Abbott and Costello return to comics to face the monsters once again

The legendary comedy duo will face the Night Stalker, the Morlocks and Cthulhu in a new comic book series from Monstrous, with T-shirts featuring art by Russ Braun and Zac Atkinson.

Bud Abbott and Lou Costello are returning to comics for the first time in more than 50 years, and they’re bringing some monstrous company with them.

Monstrous Books is launching a Kickstarter campaign for Abbott and Costello Meet the Monsters, a new series that pairs the legendary comedy duo with horror icons and supernatural threats they never encountered in their classic films.

The campaign will feature three full-length comics written by James Aquilone, along with variant covers by an array of artists and exclusive merchandise. Smash Pages can exclusively reveal the T-shirt designs that will be available through the campaign, featuring artwork by Russ Braun and Zac Atkinson.

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Archie’s Vixens, Josie and the Pussycats team up in a new one-shot

Jamie L. Rotante and Holly G! bring the biker gang back for a punk rock adventure also featuring Rock Candi, the Black Hood and other familiar faces.

Archie Comics is bringing together some of its most rockin’ characters in Josie and the Pussycats: Rock On!, a one-shot that promises plenty of music, mayhem and motorcycle action. And we’ve got your exclusive preview of it right here.

Written by Jamie L. Rotante with art by Holly G!, the 32-page special finds Riverdale hosting its first-ever GIRLZ ROCK festival, headlined by Josie and the Pussycats. Betty, Veronica and Jola Kitt’s band, Rock Candi, are also on the bill, but trouble arrives when some of Jola’s old friends show up and threaten to derail the festivities. With the Black Hood struggling to contain the chaos, Betty and Veronica call in the Vixens, their biker gang, to help restore order.

For Rotante, the story marks a welcome return to a group she knows well, having worked on the Vixens in 2017.

“When the opportunity arose for me to don my leather gear, grab my helmet, and hop back on the bikes with my favorite gals, there was no chance I wasn’t taking it,” she said. “Writing Vixens back in 2017 has always been a highlight of my career, and any chance I get to pen Betty, Veronica, Ethel, Midge, Cheryl, Toni and the wildcard Evelyn Evernever again as femme fatales is a delight. This story was especially fun because it’s a little less edgy and a lot more comedic–which comprises many of my favorite Archie stories both as a writer and a fan. It was such a blast to weave the Vixens lore seamlessly in with the new girl band ROCK CANDI, the brainchild of my amazing co-collaborator and penciller Holly G!, as well as having them get into the mix with Josie and the Pussycats, the Black Hood and some fearsome new (and not-so-new, for eagle-eyed classic Red Circle fans) baddies. This is a fun, fast, tale of punk rock!”

For Holly G!, the project offered an opportunity to bring her own creation, Jola Kitt, into the mix while revisiting familiar Archie characters in a very different setting.

“When I received the email asking me to pencil Jamie’s new 10-page Vixens story, I was absolutely overjoyed,” she said. “And having my own creation Jola Kitt with Betty and Veronica in their band Rock Candi join the action made it even sweeter! I threw myself into every challenge, from drawing motorcycles (definitely not my natural talent!) to tackling those beefy biker guys. I became so immersed in the world that I designed individual outfits for every Vixen, drawing inspiration from Russ Meyer’s films and the rebellious women motorcycle riders of the 1950s. Every detail was a labor of love. I hope readers feel that excitement in every panel and get a real thrill out of seeing these familiar Archie ladies transformed into unapologetically strong, independent, badass women!”

Josie and the Pussycats: Rock On! arrives Nov. 11, with a main cover by Dan Parent and variant covers by Matt Talbot and Veronica Fish. Check out the preview below.

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No Kings Comic Con combines pop culture + voting information

The free online event will feature G. Willow Wilson, Greg Pak, Ethan Sacks, ChrisCross, an animated ‘Justice League Unlimited’ reunion, Star Trek guests, Minor Threats creators and more, alongside information about early voting.

Comics creators and pop culture guests will come together Thursday, Oct. 15, for the first-ever No Kings Comic Con, a free virtual event organized by Comix Action and Hands Off NYC that will combine conversations about comics and entertainment with voter information ahead of November’s midterm elections.

Running from 7 to 9 p.m. Eastern, the event will be co-hosted by comics writers Greg Pak and Ethan Sacks, co-founders of Comix Action. The program will feature actors, writers, musicians and artists discussing their work, with information about the No Kings: Vote Early initiative.

Comix Action describes itself as a group of New York-area comics creators and industry professionals working to support colleagues and communities. Hands Off NYC is a coalition of community, labor, faith and advocacy organizations.

“Comic book creators who draw and dream about superheroes who fight for truth, justice, and a better tomorrow and the actors who play those characters on screen want to contribute to those ideals, too. This is our opportunity to help out on an important cause and have some fun doing it,” Sacks said.  

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Memphis wrestling’s golden age comes to life in new webcomic

Kevin and Sammi Bolk revisit 1970s Memphis wrestling in ‘Memphis: Monday Night Memories.’

If you were living in Memphis, Tennessee in 1979, the Mid-South Coliseum was the place to be for professional wrestling. The building was packed, the feuds were personal, and nobody knew when a wrestling match might turn into an all-out donnybrook. The ring was ruled by a literal king — ok, maybe not literal, but he did sport a crown — while a certain Mouth of the South stirred up trouble at ringside, managing his charges and making enemies along the way.

Kevin and Sammi Bolk are revisiting that era with Memphis: Monday Night Memories, a new webcomic that brings the world of Memphis wrestling to life through a blend of historical inspiration and spectacle, with comic-inspired action.

At the center of the story are two of the territory’s most recognizable figures: Jerry “The King” Lawler, the charismatic wrestler who became the face of Memphis wrestling (and also a sometimes comic artist), and Jimmy Hart, the musician-turned-manager whose partnership with Lawler would help shape the promotion’s legacy.

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Can’t Wait for Wednesday | A spook-tacular week for comics

See what’s arriving at your local comic shop this week, including the launch of the Midnight Universe, two creepy DC Next Level titles, several Halloween specials and more!

Welcome to Can’t Wait for Wednesday, your guide to what’s coming to your local comic shop this week. And it’s a very spooky week for comics, especially if you’re planning to go to a midnight release party at your local comic shop. Hey, that’s tonight! I better caffeinate.

I’ve pulled out some of the highlights for this week below, but for the complete list of everything you might find at your local comic shop and on digital this week, you’ll want to check out one or more of the following:

As a reminder, things can change and what you find on the above lists may differ from what’s actually arriving in your local shop. So check with your retailer to see what’s arriving at their shop this week.

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Dave Baker + Malachi Ward reimagine the Golden Age hero Stardust in ‘Citizen: Stardust’

The 12-issue series from Oni Press stars an aging actor whose career as a superhero has faded, until an experimental arts retreat gives him a chance to revive his most famous role.

Dave Baker and Malachi Wardis will put a new spin on the ever-popular Golden Age superhero Stardust the Super Wizard in Citizen: Stardust, a new 12-issue series arriving in April 2027 from Oni Press.

Announced ahead of New York Comic Con, the series takes inspiration from the comics of Fletcher Hanks, who created Stardust in 1939. Baker and Ward’s story shifts the character, who is now in the public domain, into an alternate version of postwar America, where Stardust has become a major Hollywood property and the actor behind the superhero is facing a very different kind of reckoning.

“The probability of Stardust: The Super-Wizard becoming one of the most bizarre and unique comics to be published in 2027 seems extraordinarily high, to me,” Baker said. “Malachi Ward and I are bringing a new perspective to the superhero world informed by psychogeography, cult sacrifices, and technology beyond human comprehension. If that doesn’t make you want to read it? Just know that there’s a cat of nine tails made of human skulls.”

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Matthew Dow Smith turns community support into an awesome, free comic

After asking fans for help, the comics creator is sharing ‘The After School Villain Society’ for free on Bluesky.

When Matthew Dow Smith found himself facing the possibility of going unpaid at the end of August, he came up with an unusual way to ask for help: he offered to make a comic for everyone.

In a post on Bluesky, the creator of October Girl and Amelia Shadows explained that a delay in an expected payment could leave him struggling to cover his bills. His solution? Offer to make a comic. If supporters could help him raise $2,000, he would create a kids comic, releasing five pages a week on Bluesky. And if he reached $3,000, he would also make a free digital collection available for readers to download.

The comic he proposed was The After School Villain Society, a project Smith said had received the most requests from his followers.

“Think of it as a one-time Patreon pledge where you can support a creator and help a comic book happen that everyone can read,” he wrote.

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Ryan Cody is creating an X-Men comic one panel at a time this October

Master Mold returns to plague the X-Men in this fan comic.

October has become a busy month for artists participating in themed drawing challenges, from Inktober to Drawtober to Pouchtober, and then you have your character-specific events. Ryan Cody is taking that idea a step further with The Inexorable X-Men, a project that turns a month of daily art into a complete comic book.

Cody isn’t simply drawing X-Men — he’s sharing the creation process as it unfolds, with each of the 31 daily panels contributing to a finished story. He’s also selling his original art as he goes along.

“This year, since I have the time, I thought I’d do another X-Tober event,” he wrote on his Patreon. “I did this a few years back and it was a smashing success. I had fun, people were able to purchase affordable original art, and I made some money. So I asked myself, what would be cooler than just doing pin-ups of Marvel’s Mightiest Mutants? Thus, The Inexorable X-Men were born.”

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Picture + Panel | Ben Hatke + Lily Kim Qian on finding a sense of home

The creators of ‘Home/World’ and ‘Until We Meet Again’ explore the tension between settling down and setting out, and how the places we inhabit shape our identities.

What does it mean to feel at home, especially when life takes you from one place to another? For cartoonists Ben Hatke and Lily Kim Qian, that question has inspired comics that explore the pull of familiar places, the excitement of discovering somewhere new and the complicated feelings that come with being caught between the two.

Hatke, the creator of the Zita the Spacegirl series and Mighty Jack, explores the tension between home and adventure in his work, including his graphic novel Home/World. Qian, whose graphic novel Until We Meet Again draws on her experiences living in different places, uses comics to explore displacement, identity and belonging.

The two creators will discuss these themes at the Boston Comics Arts Foundation’s upcoming Picture + Panel event, where they’ll share their perspectives on the meaning of home, the creative process and the stories that have influenced their work. The event is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET this Monday, Oct. 5 at the Boston Figurative Arts Center.

Ahead of the event, Hatke and Qian shared how they approach the idea of home in their comics, the challenges and rewards of being between places, and the books, films and art that have inspired them.

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Craig Thompson, Deniz Camp, ‘Absolute Batman’ + more win at the 2026 Ringo Awards

The winners were announced at the Baltimore Comic-Con.

The winners of this year’s Ringo Awards were announced last weekend at the Baltimore Comic-Con. The awards program is named for artist Mike Wieringo, the artist of Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Tellos and more who died in 2007, and recognizes creators, comic books, graphic novels and webcomics in multiple categories.

The Mike Wieringo Spirit Award, presented annually during the ceremony, went to The Avengers in the Veracity Trap by Chip Kidd and Michael Cho. This award is selected every year by perennial jurors Todd Dezago, Craig Rousseau, Mark Waid and Matt Wieringo, Mike’s brother.

Below you’ll find the full list of winners:

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Picture + Panel | Gemma Correll + Nicole Georges on the intersection of mental health + humor

The two creators discuss anxiety, mental illness and the ways comics can make difficult experiences easier to understand and share.

Mental health has been a recurring subject in comics, particularly for creators working in autobiography and memoir. For artists Gemma Correll and Nicole Georges, it’s also been a subject they’ve explored directly through their own experiences, from anxiety and mental illness to the ways comics can help people feel less alone.

Correll and Georges recently took part in the Boston Comics Arts Foundation’s Picture + Panel: Nervous Laughter event, a conversation about how comics can be used to explore mental health and make difficult experiences easier to understand and share. Correll is the author and illustrator of The Worrier’s Guide to Life and other comics and books about anxiety, while Georges is the author of Calling Dr. Laura and creator of the Emotional Support Animals series.

The conversation took place earlier this month, but the Q&A offers a chance to dig a little deeper into how both creators approach mental health in their work. Correll and Georges discuss how they became interested in mental health, why they began making comics about it, the misconceptions they encounter, and the comics and other media that have influenced their work.

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Oni Press takes Adventure Time comics to Kickstarter with six-volume deluxe library

The campaign collects more than 100 issues across six oversized hardcovers, with Kickstarter-exclusive slipcases, a Jake the Dog metal bookmark and sticker set.

Oni Press is bringing 15 years of Adventure Time comics together in a six-volume deluxe hardcover collection that’ll be available through a Kickstarter campaign.

The Adventure Time Deluxe Comics Library campaign, launching today, will collect more than 100 issues of the comics series in six oversized hardcover volumes, including material from the original 2012 run published by BOOM! Studios and Oni Press’ 2025 continuation.

Each volume will come with a Kickstarter-exclusive slipcase, with the books also available individually, as a six-volume bundle or through two limited-edition box sets themed around the Land of Ooo and Land of BMO.

“The Adventure Time Deluxe Comics Library slipcase editions are entirely Kickstarter exclusive and will never be made available in mass quantities anywhere else,” Oni Press Director of Business Development Sam Kusek said. “This campaign is a celebration of the comic adventures of Finn, Jake, Princess Bubblegum, Marceline … the list goes on and on.”

As an exclusive first look for Smash Pages, the campaign’s Land of Ooo box set will include a metal Jake the Dog bookmark and an Adventure Time sticker set:

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