Comics Lowdown: Rest in peace Sam Glanzman, George Romero

Plus: teen romance, and Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and others become Disney Legends

Sam Glanzman (1924-2017): Navy veteran and and Eisner Award-nominated comic artist Sam Glanzman, 92, passed away July 12. Over the span of his 75-year career in comics, Glanzman worked for Marvel, DC Comics, Charlton, Harvey and Dell, among others, on titles like G.I. Combat, Sgt. Rock, Hercules, Jonah Hex, Fightin’ Army, Savage Tales, Semper Fi, Zorro and Kona, Monarch of Monster Isle. Marvel published his A Sailor’s Story graphic novel in 1987, a personal account of his time on the U.S.S. Stevens during World War II. A sequel followed. New stories about his time on the U.S.S. Stevens appeared in DC’s Joe Kubert Presents six-issue anthology limited series, and those stories, along with the two volumes of A Sailor’s Story, were collected in U.S.S. Stevens: The Collected Stories, which is nominated for the Eisner Award this year. A successful Kickstarter campaign to bring Red Range, a story drawn by Glanzman and written by Joe R. Lansdale, recently wrapped up.

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Dynamite picks up Elvira, Barbarella licenses

Mike Carey to write new ‘Barbarella’ comic.

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, and Barbarella will find new life in comics, thanks to Dynamite Entertainment. Dynamite announced today the acquisition of licenses to publish comics based on both properties.

To coincide with the 55th anniversary of Barbarella, Dynamite will launch a new comic this fall, written by Mike Carey (Lucifer, X-Men). Jean-Marc Lofficier, custodian of the Barbarella brand, will join Carey as supervisor on the project.

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Valiant’s Shadowman meets Rae Sremmurd in new crossover

Eliot Rahal and Renato Guedes reveal what happens when the hip-hop artists meet the supernatural guardian.

Remember way back in 1993 when Aerosmith guest-starred in an issue of Shadowman? I think he helped prevent Steve Tyler’s soul from being stolen or something. In that tradition, Valiant has announced another comic/music crossover, as Shadowman prepares to meet the hip-hop duo Rae Sremmurd.

“Comic books are a form of entertainment. I get to make all the sounds and effects in my head. It’s just like you use your imagination – you go through the pictures and the pictures are always awesome. It’s like an escape from reality,” said Rae Sremmurd’s Slim Jxmmi. “Valiant – they have really good storylines. The art is always on point. I never know what to expect. X-O Manowar is one of my favorites. The Delinquents is cool. Bloodshot is fucking awesome. I love Valiant.”

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DC revs up a new ‘Gotham City Garage’ digital series

Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly will write the series, with a rotating cast of artists.

DC Collectibles’ Gotham City Garage line, which features the company’s heroines as bikers, is getting its own digital comic series. The comic will feature leathered up, helmet-wearing (safety first!) verisons of Harley Quinn, Wonder Woman, Catwoman, Lex Luthor and more.

Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly will team up to write the series, which will have rotating artists. Supergirl artist Brian Ching and DC Talent Development Workshop student Lynne Yoshii are up first.

Gotham City Garage is an anti-fascist anthem for the open road, starring reimagined takes on DC’s great female characters through an outlaw lens,” Kelly said in the press release. “We’re bringing Big Barda, Steel, Catwoman, Harley Quinn, Silver Banshee, Hawkgirl and the first Kryptonian this world has ever seen—the mysterious girl named Kara Gordon—into a world of bikes, outlaws and elaborate tattoos.”

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Panosian goes for broke in Skybound’s ‘Slots’

Dan Panosian will write and draw a new series about a former boxer looking for redemption in Las Vegas.

Dan Panosian’s gritty, “dirty ’70s” art style is heading to the perfect locale, Las Vegas, for his new series Slots. Panosian will write and draw the new series from Skybound/Image Comics, which is due out in October.

“Producing this story is really a dream come true for me, and I have Image Comics and Skybound to thank for the experience,” said Panosian. “People throw the term ‘labor of love’ around pretty often, but every aspect of creating Slots has been a true joy for me. I’m very happy we can finally announce and share it with everyone.”

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Fresh Eyes on ‘Black Panther: Panther’s Rage’

Fresh Eyes is a new column reassessing milestone stories in comic book history from a modern perspective. Do they hold up, and how might they resonate with today’s readers?

Jungle Action #11 by McGregor, Graham and Janson

In the mid-1970s, the Black Panther starred in a sprawling 13-part epic called Panther’s Rage in the pages of Jungle Action by writer Don McGregor and artists Rich Buckler and Billy Graham. With promotion heating up for the 2018 Black Panther movie from Marvel Studios, it seemed like a good time to revisit this story. For me, it was the first time reading it.

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Berger Books announces four new titles for 2018

Published by Dark Horse Comics, the first titles in the creator-owned imprint edited by former Vertigo chief Karen Berger will include the works of Anthony Bourdain, David Aja, Ann Nocenti, Mat Johnson, Warren Pleece and more.

Earlier this year Dark Horse Comics announced that former Vertigo founding editor Karen Berger would head up her own imprint for the publisher, called Berger Books. Today Vulture revealed the first four titles from the imprint, all due out in 2018.

“Dark Horse has been at the frontline of independent, creator-owned comics for decades,” Berger said earlier this year. “It’s great to be working with a company that has such a rich history of publishing scores of many incredible books by some of the best writers and artists in comics. I’m very fired up about being back in the game in a big way, and to be producing this new line with top, diverse creative talent and exciting, original new voices.”

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Cullen Bunn teases ‘Metro,’ a new ‘very dark’ urban fantasy comic

Bunn joins Brian Quinn and Walt Flanagan on the new title, which will debut with a sneak preview at Comic-Con International.

Cullen Bunn, writer of X-Men Blue, The Sixth Gunn and Regression, among other titles, announced he is working on “a new comic book experience” called Metro with TV’s Brian Quinn (Impractical Jokers) and artist Walt Flanagan (Batman: The Widening Gyre).

Designer Anton Kromoff, inker Philip R. Williams Jr., colorist Wayne Jansen and letterer Marie Enger round out the creative team.

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Werewolf Jughead stalks Riverdale’s finest in new ongoing series

Graduating from his own one-shot, the ever-hungry creature of the night will face off with his worst nightmare: Betty Cooper, Werewolf Hunter.

After tearing through his own well-received one-shot, Jughead’s furry alter ego gets an ongoing series, Jughead: The Hunger, by writer Frank Tieri and artists Pat and Tim Kennedy.

“We purposely left the door open with the one shot, we told you if you made Jughead the Hunger a hit we’d make more — and since you more than held up your end of the bargain, here we are,” Tieri said in the press release. “Fans can expect more of everything they loved about the one shot now as we expand our universe– more werewolf Juggie, more bad ass Betty, more conflicted Archie and more twists and turns than you can shake a severed arm at.”

Tieri worked with artist Michael Walsh on the one-shot, who is doing one of the covers for the first issue of the new series. Colorist Matt Herms and letterer Jack Morelli will round out the creative team.

The comic is the third ongoing horror title released by Archie, following Afterlife with Archie and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Instead of an Archie Horror logo, though, the covers for the first issue sport an “Archie’s Madhouse Presents” emblem. Archie’s Mad House was a title published by Archie from 1959 until 1982 that featured the works of Dan DeCarlo, Harry Lucey, Chic Stone, Bob White and even Wally Wood, as they told zany stories featuring the Archie characters and new ones like Captain Sprocket and Clyde Didit; it’s also where Sabrina the Teenage Witch first debuted. So it’s an appropriate reference.

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