Day: June 10, 2026

Surprise, it’s Rom! Skybound surprises ‘M.A.S.K.’ blind bag buyers with a new ‘Rom’ #1

Robert Kirkman and Lorenzo De Felici bring the space knight into the Energon Universe in a standalone issue available only through the blind bag program.

Today brought another signature Skybound surprise, kind of like that time they ended The Walking Dead without telling anyone it was ending, included a Spider-Man comic in their mix of Battle Beast #1 blind bags and stealth-launched the Energon Universe.

Today’s surprise, really shouldn’t be a surprise based on their track record, but it’s a fun one: some of the blind bags for M.A.S.K. #1 included completely different comics, with one of them being Rom #1, a standalone issue by Void Rivals co-creators Robert Kirkman and Lorenzo De Felici that introduces the space knight into the Energon Universe.

In a press release, Skybound said the character has been a fan request since Skybound launched the shared universe. Longtime Marvel fans know he previously published by them in the 1980s, following his introduction as toy by Parker Brothers. The toy was kind of a dud when it launched, but the comic proved popular, as he was integrated into the Marvel Universe and met everyone from the X-Men to Galactus. Later IDW Publishing reintroduced him to comics when they held the Hasbro license.

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Smash Pages Q&A | Mel Gillman on ‘The Goblin Throne’

The webcomic-turned-graphic novel is now being crowdfunded by Iron Circus Comics.

Mel Gillman’s The Goblin Throne begins with a broken promise and the consequences that follow when you think you can outrun it.

The graphic novel, the latest from the creator of As the Crow Flies and Stage Dreams, follows a young woman who makes a pact with the Goblin Queen for peace and safety, then flees when confronted with the true cost. What she doesn’t realize is that all roads lead back to the Goblin Kingdom.

The Kickstarter campaign from Iron Circus Comics has already blown past its funding goal, with more than $20,000 raised as I type this. I spoke with Gillman about sapphic fairy tales, colored pencil illustration and more.

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Exclusive | Take a first look at the insides of ‘Babs: The Black Road South’ #4

Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows’ sword-and-sorcery comedy returns with its fourth issue, arriving June 17 from Ahoy Comics.

Courtesy of Ahoy Comics, today we have an exclusive first look at Babs: The Black Road South #4, the latest issue of the ongoing sword-and-sorcery comedy from Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows that goes on sale June 17 from Ahoy Comics.

If you haven’t caught up with the series yet, Babs is a gleefully irreverent take on sword-and-sorcery fantasy. The title character is a foul-tempered barbarian who is very good at violence but not much else, and she cuts through goblins, ogres and various other fantasy nuisances with equal parts competence and chaos. Fans of Ennis’ comedic work on Hitman and Dicks should enjoy it.

The Black Road South is the second Babs miniseries from the team. In this six-issue run, Babs and her partner Izzy find themselves dealing with the unexpected consequences of a gladiatorial windfall. Issue #4 finds the pair, along with a new companion named Culpepper, adrift on a raft (that’s actually a corpse) navigating a sea of something deeply unpleasant, with the added complication that their vessel may not be entirely dead.

The issue is titled “Harsh Language,” which you can expect from the comic and this preview:

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