Month: February 2023

Joe Madureira’s ‘Battle Chasers’ returns with a new artist

Ludo Lullabi joins the creator on a comic two decades in the making.

It’s been more than two decades since the last issue of Battle Chasers came out, as creator Joe Madureira left comics for video games and issue #9 ended on a cliffhanger that’s been hanging out there since 2001.

But now Battle Chasers and Madureira are back, with issue #10 scheduled to arrive in June. The comic will feature artwork by Ludo Lullabi.

“I’ve been really moved over the years by the level of excitement Battle Chasers still generates decades after its original release,” Madureira told Gizmodo. “With the success of the Battle Chasers game ‘Nightwar’ and a TV show in the works, it felt like the perfect time to drop some new books. Working with these characters again has healed some part of my soul, and Ludo’s artwork is so incredible, I can’t wait for readers to get their hands on it.” 

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Marvel + Abrams will release ‘Marvel Super Stories’ anthology in October

Jerry Craft, Mike Curato, George O’Connor, Nathan Hale, John Gallagher and more will contribute stories to the new anthology, which is edited by John Jennings.

Middle-grade creators, assemble! Marvel and Abrams have announced a new anthology for later this year featuring stories by some of the hottest names in middle-grade graphic novels. They’ll be writing and drawing six-page stories featuring Spider-Man, Ms. Marvel, Hawkeye, Shang-Chi, Hulk and many more.

The project is being edited by John Jennings, who heads up Abrams’ award-winning Megascope imprint. He’s also doing a Daredevil story for the anthology.

“I’m so thrilled to have helped bring this amazing collection of Marvel stories to a new generation,” Jennings said. “Working with these super-talented storytellers has been a dream. Marvel Comics is an institution that has inspired so many imaginations across the world, including my own. With Marvel Super Stories we get to continue that legacy, presenting the best and brightest creators coupled with the most marvelous heroes.”

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Nominees announced for the 2022 Bram Stoker Awards

Comics by Skottie Young, Jorge Corona, Sarah Gailey, Pius Bak and more were nominated this year.

Following the reveal of the preliminary ballot earlier this year, the Horror Writers Association has announced the final nominees for the 2022 Bram Stoker Awards.

The annual awards recognize “superior achievement” in horror and dark fiction, with a category dedicated to graphic novels. This year BOOM! Studios received two nominees, while Image Comics, Moonstone and Independent Legion Publishing each garnered one nomination.

The nominees for the “Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel” category are:

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Naso + Muhr look to crowdfund a ‘By the Horns’ deluxe hardcover

The Scout Comics series comes to Kickstarter for a hardcover collection + a range of extras.

Markisan Naso and Jason Muhr followed up the excellent Voracious with the even better By The Horns, creating a rich fantasy world with modern sensibilities — and a woman who hated unicorns. They’re looking to collect the first miniseries, By The Horns: The Wind Rises into a deluxe hardcover, and they’ve turned to Kickstarter to fund it.

The series and its follow-up, as well as trade paperback collections, were released by Scout Comics, but to do something special like a hardcover, the team said they had to turn to crowdfunding. Scout Comics is not involved with the crowdfunding campaign.

“Sure, By The Horns has a publisher and loyal fans, but the series still takes a lot to put it together and it’s a small, indie comic,” they said on their Kickstarter page. “All the costs to create the book come out of our pockets up front. So, when it comes to doing something really big thing like a hardcover edition, we just need a little help to make it happen.” 

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Uncivilized Books launches a new ‘Comic Book Club’ on Patreon

See what comic books will arrive from the publisher later this year.

Uncivilized Books is probably best known for their graphic novel releases these days, but according to publisher Tom Kaczynski, “The stapled floppy comic book is a perfect format.” So they’re doubling down on comic releases in 2023 and have even launched an Uncivilized Comic Book Club on Patreon.

“I love graphic novels, but the comic book is my first love,” Kaczynski said in their most recent newsletter. “Uncivilized started as a mini comics publisher; eventually, we transitioned to graphic novels, with only rare comic book thrown into the mix. Since we began to serialize Ginseng Roots a few years ago, the comic books bug has taken hold!”

Craig Thompson’s 12-issue Ginseng Roots series may be wrapping up soon, but you’ll be able to find plenty of comics from Uncivilized. Here’s a look at what they have planned for 2023:

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Can’t Wait for Comics | Lemire + Walta hit the ‘Phantom Road’ this week

Check out what new comics and graphic novels will arrive in stores this week by Jeff Lemire, Gabriel Walta, Stephanie Phillips, Juann Cabal, Tom King, Greg Smallwood, Casey Gilley, Joe Jaro, PrestonPlayz, the cast of the new Shazam! movie and more.

Welcome to Can’t Wait for Comics, your guide to what comics are arriving in comic book stores, bookstores and on digital.

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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Andrews McMeel severs ties with Scott Adams, drops ‘Dilbert’

“… we will never support any commentary rooted in discrimination or hate.”

Following a racist rant by Scott Adams on YouTube last week, comic strip publisher/syndicator Andrews McMeel Universal has said they will sever their relationship with the Dilbert creator. “The process of this termination will extend to all areas of our business with Adams and the Dilbert comic strip,” they said.

The statement, which was signed by both Chairman Hugh Andrews and CEO and President Andy Sareyan, said that while the company values free speech, “we will never support any commentary rooted in discrimination or hate.”

Here’s their statement in full:

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Literati Press will publish Devin Kraft’s ‘Silence’ in April

The series, about a woman and her friends who seek to save her missing father, began life on Kickstarter.

Devin Kraft, creator of the Sumerian Comics series Neverender, will remix music and mythology into Silence, a new five-issue miniseries coming from Literati Press.

The new series is about a woman who searches for her lost-at-sea father in, of course, a yellow submarine.

“Silence is exactly the kind of unique, distinctive story we love at LP Comics,” said Steve Gooch of Literati Press. “It’s unlike anything else out there, combining Greek mythology, a working-class story and the spirit of rock ‘n’ roll. We’re thrilled to welcome Devin Kraft and Silence to Literati Press Comics.”

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What Are You Reading? | ‘Porcelain,’ ‘Godfell,’ ‘Local Man’ 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 first issues of Godfell and Local Man, as well as Porcelain and some classic DC Comics Presents.

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

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Eve L. Ewing visits The Today Show to talk about ‘Black Panther’

Ewing and Chris Allen will kick off their run on the title in June.

If you had tuned into The Today Show on Friday, you would have seen a segment on Eve L. Ewing, the new writer of the Black Panther, as well as the debut of T’Challa’s new costume.

But hey, it’s 2023, and nothing’s ever lost to the whims of a network’s early morning TV schedule. You can check out the clip below:

Ewing talks about her approach to the character, his new costume and more. Speaking of the new costume, you can see it on the cover to Ewing’s first issue, drawn by Taurin Clarke:

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Slugfest | Rounding up news from ComicsPro

Find out what Marvel, Mad Cave, BOOM! and more revealed to retailers this week.

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you. Today we take a look at several projects announced this week during the ComicsPro meeting. Hit the links for more information.

This week’s ComicsPro meeting in Pittsburgh — that’s the retailers’ industry meeting where publishers present their plans to them, among many other activities — brought news from DC, Marvel, Skybound and several more publishers. We already covered DC’s new crossover series, Knight Terrors, and their manga news, as well as the new shared universe coming from Skybound. But there was a lot more revealed at the meeting.

It’s interesting to see what the ComicsPro meeting has evolved into over the years. There was a time when the meeting was pretty clandestine, as publishers talked directly to retailers, and journalists and bloggers would try to suss out what was revealed because press weren’t invited to the meeting. Well, except one — Matthew Price, who wrote about comics for the Oklahoman, is also a comics retailer, and I’d remember, when I was at Blog@Newsarama and maybe even Robot 6, following his writing to see what came out of those meetings. (Nowadays we get multiple press releases, and keynote speeches are regularly posted online — here’s this year’s).

I mention this because this week was also Price’s last week at the Oklahoman; here’s his final farewell letter for the publication, where he worked for more than two decades. Best of luck to him as he focuses not only on Speeding Bullet Comics but also his Substack, where he’ll continue to write about comics.

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Quick Hits | Dilbert dropped from newspapers after Scott Adams’ racist rant on YouTube

Plus: Copyright office changes decision on AI comic, manga legend Leiji Matsumoto passes away, and news on Dan DiDio, Joseph Illidge and more.

Several newspapers, including those owned by Gannett and Advance Local, have pulled Dilbert by Scott Adams after the creator posted a racist rant on his YouTube channel. In the video, Adams referred to Black people as a “hate group” and encouraged white people to “get the hell away from Black people.”

“…this is a decision based on the principles of this news organization and the community we serve. We are not a home for those who espouse racism. We certainly do not want to provide them with financial support,” Chris Quinn, an editor for The Cleveland Plains Dealer, said. Other Advance Local papers in Michigan, Oregon and other states have followed suit.

USA Today, which is a Gannett paper, said in a tweet that “we lead with inclusion and strive to maintain a respectful and equitable environment for the diverse communities we serve nationwide,” and included an image that said they would no longer carry Dilbert.

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