Oni Press announces middle-grade Arabic graphic novel ‘Yalla!’

Ameen D.B. and Ismael Hernández tell the story of a young immigrant navigating a new language, new friendships and some very large monsters.

Oni Press has announced Yalla!, a middle-grade graphic novel from debut writer Ameen D.B. and illustrator Ismael Hernández, which they plan to publish next June. What’s unique is that it’s not written in English, it’s in Arabic, but is aimed at English readers.

Pre the press release: “While the book is not in English—fear not! By joining along with Pada, readers will encounter a new place and language, all while learning a new Arabic word or phrase in each chapter.” Which allows me to use one of my favorite words here, “edutainment” — enjoy the story, learn a little Arabic along the way. Also, based on the preview pages, it looks like it’ll at least partially be told in English, so don’t be too intimidated.

“Ahlan wa sahlan and welcome everyone to the magical world of Yalla!—a graphic novel for early readers that teaches literacy and empathy in new ways,” said Ameen D.B. “Across four stories, we experience a strange new world like an immigrant, like 10-year-old Pada . . . all without the help of any subtitles! But don’t be scared—through context clues, we arrive at understanding alongside Pada and her gang of friends. So strap on your boots, tighten your swimsuits and come with Pada as we explore her new home together. Yalla!”

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Kelly Thompson + Mattia De Iulis reunite for ‘Universal Monsters: The Bride of Frankenstein Lives’

The creative team behind ‘Absolute Wonder Woman Annual’ gives the Bride her own story in a four-issue series arriving in October.

Skybound has announced the next series in their Universal Monsters line — Universal Monsters: The Bride of Frankenstein Lives, a four-issue miniseries from Kelly Thompson and Mattia De Iulis.

De Iulis will both draw and color the series, with lettering by Becca Carey. The trio worked together on this year’s Absolute Wonder Woman Annual.

The series marks the eighth entry in Skybound’s Universal Monsters line, following Dracula, Frankenstein, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Invisible Man, the Mummy, the Phantom of the Opera and the Wolf Man, whose miniseries launched last month. Skybound began publishing comics based on the iconic horror characters in 2023, and have done a great job of pairing the right creative teams with each of the characters.

“The original Bride of Frankenstein is a brilliant film exploring the creature’s failed attempts to find friendship and community, and then the desperate act to force others to create that which he cannot find. What it’s not about, however, is how The Bride herself feels about her creation,” Thompson said. “Through The Bride of Frankenstein Lives we get the opportunity to explore not only her search for who and what she is, but her search for the women that were destroyed to create her — all brought to striking vivid life via Mattia De Iluis’s incredible visuals.” 

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Review | Clover Press delivers a swingin’ look at Spider-Man’s newspaper adventures

Clover Press’s first collection of Spider-Man’s classic newspaper strip captures a fun, accessible chapter in the wall-crawler’s history.

Clover Press’s first volume of The Amazing Spider-Man: Classic Newspaper Comics is an engaging artifact of a pivotal period in the character’s history. Produced by the foundational Spidey team of writer Stan Lee and penciller John Romita, the strip debuted almost 50 years ago, on January 3, 1977. Volume one, which covers that calendar year, presents a series of arcs that certainly feel like Spider-Man, just with the format and rhythms of daily installments.

Of course, by the time this strip started, Lee and Romita had both moved on from the Amazing Spider-Man comic book. During 1977, writer Len Wein and penciller Ross Andru headed up ASM (issues #166-178), while penciller Sal Buscema and an assortment of writers were getting its companion title, Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man, off the ground (issues #4-16).

In hindsight, 1977 was part of a transitional period for the character. Following Gwen Stacy’s death four years earlier, Peter had started seeing Mary Jane Watson regularly, while Spidey faced off in ASM against C- and D-listers like Stegron, Will O’ The Wisp, Rocket Racer, the Molten Man, and a non-Osborn Green Goblin. Things were a little more original over in PPTSSM, which guest-starred the White Tiger and introduced Razorback. Maybe the biggest news was on CBS, where the first Amazing Spider-Man TV movie premiered on September 14.

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IDW Dark unveils the horror mystery ‘You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive’

The new series from Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing and Heather Vaughan features a deadly coming-of-age mystery and arrives in October.

IDW Publishing’s horror imprint IDW Dark is expanding its lineup this fall with You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive, an original horror series from the writing duo of Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing and artist Heather Vaughan.

According to IDW, the series blends psychological horror and mystery with themes of generational control and the struggle to break free from systems built by those in power.

“We’re deconstructing a feeling that seems universal these days; our elders have a death grip on their power, without any intention of giving it up to the generations that come next,” Kelly said in the announcement.

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Take a look at Kano and Fabio Moon’s designs for Oni’s new Archie Comics line

Ahead of September’s ‘Archie’ #1 and October’s ‘Sabrina the Teenage Witch’ #1, Oni Press shares the first character art for its new Archie Comics line.

Oni Press and Archie Comics have shared the first character designs for their new publishing partnership, by Sabrina the Teenage Witch artist Kano and Archie artist Fábio Moon, ahead of the two titles debuting this fall.

I shared these earlier in my Q&A post with the writers of the new Archie line coming from Oni Press, but thought they deserved a post of their own. Also: we’ve got variant covers! Both for September’s Archie and October’s Sabrina the Teenage Witch, which I haven’t had a chance to share yet.

Kano, who designed the cast for both books, said his goal was to update the characters without losing what makes them recognizable.

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Smash Pages Q&A | The writers of Oni’s new Archie Comics line on Riverdale, reinvention + why these characters endure

Ben H. Winters, Corinna Bechko and Patrick Horvath talk about what it takes to reimagine some of comics’ most enduring characters.

This fall, Oni Press and Archie Comics will launch a new publishing partnership timed to the 85th anniversary of Archie’s first appearance, beginning with Ben H. Winters and Fábio Moon’s Archie #1, followed in October by Corinna Bechko and Kano’s Sabrina the Teenage Witch #1, and then in November by Patrick Horvath and Tyler Crook’s Archie in Hell #1.

Each title is taking a distinct approach to Riverdale, with Winters and Moon leaning into slice-of-life teenage drama, Bechko and Kano exploring a magical coming-of-age story, and Horvath and Crook bringing their horror sensibilities to a cursed version of Archie.

I chatted with the three writers of the new titles about tackling these characters, what has to stay the same and what they felt free to reinvent. In addition, we’re happy to share a first look at the character designs for Archie and Sabrina the Teenage Witch by Moon and Kano.

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Slugfest | ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ #1000, ‘Infernal Hulk vs. Wolverine’ + more arrive in Marvel’s September solicitations

Plus: ‘Gambit’ gets another solo miniseries, Nova and friends celebrate 50 years, Punisher battles zombies and more.

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you. This edition focuses on Marvel’s September titles. Hit the links for more info.

Marvel’s September is shaping up with some big releases, not the least of which is issue #1000 of Amazing Spider-Man.

Marvel revealed the issue’s cover back in May, and it seems like everyone’s got an opinion on it. Drawn by legendary Marvel artist John Romita Jr. and colored by Paolo Rivera, the cover featured Spider-Man either swinging or shrugging, depending on who you asked. Both artists have plenty of Spider-Man on their resumes, and in Romita’s case, it’s in his blood, so they seem like natural choices to mark this milestone. But, y’know, it’s the internet, and it can be loud, or at leats seem loud when you’re in the crosshairs.

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Can’t Wait for Wednesday | Celebrate America’s birthday with ‘100 Bullets’

New comics and graphic novels arrive this week by Geof Darrow, Brian Azzarello, Eduardo Risso, Joey Esposito, Liam Sharp, Matt Lesniewski, R. Sikoryak, Julia Wertz 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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Chris Condon + Jacob Phillips return to ‘That Texas Blood’ with a new arc this September

‘Hell Comes to Allison Ranch’ drops Sheriff Joe Bob Coates smack dab in the middle of a range war on the largest ranch in America.

Chris Condon and Jacob Phillips are heading back to the ranch for more That Texas Blood. What was supposed to be issue #21 is now the first issue of a new six-issue miniseries, That Texas Blood: Hell Comes to Allison Ranch, which will launch in September from Image Comics.

Starting in 2020, Condon and Phillips teamed together on 20 issues of That Texas Blood, with issue #20 coming out in 2022. Image had originally solicited the Allison Ranch storyline as issue #21, which would have come out earlier this month — but sometimes plans can change as fast as the Texas weather.

The new arc finds Sheriff Joe Bob Coates and Deputy Wilson Hart called to the Allison Ranch, the largest and richest ranch in the United States, where a family dispute has escalated into a war the even the Duttons would find extreme. Set in 2003, Condon says the story has thematic ties to both the original first volume and The Enfield Gang Massacre, the spinoff miniseries that followed the original series.

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Che Grayson + Adam Gorham put the spotlight on another ‘Exquisite Corpses’ killer

‘Exquisite Corpses: Fox Mask Killer’ reveals the backstory of the franchise’s most enigmatic assassin in a five-issue miniseries arriving in September.

Tiny Onion and Image Comics have announced the next Exquisite Corpses spinoff: Exquisite Corpses: Fox Mask Killer, a five-issue series from Che Grayson and Adam Gorham that launches in September.

The two creators previously worked together on Exquisite Corpses #4, which featured the showdown between Fox Mask Killer and another of the killers, Lady Carolina. Colorist Jordie Bellaire and letterer Becca Carey, both of whom are also working on the first Exquisite Corpse spinoff, Rascal Randy, round out the creative team.

Grayson said the miniseries will reveal the face behind the mask, something the original series kept hidden, along with the character’s full backstory.

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Vault Comics announces cryptid sf series ‘Project Perseus’

Jack Mulqueen and Edison Neo present a time-traveling, cryptid-hunting adventure designed to be too ‘batshit insane’ for any medium but comics.

Vault Comics has announced Project Perseus by writer Jack Mulqueen and artist Edison Neo, a cryptid science-fiction series arriving in September.

The series is about a disgraced member of a cryptid-hunting squadron who has to sober up from a decade-long bender to track down a former friend who has vanished with a time-traveling apparatus. The chase takes Slug across jungles, frozen oceans and dive bars.

“This story was born from a desire to tell a tale that could only be told in the medium of comics,” said Mulqueen. “At the time when the story was conceived, there was a lot of discourse regarding the medium of comics being used as an IP farm for other mediums, people using comics as spec-scripts and proof of concept, in hopes their work would get optioned to television or film. From the start, we knew we wanted to tell a story that would be so batshit insane, that it would be prohibitively expensive to recreate it in any other medium, and therefore, it would be a story that would belong singularly to comics.”

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Space Ghost + the Herculoids will cross over this fall

David Pepose and Jonathan Lau bring the casts of the two Hanna-Barbera cartoons together in September.

Fans of David Pepose and Jonathan Lau’s work on Space Ghost will be happy to know that not only is Dynamite planning a third season of the book, but before it arrives they’ll release Space Ghost vs. the Herculoids by the same creative team, which will lead into the next series.

Pepose told me recently, when we were talking about the Kickstarter for the final issue of The O.Z. (which you can still back for another 13 days) that this summer’s Space Ghost Annual will tease the crossover.

“We’ll be putting an action-packed, emotional bow on our ‘Season Two’ storyline,” he said about the annual, “and towards the end of the issue, it’ll also kick off our big Space Ghost event in September, featuring Alex Toth’s other team of sci-fi adventurers, the Herculoids!”

If you aren’t familiar with the Herculoids, it was another Hanna-Barbera cartoon that ran for 18 episodes in the late 1960s, with new episodes being produced in the early 1980s after its reruns gained a fan following. Both Space Ghost and the Herculoids were part of the Space Stars line-up, where they even had a crossover.

Set on the planet Amzot, Herculoids blended science fiction and fantasy elements as Zandor, his wife Tara and their son Dorno led a team of alien creatures against an endless supply of villains, mad scientists, mutants, giant ants and more. Luckily Zandor and company had the help of the space dragon Zok, the rhinoceros-like Tundro, the rock ape Igoo and two shape-shifting balls of goo named Gloop and Gleep.

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