Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you from comics creators, publishers and more. Most of this edition includes all those end-of-the-year announcements I missed because I was on vacation. Hit the links for more information.
DC and Todd McFarlane have announced Batman/Spawn Unplugged, an uncolored and unlettered version of the recent crossover comic by Todd McFarlane and Greg Capullo.
“It’s always exciting whenever us artists can present our work in as unfiltered a manner as possible,” said McFarlane. “This book will let you see the true skill of how Greg Capullo does his masterful storytelling… and every line that we both put down.”
The Unplugged edition will arrive in shops Feb. 14, while a reprint of the original comic — the one with all the colors and words — will arrive in shops Feb. 7, with a slight color tweak to the logo:
Finally, DC announced that the crossover will be included in the upcoming Batman/Spawn: The Deluxe Edition, a collection of previous meet-ups between the two characters. In addition to McFarlane and Capullo’s collaboration, the collection will also include the original 1990s crossovers, Spawn/Batman from Frank Miller and Todd McFarlane, as well as Batman/Spawn: War Devil #1 by Doug Moench, Chuck Dixon, Alan Grant and Klaus Janson. In addition to showcasing all three stories, Batman/Spawn: The Deluxe Edition will include Greg Capullo’s pencils for Batman/Spawn #1, Klaus Janson’s inks from Batman/Spawn: War Devil, a collection of retailer cover variants, and more. Batman/Spawn: The Deluxe Edition will be available on April 4.
A classic by Brian Michael Bendis will return to print in April, as Dark Horse has announced Fortune and Glory Volume 1, updated with new cover art, an introduction by Paul Dini and plenty of bonus materials. Don’t forget that Bendis plans to syndicate the second volume this year on his Substack.
So what the heck did Peter actually do to make everyone so cross with him in Amazing Spider-Man? That’s been the central mystery of Zeb Wells and John Romita Jr.’s run, and it looks like Marvel will start pulling back the curtain in issues #21 and #22 of the series.
Writer Stefano Ascari and artist Simone D’Armini will add a bit of horror to a Shakespeare classic in Macbeth: A Tale of Horror. The graphic novel will arrive in October.
“When I saw Simone’s spectacular characterization of Macha, Badbh and Morrigna, the three sisters of the night, I thought I would like to write Macbeth’s story from their point of view: eternal, all-powerful creatures who delight in playing with the fate of men like ravenous cats with unsuspecting mice,” Ascari said.
Marvel has revealed Aaron Kuder’s cover for Avengers Assemble Omega, the final chapter of the big crossover event and Jason Aaron’s final Avengers comic.
IDW will publish Star Trek: Deep Space Nine—The Dog of War, a five-issue miniseries that celebrates the 30th anniversary of the TV show. Novelist Mike Chen will work with Star Trek artist Angel Hernandez on the story, which will be set in the original DS9 timeline.
“When editor Heather Antos asked if I liked DS9, my reply was, ‘You mean the greatest TV show ever made?’” said Chen. “I’m absolutely ecstatic to hang out with DS9’s crew, and I hope that this story touches on all of the characters and intensity that made the show so powerful and great: Sisko’s history with the Borg, the Dominion War, Garak’s great outfits, Jadzia being Jadzia, Miles and Julian’s holosuite adventures, and so much more. Also, Quark gets a dog. If that doesn’t earn your latinum, I don’t know what will!”
Image Comics has announced Forged, a new comic series by co-writers Greg Rucka and Eric Trautmann, and artist Mike Henderson. Per Image, “Set in the 11th Millennium of the rule of the Eternal Empress, Forged follows a squad of planet-smashing super soldiers who find their routine mission to be anything but. These are the Forged. They take no prisoners.”
Ed Brisson will continue the Predator story he started last year in a new series with artist Netho Diaz. It’ll feature the return of Theta Berwick, a human woman looking to wipe out the Predators.
“As a lifelong Predator fan—ever since seeing the first at the drive-in theater at too-young-of-an-age—writing the comic has been an absolute dream gig,” Brisson said. “I’ve been thrilled at fan reaction and how I’ve been able to bring Theta into Predator lore—a bad-ass hunter we haven’t seen the likes of since Dutch took down the Jungle Hunter back in 1987.”
Keanu Reeves and BOOM! Studios will wrap up the hit series Brzrkr in March with its 12th issue. Matt Kindt, Ron Garney, Bill Crabtree and Clem Robins bring the violent series to a close as the immortal warrior faces a challenge not even he can endure.
Gerry Duggan and Juan Frigeri will introduce a new villain in Invincible Iron Man — Stark Sentinels. After Tony Stark loses his company to X-Men villain Feilong, the company introduces a new product line.
Marvel announced a new Women of Marvel special in San Diego last year, and now they’ve revealed some covers and some of the creators who will participate. Look for new stories by Rebecca Roanhorse, Melissa Flores, Stacey Lee and more.