Titan announces a second ‘Horizon Zero Dawn’ miniseries

‘Horizon Zero Dawn: Liberation’ begins in July.

Titan Comics is following up last year’s Horizon Zero Dawn miniseries with a second arc, titled Horizon Zero Dawn: Liberation. The comic is based on the video game of the same name, which came out in 2017.

Returning for this second story are writers Ben McCaw and Anne Toole. They’ll be joined by artist Elmer Damaso, who previously worked on Titan’s Robotech title.

“All of us who worked on the story – myself, Anne Toole, Annie Kitain, and Ari Martinez – feel humbled by the praise the series has received,” McCaw said. “During the writing process, we could only hope that fans would connect with the characters the same way we do, and it’s gratifying to hear that we succeeded.”

Peach Momoko is providing the first issue’s main cover:

Continue reading “Titan announces a second ‘Horizon Zero Dawn’ miniseries”

Romance blooms as heads are bashed in ‘Savage Hearts’

Aubrey Sitterson, Jed Dougherty, Lovern Kindzierski and Taylor Esposito team up on a new miniseries from Dark Horse.

Dark Horse Comics has announced another new series from writer Aubrey Sitterson, followed March’s announcement of The Worst Dudes. The new title, Savage Hearts, is a collaboration with artist Jed Dougherty, colorist Lovern Kindzierski and letterer Taylor Esposito.

It’s also a romantic comedy — albeit one that also features barbarians, dinosaurs and evil sorcerers.

“I can’t imagine restricting myself to a single genre,” Sitterson said. “That’s why I’m so fortunate to have the support of Dark Horse Comics and editor Brett Israel, whether it’s on fight comic soap operas, raunchy sci-fi mysteries, or sexy jungle romcoms.”

Continue reading “Romance blooms as heads are bashed in ‘Savage Hearts’”

Spidey’s villains go to war with each other in July

‘Sinister War’ pits teams led by Doctor Octopus and Vulture against each other, with Spider-Man caught in the middle.

Spider-Man will find himself caught between two factions of villains in July in Sinister War, a miniseries that ties into Nick Spencer’s run on Amazing Spider-Man and, in fact, was teased in the “post-credit scene” in this week’s Amazing Spider-Man #64.

“Nick Spencer always goes big,” Editor Nick Lowe told Marvel.com, “and this is his biggest story yet through this series and the concurrent issues of Amazing Spider-Man, so clear some room on your ‘Best Comics Ever’ shelf.”

Continue reading “Spidey’s villains go to war with each other in July”

Smash Pages Q&A: Marcus Kwame Anderson

The artist of ‘Snow Daze’ and ‘Cash and Carrie’ discusses his latest graphic novel, ‘The Black Panther Party: A Graphic Novel History.’

Marcus Kwame Anderson is the artist behind The Black Panther Party: A Graphic Novel History. Along with writer David F. Walker, Anderson tackles an immense complicated subject, a story that isn’t just a historical topic, but remains very contemporary.

The research required to even start such a project and the skill with which Anderson is able to play with page design and layout is striking. He has an incredible eye and a visual sense that is playful, even though he’s addressing topics that are difficult. Anderson is best known as the artist behind comics like Snow Daze and Cash and Carrie, but with this book his work has reached a new level.

We had the opportunity to speak recently about what the project required and what he took away from the experience.

Continue reading “Smash Pages Q&A: Marcus Kwame Anderson”

Shazam! spins out of ‘Teen Titans Academy’ into a new miniseries

Tim Sheridan, Clayton Henry and Marcelo Maiolo present a new story about Billy Batson.

Tim Sheridan, writer of Teen Titans Academy, will team with Clayton Henry and Marcelo Maiolo for a new miniseries starring the World’s Mightiest Mortal, Shazam!

Shazam!, aka Billy Batson, is currently appearing in Teen Titans Academy as one of the students being taught by Nightwing and company. You might remember from the previous Shazam! series, by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank, (or if you saw the film) that Shazam!’s foster siblings also gained the power of Shazam! Apparently they’ve all lost their powers, though, and Billy’s powers have become unreliable — which is what led him to Titans Island in the first place.

Continue reading “Shazam! spins out of ‘Teen Titans Academy’ into a new miniseries”

AfterShock will unleash ‘Clans of Belari’ in July

TV writers Rob and Peter Blackie team up with artist Daniel Maine for the new science fiction series.

Rob and Peter Blackie, the creators of the TV series Frontier, are teaming up with artist Daniel Maine for a new science fiction comic titled Clans of Belari.

Set in the Belari system, “an isolated, feudal dystopia located in the farthest reaches of the galaxy,” the comic will feature a girl named Te’a, and her adoptive father “Gummy,” as they unite the system’s clans against an alien threat.

“For a long time, we have been interested in a sci-fi story that imagines what life could be like for a human establishment on a distant planet facing similar struggles as we face on the Earth today,” Rob Blackie said. “As soon as we travelled across the galaxy, so to speak, it opens up the fantastical and what we sometimes call ‘space magic’ of the genre. That is just exciting and fertile territory for exploring character and story.”

Continue reading “AfterShock will unleash ‘Clans of Belari’ in July”

Bunn + Leiz team for ‘The Last Book You’ll Ever Read’

The new horror title from Vault Comics arrives in July. Read at your own risk.

Cullen Bunn and Leila Leiz have a new title coming out in July from Vault Comics, but based on the title, we’d recommend you read it at your own risk: The Last Book You’ll Ever Read.

Joining them are colorist Giada Marchisio, letterer Jim Campbell and designer Tim Daniel. It’s about a woman who writes a book that brings about the collapse of society as we know it.  

“With this story, I’m exploring some concepts and themes that really trouble and frighten me,” Bunn said. “This is a story of fantasy and supernatural horror, but the themes and concepts haunt me like a ghost in the dark. The Last Book You’ll Ever Read is about the collapse of society, about the descent or de-evolution of mankind. The book referenced in the title is the Bible of this massive shift. In ourselves. In our friends and neighbors. In our culture. In the world around us. Reality itself is becoming more fierce and wild, and it is taking us with it. Is the ‘last book’ sort of a doctrine to what is coming? Is it somehow bringing about this cataclysmic reckoning? Not even the author of the book, Olivia Kade, seems to know. She knows only that the people around her want her dead because of the words she’s written. She hires a security consultant, Connor Wilson, to protect her. In order to protect him, she asks that he never reads her work. From that moment forward, the fates of Olivia and Connor are intertwined. And they are facing a horror of unbelievable proportions. This isn’t a story about the end times. It’s about a new beginning that is violent and terrifying.”

Continue reading “Bunn + Leiz team for ‘The Last Book You’ll Ever Read’”

#Bwahaha: Blue Beetle + Booster Gold take on social media in new miniseries

‘Blue & Gold’ by Dan Jurgens and Ryan Sook will go online in July.

Get ready, internets — Blue Beetle and Booster Gold are coming for you.

DC has announced that the duo will get an eight-issue miniseries this summer from the team of Dan Jurgens and Ryan Sook.

Blue & Gold, based on the description, returns the team to their more comical roots, as Booster Gold enlists Blue Beetle’s aid in becoming a social media star.

“To be clear, this is the third, maybe even fourth time this project has been on my board, the first in ’88 or ’89,” Jurgens said on Twitter. “Nice to have it become a reality and even better to have the incredible Ryan Sook drawing it. So good!”

Continue reading “#Bwahaha: Blue Beetle + Booster Gold take on social media in new miniseries”

The Superman family of titles expands in July

Tom Taylor, John Timms, Grant Morrison, Mikel Janin and more tell new tales of the Man of Steel, the Woman of Tomorrow and the Son of Kal-El.

DC Comics has announces several changes to its Superman titles for this July, including the launch of three new titles.

Launching in July will be:

  • Superman: Son of Kal-El by Tom Taylor and John Timms, focusing on Jon Kent. It replaces the regular Superman title.
  • Superman and the Authority, a new miniseries by Grant Morrison and Mikel Janin.
  • The previously announced Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow miniseries by Tom King and Bilquis Evely.

Here’s a rundown of the new titles + storylines from DC:

Continue reading “The Superman family of titles expands in July”

Layman + Bradshaw’s ‘Bermuda’ starts in July

The series features a girl who lives on an island populated by dinosaurs, pirates and more.

IDW Publishing has announced that Bermuda, the new series by John Layman and Nick Bradshaw originally announced at the 2019 New York Comic Con, will kick off in July.

“Probably the single upside to the past year has been that Bermuda got some extra time, and it shows on every panel on every page. This is a gorgeous book, just staggeringly beautiful, and it’s been a thrill to see the pages roll in. It’s certainly one of the most stunning comics I’ve ever been a part of — and it’s a whole lot of fun, too,” Layman said.

Continue reading “Layman + Bradshaw’s ‘Bermuda’ starts in July”

Comics Lowdown | Tarzan swings to the web

Plus: Graphic novel sales soar, a look at comics NFTs and more!

Bullish on Manga: Graphic novel sales were up by 4 million units in the first quarter of 2021, compared to the first quarter of 2020, according to news released by NPD BookScan and reported by ICv2. Sales of all print books, including graphic novels, increased by 29% to the highest sales numbers recorded in the first quarter since NPD started keeping track in 2004. The top driver for graphic novel sales was manga, which increased by 80% from the first quarter of 2020.

Watch Out for that Tree! The Tarzan syndicated newspaper strip will end its 92-year run in June, reports The Daily Cartoonist, killed off by two factors: The low number of subscribers, and the fact that the strips, which are reruns from the 1950s (daily) and 1980s (Sundays) are, well, not exactly in tune with today’s readers. That’s not the end of the line for the Lord of the Jungle, though: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., is transitioning Tarzan to a subscription webcomic, with new strips picking up where the old ones left off. (That subscription is a pretty good deal, as it includes a number of other webcomics based on Burroughs’ work.) In addition, Dark Horse will publish collected editions of both the new strip and Roy Thomas’s Tarzan of the Apes: A Classic Adaptation.

Continue reading “Comics Lowdown | Tarzan swings to the web”

Smash Pages Q&A: Jason Novak

The creator of ‘Joe Frank: Ascent’ discusses adapting the radio dramas of the legendary radio producer.

Jason Novak is a cartoonist and writer perhaps best known for his collaboration with the poet Ron Padgett, How To Be Perfect: An Illustrated Guide and his books Et Tu, Brute?: The Deaths of the Roman Emperors and Baseball Epic: Famous and Forgotten Lives of the Dead Ball Era. He’s contributed to The Rumpus, The Paris Review, The Morning News, and many other publications. His new book, an adaptation of some of the radio stories of Joe Frank, is Joe Frank: Ascent.

Joe Frank is a legendary radio producer who influenced generations of producers including Ira Glass (This American Life), Jad Abumrad (Radiolab) and Jonathan Goldstein (Wiretap, Heavyweight). Frank wrote plays and a book, and he was loved by many in Hollywood, but radio was always his first love.

In the pages of Joe Frank: Ascent, Novak manages to adapt Frank’s work in really striking ways. Using the rhythms and designs of the page in ways similar to how Frank used music and the way he spoke. It’s a strange experience to see some of the pieces I know almost by heart adapted into a new medium, but Novak captured Frank’s voice in a way that’s stunning to behold. Novak was kind enough to answer a few questions about the project.

Continue reading “Smash Pages Q&A: Jason Novak”