Clover Press launches a creator-owned graphic novel line, The Fourth Leaf

The publisher will launch the imprint with projects by Doug Wagner, Daniel Hillyard, Steve Niles, Sean Lewis and Jonathan Marks Barravecchia.

Clover Press has become well known for everything from their Marvel and DC art books to their comic strip reprints. Now the boutique publisher is launching a line of creator-owned graphic novels, calling the imprint The Fourth Leaf. (Clever name, right?)

“We’re living in an unparalleled time of creativity and opportunity in the comic book industry,” said Clover Press Publisher Hank Kanalz. “We may not have flying cars (yet) and we may not be living on space stations (yet), but we are absolutely living in the future of near endless creative possibilities. It’s our distinct pleasure at Clover Press to spotlight some of the stories that resonate deeply with us, and connect them directly to readers looking for something new and different. These are bold, bloody and pulpy stories by fearless creators, and we’re proud to provide them a place to create without limits. These are stories to invigorate and ignite the future.”

Their first three projects under the new imprint are:

  • I Love Apocalyptic Zombie Misfits! by longtime collaborators Doug Wagner and Daniel Hillyard, the team behind Narco, Plastic, Vinyl and many more.
  • Bear Pirate Viking Queen by Sean Lewis and Jonathan Marks Barravecchia, a hardcover collection of the Image Comics series.
  • Cal McDonald: Plague of Evil and Other Stories, a return to his supernatural detective character by writer Steve Niles, who will team up with a “superstar line-up of international artists” for this short story collection

Like most projects from Clover Press, all three will be funded through Kickstarter. See below for more information on these first three projects.

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Crowdpuncher | ‘Sink Your Teeth In,’ ‘The Monuments’ + more comics crowdfunding campaigns

Check out comics and graphic novels you can support by Juni Ba, Shelly Bond, Zoe Tunnell. Lauren Knight, Jordan Thomas, Chris Matthews and more.

Welcome to Crowdpuncher, where we round up cool comics crowdfunding campaigns. If you’re looking to buy from or support a creator directly, you’ve come to the right place.

Zoe Tunnell and Lauren Knight are back with another issue of Sink Your Teeth In, their mature sapphic vampire noir set in a Chicago divided by four rival factions of powerful undead. The comic is coming from the DEATHline imprint of Lifeline Comics, the publisher headed up by Kat Calamia and Phil Falco.

The series follows Corsica Smith, a vampire P.I. who has fallen far from her once-elite status, and Florence Carmichael, the woman who turned her decades ago and now needs Corsica’s help.

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SDCC Slugfest | News from DC, 2000 AD, Fantagraphics + more

As San Diego Comic-Con looms, we round up news on the show, recent comic announcements and more. Plus: comics at the G1 Climax opener!

With the San Diego Comic-Con coming up on July 23-26, we have news and announcements dropping left and right, so here’s an attempt to keep up with it all. Hit the links for more info.

DC has unveiled its plans for San Diego Comic-Con, which includes a continuation of their decade-long plan to spotlight a different era of the company, building toward their 100th anniversary in 2035. Last year spotlight the 1940s, so this year will focus on the 1950s — the decade that brought us Supergirl, Legion of Super- Heroes, Barry Allen, Hal Jordan and MAD Magazine.

Their booth will feature a 1950s-style Daily Planet newsstand, and they plan to give away free copies of MAD Magazine #1 facsimile edition, based on the original that debuted in 1952.

Here’s a video DC released spotlighting the comics and characters of that decade:

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Mike Mignola’s ‘Circus of Bones’ art book showcases more than 145 original works

The hardcover companion to Mignola’s upcoming gallery exhibition arrives in November.

Mike Mignola’s latest artwork is heading from the gallery wall to bookstore shelves this fall.

Act 4 Publishing, in partnership with Skybound Entertainment and Image Comics, has announced Circus of Bones: The Art of Mike Mignola, a 144-page hardcover collecting more than 145 pieces of original artwork created by the Hellboy creator. The book serves as the official catalog for Mignola’s upcoming exhibition at New York City’s Philippe Labaune Gallery, dates for which have not been announced yet.

The collection includes 53 new watercolor paintings created specifically for the exhibition, more than 60 published covers and interior pages, and more than 30 previously unpublished pencil and ink drawings. Every piece was scanned directly from the original artwork.

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‘Cult of the Lamb: Pilgrim’ gets wide release from Oni Press in December

The previously sold-out graphic novel tied to the hit video game arrives in comic shops and bookstores for the first time.

Fans who missed out on Cult of the Lamb: Pilgrim will soon have another chance to add the graphic novel to their collection. As part of their build-up to this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, Oni Press announced it will publish a new hardcover edition of the previously sold-out book this December, bringing the story to comic shops for the first time.

Originally released as part of the limited physical edition of Cult of the Lamb’s Pilgrim DLC — that’s downloadable content, for the non-video game players out there — the 112-page graphic novel is written by Cult of the Lamb‘s head of narrative, JoJo Zhou and illustrated by the game’s concept artist, Carles Dalmau. The story takes place within the continuity of the hit video game from Massive Monster and Devolver Digital.

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Comixology Originals announces ‘Zero Instance’ by Frank Barbiere, Stephen Rhodes + Vic Malhotra

The five-issue series blends video game development, artificial intelligence and sci-fi suspense, and arrives on Amazon July 14.

Writers Frank Barbiere and Stephen Rhodes are teaming up on Zero Instance, a new five-issue sci-fi thriller debuting July 14 from Comixology Originals. The series features artwork by Vic Malhotra on the first two issues and Eoin Marron on issues #3-5, with colors by Lauren Affe, letters by Taylor Esposito and design by Dylan Todd.

Zero Instance follows Rhys, a recent college grad whose routine raid in his favorite MMO takes an unexpected turn when the game’s final boss appears to break free from the digital world. As an experimental artificial intelligence called Braxir begins manipulating connected technology and human behavior in the real world, Rhys and his friends must confront a threat that no longer ends when the game’s over.

“Zero Instance was born out of a shared love of tense thrillers, MMOs and game development, and I’m so excited to be telling this story with fantastic collaborators,” Barbiere said.

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Lara Croft makes a surprise appearance in ‘G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero’ this week before headlining a five-issue crossover

Skybound surprises readers with the first meeting of G.I. Joe and the Tomb Raider icon, with a full miniseries launching in October.

Skybound pulled another Wednesday surprise today, hiding an appearance by video game bad ass Lara Croft inside G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #330. They also announced that a five-issue crossover miniseries, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero/Tomb Raider, will follow in October from writer Kyle Higgins and artist Elena Casagrande.

The miniseries sends Lara Croft to Cobra Island in search of a hidden treasure called the Arbco Star, teaming her with Shipwreck and several other Joes as they race Destro and the Baroness for the prize. Higgins and Casagrande will be joined by colorist Alex Guimarães and letterer Pat Brosseau on the crossover.

“Tomb Raider meets G.I. Joe. Lost artifact, a Destro plot and a joint infiltration mission to Cobra Island– the appeal of a story like this should be obvious,” Higgins said. “Having never had the opportunity to work with either, I was quite excited when Alex Antone called to ask me if I’d like to build an adventure for both. We’re taking some really fun swings with both brands–and there are definitely some deep cuts for G.I. Joe fans!”

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Quick Hits | Dark Horse announces a new leadership team

Plus: News on Ignition Press, Tillie Walden, Frank Miller, Jeff Lemire, Jeff Smith and more.

Following the removal of founder Mark Richardson as CEO back in March, Dark Horse Comics has announced a new leadership team for the publisher — apparently they’ll be lead by a “three-pillar leadership structure,” as revealed to Publisher’s Weekly. The three department heads are:

  • Tim Wiesch, Head of Publishing and Business Development,
  • Vanessa Todd-Holmes, Head of Publishing Operations, and
  • Melissa Teeman, Head of Finance and Administration.

Gaming executive Jay Komas, who previously served as head of Embracer’s Middle Earth Enterprises division, has been serving as interim CEO after Richardson’s departure, and it’s not clear if he’ll still be involved with Dark Horse. Wiesch was quoted in the press release, and seems to have the biggest piece of the pie, as his responsibilities include editorial, licensing, entertainment and games, product and direct-to-consumer operations. He is a well-respected veteran of the company whose experience also includes stints at Mondo and the Alamo Draft House Cinemas.

“I couldn’t be more excited about the future our team is building at Dark Horse right now,” Wiesch said. “I’ve been lucky enough to know a staggering amount of people here for 20 years and my entire world view on the industry was shaped with their influence. It’s truly an honor to be taking these next steps at the company that literally inspired me to work in comics to begin with.”

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Smash Pages Q&A | Jordan Mechner on ‘Liberty’

The creator of ‘Prince of Persia’ discusses his new graphic novel on the Revolutionary War, which is currently being crowdfunded on Kickstarter.

Jordan Mechner has built a career around storytelling. Best known as the creator of Prince of Persia and The Last Express, Mechner has turned his attention to graphic novels in recent years, bringing the same cinematic sensibilities to projects ranging from Monte Cristo and Templar to his award-winning memoir Replay.

His latest graphic novel, Liberty, is currently being crowdfunded on Kickstarter by Magnetic Press. It tells the true story of a clandestine French operation that helped supply the American Revolution with desperately needed weapons, following playwright Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais and American diplomat Silas Deane as they risk everything to support the fledgling United States from across the Atlantic. Illustrated by Étienne Le Roux, Loïc Chevallier and Elvire De Cock, Liberty shines a light on people whose contributions to history have largely been forgotten.

I spoke with Mechner about discovering the story behind Liberty, why he prefers history’s unsung heroes to its famous names, the challenge of balancing historical accuracy with compelling drama and more.

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Nominees announced for the 2026 Harvey Awards

Winners will be announced at the New York Comic-Con in October.

The nominees for this year’s Harvey Awards have been announced; the annual awards named for MAD Magazine founding editor Harvey Kurtzman are presented every autumn at the New York Comic-Con.

The awards recognize graphic novels, manga, digital comics and “adaptations” across seven categories.

Congrats to this year’s nominees:

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Tradd Moore’s ‘Touch Me Someplace Nowhere’ launches next year from Oni Press

The cartoonist behind ‘Doctor Strange: Fall Sunrise’ and ‘Luther Strode’ will write, draw and color this NYC gangland epic.

Oni Press has announced Touch Me Someplace Nowhere, a new creator-owned series written, illustrated and colored entirely by Tradd Moore that’ll come out in 2027.

The series follows Kelly Muir, the prodigal child of a powerful New York City crime family, on a self-destructive, lovesick bender through drug-infused Brooklyn after dark. Set in an alternate New York City where street gangs compete for dominance and literal wild animals roam the streets, the comic follows a cascading cast of outsiders through violent and turbulent misadventures across a single night.

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Jhonen Vasquez says he wasn’t consulted on new BOOM! Studios ‘Invader Zim’ comics

“You’d have to be special kind of oblivious to not understand why it still sucks to not have control over something you see as ‘yours.'”

A planned revival of Invader Zim as a comic series by BOOM! Studios has met with controversy, as the cartoon’s creator, Jhonen Vasquez, said on social media that he is not involved in the comic, nor was he consulted on it.

BOOM! revealed the new Invader Zim comic last week, with plans to bring back out-of-print collections alongside new stories later this year. The announcement promised “entirely new invasions, conspiracies, and catastrophically ridiculous adventures” featuring Zim, GIR, Dib and Gaz. The original Invader Zim animated series ran on Nickelodeon and is owned by Paramount.

“I have no involvement in any of the comics, nor was I told they were gonna be happening so I was never offered a chance to throw my voice into the mix in some way,” he said in a long statement posted to Threads and other platforms.

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