Slugfest | Lemire + Sorrentino’s ‘Ten Thousand Black Feathers’ takes flight in September

A round-up of recent comics news and announcements from Marvel, Skybound, Image, Aftershock and more.

Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino kicked off their shared universe The Bone Orchard Mythos earlier this month with the original graphic novel The Passageway, and they plan to continue the story later this year with the miniseries Ten Thousand Black Feathers.

The Passageway introduces readers to the Bone Orchard and now with Ten Thousand Black Feathers we dig in and really start to explore this new universe,” said Lemire. “This is a story of friendship, coming of age and imagination that is equal parts horrific, mysterious and heart wrenching.”

Image announced the first issue of the miniseries will hit stores on Sept. 14 and also shared a preview:

Ten Thousand Black Feathers will be the second installment of our descent into the Bone Orchard Mythos world and it’s a dark mystery that influenced (unfortunately, for the worst) the lives of the two women for more than 20 years,” Sorrentino said. “The way the story is laid out—told between present and a mysterious past—gave me the chance to play with styles in a way that will be new to readers of The Passageway. Can’t wait for readers to pick up the first issue this September!”

Pre-order acting Class for a chance to win original Nick Drnaso artwork

Drawn and Quarterly will release Acting Class by Nick Drnaso later this summer, and currently they’re offering a pre-order special on their website, which includes a signed bookplate and the chance to win a piece of original art from Drnaso.

Here’s a description of the follow-up to Drnaso’s multiple award-winning graphic novel Sabrina:

From the acclaimed author of Sabrina, Nick Drnaso’s Acting Class creates a tapestry of disconnect, distrust, and manipulation. Ten strangers are brought together under the tutelage of John Smith, a mysterious and morally questionable leader. The group of social misfits and restless searchers have one thing in common: they are out of step with their surroundings and desperate for change.

Marvel announces Planet of the Apes Omnibus

cover by E.M. Gist

Following the announcement last week that they’ve regained the license for Planet of the Apes, Marvel announced plans to release a Planet of the Apes omnibus. It will collect the 11-issue Adventures on the Planet of the Apes series from the 1970s by Doug Moench, George Tuska and Alfredo Alcala.

Penny Dreadfuls ashcan raises money for the Trevor Project

Source Point Press will release the anthology Dandy Presents: Penny Dreadfuls in August, which features horror stories by LGBTQ+ creators. For Pride Month, they’ve created an ashcan with two different covers (both by Leighton Buxam) that they’re selling to raise money for the Trevor Project. It’ll feature a preview of the story “[Void Cat]” by Jaysea Williams, Seth Abair and Lucas Gattoni.

You can buy an ashcan featuring cover A on their website, while cover B will only be available this weekend at the Gladwin Pride March in Michigan.

More details on Skybound’s Creepshow

Skybound announced a Creepshow miniseries earlier this month, based on the movie and subsequent TV show of the same name. The four-issue anthology miniseries will feature stories by different creators, and they’ve now shared the creative teams and some artwork from the first issue.

Each issue will contain two stories — the first by writer/artist Chris Burnham and the second by writers Paul Dini and Stephen Langford (who works on the TV show) and artist John McCrea.

“I first saw Creepshow in third or fourth grade…right around the time I had the initial germ of the idea for the story in this issue!” said Burnham. “I was absolutely terrified to take more than one candy bar from the TAKE ONE bowl. What if the owner of the house was hiding in wait? And what would they do if they caught me?!? I’ve chewed these questions over for thirty years…and this story is the definitive answer!”

While his story features trick or treaters who mess with the wrong house, Dini, Langford and McCrea’s story features something even scarier — a clown named Shingo.

“Parents might fool themselves into believing that anything big, cute and silly is good for kids, but little ones recognize a monster when they see one. Stephen Langford and I put ourselves back into that childlike mindset when we dreamed up Shingo,” said Paul Dini. “In the world of Creepshow, kiddie birthdays are rarely fun, parents often have worse outbursts than their kids, and that strangely grinning party character is not as friendly as it seems.”

Creepshow #1 (of 5) arrives in stores Sept. 21.

Preview: Skybound X #25

Next month Skybound’s 10th anniversary miniseries, Skybound X, returns for a one-off issue, #25, that will preview four new projects coming from the Image Comics’ imprint. Why #25? I’m not exactly sure, as the original miniseries was five weekly issues last year.

In any event, it’ll feature new stuff coming from Robert Kirkman, Ryan Ottley, Lorenzo De Felici and Mac Smith, as well as a preview of the recently announced Dark Ride:

From the pages of Invincible comes breakout star Battle Beast, reuniting the legendary Invincible team of Robert Kirkman and Ryan Ottley. The acclaimed team behind Birthright, Josh Williamson and Andrei Bressan, also reunite to kick off the new horror epic Dark Ride. Then, discover the first appearance of the savage and beautiful Kroma, from writer/artist Lorenzo De Felici (Oblivion Song). And finally, Mac Smith masterfully tells the story of how animals battle for survival when all of humanity dies in the post-apocalyptic world of Scurry.

Each story also gets its own variant cover, which you can see below with some preview pages:

Delver returns for a second season next week

Delver, the Comixology Originals series by MK Reed, C. Spike Trotman and Clive Hawken, will return for a second adventure starting next week. The D&D-inspired adventure about a teenager adventurer who “delves” into a fantasy dungeon will appear first on Amazon as a digital series before being collected by Dark Horse next February.

Speaking of which, Dark Horse will also publish the second volume of the Comixology originals series Youth next January as well.

Joe Death arrives next year

Dark Horse will release the debut graphic novel from Benjamin Schipper next March, titled Joe Death and the Graven Image. It’s described as “a lone gun story silhouetted against the surreal desert valley where ghost and ghoul, witch and prophet, mystery and dream, ebb in and out.”

Hell is a Squared Circle Coming from Aftershock

Aftershock Comics will enter the ring this September in the new one-shot Hell is a Squared Circle by Chris Condon, Francesco Biagini, Mark Englert and Dave Sharpe. The Beat has more details.

Last Comic on the left returns this fall

Z2 Comics has announced that a second volume of The Last Comic Book on the Left will arrive in the Fall. Curated by the crew behind The Last Podcast on the Left, contributors to the horror anthology include Bob Fingerman (who did the cover, shown above), James Tynion IV, Rick Veitch, Brandon Montclaire, Tyler Boss and more.

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