Marvel announces ‘Marvel’s Voices: Pride’ #1

The anthology will feature new stories by Kieron Gillen, Olivier Coipel, Steve Orlando, Anthony Oliveira, Tini Howard, Vita Ayala, Kris Anka, Javier Garrón and more.

Marvel has announced their plans for Pride Month, which include a new issue of their Marvel Voices featuring their “first-ever queer-centered special spotlighting Marvel’s growing tapestry of LGBTQ+ characters.” They also plan to have a series of variant covers drawn by Phil Jimenez.

Contributors to the anthology issue include Allan Heinberg, Jim Cheung, Kieron Gillen, Olivier Coipel, Steve Orlando, Anthony Oliveira, Tini Howard, Vita Ayala, Kris Anka, Javier Garrón and Luciano Vecchio, who provides the issue’s cover.

Continue reading “Marvel announces ‘Marvel’s Voices: Pride’ #1”

Star Wars, Blade Runner, InvestiGators among the 2021 Free Comic Book Day gold sponsor comics

This year’s Free Comic Book Day on Aug. 14 will include titles from Marvel, IDW, Dark Horse, Titan and more.

Diamond Comics Distributors has announced the 12 gold sponsor titles that retailers will offer on Free Comic Book Day this year. This year’s event will take place Aug. 14.

“This year’s lineup of titles has something for every kind of comic fan,” said Ashton Greenwood, Free Comic Book Day spokesperson. “We can’t wait to once again share the FCBD experience with fans, especially on our landmark 20th anniversary! We hope fans will safely visit their local comic shops to celebrate and to pick up a few of the great titles available this year.”

Missing from the list is DC Comics, who no longer use Diamond to distribute comics to U.S. retailers. DC has indicated their plans to participate, however.

The titles were curated by more than 20 comic shop retailers who make up the FCBD Selection Committee. The Gold Sponsor titles come from Marvel Comics, Dark Horse Comics, IDW Publishing, Image Comics, Archie Comics, BOOM! Studios, Macmillan/First Second Books, Penguin Workshop, AfterShock Comics, Titan Comics, TOKYOPOP and VIZ Media.

This year’s gold sponsor books are:

Continue reading “Star Wars, Blade Runner, InvestiGators among the 2021 Free Comic Book Day gold sponsor comics”

Victor Santos’ ‘Paranoia Killer’ launches at Panel Syndicate

Pay what you’d like for the new sci-fi thriller by the creator of ‘Polar.’

In celebration of its 8th anniversary, the digital comics site Panel Syndicate has launched a new comic by Polar creator Victor Santos. Paranoia Killer is described as “a thriller with elements of sci-fi about identity, divinity and the privatization of violence.”

“She is the reckless FBI Agent Nathalie Laertes. Her twin brother is the international hitman known as Delon Sombre. And now one must become the other. Princess Knight meets Philip K. Dick in this sci-fi crime thriller,” Santos posted on Twitter.

Continue reading “Victor Santos’ ‘Paranoia Killer’ launches at Panel Syndicate”

Can’t Wait for Comics | Orphans, kaiju, cryptids and more

See what comics and graphic novels arrive this week in a comic shop near you.

Welcome to Can’t Wait for Comics, your guide each week to what comics are arriving in comic book stores, bookstores and on digital. This week DC continues the rollout of their Infinite Frontier publishing initiative, while two Marvel books delayed by the pandemic finally arrive in comic shops.

Check out a few highlights below, or visit ComicList for this week’s full list of new comics arriving in stores, and the comiXology new releases page for what’s available digitally.

Continue reading “Can’t Wait for Comics | Orphans, kaiju, cryptids and more”

‘The Magic Fish,’ ‘The Contradictions’ among the nominees for the 2021 Lambda Literary Awards

The annual awards recognize LGBTQ books, poetry, comics and more.

The nominees for the 33rd annual Lambda Literary Awards have been announced, celebrating “the very best in LGBTQ literature.” The awards include a “Comics” category, but graphic novels also found their way into other categories as well.

“By celebrating LGBTQ books, we celebrate LGBTQ life,” said Sue Landers, executive director of Lambda Literary. “As a community often under threat of legislative and actual violence, the Lammys offer a necessary space to come together in joy.”

Nominees in the “LGBTQ Comics” category include:

Continue reading “‘The Magic Fish,’ ‘The Contradictions’ among the nominees for the 2021 Lambda Literary Awards”

What Are You Reading? | Where did the time go?

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 checking off their “to read” list lately. Let us know what you read this week in the comments or on social media.

Continue reading “What Are You Reading? | Where did the time go?”

Mail Call | DC celebrates 80 years of Wonder Woman, Green Arrow this year

Check out recent news and announcements from DC, Marvel, IDW, Dark Horse and more.

Mail Call is a roundup of the announcements we’ve received from comics publishers in our mailboxes recently that we haven’t already covered. Hit the links for more information.

DC will celebrate milestone years for two characters in 2021, just like they’ve done for Batman, Superman and others over the last few years.

First up, on June 29, DC will release Green Arrow 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular #1, celebrating the 80th anniversary of Oliver Queen, who debuted in More Fun Comics back in 1941.

The anthology will feature stories by Mike Grell, Jeff Lemire, Phil Hester, Otto Schmidt, Ben Percy, Tom Taylor, Devin Grayson, Stephanie Phillips, Mariko Tamaki, Ram V, Vita Ayala, Nicola Scott, Chris Mitten, Laura Braga, Max Fiumara and Brandon Thomas, among others. Expect appearances not only by Green Arrow, but also by Black Canary, Speedy, Red Arrow, Connor Hawke, Arsenal and more.

Then in October, Wonder Woman will take the spotlight on, naturally, Wonder Woman Day. DC has announced their plans for Wonder Woman’s 80th anniversary, which will include a 100-Page Super Spectacular of her own. They have not yet revealed details on the contents, but they did share the cover (above) by Yanick Paquette with colors by Nathan Fairbairn. Wonder Woman Day is Oct. 21.

Continue reading “Mail Call | DC celebrates 80 years of Wonder Woman, Green Arrow this year”

DC announces ‘Wonder Woman: Black & Gold’

The six-issue anthology series debuts in June.

Following in the footsteps of Superman and Batman, Wonder Woman has staked out her portion of the color wheel with Wonder Woman: Black & Gold.

The six-issue anthology series will feature stories by various creators, told in two colors — black and gold, “the color of her famous lasso.”

For the first issue, DC has recruited John Arcudi, Becky Cloonan, Amy Reeder and more to tell stories featuring the Amazon.

Continue reading “DC announces ‘Wonder Woman: Black & Gold’”

‘Batman: The Adventures Continue Season II’ brings in Court of Owls, Deadman

The DC Digital First series set in the world of ‘Batman: The Animated Series’ continues in May.

DC Comics has announced that Batman: The Adventures Continue will return for a second season, by the creative team of Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, Ty Templeton and Monica Kubina.

Batman: The Adventures Continue launched last year as a DC Digital First title and is set in the world Burnett and Dini brought to life in the animated TV series Batman: The Animated Series. According to Burnett, the series is intended to “cover certain gaps in the original series, events that didn’t have a bearing on the series at the time, but now do.”

Continue reading “‘Batman: The Adventures Continue Season II’ brings in Court of Owls, Deadman”

Tynion + Martinez + Bellaire book a trip to ‘The Nice House on the Lake’

Pack appropriately.

James Tynion IV, Álvaro Martínez Bueno and Jordie Bellaire will bring original horror to DC’s Black Label imprint with The Nice House on the Lake, a new creator-owned, 12-issue series.

Tynion described it as a personal horror story to The Hollywood Reporter.

“Sometimes it helps to look at yourself from the least flattering angle, especially when you are dealing with horror,” Tynion told The Hollywood Reporter. “Horror is a genre that is all about taking about societal fears and personal fears. And this is me taking apart those fears in this book.”

Continue reading “Tynion + Martinez + Bellaire book a trip to ‘The Nice House on the Lake’”

Sitterson + Gregori tag-team on ‘The Worst Dudes’ at Dark Horse

The five-issue series kicks off in June.

Aubrey Sitterson (No One Left to FightThe Comic Book Story of Professional Wrestling) and Tony Gregori (Deuce of HeartsKarma Police) are teaming up for a “hilarious, aggressively weird, and willfully vulgar” new comic from Dark Horse. They’re joined by colorist Lovern Kindzierski and letterer Taylor Esposito

“After the colossal success of No One Left to Fight, I knew we needed to follow it up with something entirely different,” said Sitterson. “That’s why Tony and I cooked up a book so vile, so raunchy, so utterly odious, that it’ll make your other comics turn yellow.”

Continue reading “Sitterson + Gregori tag-team on ‘The Worst Dudes’ at Dark Horse”

Warwick Johnson-Cadwell will write and draw ‘Falconspeare’ graphic novel

Johnson-Cadwell returns to the mysterious world he created with Mike Mignola for the new story.

Warwick Johnson-Cadwell will return to the eerie, Victorian world he and Mike Mignola created in Mr. Higgins Comes Home and Our Encounters with Evil: Adventures of Professor J.T. Meinhardt and His Assistant Mr. Knox for a new graphic novel. Johnson-Cadwell will both write and draw Falconspeare, with letterer Clem Robins.

Falconspeare will feature Professor J.T. Meinhardt, Mr. Knox and Ms. Mary Van Sloan, who appeared in the previous volumes, as they investigate the disappearance of their friend fellow monster hunter, James Falconspeare.

“Evil lurks among dark shadows and in many forms. The vampire, the werewolf, monsters of all kinds,” said Johnson-Cadwell. “We need a particular kind of hero to thwart these evils, and Professor J.T. Meinhardt, Mr. Knox, and Ms. Mary Van Sloan are just those heroes. A cryptic correspondence sets them on a mysterious path which will lead them to diabolic danger and grim reality where evil may lie. Diabolic evil is revealed in grim reality, and an ultimate sacrifice is demanded. Their encounters with evil continue.”

Continue reading “Warwick Johnson-Cadwell will write and draw ‘Falconspeare’ graphic novel”