Tag: Scout Comics

Quick Hits | Nirvana Comics in Knoxville wins the first Image Select Retailer Award

Plus: News on Rob Liefeld, Scout Comics, G. Willow Wilson and the Robert E. Howard awards.

Nirvana Comics in Knoxville, Tennessee has won Image Comics’ inaugural Image Select Retailer Award. The winner was announced this weekend at the Emerald City Comic Con during an event hosted by Lunar Distribution.

Images Comics announced the award last month as a way to recognize retailers “that are going above and beyond to serve their customers, expand readership and grow a healthier marketplace.” Customers were able to vote for their favorite store via an online form.

“This is such a huge honor,” said Grant and Jasmine Mitchell, co-owners of the store. “Thank you Image Comics for all you’ve done to help the comic shop industry. Thank you to all our customers who nominated us. Your support and friendship is why we do this everyday. The best is yet to come!”

According to Image, the shop was in the top tier of most nominations by sheer volume from “happy customers eager to pay it forward to the store they love.” They’ll receive several prizes from Image, including a commemorative medallion and their choice of a comic with a gold foil exclusive variant cover branded with their store logo.

“The response to this award was phenomenal with thousands of nominations submitted in just a few days,” said Alex Cox, director of direct market sales at Image Comics. “Reading that many testimonials from people praising their local comic shops was a great reminder of how amazing the comics community can be, and Nirvana Comics stood out as a prime example of a store that truly values their customers, and makes new fans every day.”

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Slugfest | ‘The Ambassadors,’ ‘Stranger Things’ and more

Check out news and announcements featuring Shazam!, Jeff the Landshark, Chispa Comics, Crash & Troy, and more.

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you from comics creators, publishers and more. Hit the links for more information.

Mark Millar will team with six artists for his next project, The Ambassadors — a six-issue miniseries where each issue is set in a different country.

Frank Quitely, Travis Charest, Olivier Coipel, Matteo Scalera, Matteo Buffagni and Karl Kerschl will join Millar on the project, which was announced in The Hollywood Reporter. Here’s the premise:

It takes place in a world in which the superhuman genome has been cracked, and the scientist behind it is a Korean billionaire who builds the world’s first superhuman headquarters in Seoul and alerts the world that she will turn six ordinary people into super-people. This sparks a global competition for people who want to join a team that will be on call 24/7 for superhuman emergencies.

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NYCC: Dwonch, Balboni + Faccini team up on ‘Banshees’

The new series from Scout Comics arrives in stores in February.

Scout Comics has announced a new horror/mystery series coming next year called Banshees by the team of co-writers Dave Dwonch and Jessica Balboni, and artist Riccardo Faccini.

The story features two college freshman who find out their dorm is haunted by the ghosts of three women who were killed by the same serial killer — and who must then convince the ghosts to help them bring the killer to justice.

“Banshees is everything I love about comics; a coming-of-age story that blends horror, mystery and crime noir in ways I haven’t seen done yet,” Dwonch said. “I can’t thank Scout enough for believing in the work, and I’m beyond stoked to be a part of the Scout family. Buckle up for a wild ride, folks!”

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Quick Hits | Rest in peace, Kim Jung Gi

Plus: Heavy Metal teams with Whatnot Publishing, Chuck D enters a ‘Rogue State’ and more news from New York Comic Con!

A lot of comics news came out this week in the buildup to the New York Comic Con, so here’s a round-up of some of the headlines. We start with some very tragic news about an artistic legend.

Artist Kim Jung Gi, who worked on manhwa like Tiger the Long Tail and drew covers for Marvel and DC, passed away from a heart attack this week as he prepared to travel to the New York Comic Con.

The 47-year-old artist was in Paris at the time, where his artwork was on display at the Daniel Maghen art gallery. One of his collaborators, Hyun Jin Kim, posted the news on social media:

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‘The Maze Agency’ reopens its doors at Scout Comics

Mike W. Barr and Silvano Beltramo will bring back the 1980s detective series.

The Maze Agency, the 1980s comic created and written by Mike W. Barr, has found its way to a new home — Scout Comics, who announced this weekend that they will publish new stories featuring detectives Jennifer Mays and Gabriel Webb.

First self-published by Barr with art by Alan Davis, The Maze Agency debuted at Comico in 1988 with artwork by Adam Hughes and Rick Magyar. Over the years it has been published by Innovation, Caliber and IDW, among others. This new series will feature artwork by Silvano Beltramo.

“I’m delighted that The Maze Agency has again found a home at Scout Comics,” Barr said.  “Of all the features I’ve created, Maze is my favorite, and I hope that shows in the scripts.  Silvano Beltramo loves the characters and has an ideal ability to draw the urban world in which Maze lives.”

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Check out holiday shopping deals from comiXology, Scout, Z2 and more

Get Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals on comics and more.

Black Friday is here, bringing opportunities for comic fans to find that perfect gift or just a good deal. Here’s a rundown of some comic-related things to check out today, over the weekend and on Cyber Monday. I’ll add others as I see them, so be sure to check back often.

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Comics Lowdown | Texas school district bans ‘The Breakaways’

Plus: Scout Comics launches Latinx imprint, Marvel’s legal battles, New York Comic Con and more!

Cathy G. Johnson’s The Breakaways joins the list of banned graphic novels making headlines over the past few weeks after Spring Branch Independent School District in Texas banned it from school libraries.

Spring Branch Independent School District, which serves part of Houston, told the Houston Chronicle that the graphic novel was removed from schools because it was “not age appropriate nor was it appropriate for its intended educational use.” A committee decided to ban it after receiving a letter from a parent.

The graphic novel is about a diverse 8th-grade soccer team that includes a trans character.

“The book includes kids of all sorts of identities to reflect the world that is around us,” creator Cathy G. Johnson told the Chronicle. “There is a transgender student who comes out in the book. He is just one of many characters who make up my book, as well as one of the identities that make up the world.”

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‘White Ash’ returns this fall from Scout Comics

The next chapter in the series by Charlie Stickney, Conor Hughes and Fin Cramb picks up right after the first series.

Season two of White Ash, a crowdfunded comic about a small town in Pennsylvania where elves and dwarves live in secret,will kick off Nov. 17 from writer Charlie Stickney, artist Conor Hughes, colorist Fin Cramb and publisher Scout Comics.

“White Ash has been an ambitious undertaking from the start,” said Stickney, who is also the co-publisher of Scout Comics. “The scope of the world I was looking to build, the timeline I was looking to cover and the breadth of characters and themes I wished to explore, was a daunting proposition. With Conor, I not only found an incredibly skilled storytelling partner, but one who rather shirking from the challenge, said, ‘but what if we also add…’  And from that moment I knew, I’d found a kindred sprit, with whom I look forward to together, creating many years of White Ash adventures.”

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Mail Call | ‘X-Men: Inferno’ teasers say ‘Trust No One’

Check out news, announcements and previews from DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, Image and more.

Mail Call is a roundup of the announcements we’ve received from comics publishers in our mailboxes recently that we haven’t already covered. Hit the links for more information.

Marvel has released three teasers for X-Men: Inferno, the upcoming X-Men crossover event that shares a name with a 1989 X-Men crossover event (not to be confused with The Trial of Magneto, another X-Men event that kicks off in August and also shares a name with a 1980s X-Men storyline.)

The teasers all build on the concept of trust, suggesting that you pretty much can’t trust anyone on Krakoa these days:

“An homage to the original house ads for 1989’s milestone X-Men crossover Inferno, Silva’s artwork presents all the major players of the upcoming saga and teases the day of reckoning that will soon be upon them,” Marvel.com says about the teasers. Inferno is written by Jonathan Hickman with artwork by Valerio Schiti, R.B. Silva and Stefano Caselli.

“I’m very excited that we’re finally getting to share with everyone the follow-up to House of X/Powers of X,” Hickman said. “The story is 160 pages over four issues drawn exquisitely by Valerio Schiti, R.B. Silva and Stefano Caselli. I cannot wait for people to read it.” 

Inferno #1 arrives Sept. 29.

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Mail Call | Scout Comics combines trading cards + digital comics with Comic Tags

Check out news and announcements from Marvel, Image, First Second, Dark Horse and more.

Mail Call is a roundup of the announcements we’ve received from comics publishers in our mailboxes recently that we haven’t already covered. Hit the links for more information.

Scout Comics has announced a new digital publishing initiative called Comic Tags, which they describe as “a  way to both distribute and collect digital comic books that addresses some of the biggest problems that comic publishers and comic collectors face.”

These comic/trading card hybrids are limited edition collectible cards, but the kicker is that each of them comes with a scratch-off code to download a PDF copy of the graphic novel featured on the card.

“They’re attached to hangable backers that open, close, and look like a mini-comic book,” the press release reads. “These backers have interiors that are pulled right from the comic, giving you a glimpse at what you’re getting and a fun art piece to hang on to along with the collectible card.”

Don Handfield, a member of the Scout Comics board of directors, said, “I always felt like digital sales for comics were not near the numbers they should be. Digital comics should be for comic publishers what the CD was for the music labels or DVDs were for film studios. But digital comic sales account for less than 8-9% of overall sales industry wide. I think this is because collectors want something they can touch and feel. Collectors want to collect.”

You can find more information on them at the Comic Tags website. Scout Comics is selling several of them for $6.99 each, for titles like Mindbender, The Source, Solar Flare and more.

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Comics Lowdown: Archie goes day-and-date on ComiXology Unlimited

Covid, ComiXology, and ‘Contradictions.’

Big news from Archie Comics, which this week began releasing all its comics on the ComiXology Unlimited service the day they come out. This is the first time a publisher, other than ComiXology itself, has put its comics on the all-you-can-read platform on the publication date. The Beat has a good piece putting this move into perspective, noting that Archie has been publishing fewer single-issue comics of late, and that these comics are also available day-and-date on the free (to the user) library service Hoopla.

IDW Entertainment has set up a new initiative within its Kids, Family, and YA division that will focus on developing original material for young readers. Erika Turner has been named senior editor of original content at IDW Publishing; she comes to IDW from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, where she was senior editor of their Versify imprint. On the IDW Entertainment side, Jeff Brustrom is the new vice president of kids, family, and animation, and Daniel Kendrick is the director of animation; both will work on developing animated properties.

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Mail Call | DC announces a new monthly digital catalog

Plus: Criminal’s ‘Cruel Summer,’ Green Lantern, a ‘Wynd’ trailer and more.

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

Now that they’re using multiple distributors, it makes sense that DC Comics would launch a new means for communicating distribution information vs. just limiting it to Diamond’s Previews. That seems to be DC Connect, a new, downloadable catalog they announced this week. It contains information on upcoming comics and graphic novels, with plans to expand it to include “talent interviews, preview pages from upcoming stories, behind-the-scenes looks at projects in development, multimedia content and more.”

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