Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you. Hit the links for more information.
The graphic novel phenomenon Dog Man will return at the end of the month with a new book, Dog Man: Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea, continuing the adventures of our hero, Li’l Petey, 80-HD and the rest of the gang.
Scholastic has announced their promotional plans for Dav Pilkey’s latest, which include a Free Comic Book Day issue, the return of Dog Man: The Musical and Dog Man Day celebrations.
‘The Oloris’ brings together the YouNeek Universe at Dark Horse
Dark Horse Books and YouNeek Studios will continue their partnership and release the first volume of The Oloris in August.
The newest graphic novel in the YouNeek line is a crossover featuring characters from the various YouNeek Studios titles — some of whom aren’t alive at the same time. It’s written by Roye Okupe, with interior art and cover art by Sunkanmi Akinboye, colors by Etubi Onucheyo and lettering by Spoof Animation.
Here’s the cover and description from Dark Horse:
The heroes from across YouNeek Studios’ different titles unite for the first time in this epic crossover event! When an unknown anarchist unleashes an army of extraterrestrial androids on the continent of Africa, Malika—legendary warrior queen of the 15th-century West African Empire, Azzaz—must put together a team of “unlike-minded” heroes to respond before it’s too late. Featuring appearances from other YouNeek YouNiverse heroes like EXO, Fury, and WindMaker, several YouNeek storylines finally converge.
The graphic novel will arrive in stores Aug. 8.
Poison Ivy blossoms into an ongoing
DC’s Poison Ivy miniseries by G. Willow Wilson and Marcio Takara has grown into a full-fledged series, the publisher has announced. Above is Jessica Fong’s cover for issue #13, which will arrive in June, and below you’ll see the main cover and variant covers for May’s issue #12 by Fong, Xermanico, Mateus Manhanini and Jenny Frison:
Marvel celebrates Women’s History Month with variant covers
With March being Women’s History Month, Marvel has revealed a series of variant covers by Peach Momoko, Carmen Carnero, Ema Luppachino, Rickie Yagawa and Aka, featuring Scarlet Witch, Captain Marvel and more. Check’em out above.
The X-Cellent returns this month
The X-Cellent and X-Statix are back in a new miniseries starting later in March by longtime X-Statix team Peter Milligan, Mike Allred and Laura Allred. Take a look at some sweet interior pages filled with that Allred goodness:
Sharon Carter’s new look
Captain America ally Sharon Carter is getting a makeover of sorts during the upcoming Cold War storyline, and artist Carmen Carnero provides the new look.
Fantagraphics’ Summer catalog
Fantagraphics has big plans this summer with lots of big releases from Gilbert Hernandez, Simon Hanselmann and Josh Pettinger, Jordan Crane, Garth Stein and Matthew Southworth, Lizzy Stewart and more. Not to mention a whole bunch of new Disney collections featuring Scrooge McDuck, Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers, a Disney Adventures magazine collection and more. You can see everything in their summer 2023 catalog.
Groot invades several variant covers in April
Groot, who apparently has a big role to play in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy reboot, will appear on several Marvel variant covers in April. The covers will be drawn by Elena Casagrande, Nic Klein, Jan Bazaldua, Chris Allen, Martin Coccolo, Lucas Werneck, Federico Vicentini and C.F. Villa.
Buffy takes a road trip in a new special
Casey Gilly and Lauren Knight will take Buffy and her Scooby Gang on a road trip this summer in Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Lost Summer.
Here’s the description from BOOM!: Spike is determined to keep the last copy of his embarrassing poetry from being discovered, sending Buffy and the Gang on a faux-supernatural goose chase to New Orleans to cover his tracks. While at an antiques fair along the way, the group is captivated by some Casquette Girls clothes on display. Dawn utters a wish she most likely should’ve kept to herself, and the gang experiences a first hand account of the sisters’ identities…beyond what they could have ever imagined!
Patrick McDonnell takes The Super Heroes Journey in September
Marvel and Abrams ComicArts have revealed another project: The Super Heroes Journey, a hardcover by Mutts creator Patrick McDonnell. The graphic novel will feature Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and other Marvel characters as McDonnell “brings together his inspirational and moral sensibilities from throughout his career and muses on how comics changed his life and set him on the course to become a cartoonist.” Look for it in stores on Sept. 26.
Dark Horse, Yoe Books announce Whistleblowers
Dark Horse and Yoe Books will publish Whistleblowers: Four Who Fought to Expose the Holocaust to America. This graphic novel anthology by Rafael Medoff and Dean Motter tells the true stories of four heroes who “risked everything to expose the horrors of the Holocaust.”
Who’s got the covers?
Let’s end things with several more variant covers you can expect from Marvel in the coming months. First up, here’s Olivier Coipel’s variant cover for Amazing Spider-Man #26, which is part of the “monumental story” that Marvel is being coy about, but hopefully will explain why Peter Parker has been acting so out of character lately:
Next, Mark Brooks celebrates those classic corner boxes from classic Marvel comics on two covers, for Avengers #1 and X-Men #22:
“There are many reasons why I was attracted to comics as a kid and the corner box was a big part of it,” Brooks told Marvel.com. “I knew what issue number and who I could expect to see in the issue. It was a little preview to tantalize the reader. It was always heads, a full figure, or a micro-scene. No matter what, it enticed me to pick the book up. It’s why I started the #LetMarkCornerbox campaign in earnest on Twitter. It was primarily a joke to express my love for the corner box. It ended up taking on a bit of a life of its own. When C.B. [Cebulski] told me that they’d like this to become a reality, I couldn’t pass it up. I’ve penciled well over 100 heads so far. I don’t plan on stopping until Marvel says, ‘Okay, that’s enough’- LOL!”
Finally, Doctor Strange has returned to life and will return to his own title in March, and of course that first issue will come with a bunch of variants. Have a look at the main cover by Alex Ross; variant covers by Steve Skroce, Ross, Marco Checchetto, Martin Coccolo and Stefano Caselli; and then a few pages of artist Pasqual Ferry’s interior artwork:
