Michael Avon Oeming reveals the secret history of England in ‘William of Newbury’

The new miniseries kicks off in May.

Powers and Blue Book co-creator Michael Avon Oeming is flying solo on a new miniseries that’s “loosely based on real events in 12th century England.” “Loosely” because, presumably, the actual events didn’t involve a raccoon monk who fought supernatural threats.

William of Newbury, thankfully, does include a cuddly raccoon monk who fights supernatural threats.

“William of Newbury wrote the first history of England,” said Oeming. “Which included accounts of the undead rising from graves and demons flying in the air. I love weird history and William personified it. Come and have some spooky fun with me; Newbury is a safe place to be scared!”

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Slugfest | ‘Titans: Beast World’ has giant starfish and lenticular covers

Plus more news and announcements on Canto, Nomads, Batman, Blue Book, Star Wars and more.

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you. Hit the links for more information.

DC has released a preview of the upcoming Titans: Beast World miniseries, which was announced this past summer. The crossover event will feature a main series by Tom Taylor, Ivan Reis and Danny Miki, with various tie-ins throughout.

The story centers on The Necrostar, a giant space starfish that rivals Starro and who the Titans, along with the rest of the DC Universe, team up to fight. Along the way, they somehow end up being turned into animal versions of themselves. Beast Boy, in fact, will show that it takes a giant starfish to stop a giant starfish, as he transforms into a version of Starro himself.

Here’s a preview, along with a look at the main cover, which is by Ivan Reis, Danny Miki and Brad Anderson:

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Slugfest | Mary Jane officially becomes a superhero in ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ #31

Plus: News on the Witcher’s next comic series, White Widow, ‘Coda’ returns, Ram V and Filipe Andrade reunite, ‘Killer Queens’ is back, and more.

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you. Hit the links for more information.

Marvel has been teasing Mary Jane Watson’s new power set, most notably in the recent Mary Jane & Black Cat miniseries, but the longtime supporting character will put on a costume and go full superhero in Amazing Spider-Man #31.

The oversized issue will not only feature a story by the regular creative team of Zeb Wells and John Romita Jr., but also will include a story by Celeste Bronfman and Alba Glez that features Mary Jane suiting up to become Jackpot.

Here’s a look at her costume, designed by Humberto Ramos:

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Oeming + Santos go gonzo in conspiracy-filled ‘Project Monarch’

The new graphic novel arrives from Dark Horse in September.

Michael Avon Oeming (Powers) and Victor Santos (Polar) are pulling out all the stops in their new graphic novel Project Monarch — a story that will involve fake moon landings, the Illuminati, child stars turned assassins and a film that can control minds.

It sounds bonkers and like a lot of fun.

“This story was born in a time when we needed to deal with uncertainty everyday,” said Santos. “So this is a book about embracing chaos and living nonetheless, and I can’t imagine a better partner for this crazy trip than Mike Oeming.”

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Bendis + Oeming’s ‘United States of Murder, Inc.’ returns with a new title

‘Murder, Inc.: Jagger Rose’ will debut in May.

Dark Horse has announced the next project coming from Brian Michael Bendis’ imprint, Jinxworld — Murder, Inc.: Jagger Rose, a title that may sound familiar to longtime Bendis fans.

Bendis announced last year that the United States of Murder Inc., his series with Powers co-creator Michael Avon Oeming, would return, but with a shortened title. (United States of Murder, Inc. was a mouthful). Taki Soma and Carlos Mangual round out the art team.

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James Tynion IV’s Substack comics will arrive in print from Dark Horse

‘Blue Book’ and ‘Christopher Chaos’ will arrive in shops next year.

James Tynion IV has been building up a library of creator-owned comics on Substack since last year, when he was part of the first wave of creators to sign on to the platform. Through his Empire of the Tiny Onion newsletter, he’s released comics with Michael Avon Oeming, Tate Brombal, Isaac Goodhart, Kurt Michael Russell and many more, with at least one of them, The Closet with artist Gavin Fullerton, already making it to print via Image Comics.

Given his existing relationships with Image, BOOM! and even DC, it’s somewhat surprising to see that his remaining Substack comics will be collected and published by Dark Horse Comics. Blue Book will launch in February of next year, and The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos will follow in June.

Tynion explained why he went with Dark Horse for these particular books:

“Why Dark Horse? Well, honestly, I’ve always liked being able to silo similar projects together,” Tynion said in his newsletter. “I think Blue Book, all the True Weird stories we’re looking to tell, and the world of The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos fit very neatly on the shelves next to titles like Hellboy, Black Hammer, Norse Mythology, and a little-known series from Michael Avon Oeming called Powers (not to mention the whole Jinxworld library!). And like I told Dan Chabon and Tim Wiesch early in our conversations… I want a shelf of those gorgeous Dark Horse Library Editions. And as I’ve said to Tate a few times, now we can refer to the Chaosverse as the queer teenage cousin to the Mignolaverse!”

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Mail Call | Tynion, Brombal + Goodhart debut ‘Christopher Chaos’

Plus: News and updates on ‘Darkskulls,’ ‘The Bone Orchard Mythos,’ ‘The United States of Murder’ and more.

Mail Call is a roundup of cool things we’ve received in our mailboxes from comics creators, publishers and more. Hit the links for more information.

If you aren’t following James Tynion IV’s TinyOnion newsletter, then you likely missed the launch of his newest comic last week — The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos. He’s released the first chapter for free via his Substack newsletter.

“This is a comic for folks who like teenage angst and horror monsters,” Tynion said. “I’ve always liked books that don’t fit neatly into one category or another. You’ll see some trappings of young adult storytelling here, but when the horror kicks in we don’t hold back. And we don’t hold back on the language either. Hell, it’s not like teens do, anyways. It’s not a superhero bit, but it doesn’t shy away from some of my favorite superhero tropes. It’s not a YA story, but it similarly doesn’t shy away from the best of those tropes. I think when I first started kicking it around in the back of my mind I thought of it as ‘A queer horror answer to Invincible.'”

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James Tynion IV announces several new Substack projects

The writer launches ‘The Closet’ with artist Gavin Fullerton, and announces more projects for 2022.

James Tynion IV has always had a full dance card when it comes to comics, so it’s no surprise that he’s ramping up to share even more new content this year via his Substack newsletter.

“The plan is set. All of the wheels are in motion,” he wrote today, which has been designated Comic Day on Substack. “There are no more months of strategizing in the dark. Now is when we’re going to unleash my evil plan onto the world and see whether or not it works. The Print Comic Book business is the core of my livelihood. I gamed it out, and there isn’t a month this year I have less than four comic issues with my name on them on the stands.”

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Comics Lowdown | RIP Takao Saito

Plus: DC does NFTs, the Uffizi opens its doors to comics, and small publishers discuss distribution.

Cover of Golgo 13, vol. 8, showing a man holding a gun and smoking a cigarette.

Takao Saito, the creator of Golgo 13, died on September 24 at the age of 84. The cause of death was pancreatic cancer. Saito made his manga debut in 1955 and launched Golgo 13, which follows the exploits of a taciturn hitman, in 1968. Volume 202 of the series has just come out in Japan, making Golgo 13 not only the longest continuously running manga series but also the one with the most volumes. Saito has said he would like the manga to continue after his death, and his publisher, Shogakukan, says the series will continue.

Comics at an Exhibition: The Uffizi Gallery, in Florence, Italy, is adding comics to its collection. The museum, which started out in the 1600s as the Medici family’s portrait collection, has commissioned 52 self-portraits by prominent Italian comics artists. The self-portraits will be on display in a special exhibit in Lucca from October 8 to November, 1, then moved to the Uffizio to join its permanent collection.

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‘World of Krypton’ will feature Jor-El, catastrophe — and puppy Krypto

Robert Venditti and Michael Avon Oeming present stories about Krypton before the planet-wide cataclysm.

DC Comics has announced a new six-issue World of Krypton miniseries, focusing on Superman’s homeworld before the events that destroyed it and sent him rocketing into space.

Robert Venditti and Michael Avon Oeming will shine “new light on the famous characters of Krypton’s past—including Jor-El, General Dru-Zod and even a young Kara Zor-El,” aka Supergirl. They also promise an appearance by Krypto as a puppy.

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Mail Call | Tynion offers first ‘Blue Book’ for free

Check out news and updates from Marvel, Dark Horse, Top Shelf, Image Comics and more.

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

James Tynion IV was one of the first creators out of the gate with his plans for his premium Substack newsletter subscription, announcing a new comic called Blue Book with artist Michael Avon Oeming that he planned to share with paid subscribers.

But even if you aren’t a paid subscriber, you can still check out the first one, which he posted for free a couple days ago.

Blue Book is a passion project for myself and Michael Avon Oeming,” Tynion wrote. “We share a lifelong fascination with UFOs and a lifelong frustration with how those stories have been adapted into other media. There is a strangeness in the original accounts of UFO sightings that usually gets swept aside, but Michael and I want to lean into the strangeness. These are human stories of ordinary people who brush against the unknown and must grapple with what they see there. There is a deeper truth, whether you believe in the accounts or not, that lies in the many ways people tell these stories.”

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Substack moves into comics with Tynion IV, Hickman, Ahmed + more

The email newsletter platform makes a big leap into digital comics this week with a deal that could ‘redefine the next few decades of our industry,’ according to James Tynion IV.

News broke today that several comics creators will begin publishing comics via Substack, the email newsletter platform that’s been making a concentrated push to recruit content creators of all sorts to its subscription-model service.

According to the New York Times, Jonathan Hickman, James Tynion IV, Saladin Ahmed, Molly Ostertag and Scott Snyder will publish new comic book stories, essays and how-to guides on the platform. Several of these creators already have existing newsletters on Substack, but starting today they’ll offer a paid option that will give you access to future creator-owned comics. Others, like Ostertag, launched their newsletter today.

As The Beat reported a couple of months ago, former Amazing Spider-Man writer Nick Spencer is involved, serving as a liaison between the creators and Substack. The creators will be paid by Substack, who will keep any revenue for the first year, and only 10 percent after that. According to Tynion, his deal is the kind “I was dreaming would fall out of the sky and into my lap,” he said in his Tiny Onion newsletter today.

“I think this is the best deal for creators the comics industry has ever seen, and with some ambition and some ingenuity, I think this deal, and deals like it, are going to redefine the next few decades of our industry,” Tynion said.

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