Three Count | Steve Lieber, ‘Griz Grobus,’ newts

Here are three things to know, to read and to support today.

Three Count is a new column that spotlights, as the title suggests, three things from comics today. It’ll be three things with links, no more, no less. This is the second one, and a big bwahahaha to everyone who thought I’d only ever do one of them.

1. To Know: Steve Lieber’s alt.text skills are unparalleled

Earlier today DC revealed that the Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen: Who Killed Jimmy Olsen? team of Matt Fraction, Steve Lieber, Nathan Fairbairn and Clayton Cowles have reunited for a new story featuring Perry White as part of a one-shot that’s coming out next month.

While you can visit my original post from today to see what the final cover will look like, Lieber took to Twitter to show off an alternative cover he had created for the issue:

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Webtoon + DC announce three new webcomics

Vixen, Zatanna and the Red Hood will arrive on Webtoon later this year.

Following the success of Batman: Wayne Family Adventures, which launched last year, DC Comics and Webtoon have announced three new projects that will debut on the popular mobile comics platform.

The first, titled Vixen NYC, will debut in May, while two others — Red Hood: Outlaws and Zatanna & The Ripper, are expected to launch this summer.

“WEBTOON is home to a new generation of comics fans, and DC is home to some of the most iconic characters and franchises in comics,” said David Lee, Head of Content at WEBTOON U.S. “Our partnership with DC represents the future of the comic industry, combining legendary franchises with new technologies and global fandoms that cross borders. Fans can’t get enough of ‘Batman: Wayne Family Adventures,’ and we know they are going to love what we have in store for the 2022 slate.”

Here are a few more details and the creative teams for each of them:

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Webtoon expands to graphic novel publishing with Webtoon Unscrolled

Former Marvel and DC exec Bobbie Chase will oversee a line of graphic novels that will bring popular Webtoon comics to print.

The popular mobile comics juggernaut Webtoon has announced plans to launch a new graphic novel imprint, Webtoon Unscrolled, that will be headed up by former DC, Marvel and Disney publishing executive Bobbie Chase.

Webtoon Unscrolled will publish print versions of their online comics, starting with the popular Tower of God by SIU and True Beauty by Yaongyi next fall.

“Webtoon has transformed the comics landscape, helping creators find new fans all over the world,” said Ken Kim, Chief Executive Officer, Webtoon Entertainment in a statement. “As the global leader in digital comics and IP, Webtoon’s storytelling technology and creators are fueling a Literary Creator Economy, ushering in a new era of publishing and entertainment. With Webtoon Unscrolled, we’ll bring some of the biggest names and undiscovered talent from Webtoon to bookshelves.”

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Fund Me Tuesday | ‘Outrage’ by Fabian Nicieza + Reilly Brown

Help bring the Webtoon comic to print by pledging by Nov. 12.

Fabian Nicieza and Reilly Brown’s creator-owned comic Outrage started life as a webcomic on Webtoon, and now a print collection is being crowdfunded via the publisher Rocketship.

Outrage Volume 1 will collect the entire 26 chapter run of the first season of the Outrage webcomic, running 150 pages. As they have with other collections of webcomics, Rocketship has redesigned the pages for print.

“After our years on Marvel’s Cable & Deadpool comic, Reilly Brown and I had been looking to work together again and we both thought the silliness and seriousness of Outrage would be a perfect fit,” Nicieza said on the project’s Kickstarter page. “The digital comic debuted on Webtoon in the fall of 2018 and was an instant success among readers with slightly unhinged inclinations.”

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Archie + Webtoon will launch ‘Big Ethel Energy’ on Sept. 21

Keryl Brown Ahmed and Siobhan Keenan team up for a new webcomic about Ethel’s life after leaving Riverdale.

Archie Comics and Webtoon have announced the first webcomic they plan to release as part of a deal between the two companies that was shared at last year’s New York Comic Con.

Big Ethel Energy, which will feature an older version of the character Ethel, will launch on Sept. 21. It’s by writer Keryl Brown Ahmed and artist Siobhan Keenan.

”We’re so excited for this partnership with Webtoon,” said Archie Comics Senior Director of Editorial Jamie L. Rotante. “The work they’ve been doing is incredible, and the modern sensibilities they bring to their storytelling, along with the gorgeous and colorful art, aligns perfectly with Archie’s vision. It’s been amazing working with Webtoon and watching the evolution of Ethel take shape.”

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Sunday Comics | Kurtz + Kerschl’s wonderful take on Superman

Plus: Check out some great, award-nominated webcomics on Tapas and Webtoon.

Here’s a round up of some of the best comics we’ve seen online recently. If we missed something, let us know in the comments below, or on Twitter of Facebook.

Let’s start off with a short fan comic that’s been making the rounds on social media. Two Superman fans named Scott Kurtz and Karl Kerschl — oh hey, I know those names — shared this eight-years-in-the-making comic featuring the Man of Steel.

“Eight years ago, I came home from seeing Man of Steel and wrote a 5 page Superman story,” Kurtz said on Twitter. “Karl Kerschl offered to draw it. Eight years later he finished it. I’m gobsmacked!”

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DC, Webtoon partner to make webcomics

The partnership will bring popular DC characters to the webcomics juggernaut’s worldwide platform.

DC Comics and Webtoon have announced a partnership that will bring DC’s characters to the popular webcomics platform.

According to the press release, these will be “standalone series” that “will appeal to all fans, without the need to know or read any previous stories,” but they will be set in the DC Universe.

“DC is excited to introduce our iconic characters to a new generation of fans worldwide,” said DC General Manager Daniel Cherry III. “We’ve been working closely with the Webtoon writers and artists to adapt our characters and stories to Webtoon’s mobile format. Our shared goal is to create fun and compelling DC stories that all readers will enjoy. This partnership is yet another example of DC’s ambition to ‘meet fans where ever they are’ and continue sharing DC fandom. ”

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Smash Pages Q&A: Dean Haspiel on ‘The Red Hook: Blackout’

The versatile creator talks about the ending to his latest Webtoons series, how it fits into the broader New Brookyln saga, his theater work and more.

Dean Haspiel has always made a wide range of comics, from personal stories to cosmic epics, from realistic tales to superhero stories in books like The Alcoholic, The Fox, The Quitter and The Thing: Night Falls on Yancy Street. For the past few years he’s been writing and drawing The Red Hook at Webtoon. The story of Sam Brosia, a boxer turned super thief turned superhero and bartender. Over four seasons Sam Brosia, aka The Red Hook, has gone through a lot of changes

This week Haspiel wraps up his fourth series at Webtoon, The Red Hook: Blackout, and we spoke about Brooklyn, where things stand and his next chapter in the Red Hook saga, PTSD: Post-Traumatic Superhero Disorder.

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Smash Pages Q&A: Gerardo Alba

The cartoonist and editor discusses his work on ‘Guantanamo Voices,’ working at the Latin American division of Webtoon and much more.

Gerardo Alba is a cartoonist who has had a busy year. He colored the recent graphic novel Fault Lines in the Constitution, which was adapted and drawn by his wife the artist Ally Shwed. He is one half of Little Red Bird Press, which released the anthology Votes for Women earlier in the year. Alba recently took a new job as editor at the Latin American division of Webtoon.

Alba is one of the artists on the recent book Guantanamo Voices, a great and important work of comics journalism, where he drew one of the key early chapters of the book. Alba was kind enough to take time out to talk about Guantanamo Voices and his many projects. 

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Comics Lowdown | UCS will no longer distribute DC Comics starting in January

Plus: News on Terrific Production, Archie Comics, Rebellion, L.A. Comic-Con and more.

Distributors: UCS Comics Distributors, one of the two comics distributors that began working with DC Comics during the COVID-19 industry shutdown earlier this year, has told retailers they will no longer distribute DC’s books as of January 2021. Their accounts will be serviced by Lunar Distribution, the other distributor for DC that came into being during the pandemic. UCS was formed by retailer Midtown Comics, while Lunar was formed by Discount Comic Book Service.

So is UCS going away? Not according to the email they sent to retailers, which you can read over at The Beat. It says “UCS is not closing. We will be offering other exciting items that stores can use!” So it’ll be interesting to see what they offer in the future. John Jackson Miller has additional commentary.

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NYCC: Archie announces Line Webtoon deal, South Side Serpents comic

The ‘Beyond Riverdale with Archie Comics’ panel during NYCC’s Metaverse brought news on upcoming comics releases.

Archie Comics announced several new comics projects today in conjunction with the virtual New York Comic Con, including a new partnership with the popular webcomics site Webtoon, a South Side Serpents one-shot and more details on the upcoming Riverdale: The Ties That Bind graphic novel.

The virtual version of the New York Comic Con, a.k.a. Metaverse, kicked off today, with virtual panels, exclusive merchandise and more. You can join in on the Metaverse website or on the New York Comic Con YouTube page, where all of today’s panels are available.

You can watch their panel in full below:

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Smash Pages Q&A: Ned Barnett

The creator of ‘Social Distancing – Life in the COVID-19 Pandemic’ discusses the pandemic, T.E. Lawrence and more.

Ned Barnett has made a series of graphic memoirs in recent years like No Rest for the Anxious, Hallo Spaceboy and last year’s Dreamers of the Day, which is part autobiographical journey and part exploration of the life of T.E. Lawrence. In these books and in short comics for a variety of outlets and anthologies, Barnett has shown a great talent for historical detail and capturing those small human elements that are often glossed over, giving readers a different and deeper look at the people and the era in the comics.

More recently Barnett made Social Distancing – Life in the COVID-19 Pandemic, which ran on Line Webtoon. From day to day the comic has taken different forms and approaches, but it is very consciously an effort to make a document of these times, of the elements of this crisis that are unique and that have precedent. He and I exchanged e-mails recently about the pandemic, T.E. Lawrence and thinking about what’s next.

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