Author: JK Parkin

Mail Call | Shang-Chi’s mutant sister debuts in ‘Shang-Chi’ #3

Like fireworks lighting up the night sky comes a barrage of news, previews and announcements from Marvel, Dark Horse, Image, Mad Cave Studios and more.

Mail Call is a roundup of the announcements we’ve received from comics publishers in our mailboxes recently that we haven’t already covered. Hit the links for more information.

Gene Luen Yang and Dike Ruan’s run on Marvel’s Shang-Chi has focused both on family and legacy, and in the third issue Marvel’s Master of Kung Fu finds out he has yet another sibling — and she’s a mutant.

Zhilan is a mutant warrior with a dazzling power: she can turn music into solidified energy. According to Marvel.com, she was exiled by Shang-Chi’s evil father years ago, and now Shang-Chi is seeking her out — as is the Krakoa mutant nation, which will lead to a confrontation with Wolverine.

Check out the variant cover by Michael Cho, along with some preview pages by Ruan, below:

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D + Q acquires two graphic novels from Rachel Ang

The first book will be published in 2024.

Drawn + Quarterly has announced that they’ve acquired two graphic novels from Australia-based cartoonist Rachel Ang — a collection of short stories provisionally titled What You Seek (Is Seeking You) and an original graphic novel titled Funeral.

“Rachel looks at bodies and our experiences in them with such raw and often haunting honesty. The alienation, dysmorphia, and microaggressions that people experience as their bodies move through this world, and out of it,” acquiring senior editor Tracy Hurren said. “Rachel’s cartooning is intuitive and lush, their characters are masterful. I can’t wait to see them bring these books to life.”

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Prepare for the vengeance of ‘Chicken Devil’

Brian Buccellato, Hayden Sherman and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou will tell the story of a fast-food franchise owner pushed to the brink by the Russian mob.

Brian Buccellato, Hayden Sherman and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou are teaming up on a new story about a chicken.

Well, make that a chicken man, but he wasn’t blown up in Philly last night. Mitchell Moss, a happily married father of two, co-owns the Memphis chain of Hot Chicken restaurants and discovers his business partner owes money to the Russian mob. After the mob attacks his family, Mitch “dons the mantle of the Chicken Devil to fight back.”

AfterShock Comics will release the first issue of Chicken Devil in October.

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Marvel announces ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ art team

Multiple artists will work with the recently announced group of writers on the thrice-monthly title.

Following the announcement about the new group of Amazing Spider-Man writers, Marvel has announced the artists they’ll be collaborating with on the adventures of Ben Reilly, who will take over as Spider-Man in what’s being called the “Beyond” era.

Patrick Gleason, who was already announced as a writer, will be the “bedrock” of the art team, according to Marvel, as he’ll be leading the design and doing the art on the oversized Amazing Spider-Man #75. He’ll be joined by Sara Pichelli, the co-creator of Miles Morales as well as Michael Dowling (Black Cat). Legendary artist Arthur Adams will provide covers.

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CCI announces this year’s Bill Finger Award recipients

Six writers will posthumously receive the award this year.

Comic-Con International has announced that six writers will receive the Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing this year, the second year in a row that they’ve given the award to that many people. In most years, the award is given to two recipients and presented during the Eisner Award ceremony at Comic-Con International — which will again be virtual this year.

“Since we are not yet in a position to honor a writer who is still with us in a proper ceremony, we’re going to a long list of comic book writers from the past who we feel did not receive sufficient recognition or reward for their contributions to the field. As with last year, we have selected six posthumous awards and no ‘alive’ award,” Mark Evanier, who chairs the selection committee, said. “Each of these six writers left us with a body of work that the judges deem worthy of this honor.”

The 2021 Bill Finger Award recipients include:

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‘Phoenix Song: Echo’ tells the next chapter in Maya Lopez’s story

The new Phoenix takes the spotlight in a miniseries by Rebecca Roanhorse and Luca Maresca.

Science fiction writer Rebecca Roanhorse will team with artist Luca Maresca for a new miniseries focused on Echo, the Marvel character who recently gained the power of the Phoenix in the pages of Avengers.

Phoenix Song: Echo — a title that parallels the Phoenix: Endsong and Phoenix: Warsong miniseries from 2005-2006 — will have Roanhorse returning to the character of Maya Lopez, who she wrote in last year’s Marvel’s Voices: Indigenous Voices #1.

“I am excited to return to Echo in her first solo series and follow this thrilling new direction Jason Aaron has taken her,” Roanhorse told Marvel.com. “Readers will see some old favorites re-imagined and some entirely new characters as Echo comes to terms with the incredible and dangerous powers of the Phoenix.” 

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‘Amazing Spider-Man’ returns to a ‘writer’s room’ approach in October

Zeb Wells, Kelly Thompson, Saladin Ahmed, Cody Ziglar and Patrick Gleason will tell stories starring a different Spider-Man — Ben Reilly.

With Nick Spencer set to wrap up his run on Amazing Spider-Man this fall, Marvel has announced his replacement — well, make that replacements.

Marvel has announced five creators will take over the thrice-monthly title in October — Zeb Wells, Kelly Thompson, Saladin Ahmed, Cody Ziglar and Patrick Gleason.

“When Zeb Wells started building this story it became apparent that it needed a narrative velocity and a team of the best of the best to make it happen,” Editor Nick Lowe said. “So we gathered some of the greatest writers and artists in comics to join us and the story got even better and bigger and more surprising.”

Spider-fans are likely familiar with Wells, who was part of the Spider-Man “Brand New Day” era that saw several writers take over the title following the retconning of Peter Parker and Mary Jane’s marriage. Thompson and Ahmed have been writing various Marvel titles for awhile, while Ziglar is currently working on the She-Hulk TV series for Disney+. He also wrote the Siege Society one-shot as part of the Heroes Reborn event. And while Gleason is known more for his art, it sounds like he’ll be writing Amazing as well.

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Image announces ‘Frontiersman’ by Kindlon + Ferrari

The new superhero series is aimed at “mature—but uncynical—readers.”

Patrick Kindlon and Marco Ferrari, the creative team behind AfterShock’s Patience! Conviction! Revenge! miniseries, will team up again for Frontiersman, an ongoing series coming from Image Comics this September.

According to Image, the series will introduce readers to the Frontiersman “as he’s coaxed out of retirement by an environmentalist group only to find that being a spokesperson makes him a target for old and new enemies alike.”

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Can’t Wait for Comics | Celebrate 80 years of Captain America + Green Arrow

New comics and graphic novels arrive this week from Christopher Cantwell, Dale Eaglesham, Michael Moreci, Nathan Gooden, Stan Sakai, Ram V, Kyle Hotz, Ryan North, Derek Charm and more.

Welcome to Can’t Wait for Comics, your guide to what comics are arriving in comic book stores, bookstores and on digital this week. This week brings new comics and graphic novels from Marvel, DC, Image, Dark Horse, IDW and more.

Check out a few highlights below, or visit Diamond’s website for this week’s almost complete list of new comics arriving in stores — you can visit Lunar Distribution’s home page to see DC’s release — and the comiXology new releases page for what’s available digitally.

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‘Primordial’ by Lemire + Sorrentino launches in September

The award-winning team of Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino will be joined by Dave Stewart on a new science fiction series with roots in the Cold War space race.

The award-winning creative team of Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino will follow up Gideon Falls with Primordial, a six-issue miniseries that combines science fiction, the Cold War and test animals sent into space.

The series will kick off in September from Image Comics, nine months after the last issue of Gideon Falls arrived. Lemire and Sorrentino also collaborated on Old Man Logan and Green Arrow, and in fact will have a story in this week’s Green Arrow 80th anniversary special. Dave Stewart will color Primordial.

“Andrea and I were keen for our next collaboration after the success of Gideon Falls, but we also didn’t want to repeat ourselves,” Lemire told Space.com. “I think with Primordial we are trying something totally new and different for us. This book is part Cold War thriller and part deep space sci-fi, but all grounded in an alt-history take on the first animals sent to space. This book is full of mystery, adventure and intrigue and Andrea and I have both tried to push ourselves into new story telling territory.”

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AdHouse will collect the Immonens’ ‘Grass of Parnassus’

The hardcover collection will be released in September.

AdHouse Books will publish a hardcover collection of Kathryn Immonen and Stuart Immonen’s Grass of Parnassus in September.

The husband and wife duo have worked together in the past on Never As Bad As You Think, Moving Pictures and Marvel’s Hellcat. They initially launched Grass of Parnassus on Instagram, although the account for it no longer exists. You can, however, see a lot of artwork, sketches and behind-the-scenes information on the Immonens’ Twitter feed. And you can check out a trailer for it below:

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A truck driver faces his criminal past in ‘Fog Line’

Mario Candelaria and Andy Michaels are seeking to crowdfund a new 36-page crime comic.

Mario Candelaria and Andy Michaels tell the story of a former truck driver forced to face his criminal past thanks to a true-crime podcast in Fog Line, a new comic that’s currently up on Kickstarter.

Letterer Matt Krotzer and editor Hernán Guarderas round out the creative team.

“What were once intrusive thoughts during quiet moments has now become active panic as Henry spirals while absorbing as much information on this case as possible to see if his day of reckoning has finally come,” The Kickstarter page reads.

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