Month: April 2021

DC wants your help in picking its next series

DC shares 16 pitches from real creators and asks fans to choose which one will get made.

DC would like your help picking its next new series, and has launched its own version of “April Madness” called 2021 Round Robin Brackets to help make that happen.

They’ve listed 16 possible future titles and their descriptions, and are asking fans to vote on them in various places –including Instagram, Twitter and the DC Universe Infinity Community message boards, depending on the round. Voting for round one goes through April 7, with plans to reveal the creative teams for each pitch coming as round two starts on April 8.

The pitches range from comics focused on DC’s top characters, like Green Lantern and Superman, to some focusing on lesser-known characters, like Nightrunner, the “Batman of Paris” whose debut was marred by racists back in 2010. There’s also a pitch for Asteria, who is probably best known from her appearance in the most recent Wonder Woman movie.

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Z2 to publish ‘Jimmy Eat World: 555’

The new graphic novel based on one of the band’s music videos will arrive in May.

Z2 Comics has teamed up with rock band Jimmy Eat World for the upcoming comic Jimmy Eat World: 555, an oversized issue written by Alex Paknadel (Arcadia, Friendo) and Jimmy Eat World vocalist/guitarist Jim Adkins, with art by Koren Shadmi (Bionic).

The project draws inspiration from the video for the song “555,” which is on the band’s 2019 album Surviving.

“There was a fair bit of world-building around the characters for the ‘555’ music video and it felt too interesting to end the story there,” Adkins said. “It screamed for a comic adaption. I gave Alex Paknadel the basics of the character backstories and he was able to conceptualize an amazing world that Koren Shadmi perfectly illustrated.”   

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Watch Elsa Charretier deconstruct a ‘Hawkeye’ panel in a new YouTube series

The new series will delve into the comic book process every Friday.

The Infinite Loop creative team of Elsa Charretier and Pierrick Colinet have launched a new YouTube series, with the intent to “share their love of the medium and their professional knowledge of the field with comic book fans and aspiring creators.” The first episode went live yesterday.

“I’ve long deconstructed, studied and obsessed over the work of my peers; partly to elevate my art, partly because I can never get enough comics and graphic novels,” Charretier said. “Our YouTube channel is the latest offspring born out of that obsession and an exciting way to share our studies, professional tips, and love for sequential storytelling with everyone tuning in.”

Check it out below, as Charretier examines one of David Aja’s panels from Hawkeye:

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Zdarsky + Bagley reunite for ‘Spider-Man: Life Story Annual’ #1

J. Jonah Jameson will take the spotlight in the comic, which arrives in August.

Chip Zdarsky and Mark Bagley told the life story of Peter Parker in Spider-Man: Life Story as if he aged in real time, starting in the 1960s. Now they’ll revisit that concept through the lens of a less trustworthy source in Spider-Man: Life Story Annual #1.

“Working on the original Spider-Man: Life Story was a dream come true for me,” Zdarsky told Marvel.com. “But the problem with the miniseries was that I didn’t have the room to properly tell the life story of one of my all-time favorite characters: J. Jonah Jameson! Getting the chance to revisit this universe with Mark again has been an absolute blast!”

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Abrams will release John Lewis’ ‘Run’ in August

The title will serve as a sequel to the award-winning ‘March.’

Abrams has announced that the sequel to the March trilogy, titled Run, will arrive in stores Aug. 3.

The graphic novel will continue to tell the story of Representative John Lewis, who passed away last year. The project was originally announced back in 2018.

“In sharing my story, it is my hope that a new generation will be inspired by Run to actively participate in the democratic process and help build a more perfect union here in America,” Lewis said at the time.

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April Fools: ‘Nancy,’ ‘Heart of the City’ swap creators for the day

Olivia Jaimes and Steenz reveal why characters in both strips never seem to age.

April Fools’ Day, aka the day you can’t trust anything on the internet, has arrived, bringing fake news about changes to company names and resurrected projects.

While in recent years it has become a day to dread, there are also some fun aspects — like the fact that Olivia Jaimes and Christina “Steenz” Stewart traded comic strips for the day.

Jaimes, of course, is the regular creator of Nancy, the delightful comic strip she took over a few years back to great acclaim (at least by most people). Steenz, meanwhile, took over Heart of the City in 2020. Today, though, they wrote and drew the other’s strip.

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Smash Pages Q&A: Mat Groom on ‘Inferno Girl Red’

The co-writer of Marvel’s ‘Ultraman’ discusses his latest graphic novel, which is currently up on Kickstarter.

After writing Self/Made and working with Kyle Higgins on Marvel’s Ultraman comics, Mat Groom is focusing his love for tokusatsu superheroes and boarding school dramas into a new project — Inferno Girl Red, which is currently up on Kickstarter and has already surpassed its goal just two days in.

The 100-page graphic novel is about a pragmatic girl named Cássia with a secret legacy and a magical dragon bracelet that gives her the means to stop the ancient cult attempting to offer her home, Apex City, to their demonic dark lord. Unfortunately, the bracelet is powered by belief, and Cássia doesn’t have much of that to spare.

Groom has teamed up with artist Erica D’Urso, colorist Igor Monti, letterer Becca Carey and design group For The People, with Higgins serving as editor. We spoke about the project, how it came together and what the best boarding school dramas are.

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