SDCC Slugfest | Star Wars, DuckTales, Thundarr + more

Today’s round-up of SDCC and related news includes items on a Junkyard Joe action figure, new titles coming from Dynamite, a big sale by Fantagraphics and more.

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you. With the San Diego Comic Con in full force, this edition covers news from today I haven’t already covered, plus a few items from the lead-up to the show. Hit the links for more information.

The first full day of the San Diego Comic-Con brought plenty of news and tiodbits from comic publishers, following a very busy couple of weeks for comic news. It’s hard to believe a week has already passed since DC’s All In announcement. But here we are! So let’s jump in.

We ‘ll start with some Star Wars comic news, which these days spans multiple publishers. Lucasfilm hosted a publishing panel today that covered several upcoming releases, including the Battle of Jakku comic coming from Marvel this fall. Today’s panel also brought the news that phase 3 of the Star Wars: The High Republic will come to a close next year, and Cavan Scott and Marika Cresta will help wrap it up at Marvel with a comic titled Fear of the Jedi:

Continue reading “SDCC Slugfest | Star Wars, DuckTales, Thundarr + more”

SDCC | Oni’s EC Comics revival announces two new projects

The winter months will bring ‘Shiver Suspenstories’ and ‘Cruel Kingdom’ to the line, while the just-launched ‘Epitaphs from the Abyss’ grows into a maxi-series.

Oni Press is in Sand Diego this week to talk about all the comics and graphic novels they have in the “coming soon” pile, but one title they’ll be talking a lot about is already out — Epitaphs from the Abyss, part of the EC Comics revival.

According to the publisher, Epitaphs is their “biggest Direct Market launch in a decade,” and with its success comes three pieces of news related to their EC Comics plans.

First, the planned five-issue miniseries has now been extended to 12 issues, taking the horror anthology into next summer. Oni also announced two new EC titles that will come out in December and January.

“With Epitaphs from the Abyss #1 now on store shelves, it’s safe to say the full-blooded return of EC Comics to store shelves worldwide has exceeded even our own aggressive expectations to become Oni Press’ biggest Direct Market launch in a decade,” said Hunter Gorinson, Oni Press president and publisher. “We owe a huge debt of thanks to the fans, creators and retailers who have supported this righteous resurrection for one of the most iconic and influential publishing houses in the history of the comics medium. It also means the second phase of our ambitious plans to strengthen the scope of our EC publishing program can now be revealed – beginning with a surprise expansion for Epitaphs from the Abyss and continuing into two new releases: this winter’s holiday-themed Shiver Suspenstories special and EC’s first-ever excursion in dark fantasy, Cruel Kingdom, beginning in January!”

Continue reading “SDCC | Oni’s EC Comics revival announces two new projects”

Derek Kirk Kim + Jacob Perez place a bet on ‘Royals’

The graphic novel will arrive from Image Comics next April.

Derek Kirk Kim’s return to comics started strong with the release of the excellent The Last Mermaid, but he’s not done — the creator of the award-winning Same Difference and Other Stories will team with artist Jacob Perez for Royals.

Image Comics will release Royals as an original graphic novel. It’s about two telepathic brothers whose attempts to use their powers to cheat at poker land them in very hot water.

“As a lifelong fan of crime capers and Jackie Chan films, this is a dream project come true for me,” said Kim. “And having it brought to glorious life by Jacob Perez with his vivid, dynamic art is an absolute honor!”

Continue reading “Derek Kirk Kim + Jacob Perez place a bet on ‘Royals’”

SDCC | Dark Horse rolls a 20, picks up Dungeons & Dragons + Magic: The Gathering licenses

New titles are expected from the partnership next summer.

Dark Horse Comics and Wizards of the Coast have announced that Dark Horse will publish comics, graphic novels and art books based on Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering. They plan to release the first titles as part of the deal next summer.

“If you’d told my 12-year-old self I’d get to work with incredible writers and artists to craft comics for Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering, alongside such thoughtful and creative stewards of these licenses, I wouldn’t have believed you,” said Dark Horse senior editor Spencer Cushing. “The opportunity to work with Wizards of the Coast is a dream come true.”

Dark Horse joins a list of publishers who brought Dungeons & Dragons to comics since the late 1980s, when DC worked with TSR, its original owners, to create comics based on Dragonlance, the Forgotten Realms, Spelljammers and more. IDW has had the license since 2010, publishing a wide range of titles base don the role-playing game and even working with Dark Horse on a Stranger Things crossover.

Continue reading “SDCC | Dark Horse rolls a 20, picks up Dungeons & Dragons + Magic: The Gathering licenses”

Nominees announced for the 2024 Ignyte Awards

‘Whisper of the Woods, ‘Brooms’ and more have been recognized this year in the comics category.

The nominees have been announced for the annual Ignyte Awards, which “celebrate the vibrancy and diversity of the current and future landscapes of science fiction, fantasy and horror by recognizing incredible feats in storytelling and outstanding efforts toward inclusivity of the genre.”

While the awards cut across several genres of fiction, they also include an “Outstanding Comics Team” category. Previous winners in that category include Where Black Stars Rise by Marie Enger and Nadia Shammas, Nubia: Real One by L. L. McKinney and Robyn Smith, and These Savage Shores by Ram V, Sumit Kumar, Vitorio Astone, Aditya Bidikar and Tim Daniel.

The awards are sponsored by FIYAH Literary Magazine, which focuses on Black speculative fiction, and the winners are typically announced in conjunction with FIYAHCON.

Congratulations to this year’s nominees:

Continue reading “Nominees announced for the 2024 Ignyte Awards”

SDCC | BOOM! recruits actual Power Rangers to work on a Power Rangers anthology

David Yost, Walter Jones, Steve Cardenas and more will contribute stories about the Power Rangers they’ve played on screen.

BOOM! Studios will release an anthology of Power Rangers stories written by former Power Rangers in October.

Power Rangers: Across the Morphin Grid will feature stories written by David Yost, Walter Jones, Steve Cardenas, Mat Groom, Nakia Burrise, JD Sutphin and Meghan Camerana, with art by Paulina Ganucheau, Tango, Patrick Mulholland, Domo Stanton, Anand Ramcheron and more.

“I’m so excited that BOOM! Studios is expanding the Morphin Grid Anthology, and it looks like I’m next on the list! I’ve had the great privilege in the past to briefly work with BOOM! about Rocky and his background. But now to have the opportunity to create and collab and tell my own story is just a dream come true for me,” said Cardenas, who played Rocky DeSantos, the second Red Ranger on Mighty Moprhin Power Rangers. “I hope you enjoy what Mat and I came up with as a part of this new chapter!”

Continue reading “SDCC | BOOM! recruits actual Power Rangers to work on a Power Rangers anthology”

Cavan Scott + Paul Fry show VHS horror movies some love in ‘Night of the Slashers’

Magma Comix will publish the first issue in October.

Cavan Scott and Paul Fry will pay tribute to their horror movie-filled childhoods in Night of the Slashers, a miniseries coming from Magma Comix this fall.

The comic is a “love letter” to slasher movies, particular the kind you could rent from a video store and watch on videotape back in the day.

“As you can probably tell from the title, Night of the Slashers is a love letter to slasher movies, an obsession that began when I saw my first serial killer (Halloween 2 on a dodgy VHS at my friend’s 12th birthday party) and has now been passed onto my daughter,” Scott said. “It was only a matter of time before I came up with my own walking nightmare in the mold of Michael, Jason or Jason, but when I met artist Paul Fry and immediately bonded over horror movies, it soon became clear that one wasn’t enough. If we were going to write a slasher, we wanted an entire town of masked knife-wielding killers. This series has everything we love in slasher movies! Victims, you can’t wait to see sliced ‘n’ diced, larger-than-life monsters, gallons of blood and gruesome deaths galore. No one is safe in The Night of the Slashers. No one at all.” 

Continue reading “Cavan Scott + Paul Fry show VHS horror movies some love in ‘Night of the Slashers’”