Month: December 2020

Tim Seeley channels his junior high D&D characters in ‘Bequest’

The new series will feature art by Freddie Williams II and Jeremy Colwell.

Tim Seeley, Freddie E. Williams II and Jeremy Colwell have a Bequest, and it’s coming from AfterShock next March.

“It’s the story of a band of adventures from a Dungeons & Dragons-style fantasy world who have been stationed on our world to do a very specific job — stop the black market trade of magic items for technology,” Seeley said. ““I love fantasy — I spent a good portion of my career drawing The Dark Elf adaptations by R.A. Salvatore — and I wanted to smash together the tropes of that genre with the world we live in today. Our ‘heroes’ are essentially thieves, as they steal treasure. How does a character like that play in modern America, a place teetering between ‘woke’ liberalism and ignorant conservatism?”

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Marvel’s ‘Alien’ series will launch in March

Writer Phillip Kennedy Johnson and artist Salvador Larroca team up for a new story featuring those pesky xenomorphs.

After announcing they’d acquired the license to make Alien and Predator comics based on the movie franchises of the same name earlier this year, Marvel has announced that they’ll launch a new Alien comic next March.

Writer Phillip Kennedy Johnson and artist Salvador Larroca will work on the new title.

“Just as a reader and fan, I was as excited as anyone when I heard the franchise was coming to Marvel, and when they asked me to WRITE THE LAUNCH, I was floored. I’ve been training my whole life for this gig without knowing it,” Johnson told Marvel.com. “Ever since seeing Ridley Scott’s Alien at way too young an age, I’ve been OBSESSED with the xenomorph, the single most iconic representation of terror on film.”

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Can’t Wait for Comics | ‘S.W.O.R.D.,’ ‘Home Sick Pilots,’ ‘Avengers’ and more

New comics arrive this week from Cullen Bunn, Kurt Busiek, Ben Dewey, Al Ewing, Valerio Schitti, Zeb Wells, Fred Van Lente, Ryan Dunlavey and more.

Once again, we take a look at what’s arriving in comic shops, bookstores and on digital this week, with a tour that stretches from Marvel’s prehistoric past to a pair of haunted houses to the end of the DC universe — and several points in between.

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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Image Comics to publish March’s ‘Karmen’ in the U.S.

Originally published in Europe, the comic will land in the United States next March.

Image Comics has announced plans to publish Karmen by Spanish creator Guillem March in the United States next March.

Originally published by Dupuis in Belgium as a graphic novel, Karmen will be translated and published as five single issues (with a collection following, no doubt).

The story is about a woman named Catalina, who recently committed suicide and is taken under the wing (quite literally) of a “strange and quirky” angel named Karmen.

“Karmen is a story about what it takes to make a real change in life. After working on it for six years, I can say I´ve put my all into this project,” said March. “I decided to write the script because I´m a much better storyteller when I´m doing the whole thing. If you know me from my superhero work, I´m sure Karmen will surprise you. I can´t express how proud I am of this book, and how happy I am that it will finally be released in print for the U.S. audience.”

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Smash Pages Q&A: Mr. Fish

The cartoonist, writer and teacher talks about his latest book, ‘Nobody Left,’ and much more.

Mr. Fish is a cartoonist, writer and teacher who’s had three books out this year. Nobody Left was a collection of interviews, essays, comics and artwork. He illustrated the book The Day the Rats Vetoed Congress, a political satire written by Ralph Nader. He also edited and drew much of Long Story Short, an anthology of artwork about great works of literature.

The three books are very different and cover a lot of intellectual and emotional ground and we were able to talk recently about politics and activism, the role of art and artists, and what satire really can be.

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Dark Horse will publish Dave McKean’s ‘Raptor’ next summer

The OGN will be available in a standard edition and as a limited edition hardcover.

Dark Horse will publish Raptor: A Sokol Graphic Novel by Dave McKean next year.

McKean is the award-winning artist who worked on Batman: Arkham Asylum Violent Cases, Signal to Noise and Cages, and provided the covers for The Sandman. More recently he worked on Black Dog: The Dreams of Paul Nash and founded the record label Feral Records.

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DC reveals additional creative team changes after ‘Future State’

DC held several panels at Brazil’s CCXP to announce new titles, creative team changes and more.

For two months, DC will focus on the future of the DC Universe as they present DC Future State in January and February. Limited series starring future version sof Superman, Batman, Wonder and more will temporarily replace their regular titles.

Come March, though, many of the creators bringing Future State to life will stay on to work on the ongoing titles as well. DC revealed many of these creative changes during CCXP, a big comics convention held in Brazil. This year, the event was held virtually, of course, and DC used it as an opportunity to highlight several of these changes.

Here’s a rundown of what we know so far on what to expect from DC’s regular line-up when it returns in March after their two-month hiatus:

(Note: I’ve updated this based on the press release from DC that came out Dec. 7, with new details and artwork)

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What Are You Reading? | ‘King in Black,’ ‘Department of Truth’ and more

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. In this edition, we talk about King in Black, X-Factor, James Tynion IV and more.

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

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Sunday Comics | Two pandemics, giving thanks and worst-seller lists

Check out recent comics from Whit Taylor, Eleanor Davis, Josh Neufeld, Ben Katchor and Alejandro Bruzzese.

Here’s a round up of some of the best comics we’ve seen online recently. If we missed something, let us know in the comments below.

We’ll start this week with a new comic from Josh Neufeld, creator of A. D.: New Orleans After the Deluge, whose comics have also appeared everywhere from The Nib to the Boston Globe. He creates a comic for Journalist’s Resource on the topic of the day, COVID-19, titled “A tale of two pandemics: A nonfiction comic about historical racial health disparities.”

It highlights a recently released research article on racial health disparities and the spread of misinformation during the coronavirus pandemic and the 1918 influenza pandemic, spotlighting the three researchers who published the article.

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Swamp Thing blossoms again in March

Ram V and Mike Perkins, who will work on the character during Future State, will re-team for the new series.

Just in time for Spring, Writer Ram V and artist Mike Perkins will harvest a new Swamp Thing title in March. They will be joined by colorist Mike Spicer and letterer Aditya Bidikar.

The seeds for the new title will be planted during DC’s Future State event, as V and Perkins will work on a story featuring the character’s future self during January-February.

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New Suicide Squad title by Thompson + Pansica launches in March

Peacemaker, Bolt and more will form a new Squad next year.

At its DC Future State panel at CCXP yesterday, DC Comics announced that writer Robbie Thompson and artist Eduardo Pansica will team up on a new Suicide Squad title that will launch in March. Pansica will be joined by inker Júlio Ferreira, and colorist Marcelo Maiolo.

Thompson is the writer of the DC Future State Suicide Squad miniseries, which will run in January-February as part of the big DC event. While the Future State title focuses on a future version of the team, the new title will be set in the current DC Universe.

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Comics Lowdown | Manga gets Naomi Osaka right

Plus: How comics ease quarantine, who buys variant covers and more.

Manga drawing Naomi Osaka

Tennis champ Naomi Osaka is the star of a new story in the Japanese shoujo manga magazine Nakayoshi (which first published Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura, among others), and the creators are taking pains to get her skin tone right. Osaka’s mother is Japanese and her father is Haitian-American, describes herself as “tan,” but an instant-noodle brand that depicted her with light skin caused an uproar last year. This time, the Nakayoshi designers consulted Osaka’s sister Mari Osaka, who is a tennis player and illustrator, for help in getting the skin tones right. The story features Naomi using her tennis skills to battle extraterrestrials in outer space, supported by Mari and her parents. Osaka has drawn some criticism in Japan, where she was born, for her outspokenness on racial matters, but the magazine focuses on her skill and dedication rather than her political statements.

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