Month: July 2022

Fantagraphics, Sunday Press enter into a publishing agreement

Fantagraphics will distribute both previous and new projects from Sunday Press.

Fantagraphics has announced that they’ve entered in a partnership with Sunday Press, the publisher of collections of classic comic strips like Little Nemo in Slumberland, Walt & Skeezix, Little Joe and more.

Fantagraphics will distribute Sunday Press’s previous publications beginning in July 2022, and in 2023 will start publishing new books under the Sunday Press imprint. Sunday Press previously had a similar agreement with IDW.

“It’s just a perfect fit for a small publisher like myself,” said Sunday Press founder and editor Peter Maresca in a statement. “I’ve always been a great admirer of the editorial decisions and quality production from Fantagraphics and I’m very happy for this chance to become a part of their family.”

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Love is quite literally Hell in the new miniseries ‘Hellboy in Love’

Mike Mignola, Christopher Golden, Matt Smith, Chris O’Halloran and Clem Robins tell a story filled with love, ex-girlfriends, punk rock and goblin train robberies.

It’s all about the love in a new miniseries coming from the creative team of Hellboy: The Bones of Giants. Mike Mignola, Christopher Golden, Matt Smith, Chris O’Halloran, and Clem Robins reunite for Hellboy in Love, a five-issue series that also reunites Hellboy with Dr. Anastasia Bransfield, his ex-girlfriend from the novel Hellboy: The Lost Army.

“It’s been 25 years since Dr. Anastasia Bransfield first appeared as Hellboy’s ex-girlfriend in my novel Hellboy: The Lost Army,” Golden, who wrote the novel, said. “I’ve always thought one of the reasons Mike considered my three Hellboy novels as canon is because of that relationship. Over the years we talked many times about telling the stories of their adventures together, and the day has finally come. It’s Romancing the Stone-style action, occult weirdness, and first love, with gorgeous Matt Smith art! We’re having so much fun!”

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Wes Craig’s ‘Kaya’ launches in October

The new series premiered earlier this year in the Image! 30th anniversary anthology.

If you’ve been reading the Image! 30th anniversary anthology, then you are already familiar with Kaya, the new comic written and drawn by Deadly Class artist Wes Craig.

Kaya is the story of a young girl tasked with delivering her brother to a secret haven and has to fight her way across a brutal world filled with mutants and monsters.

“I’m putting every bit of heart, action, and fun that I can into each issue,” said Craig. “Kaya, her brother Jin and the strange world they live in are very real to me, and I think readers are gonna have a blast discovering it, month in, month out.”

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Exclusive Preview | ‘The Bend of Luck’

Check out a preview of the new graphic novel by Peter and Maria Hoey, which Top Shelf will release on Aug. 2.

If you’re looking for an exclusive preview of Peter and Maria Hoey‘s next graphic novel, then you are in luck. Courtesy of Top Shelf Productions, we’re pleased to present a look at The Bend of Luck by the brother and sister duo, which arrives in stores Aug. 2.

The siblings have been writing and drawing comics for 20+ years now, having started their careers in Blab! Magazine in the late 1990s. They launched their self-published comic book series, Coin-Op, in 2008; Top Shelf released a collection of their work back in 2018. The Bend of Luck is their second full-length graphic novel, following Animal Stories, which came out earlier this year. Their illustration and advertising work has appeared in the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Time and many other publications.

You can find more information on The Bend of Luck, as well as some preview pages, below.

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Can’t Wait for Comics | ‘Daredevil,’ ‘Judgment Day,’ ‘Keeping Two’ and more

Check out what’s new this week from Jordan Crane, Dan Slott, Jose Pimienta, Tom King, Chris Burnham, Kieron Gillen, Pasqual Ferry, Chip Zdarsky, Marco Checchetto and more.

Welcome to Can’t Wait for Comics, your guide to what comics are arriving in comic book stores, bookstores and on digital. This week is pretty packed, bringinga new Daredevil title, the kickoffs of two big crossover events, the second annual Hellfire Gala and a new Jordan Crane graphic novel, among many other selections.

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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What Are You Reading? | ‘Hakim’s Odyssey,’ ‘Batman,’ ‘Public Domain’ and more

See what the Smash Pages crew has been reading lately.

Welcome to What Are You Reading?, our look at what the Smash Pages crew has been checking off their “to read” list lately. Today’s reviews include two comics from Chip Zdarsky, Bootblack, Beware the Eye of Odin, Dark Crisis and more.

Let us know what you’ve been reading lately in the comments or on social media.

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Ray Nadine’s ‘Light Carries On’ coming from Dark Horse next year

The otherworldly LGBTQ romance will arrive in stores next March.

Dark Horse has announced that they’ll publish Light Carries On, a new graphic novel by Dollhouse creator Ray Nadine, next March.

Described as “an otherworldly LGBTQ romance,” the graphic novel is about a photographer who is “haunted” by the ghost who used to own his camera. Together they try to figure out how the former owner actually died.

“For most of my life, I lived in St. Louis, and in that time I created my first comic,” Nadine said. “It was an important story to me, an open love letter to the city of St. Louis, a processing of grief and trauma, and a means for me to live truthfully in a time that I couldn’t. Eventually, I outgrew the story; continuing to create it kept me in a depressing place I didn’t want to be. I still love St. Louis dearly, but years ago I moved to Chicago. And now, Light Carries On is my open love letter to the city of Chicago, to the thought that we’re not alone in our struggles, and to being unapologetically queer. All of my stories are that last bit, unapologetically queer, but Light Carries On carries what my first comic didn’t: a light of hope at the end. I hope that those who read it find that light, as creating it helped me do the same!”

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Quick Hits | Rest in peace, Kazuki Takahashi

Former Wizard/DC employee Pat McCallum passes away. Plus news on Asaf Hanuka, Luke Healy, Molly Knox Ostertag, Gene Luen Yang and more.

Passings | Manga artist Kazuki Takahashi, who created Yu-Gi-Oh and worked on the Secret Reverse manga for Viz and Marvel, has passed away. The creator, whose real first name was Kazuo, was found dead after an apparent snorkeling trip in Okinawa Prefecture, according to the Japan Times.

Passings | Former Wizard Magazine Editor-In-Chief and co-founder Pat McCallum has passed away. In addition to his work on the long-running comics magazine and price guide in the 1990s and 2000s, he was an Executive Editor for DC Comics from 2011 to 2019.

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Smash Pages Q&A | Jamila Rowser and Robyn Smith

The creators of the critical hit ‘Wash Day’ discuss expanding the story into ‘Wash Day Diaries,’ which is out this week from Chronicle Books.

Jamila Rowser and Robyn Smith teamed up for the comic Wash Day, which was funded through Kickstarter and was released in 2018. It was a critical success, but while the two thought that the story was over when they finished the comic, the story has grown and expanded into the new book Wash Day Diaries, which is out this week from Chronicle Books.

Smith was a recent graduate of the Center for Cartoon Studies when she first drew Wash Day, and today is best known for working on Nubia: Real One for DC Comics. Rowser, besides writing, has been expanding Black Josei Press and is publishing new work. I spoke with the two recently about how Wash Day Diaries happened, working through the pandemic and collaborating again.

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North + Henderson are back together for ‘Danger and Other Unknown Risks’

The young-adult graphic novel about the end of the world arrives next April.

Ryan North and Erica Henderson, who cracked people up with their work on Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, will reunite for a new graphic novel titled Danger and Other Unknown Risks. The young-adult title is due out in April of next year from Penguin Teen.

The publisher describes it as “a twisty, spellbinding adventure about a girl and her dog who want to save the world.”

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‘Wakanda’ takes the spotlight in new miniseries

Stephanie Williams, Paco Medina, Evan Narcisse, Natacha Bustos and more will tell stories about Shurt, Killmonger and more.

Spinning out of recent events in the ongoing Black Panther series, Marvel has announced Wakanda, a five-issue miniseries that will feature Shuri, Killmonger and other residents of the African nation in solo stories.

The first issue will spotlight Shuri in a story by Stephanie Williams and Paco Medina.

“I’ve been such a huge fan of the Black Panther over the years, especially the evolution and expansion of the women of Wakanda,” Williams said. “It’s truly an honor to kick off the new series with the Shuri story I wrote. I hope I can add to her and Wakanda’s already impressive lore.”

Subsequent issues will feature different characters by different creators. Each issue will also include a back-up story, “History of the Black Panthers,” by Evan Narcisse and Natacha Bustos, which will expand on the lore of previous Black Panthers.

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Bogacs + Enger head into the ‘Under Kingdom’ at Dark Horse

The young-adult graphic novel will arrive in stores next March.

Dark Horse Comics has announced Under Kingdom, coming next year from the team of Christof Bogacs (Volume) and Marie Enger (Where Black Stars Rise).

Under Kingdom is a young-adult graphic novel about a high school kid whose mom disappears into the fantasy kingdom that exists under his West Virginia town. So he and his shape-shifting aunt go off to find her.

“It’s hard to know what to say about Under Kingdom,” said Bogacs and Enger. “As sappy as it sounds, I guess the easiest way to sum it up is love; a love of monsters, a love for the scrappy underdog and an unwavering belief in the power of empathy. Plus, there are fart jokes!”

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