Mail Call | ‘X-O Manowar’ returns, ‘Death Metal’ one-shots and more

A round-up of news from DC, Marvel, Image Comics, Valiant and more.

Mail Call is a roundup of the announcements we’ve received from comics publishers in our mailboxes recently. Hit the links for more information.

The Dark Nights: Death Metal event grew again this week, as DC announced two new anthology one-shots for November prior to releasing their full November solicitations.

The first one is focused on Lobo and is titled Dark Nights: Death Metal Infinite Hours Exxxtreme! #1. It will feature “Uncle Lobo” telling “familiar yet freaky stories of the DC Universe, exactly as he remembers them: with blood and guts and exxxtreme gratuitous violence.” The creators involved include Frank Tieri, Becky Cloonan, Dale Eaglesham and more, with a cover by Kyle Hotz.

If that one isn’t ridiculous-sounding enough, the second one, Dark Nights: Death Metal The Multiverse Who Laughs “offers the curious—and the brave—a glimpse into the nightmare realities that the Batman Who Laughs has created in tales by creators who know what it means to have a truly twisted sense of misfit humor.” As you can tell by the cover, one of those worlds features evil super pets. It includes stories by Amanda Conner, Patton Oswalt, Jimmy Palmiotti, Scott Snyder, Brandon Thomas, James Tynion IV, Joshua Williamson, Chad Hardin and more.

X-O returns from hiatus

The latest X-O Manowar title from Valiant Entertainment was interrupted by the pandemic after the first issue hit stands, and they’ve announced that the second issue of the series will arrive in November. This issue will feature a cover by Christian Ward, and you can see a preview of Emilio Laiso and Ruth Redmond’s artwork below:

“X-O Manowar has always been a nuclear missile with the mind of a noble warrior,” said writer Dennis “Hopeless” Hallum. “He’s unstoppable in combat. Need to defeat an alien warlord? Repel an intergalactic invasion or end a war? Aric’s your guy. But this time, X-O Manowar is acting locally. What happens when a nuclear missile moves in down the street? How does a superweapon playing superhero save the neighborhood? How does he change the world?”

Sweet Tooth returns in November

Jeff Lemire and DC Comics announced that the upcoming Sweet Tooth revival teased by Lemire will debut in November.

Lemire will write and draw the six-issue miniseries, with colorist José Villarubia providing colors. DC describes the series as “no re-hash of the original series, but rather a bold re-imagining of the Sweet Tooth mythology; taking elements of the original series and remixing them into something familiar, but totally new.”

Z2 announces ‘Sound & Fury’ release date

A graphic novel tie-in for singer Sturgill Simpson’s Sound & Fury album and anime will arrive Nov. 17 from Z2 Comics. Also called Sound & Fury, the graphic novel is written by Simpson and Avengers writer Jason Aaron, and will feature artwork by Rufus Dayglo, Deathburger, Rosi Kampe, Vasilis Lolos and Takashi Okazaki.

“Creatively this is one of the most ambitious projects we have published to date, with an incredible team behind it” said Z2 Publisher Josh Frankel. “The end result will not only be worth the wait, but will be one of the most complete realizations of any artist’s vision in the history of our company.”

Marvel teases the return of the Phoenix

Following the “Age of Khonshu” storyline currently running in Avengers, Marvel teased that Jason Aaron and Javier Garron plan to bring back the Phoenix this fall.

BOOM! spotlights Rachel Carson in new GN

BOOM! Studios, through their BOOM! Box imprint, will publish a graphic novel that tells the story of environmentalist and author Rachel Carson, whose work helped inspire the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The graphic novel by writer Birdie Willis and artist Rii Abrego will arrive in March 2021.

Gideon Falls finale arrives in December

The final issue of writer Jeff Lemire and artist Andrea Sorrentino’s mystery/horror comic Gideon Falls will arrive in December, and it’ll run a whopping 80 pages.

“We’ve been fortunate to publish a lot of great work by Jeff and his many collaborators—Descender, AD, Plutona, Royal City—but his work with Andrea on Gideon Falls is one of his most incredible storytelling accomplishments to date,” said Eric Stephenson, Publisher & Chief Creative Officer at Image Comics. “It’s a true pleasure to see talent of this level complete such an amazing series, not just in the way they intended, but with their most thrilling issue yet!”

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