‘Faceless and the Family’ returns for a sequel miniseries in July

Matt Lesniewski’s exiled hero faces a new crisis in a new miniseries from Oni Press.

Matt Lesniewski’s Faceless and the Family, the story of an exiled wanderer on an alien planet seeking redemption, will return later this year with a sequel miniseries, Faceless and the Family: Maze of the Mechanical Aliens. The four-issue series will kick off from Oni Press in July.

The first series introduced Faceless, our wandering hero, as well as the “found family” of adventurers who joined him on a suicidal mission into the Hand Planet’s class-segregated Finger Cities. It was written and drawn by Lesniewski in the unique, imaginative approach he’s taken to storytelling in projects like the Eisner-nominated The Freak.

“Get ready for more Faceless! The journey picks up right where it left off at the end of Volume One, but this is a brand new story,” Lesniewski said. “That’s right… the quest to find Faceless’ family continues, but the crew is faced with an otherworldly obstacle, as well as the introduction of some new characters. Pick things up here or start at the very beginning while you can… you’ve got well over 200 pages of imaginative crosshatched chaos to jump into. Hope to see you on the Hand Planet. Grab your weapon. Join the family…”

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Smash Pages Q&A | Dave Baker + Nicole Goux on ‘Punk’n Heads’

The creators of ‘Fuck Off Squad,’ ‘Forest Hills Bootleg Society’ and more discuss their latest project, a punk rock coming-of-age story that Top Shelf will release next week.

In addition to their solo work, Dave Baker and Nicole Goux have jammed together on numerous graphic novels over the last several years that includes books like Fuck Off Squad, Forest Hills Bootleg Society and Everyone is Tulip. Next week they’ll add another to the list, Punk’n Heads, a punk rock, romantic coming-of-age story about being “young, messy and alive.”

“Punk’n Heads is a book for all the broken hearted losers out there,” Baker said. “The kids who wanted to accomplish great things and then ended up playing shitty back-room punk shows. If you’ve ever broken up with someone in the back of a van, right before six idiots in Doc Martens are about to pile in, this is the book for you.”

“For anyone whose journey hasn’t been a straight path, Punk’n Heads might just bring you a little solace,” Goux said. “Join Hannah, Jerry, Morgan and Birdie in their quest to make something cool, make it big or maybe just be a little less sad.”

I spoke with Baker and Goux about getting the band back together for their latest graphic novel, as well as being young, following your dreams and what happens when those dreams get derailed. You can also check out some preview pages from the book before it arrives in stores next week.

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Exclusive | The Archie gang gets sucked into a video game in ‘Archie Comics 85th Anniversary Presents: Archie Game Galaxy’

The one-shot, featuring a new story written and illustrated by Holly G!, arrives April 29.

We’ve got an exclusive preview of Archie Comics 85th Anniversary Presents: Archie Game Galaxy, a new one-shot arriving April 29 from writer and artist Holly G!, and the timing couldn’t be better, what with the Super Mario Galaxy movie opening in theaters this week.

The story kicks off when Betty agrees to watch Sabrina’s mischievous cat Salem, and the whole gang tags along to keep her company. Things take a turn when Jughead discovers an old gaming console and powers it up. Suddenly, Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead and the rest find themselves sucked inside the game and stranded in a dazzling universe of quirky planets and wild challenges.

Holly G!, who handles the full creative package here, incluidng script, pencils and the cover, brings her distinctive style to both the classic Riverdale characters and the game world setting.

“I’m so stoked to share my latest project for Archie Comics, where I had the chance to bring the Archie gang into a groovy, Mario-like video game universe. I’m a lifelong gamer—my journey started at just seven years old when my grandfather bought me Pong!!” she said. “Although I’m not a die-hard Mario fan (I’m more a Skyrim, dungeon crawler kinda gal) I absolutely LOVE the new Mario movie and the Epic Universe park section. WOOHOO! To make sure this adventure was authentic, I picked up Mario Galaxy on my Xbox (since my Switch decided it needed a break—meh). The story kicks off with Betty earning some extra cash pet sitting at Sabrina’s house, where they stumble upon a magical gaming console that transports them into a whimsical, wild world with Salem as their guide. Of course, I had a blast designing not only the gameplay but the fashions, as well, to honor their origins! I do hope you enjoy the blend of nostalgia and fun that I created for you in this SUPER story!”

Inks are by Bob Smith, colors by Glenn Whitmore and letters by Jack Morelli. Variant covers are by Stan Goldberg, with a foil variant by Joe Staton.

Check out the preview below, along with a complete classic Archie story that’ll also be included in the comic.

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Picture + Panel | Meera Subramanian + Katy Doughty on making comics about the climate crisis

Check out our interview in advance of a live question-and-answer session between the two creators in Boston next week.

We’re happy to continue our interview series with creators speaking at the monthly Picture + Panel event in Boston, which brings together two comic creators to talk about a specific topic — in this case, stories about “humanity’s closest brushes with extinction.”

On April 6, Meera Subramanian and Katy Doughty, along with WBUR environmental correspondent Barbara Moran, will discuss what it takes to keep the world alive, given the current climate crisis and, well … (motions at everything). The event is hosted by the Boston Comic Arts Foundation, Porter Square Books and the Boston Figurative Arts Center.

Meera Subramanian is an award-winning freelance journalist who writes narrative nonfiction about home in the personal and planetary sense, in a time of climate crisis. Her work has appeared in publications such as Nature, The New York Times, The New Yorker, Virginia Quarterly Review, and Orion, where she is a contributing editor. Her first book was A River Runs Again: India’s Natural World in Crisis, which was short-listed for the 2016 Orion Book Award. A Better World Is Possible: Global Youth Confront the Climate Crisis, a graphic novel she did with artist Danica Novgorodoff, arrived in March.

Katy Doughty is a California-born, Texas-bred, New England—educated illustrator who holds a bachelor of fine arts in illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design and a master of public health from Boston University School of Public Health. Her unique background fuels her interest in the intersection of visual communication, research, and health care. She lives in Boston with her husband.

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The Hellfire Gala returns in July

This year’s annual giant-sized X-Men one-shot brings together Jed MacKay, Gail Simone, Eve L. Ewing, Saladin Ahmed and more for a locked-room murder mystery.

The Hellfire Gala — Marvel’s most glamorous and, at the same time, reliably dangerous annual mutant tradition — is back this July with X-Men: The Hellfire Murder #1. The giant-sized one-shot serves as both a capstone to the past year of X-Men storytelling and a launchpad for what’s coming next.

The setup sounds really fun: when an iconic mutant power player is murdered at a masquerade hosted by Sebastian Shaw, Wolverine and Jubilee find themselves investigating a locked-room mystery with dire consequences for all of mutantkind. Everyone at the Gala is a suspect, and the party isn’t over yet. The issue will also reveal the formation of an all-new Hellfire Club, setting up major developments in the X-Men titles.

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DC Pride 2026 puts Galaxy and Dreamer at the center of a major Justice League event series

Years of character-building across DC’s YA and main comics lines culminate in ‘Justice League: Dream Girls,’ a four-issue Pride Month event co-written by Nicole Maines and Jadzia Axelrod

It’s Trans Day of Visibility, which seems like an excellent time to mention DC’s Pride 2026 plans.

Their plans represent something the publisher has been building toward for years — LGBTQIA+ heroes not just celebrated in standalone anthology specials, but placed at the center of a continuity-driven Justice League event series. This year’s initiative spans YA graphic novels, mainline comics and a new four-issue miniseries, anchored by Galaxy and Dreamer. It’s also spanning several months, rather than just Pride Month in June.

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DC’s Summer of Supergirl brings new comics, anthology, an Elseworlds series ahead of this summer’s film

From Sophie Campbell’s ongoing run to a new Elseworlds survival story, DC is giving Kara Zor-El her biggest publishing moment ahead of her new film.

DC is rolling out an ambitious publishing initiative tied to the upcoming Supergirl film, which comes out June 26, and the comics line supporting it spans multiple formats and creative teams.

Just like we saw with Superman last year, DC has declared this summer the “Summer of Supergirl,” which will kick off with the previously announced Supergirl: The World anthology on June 2. June will also bring:

  • Summer of Supergirl Special #1, an anthology one-shot
  • Supergirl: Survive #1, an Elseworlds tale
  • Facsimile editions of Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #23 and Lobo #1
  • An oversized artbook DC W.I.P.: Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow #1
  • Variant covers across many of DC’s June titles
  • And of course, the regular Supergirl monthly title by Sophie Campbell.

You can find more details on each of them below.

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Can’t Wait for Wednesday | Chip Zdarsky vs. Deadpool in an April Fool’s Day showdown

Check out new comics and graphic novels arriving this week by Patrick Stump, Gail Simone, Sergio Aragonés, Kevin Smith, Nick Pitarra, Joelle Jones, Stephanie Phillips, Lee Garbett, Mark Waid, Dan Mora, Marcello Quintanilha and more.

Welcome to Can’t Wait for Wednesday, your guide to what’s coming to your local comic shop this week. Comics arrive on April Fool’s Day this week, and publishers are taking advantage of that by releasing some quirky and fun projects.

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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Slugfest | Armageddon arrives, the Ultimate Universe ends and the Swimsuit Special returns at Marvel in June

From Chip Zdarsky’s long-building Avengers event to a new Jeff the Land Shark adventure and a 50th anniversary What If? celebration, here’s a rundown of notable items from Marvel’s June 2026 solicitations.

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you. This edition features new stuff in Marvel’s June 2026 titles, mostly. Click the links for more information.

Writer Steve Foxe and artist Salva Espin, who collaborated on the prelude comic series for X-Men ’97‘s first season, reunite for X-Men ’97: Season Two, a five-issue limited series bridging the gap between the acclaimed animated show’s first and second seasons. The series picks up in the immediate aftermath of Season One’s cliffhanger ending, following the X-Men left behind in a world that hunts and hates mutantkind while the rest of the team is scattered across time. Colors are by Matt Milla.

“Everyone who watched Season One knows the team left us one heck of an era-spanning cliffhanger, and our prequel for Season Two doesn’t take any cheats or shortcuts around that wild status quo,” Foxe said. “We got to work closely with the series team to make sure this comic is a vital, additive experience for our mutants — what’s left of the X-Men, anyway.”

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Quick Hits | Rounding up the awards

With news on the Nebula Awards, the Lambda Literary Awards and more.

Nominees have been announced recently for several different book awards programs, many of which include comic or graphic novel categories.

Let’s start with the Nebula Awards, which recognize the best in science fiction literature, games and media — and now comics, too. The Nebulas added a “Best Comic” category this year (along with a “Best Poem” category), and the nominees include:

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Fanbase Press is crowdfunding ‘Shrub,’ a middle-grade graphic medicine series about a sentient plant

The eight-issue Kickstarter-funded series from Emmy nominee Shane Portman and artist Andy Alves explores loss through the eyes of an unlikely traveling companion. Check out our exclusive preview.

Fanbase Press has announced Shrub, an eight-issue series that they’re crowdfunding through Kickstarter, and we’re excited to share an exclusive four-page preview ahead of the publisher’s appearance at WonderCon in Anaheim this weekend.

The series follows Shrub, an aptly named sentient shrub, who joins a grieving brother and sister on a cross-country road trip to Hollywood, with pit stops, wacky plant enthusiasts and unexpected detours along the way.

Written by Emmy Award nominee Shane Portman of Tumble Leaf and Shape Island fame, and illustrated by Andy Alves (Top Shelf’s Cosmic Cadets), with colors by Sophia Du and Celia FitzGerald and lettering by Oceano Ransford.

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Lewis LaRosa unleashes cover art for Matt Kindt + Brian Hurtt’s ‘Fort Psycho,’ plus a look inside his career retrospective ‘Carbon Based’

The comics artist behind ‘Punisher MAX,’ ‘Bloodshot Reborn’ and more marks his return to cover duties with the Oni Press maxi-series that launches in August.

We’re excited today to reveal an exclusive first look at Lewis LaRosa’s variant cover for Fort Psycho #2, the upcoming maxi-series from writer Matt Kindt and artist Brian Hurtt, along with an early peek inside Carbon Based: The Art of Lewis LaRosa, the artist’s first career-spanning retrospective, arriving in comic shops this week from Oni Press.

LaRosa, known for his raw, realism-driven work on Punisher MAX and Bloodshot Reborn, will serve as a cover artist for all 12 issues of Fort Psycho, joining Hurtt who handles interior art. His contributions mark his first consistent return to ongoing cover duties in several years. LaRosa’s black-and-white artwork will also be available as incentive variants throughout the series’ run.

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