SDCC | Dynamite to publish ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer,’ ‘Angel’ comics

Kelly Thompson will serve as the “master architect and writer” for both series.

In the lead-up to the San Diego Comic-Con, Dynamite Entertainment has announced they are working with 20th Century Television on new comic titles starring Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.

Kelly Thompson, writer of Absolute Wonder Woman, Birds of Prey and many other comic titles, will write both series and serve as the “architect” for both. No word yet on when the series will be set in the Buffy mythos or the artists involved, although David Nakayama provided the image used with the press release.

Thompson shared more about her personal connection to the character and the original TV series.

“In my early days trying to figure out how to be a writer and what stories mattered to me and why — no heroine quite broke through for me like Buffy Summers,” Thompson said. “She was somehow everything my young geek heart had always wanted but hadn’t known to ask for. Something about that delicate alchemy of horror, fantasy, and comedy paired with a hero so pure of heart and yet flawed and relatable was… impossible to deny. I fell deeply in love with Buffy, and following that, her whole world. Her ex-boyfriend is now a supernatural detective in Los Angeles you say? Inject it directly into my veins! But unlike a lot of other worlds I loved, the world of Buffy and Angel somehow never fell to the wayside. I could always come back to it and find something new, or something I’d missed, or something I needed. And I hope this new story we’re telling can do the same for old and new fans everywhere.”

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Quick Hits | Rounding up the awards

See who’s up for what awards this Friday during the Eisner Awards ceremony in San Diego.

The 56th annual San Diego Comic-Con kicks off today with preview night, which means we’re only a few days away from the Will Eisner Awards ceremony and Hall of Fame inductions. Which means it’s a good time to not only review the nominees for the prestigious awards, but also take a look at some of the other awards that will be given out this week.

The 37th annual Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards ceremony will be held Friday July 25 in the Indigo Ballroom at the Hilton Bayfront, for those attending in person. For those not attending, you can follow along with us on BlueSky as we cover the results live like we have in years past.

In addition to the Eisner Awards and the Russ Manning Awards, the ceremony will include the presentation of the Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award, the Bill Finger Award and the Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award.

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Dark Horse announces a new original graphic novel by Mike Mignola

‘Uri Tupka and the Gods’ is the first of two graphic novels Mignola has planned as part of his ‘Lands Unknown’ universe.

Mike Mignola is expanding the Lands Unknown universe with Uri Tupka and the Gods, a new graphic novel that Dark Horse Comics will publish next year.

“This is the first of two books tracing the life of Uri Tupka, former Doctor of Theology but now heretic, on the run as he looks for the truth about the gods,” Mignola said. “See Uri barely escape one disaster after another—pirates, bandits, witches and demons, giants and monsters. There is also a talking cat and a queen of the vegetables because, of course, why wouldn’t there be?”

The OGN follows Bowling With Corpses and Other Strange Tales From Lands Unknown, and like that volume, Mignola will work with colorist Dave Stewart on the art.

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Kyle Starks + Piotr Kowalski tap the ‘Devil On My Shoulder’

The miniseries debuts from Dark Horse Comics in November.

Kyle Starks first caught my attention with his more humor-oriented comics, but that impression has changed in the past few years as he’s gone deeper into horror. Following Where Monsters Lie and Those Not Afraid, Starks will next work with artist Piotr Kowalski, colorist Brad Simpson and letterer Josh Reed on Devil On My Shoulder.

The four-issue miniseries, coming from Dark Horse Comics this fall, is about a woman who, after being tortured, gets revenge on her captors.

“I wanted to do something new with Devil On My Shoulder – I wanted to do something dark and horrifying. A true Horror Story in the style of the classic Bloody Revenges,” said Starks. “This book has terrible people doing terrible things and then suffering terrible consequences. Our villains are awful, do monstrous things and our heroine’s revenge will be equal to what she takes if not worse. Be forewarned, this is not a comedy. This is not humorous. This is a violent and nasty, action-filled book for fans of horror comics, The Crow, Revenge, Kill Bill or I Saw The Devil. We made a book for lovers of revenge and violence and you couldn’t ask for a better partner than Piotr Kowalski. This is our third book together and I think it’s some of his best work yet – it’s extremely cinematic.”

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David Brothers + Nick Dragotta bring ‘Good Devils’ to Image Comics

The three-story anthology one-shot arrives in October.

David Brothers and Nick Dragotta will bring their two-man, three-story anthology Good Devils: Don’t Play Fair with Evil to Image Comics this fall.

The 64-page one-shot features stories about the apocalypse and a boxer, among others, and the three stories were previously featured in the Cry Punch anthology, at the ShortBox Comics Fair, and as a back-up tale in Chip Zdarsky and Jacob Phillip’s Newburn.

“If you like fight comics, blood and honor, you’ll like this collection of short stories,” Dragotta said. “I’m so happy Image is collecting them all together for the first time in floppy form.”

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Can’t Wait for Wednesday | The Kai-Sei era of Godzilla stories begins

Plus: The Sixth Gun returns, Moon Knight hits 250, the ThunderCats meet The Powerpuff Girls and The Flash faces a Bad Moon Rising.

Welcome to Can’t Wait for Wednesday, your guide to what comics and graphic novels are arriving this week.

I’ve pulled out some of the highlights for this week 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 check with your retailer to see what’s arriving at their shop this week.

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SDCC Exclusive | Get ready to flip for this reveal of Jim Fletcher’s Flippitoons stickers

The former DC Direct creative director has a fun new project coming to Kickstarter — and sticker packs you can get in San Diego this week.

Jim Fletcher was one of the driving forces behind the DC Direct line prior to it being shuttered back in 2020. He helped bring many DC characters to life — or at least brought from the printed page to three-dimensional spaces, creating, co-creating or leading the development on DC Ame-Comi, DC BombshellsDC Artist’s Alley, the long-running Batman Black and White statue series and many more.

Now he’s turning his attention to his own creations, called Flippitoons. He’s teamed with Clover Press to introduce fans to his brand new characters with a 200-page 10” X 10” deluxe hardcover art book, titled The Flippitoons Field Guide of Fantastical Faces, and a trading card series that’ll be available soon on Kickstarter.

The campaign will launch after the San Diego Comic-Con, but you can sign up to be notified when it does on its BackerKit page. Fletcher will be at the San Diego Comic-Con this week armed with holographic sticker packs featuring some of his Flippitoons, and we’re pleased to exclusively reveal the art for them:

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SDCC Slugfest | ‘Ultimate Endgame,’ ‘Cult of the Lamb,’ ‘Die!namite’ + more

The Ultimate Universe heads toward its ‘Endgame,’ ‘Cult of the Lamb’ returns and when Ahoy Comics invites you over for ‘Thanksgiving,’ politely decline the invite …

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you. Hit the links for more information.

The annual San Diego Comic-Con will kick off later this week, and publishers have been releasing announcements in the lead-up to the event. We’re also in the middle of monthly solicitation time, where publishers are revealing what’s coming out in October. In an effort to keep up with all the madness, here’s a round up of recent announcements as we prepare for the big show.

Let’s start with a Marvel teaser for something coming late in 2025, Ultimate Endgame. Readers of Marvel’s Ultimate titles know that the clock is ticking on the return of the Maker, a.k.a. the Reed Richards from the original Ultimate Universe, and Marvel teases his return with a nod to the Marvel Cinematic Universe:

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Matt Kindt + David Rubin scratch their ‘crazy 1950s Superboy’ itch with ‘Space Scouts’

The three-issue, magazine-sized series will begin in November.

Matt Kindt and David Rubin, who previously teamed on Ether, will collaborate once again on Space Scouts. The three-issue sci-fi space odyssey will be published through Kindt’s Flux House imprint at Dark Horse.

Space Scouts is dream project that David and I have had for a long time – getting to tell a story that centers around thousands of teenage super-heroes recruited to save the universe,” said Kindt. “It gives us a chance to let our creativity run wild – with different super powers and aliens all tied to a competition/reality show. As a long-time fan of the crazy 1950s Superboy comic book covers – this scratches that inspirational itch.”

Each issue will be magazine-sized (8” x 10.875”) with 32 story pages and bonus content.

“Working with David is something I will never turn down. He’s a generational talent – I’m happy to just be alive and working in the same era as him. There hasn’t been a visual artist as inventive and energetic as David since Jack Kirby. He channels that same bonkers energy without being derivative in the least – David is a true original,” Kindt said.

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‘X-Vengers,’ ‘Cloak or Dagger’ + more round out the ‘Age of Revelation’ titles

The final titles announced for the upcoming X-Men event will all kick off in the final week of October.

It’s the fourth and final round of Age of Revelation titles, as Marvel reveals the titles that’ll kick off on Oct. 29. This round features different takes on Deadpool, Cloak and Dagger, the Avengers and more.

The spiritual successor to the Age of Apocalypse event from the 1990s, Age of Revelation features the Heir to Apocalypse, Doug Ramsey, taking over the world and creating a new mutant paradise that’s built on a lie. If you checked out this week’s prelude issue, then Xorn has already explained to you how, 10 years in the future, everything has changed in the Marvel Universe under the rule of Doug Ramsey (which is a weird sentence to type, being an old school New Mutants fan).

Details on these final titles can be found below, and if you’re planning to be at the San Diego Comic Con next week, you can find out more details at Marvel’s X-Men panel on Thursday at 1:45 p.m. PT. Here’s their full panel line-up.

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EC Comics draws down on the Western genre in ‘Outlaw Showdown’

Oni Press will publish the one-shot anthology in October.

John Arcudi, Brian Azzarello, David Lapham, Tony Moore, Ann Nocenti, David Lapham and more will saddle up for Outlaw Showdown, a one-shot anthology coming in October from EC Comics and Oni Press.

While the Western genre may not be the first to come to mind when you think of classic EC Comics, the notorious publisher did release several titles featuring cowboys and outlaws.

“Ever since we first began drawing up plans for the return of EC Comics at Oni Press, we knew there were genres and stories that would fit EC like a glove – and westerns were always close to the top of that list,” said Oni Press President & Publisher Hunter Gorinson. “It’s no secret that classic Golden Age series like Gunfighter and Saddle Justice have always been integral – if somewhat under-considered – components of EC’s destructive DNA. But, with Outlaw Showdown – and the other forthcoming genre specials that will follow in its wake – we’re aiming to enhance and amplify the combustible combination of ingredients that has made EC’s stories sing – or scream! – across 70-plus years of comics history. These are stories that will grab you tighter than a hangman’s noose . . . and leave you kicking and screaming for more before the last page is through.”

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Scott Snyder, Joshua Williamson + more pit hero against hero in ‘DC K.O.’

The DC All In event series will see heroes battling in a tournament for the honor of becoming King Omega.

Now here’s something we can get behind — DC has announced DC K.O., a new event series that features DC heroes in a smash’em up brawl-for-all style tournament, with enough power to rival Darkseid as the prize.

Scott Snyder will write the five-issue series, joined by artist Javi Fernandez. Joshua Williamson, meanwhile, will serve as Snyder’s tag-team partner and write several of the tie-in titles, including a prologue called Justice League: The Omega Act.

DC K.O. is a knock-down, drag-out fight between all your favorite DC Super Heroes in a cosmic tournament to save the universe from Darkseid,” said Snyder. “Darkseid has evolved into something bigger and stronger than ever.”

“He’s destroyed the future,” added Williamson. “There’s no future for the DC Universe because of what he’s done—the heroes’ only shot is to stop him in the present.”

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