‘Queen in Black’ expands with Defenders, Venom Unchained + more

Venom, Thor, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man and more will fight back against Hela and Knull’s assault on Earth.

Marvel has revealed more of their plans for the upcoming Queen in Black crossover, which will bring together Spider-Man, Venom, Iron Man, Beta Ray Bill and more to face a two-pronged attack by Knull and Hela.

The five-issue event series by writer Al Ewing and artist Iban Coello will launch July 1, and will be followed by several more tie-in comics in July, including:

  • Queen in Black: Defenders of Light and Dark
  • Queen in Black: Venom Unchained
  • Queen in Black: Hela
  • Queen in Black: Thor
  • Venom #260
  • and the second issue of Queen in Black in July 29.

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. Spider-Man, Venom, Mary Jane, Eddie Brock and Dylan Brock get caught in the middle of their collision.

Here are more details on each of the July titles:

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DC reveals Absolute Robins and the full cover for ‘Absolute Batman’ #20

Nick Dragotta’s artwork reveals a whole bunch of Robins are on their way.

Back in February, right around the time of the big ComicsPro meeting, DC shared a teaser image for Absolute Batman #20 with a big, giant “R” in the center — hinting that Robin might be arriving in the Absolute universe.

Today DC revealed the full cover for the May issue of their most popular title, and it looks like we need to make “Robin” plural:

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Exclusive | Magnetic Press reveals deluxe box set for Mathieu Bablet’s ‘Silent Jenny’

The campaign will bring the first U.S. edition of Bablet’s climate crisis graphic novel to readers, completing the trilogy that includes ‘Shangri-La’ and ‘Carbon & Silicon.’

We have an exclusive first look at the deluxe box set being offered as part of the upcoming Kickstarter campaign for Silent Jenny, the latest graphic novel from internationally acclaimed French cartoonist Mathieu Bablet. The box set will collect all three of Bablet’s science fiction graphic novels — Shangri-La, Carbon & Silicon and Silent Jenny — in a single premium edition.

The campaign launches in the coming weeks, and fans can sign up now to be notified at the Kickstarter pre-launch page.

Silent Jenny marks the conclusion of Bablet’s science fiction trilogy and its first U.S. publication. Set in a not-too-distant future ravaged by climate change, the story follows Jenny, a solitary researcher attempting to restore pollinating insects by recovering bee DNA. Mobile cities called “monads” have formed across the barren landscape, with communities developing their own customs and ways of life in the absence of stable land.

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Can’t Wait for Wednesday | Firestorm returns, ThunderCats meet the SilverHawks + more

This week brings new comics and graphic novels by Jeff Lemire, Rafael De Latorre, Tim Daniel, D.B. Andry, Maan House, Gabriel Hardman, Dan Abnett, Manuel Garcia, Gail Simone 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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Dark Horse reveals Mike Mignola’s next graphic novel, ‘Uri Tupka and the Devils,’ will arrive in November

The follow-up to ‘Uri Tupka and the Gods’ continues the character’s search for the secrets of the universe.

On the heels of the release of Uri Tupka and the Gods, Mike Mignola’s latest foray into the Lands Unknown universe he’s created with Ben Stenbeck, Dark Horse has announced that its sequel, Uri Tupka and the Devils, will arrive in November.

Mignola will once again team up with colorist Dave Stewart and letterer Clem Robins for the graphic novel, which follows Uri’s quest to discover the secret history of this “strange new shared universe.”

“Uri has found the gods but he still has questions and so he’s gone to look for the answers — in a nightmare castle full of devils!” Mignola said, “See Uri change shape, tumble through his own inner workings and take a pretty savage beating. I put the poor guy through the wringer in this one and I feel a little bad about that, but you gotta do what you gotta do, and these ‘Lands Unknown’ are not all sunshine and flowers.”

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Adam Tierney + Saspy team for the demon-hunting graphic novel ’13 Demons Dead’

The new graphic novel from IDW addresses the age-old question, ‘What’s worse — fighting demons or high school?’

IDW Publishing has announced 13 Demons Dead, a manga-inspired graphic novel from video game writer Adam Tierney and Italian artist Saspy. The 250-page black-and-white graphic novel will arrive in August..

The story follows 14-year-old Everly “Ev” Espada, who accidentally kills one of Earth’s 13 hidden demons while trying to save her favorite teacher from an invisible attacker. That one lucky swing of a pipe triggers an ancient covenant: Ev is now marked as the latest demon hunter, with one year to slay the remaining 12, or they return more powerful and unstoppable.

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‘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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