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 …

Punchline, the sidekick to Joker first introduced in 2020, gets a miniseries in October titled Punchline: The Gotham Game. It’s written by the wife-and-husband team of Tini and Blake Howard, with artwork by Gleb Melnikov. Here’s a look at a whole bunch of variant covers for the first issue:

Also discussed at the panel was write Ram V and artist Rafael Albuquerque’s “Gotham Nocturne” story arc in Detective Comics #1062.

Ram talked about how Gotham lends itself to creating a gothic-themed story, how this arc will provide more depth and context to the Arkham family and its ties to the city, and his reaction to the special audio message/sound effect that fans and readers can hear when they see the ad for “Gotham Nocturne” hitting books on sale next week. Detective Comics #1062 arrives in comic book stores and participating digital platforms on July 26.

Take a look at some covers:

Also discussed at the panel were three new Batman spinoff titles:

The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing, a new ongoing series written by Matthew Rosenberg with art by Carmine di Giandomenico launching on Oct 4. 

Batman Incorporated, which spins out of the events of the “Abyss” storyline in Batman and the 2022 Batman Annual. It’s written by Ed Brisson with art by John Timms, and arrives in comic book stores on Oct. 11.

Academy Award-winning screenwriter John Ridley and artist Stefano Raffaele “explore the gritty world of Renee Montoya and the Gotham City Police Department” in G.C.P.D.: The Blue Wall. The first issue arrives Oct. 18.

Marvel announces A.X.E.: Judgment Day Omega

It wouldn’t a crossover without an Omega issue, which is how most big comic events seem to end these days. In San Diego, Marvel announced one for A.X.E. Judgment Day, their big X-Men/Avengers/Eternals event that kicked off this month. Kieron Gillen will team with artist Guiu Vilanova to wrap up the big event in November.

It’s Jeff returns to Marvel Unlimited in September

Jeff the Landshark, the popular character who took a bite out of Marvel’s Infinity Comics, will return to the Marvel Unlimited platform in September, courtesy of the Eisner-nominated team of Kelly Thompson and Gurihiru.

Two Sonic the Hedgehog projects announced for the fall

IDW announced two upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog projects for later this fall: Tails’ 30th Anniversary Special and Scrapnik Island. The latter, a four-issue miniseries written by Daniel Barnes and illustrated by Jack Lawrence with colors by Nathalie Fourdraine, will kick off in October 2022. Sonic The Hedgehog: Tails’ 30th Anniversary Special will come out in November, featuring a new 30-page (for 30 years!) story by series regular Ian Flynn, with art by Aaron Hammerstrom and colors by Reggie Graham inspired by the classic games.

The Last Shadowhawk will feature a Valentino/McFarlane variant Cover

Image Comics will release The Last ShadowHawk next month, which they are billing as the final appearance ever of Jim Valentino’s debut Image character, ShadowHawk. And one of the variant covers for the one-shot will feature the very first cover Valentino drew for the first issue of ShadowHawk 30 years ago, before he decided to use the iconic helmet image that became the cover. This variant will feature inks by Valentino’s Image co-founder, Todd McFarlane, while the back cover will feature the original helmet drawing with inks by another Image co-founder, Rob Liefeld.

Godzilla returns in a new kid-friendly adventure

IDW will continue their line of kid-friendly Godzilla comics with Godzilla: Monsters & Protectors—All Hail The King, by Erik Burnham and Dan Schoening, who did the first Monsters & Protectors series. The five-issue miniseries debust in October.

Star Trek jumps into the Multiverse with Star TRek #1

You might have heard of this multiverse thing, which is all the rage these days. IDW and Star Trek are getting in on the fun with Star Trek, a new series that will feature characters from different incarnations of the popular TV show.

Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing will write it, while Ramon Rosanas provides art. It features Sisko, Data and more, trying to solve a mystery of dying gods:

Its stardate 2378, and Benjamin Sisko has finally returned from the Bajoran Wormhole omnipotent. But his godhood is failing with every minute. Sent by the Prophets on a mission to the deepest parts of space aboard the U.S.S. Theseus, he witnesses the unthinkable: Someone is killing the gods. And only Sisko and his motley crew of Starfleet members from every era of Trek can stop them.

The first issue arrives in October.

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