Month: May 2024

Dark Horse will collect Tom Siddell’s award-winning webcomic ‘Gunnerkrigg Court’

The first collection of the long-running comic arrives in November.

Tom Siddell’s Gunnerkrigg Court webcomic has been running since 2005 and is approaching its 100th chapter — so there’s no better time for Dark Horse to announce plans to collect it into an omnibus series.

The fantasy comic has been published by BOOM!’s Archaia imprint in the past, as well as by Titan in the UK. It has been nominated for numerous awards over the years, and in 2021 took home the award for best long-form webcomic at the NCS Divisional Awards. Dark Horse will collect the first two volumes “Orientation” and “Research,” into the first volume, which amounts to 586 pages of comics. They plan to release it both in softcover and as a limited edition hardcover.  

“Anyone with a taste for mystery, an eye for the fantastic and strange, The Court welcomes you,” Siddell said. “I’m really excited for readers, new and old, to get their hands on the best version of Gunnerkrigg, from a publisher whose work I’ve been enjoying for decades!”

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Saladin Ahmed + Martín Cóccolo bring Wolverine back to his roots in September

Part of the ‘X-Men: From the Ashes’ line, the new title kicks off in September.

Marvel has announced that Daredevil writer Saladin Ahmed and “Stormbreakers” artist Martín Cóccolo will helm the new Wolverine title that will launch in September as a part of the X-Men: From the Ashes initiative.

According to Marvel.com, Wolverine will “turn his back on humanity, mutantkind and the X-Men” in the new series following the end of Krakoa and the “Sabretooth War” storyline that will finish out his current title. Which seems counter to the fact that he’s one of the characters in Gail Simone and David Marquez’s Uncanny X-Men title.

In any event, the new series finds Logan in the Canadian wilderness, where he’s back with his wolfpack and being attacked by his most hated foes, one by one, at the bequest of some ancient villain that “has been bubbling under the surface of the Marvel Universe since the days of myth.”

“Logan is simultaneously a mythic hero, an abused animal, and a man of flesh, blood, and adamantium,” Ahmed said. “Our story is about what happens when these parts of him all pull in opposite directions – and threaten to rip Logan to pieces that won’t come back together again.”

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Bloodhunting 1 | A roundtable on Marvel’s vampire-infested summer event

The Smash Pages crew digs into the first issue of Marvel’s ‘Blood Hunt.’

Marvel’s next big event is here — Blood Hunt, a crossover series they’ve spent months building toward with announcements about tie-ins, miniseries and even a Red Band edition that features more blood.

The first issue came out last Wednesday, and just like Captain America is assembling a new team of Avengers to fight off the vampire hordes, we’ve assembled the Smash Pages team — myself, Shane Bailey and Tom Bondurant — to talk about the event. So here’s our first “Bloodhunting” roundtable, with more to come in the weeks ahead.

This time around we talk about Blood Hunt #1, as well as the Free Comic Book Day issue and another recent series that might have served as a prelude. Please note there are heavy duty SPOILERS in this discussion related to the story, so only enter if you dare.

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Quick Hits | Medar de la Cruz wins the Pulitzer for Illustrated Reporting and Commentary

Plus: Cartoonist sue Google over AI, Civics for All Comics Group celebrates 2 million comics, Mark Evanier on who created Wolverine and more!

Medar de la Cruz has won this year’s Pulitzer Prize in the Illustrated Reporting and Commentary category. The Brooklyn-based illustrator won for the illustrated story “The Diary of a Rikers Island Library Worker,” which appeared in the New Yorker last May. De la Cruz is an artist who also works in New York City jails as a library assistant for the Brooklyn Public Library. Phones and cameras aren’t allowed inside Rikers Island, so his drawings are based on his memories of the prison.

The other finalists in the category this year included Claire Healy, Nicole Dungca and Ren Galeno for “Searching for Maura,” which appeared in the Washington Post; “Is My Toddler A Stochastic Parrot?” by Angie Wang, which appeared in the New Yorker; and Clay Bennett of the Chattanooga Times Free Press, for a “portfolio of deceptively gentle, mostly wordless cartoons full of juxtapositions that ably communicate complex, sophisticated messages.” You can see some of them here. Bennett also recently received a National Headliner Award, which recognizes journalism in a multitude of categories, in the Editorial Cartoon category.

This is the third year now where the Pulitzers have given awards in the Illustrated Reporting and Commentary category. It replaced the Editorial Cartoons category in 2022.

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‘Creepshow’ returns for a third miniseries from Skybound

James Stokoe, Chip Zdarsky and Kagan McLeod will contribute to the first issue.

Creepshow, the iconic horror movie that Skybound has turned into two comic book miniseries, will return with a third one in September.

Like they did with the previous volumes, Skybound has assembled a stellar team of creators for the anthology, including John Ridley, Mike Carey, Jorge Fornés, John Arcudi, Ed Brisson, Stefano Raffaele, Chris Condon and more. Chip Zdarsky, Kagan McLeod and James Stokoe will contribute to the first issue, which will feature two stories.

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‘X-Factor’ returns as a government-sponsored team in August

Mark Russell and Bob Quinn bring Angel, Havok, Frenzy and more into a world of hidden agendas and shady politics.

Havok returns to the world of government employment as he and Angel reform X-Factor this August. Mark Russell and Bob Quinn will team up for new stories that see the group of mutants serve as a special missions team and a propaganda machine for the U.S. government.

X-Factor will include not only Angel and Havok, but also Feral, Frenzy, Pyro and more. Together they’ll contend with hidden agendas, shady politics, dark consequences and disastrous public opinion from the inside. Russell, the writer of DC’s The Flintstones and AWA’s Rumpus Room, will no doubt poke fun at politics and the government along the way.

“The thing I’ve always loved about the X-Men is that they’re characters first, Super Heroes second,” Russell told Marvel.com. “So being able to write characters like Havok and Angel and Frenzy in a post-Krakoa reality is an opportunity to write about what I really care about, which is how do we help each other survive the apathy of the world we live in?”

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Can’t Wait for Wednesday | Skottie Young + Jorge Corona take the battle to Death itself in ‘Ain’t No Grave’

Check out new comics and graphic novels coming this week by Juni Ba, Ann Nocenti, Lee Ferguson, Corrado Mastantuono, Claudio Sanchez, Patrick Horvath, Jay Stephens and more.

Welcome to Can’t Wait for Wednesday, 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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Slugfest | Spawny returns to kill off … Spawn?

Plus: News and announcements on ‘Uncanny X-Men,’ ‘Gilt Frame,’ Godzilla, Blacksad, ThunderCats and more.

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you that we haven’t otherwise covered. Hit the links for more information.

McFarlane Productions has been on a roll introducing Spawn into various genres, and this summer they’ll return to the world of humor and satire with Spawn Kills Every Spawn. Like the previous Spawn Kills Everyone and Spawn Kills Everyone Too, this comic features the tiniest Spawn, Spawny, deciding to kill another set of comic characters — the Spawn universe.

Written by John Layman and illustrated by Rob “Sketchcraft” Duenas and colorist Robert Nugent, the five-issue miniseries sees Spawny arrive at a Spawn convention filled with Spawns from around the multiverse, all of whom are more popular than him. So he decides to become the most popular by eliminating the competition.

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Smash Pages Q&A | Josh Hicks on ‘Hotelitor’

The creator of ‘Glorious Wrestling Alliance’ discusses his latest graphic novel about a hotel shaped like a giant robot.

Josh Hicks has worked many odd jobs in his life, which is relevant to the topic of this interview, but right now he is a Welsh animator, cartoonist and director. His work spans comics, animation and music videos. As a filmmaker, he directed Spectre of the Bear, and he helped create animated music videos for the Foo Fighters and Tyler Childers.

On the comics side, Hicks created Glorious Wrestling Alliance, a comic about the surreal world of professional wrestlers, and he’s followed that with a new graphic novel, Hotelitor: Luxury-Class Defense and Hospitality Unit, which comes out next Wednesday from Graphic Universe. It’s the story of a mobile hotel, shaped like a giant Shogun Warrior or other manga-inspired robot, and the denizens that work and stay in it. When a giant alien monster attacks the hotel, the surviving guests and staff find themselves stranded in deep space, leading to all sorts of chaos, and it’s up to 18-year-old intern Anna Greene and her fellow workers to find a way home.

It’s a fun story about giant robots and aliens, but also has deeper themes around the struggle between classes, how we think of thr service industry and late-stage capitalism. I spoke with Hicks about the project and the themes it touches on, as well as the UK wrestling scene and what he’s working on next. My thanks for his time.

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Can’t Wait for Saturday | Free Comic Book Day brings Absolute Power, Jonny Quest + more

Check out a few of the cool + free comics you’ll find at your local retailer this Saturday.

The comic industry’s biggest holiday returns tomorrow as shops around the world bring you Free Comic Book Day, the annual event that yes, indeed, does offer you free comics.

The annual event started in 2002 based on an idea from retailer Joe Field, owner of Flying Colors Comics and Other Cool Stuff in Concord, California. Since then, it’s become a cultural phenomenon, typically coming on the first Saturday in May, though sometimes in the past that wavered based on a new comic book movie’s release date. You can find a participating shop on the FCBD website, and see if any of your local shops are holding special events, sales or creator signings in conjunction with the event.

But of course, the focus is on the free comics. Many publishers use it as an opportunity to reshare a recent favorite or offer a prelude to an upcoming storyline or crossover. Still other will produce something wholly original or introduce a brand new title.

I’ve pulled out a few that look interesting to me below, and you can find the complete list of what could be available at your local shop on the FCBD site. Some things to keep in mind:

  • Not every retailer may have every title. Depending on their shop, they may elect to only have titles they think will excite their clientele.
  • Some retailers may limit the number of free comics you can take, while others may require a purchase.
  • Speaking of which, while titles are free to consumers, they are not free to retailers. So you may want to think about buying some other comics while you’re there regardless.
  • Some of the titles will also be available digitally, in case you can’t make it out on Saturday. So be sure to check your favorite digital comics site on Saturday as well.
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Quick Hits | Free Comic Book Day founder prepares for the last event at the location where the event was born

Plus: The Comics Journal website has new editors! Frank Miller Presents and Abrams ComicArts strike a deal! Aurora Awards nominees announced! Plus news on Marjane Satrapi, Bubbles Con and a controversial ski town comic!

This Saturday is Free Comic Book Day, an opportunity for retailers to not only bring new customers into their stores, but also to get media coverage. You can do a quick search of Google News to see all the local coverage the event has been getting, but this story in particular jumped out at me because it involves Joe Field, who came up with the idea of Free Comic Book Day back in 2001.

Field’s store, Flying Colors Comics and Other Cool Stuff in Concord, California, has been a staple of the community for decades, but will have to move to a new location early next year after their lease expires — making this Saturday the last FCBD at their current shop.

“We’re very hopeful and now actually pretty excited by what the future of Flying Colors could be,” Field told the San Jose Mercury News. “There are a lot of unknowns — like how many of our faithful customers will want to create a new habit of going to a different spot to support us? How many new customers can we cultivate moving to a different spot? How strong will the market for comics and graphic novels be over the next bunch of years? Can we afford to do this when we are already technically past the standard retirement date?”

Despite those questions, Field says they hope that “we continue to build community and continue to spread happiness through our comic book business. That’s when everything will be a success.”

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Airbnb is offering a chance to stay at the X-Mansion

Hope you survive the experience!

If you’ve ever dreamed of joining the X-Men and attending Professor Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, now’s your chance.

As a part of a new “icons” experience promotion, Airbnb has announced several new pop culture themed listings, including your chance to stay at a mansion in Westchester County, New York that’s been decked out to look like the X-Mansion from the X-Men ’97 animated series on Disney+. Your stay will be “hosted” by Jubilee, who provides commentary on the listing.

“The X-Mansion is the best place for you and other mutants to learn about and control your awesome mutant gifts,” the listing says. “Your stay will be packed with training, cool experiments, secret mission briefings, a class photo, and more! When you’re wiped out, crash in my room, Wolverine’s, or one of our other dorms.”

The outside has been decked out with a severed Sentinel head:

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