Author: JK Parkin

Smash Pages Q&A | Mike Kennedy from Magnetic Press on ‘Loba Loca’

The publisher talks with us about their latest team-up with Label 619 and more.

Magnetic Press is about halfway through their Kickstarter campaign for Loba Loca, a graphic novel set in the MFKZ Universe from creators Guillaume “Run” Renard and Guillaume Singelin of Label 619 in France. The project has already blown past its modest goal with more than $46,000 in raised funds and another two weeks to go.

The graphic novel is about Guadalupe “Guada” Mayflower, a 17-year-old who discovers her infamous luchadore father may have once saved the world. This sends her on a dangerous road trip to confront her family’s past that involves other masked luchadores, underworld figures and more.

I caught up with Magnetic Press’ Director of Publishing Mike Kennedy to talk about what drew Magnetic Press to the project, their relationship with Label 619 and, of course, the role of lucha libre in the book.

Continue reading “Smash Pages Q&A | Mike Kennedy from Magnetic Press on ‘Loba Loca’”

American Manga Awards honor ‘Billy Bat,’ ‘The Summer Hikaru Died’ + more

The awards were presented last night in conjunction with AnimeNYC.

The third annual American Manga Awards were presented Thursday night at the Japan Society in New York City, in conjunction with AnimeNYC. Zack Davisson served as host for an evening celebrating the creators, publishers and localization teams behind manga released in North America.

In addition to the winners in the awards’ main categories, the ceremony presented the American Manga Award of Distinction to Princess Jellyfish creator Akiko Higashimura. The awards also inducted two new members into the Manga Publishing Hall of Fame: Chigusa Ogino, an advisor and former executive director on the board of Tuttle-Mori Agency who helped pave the way for manga’s entrance into Western markets, and the late Ioannis Mentzas, co-founder of Vertical and former editorial director at Kodansha USA.

Congratulations to last night’s winners:

Continue reading “American Manga Awards honor ‘Billy Bat,’ ‘The Summer Hikaru Died’ + more”

Brian Michael Bendis + Jacob Edgar return to ‘The Ones’ with ‘The Other Ones’

No, not those ‘Ones’ … the Other Ones. The creator-owned superhero comedy returns from Dark Horse in December.

Brian Michael Bendis and Jacob Edgar are bringing their creator-owned superhero comedy The Ones back to Dark Horse Comics this December with The Ones Volume II: The Other Ones.

Featuring colors by K. J. Díaz and lettering by Joshua Reed, the four-issue series follows up on the original The Ones, which debuted from Dark Horse in 2022. The first volume brought together the various “Chosen Ones” of different mythologies after a prophecy revealed that they were supposed to band together to defeat the actual Chosen One.

“Jacob and I are so excited to be returning to The Ones,” said Bendis. “It’s a whole chapter in this mythological superhero comedy.  It’s kind of everything I love about making comics. Jacob is brilliant and writing for him is deeply fun. in fact, this is about as much fun behind the scenes as it could be. I can’t wait to share this complete nonsense with you.”

Continue reading “Brian Michael Bendis + Jacob Edgar return to ‘The Ones’ with ‘The Other Ones’”

Si Spurrier + Christopher Mitten get bloody with King Arthur in ‘Rampant Swine’

The duo reunites for a savage take on the Arthurian legend of Culhwch and Olwen, coming from Ignition Press in November.

King Arthur has been depicted as a noble king, a legendary warrior and the center of countless tales of chivalry. But what if he was just a brutal warlord surrounded by a bunch of equally savage knights?

That’s the premise behind Rampant Swine, a new comic from Si Spurrier and Christopher Mitten, coming from Ignition Press in November. The book takes its inspiration from the ancient Welsh tale How Culhwch Won Olwen and reimagines Arthurian legend as a bloody, psychedelic historical fantasy in the tradition of Conan the Barbarian.

“I’ve been itching to get my hands on King Arthur for years. He’s had it too easy for too long,” Spurrier said. “Rampant Swine is mine and Chris Mitten’s hallucinogenic, gore-drenched, resolutely horny take on the oldest Arthurian myth there is: How Culhwch Won Olwen. Our intention throughout has been to impale every cliche, slaughter every assumption, piss on every lazy monkish trope and have an absolute fucking blast while doing so. Rampant Swine is a historical fantasy full of self-knowledge; a tale which is annoyed by the toxic virtue-signaling of its own official version, retelling itself in a more mischievous spirit. It wears its fictionhood like armor. It slithers between the epic and the intimate, the mundane and the miraculous, all drenched in the visionary beauty of Chris’s ethereal pen. For those who loved The Green Knight or The Northman, those who thrill to the smart savagery of Conan or Red Sonja, those who delight in the interweaving dance of fact and myth, this book is relentlessly beautiful, charismatically violent, and utterly unique.”

Continue reading “Si Spurrier + Christopher Mitten get bloody with King Arthur in ‘Rampant Swine’”

Garth Ennis + John McCrea reunite for ‘The Snail’

The ‘Hitman’ collaborators return with a twisted one-shot about desire, sacrifice and a very questionable talking mollusk.

Garth Ennis and John McCrea, the team behind DC’s Hitman and many other demented projects, are getting back together for a new horror story. And of course, there’s a talking snail involved.

The longtime collaborators are teaming up for The Snail, a one-shot from the Ninth Circle line of horror comics published by Image Comics. Described as a psychedelic tale of “lust, power and possession,” the story asks a fairly simple question: What would you sacrifice to get your heart’s desire, and would you really trust a talking snail to help you get it?

“It might be said that a talking snail is not the best source of life guidance, but given the scum and villainy people are taking advice from nowadays, perhaps it’s no worse than any of the other options? Find out in The Snail, by myself and the good Mr. McCrea,” said Ennis. “If I was a talking snail I’d definitely be telling you to buy it.”

Continue reading “Garth Ennis + John McCrea reunite for ‘The Snail’”

Nominees announced for the 2026 Ignatz Awards

Winners will be announced at the Small Press Expo in September.


The Small Press Expo has revealed the nominees for the 2026 Ignatz Awards, which recognize alternative comics, graphic novels and more, and are given out during the SPX every Fall.

Named for the mouse that appears in the Krazy Kat comics by George Herriman, the logo changes each year as a new artist draws the mouse and his weapon of choice, the brick. The logo for this year was drawn by Léa Murawiec, who won the Most Promising New Talent award last year.

The nominees were chosen by a team of jurors that included Maria Hoey, Joel Christian Gill, Nick Bertozzi, Maggie McCready, Vik Alexander, Meg Lentz, Michael Albrecht and Sofia Lesage. The winners are chosen through open voting; you can request a ballot here. Voting ends on Sept. 11, and the winners will be announced Sept. 12 during SPX in Bethesda, Maryland.

Congrats to this year’s nominees:

Continue reading “Nominees announced for the 2026 Ignatz Awards”

Paul Jenkins returns to ‘Wolverine: Origin’ for new miniseries ‘The Dark Age’

Jenkins returns with artist CAFU for a five-issue series exploring a previously untold chapter of Wolverine’s past.

A quarter of a century after Marvel finally revealed the origins of Wolverine, the publisher is headed back to the character’s early days for Wolverine: Origin III – The Dark Age. The five-issue miniseries will be written by Paul Jenkins, writer of the original 2001 Wolverine: Origin miniseries, with art by CAFU.

When Wolverine: Origin arrived in 2001, it was one of those rare Marvel stories that actually answered a question readers had been asking for decades. Wolverine’s past had been deliberately kept mysterious for most of his existence, but Jenkins and artist Andy Kubert finally introduced readers to James Howlett and revealed the traumatic events that transformed him into Wolverine.

“Wolverine: Origin was foundational. It did not simply tell us how, why and where a young, frail Canadian named James Howlett became the super hero we know as Wolverine, it also showed his loss of innocence and his understanding of a cruel and difficult world,” Jenkins said. “Now, after 25 years, I’m privileged to present this story I have waited over a quarter of a century to tell. Where did Logan go? Which parts of his story were lost to history? What led to the events of Weapon X? The answers are not going to be what you expect.”

Continue reading “Paul Jenkins returns to ‘Wolverine: Origin’ for new miniseries ‘The Dark Age’”

Benjamin Percy + Raúl Fernández go on an ‘Egg Hunt’

The four-issue sf horror series from Mad Cave Studios tells the story from the alien’s perspective.

Ever wonder what an alien invasion is like from the perspective of the alien? You can find out this November in Benjamin Percy and Raúl Fernández’s Egg Hunt.

Mad Cave Studios has announced the new four-issue science fiction/horror series from the duo, along with colorist Giada Marchisio and letterer Micah Myers. The story starts on Easter Sunday when something falls from the sky — and it’s not the Easter Bunny or the second coming.

Percy said the series grew out of his desire to approach the alien-invasion story from an unusual direction.

“I’ve always loved stories that find a fresh way into a genre by experimenting with form,” Percy said. “In Egg Hunt, we’re reinventing the alien invasion story by changing the standard point of view: we’re always the alien. From the first page, when we observe an egg hatching from the inside, everything we learn about the characters, setting and story comes from what the alien witnesses. There’s a lot of Spielberg and Carpenter in this story, the influences ranging from E.T. to Halloween, as an uncanny force trespasses on a suburban environment. Raúl Fernández took this visual constraint and ran with it. He brought this world and its characters to life, especially Piper, and can make your heart hurt in one panel and race in the next. I loved working with him.”

Continue reading “Benjamin Percy + Raúl Fernández go on an ‘Egg Hunt’”

Marvel revisits the road to ‘Secret Wars’ with 5 ‘Incursions’ one-shots

Alternate Marvel universes collide in a new series of one-shots, beginning with ‘X-Men: Incursions’ and a battle between the worlds of ‘House of M’ and ‘Days of Future Past.’

When two universes enter the octagon, only one can survive! Marvel is going back to the end of the Multiverse this November with five new Incursions one-shots that will revisit the cataclysmic events leading into Jonathan Hickman’s Secret Wars.

The whole concept of “incursions” was central to Hickman’s Avengers and New Avengers stories in the lead-up to 2015’s Secret Wars event, as the Marvel Universe, the Ultimate Universe and countless other alternate realities collided when an all-powerful Doctor Doom brought them together to form his own Battleworld. The new one-shots will explore some of the battles that took place during those final days but weren’t previously told.

The series begins with X-Men: Incursions #1 by Alex Paknadel and Jim Towe, which pits two familiar alternate realities against one another: the mutant-dominated world of House of M and the dystopian future of Days of Future Past:

Continue reading “Marvel revisits the road to ‘Secret Wars’ with 5 ‘Incursions’ one-shots”

Tom Mandrake return to ‘Vampire: The Masquerade’ for new Titan Comics series

The ‘Spectre’ and ‘Swamp Thing’ artist joins writer John Lees for ‘Vampire: The Masquerade: Wake in Hate.’

Veteran comic book artist Tom Mandrake has a long history with supernatural comics, from The Spectre to Swamp Thing, but his next project is bringing him back to a franchise he hasn’t worked on in more than two decades: Vampire: The Masquerade.

Titan Comics and White Wolf have announced Vampire: The Masquerade: Wake in Hate, a four-issue miniseries written by John Lees and drawn by Mandrake that’ll debut in November.

Mandrake isn’t new to the Vampire: The Masquerade universe. As he explains, he previously contributed individual illustrations to the tabletop RPG’s books more than 20 years ago.

Continue reading “Tom Mandrake return to ‘Vampire: The Masquerade’ for new Titan Comics series”

Smash Pages Playlist | Yudori shares the songs that helped inspire ‘Lovers of the Empire’

From early K-Pop pioneers Sobangcha to the 1950s pop of The Chordettes, check out the songs the artist listened to while creating this romantic coming-of-age story.

Raging Clouds creator Yudori returns this week with Lovers of the Empire, the first book from Takumigraphics, Fantagraphics’ new imprint dedicated to East Asian comics. The romantic coming-of-age story is set in 1920s Korea, where a budding relationship unfolds against the complicated backdrop of Japanese occupation, social upheaval and a rapidly changing society.

To accompany the book, Yudori has shared with us a playlist of songs that connect to the characters, themes and atmosphere of the story. Below, she explains the thinking behind her selections, and we’ve embedded the playlist so you can listen along as she takes you into the world of the graphic novel. Enjoy some tunes, and check out Lovers of the Empire, which is in stores today.

Continue reading “Smash Pages Playlist | Yudori shares the songs that helped inspire ‘Lovers of the Empire’”

Jean Grey returns to Earth in new series by Jed MacKay + Rogê Antônio

The Phoenix spins out of DNX into a five-issue miniseries in November.

Jean Grey is coming back to Earth, and she’s bringing the Phoenix with her. Marvel has announced Jean Grey, a new five-issue miniseries from Jed MacKay and Rogê Antônio that will land in November.

The series picks up directly from the events of the upcoming DNX crossover, which MacKay is writing with artist Federico Vicentini. MacKay will also bring Jean Grey back to the X-Men.

“More than anything, it felt like it was time—Jean coming into X-Men was largely precluded by the Phoenix series that was running when we launched, and even after that wrapped, I continued to hold off on it until the time seemed right,” MacKay told AIPT. “After all, adding the Phoenix to your team book throws off the balance in a pretty dramatic way. Now, post-DNX, we’re going to see the X-Men in a position to need Jean Grey—and Jean Grey in a position to need the X-Men. Dovetailing that into this moment being one where Jean is in the public consciousness more than she has previously just worked.”

Continue reading “Jean Grey returns to Earth in new series by Jed MacKay + Rogê Antônio”