Month: August 2019

Dark Horse drops Brian Wood series after harassment accusation

‘Aliens Colonial Marines: Rising Threat’ has been cancelled by the publisher.

The Beat is reporting that Dark Horse has cancelled Brian Wood’s upcoming series Aliens Colonial Marines: Rising Threat following the revelation by writer and editor Laura Hudson that he harassed her repeatedly.

The Beat writer Samantha Puc wrote that when contacted for comment, Dark Horse responded “Effective immediately, Dark Horse will not pursue any new projects with Brian Wood. Dark Horse has cancelled the upcoming series Aliens Colonial Marines: Rising Threat.” The catalog page for the first issue is no longer visible on the Dark Horse website.

This is a significant move because Dark Horse has become the most important publisher of Wood’s work in recent years, most notably since the artist Tess Fowler accused him of sexually harassing her in October 2013.

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Support The Nib in their summer fundraiser

After losing funding, political cartoon site The Nib is back — but needs your help.

After losing funding support from First Look Media, The Nib has returned as “an independent comics publication” that relies on reader support. That’s where you can help.

The popular editorial/long-form nonfiction comics site is running a fundraiser to “re-establish our regular lineup at The Nib and pay for web design costs of a new site while going independent.” They’re hoping to raise $15,000 before the end of August.

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Smash Pages Q&A: Ezra Claytan Daniels

The creator of ‘Upgrade Soul’ discusses ‘BTTM FDRS,’ his collaboration with Ben Passmore.

Ezra Claytan Daniels is a writer, illustrator and designer who made a huge splash in comics when Upgrade Soul first came out. It may have made a huge impact on a lot of readers and critics, winning the Dwayne McDuffie Award in 2017 and being nominated for several awards over the past few weeks, but it was a hard sell to publishers and started out as an app.

Fantagraphics just published his second book, a collaboration with Ben Passmore. BTTM FDRS is a horror story in a very best tradition of the genre. The story of gentrification in a Chicago neighborhood tackles race and class, and involves a monster that is linked to an old building. It’s thoughtful and funny, disturbing and shocking, and Daniels was kind enough to answer a few questions about the book and his process.

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Comics Lowdown: Spiegelman withdraws essay after Marvel wanted to remove Trump reference

Plus: Hector Gonzalez Rodriguez III on the El Paso shooting, thieves caught selling comics to their actual owner; and more!

Marvel asked legendary comic creator Art Spiegelman to remove a line from his introduction for a new Golden Age comic collection for being too political. The essay refers to current president of the Unites States Donald Trump as an “Orange Skull.”

“In today’s all too real world, Captain America’s most nefarious villain, the Red Skull, is alive on screen and an Orange Skull haunts America”

The graphic novelist decided to withdraw his entire essay meant for a Folio Society deluxe collection and published it online at the Guardian, fully intact, and added a few paragraphs at the end about his experience with Marvel, being edited, and about how CEO of Marvel Entertainment Ike Perlmutter donated $360,000, the maximum amount allowed, to the “Trump Victory Joint Fundraising Committee.”

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Exclusive Preview: Archie’s ‘Katy Keene’ collection arrives next week

Read Katy Keene stories from the past few decades before her new show debuts next year on The CW.

If you aren’t familiar with the glamorous Katy Keene, you soon will be — she’ll be joining the boys and girls from Riverdale on The CW next year in her own show. Set five years after the events of Riverdale, the series will also feature Josie, played by Ashleigh Murray, who makes the move from Riverdale to New York City to pursue her dreams.

But that’s next year — before the new show debuts (likely causing more headaches for Archie Comics’ social media person), take a look at this preview for next week’s Katy Keene collection. It features stories, art and paper dolls from throughout the character’s history by the likes of Bill Woggon, Andrew Pepoy, Dan Parent, Chic Stone and many more.

Check out the exclusive preview below, courtesy of Archie Comics, and look for the collection in comic shops next week.

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2019 Ignatz Award nominees announced

The Ignatz Awards celebrate outstanding achievement in independent comics and cartooning.

The Small Press Expo has announced the 2019 Ignatz Award nominees.

The Ignatz Awards have been handed out since 1997 and celebrate the outstanding achievements of independent comics, graphic novels and alternative political cartoons.

The winners will be announced during SPX, which runs Sept. 14-15 at the Marriott North Bethesda Conference Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

Congrats to all the nominees:

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Quoted: Kieron Gillen on finishing ‘The Wicked + The Divine’

‘It’s complicated, but good complicated.’

The final issue of Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie’s The Wicked + The Divine arrives Sept. 4. Gillen discussed how he feels about reaching the end of the series in his email newsletter this week:

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Smash Pages Q&A: Maia Kobabe

The comics creator discusses ‘Gender Queer: A Memoir,’ working with siblings, the craft and process of creating comics, and more.

Maia Kobabe has been making comics for The Nib, and anthologies like Mine!, Gothic Tales of Haunted Love, The Secrets Loves of Geeks and elsewhere for years, but eir first book is the just released Gender Queer: A Memoir from Lion Forge.

Gender Queer is an exploration of identity, an explanation of what the term means, but more than that, it’s a thoughtful look at coming to understand oneself over time and what it means to be human. Maia and I spoke recently about the book, working with eir sibling on it and reluctantly crafting a memoir.

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2019 Ringo Awards nominees announced

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

The nominees for the Ringo Awards have been announced, marking the award program’s third year. The awards are named for comics creator Mike Wieringo, who passed away in 2007.

While fans participated in the nomination process, only comic book professionals can vote for the winners. The awards will be presented at Baltimore Comic-Con Oct. 19.

Congratulations to all the nominees:

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Ennis returns to the Punisher

Jacen Burrows joins Garth Ennis on ‘Punisher Soviet’ this November.

Garth Ennis is returning to Marvel to write the Punisher and he’s bringing his Crossed collaborator, artist Jacen Burrows, with him.

Punisher Soviet sees Frank Castle blamed for the death of 12 Russian mobsters — but he’s actually innocent this time. So he goes looking for the “kindred spirit” who beat him to the punch.

“There’s a brilliant simplicity about Frank. He never changes — in an ever-shifting and evolving world, he remains resolutely himself,” Ennis told Marvel.com.

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Smash Pages Q&A: Casey Gilly

The writer and journalist discusses her contribution to the ‘You Died’ anthology, working with Raina Telgemeier and more.

Casey Gilly has been working in comics for years. She was one of the writers of She Changed Comics, has written essays for Winnebago Graveyard, Codename: Babushka and elsewhere in addition to writing and editing various comics, including two of the best in Andrea Leigh Shockling’s series Subjective Line Weight. Gilly has a new short comic in the upcoming Iron Circus anthology You Died, which she made with Raina Telgemeier.

Gilly and I have known each other for years, since we worked together at CBR back in the day, and I’ve read her comics work over the years, both published and unpublished, and know how talented she is. I think one of the things that has connected us is simply that we both love comics but we have very different sensibilities and tend to write about different things. The Kickstarter for You Died wraps up today, and I wanted to ask Gilly about how she started writing comics, collaboration and her highest profile project to date.

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Skybound announces ‘Heart Attack’ by Kittelsen + Zawadzki

The teenage love story involves superheroes fighting the system.

Shawn Kittelsen and Eric Zawadzki will team up on a new title called Heart Attack for Image/Skybound Entertainment. They’re joined by Michael Garland on colors, Pat Brosseau on letters, and editor Jon Moisan.

The comic features a world where gene therapy has cured disease, but also created “Variants” — people with powers so unique, the government denies their human rights. Described as a superhero teenage love story, the two main characters rebel against the system.

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