Author: JK Parkin

Marvel’s ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ #1000 line-up now includes WWE’s Triple H

The publisher reveals the creative line-up for the milestone issue and shares a preview.

Marvel has already pulled out some pretty big names for Amazing Spider-Man #1000, but the landmark issue has one more surprise in store: WWE Hall of Famer and Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque is among the writers contributing to the oversized anniversary issue.

I believe this will actually be his comic writing debut — although he’s certainly appeared in a number of them, as publishers like BOOM! have held the WWE license in the past. He’ll be teaming with artist Ed McGuinness on a story titled “The Big Night,” which is probably safe to guess will be a wrestling-themed story. And it all makes sense, given Peter Parker tried his luck in the squared circle before he became a superhero. In another life, he could have led Degeneration X.

Here’s the rest of the creative line-up for the issue, which will have many stories:

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Clover Press reveals Marvel Masterworks plans, including four new volumes and a Jim Lee puzzle

The publisher will launch its new era of Marvel’s iconic archival series with restored editions of X-Men, Thor, Super-Villain Team-Up and Tomb of Dracula, and we have an exclusive look at one of the Kickstarter rewards.

The return of Marvel Masterworks under Clover Press was one of the more well-received announcements to emerge from San Diego Comic-Con this summer, especially from fans of the line. Now, the publisher is revealing exactly what that new era will look like as they prepare to launch the first Kickstarter for it.

Clover Press has announced the first four volumes of its ambitious plan to continue Marvel’s long-running archival hardcover series, with new editions devoted to The Uncanny X-Men, Super-Villain Team-Up, The Mighty Thor and The Tomb of Dracula. The books will feature extensive new restoration work, including hundreds of pages sourced directly from original art, as well as three distinct cover treatments, including a new trade dress designed by Clover Press co-founder and art director Robbie Robbins.

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Smash Pages Q&A | Zeronis on the art of character design

The ‘League of Legends’ artist looks back at the games, anime and personal artwork that shaped his distinctive style in ‘Reminiscent: Art of Zeronis.’

Paul “Zeronis” Kwon has spent much of his career creating characters for some of the biggest games in the world, including League of Legends, where he helped design fan-favorite champions such as Ahri, Vi and Gwen. He also worked on the Star Guardian universe and K/DA, bringing familiar characters into different visual worlds.

But Zeronis’ path to the video game industry began much earlier, with Final Fantasy VII and a young artist trying to make friends after moving from Korea to the United States. Unable to speak English, he drew Cloud Strife from memory and gave the drawings to his classmates.

That early connection between games and art eventually became a career, but Zeronis says his artistic identity is still evolving. His new book, Reminiscent: Art of Zeronis, collects 152 pages of professional work, fan art and, most importantly, personal pieces that show the experimentation happening outside the constraints of game development. The deluxe hardcover is currently being crowdfunded through Kickstarter by Clover Press.

I spoke with Zeronis about finding his artistic voice, the difference between designing characters for games and for himself, the lessons he learned creating League of Legends champions and skins, and the games and anime that continue to inspire him.

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DC extends ‘The Fury of Firestorm’ to 15 Issues

Jeff Lemire and Rafael de Latorre’s Firestorm series gets a second extension, adding six more issues and continuing into 2027.

Here’s some good news for fans of The Fury of Firestorm: DC is giving Jeff Lemire and Rafael de Latorre’s take on the Nuclear Man more room to burn.

With The Fury of Firestorm #6 arriving in comic shops today, DC has announced that the DC Next Level series has been extended to 15 issues. This follows the previous extension that Lemire mentioned on Substack back in May, when it expanded to nine issues.

Heck, at this rate, let’s just make it an ongoing series. I mean, the current Poison Ivy started out as a miniseries, and now it’s anchoring a big Batman event.

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Exclusive | Archie’s Christmas party takes a mysterious turn in this year’s ‘Archie’s Christmas Spectacular’

Bob Phantom knows something is amiss in this exclusive preview of Archie Comics’ double-sized holiday mystery from Ian Flynn and Dan Parent.

Christmas has arrived in Riverdale, and the whole Archie Comics universe is invited to the party! But when characters start disappearing during the Secret Santa gift exchange, the holiday festivities quickly turn into a mystery.

Courtesy of Archie Comics, we have an exclusive preview of Archie’s Christmas Spectacular, which will feature two brand-new stories that bring together a veritable who’s who from across the Archie universe, including the heroic Bob Phantom, who recruits fellow crimefighter Blackjack to help track down the missing guests. Can the heroes solve the mystery before Christmas is ruined?

Check out a first look at the 48-page, double-sized holiday spectacular, written by Ian Flynn, penciled by Dan Parent, inked by Bob Smith, colored by Glenn Whitmore and lettered by Jack Morelli. Archie’s Christmas Spectacular hits comic shops Oct. 7. Check out the preview below.

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Can’t Wait for Wednesday | Christian Ward + Sami Kivelä open the doors to ‘The Forever Home’

See what’s arriving at your local comic shop this week from Stephanie Phillips, Tom King, Gabriel Hernández Walta, Jordie Bellaire, Christopher Cantwell, Jacob Phillips, Darcy Van Poelgeest, Ian Bertram, Todd McFarlane, Box Brown and more.

Happy Labor Day and 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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Lawsuit filed against Ed Brubaker, Amazon + others alleging harassment on the set of the ‘Criminal’ TV show

A former production assistant has filed a lawsuit this week alleging harassment, discrimination and retaliation on the set of the show based on the Eisner-winning comics series.

As reported by The Hollywood Reporter and other outlets, Ed Brubaker, the Eisner Award-winning comic book writer and showrunner of Amazon MGM’s upcoming Criminal series, is being sued by a former production assistant who alleges he was subjected to sexual, racial and religious harassment while working on the series, among other allegations.

Ijaaz Noohu filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court against Brubaker, fellow executive producer Phillip Barnett, Big Indie Pictures, Big Indie Gemini, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and Amazon.com Services. The complaint, filed Wednesday, contains 12 causes of action, including claims of harassment, discrimination, retaliation, assault and defamation. Noohu is requesting a jury trial as part of the suit.

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‘Creature Corps’ pits time-displaced monsters against each other for fun and profit

Curt Pires and Jok reunite for a new Image Comics series that debuts in December.

When the creatures from a broken future start appearing in the present, someone, naturally, asks the question, “Can I make a fortune by getting them to fight?” That’s the setup for Creature Corps, a new series from the 51 team of writer Curt Pires and artist Jok, coming from Image Comics in December.

“I’m excited to be reunited with my dear collaborator Jok and my friends at Image Comics on my biggest launch yet,” said Pires, whose Lost Fantasy and Fireborn are both published by Image. “Creature Corps is equal parts 16-bit gaming nostalgia, the dark deconstructionism of The Boys and the time travel insanity of Back To The Future in equal measure. It’s a chaotic menagerie of comic book magic that feels uniquely its own. Did I mention we’re doing a trading card game too? This is gonna be fun.”

When these fantastical creatures start slipping into the present, an unethical creature-battling league emerges, turning the mysterious animals into a very profitable form of entertainment. It sounds like a darker take on Pokemon, especially when you find out teenagers are recruited to train and manage the creatures.

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Boom-Boom takes charge as X-Force goes on the run in ‘Fugitive X-Force’

‘Inglorious X-Force’ writer Tim Seeley and artist Áthila Fabbio launch a new five-issue series in December.

X-Force is going on the run in December, and they’re putting Boom-Boom in charge. Marvel today announced Fugitive X-Force, a five-issue limited series from writer Tim Seeley and artist Áthila Fabbio that picks up the story from Seeley’s current Inglorious X-Force series.

Following Cable’s disappearance, Tabitha “Boom-Boom” Smith will step up as the leader of the mutant strike team, which also includes Archangel, Hellverine, Domino and Ms. Marvel.

“Fugitive X-Force is a natural extension of Inglorious, following up with the ramifications of the events of that series,” Seeley said. “But now, they’re on their own, wanted for murder, and hanging on by a thread.”

That leaves the team on the run from both the law and their fellow mutants while Domino searches for Cable, whose latest crisis could have consequences for everything X-Force has been fighting to protect.

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First Look: Planetoid Raiders get their own retro-style hats

Wandering Planet Toys’ upcoming Kickstarter campaign will include exclusive baseball hats celebrating the Planetoid Raiders and mysterious Arcade Raiders.

The Planetoid Raiders are getting ready to invade Kickstarter, and they’re bringing some headwear with them.

I mentioned these new action figures a few days ago with the news about the Cthuluchador and Ultimoth Warrior figures that Wandering Planet is doing, but now we have an exclusive first look at two new hats that will be available as part of Wandering Planet Toys’ upcoming Planetoid Raiders Kickstarter campaign. The retro-inspired hats celebrate the company’s new line of collectible space adventurers, as well as the mysterious Arcade Raiders.

If you think they look like knock-offs of the original Star Wars action figures Kenner released back in the day, well, that’s what they’re going for. I also feel a little Yo Gabba Gabba being channeled here, but that might just be me:

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Five Count | 5 ways to celebrate Batman Day 2026

Batman Day will arrive on Sept. 19. Check out the things you do, read, buy and more to celebrate the Dark Knight.

As we’ve noted before, Batman Day returns on Saturday, Sept. 19, and DC is once again turning the annual celebration of the Dark Knight into a global comics event.

This year’s festivities will include a new Batman/Absolute Batman one-shot, free comics, new hardcover collections, Batman masks and activities at comic shops around the world.

If you’re looking for ways to celebrate, here are five things to put on your Batman Day itinerary.

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Rest in peace, Will Murray

The prolific writer and co-creator of Squirrel Girl has passed away at 73.

Will Murray, the prolific pulp writer and historian who co-created Squirrel Girl with Steve Ditko, died on Aug. 25 at the age of 73.

Murray had a long and varied career as a writer, researcher and historian, but he was perhaps best known for his deep knowledge of pulp magazines and the characters they created. He wrote numerous novels featuring characters like Doc Savage, The Shadow, The Spider, Tarzan and The Destroyer, while also writing extensively about pulp fiction and its creators.

Murray grew up in Boston, Massachusetts, and became a fan of comics and pulp novels at a young age. His career would grow out of his fandom. As Murray explained in a 2019 interview with Alex Dueben here at Smash Pages, he began as a Doc Savage expert writing for fanzines before those interests led to professional opportunities.

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