Day: April 23, 2026

Slugfest | ‘Action Comics’ hits issue #1100 in DC’s July solicitations

From a milestone issue to a Dark Knight/Lex Luthor team-up, here’s a rundown of the notable items from DC’s July solicitations.

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you. This edition focuses on DC’s July 2026 titles. Hit the links for more info.

Action Comics will hit a big milestone in July as it reaches issue #1100 — following several months behind Detective Comics, which hit issue #1100 last year. The oversized issue will feature stories from creators from across the Superman titles, including Mark Waid, Skylar Patridge, Sophie Campbell, Joshua Williamson, Dan Mora, Dan Slott and more.

Her’s a look at the main cover by Ryan Sook:

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Tom Morello, Marc Guggenheim + Szymon Kudrański will launch the sci-fi miniseries ‘Leviathan Freedom’ on ComiXology Originals

The story of Civil War hero Robert Smalls inspired this cosmic epic, which arrives this summer.

Tom Morello, the Grammy-winning guitarist and co-founder of Rage Against the Machine, is returning to comics this summer with Leviathan Freedom, a sci-fi miniseries co-created with writer Marc Guggenheim and artist Szymon Kudrański. The five-issue series will be published digitally through Amazon’s ComiXology Originals.

The series is a science fiction reimagining of the story of Robert Smalls, a former slave turned politician who, in 1862, commandeered a Confederate warship and sailed himself, his family and others to freedom.

“For as long as I can remember, I’ve been on a mission to unearth the stories of revolutionaries—the fighters, the visionaries, the ones history either buries or sanitizes beyond recognition,” Morello said. “Their courage, defiance, and unwavering pursuit of justice, often in the face of seemingly impossible odds, have shaped the world, even if their names are too often left out of the narrative. Robert Smalls is one of those heroes. The idea of taking his revolutionary spirit and launching it into the cosmos feels like a perfect extension of his fight.” 

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‘Gender Queer’ once again lands on the most challenged books list for 2025

The American Library Association shares the list of the most challenged books for last week as a part of National Library Week.

Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe was the third most challenged book in libraries in 2025, according to the American Library Association.

The graphic novel, which was published by Oni Press in 2019, has appeared on the list for five of the last seven years. It topped the list in 2021-2023, and was the second most challenged book in 2024. An annotated edition is due out next month.

No other graphic novels were on the list for 2025, a year that saw the ALA track 4,235 unique title challenges, the second highest ever documented by the ALA. The highest ever documented was 4,240 in 2023.

And just like in previous years, the majority of these challenges aren’t being made by concerned parents — they’re being challenged as part of organized efforts.

“In 2025, book bans were not sparked by concerned parents, and they were not the result of local grassroots efforts,” said Sarah Lamdan, Executive Director of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom. “They were part of a well-funded, politically-driven campaign to suppress the stories and lived experiences of LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC individuals and communities.”

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Zack Kaplan + John Pearson reunite for ‘The Smart Division’

The five-issue series arrives in August from Dark Horse Comics.

Zack Kaplan and John Pearson, who previously collaborated on the Vault Comics series Mindset, reunite for The Smart Division, a five-issue modern sci-fi detective series arriving in August from Dark Horse Comics. The series is lettered by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou and designed by Tom Muller.

The story is built around a mysterious, predictive AI program that has begun helping people commit the perfect murder. When the technology surfaces, a mismatched pair of investigators must establish the Bureau’s first AI crimes division to hunt down the killer and the app enabling them.

“The Smart Division takes everything you loved about our first series Mindset — the playing with form, the thoughtful commentary on technology, and the tense character drama — and raises the bar, with more danger and dread,” Kaplan said. “Artificial intelligence is the hot topic of our time, but we’re exploring it like you’ve never seen — what happens when it helps us commit the perfect crimes.”

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