Author: JK Parkin

Ewing + Allen will launch a new ‘Black Panther’ series in June

Eve L. Ewing and Chris Allen will pick up where John Ridley leaves off.

With John Ridley’s run on Black Panther set to expire with issue #15, Marvel has announced that writer Eve L. Ewing and artist Chris Allen will helm a new Black Panther series that kicks off in June.

“More than anything, I’m bowled over at the opportunity to write such a marquee character. I see it as a big responsibility,” Ewing told ComicBook.com. “Black Panther is a tremendously important legacy character for Marvel fans, but moreover the character has become one of the most important icons in pop culture for people of the African diaspora all over the world. And on a personal note, the title was so indelibly shaped by my friend and mentor, Ta-Nehisi Coates, who is a big part of why I’m even in comics. There are a lot of talented creators working right now and I feel very awed that the editorial team asked me to take this on. It makes me feel really seen as a comics writer, very humbled, and very grateful. It’s a big role for me and I take it extremely seriously.”

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‘The Expanse’ returns to comics in a new maxiseries from BOOM! Studios

Andy Diggle and Rubine tell a story set between ‘Babylon’s Ashes’ and ‘Persepolis Rising.’

The Expanse, the popular science fiction show that wrapped up last year after its sixth season, will return to comics this year with a new 12-issue series. BOOM! Studios has announced The Expanse: Dragon Tooth, by writer Andy Diggle and artist Rubine. Christian Ward will provide covers.

“It’s not often you get to work on something you already love with your whole heart, and everyone who knows me knows how passionate I am about The Expanse. Suit up and strap in — we’re gonna be pulling some high-g maneuvers!” Diggle exclaimed.  

Like they’ve done with titles like BRZRKR, BOOM! plans to run a Kickstarter campaign for the project, which will offer “exclusive premium variants of each issue and exclusive variant editions of each collection, along with highly limited edition collectibles.”

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April’s Marvel’s Voices anthology will focus on the Spider-Verse

The anthology returns with new stories featuring Miles Morales, Silk and more.

Marvel has announced that their April Marvel’s Voices anthology will focus on a specific character family — Spider-Man and his, um, Amazing Friends. Marvel’s Voices: Spider-Verse will arrive in stores April 5.

Marvel has shifted their approach to their Marvel’s Voices anthology series, as they continue to expand the brand into different places. In addition to adding new digital stories under that banner to Marvel Unlimited, they’ve now announced two anthologies focused on specific character families. Marvel’s Voices: Wakanda Forever will land in February, just in time for Black History Month.

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BOOM! Studios announces ‘Seasons Have Teeth’ for April

Dan Watters and Sebastián Cabrol present the seasons as god-like monsters.

It’s a good week for Dan Watters, writer of Home Sick Pilots, among other titles. Not only did Marvel announce a new Loki miniseries that he’s writing, but BOOM! Studios also revealed Seasons Have Teeth, a new miniseries he’s doing with artist Sebastián Cabrol.

The four-issue series features a retired photographer who tries to track down the physical embodiment of the seasons — each a powerful god-like monster. So yes, the seasons literally have teeth.

“I’m overjoyed to be writing this book for Sebastián,” Watters said. “From the dark depths of winter to the joys of summer, he brings such wonderful nuance to both human emotion and monsters—and in The Seasons Have Teeth we are bringing you both in abundance.”

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MacKay + Villa will launch a new ‘Avengers’ title in May

A team of familiar faces will battle Kang, Terminus and the Twilight Court in the new title.

With Jason Aaron’s time on Avengers wrapping up, Marvel has announced that Jed MacKay and C.F. Villa, who worked together recently on Marvel’s Black Cat, will headline a new Avengers title starting in May, joined by cover artist Stuart Immonen.

Their run will spin out of the recent Timeless one-shot, which featured the Avenger’s old villain Kang going up against a villain named Myrddin and his group of faux heroes, the Twilight Court. The Avengers will face a series of challenges called the Tribulation Events that bring them into conflict with Myrddin’s group.

Marvel also revealed the team line-up, which will be led by Captain Marvel. The team includes Thor, Iron Man, Black Panther, Scarlet Witch, Vision and Captain America — aka the former Falcon, Sam Wilson.

It’s an iconic, fairly conservative line-up, using characters who have all been part of the team for decades at this point. Even Sam Wilson, who is filling the Captain America role on the team instead of Steve Rogers, has been an Avenger since the late 1970s.

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Smash Pages Q&A | Eric Nguyen + Scott Burman on ‘White Savior’

The co-creators of the new title from Dark Horse Comics discuss how they came to comics, their inspiration for the story and their approach to humor in the comic.

Any fan of Western pop culture over the last 100 years or so is probably familiar with the “white savior” trope — that’s when Tom Cruise or Matt Damon, for example, show up in Japan or China or anywhere else in the world to rescue non-white people.

The solicitation text for the new comic, White Savior, describes it pretty well: An ancient prophecy foretold of an outsider that would save the peaceful village of Inoki from an unstoppable army–a man who would confuse the people at first with his unconventional ways, but lead them to the light.

But what happens when the savior doesn’t live up to the hype, and is, instead, a drunken idiot? That’s the premise of the new comic by Eric Nguyen and Scott Burman. The duo co-wrote it, while Nguyen and colorist Iwan Joko Triyono provided the art. While Burman is new to comics, Nguyen is a veteran, having drawn everything from Batman to Old Man Logan to Halo. He’s also the co-creator of both Strange Girl and Gigantic, in addition to White Savior.

Both Nguyen and Burman were kind enough to answer a few questions about White Savior, their approach to the humor in it and why it is also a time travel story. The first issue is available now from Dark Horse Comics.

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Competitive baking goes horribly wrong in ‘The Great British Bump-Off’

John Allison and Max Sarin whip up a fancy murder mystery in April.

Now here’s a competition show I could get behind — Giant Days creators John Allison and Max Sarin will turn a British baking competition into an “Agatha Christie-style mystery” in The Great British Bump-Off. They’re joined by colorist Sammy Borras and letterer Jim Campbell.

The four-issue miniseries kicks off from Dark Horse Comics in April.

“I’ve made a lot of comics, I’ve read a lot of mysteries, and I’ve eaten a lot of cakes. You might say that I’ve been preparing for this series since I tasted my first fondant fancy,” Allison said. “And as I’m working with Max and Sammy again, readers can be assured that the confection will look as good as it tastes.”

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Throw up some devil horns for ‘The Rock Gods of Jackson, Tennessee’

Dark Horse will publish a new graphic novel by Rafer Roberts and Mike Norton later this year.

Rafer Roberts and Mike Norton are getting the band back together in the upcoming graphic novel The Rock Gods of Jackson, Tennessee, which Dark Horse will publish in June. They’ll be joined by colorist Allen Passalaqua and letterer Crank!

It’s about a group of high school friends who form a band and battle “a rampaging horde of mutated monsters.”

“Rock Gods started with Mike throwing ideas at me,” Roberts said. “His idea about his high school friends starting a rock band (but having to fight monsters instead) seemed like it would be in my wheelhouse. And, like Mike, I was also in a terrible rock band back in high school and thought I might have something to say.”

“The idea of this book was originally to make a serious autobiographical story about my hometown,” Norton said, “but I soon realized that wasn’t as fun as working with Rafer and making stuff up that never happened!”

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Mr. Justice and Steel Sterling make return appearances in ‘World of Betty & Veronica Jumbo Comics Digest’ #126

Check out an exclusive preview of two new stories coming in next week’s digest.

Courtesy of our friends at Archie Comics, we’re pleased to kick off the new year with a preview of World of Betty & Veronica Jumbo Comics Digest #126.

This digest has three new stories in it in addition to a bunch of classic stories, and today we have previews from two of those stories. The first sees the return of Mr. Justice for what could be his biggest challenge ever — serving as a life coach for Cheryl Blossom. This is a guy who used to regularly fight Satan, but Cheryl may be more than he can handle. That one is by Ian Flynn, James Fry and Bob Smith.

The second preview features Steel Sterling battling the Blue Bison, a battle that would probably go more smoothly if Betty and Veronica weren’t competing to get an autograph from our hero to give to Archie. It’s by Tom DeFalco, the Brothers Kennedy and Jim Amash, while Glenn Whitmore and Jack Morelli provide coloring and lettering for both stories.

Check out the preview below, as well as a classic story featuring Betty battling technology.

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Loki returns in a new miniseries by Watters + Peralta

The Asgardian god takes a road trip around the Marvel Universe this summer.

Dan Watters, the writer of, among other things, the excellent Home Sick Pilots, will make his Marvel debut this summer on Loki, a four-issue miniseries starring the Asgardian god of mischief.

Watters will work with artist Germán Peralta, whose work has appeared in Black Panther, Maestro and Strikeforce, among other titles, as they send Loki on a cosmic road trip of sorts.

“It’s hard to say what a delight it is to be making my Marvel debut, even more so to be doing it with the God of Stories himself—taking him all the way around the Marvel Universe and back again,” Watters said. “I can’t wait for all to see the beauty Germán’s art is breathing into this tale we have to tell you, full of magic, danger—and if Loki can’t help himself (he can’t)—quite a smidge of mischief.”

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Comixology hit in latest round of Amazon layoffs

The corporate giant plans to lay off a reported 18,000 employees overall.

Some Comixology employees are posting to social media today that they’ve been impacted by the latest round of layoffs from their parent company, Amazon.

Journalist Jason Del Rey, who regularly reports on Amazon for Recode, shared a leaked letter from Amazon retail CEO Doug Herrington about the layoffs. According to news reports, Amazon plans to lay off 18,000 employees in this latest round, or roughly 6% of their global workforce. Herrington’s letter says they hope to have their U.S., Canada and Costa Rica employee notifications done today, with other regions to follow in the weeks ahead.

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Nominees announced for the 34th annual GLAAD Awards

Nominees this year include ‘Immortal X-Men,’ ‘Sins of the Black Flamingo,’ ‘Magical Boy’ and more.

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, or GLAAD, have announced the nominees for their 34th annual Media Awards, which recognize and honor media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the LGBTQ+ community and the issues that affect their lives.

Like last year, the awards feature two categories — one for comics books and one for graphic novels. DC led the pack with six nominees across the two categories, followed by Marvel with four, and Image and Graphix with two each. Last year Crush & Lobo from DC Comics and Cheer Up! Love and Pompoms from Oni Press took home the awards.

Check out the nominations for both categories below, and visit the GLAAD site for the rest of the nominations across TV, film, and more.

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