Ridley + Raffaele bring ‘The Ministry of Compliance’ to IDW

An alien conspiracy goes wrong in the new IDW Originals series, which debuts in November.

John Ridley and Stefano Raffaele, the team behind DC’s GCPD: The Blue Wall, will re-team for a conspiracy-laden action series from IDW. The Ministry of Compliance will feature a secret cabal of aliens who are running the world who believe they’re doing the right thing for humanity — but what happens when they start fighting amongst themselves?

They’re joined by colorist Brad Anderson on the IDW Originals series.

“I’ve been real fortunate to have had many ‘phases’ in my career, from starting out writing on The Martin Show all the way up to 12 Years A Slave and everything that flowed from it. But there’s always going to be part of me which is the kid who fell in love with storytelling by way of comic books. And to be real this is the craft that brings me the most joy. The trio of Avigail, Quinn and Kingsley are easily my three favorite characters in thirty-plus years of creating,” Ridley said.

Continue reading “Ridley + Raffaele bring ‘The Ministry of Compliance’ to IDW”

Batman villains steal the spotlight in ‘One Bad Day’ one-shots

Tom King, Mitch Gerads, G. Willow Wilson, Jamie McKelvie and more tell new stories about Riddler, Catwoman, Bane and more.

DC Comics spent the day on social media revealing a series of eight one-shots starring Batman’s villains by a variety of comics’ finest.

The 64-page one-shots will feature The Riddler, Two-Face, The Penguin, Mr. Freeze, Catwoman, Bane, Clayface and Ra’s al Ghul, by the likes of Tom King, Mitch Gerads, John Ridley and more. They’ll be released monthly starting in August.

Here’s a rundown of who is doing what, along with cover art for six of the projects:

Continue reading “Batman villains steal the spotlight in ‘One Bad Day’ one-shots”

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:

Continue reading “Marvel will celebrate 200 issues of Black Panther in January”

DC announces Batman, Suicide Squad and more for Free Comic Book Day 2021

A ‘Fear State’ tie-in, a King Shark story and two previews aimed at younger readers highlight DC’s line-up this year.

DC Comics has announced their plans for this year’s Free Comic Book Day, revealing the four titles they plan to have available on Aug. 14.

The event is run by Diamond Comics Distributors, which DC stopped using last year as they migrated to Lunar Distribution. While Diamond won’t provide DC’s comics to retailers, they did say DC was more than welcome to participate.

Here are the four DC titles you can look for in August, which include a preview of the Batman event “Fear State” and a tie-in to the second Suicide Squad film:

Continue reading “DC announces Batman, Suicide Squad and more for Free Comic Book Day 2021”

DC announces its next Batman event ‘Fear State’

Future State and Infinite Frontier collide in an event that will feature Scarecrow, Jace Fox, Catwoman and more.

DC Comics has announced its next Batman-themed event, Fear State, which will run through several of the Bat titles starting in August.

In its press release, DC said Fear State will be “the launching point for several new series and plotlines across all Batman-family titles, setting a new status quo for 2022.” And one of the tie-in books for the event will star Jace Fox, a.k.a. the Next Batman from DC’s Future State event, as John Ridley returns to write the character following The Next Batman: Second Son.

Here’s a look at all the tie-ins arriving in August:

Continue reading “DC announces its next Batman event ‘Fear State’”

Ridley + Cabal take over ‘Black Panther’ this summer

Black Panther returns to Earth in August for an action-packed espionage story.

With Ta-Nehisi Coates’ long run on Black Panther coming to a close next week, Marvel has announced plans to relaunch the title with a new first issue by John Ridley and Juann Cabal.

Following the Panther’s adventures in space, Ridley and Cabal will offer a more grounded take on the character, one filled with action, espionage and love.

“It’s a hybrid espionage-Super Hero thriller, but at its core, it’s a love story,” Ridley told The New York Times. “And I don’t mean just romantic love, although there’s some of that as well. It’s love between friends.”

A certain “friend”/ex-wife does show up on the cover:

Continue reading “Ridley + Cabal take over ‘Black Panther’ this summer”

Tim Fox gets an origin story in ‘The Next Batman: Second Son’

One of Future State’s breakout characters will get a Digital First series and a deluxe hardcover later this year.

As Tim Fox battles the Magistrate in Future State: The Next Batman, DC has announced where you’ll be able to see him next — in The Next Batman: Second Son, a DC Digital First series that’ll reveal some of his back story before he put the cape on.

According to DC: Now that the world knows Tim Fox is behind the mask fighting against The Magistrate in Gotham City, what’s the truth behind his origin and his connection to the current DC Universe? Featuring art by Tony Akins (Jack of Fables), Travel Foreman (Animal Man, Birds of Prey) and Mark Morales (Justice League, Deathstroke, REPRESENT!/”It’s A Bird”) this miniseries answers the questions behind Tim’s estrangement from Lucius Fox and the rest of the Fox family and his evolution from man of mystery to Gotham’s newest guardian.

Continue reading “Tim Fox gets an origin story in ‘The Next Batman: Second Son’”

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.

Continue reading “DC announces ‘Superman: Red & Blue’ anthology miniseries”

Mail Call | John Ridley makes his Marvel debut in January

A round-up of news from Marvel, IDW, Top Shelf and more.

Mail Call is a roundup of the announcements we’ve received from comics publishers in our mailboxes recently. Hit the links for more information.

Academy Award winner John Ridley has several projects in the works at DC right now, but DC’s not the only publisher he’s doing work for. Marvel has announced that the writer of 12 Years A Slave will have a story in Wolverine: Black, White and Blood #3. The anthology series will feature short stories about the popular mutant, told in black and white … and red. Jorge Fornés is the artist on his story.

“I can think of no better way to kick off my writing relationship with Marvel Comics than by contributing to a truly fantastic anthology series centered around Wolverine,” Ridley told Marvel.com. “Equally exciting is having the story illustrated by Jorge Fornés. I look forward to writing more stories set in the Marvel Universe, and with their roster of iconic characters.”

Continue reading “Mail Call | John Ridley makes his Marvel debut in January”

Comics Lowdown | Dog Man once again rules the best-seller charts

Plus: News on ‘Fun Home,’ Vault Comics, IDW, DC’s new GM and more.

Not surprisingly, Dog Man has once again claimed the top spot on best-seller charts for USA Today, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, Indie Bound, Toronto Star, and The Globe and Mail, among others. It’s the ninth book in Dav Pilkey’s popular kids graphic novel series to land at No. 1 on the best-seller chart.

Continue reading “Comics Lowdown | Dog Man once again rules the best-seller charts”

DC announces new Batman miniseries by Ridley + Derington

New series kicks off in January.

At the big DC FanDome online event today, DC officially announced a new Batman miniseries by 12 Years a Slave screenwriter John Ridley and Doom Patrol artist Nick Derington. The four-issue miniseries will debut in January 2021.

According to the panel, the series will feature a version of the Caped Crusader different from what many fans know.

“I think it’s a pretty safe bet that if I’m writing Batman, it’s probably a little better than a 47% chance he’s going to be a person of color,” Ridley said during the Legacy of the Bat panel.

Continue reading “DC announces new Batman miniseries by Ridley + Derington”

Jim Lee addresses rumors, future of comics publishing at DC

DC’s publisher talks about the past week and the future of comics in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

A week that started with layoffs at DC Comics ends with Publisher Jim Lee discussing many of the changes and rumors that sprang from Monday’s news.

Lee confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that he is indeed still in the role of DC’s publisher, noting that he has “more responsibilities and more expectations than ever before.” As a result, he’ll focus on creative content while a new general manager position will “focus on the operational side.” While he didn’t mention a name, he said that person will start in September, suggesting they’ve already been hired.

Here’s a rundown of what else Lee said:

Continue reading “Jim Lee addresses rumors, future of comics publishing at DC”