Nominees announced for the 2025 Bram Stoker Awards

Comics by Cullen Bunn, Danny Luckert, Daniel Kraus, Dani, Mike Mignola and more were nominated.

Following the preliminary ballot that was announced earlier this year, The Horror Writers Association has revealed the preliminary ballot for the 2025 Bram Stoker Awards, which includes a graphic novel category.

Three comics by Dark Horse, along with one each from Storm King Comics and Vault Comics. The awards recognize “superior achievement” in horror literature and dark fiction. H. P. Lovecraft’s The Call of Cthulhu by Gou Tanabe won in the graphic novel category last year.

Here are the final nominees for the “Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel” catgeory:

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Rafer Roberts + Joe Eisma blend horror + romantic comedy in ‘Babylon Cove’ from Mad Cave Studios

The five-issue series, described as Stephen King writing a Hallmark movie, arrives in May.

Mad Cave Studios will publish Babylon Cove, a five-issue horror romantic comedy written by Rafer Roberts and drawn by Joe Eisma, beginning in May. The miniseries will feature colors by Marissa Louise, lettering by Crank! and a variant cover by The Goon creator Eric Powell.

The story follows Heather Hutchens, a no-nonsense career woman returning to her picturesque New England hometown for the first time in a decade for a family funeral. Waiting for her are Dennis, the all-American dreamboat who broke her heart in high school; Charlie, the shy boy she never gave the time of day; and Karthon, an ancient demon with plans to devour the entire town.

“This project came about simply because it’s more fun to make comics with your friends,” Roberts said. “My first inclination was to write a romance comic to take advantage of Joe’s reputation from his Archie and Morning Glory days, but like all of my stuff, I had to subvert those expectations by adding a straight-up horror element. Babylon Cove is the product of both Joe and me, making the comics we’re known for, but at the same time making the comics we wish people would let us make. There is no other romantic comedy like Babylon Cove that has this much blood and guts, and there is no other horror out there that has this much romance and laughs. Babylon Cove is for people who say they hate romance stories, people who go to brunch because their friends drag them to brunch, and people who join book clubs and have strong opinions about why the romantic leads don’t belong together.”

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Sonic the Hedgehog + Godzilla meet in comics this summer

Writer Nick Marino and artist Jack Lawrence bring the two iconic franchises together in a crossover event launching this summer.

Sonic is one busy hedgehog. In addition to his own comic and the recent crossover with DC (for which a sequel will arrive later this year), IDW has added another item to his “to do” list — Sonic x Godzilla, a new crossover series pairing the video game hero with the King of the Monsters (whose schedule stays pretty full as well).

The series is written by Nick Marino and illustrated by Jack Lawrence, with colors by Reggie Graham. It’ll kick off this summer and marks the first time the two franchises have crossed over in comics.

“I’m doing my best to cook up fun scenarios for Jack to draw, and then I’m making sure my panel counts leave enough room for him to properly play around with the fantastic spectacle that this crossover deserves,” Marino said. “I’m fascinated by the scale of life, how we perceive lifeforms differently from bacteria to planet-wide ecosystems, from micro to macro. This particular character combination allows me to explore that in a fun way, and it’s been really satisfying. I hope our readers agree that the result is a cohesive mix of these two visual focuses​– small speedsters and massive monsters​– that delivers the best of both worlds!”

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Can’t Wait for Wednesday | Tyler Boss + Martin Simmonds reimagine a classic horror icon

Plus: The Punisher returns (again)! ‘Murder Drones’ comes to comics! And new stuff arrives by Jesse Lonergan, Chris Condon, Jacob Phillips, John Layman, Jacob Edgar, Dave Chisholm, K. Lynn Smith and more!

Welcome to Can’t Wait for Wednesday, your guide to what’s coming to your local comic shop this week.

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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Mark Russell + PJ Holden bring WWII series ‘Dog Tag’ to Mad Cave Studios

The six-issue series begins in May.

Mark Russell and PJ Holden have teamed up on Dog Tag, a six-issue World War II series with colors by JP Jordan and lettering by Buddy Beaudoin, which will launch in May from Mad Cave Studios.

Inspired by real events from the final year of the war, the series follows Corporal Tom Fuller, a soldier/journalist whose account draws on little-known true stories from the conflict.

“Dog Tag is the kind of World War II story I’d always hoped to write,” he said. “An homage to a grandfather I never knew but who served in the war, a reminder of the consequences of giving a nation over to belligerence and cruelty, and also the re-telling of true but little-known chapters of the war through the eyes of a writer who is worried that no one will believe him when he tells them what the war is really like.”

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IDW Publishing partners with Sanrio for new ‘Hello Kitty’ comic series

Mariko Tamaki and Cody Lemieux helm ‘Hello Kitty: Hello World!’, which will debut in July.

IDW Publishing has entered into a partnership with Sanrio to publish Hello Kitty comics. The line launches with Hello Kitty: Hello World!, a new ongoing series written by Mariko Tamaki and illustrated by Cody Lemieux, arriving in July.

“It’s truly an honor to team up with Sanrio to create Hello Kitty comics,” said Davidi Jonas, CEO of IDW Publishing. “We’re thrilled to craft comics that celebrate the cute and fun spirit of the franchise while uplifting readers of every age. We can’t wait for these comics to bring inspiring and joyful stories to comic shops everywhere.”

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Al Ewing + Iban Coello pit Hela against Knull in Marvel’s ‘Queen in Black’

The five-issue series launches July 1 with Spider-Man, Venom and the Brock family caught between two cosmic evils.

Marvel’s been setting up and teasing its Queen in Black event for a bit, and this week revealed more information on what we can expect from it and when.

The five-issue event series by writer Al Ewing and artist Iban Coello will launch July 1. The series spins out of Ewing’s Venom run and the current Knull limited series, in which Hela seized Knull’s throne and forced the God of the Void to go on a spirit quest of sorts.

Queen in Black will bring Hela to Earth with a legion of the galaxy’s deadliest symbiotes, while Knull builds a new army on the edges of the solar system — with Spider-Man, Venom, Mary Jane, Eddie Brock and Dylan Brock caught in the middle of their collision. Tie-in series exploring other corners of the Marvel Universe will be announced in the months ahead, but … we all realize Hela’s a Thor villain, right? And the former God of Thunder is also on Earth right now … I’m just sayin’.

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Paul Chadwick returns to ‘Concrete’ for the first time since 2012

The five-issue ‘Concrete: Stars Over Sand’ arrives in June from Dark Horse Comics.

Paul Chadwick will return to Concrete, his multiple Eisner, Harvey and Reuben Award-winning series, with Concrete: Stars Over Sand. The five-issue miniseries launches in June from Dark Horse Comics, and marks the first new Concrete material since 2012.

Chadwick described Stars Over Sand as a deeply personal project, roughly a decade in the making. “Covers are wraparound oil paintings; it’s set in places I’ve camped and sketched; I’ve lived, briefly, Concrete’s affliction,” he said. “Everything I know about suspense I’ve tried to do here.”

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Slugfest | ComicsPro week continues with news from IDW, Dark Horse + more

From a milestone ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ issue to a new Lilo & Stitch anthology, this wave of ComicsPro week announcements covers a wide range of publishers and properties.

The news flow from this week’s ComicsPro industry meeting in Glendale, Calif. continued late Thursday and into today. For Wednesday’s round-up, click here, and for Thursday’s round-up, click here.

Ignition Press launches supernatural action thriller ‘Bad Thoughts’ in May

Ignition Press will publish Bad Thoughts, a new series from writer Ande Parks (Extraction) and artist Dave Wachter (Godzilla), beginning May 27. The series follows Jack Coates, a private security operative with the ability to look inside people’s minds and see every terrible thing they’ve ever thought or done, a gift that serves him well until he puts his trust in the wrong people.

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Kelly Sue DeConnick, Sam Humphries + Natacha Bustos will shred on the sci-fi skatepunk series ‘Skate Ali’

The five-issue series, more than 10 years in the making, is set in a near-future Los Angeles where skateboarding has been outlawed.

Co-writers Kelly Sue DeConnick and Sam Humphries will team with artist Natacha Bustos and letterer Joshua Reed on Skate Ali, a new five-issue series coming from Dark Horse Comics in June.

Set in a neon-drenched near-future Los Angeles where skateboarding has been banned, the story follows Ali, a student who by night defies the law on the city’s streets.

“Kelly Sue and I first came up with Skate Ali over 10 years ago,” said Humphries. “She’s been living in our heads ever since, demanding to come out, skating the inside of our skulls like they were empty swimming pools. It’s noisy and we needed the relief, but there’s also something about her heart, smartass vibes and banged up ankles that has made her impossible to ignore. Getting Natacha to join us as artist and co-creator was the perfect fit to make Ali finally come alive. We can’t wait for everyone to meet the best and worst skater in the history of Los Angeles.”

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Robert Kirkman + friends will launch ‘Terminal’ in July

An all-star line-up will helm the series, which was announced during Kirkman’s keynote address at this week’s ComicsPro meeting.

Skybound chief Robert Kirkman announced this week that he’s teaming with Joe Casey, Andy Kubert, David Finch and Arthur Adams on Terminal, a new superhero series that will launch in July.

The announcement came during Kirkman’s keynote address at the ComicsPro industry meeting in Glendale, Calif. The series features colors by Dave McCaig and letters by Rus Wooton.

“Listen, I’ve done my fair share of press release quotes but never for anything this cool,” Kirkman said (in a press release). “This will be the coolest comic on the market by the best creative team ever assembled. I dare you to find a book with a more stunning array of artistic talent. Go on, I’ll wait! You can’t! I’m co-creating another vast superhero universe and I’m getting to do it along with Joe Casey, Andy Kubert, David Finch and Arthur Adams! It’s going to be great!” 

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Skybound adds M.A.S.K. to the Energon Universe with new series by Dan Watters and Pye Parr

The classic 1985 Hasbro franchise joins Transformers, G.I. Joe and Void Rivals in Skybound’s shared universe, with the debut issue arriving in June.

Skybound, Image Comics and Hasbro announced today that M.A.S.K., the classic spy-fi franchise that sprung from its 1985 animated series and toy line, is joining Skybound’s Energon Universe.

The ongoing M.A.S.K. series will be written by Batman: Dark Patterns writer Dan Watters and illustrated by Pye Parr of Petrol Head fame. They’ll be joined by colorist Pierluigi Casolino and letterer Rus Wooton when the first issue arrives in June.

The series follows Matt Trakker and his network of civilian specialists — equipped with advanced masks and transforming vehicles — as they battle Miles Mayhem and the criminal organization V.E.N.O.M., who are scouring the globe for weapons of alien origin and threatening to sell out the entire human race.

“Illusion is the ultimate weapon–but also sometimes weapons are the ultimate weapon,” Watters said. “M.A.S.K. is a book about ordinary people taking it into their own hands to face down the awesome weaponry of the Energon Universe–and a high octane, nonstop thrill ride to boot. I couldn’t be prouder to be bringing you this story alongside Pye this summer. Welcome to the M.A.S.K. network. Matt Trakker needs you to save the world.”

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