Author: JK Parkin

Steve Orlando takes the helm of ‘Marauders’ in January

Marauders Annual #1 will reveal a new team of mutants and the debut of a new threat, 2099 villain Brimstone Love.

A new team of Marauders will take to the seas in January courtesy of a new creative team. Steve Orlando and Creees Lee will introduce a new team and new threats in Marauders Annual #1 this Janaury.

“Taking the helm of Marauders is easily the most exciting moment of my career, especially when it’s my first-ever ongoing not just on Krakoa, but at Marvel in general,” Orlando told Marvel.com. “Exploding out of the team’s already-amazing adventures as part of Hellfire Trading, Captain Pryde’s new crew of Marauders will stop at nothing to bring endangered mutants to safety — to always go where they’re needed, not where they’re wanted. To mutant rescue, wherever it calls them!”

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Sunday Comics | 24-Hour Comic Day, Inktober and more

Check out recent comics by Melanie Gillman, Derek Laufman, Elsa Charretier and more.

Here’s a round up of some of the best comics we’ve seen online recently. If we missed something, let us know in the comments below.

I mentioned Swordtember in a post earlier today, and it’s far from the only online challenge aimed at creators going on on social media right now. Yesterday, in fact, was 24-Hour Comic Day, the “annual celebration of comics creation” where artists attempt to create an entire comic in 24 hours.

As the Crow Flies creator Melanie Gillman once again took up the challenge, creating a comic called The Night-Mother. It’s a horror story, and Gillman includes several content warnings at the beginning, including violence and miscarriage. But it’s a very well-done comic, especially for one they created in just 24 hours — or almost, anyway. Gillman still has a few pages left that they were hoping to finish today. Here’s the first page:

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Artists unsheathed their talent for ‘Swordtember’

Check out a few of the awesome artists who drew blades and more during September’s daily drawing challenge.

As we move into October, a month where many creators take on daily drawing challenges and produce a whole bunch of cool art, I thought it first important to point out that September got in on the action early. The ninth and best* month of the year transformed into “Swordtember,” as many creators decided to dedicate the month to drawing awesome swords.

The idea came from artist Faith Schaffer, who offered prompts for each day to inspire the artists who participated. (For her part, Schaffer drew several new sword tattoos that you can find in her Gumroad store, in addition to daily drawings).

Ron Chan, whose work you may know from the Plants vs. Zombies comics and the recent Earth Boy graphic novel, created a single sword image for each day of the month that not only stood on its own, but also all connected into a month-long story.

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Mad Cave announces their 2022 line-up

The publisher will release new comics from Erik Burnham, Nadia Shammas, Ryan K. Lindsay and more.

Mad Cave Studios has announced their 2022 line-up, both for their main comics line and their young-adult Maverick line, including new titles from Erik Burnham, Nadia Shammas, Ryan K. Lindsay, Rachael Smith and more.

“Over the past three years, it has been gratifying to witness how much Mad Cave has grown. We’ve achieved a great lot in a very short time, and I’m beyond excited to announce our 2022 array of titles,” said Mark London, CEO of Mad Cave. “They are going to showcase another step in the right direction of the continued making of quality cutting-edge stories that comic book fans love.”

The announcement comes a few days after Mad Cave revealed they are now part of Diamond Comics Distributors’ Final Order Cut-Off program — which should help them with marketing the new title to retailers.

Here’s a look at what they have planned for next year: 

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CXC recognizes first recipients of the Tom Spurgeon Award

Mollie Slott, Orrin Evans and Kim Thompson were recognized for supporting cartoonists and enhancing the field ‘in a last and measurable way.’

Cartoon Crossroads Columbus has announced the honorees of the inaugural Tom Spurgeon Awards. Named after the CXC Executive Director and The Comics Reporter founder, who passed away in 2019, The Tom Spurgeon Award will be awarded to “someone who is not primarily a cartoonist and whose support of cartoonists and cartoon art enhanced the field in a lasting and measurable way.”

Lucy Shelton Caswell, CXC board member and the founding curator of the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum (who also has an award named after her), announced the recipients in a video:

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Are you ready for ‘Scottober’?

Your Best Jackett’s required for a month of new comics from Scott Snyder, comiXology Originals and more.

This October, prepare yourself for a lot of Scott Snyder.

The writer of American Vampire, Death Metal, Batman, Nocterra and more — as well as comic book instructor on Substack — will kick off his new line of comiXology Originals titles with We Have Demons, his collaboration with Greg Capullo, who he worked with on Batman and more. The first issue arrives next Tuesday, Oct. 5, followed by two more titles later in the month.

“October has been deemed ‘Scottober’ at comiXology Originals,” said Chip Mosher, comiXology’s Head of Content, in a press statement. “With the arrival of We Have Demons featuring widescreen action and the kind of jaw-dropping storytelling twists that have made Snyder and Capullo the bestselling creator duo of the last 25 years, followed by Clear, Snyder’s first noir thriller and Manapul’s first ever creator-owned book, which is a dazzling, sci-fi thrill ride into a strange dystopian future, and in the lead up to the most terrifying night of the year, Snyder and Francavilla—two modern masters of horror—collaborate for the first time with Night of The Ghoul, a bold and bloody re-imagining of monsters that celebrates classic creature features.”

Here’s a trailer for the three October — sorry, Scottober — titles:

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Archie celebrates the holidays with ‘Archie’s Holiday Magic Special’

The anthology will feature stories by Micol Ostow, Michael Northrop, J. Torres, Gretel Lusky and more.

Archie and the gang will be simply having a wonderful Christmastime this December in the Archie’s Holiday Magic Special.

The anthology will feature three new stories by Micol Ostow, Michael Northrop, J. Torres, Gretel Lusky, Arielle Jovellanos, Dan Schoening and more. It’ll feature stories set in the worlds of “Little Archie” and “Life With Archie.”

“We were definitely inspired by the Archie reboot series from Mark Waid and Fiona Staples, and feel-good Hallmark movies for this fun and heartwarming anthology,” Archie’s Senior Director of Editorial Jamie L. Rotante said. “We think it’s a perfect way to celebrate 80 years of Archie by taking a trip through different eras of Archie’s life as he ultimately rediscovers the importance of friendship and community during the holiday season.

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Lee Lai, Michael DeForge, Pa-Luis and more win 2021 Ignatz Awards

Annual awards typically presented at the Small Press Expo honor excellence in independent comics, graphic novels and minicomics.

The Small Press Expo, or SPX, has announced the winners for the 2021 Ignatz Awards.

The Ignatz Awards, which have been handed out since 1997, celebrate the outstanding achievements of independent comics, graphic novels and alternative political cartoons. Named for the mouse that appears in the Krazy Kat comics by George Herriman, the logo changes each as a new artist draws the mouse and his weapon of choice, the brick. This year’s logo was created by Theo Stultz, last year’s winner in the “Most Promising Newcomer” category.

Nominees were determined by a jury that included Sunmi, Daniel Elkin and Nguyên Khôi Nguyễn. Anyone could register online to vote for the winners.

Congratulations to all the winners:

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Smash Pages Playlist: Happy Batman Day

Get ready to dance — Batdance! — with a list of songs about your favorite millionaire vigilante.

Break out your cape and cowl and get ready to do the Batusi — it’s Batman Day, as declared by the fine folks at DC and Warner Bros., so we’re back with another Smash Pages playlist featuring songs about the Dark Knight, his partners and even his villains.

So maybe skip going to the movies with your parents today and instead stay in and jam to songs about Bill Finger and Bob Kane’s most famous creation. Enjoy, and let us know if we missed any of your favorite Spider-tunes in the comments below.

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‘Stray Dogs’ returns in December with ‘Dog Days’

Tony Fleecs and Trish Forstner return to tell short stories about the characters introduced in ‘Stray Dogs.’

This December you’ll be able to learn more about the different canines who appeared in Image Comics’ recent Stray Dogs miniseries.

Tony Fleecs and Trish Forstner’s litter of dogs — who also appeared in one of Image’s Free Comic Book Day titles this year — will return for a two-issue miniseries, Stray Dogs: Dog Days. It’ll feature short stories about each of the dogs.

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‘World of Krypton’ will feature Jor-El, catastrophe — and puppy Krypto

Robert Venditti and Michael Avon Oeming present stories about Krypton before the planet-wide cataclysm.

DC Comics has announced a new six-issue World of Krypton miniseries, focusing on Superman’s homeworld before the events that destroyed it and sent him rocketing into space.

Robert Venditti and Michael Avon Oeming will shine “new light on the famous characters of Krypton’s past—including Jor-El, General Dru-Zod and even a young Kara Zor-El,” aka Supergirl. They also promise an appearance by Krypto as a puppy.

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‘Shadows of the Bat’ will follow ‘Fear State’

DC Comics reveals more details on Mariko Tamaki and Ivan Reis’s ‘Detective Comics’ story that kicks off in January.

Although Fear State is just getting underway in the Batman titles, DC has already announced a story line that will follow in its wake, beginning in January — “Shadows of the Bat.”

The 12-week event will run though Detective Comics, beginning with a “prelude” story in the 2021 annual, which comes out in November. Then, in January, the story will continue in Detective Comics #1047 by Mariko Tamaki, Ivan Reis and Danny Miki.

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