jokers’ and more

At New York Comic Con, DC Comics has revealed new art for many upcoming projects, including a first look at Robson Rocha’s artwork for ‘Aquaman,’ Gary Frank’s upcoming ‘Doomsday Clock’ covers and more ‘Shazam!’ art from Dale Eaglesham.

With New York Comic Con in full swing, DC Comics has been dropping new artwork from upcoming comics at various panels.

Yesterday the Geoff Johns spotlight panel brought new images from Three Jokers, the writer’s project with Jason Fabok; Shazam! with Dale Eaglesham; and the next couple issues of Doomsday Clock, with Gary Frank.

Today, meanwhile, the DC World’s Finest panel brings new art for the upcoming Kelly Sue DeConnick/Robson Rocha run on Aquaman and the just-announced The Flash: Year One by Josh Williamson and Howard Porter. Check it all out below.

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