Dark Horse brews an ‘Elixir’ for next year

Frank J. Barbiere, Ricky Mammone and Victor Santos bring a new graphic novel that mixes technology and magic to Dark Horse.

Frank J. Barbiere, Ricky Mammone and Victor Santos will team up on a new graphic novel, Elixir, that’s set to be published by Dark Horse Comics next March.

The dark fantasy story combines magic with modern technology, as the daughter of a druid seeks an artifact known as the “Elixir.”

“I began my career in Europe doing fantasy comics but basically I am known in the USA as a noir-crime author,” Santos said. “Thanks to this new collaboration with my partner Frank Barbiere and with the addition of the talented writer Ricky Mammone, I have had the chance to build a world with all the elements and aesthetics I loved reading as a teen but with my experience as a creator and a more modern point of view of what a good fantasy story should be.”

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Three Things | Major Sun, SDCC panels, Sequential Scholars

Here are three things to support, to listen to and to follow in comics today.

1. To vote for: Major Sun on Webtoon

Webtoon is currently running a Call to Action contest, where various creators compete for a spot on the site — as well as for cash and other prizes. The submission period will end July 31, and then voting will take place throughout the month of August.

And wow, are there a lot of submissions — more than 100 pages, with 20 submissions per page. I of course would encourage you first to find one you like to support, as these things should be, but I couldn’t help but note that one of my favorite webcomics cartoonists has entered the fray.

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DC announces new stories, collection for ‘Death of Superman’ anniversary

Dan Jurgens, Brett Breeding, Louise Simonson, Roger Stern and more reunite for new tales about Superman’s death.

Several classic Superman creative teams will return to the character for the 80-Page The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special #1. Celebrating the 30th anniversary of The Death of Superman event that ushered in a new, seemingly endless wave of event comics, the special will include new stories by Dan Jurgens, Brett Breeding, Roger Stern, Butch Guice, Jon Bogdanove, Louise Simonson, Jerry Ordway and more.

“It was great to be able to work with them and make sure that each team was back together again,” Jurgens said about the special. “It was Roger Stern and Butch Guice who were on Action Comics back at that time, and they could come back as a team. Louise Simonson and John Bogdanov were on Man of Steel, Tom Grummett and Jerry Ordway were working on Adventures of Superman, and Brett Breeding and I were on Superman. We realized we could get the full crew back together to do these stories.”

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Can’t Wait for Comics | Explore history with ‘Superman: Space Age,’ ‘Ant-Man’ and more

Check out new comics and graphic novels this week by Noah Van Sciver, Luana Vecchio, Taki Soma, Peter David, Chris Claremont, Cullen Bunn, Vicente Cifuentes, Mark Russell, Michael Allred, Al Ewing and more.

Welcome to Can’t Wait for Comics, your guide to what comics are arriving in comic book stores, bookstores and on digital. The past is very much the future in several new series that debut today, including Superman: Space Age, Ant-Man, Gambit and more.

I’ve pulled out some of the highlights below, but for the complete list of everything you might find at your local comic shop and on digital this week, you’ll want to check out one or more of the following:

As a reminder, things can change and what you find on the above lists may differ from what’s actually arriving in your local shop. So always check with your comics retailer for the final word on availability.

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Jeff Lemire’s ‘Royal City’ will return next year

Lemire will write and draw a second volume titled ‘The Last Days of Richie Pike.’

Jeff Lemire has announced through his Substack newsletter that a second volume of Royal City will arrive in 2023.

“I have been teasing the return of Royal City for a while now…and I can finally make it official…ROYAL CITY IS COMING BACK in 2023!” he wrote today. “I have started work on a brand new Royal City series, currently titled ROYAL CITY VOLUME 2: The Last Days of Richie Pike, and plan on launching the book in Fall 2023 from Image Comics.”

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Slugfest | A round-up of Comic-Con news

Check out news and announcements about Godzilla, Joker, Sonic the Hedgehog, ShadowHawk, A.X.E.: Judgment Day, Star Trek and more.

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you from comics creators, publishers and more. Today’s edition includes some San Diego news we didn’t get to this past weekend, plus a few other items to note. Hit the links for more information.

Let’s start with a huge blast of Gotham City news that DC revealed last week in San Diego, as they revealed several new Batman-related projects by the likes of Narcisse, Ram V., Tini Howard, Matthew Rosenberg and more. Most of these announcements came right before the release of the DC solicitations for October, when many of them will kick off.

So, the rundown …

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Smash Pages Q&A | Matthew Klein on ‘Crashing’

The writer of the new IDW series discusses creating the story of a doctor who specializes in treating super-powered patients.

Hospitals tend to be frequent settings for comic book scenes, whether they involve Batman questioning an injured henchman or Peter Parker receiving a page’s worth of treatment before jumping back into action. But it’s rare that they serve as the setting for an entire comic, or that readers see the implications of what it means to be a doctor in a world with super-powered beings.

Written by Matthew Klein, illustrated by Morgan Beem, colored by Triona Farrell, lettered by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou and edited by Heather Antos, the upcoming comic Crashing is about a doctor, Rose Osler, who specializes in “patients with powers” at a hospital in Boston. Rose is also a recovering addict, and a battle between the city’s greatest hero and its worst villain that sends both into her care could push her past her own limits.

Crashing #1 will arrive in September, and it’s the third title from IDW’s new Originals line, following the recent Dark Spaces: Wildfire and the upcoming Trve Kvlt in August. Klein was kind enough to answer some of my questions about Crashing.

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‘Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur’ series will debut in December

The long-awaited new series will be written by Jordan Ifueko with art by Alba Glez.

Last fall Marvel announced a batch of “eight tentpole projects” for 2022, including the Daredevil-centric crossover Devil’s Reign, She-Hulk, Avengers Forever and a pair of Wolverine miniseries, among others. While most of those projects are either in flight or have already landed, one of them, a Moon Girl series, never came to pass — until now.

Originally teased for February of this year, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #1 will finally arrive in December. And the “top secret” creative team that was teased will be novelist Jordan Ifueko and artist Alba Glez.

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Cantwell’s run on ‘Iron Man’ will wrap up with the oversized ‘Iron Man’ #25

Marvel celebrates 650 issues of ‘Iron Man’ in November with stories by Christopher Cantwell, Angel Unzueta, Kurt Busiek and more.

November brings not only the 65oth issue of Iron Man, if you go by Marvel’s “legacy numbering” system, but also the finale of Christopher Cantwell’s run on the title.

Iron Man #25 is an “oversized celebration” of Iron Man, featuring stories by a variety of creators, including Murewa Ayodele, Dotun Akande, Kurt Busiek, Ben Dewey and more. But the main story will focus on “Iron Man Day” in New York, as Cantwell and Angel Unzueta bring their run to a close.

“I have come to love this guy so much. This book has been a highlight of my career,” Cantwell said on Twitter. “I will miss Tony. I already do.”

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Spider-Man’s gonna have a busy Fall

Marvel reveals more about the upcoming ‘Dark Web’ event, plus Gold Goblin, Hallow’s Eve and more.

As the temperatures cool down, the Spider-Verse will heat up — in San Diego this week, Marvel shared details on several Spider-Man related titles and events that will keep the wall-crawler busy through the end of the year.

First let’s talk about Dark Web, the Spider-Man/X-Men crossover event spearheaded by Zeb Wells that involves the Goblyn Queen and Chasm, aka Ben Reilly. The story will begin in “prelude” issues throughout November (in Amazing Spider-Man, for example), followed by December’s Dark Web Alpha #1 where Wells will be joined by Adam Kubert to kick things off in earnest. From there, the story continues in Amazing Spider-Man as well as various tie-in one-shots and limited series.  

Marvel released the cover for Dark Web Alpha, by Ryan Stegman. Here’s his line art:

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All of Aaron’s Avengers will collide in ‘Avengers Assemble’

The big event kicks off with ‘Avengers Assemble Alpha’ by Jason Aaron and Bryan Hitch in November.

During their Next Big Thing Panel in San Diego today, Marvel announced that all of the various Avengers titles Jason Aaron has worked on over the past few years — Avengers, Avengers Forever and Avengers of 1,000,000 BC — will come together in one epic crossover, suitably titled Avengers Assemble.

The event will kick off in an “alpha” issue, drawn by Bryan Hitch, that will land on Nov. 30.

“Four years of Avengers stories. Threads from really every major series I’ve worked on throughout my last decade and a half at Marvel, from Ghost Rider to Thor. It all leads to this,” Aaron said. “The biggest Avengers story I could possibly imagine. Featuring a cavalcade of characters from across creation. And I’m so deeply thrilled and honored that it all kicks off with an oversized ALPHA issue that’s being drawn by the legendary Bryan Hitch, who I’m getting to work with here for the very first time.”

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DC’s ‘Comics Are Fun For Everyone’ Panel features Superman, Blue Beetle and Bruce Campbell

A new graphic novel by Sina Grace and a surprise appearance from Ash Williams highlight the Comic-Con panel.

In San Diego today, DC’s “Comics Are Fun for Everyone” panel brought plenty of news on upcoming graphic novels like Superman: The Harvest of Youth and Constantine: Distorted Illusions, and also plenty of fun in the form of actor and writer Bruce Campbell.

photo by Carla Hoffman

Campbell was on hand to promote Sgt. Rock vs. The Army of the Dead, his upcoming miniseries with artist Eduardo Risso.

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