Slugfest | ‘The Ambassadors,’ ‘Stranger Things’ and more

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you from comics creators, publishers and more. Hit the links for more information.

Mark Millar will team with six artists for his next project, The Ambassadors — a six-issue miniseries where each issue is set in a different country.

Frank Quitely, Travis Charest, Olivier Coipel, Matteo Scalera, Matteo Buffagni and Karl Kerschl will join Millar on the project, which was announced in The Hollywood Reporter. Here’s the premise:

It takes place in a world in which the superhuman genome has been cracked, and the scientist behind it is a Korean billionaire who builds the world’s first superhuman headquarters in Seoul and alerts the world that she will turn six ordinary people into super-people. This sparks a global competition for people who want to join a team that will be on call 24/7 for superhuman emergencies.

Part of the drive for the project was the potential for it to become a Netflix series that catered to more than just the U.S. market.

“One of the great advantages streamers have over cinema is you can do something this mad and ambitious,” Millar told THR. “The domestic audience is usually the main consideration for an American studio, especially opening weekend, so having an entirely non-American cast of characters and exclusively overseas locations would be a hard sell if this was a traditional theatrical release, but I’m just as excited by Korea, India, Brazil, Mexico, Australia and France as I am about the audience in California or New York. It’s also exciting for Netflix as these are all growth markets.”

Update: Per a press release from Image, The Ambassadors will lead into a crossover event called “Big Game” featuring many of Millar’s characters:

This six issue Netflix miniseries will hit shelves in March from Image Comics as part of the highly anticipated “Big Game” summer event being prepped by Nemesis: Reloaded (with superstar Jorge Jiminez), Night Club with Juanan Ramirez, and the brand new volume of The Magic Order—currently being made as a huge live action show for the streamer. The Ambassadors will lead directly into the big 2023 Summer event BIG GAME, where all the Millarworld characters from Kick-Ass, Kingsman, Starlight, Jupiter’s Legacy, and more, come together in a huge adventure drawn by Marvel superstar Pepe Larraz.

Dark Horse announces ‘Tales from Hawkins’

Moving to another Netflix property, Dark Horse has announced Stranger Things: Tales from Hawkins, a new miniseries by Jody Houser and several different artists. The anthology will tell stories from around the show’s setting of Hawkins, Indiana, starting with the story of two hunters who become the hunted out in the woods surrounding the town.

The first issue will be drawn by Caio Filipe, with future issues drawn by Sunando C and Giorgia Gio Esposito. Look for the first issue in February, which will feature variant covers by Kyle Lambert, Diego Galindo and Danny Luckert.

Chispa Comics will launch next year

Chispa Comics, the Latinx comics label created by Mucho Mas Media and Scout Comics, has announced plans to release 13 one-shots next year as an introduction to their new comics universe. The project, called The Thirteen, will feature “solely heroes of Latin-American heritage, written and Illustrated by Latinx creatives.”

Titles and creators announced include Zopilote by Hector Rodriguez III, The Wake by Jasminne and Lupe Méndez, Pyroclast by Frederick Luis Aldama, Cloudbreak by Leticia Urieta, Florescent by Héctor González, Dragonthrall by Veronique Medrano, Vendaval by Ire’ne Lara Silva, Shaper by Angelo Bowles, Gila Girl by Henry Barajas, Molt by Laura Galán-Wells, Revive by Oscar Garza and Rolando Esquivel, Blue Deer by David Bowles and Coneja by Kevin García.

Jeff the Landshark jumps into print

Marvel has announced plans to collect the recent Jeff the Landshark digital series, ‘It’s Jeff,’ into print. The one-shot by Kelly Thompson and Gurihiru will feature Jeff teaming up with the Avengers, Spider-Man and more.

CRASH & TROY 2.0 coming next year

I'm proud to announce that because of YOU, because of your enthusiasm and CRAZY response, the journey continues. Crash, Troy, and Delphi will ride again in CRASH & TROY 2.0, which has already begun production. See you next year! pic.twitter.com/uapJ9Xnx1m

— Jarred Luján (@jarredlujan) December 7, 2022

The recently wrapped Crash & Troy miniseries will get a sequel next year, according to writer Jarred Luján. The science fiction series, published by A Wave Blue World, featured art by Kyler Clodfelter and starred two intergalactic mercenaries — Rex “Crash” Ballard and Troy 3.0.

Dark Horse will collect Blood Force Trauma next year

Originally published as single issues through Kickstarter, Jake Smith and Hiram Corbett’s Blood Force Trauma will be collected by Dark Horse next year.

Here’s the description: It’s America’s pastime of the future! Brutal hand-to-hand combat. Two fighters enter, one walks out. The other? Gets scraped off the arena floor! Full of laser skull guys, kung fu masters, and mutant shark dudes from another dimension! It’s somewhere a normal kid like Zap Daniels just doesn’t belong. Too bad he’s the new world champ!

The collected edition will arrive next August.

Dc shares Shazam! Fury of the Gods plans

In addition to a new Shazam! series and Revenge of the Gods coming next year, DC has two other projects that tie into the second Shazam! film, Shazam! Fury of the Gods.

The first is a series of variant covers for several of their March titles, which you can see above. The second is a one-shot anthology featuring stories written by the cast, including Zachary Levi, Adam Brody, Ross Butler, D.J. Cotrona, Grace Caroline Currey and Faithe Herman, as well as film director David F. Sandberg and writer Henry Gayden. Comic writers Colleen Doran, Josh Trujillo and Tim Seeley, artists Freddie E. Williams II, Andrew Drilon, and more will also contribute. Jim Lee and Scott Williams will provide the main cover, with variant covers by Mayo “Sen” Naito, Logan Faerber and Stephen Byrne, plus there’s a photo variant cover featuring the Shazam! family in full costume.

Here’s a look at those variant covers:

Shazam! Fury of the Gods Special: Shazamily Matters arrives in comic shops Feb. 28.

More Spawn variant covers unveiled

Image has revealed what I think is the final round of 30th anniversary variant covers for their December comics featuring Spawn. Check out covers for The Dead Lucky, The Walking Dead Deluxe, Antioch, Radiant Black, Time Before Time and The Old Dog. In related news, Image announced plans to reprint several of the comics featuring these covers that have sold out.