Day: August 21, 2024

The Battle of Jakku continues in November with ‘Republic Under Siege’

Alex Segura, Stefano Raffaele and Jethro Morales continue their post-‘Return of the Jedi’ tale in Marvel’s Star Wars comics.

Marvel announced last month that after their current Star Wars titles end, they plan to fast-forward the timeline, jumping past the events of Return of the Jedi and picking up with the Battle of Jakku, the final confrontation between an Empire struggling on without its two leaders and the New Republic, a.k.a. the evolved Rebel Alliance.

While it was originally announced as 12 issues, Marvel has offered some clarity on their plans. They’re doing three four-issue miniseries, each with the title Star Wars: Battle of Jakku, and a different subtitle. Star Wars does enjoy a good trilogy, right?

Star Wars: Battle of Jakku — Insurgency Rising by writer Alex Segura and artists Leonard Kirk, Stefano Raffaele and Jethro Morales will run through October, followed by Star Wars: Battle of Jakku — Republic Under Siege by Segura, Raffaele and Morales, which kicks off Nov. 20. Here’s the cover by Taurin Clarke:

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Annie Koyama will receive the 2024 Spurgeon Award

The curator of the the Koyama Provides grant program will be honored at this year’s Cartoon Crossroads Columbus festival in September.

Cartoon Crossroads Columbus, the annual comics festival that was co-founded by comics journalist and advocate Tom Spurgeon, has announced the recipient of this year’s Spurgeon Award.

Annie Koyama, the publisher of the well-regarded (and now defunct) Koyama Press and the curator of the Koyama Provides grant program, will receive the award during this year’s festival in Columbus, Ohio. Koyama Provides awards mini-grants to independent artists, providing them with funding to complete projects or start new ones.

Koyama received the Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award in 2022, and at the time Comic-Con International said she had given out around $300,000 in grants. You can see many of the recipients on Koyama’s Instagram account, where she spotlights their work.

“I’m thrilled to have been chosen as the 2024 recipient of the Tom Spurgeon Award,” Koyama said. “I’m thankful to have found a way to stay connected to a community that I love, by directly supporting artists, especially cartoonists. Tom reached out to me in the early days of the press, when I had seemingly come out of nowhere and he continued to support the press and my plans beyond the press, for which I’ll always be grateful.”

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‘An incorruptible soul in a corrupt world’: Archie announces ‘Archie Is Mr. Justice’ miniseries

The Premium Event series kicks off with a story by Tim Seeley and Mike Norton, as they tell a modern superhero take on Archie Andrews.

Archie Comics is always finding new and interesting things to do with their characters, and this fall brings another “Premium Event” from the publisher — Archie Is Mr. Justice, a four-issue miniseries featuring stories of Archie Andrews as the hero Mr. Justice, told with a more modern tone.

The first issue is by Tim Seeley and Mike Norton, and subsequent issues will include stories by Amanda Diebert, Blake Howard, Kenny Porter, Maria Laura Sanapo and Brent Schoonover. The stories in each issue will be told after the fact — Mr. Justice has left Riverdale for some undisclosed reason, leaving his friends to remember his selfless and incredible exploits.

“Mr. Justice plays with the absolute sincerity of the Archie cast of characters, through the filter of a much more cynical superhero world,” Seeley said. “I think, understandably, we’ve spent years being jaded by the idea that someone with power would be good, but that’s totally who Archie Andrews is. However, his world is full of people who care a lot more about money and power than he does.”

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Captain Minnie: Marvel announces next Disney X Marvel What If? mash-up

‘What if Minnie became Captain Marvel?’ takes flight this November.

Following stories where Donald Duck becomes Wolverine and Thor, Minnie Mouse has now entered the chat. Marvel will release What if Minnie became Captain Marvel? in November, by the team of writers Steve Behling and Luca Barbieri, and artist Giada Perissinotto.

The story will pull directly from the first four issues of Ms. Marvel from the 1970s, which detailed the origin of how Carol Danvers, who is now Captain Marvel, became Ms. Marvel. You’ll see Pete as the Scorpion, and a Duckburg version of the original Captain Marvel.

“Steve, Luca and Giada perfectly capture the spirit of Carol Danvers’ origin, a real nostalgic treat with a Disney twist. Guaranteed to be the most fun comic of the month,” Editor Mark Paniccia said.

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