Month: October 2019

Smash Pages Q&A: Paul Maybury

The writer of ‘Last Stop in the Red Line’ discusses the Boston-based mystery/horror series and more.

Most comic fans probably know Paul Maybury from his work as an artist. Now living in Austin, Texas, the Boston native made a name for himself on books like Sovereign, Valhalla Mad, Catalyst Comix and D.O.G.S. of Mars, among other titles. While in the past he’s either worked with other writers or drew his own stories, his most recent work, Last Stop on the Red Line, has seen him move into the role of writing for another artist.

Drawn by Sam Lofti, the supernatural mystery brings Detective Migdalia Torres into contact with a very interesting and fun ensemble of characters, as she tries to solve a vicious strangling on the Boston subway.

With the final issue arriving this week from Dark Horse, I spoke to Maybury about the story’s conclusion, stepping into the writer role and what he’s working on next. If you missed the series, it’s a perfect reading for Halloween. You can find all four issues on comiXology, and a trade paperback should be out in February.

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Inktober Spotlight: Bruce McCorkindale

The artist shares daily drawings of various Muppets mashed up with arthouse films.

October is also Inktober, where artists from all over the world create a different ink drawing every day of the month — or whatever schedule works for them. While the official Inktober site provides a list of “prompts” to help inspire artists, many of them choose their own themes.

And some of those themes can get really fun and creative. Today we feature The Falling Man co-creator Bruce McCorkindale and his series of arthouse films/Muppets mash-ups. Yes, that’s right — he’s combining the Fraggles with Wes Anderson, Bert and Ernie with The Seventh Seal, and Rowlf with Ghost Dog, among many others. It’s an inspired, fun series of drawings.

To see what other artists are doing, search Twitter or Tumblr using the #inktober hashtag, or visit our own Tumblr where we’ve been posting them all month. And check out some of McCorkindale’s drawings below:

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‘X-Men/Fantastic Four’ mini coming in February

Chip Zdarsky, Terry Dodson, Rachel Dodson and Laura Martin bring the two teams together.

Marvel has announced a new X-Men/Fantastic Four miniseries by Chip Zdarsky, Terry Dodson, Rachel Dodson and Laura Martin. The story will revolve around Franklin Richards and whether he chooses to go live with all the mutants on Krakoa, their new island nation.

That question stems directly from House of X #1, where Cyclops invited the young hero to come join them.

“I loved that scene in House of X #1 and I knew it needed to be expanded upon, so when I saw the opportunity to pitch this mini, the Franklin question was the heart of it,” Zdarsky, who wrote members of the Fantastic Four in the pages of Marvel Two-In-One, told Newsarama. “Both Jonathan Hickman and Dan Slott have been very encouraging and gracious in allowing me to do what I’ve pitched. Which is surprising. I feel like I’m being punked on some level. You’d tell me if I was, yeah?”

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Matt Bors’ ‘We Should Improve Society Somewhat’ available for preorder

New collection by the man behind The Nib comes out next March.

Although probably best known as the mastermind behind the award-winning editorial cartoon site The Nib, Matt Bors is also a brilliant cartoonist in his own right. After crowdfunding his first collection of comics in 2012, he’s back taking pre-orders for the next one.

“This will be a collection of my best work from the Trump era, a 184 page collection with some additional commentary from me and an introduction by Tom Tomorrow,” Bors said in his email newsletter. “The book takes its name from what has become my most well-known comic and will hit shelves in March 2020. I’m doing a pre-order now through The Nib where you can order it with a sketch, get a tote bag, stickers and some other merch. Print still rules and I’m glad the people at Clover Press reached out to collect this era of my work.”

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‘Shuri’ wins a Nommo Award

The African Speculative Fiction Society recognized the Marvel comic during its annual awards presentation.

Shuri, the comic featuring the Black Panther’s brilliant younger sister by Nnedi Okorafor, Leonardo Romero and Jordie Bellaire has won a Nommo Award in the “Graphic Novel” category.

The Nommo Awards are presented annually by the African Speculative Fiction Society. The four categories recognize works of speculative fiction by Africans, defined as “science fiction, fantasy, stories of magic and traditional belief, alternative histories, horror and strange stuff that might not fit in anywhere else.”

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‘Giant-Size X-Men’ returns in February

The classic Marvel title returns with stories by Jonathan Hickman and various artists.

Giant-Size X-Men #1 kicked off a new era of the X-Men back in 1975, introduced Storm, Nightcrawler, Thunderbird and Colossus to the Marvel Universe, and bringing Wolverine and Banshee onto the team.

With Jonathan Hickman introducing a new era to the X-Men this fall, Marvel is bringing back Giant-Size X-Men as a series, written by Hickman and drawn by different artists. The first issue will feature Russell Dauterman and Matt Wilson on a story featuring Jean Grey and Emma Frost.

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Inktober Spotlight: Tyrell Cannon

The creator of ‘Eris’ dives into the classic video game ‘DOOM’ this month.

If it’s October, it must be time for Inktober. During Inktober, artists from all over the world create a different ink drawing every day of the month — or whatever schedule works for them. While the official Inktober site provides a list of “prompts” to help inspire artists, many of them choose their own themes.

With many comic artists once again participating this year — you can find a lot of them on Twitter or Tumblr using the #inktober hashtag, and we’ve been posting a bunch on our own Tumblr — we thought we’d spotlight a few of the fun ones we’ve seen so far.

Tyrell Cannon is the creator of the webcomic Eris, which he posts on his website and on his Patreon. He’s also created his own comics like Gary and Victus. For Inktober, Cannon has dedicated his pen to DOOM, the classic first-person shooter that pits space marines against demons from Hell. He’s not just doing drawings, but also telling a story along the way, kind of like he did last year. And if you’re into DOOM, you might like this poster he created as well.

Check out a few of his pieces below, and visit his Twitter feed to follow along with Cannon and his space marine all month.

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Smash Pages Q&A: Luke Molver

The South African creator discusses his newest projects about King Shaka, his influences, the South African comics scene and more.

Luke Molver is a comics creator and illustrator from Durban, South Africa. He’s best known for his science fiction and supernatural comics like Nero and Sunday’s Slave. More recently, Molver has been writing and drawing two books for StoryPress Africa as part of the African Graphic Novel series.

After Shaka Rising, Molver’s new book King Shaka concludes the story of the leader of the Zulu nation, and tries to parse the historical facts from the myths that has arisen around him. We spoke recently about the book, his work and the comics scene in South Africa.

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DC shares details on next summer’s LGBTQ+ Aqualad graphic novel

Alex Sanchez and Julie Maroh put a ‘contemporary twist’ on Jake Hyde’s origin story.

DC has revealed more details and preview pages from You Brought Me the Ocean, one of their upcoming Young Adult Graphic Novels. According to the press release, the story will feature Jake Hyde, a.k.a. Aqualad, and “a fresh, contemporary twist” on his origin story that “tells an eloquent coming-out romance set against the backdrop of the DC Universe.”

Lambda Award-winning author Alex Sanchez is writing the story, while Julie Maroh, creator of Blue is The Warmest Color, will provide the art.

“This story will allow readers to delve deep into the conflicts of being both a teen and super-powered—and what it’s like to be friends with a super-powered teen,” said Sanchez. “I believe it will be the type of book that fans will read twice—the first time, compelled to turn pages to find out what happens next, and the second time to linger over Julie’s spectacularly beautiful imagery. I hope the book will do what graphic novels do best—tell a story on two levels—through words and art.”

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Faerber + Guglielmini return to the world of ‘Near Death’

Image will publish ‘Over My Dead Body,” an OGN set in the same world as ‘Near Death,’ in January.

Jay Faerber, Simone Guglielmini, Gigi Baldassini and Ron Riley will return to the world of Near Death in an original graphic novel set to be released by Image Comics in January. Titled Over My Dead Body, the story features Markham, a contract killer serving time who is tasked with saving the prison warden’s daughter.

“Since the moment Near Death ended, Simone and I have been planning the next step in Markham’s path to redemption,” said Faerber. “We’re thrilled to unveil this new thriller that serves as a continuation of that series, but is presented in a fresh, accessible format for new readers.”

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‘Dracula: Son of the Dragon’ arrives on comiXology

Long-brewing graphic novel by Mark Sable and Salgood Sam materializes just in time for Halloween.

It’s been six years since Mark Sable and Salgood Sam ran their Kickstarter campaign for Dracula: Son of the Dragon, a historical horror fantasy graphic novel that shows the transformation of the real-life Vlad the Impaler into Dracula. It’s a long time to wait, especially for a book originally targeted to arrive in 2014, but to their credit they’ve actually finished the project and it’s now scheduled to arrive on comiXology this week.

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Smash Pages Q&A: Elsa Charretier

The artist of ‘November’ and ‘Star Wars’ discusses her Kickstarter campaign for her new artbook.

Elsa Charretier seemed to come out nowhere a few years ago when the miniseries The Infinite Loop was released. Since then, she’s drawn Superfreaks, Bitch Planet, Bombshells, Star Wars, Starfire, Harley Quinn and the Unstoppable Wasp, along with co-writing a number of comics, and drawing covers for everything from Archie to Black Panther, Nancy Drew to Domino, Ms. Marvel to Sex Criminals.

Charretier has shown that she has a versatile style and sensibility that shows her equally at home whether telling all-ages adventure tales, adult stories, comedy or action.

Next month Image is publishing November, which she drew and co-created with writer Matt Fraction, but today Charretier has launched a Kickstarter for an artbook that collects a lot of her covers and commissions, and also details her process and provides some insight into the production of November. Just a few hours after launch, the project has already reached its funding goal.

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