Month: July 2020

‘Edgar Allan Poe’s Snifter of Blood’ creeps in from Ahoy just in time for Halloween

Paul Cornell, Russ Braun and Dean Motter will contribute to the anthology title’s first issue.

The follow-up to Ahoy Comics’ horror title Edgar Allan Poe’s Snifter of Terror gets a slight title tweak that can’t bode well for anyone — Edgar Allan Poe’s Snifter of Blood will arrive from the publisher in October.

The series is the third one invoking the name of the 19th century horror master.

“Since Edgar Allan Poe is dead, we get to make any arbitrary decision we want and there’s not a thing he can do about it,” said Editor-in-Chief Tom Peyer in Ahoy’s July newsletter. “So sometimes we just make a senseless power move out of sheer contempt for the great writer and his memory. Plus, we get to start again at #1, which should attract all of the most devoted comics collectors of 1991. Everybody wins! Except Poe.”

In the first issue, Paul Cornell and Russ Braun retell Poe’s “Black Cat” — but with a dog, while Dean Motter “settles the science vs. religion debate once and for all.”

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Chris Ryall to step down at IDW and start a new publishing venture

Ryall will leave to start World of Syzygy with Ashley Wood as IDW restructures.

Chris Ryall and IDW have jointly announced that Ryall will step down from his role as president, publisher and chief creative officer in order to launch “a new storytelling venture focused on the disparate worlds and characters that he brought to life at IDW Publishing.”

The new venture will be called World of Syzygy and is a partnership with Ashley Wood, who Ryall worked with on Zombies vs Robots, and other creators he has worked with at IDW.

“Change is often hard, and I will miss this extended family I have worked with for more than 15 years,” said Ryall. “In the past year alone, we brought on some amazing hires, expanded the scope of many of the departments, and re-focused the foundation of the business to best support the integrated multi-media company that IDW has become. Our collective success with the entertainment team on ‘Locke & Key’ has been a crowning moment for the entire company.  I’m so proud of this special place and the incredible people who work here. I know that I leave IDW perfectly poised for continued success.”

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Marvel announces a ‘permanent status quo change’ for ‘Fantastic Four’

Artist RB Silva joins writer Dan Slott on the title in October.

Marvel today began teasing some of their October comics on their website, as they tend to do. In addition to a look at the cover to X of Swords: Stasis and the reprinting of the Official Handbook of the Conan Universe, they also teased the post-Empyre direction of the Fantastic Four.

First off, RB Silva will join Dan Slott on the title with issue #25, which sports a cover by Mark Brooks:

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Get happy (or else) in Milligan + Montenat’s ‘Happy Hour’

The new series from Ahoy Comics starts in November.

What if being sad was against the law? What if the “Joy Police” brutally enforced a “cheery code” all citizens had to abide by? That’s the premise of an upcoming Ahoy Comics title, Happy Hour, by Peter Milligan, Michael Montenat and Felipe Sobreiro.

“I was a miserable child. Strangers would approach me in the street and tell me to cheer up. But I didn’t want to cheer up,” Milligan said in the July Ahoy newsletter “Years later, these feelings morphed into Happy Hour, the strange story of a society of legally-enforced cheerfulness… and a young man who just wants the right to be miserable. Finally, I feel vindicated!”

Check out the cover below:

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Exclusive: Read Morgan Pielli’s story ‘Protection’ from the ‘Pandemix’ anthology

The anthology benefits the Hero Initiative and is available via Patreon.

Last week Dean Haspiel and Whitney Matheson announced Pandemix: Quarantine Comics in the Age of ‘Rona, an anthology of comics about life during COVID-19.

“When COVID-19 sparked a global pandemic and national quarantines, I worried about my creative colleagues,” Haspiel said. “Many of us lost freelance work, and the comic book industry shuttered for a while. But I felt compelled to rally cartoonists to confront the pandemic and make art out of it. Art that can help comic creators in need.”

One of the creators featured in that anthology is Morgan Pielli, whose work has appeared in The New York Times Online, Comixcast, Sundays and Side B, as well as in the pages of the self-published Indestructible Universe Quarterly. We’re pleased to feature his contribution, “Protection,” which you can read below.

If you’re interested in buying Pandemix, it is now available digitally via Patreon. All proceeds benefit the Hero Initiative.

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Smash Pages Q&A: Jen Hickman

The artist of ‘SFSX’ discusses taking over the art for the comic, their new series from Aftershock and more.

Jen Hickman is an artist and writer who in recent years has made a splash in one comics series and one webcomic after another, showing a striking sense of design and composition and an ease at storytelling. They have been writing and drawing comics like Calvin and Long Haul, which appears on Filthy Figments, and has contributed to a number of anthologies including Femme Magnifique, Score! and Theater of Terror. Hickman remains best known for their work on a series of comics and graphic novels for a variety of companies including Jem and the Holograms: Infinite, Moth and Whisper, Test and BezKamp .

Hickman drew issues #4-7 of SFSX, and the collection SFSX: Volume 1, Protection comes out July 22. Hickman is not one for resting on their laurels, or even pausing, with a new series, Lonely Receiver, launching from Aftershock in September and more SFSX in the works.

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Dragonfly meets Dragonflyman in ‘The Wrong Earth: Night & Day’

Tom Peyer, Jamal Igle and Juan Castro bring the two versions of the same hero together.

After two miniseries together, the characters Dragonfly and Dragonflyman will finally meet face-to-face in the pages of The Wrong Earth: Night & Day, which starts next January.

Tom Peyer, Jamal Igle and Juan Castro return for another round of alternate Earths and dual identities, as the campy meets the gritty in this fun series.

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Lemire gives an update, reveals art from new ‘Sweet Tooth’ comic

The new series will come out under DC’s Black Label imprint.

After teasing the return of Sweet Tooth to comics in May, creator Jeff Lemire has revealed more details about his work on the new series in his email newsletter.

He said the new series will fall under DC’s Black Label imprint, and like the original, will be written and drawn by Lemire and colored by Jose Villarrubia.

“I know a lot of Sweet Tooth fans are anxious to know story details and also apprehensive because they liked how I ended the old series, and don’t want me to do anything that will ruin that,” Lemire wrote. “All I can say is that I had all of these exact same concerns and it wasn’t until I came up with an idea that I really believed in that I considered going back to the world of Gus and the gang.”

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Can’t Wait for Comics | Chu, Joker Wars, Bliss and more

New comics and graphic novels arrive this week from Tom Gauld, World Citizen Comics, Stan Sakai, John Layman, Al Ewing, Dan Slott, Sean Lewis and more.

Welcome to Can’t Wait for Comics, a look at what’s hitting your comic shop, bookstore or digital platform of choice this week. We’ve got comics, we’ve got graphic novels, we’ve got comic strips … and yeah, that’s about it. Comics of all shapes and sizes.

You can check Comic List to see what’s arriving in your local shop, and the comiXology new releases page for what’s available digitally. As always, you should check with your local shop on their hours, curbside pick-up and mask restrictions, due to COVID-19. Stay safe out there and enjoy some comics.

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Valiant recruits Parker + Pulido for a new ‘Ninjak’ comic

The new title will launch next year.

Valiant Entertainment’s Ninjak will return in a new title next year from the creative team of Jeff Parker and Javier Pulido.

Ninjak, for the uninitiated, is Collin King, superspy/ninja, as the name implies. He was created in 1993 by Mark Moretti and Joe Quesada, and has headlined his own title several times since. The most recent version was written by Matt Kindt and published by Valiant in 2015.

Pulido’s always an interesting artist to watch, as he has such a unique style, and Parker’s really good at pulpy adventure stories. So this is a great match-up.

“I love how Javier’s mind works,” Parker said. “He comes up with the most brilliant panel progressions and layouts, and very striking compositions that look so simple but you have to be a next-level talent to attempt a lot of what he does.”

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‘Second Coming’ returns in December with ‘Only Begotten Son’

Mark Russell, Richard Pace and Leonard Kirk return for more stories about Jesus and his superhero roommate.

Ahoy Comics has announced a sequel to Second Coming subtitled “Only Begotten Son,” which will debut at the end of this year. Mark Russell, Richard Pace, Leonard Kirk and Andy Troy will return to tell the controversial — and also funny, touching and just plain awesome — story of Jesus and his roommate, the superhero Sunstar.

According to the solicitation text Ahoy shared, the new series will “turn back time to witness the interplanetary origin of Sunstar! Warning: portrays science denial, mass extinction and real estate sales!”

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Peyer + Robinson’s ‘Penultiman’ rescheduled for October

Ahoy Comics has a new release date for the comic, which was delayed due to the pandemic.

Ahoy Comics’s Penultiman has endured title changes, controversial contest endings and delays due to worldwide pandemics, but now “The Next-To-Last Stage in Human Evolution” looks like he might finally have a release date. Ahoy has announced the first issue by Tom Peyer and Alan Robinson will finally arrive in October.

“We’ve seen characters who represent the ultimate stage of human potential—Captain Comet and Warlock come to mind—but I don’t think we’ve met any who are just a little worse than the best,” Peyer told Alex Dueben in March. “Imagine being so advanced only to be outclassed. I guess a lot of science fiction that dealt with humans encountering extraterrestrials would have played on that anxiety, but I haven’t seen it played as comedy in a superhero comic.”

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