Vault will publish ‘He Who Fights With Monsters’ graphic novels

The first adaptation of the hit fantasy series will arrive in 2024.

Vault Comics will team with Podium Publishing to bring He Who Fights With Monsters, the popular series of books by Travis Deverell, to comics.

He Who Fights With Monsters is among the best long-form fantasy series I’ve ever read,” said Vault CEO Damian Wassel in a press release. “I just can’t get enough of it. The whole team at Vault is so excited to bring Shirtaloon’s amazing world to life in the graphic novel medium.”

Deverell, whose pen name is Shirtaloon, has written nine books in this “Literary Role Playing Game” series, with a 10th arriving in November. It’s about an office-supplies-store middle manager who becomes a heroic interdimensional adventurer who battles cannibals, cultists, wizards, monsters and more.

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Dark Horse will publish Mosher + Krause’s ‘Blacking Out’ in 2024

Set in Southern California, the graphic novel follows an ex-cop’s investigation into an unsolved murder.

Dark Horse has announced plans to publish the graphic novel Blacking Out next year. The SoCal crime story was written by Chip Mosher, one of the co-founders of DSTLRY, with artwork by Peter Krause, Giulia Brusco, Ed Dukeshire and Tom Muller.

The project began its life on Kickstarter and raised more than $40,000 back in 2020, at the start of the pandemic. I spoke with Mosher about it at the time, and he told me the project was inspired by the French bande dessinée format.

“Creators really take their time producing the work and it shows,” he said. “And these albums are just beautifully crafted, beautifully done, and I really just wanted to do something like that. I just really wanted to do something that just had absolutely no compromises.”

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Lee + Li lead an ‘Army of One’ at Oni Press

The graphic novel will land in stores next March.

Writer Tony Lee and artist Yishan Li will team up for Army of One, a new graphic novel coming from Oni Press next year that spotlights one hero’s journey through the multiverse.

Announced at this year’s San Diego Comic Con, the story’s origins go back as far as the 2016 SDCC, when Lee pitched the idea to Li of a story about a girl who finds out that she came from the shard of a sorceress whose body was shattered into the pieces that formed the multiverse.

“When we pitched this, multiverse stories in comics were rare, but now they’re ten-a-penny,” said Lee. “But over the years, the story changed and grew as we progressed deeper into it; it became less about the worlds, and more about the loneliness of a character while surrounded by others, and how even one person can create a revolution. Finishing the third book in the series during a global pandemic really brought that home, and after four years wait since it was first announced, I can’t wait for people to finally see the journeys of Carrie and her fellow Shards, as they try to fulfill a prophecy given by an unreliable narrator!” 

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King Arthur meets noir in ‘The Cold Ever After’

Jeremy Whitley and Megan Huang’s new graphic novel, which has been years in the making, will arrive from Titan Comics next year.

Jeremy Whitley and Megan Huang will combine Arthurian fantasy with a dose of detective noir in The Cold Ever After, a new graphic novel announced by Titan Comics this week at the San Diego Comic Con.

“Longer ago than I’d like to admit, I had this idea. I was stumped for a new idea for a story I wanted to tell, but I had all these genres I loved. So I thought, what if I combine a couple of very disparate genres and see what I can make out of that? One was ‘Arthurian Noir,'” Whitley, the co-creator of Princeless, said on Twitter. “Arthurian Noir really stuck with me, and I thought: the noir detective and the disgraced knight are really compatible ideas that I really like together, but also I’m really tired of Lancelot stories. I wanted a beautiful queen and a stalwart knight I had never seen so that’s how we ended up with Noelani. She was taken from her home by the church based on a holy test and trained to be the king’s Holy Champion for years. Shown no love or care, just training, until she was sent on a dangerous mission to retrieve the would-be queen.”

Huang said the idea predates her first published comics work. “This OGN was a pitch even before my first big comics work. So it’s amazing to finally talk about it,” the artist of Jia and the Nian Monster said on Twitter.

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Rafael Grampá is editing an anthology for Fantagraphics

‘Braba’ will collect 13 stories from 16 Brazilian comic creators.

Rafael Grampá, the artist of Dark Knight Returns: The Golden Child and the creator of the upcoming DC Black Label series Batman: Gargoyle of Gotham, will co-edit an anthology of Brazilian creators for Fantagraphics and Brazilian publisher MINO.

Grampá will work with Brazilian comics editor Janaina de Luna on Braba, which will feature “13 short stories created by 16 pioneering Brazilian cartoonists captures the vibrant and daring nature of the Brazilian comics scene.”

“I discovered many artists I love through anthologies,” Grampá said. “I have always dreamed of working with Fantagraphics, and I’m happy to be able to share this opportunity with some of the most talented Brazilian comic artists today. I hope BRABA will impact more readers around the world with the vibrant and powerful comic scene happening in Brazil.”

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Second volume of ‘My Favorite Thing is Monsters’ by Emil Ferris will arrive next year

Fantagraphics will publish book two of the critically acclaimed, award-winning graphic novel series.

Good news for Monsters fans — Emil Ferris’ award-winning, much beloved graphic novel My Favorite Thing is Monsters is getting a sequel next year. Fantagraphics will publish the second book next April, continuing and concluding the tale of Karen Reyes.

“I am as thrilled today with the completion of My Favorite Thing is Monsters Book Two as I was in 2015 when I read this uniquely executed and groundbreaking work for the first time,” said Fantagraphics publisher Gary Groth. “Emil has spent years honing this concluding volume to her exacting standards and those of you who have been excitedly anticipating it will not be disappointed. The full range of Emil’s skills that made the first volume such an aesthetic triumph —the dense, multi-layered story, the dazzling draftsmanship, the seamless combination of text and drawings— is on full display on every page of this book.”

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Hold on to your heads: Dark Horse announces ‘Headless Horseman Halloween Annual’

The anthology will come out in October, of course.

Dark Horse heads to Sleepy Hollow this October for Headless Horseman Halloween Annual, an anthology of “five terrifying tales to warm up your cold soul.”

“Doing a Halloween-themed anthology has always been a dream of mine, and we were able to assemble a fantastic crew of creators to help carry out that vision,” said editor Megan Walker. “The book is full of fun, creepy and iconic stories that will scare and delight readers. I can’t wait for everyone to get their hands on it!”

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Arcancia Studio will adapt one of Fellini’s final film scripts into a graphic novel

Jean-David Morvan and Ste Tirasso will adapt the script to the comic page next year.

French comics writer Jean-David Morvan and Italian artist Ste Tirasso will adapt Napoli-New York, a film manuscript by Italian director Federico Fellini, into a graphic novel for Arcancia Studio.

Napoli-New York hasn’t been made into a film (yet), but was one of the last works from Fellini. It was co-written by Opium Den writer Tullio Pinelli.

“During my life as a scriptwriter, I invented stories and universes, worked on biographies and adaptations, but there’s one thing I’ve never done before: adapt a manuscript meant for a movie into a graphic novel, especially from such a master,” Morvan said. “The story takes place in  two cities: New York City, which I know very well, and Naples, which I don’t know yet. I plan to take time to visit and really feel the spirit of the city, so that everything I learn can become part of my script.” 

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‘Covenant’ will debut in print from Oni Press next year

Look for the first volume in stores next April.

Covenant, the popular Webtoon comic by LySandra Vuong, will come to print next year courtesy of Oni Press.

The webcomic has topped 21 million views on the site, and features a Catholic exorcist who has lost his faith and must protect a “seemingly normal” human from rising demonic forces.

“Covenant combines classic shounen manga tropes with fantasy Catholicism to tell an action-packed story in which angels talk to us and demons walk among us,” said Vuong. “Covenant is an unconventional comic. It’s supernatural, a little blasphemous, a little sexy and unapologetically queer.”

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Street Noise announces two new titles for fall 2023

New projects from Joseph Kai and Karina Shor will arrive from the nonfiction graphic novel publisher later this year.

Activist nonfiction graphic novel publisher Street Noise has announced two new graphic novels it will release this fall: Restless, by Joseph Kai, and Silence, Full Stop, by Karina Shor.

“I’m blown away by the two books we have coming to you in the fall of 2023. Each of these books is breathtaking and transporting in its artwork, and both Joseph Kai and Karina Shor have the power to take us outside ourselves and broaden our understanding of the struggles and trauma of the life of another,” said Liz Frances, Street Noise publisher and founder in a statement. “These graphic novels are clear examples of the transformative nature of the art of comics.”

Street Noise Books is a fairly new publisher but already has an impressive list of books under their name, by creators like Hayley Gold, Tracy White, Gabriel Ebensperger, Elizabeth A. Trembley, Woodrow Phoenix and more. You can check out their backlist here.

Here are more details on both graphic novels:

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Eric Powell recruits Becky Cloonan, Mike Mignola, James Harren for a spooky Christmas anthology

‘Four Gathered on Christmas Eve’ continues the Victorian tradition of telling spooky stories on Christmas Eve.

The Goon creator Eric Powell is a fan of both Christmas and horror, so it’s only natural he’d put together a crew of elves to help deliver Four Gathered on Christmas Eve, an anthology of Victorian-style Christmas Eve ghost stories coming from Dark Horse this winter.

“As someone who unapologetically loves Christmas and spooky stories, I’ve always been intrigued that telling ghost stories used to be a regular part of the tradition,” said Powell. “I’ve been kicking around the idea of doing a Victorian Christmas Ghost book for a while and was thrilled when three of my favorite comic creators agreed to join me.”

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Top Shelf will bring Élodie Durand’s ‘Transitions’ to the U.S.

Based on true events, the graphic novel is about a mother whose child is transgender.

Top Shelf Productions will bring Parenthesis creator Élodie Durand’s new graphic novel to English-speaking readers this fall. Evan McGorray will translate the French graphic novel, which is about a mother, Anne Marbot, who learns her biological daughter is transitioning into a man.

Transitions: A Mother’s Journey is based on true events. “When I met Anne, there was no resource in France for parents living through the transition of their child,” Durand said. “Anne felt powerless to understand or support her son. She had this desire to bear witness for others, to find a way to help.”

Anne invited Durand to adapt Anne’s experience into Transitions. “As I began to research the issues, it was like a relief for me to explore the role of gender in our private and public lives. It became clear that gender is a concern for us all — that this intimate story is also the story of every family.”

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