Black Canary recruits Harley, Zealot, Barda and Batgirl for ‘Birds of Prey’

The new series by Kelly Thompson, Leonardo Romero, Jordie Bellaire and Clayton Cowles debuts in September.

After a week of social media teases by writer Kelly Thompson, DC Comics has officially announced the new Birds of Prey series.

Thompson will team with artist Leonardo Romero and colorist Jordie Bellaire, who she worked with on Hawkeye for Marvel, and letterer Clayton Cowles. The series will feature Black Canary, Cassandra Cain, Big Barda, Zealot and Harley Quinn.

“When I say this is a dream come true for me, I mean not just working on the iconic Birds of Prey title, but also the characters we were able to fold in, and the creative team we assembled,” Thompson said. “Leonardo Romero and Jordie Bellaire were two of my first partners-in-crime making superhero books and I’ve been trying to make this happen ever since. It won’t surprise anyone to learn that Leonardo and Jordie are even better than they were the last time we worked together—and working together on this wild book is pure magic.”

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‘Birds of Prey’ will return this fall by Thompson, Romero + Bellaire

Black Canary will assemble the ‘most dangerous’ Birds of Prey ‘for mysterious reasons.’

DC’s Birds of Prey will return in September by the creative team of Kelly Thompson, Leonardo Romero and Jordie Bellaire.

Thompson revealed the news both on Twitter and via her Substack, and also shared the team’s first member, Black Canary, with the promise to reveal more of the members throughout the week. Here’s a look at Romero’s design:

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Venom gets extreme — and an anthology series — in May

‘Extreme Venomverse’ arrives just in time for ‘Death of the Venomverse’ and ‘Summer of Symbiotes,’ as Venom celebrates his 35-year anniversary.

How easy would it be to apply the template of the Spider-Verse to Venom? We’ll find out later this year, as Marvel has announced Extreme Venomverse, an anthology series that will feature various versions of Venom from around the multiverse.

This year is the 35th anniversary of the character, who was created by Todd McFarlane and David Michelinie and had his first, full appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #300. But you have to tip your hat to the creators of Amazing Spider-Man #252 — Roger Stern, Todd DeFalco, Mike Zeck and Ron Frenz — for creating Spider-Man’s black alien costume. And are you familiar with Randy Schueller? He was a comics fan who came up with the idea for putting Spider-Man in a black costume.

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Killjoys will make more noise this fall

‘The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys: National Anthem’ will arrive in October from Gerard Way, Shaun Simon, Leonardo Romero and Dark Horse Comics.

It’s been about seven years since Gerard Way, Shaun Simon and Becky Cloonan teamed up for The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, the comic book spinoff of the My Chemical Romance album of the same name. Well, look alive, sunshine: The Killjoys, just like My Chemical Romance, are returning, in the new miniseries The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys: National Anthem from Dark Horse Comics.

According to Alternative Press, Simon and Way will be joined by illustrator Leonardo Romero, colorist Jordie Bellaire, and letterer Nate Piekos for the new series. Cloonan will return, but only to do variant covers:

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‘Shuri’ wins a Nommo Award

The African Speculative Fiction Society recognized the Marvel comic during its annual awards presentation.

Shuri, the comic featuring the Black Panther’s brilliant younger sister by Nnedi Okorafor, Leonardo Romero and Jordie Bellaire has won a Nommo Award in the “Graphic Novel” category.

The Nommo Awards are presented annually by the African Speculative Fiction Society. The four categories recognize works of speculative fiction by Africans, defined as “science fiction, fantasy, stories of magic and traditional belief, alternative histories, horror and strange stuff that might not fit in anywhere else.”

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Smash Pages’ favorite comics of 2018

See what the Smash Pages’ staff enjoyed reading this past year.

With 2018 winding down, Smash Pages’ contributors take a look back at some of their favorite comics of the year, from Hey Kiddo and Spectacular Spider-Man #310 to Wet Moon and The Secret Voice.

Brigid Alverson

Silver Spoon, by Hiromu Arakawa (Yen Press)
Arakawa is best known as the creator of Fullmetal Alchemist, but you couldn’t get any farther from that series than Silver Spoon, a comedy about a city boy who goes to agricultural school in rural Hokkaido. Yuugo Hachiken worked hard and did everything he was told, but he still didn’t get into an elite high school, so he takes what he thinks is the easy way out by going to a school that’s not academically focused—or so he thinks. In fact, the students at Ooezo Agricultural High School are very knowledgeable in their fields, but those fields are things like genetics and animal husbandry. The rubber really hits the road in the practical lessons, though, and Hachiken quickly realizes he is out of his depth when it comes to herding chickens, riding a horse, or fetching a stray calf. There’s a lot of city mouse-country mouse comedy in this series, but it’s also a fascinating look at where our food comes from (at least in Japan), and the different agricultural models espoused by different farmers. In fact, like Hachiken’s classmates, this book is very smart and sophisticated in addition to being endlessly entertaining.

Meal, by Blue Delliquanti and Soleil Ho (Iron Circus)
The idea of eating bugs may elicit an “Eeeww” from most people, but Delliquanti and Ho go beyond the ick factor in this romance about an insect cuisine enthusiast and a chef who wants to start a new restaurant based on the dishes of her youth—dishes that include ants, grasshoppers, and tarantulas. There’s a love story woven in there as well. Yarrow has just moved to a new city in hopes of getting a job in the kitchen of Chandra Flores, insect chef extraordinaire, who is about to launch a new restaurant. Milani, her neighbor, is friendly and helpful but the two have a little trouble making it click. At the same time, Chandra suspects that Yarrow is only into insect cuisine because it’s sensational, while to her, it’s part of her heritage. There’s a lot in this slim volume: Love, food, bugs, and bugs that are food, and the creators even include a couple of recipes at the end of the book.

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‘Shuri’ jumps into her own series by Okorafor + Romero

Marvel launches a new series starring Black Panther’s genius little sister.

One of Marvel’s breakout movie sensations is getting her own comic, as the publisher announced this week that Nnedi Okorafor and Leonardo Romero are working on a new Shuri series.

Shuri is the younger sister to the Black Panther, who first appeared in comics during Reginald Hudlin and John Romita, Jr.’s run on Black Panther in 2005. When her brother was injured, she took on the role of the Black Panther, and later died when their home country of Wakanda was attacked by the evil Thanos cronies The Cabal. She was revived in the latest volume of Black Panther. The character was a big part of the Black Panther film and also appeared in Avengers: Infinity War.

“[Shuri is] an African young woman of genius level intelligence who is obsessed with technology and has traveled spiritually so far into the past that she’s seen Wakanda before it was Wakanda. The Ancestors call her Ancient Future. And she’s super ambitious. What do I love about her? Alllll that and more,” Okorafor told Bustle. “She’s a character in the Marvel Universe who really sings to me.”

Sam Spratt is providing covers; here’s his first one:

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