Month: July 2019

Loveness + Estherren fly into ‘Strange Skies Over East Berlin’

New miniseries from BOOM! Studios lands in October.

Jeff Loveness and Lisandro Estherren will bring aliens into the Cold War in Strange Skies Over East Berlin, a new four-issue miniseries coming from BOOM! Studios in October. Evan Cagle will provide covers.

“Through comics, I’ve been able to write space operas, dark religious epics and superhero stories, and now I can’t wait to write a sci-fi horror set within the bleak, creeping dread of the Cold War,” said Loveness. “The Iron Curtain surveillance state of East Germany is now far enough removed from us to seem shockingly familiar. It’s been humbling to research that world, only to see how many sad parallels of it we still endure today. There’s body-horror and sci-fi creeping through the paranoia of the story, but it’s also about what it means to be American in a world slipping away from you… a world that was perhaps never truly there to begin with.”

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Jeff Lemire is working on The Question + The Joker for DC’s Black Label

Both projects are due out this fall.

Jeff Lemire is always busy making comics, and this fall he’ll tackle two different projects for DC Black Label featuring the Joker and the Question.

First, he’ll team with his Gideon Falls collaborator Andrea Sorrentino on The Joker: Killer Smile. Lemire told io9 the series will feature “a more grounded, real-world Joker.” He’ll also team with Denys Cowan, Bill Sienkiewicz and Chris Sotomayor on The Question: The Deaths of Vic Sage.

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Smash Pages Q&A: Ben Sears

The creator of Plus Man and Hank discusses his latest book, ‘House of the Black Spot,’ working with Annie Koyama, designing covers and more.

Comics creator Ben Sears is known for his brilliant use of design, color and composition. His Double+ series of graphic novels feature all-ages adventures about two characters, Plus Man and Hank, and their various escapades as treasure hunters, breaking into haunted houses and old tombs.

His new book House of the Black Spot from Koyama Press is something of a departure for Sears. The wild adventures take a backseat as Hank’s uncle, who raised him, has died under mysterious circumstances, and the two go back to Hank’s hometown to try and solve the mystery. The art in this book manages to be as exciting and dynamic as anything Sears has made.

While the story is a lot quieter than his previous books, Sears makes it as engaging and intense an experience as his previous narratives. It’s his best work to date, and I was thrilled to talk with Sears about how his work has changed, Patreon and working with Annie Koyama.

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Who will reign as the Anti-Christ? Find out in ‘Blossoms 666’ #5 [Exclusive Preview]

Cullen Bunn, Laura Braga, Matt Herms and Jack Morelli’s tale reaches its final conflict, and no one in Riverdale is safe.

The Blossom twins’ devilish schemes will come to a head in the final issue of Blossoms 666 by Cullen Bunn, Laura Braga, Matt Herms and Jack Morelli.

Part of the Archie Horror line, Blossoms 666 features the two Blossom siblings, Cheryl and Jason, competing for the title of Anti-Christ. Throw in their long-lost brother and Satanist family, and you’ve got all sorts of trouble for the rest of Riverdale.

Courtesy of Archie Comics, take a look at an exclusive preview of Blossoms 666 #5 below, which wraps up the five-issue miniseries.

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Comics Lowdown: A meme story with a ‘fine’ ending

Plus: Fred Perry, Michael DeAdder, Kelly Sue DeConnick and more!

This Is Awesome: We all know the horror story of Pepe the Frog, who despite creator Matt Furie’s best efforts has taken on an unsavory life of his own. At Vulture, Abraham Riesman looks at a meme story with a happier ending, talking to creator KC Green about how he kept control of his “This is fine” comic, and even made some money off it as it went viral. There’s a lot here that other creators may find useful, plus it’s just fascinating to see the backstory of such a well known meme.

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Milligan + Allred teaming for an ‘X-Statix’ spinoff next year

This week’s ‘Giant-Sized X-Statix’ brings old friends and new surprises.

Fans who were happy to see the team reunite again in the pages of this week’s Giant-Size X-Statix #1 will be positively, um, ecstatic to see the final page.

(Spoilers for Giant-Size X-Statix #1 below)

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AHOY Comics announces more ‘Captain Ginger,’ ‘Wrong Earth’ prequel

The publisher will also bring back ‘Edgar Allan Poe’s Snifter Of Terror’ in October.

AHOY Comics has announced follow-ups to three of their previous titles, including a prequel for The Wrong Earth, and sequels for Captain Ginger and Edgar Allan Poe’s Snifter Of Terror.

“The third wave of AHOY Comic Magazines sees the return of some fan favorite faces,” Publisher Hart Seely said. “And what’s exciting to me, as both a reader and the publisher, is that each of these stories takes these characters to unexpected places. What happens when cats meet dogs in the far reaches of outer space? Is there something evil about being a superhero? Readers who wanted more of these stories can dive right in, but they also work as stand alone stories that provide a jumping-on point for readers who have only recently discovered AHOY.”

The three titles, with the publisher’s descriptions, are:

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Meet Sunstar in this preview of ‘Second Coming’

Mark Russell and Richard Pace’s controversial comic debuts tomorrow.

Mark Russell and Richard Pace’s Second Coming took the long way to get into comic shops, but the first issue will arrive tomorrow in comic shops and digital platforms.

The satirical, controversial and excellent first issue features the first meeting between Jesus and Sunstar, the world’s greatest superhero, and AHOY Comics has provided a few preview pages to whet your appetite before diving in tomorrow.

Check them out below.

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Smash Pages Q&A: Jason McNamara on ‘The Cicada’

The writer of “The Rattler” and “Sucker” returns to Kickstarter for a new project about small town horror.

Jason McNamara is the writer behind Sucker, The Rattler and other graphic novels that fall into, or at least somewhere close to, the horror genre. Using Kickstarter, he has brought his character-driven visions to life over the last few years, establishing himself as a “go to” creator for chills on the comic book page.

His latest project is The Cicada, a five-issue comic series he’s kickstarting in conjunction with Evoluzione Publishing. The first issue introduces the town of Braddock, Texas, where a serial killer returns every 13 years to target children. But this killer may have met their match in teenage prodigy Emma Dale.

I spoke to McNamara about the project, working with a publisher and what else he has planned as part of his new venture, Polite Strangers.

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Fantastic Four gets the ‘Grand Design’ treatment courtesy of Tom Scioli

The two-issue series kicks off in October.

Fans of Tom Scioli‘s creative and inspired approach to comics are in for a treat — the creator behind American Barbarian, Go-Bots and Transformers vs. G.I. Joe will turn his attention to Marvel’s first family in Fantastic Four: Grand Design.

“Fantastic Four is like the Magna Carta of Marvel, this founding document, so being allowed to get my hands on it is thrilling,” Scioli told Comicbook.com. “They’ve given me a tremendous amount of creative freedom to just go for it.”

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‘John Constantine, Hellblazer’ joins the Sandman Universe titles this fall

Simon Spurrier, Marcio Takara and Aaron Campbell take the character back to his roots.

After a move to the regular DC Universe, a movie, a TV show and even the announcement of a YA graphic novel, John Constantine will go back to basics in a new Hellblazer title this fall, as part of the Neil Gaiman-curated Sandman Universe line.

The day before Halloween will bring a one-shot by Simon Spurrier and artist Marcio Takara titled The Sandman Universe Presents Hellblazer. That’ll be followed by a new ongoing titled John Constantine, Hellblazer by Spurrier and artist Aaron Campbell.

“Year One was just the start. Now you get to inhabit the worlds, books and houses we built for you,” said Gaiman. “I was thrilled when I was told that John Constantine—the original, demon-haunted one who first showed up in Swamp Thing’s ‘American Gothic’ story—is coming back to his murky and dangerous roots. More magic and more darkness and not a few gods and dreams are here for you to explore.”

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‘Heavy Vinyl’ returns for a second spin

Carly Usdin and Nina Vakueva reunite for another round of music store fight club.

Carly Usdin and Nina Vakueva will reunite for a Heavy Vinyl original graphic novel, a sequel to the 2017 miniseries. Subtitled “Y2K-O!,” this one will take place in the summer of 1999.

“Getting the chance to continue the Heavy Vinyl story is a dream come true! I’m thrilled to be reunited with my precious little ‘90s babies. The story picks up a few months later — it’s 1999, digital music and file sharing have upset the status quo, and Y2K approaches!” Usdin said. “You can expect the same level of exhaustively researched pop culture references with new characters, a new mystery and more Chris/Maggie cuteness. I’ve been having a great time writing it, and I can’t wait for fans to read it.”

The story revolves around a group of girls who work at their local record store, Vinyl Mayhem — which is also the front for a teen girl vigilante fight club. In the new OGN, they’ll have to deal with the led-up to Y2K.

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