Month: September 2025

Black Panther’s adventures in space continue in ‘Black Panther: Intergalactic’

The four-issue miniseries by Victor LaValle and Stefano Nesi begins in December.

Victor LaValle and Stefano Nesi will continue the story of the Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda in a four-issue miniseries titled Black Panther: Intergalactic.

The miniseries spins out of Imperial and the Imperial War: Black Panther one-shot, which LaValle co-wrote with Imperial architect Jonathan Hickman. The Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda was a concept created by Ta-Nehisi Coates and Daniel Acuña during their run on Black Panther, where present-day Wakandans went into space to research the origins of Vibranium and ended up going back in time and starting a galactic civilization

“When Jonathan Hickman invited me to work on the Black Panther Imperial one-shot, I jumped because it might be my only chance to write T’Challa. But then I got Black Panther: Intergalactic, and I am here for it. T’Challa has had some hard times, real lows; he’s learned from being down, and now he’s ready to come up. Become a king again? Maybe. Or maybe even something more,” LaValle said.

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Anders Nilsen, ‘Precious Rubbish’ + more win at the 2025 Ignatz Awards

The annual small-press awards were given out at SPX in Maryland this weekend.

The 2025 Ignatz Awards, which recognize the best in small press comics, were presented last night as part of this weekend’s Small Press Expo festivities. The event featured a keynote by cartoonist Mimi Pond, which you can watch in the replay of their livestream.

Creator Anders Nilsen took home two awards for his supplemental comic to his Tongues series, while Kayla E. won the graphic novel category for Precious Rubbish. While most of the winners were self-published, Fantagraphics took home two awards and Silver Sprocket received one.

The Ignatz Awards have been presented since 1997 and celebrate the outstanding achievements of independent comics, graphic novels and minicomics. They are named for the brick-throwing mouse that appeared in the Krazy Kat comics by George Herriman.

Congratulations to this year’s winners:

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Doom’s influence in the Marvel Universe will continue after ‘One World Under Doom’ ends

‘The Will of Doom’ one-shot by Chip Zdarsky and CAFU in December ‘sets the stage for the next era of the Marvel Universe.’

Things aren’t looking so great for Doctor Doom, based on the latest issue of One World Under Doom and the teases Marvel has released for the post-Doom world. But whatever his fate is in the next couple issues of the big event miniseries by Ryan North and RB Silva, another Canadian writer has dibs on the villain after it ends.

“Between The Will of Doom and Captain America, we’re charting a new course for the Marvel Universe with one simple statement: Doom always has a plan,” said Captain America writer Chip Zdarsky.

The Will of Doom, a cleverly titled one-shot by Zdarsky and CAFU, not only wraps up the last year’s worth of stories, but also sets up Zdarsky’s next storyline in Captain America. It’ll also feature General Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross, who has been Doom’s prisoner these last few months, as shown in the pages of Red Hulk, and of course the Fantastic Four.

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The Toxic Avenger is heading to Washington in December

Take an exclusive look at the covers for ‘Toxic Avengers Comics’ #6 by Fred Harper and Erica Henderson.

Courtesy of Ahoy Comics, we’re pleased to present a look at the covers for Toxic Avenger Comics #6, which will arrive in stores on the last day of the year.

If you’ve been following along, you know that the new ongoing series written by Matt Bors (The Nib) started off with each issue being illustrated by a different artist and showcasing a different genre. That included horror and crime in the first two issues, which have already been released, and then sci-fi (#3), romance (#4) and fantasy (#5) in the September, October and November issues. Each issue also includes a two-page back-up story illustrated by Fred Harper that sets up the second storyline, “Toxie Goes to Washington.”

Which brings us to today’s cover reveals, as Harper and variant cover artist Erica Henderson bring the former janitor to the White House to help clean up Washington:

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Mike Mignola + Rae Allen team up next year on ‘Carmen Red Claw’

The four-issue miniseries will arrive from Dark Horse Comics in January.

The Mignolaverse is heading out west — to the Old West, that is — in a new miniseries by Hellboy creator Mike Mignola and artist Rae Allen. Dark Horse will kick off the four-issue series in January.

Carmen Red Claw: Belly of the Beast will star “a shape-shifting, supernatural gun-for-hire” who has ties to Lobster Johnson. Allen pitched the series to Mignola after her husband showed the creator a graphic novel Allen had created in college. Allen shared more details on the process via her Substack newsletter.

“One of my favorite parts about Hellboy is the merging of classic folklore with the Hellboy universe,” Allen said. “A lot of that ground has already been covered in Europe, how about more from America? I’m a big fan of the radio show Have Gun Will Travel (aired 1958-1960), and I thought a Paladin-style gun-for-hire in a supernatural Old West facing off with Native American, Colonial, and Mignolaverse monsters would be a lot of fun. Plus, why not add a lizard shoulder demon? Mike and I bounced ideas off each other and landed on a story that we think you’ll really enjoy. And I’m excited to introduce you to some Lakota folklore inspired by Yankton Dakota author Zitkala-Sa, enriched with the help of my friend Shiala King.”

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DC cancels ‘The Red Hood’ just one day after the first issue’s debut

The cancellation follows comments the writer made about the death of inflammatory activist Charlie Kirk on social media.

Just a day after the mature readers title arrived in stores, DC has cancelled all future issues of The Red Hood by Gretchen Felker-Martin, Jeff Spokes and Becca Carey.

DC told retailers that they were cancelling orders for issues #2 and #3, which were already solicited, and they will credit retailers for all invoiced copies of Red Hood #1, “inclusive of copies that may have already been sold.” The first issue was still available on the digital comics platform Comixology when I checked earlier this morning, but it appears to be no longer available.

The publisher issued a statement on the cancellation:

“At DC Comics, we place the highest value on our creators and community and affirm the right to peaceful, individual expression of personal viewpoints. Posts or public comments that can be viewed as promoting hostility or violence are inconsistent with DC’s standards of conduct.”

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Slugfest | Echo gets a Marvel’s Voices special in their November solicitations

Plus: X-Men of Apocalypse, Spider-Man Noir, 1776 and more!

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you. This edition focuses on Marvel’s November 2025 solicitations. Hit the links for more information.

Marvel will mark Native American Heritage Month with a special focused on the hero Echo by Black Eyed Peas member Taboo, along with co-writer B. Earl, artists Jim Terry and Kyle Charles, and more.

Echo: Seeker of Truth, which will include the “Marvel’s Voices” branding on its cover, finds Echo in Los Angeles, where she must protect her cousin from a “wellness cult” called Wisteria Meadows. The story will also have the former Avenger and Phoenix host unlock “a mysterious new gift that will redefine her adventures in the Marvel Universe forever.”

“Being able to write our second Echo story feels like a super power or strength,” Taboo said. “As a proud Native American/ Mexican storyteller, having that platform to co-write about super heroes that resonate within our Marvel Universe, is what I call ‘good medicine’ and much needed to inspire our readers. Celebrating the beauty of Echo as our hero is like painting a vibrant mural across the comic book landscape. We aren’t just creating stories, these are like bridges to communities, empowerment, and authentic representation.”

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Exclusive | Meet Zarigazami, a new kaiju debuting in ‘Monstrous Magazine’

Check out the designs for the new creature by manga artist Itaru Kinoshita prior to the Kickstarter campaign launching next week.

Monstrous Books is making big plans for their next issue of Monstrous Magazine, and by “big” I mean “Kaiju sized.”

Monstrous: The Kaiju Issue will debut on Kickstarter soon — you can sign up to be notified when it launches — celebrating all things giant monster in an oversized issue. It’ll feature short stories, comics and artwork by author Greg Cox, publisher James Aquilone, artist Dave Swartz and more.

“When I decided to do a Kaiju issue of Monstrous Magazine I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to do a Kaiju-size magazine, so we’re going from 5.5 x 8.5 to 8.5 x 11 inches,” said Aquilone. “And that’s just the beginning. We’re resizing the Monstrous Magazine back issues, too, and now, for a limited time, they will be available in the new collectible, oversized Kaiju format.”

Zarigazami is one of several new kaiju that will appear in the issue. Designed by manga artist Itaru Kinoshita, the monster will appear in black and white in the magazine, but Aquilone is offering a full-color print as one of the rewards in the campaign.

This isn’t Kinoshita’s first time drawing giant creatures. The fan-favorite creator is best known for Dinosaur Sanctuary and the series Gigante o Utte, which is also about dinosaurs. Dinosaur Sanctuary is published by Seven Seas Entertainment and was nominated for Best Continuing Manga Series at the American Manga Awards in 2024. Volume 7 is due to be published in English on Sept. 30.

Here’s a look at the print, which will be available when the Kickstarter goes live:

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Picture + Panel | Štěpánka Jislová + Sofia Szamosi on ‘the lies the TV told me’

We continue our interview series in advance of a live question-and-answer session between the two creators in Boston next week.

We continue our interview series on creators speaking at the monthly Picture + Panel event in Boston, which brings together two comic creators to talk about a specific topic — for September, Štěpánka Jislová and Sofia Szamosi will discuss “the lies that TV told me” about body image, women and relationships.

Next Monday, you can join the creators and moderator Rebecca Hains, Ph.D. for the discussion at the Boston Figurative Arts Center. You can find more details on it here.

Štěpánka Jislová is an award-winning comics artist based in Prague and the cofounder of the Czech branch of Laydeez do Comics, an international organization that promotes female comic artists and their work. Jislová collaborated with Czech writer Tereza Čechová on the 2021 Muriel prize–winning Bez vlasů, later published by Graphic Mundi in English as Bald. Srdcovka (the original Czech edition of Heartcore) received the Muriel Award in three categories in 2024, including the main prize.

Sofia Szamosi is an artist and author originally from New York City. In addition to making books, she enjoys painting and creating art in analog photobooths. Along with her debut graphic novel, Unretouchable (Lerner/Graphic Universe), she is the author of BAD KID: My Life as a Troubled Teen (Little, Brown Ink, forthcoming Spring 2026), a graphic memoir exploring her adolescence in and out of the troubled teen industry. A third graphic memoir is currently in development with Street Noise, focusing on healing from eating disorders and the journey of recovering fertility. Szamosi now lives in a small town in Massachusetts—just the right distance from New York City—with her husband, two daughters, and their elderly Pomeranian, Breakfast.

Check out the interview below, and big thanks as always to Gina Gagliano and Jason Viola, who organize the monthly series in Boston and brought this Q&A series to Smash Pages!

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Can’t Wait for Wednesday | Matt Fraction and Jorge Jiménez bring a ‘very superhero-forward kind of take’ to ‘Batman’

Check out new comics and graphic novels arriving this week by J.M. DeMatteis and Jim Towe, Tate Brombal and Jacob Phillips, Jordan Thomas and Daniel Gete, Maria Llovet, Sean Peacock, Chip Zdarsky and Rachael Stott, Melissa Mendes and more.

Welcome to Can’t Wait for Wednesday, your guide to what’s coming to your local comic shop 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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‘Ultimate Universe: Two Years In’ goes cosmic with Guardians, Daredevil + more

Deniz Camp, Alex Paknadel and more will help set up the upcoming battle with the Maker in ‘Ultimate Endgame.’

Marvel has announced a follow-up Ultimate Universe special tp last year’s Ultimate Universe: One Year In. Appropriately titled Ultimate Universe: Two Years In, the special will focus on the Ultimate Guardians of the Galaxy, who were introduced earlier this year in The Ultimates #8.

The Ultimates writer Deniz Camp, along with co-writer Alex Paknadel, will bring the team to the forefront as they continue looking for new members to join in the fight against the Maker. That will include a cosmic-level Ultimate Daredevil:

“Getting to write in the Ultimate Universe—especially as it reaches its climax—is so fun, it should be illegal,” Paknadel said. “It’s a license to rethink and reinvent your favorite characters, and Deniz and I have certainly done that here. Like all the best Ultimate versions of these characters, our Daredevil retains the essence of the original—he’s still a something without fear—but he’s been scaled up to a cosmic-level hero. I can’t wait for readers to meet him.”

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Let’s you and him fight: DC reveals all the ‘DC K.O.’ tournament participants

Dan Mora’s variant cover for the first issue of the event series reveals both expected and surprising entrants.

DC has revealed all the participants in the DC K.O. tournament, a big storyline that begins this fall and finds DC’s heroes (and some villains) competing for the honor of becoming King Omega.

Scott Snyder and Joshua Williamson are tag-teaming on the storyline, with Snyder writing the main event and Williamson working on the undercard in titles like Superman and Knightfight. Snyder will be joined by Javi Fernandez on the main miniseries, while Dan Mora did the tournament bracket cover that reveals who is all in for the fight:

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