Can’t Wait for Comics | ‘Wynd’ soars again in ‘The Throne in the Sky’

Plus: Damage Control! Minor Threats! Human Target! Star Wars! And a new graphic novel from Nick Drnaso!

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 | ‘Wynd’ soars again in ‘The Throne in the Sky’”

Exclusive preview: Balazs Lorinczi’s ‘Doughnuts and Doom’

A struggling witch and a failing musician face curses and love in the new graphic novel, coming from Top Shelf in September.

Courtesy of Top Shelf Productions, we’re pleased to present an exclusive preview of Doughnuts and Doom, the upcoming graphic novel by Hungarian-Scottish cartoonist Balazs Lorinczi.

Described as a “quirky, magical, queer teen romance,” the graphic novel is a love story featuring a struggling witch and a failing musician. Here’s the description:

Margot is a stressed-out witch trying to get her potions business off the ground. Elena is a struggling rock musician whose band is going nowhere. Neither one of them is having a good day when they first meet at the local doughnut shop. Their exchange quickly escalates from words to literal sparks flying as Margot loses her cool. Turns out, accidentally cursing that infuriatingly cute girl at the doughnut shop isn’t a great way to start a relationship. As they work together to disperse this curse, will their initial animosity flare up in their faces or blossom into something sweeter? 

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‘Hotel REM’ awakens at Dark Horse next year

Zack Keller, Gabriele Bagnoli, Valerio Alloro and Frank Cvetkovic check into a hotel for dreams in March.

Former Unikitty! and Telltale Games writer Zack Keller will team with artist Gabriele Bagnoli, colorist Valerio Alloro and letterer Frank Cvetkovic on Hotel REM, an all-ages graphic novel coming from Dark Horse in 2023.

The fantastical Hotel REM is the place your dreams go when you’re awake. It’s run by Rembrandt Somner, who runs into problems when a difficult celebrity guest arrives.

“I have literally been dreaming about this story for over a decade so I’m thrilled readers can finally come visit this wild and wonderful hotel in book-form thanks to Dark Horse,” Keller said.

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A new ‘Dog Man’ book will arrive in March

The 11th volume of the popular graphic novel series by Dav Pilkey arrives next year, along with a special anniversary edition of the first ‘Captain Underpants’ book.

Dav Pilkey’s world-conquering Dog Man series will return to shelves next March with its 11th volume — Dog Man: Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea.

This will be the first new Dog Man volume since 2021, when Mothering Heights was released. But Pilkey hasn’t been resting — several volumes of his Cat Kid Comic Club series, a Dog Man spinoff, have filled in the gaps, with the fourth volume, Collaborations, set to arrive in November.

“I am humbled and grateful to do what I love for a living,” Pilkey said in the press release. “Since the pandemic began, I have been inspired to create even more stories and to learn and grow as an artist–from experimenting with various mediums to make comics using photography, poetry, and calligraphy, to building character models and sets by hand, as well as exploring different themes and storylines. My hope is that my books foster creativity and imagination, and instill a lifelong love of reading.”

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Smash Pages Q&A | Taki Soma on ‘Sleeping While Standing’

The artist of ‘Rapture,’ ‘The After Realm,’ ‘Sinergy’ and more discusses her deeply personal new graphic novel, her creative process and more.

Taki Soma is a writer, artist and colorist best known for comics like Rapture, The After Realm, Sinergy, Bitch Planet, The Old Guard: Tales Through Time and many others. But her new book Sleeping While Standing, which is out now from Avery Hill Publishing, is a departure from what she’s done previously.

A collection of stories four pages or less, it’s a deeply personal work, as Soma explores her father’s suicide, moving to Minnesota as a child and her complicated relationship with her mother, among other events in her life. It also looks at the horrifying way she learned that she has MS, features laugh-out-loud stories about pets and children, and shows her deep and complex storytelling skills.

It’s an incredible work by a talented creator, and Soma was kind enough to talk about why she made the book, her creative process and why she makes comics.

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Can’t Wait for Comics | Mary Marvel, ‘Demon Wars,’ Frankenstein and more

Check out new comics and graphic novels arriving this week by Michael DeForge, Peter and Maria Hoey, Mike Mignola, Christopher Golden, Thomas Sniegoski, Peter Bergting, Jonathan Luna, Peach Momoko, Larry Hama 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 | Mary Marvel, ‘Demon Wars,’ Frankenstein and more”

Dark Horse brews an ‘Elixir’ for next year

Frank J. Barbiere, Ricky Mammone and Victor Santos bring a new graphic novel that mixes technology and magic to Dark Horse.

Frank J. Barbiere, Ricky Mammone and Victor Santos will team up on a new graphic novel, Elixir, that’s set to be published by Dark Horse Comics next March.

The dark fantasy story combines magic with modern technology, as the daughter of a druid seeks an artifact known as the “Elixir.”

“I began my career in Europe doing fantasy comics but basically I am known in the USA as a noir-crime author,” Santos said. “Thanks to this new collaboration with my partner Frank Barbiere and with the addition of the talented writer Ricky Mammone, I have had the chance to build a world with all the elements and aesthetics I loved reading as a teen but with my experience as a creator and a more modern point of view of what a good fantasy story should be.”

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DC’s ‘Comics Are Fun For Everyone’ Panel features Superman, Blue Beetle and Bruce Campbell

A new graphic novel by Sina Grace and a surprise appearance from Ash Williams highlight the Comic-Con panel.

In San Diego today, DC’s “Comics Are Fun for Everyone” panel brought plenty of news on upcoming graphic novels like Superman: The Harvest of Youth and Constantine: Distorted Illusions, and also plenty of fun in the form of actor and writer Bruce Campbell.

photo by Carla Hoffman

Campbell was on hand to promote Sgt. Rock vs. The Army of the Dead, his upcoming miniseries with artist Eduardo Risso.

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Dark Horse will release out-of-print + new material from Richard Corben

The publisher announces a partnership with Fantagor Press to publish old material and as-yet-unpublished comics by the legendary creator.

Iconic comics creator Richard Corben passed away in 2020, leaving behind a body of work that spanned multiple decades and publishers. The Eisner Hall of Famer and Grand Prix winner at Angoulême may be gone, but Dark Horse has entered into a partnership with Fantagor Press to ensure his legacy will endure.

Starting next year, Dark Horse will kick off an exclusive line that will reprint Corben’s long-out-of-print work with new material in deluxe hardcover editions.

“I’m so pleased and proud to share Corben art and stories with the world,” said his wife, Dona Corben. “It means so much to me to make his early works available in print again; and, I’m excited to share his new story that he poured all of his imagination and artistic vision into. I’m incredibly proud of him as an artist and a person, and touched that his work means so much to so many.”

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Exclusive Preview | ‘The Bend of Luck’

Check out a preview of the new graphic novel by Peter and Maria Hoey, which Top Shelf will release on Aug. 2.

If you’re looking for an exclusive preview of Peter and Maria Hoey‘s next graphic novel, then you are in luck. Courtesy of Top Shelf Productions, we’re pleased to present a look at The Bend of Luck by the brother and sister duo, which arrives in stores Aug. 2.

The siblings have been writing and drawing comics for 20+ years now, having started their careers in Blab! Magazine in the late 1990s. They launched their self-published comic book series, Coin-Op, in 2008; Top Shelf released a collection of their work back in 2018. The Bend of Luck is their second full-length graphic novel, following Animal Stories, which came out earlier this year. Their illustration and advertising work has appeared in the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Time and many other publications.

You can find more information on The Bend of Luck, as well as some preview pages, below.

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Ray Nadine’s ‘Light Carries On’ coming from Dark Horse next year

The otherworldly LGBTQ romance will arrive in stores next March.

Dark Horse has announced that they’ll publish Light Carries On, a new graphic novel by Dollhouse creator Ray Nadine, next March.

Described as “an otherworldly LGBTQ romance,” the graphic novel is about a photographer who is “haunted” by the ghost who used to own his camera. Together they try to figure out how the former owner actually died.

“For most of my life, I lived in St. Louis, and in that time I created my first comic,” Nadine said. “It was an important story to me, an open love letter to the city of St. Louis, a processing of grief and trauma, and a means for me to live truthfully in a time that I couldn’t. Eventually, I outgrew the story; continuing to create it kept me in a depressing place I didn’t want to be. I still love St. Louis dearly, but years ago I moved to Chicago. And now, Light Carries On is my open love letter to the city of Chicago, to the thought that we’re not alone in our struggles, and to being unapologetically queer. All of my stories are that last bit, unapologetically queer, but Light Carries On carries what my first comic didn’t: a light of hope at the end. I hope that those who read it find that light, as creating it helped me do the same!”

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Smash Pages Q&A | Jamila Rowser and Robyn Smith

The creators of the critical hit ‘Wash Day’ discuss expanding the story into ‘Wash Day Diaries,’ which is out this week from Chronicle Books.

Jamila Rowser and Robyn Smith teamed up for the comic Wash Day, which was funded through Kickstarter and was released in 2018. It was a critical success, but while the two thought that the story was over when they finished the comic, the story has grown and expanded into the new book Wash Day Diaries, which is out this week from Chronicle Books.

Smith was a recent graduate of the Center for Cartoon Studies when she first drew Wash Day, and today is best known for working on Nubia: Real One for DC Comics. Rowser, besides writing, has been expanding Black Josei Press and is publishing new work. I spoke with the two recently about how Wash Day Diaries happened, working through the pandemic and collaborating again.

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