Month: November 2020

Smash Pages Q&A: Zac Thompson

The writer of ‘Lonely Receiver’ talks about the book’s themes, working with Jen Hickman and more.

Zac Thompson seemed to come out of nowhere a few years ago and is now writing one comic after another for AfterShock, Black Mask, BOOM!, Marvel and Vault. There are a lot of through lines and themes that run through his work, and one of his central concerns is structures and cycles, how we build them, how we exist in them and how we break out of them. These ideas exist on a societal level and a personal level, and the ways that he uses this to interrogate people’s lives and ideas are fascinating. 

His current project is Lonely Receiver, which he’s made with Jen Hickman. It is a science fiction story, a story about putting one’s life together after a crushing breakup, and a horror story. These elements come together in organic and fascinating ways that only become more impressive as the series goes on.

Thompson’s other recent projects include the recently concluded No One’s Rose, Undone by Blood and Angel and Spike. We spoke recently about Lonely Receiver, the third issue of which was just released, and how he works.

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Marvel announces plans for Black History Month

The publisher announces an anthology titled ‘Marvel’s Voices: Legacy’ and a series of variant covers by Ernanda Souza.

Marvel has announced plans to release another addition of Marvel’s Voices during Black History Month in February, similar to the one arriving this week to celebrate Indigenous history. This one is titled Marvel’s Voices: Legacy and will feature a variety of stories by Black creators.

“I don’t think comics can call itself a successful industry unless it’s reached out to all kinds of fans,” said the anthology’s co-editor, Sarah Brunstad. “Comics are a medium, not a genre, you know? So it’s immensely important to me that we bring in new readers and make them welcome in the Marvel Universe. We do that by telling all different kinds of stories with all different kinds of creators.”

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What Are You Reading? | Valkyrie, X of Swords and Seeker 3000!

See what the Smash Pages crew has been reading lately.

Welcome to What Are You Reading?, our weekly look at what the Smash Pages crew has been reading lately. Both Tom and Carla are here to time travel into Marvel’s distant past, while JK wonders what the heck happened to X of Swords this week.

Let us know what you read this week in the comments or on social media.

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DC to launch digital anthology series ‘Truth & Justice’

The series will kick off with a Vixen story by Geoffrey Thorne, Chris Cross and Jordi Tarragona.

DC has announced a new digital anthology series that will debut early next year called Truth & Justice, which will explore “the length and breadth of DC’s rich character history.” It’ll also serve as a new talent showcase of sorts for “new, emerging storytellers.”

Geoffrey Thorne, Chris Cross and Jordi Tarragona will team up for the first story, which will feature Vixen.

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Image Comics to publish Johns + Frank’s ‘Geiger’

The creator-owned title by the team behind ‘The Doomsday Clock’ launches next April.

The Doomsday Clock creators Geoff Johns and Gary Frank will re-team for a creator-owned series called Geiger, coming from Image Comics next year. Brad Anderson will color the title.

While Johns and Frank are certainly not strangers, this does mark their first creator-owned work together. It’s also the first time in more than a decade that Johns, DC’s former Chief Creative Officer, has worked for another publisher besides DC.

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Smash Pages Q&A: François Vigneault

The cartoonist and designer discusses his ambitious graphic novel ‘Titan,’ the comics scene in Montreal and much more.

François Vigneault is a cartoonist and designer living in Montreal and the person behind the new book Titan, which is out this week from Oni Press. People might know Vigneault from the many things he’s done in comics over the years ranging from editing the anthology Elfworld, co-founding the Linework NW Festival, the artist of the graphic novel 13e Avenue, and one of the artists on the recently published Cayrels Ring, among many other projects. 

Titan is his best work to date, but also his most ambitious. The story of João da Silva, who arrives on the moon Titan to oversee roughly 500 Terran colonists and 50,000 Titans, oversize workers genetically modified for the moon’s conditions. What follows is a labor strike, a political battle, a shooting war. It’s also a romance comic about falling for someone at the worst possible moment. Vigneault manages to balance crafting a believable futuristic background while foregrounding a tender, unexpected love story, and the brutality of the unrest in ways that are moving and thoughtful.

We’ve met a few times over the years at different comics events and I was thrilled to get the chance to talk with him about the book, serialization and the comics scene in Montreal.

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‘X-Men Legends’ will tell new stories from the team’s past

First story arc will feature Fabian Nicieza and Brett Booth returning to the “lost Summers brother” storyline.

Marvel has announced another X-Men series, X-Men Legends, that should be a treat for old school fans. It will feature revolving storylines by classic writers like Chris Claremont, Louise Simonson, Larry Hama, Peter David and others, who will “dive into the rich history of the X-Men to tie up loose ends, resolve long-standing plot danglers, and reveal shocking truths that will change the past and future of the X-Men.”

’90s X-Men writer Fabian Nicieza will write the first arc, which revisits the “third Summers brother” storyline that featured Adam-X. Adam-X, who debuted in X-Force Annual #2 way back in 1993, was rumored to be the third Summers brother, but as fans know, that turned out to be Vulcan.

Nicieza will be joined by artist Brett Booth on this arc.

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ECCC, C2E2 postponed until December 2021

Both shows will be delayed from early 2021 due to the coronavirus.

ReedPop, the parent company that produces the Emerald City Comic Con and Chicago’s C2E2 convention, has announced that both conventions have been delayed until December 2021.

ECCC will now take place at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle Dec. 2-5, 2021, with C2E2 following it at McCormick Place in Chicago on Dec. 10-12, 2021.

The 2020 C2E2 was one of the last comic conventions to actually hold a show; it took place at the end of February, right before the coronavirus hit the United States and everyone started going into lockdown. The 2020 ECCC show was not so lucky; it was originally scheduled for March 12-15, and was one of the first events that had to decide whether to postpone or continue on. They did postpone, pushing the show back to August, when they hoped COVID-19 might no longer be a concern. Eventually they cancelled the show completely for 2020.

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DC promotes Marie Javins to editor-in-chief; lay off more staff

Javins will serve as the permanent editor-in-chief after serving as co-interim EiC with Michele Wells, who is reportedly being let go from the company.

DC Comics started the week with the announcement that Marie Javins has been named the sole editor-in-chief, a role she had been sharing with Michele Wells since Bob Harris was let go in August. The news, which was generally well-received by the comics industry, was soon followed by reports that DC is again notifying staff of more layoffs.

And among those laid off appears to be Wells, according to The Beat and Bleeding Cool. Before serving jointly with Javins as co-interim EiC, Wells headed up the DC Children’s/Young Adult line.

Other names mentioned as being affected include Alex Carr, group editor for the Justice League titles; Sales Manager Stuart Schreck; Marketing Services Director Adam Phillips; and Events Director Fletcher Chu-Fong.

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Dark Horse announces ‘Young Hellboy: The Hidden Land’

Mike Mignola, Tom Sniegoski, Craig Rousseau, Dave Stewart and Clem Robins team up for an untold tale from Hellboy’s past.

Dark Horse Comics will reveal an as-yet-untold adventure from Hellboy’s past in Young Hellboy: The Hidden Land. The four-issue miniseries will be co-written by Hellboy creator Mike Mignola and Tom Sniegoski, with art by Craig Rousseau, colorist Dave Stewart and letterer Clem Robins. Matt Smith will provide the covers.

“Awhile back (when you could still do such things) I was at a convention in Boston and ducked out for lunch with Tom Sniegoski,” said Mignola. “Years earlier we co-wrote a more-than-slightly insane novel together, Grim Death And Joe The Electrocuted Criminal, and I brought up the idea of the maybe slightly insane globetrotting adventures of a very young Hellboy. Tom’s eyes lit up, as I kind of knew they would. So there was half the battle won, but we would need a special kind of artist to bring Tom’s madman energy to the page—and artist Craig Rousseau just happens to be that artist. And Craig just happened to be at that same convention, and when I told him the idea his eyes lit up just the way Tom’s had. It was almost too easy, and I’m happy to say the results are everything I could have hoped for.”

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Can’t Wait for Comics | Titan, Power Rangers, Punchline and more

New comics arrive this week from James Tynion IV, Sam Johns, Mirka Andolfo, Jesse Lonergan, Chris Gooch, François Vigneault and more.

We are back with a look at what’s arriving in comic shops, bookstores and on digital this week.

If you’re wondering what to get this week, check out a few recommendations below. ComicList has this week’s list of new comics arriving in stores, and the comiXology new releases page for what’s available digitally.

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Smash Pages Q&A: Gerardo Alba

The cartoonist and editor discusses his work on ‘Guantanamo Voices,’ working at the Latin American division of Webtoon and much more.

Gerardo Alba is a cartoonist who has had a busy year. He colored the recent graphic novel Fault Lines in the Constitution, which was adapted and drawn by his wife the artist Ally Shwed. He is one half of Little Red Bird Press, which released the anthology Votes for Women earlier in the year. Alba recently took a new job as editor at the Latin American division of Webtoon.

Alba is one of the artists on the recent book Guantanamo Voices, a great and important work of comics journalism, where he drew one of the key early chapters of the book. Alba was kind enough to take time out to talk about Guantanamo Voices and his many projects. 

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