Author: JK Parkin

Chip Zdarsky + Valerio Schiti will chronicle Captain America’s early adventures in the modern era

Debuting in July, the new series explores Cap’s adventures after the thaw.

Batman and Daredevil writer Chip Zdarsky and G.O.D.S. artist Valerio Schiti are headed back to the past in July as the new creative team on Captain America.

Now typically when you hear about a Captain America series set in the past, it’s focused on his star-spangled adventures during World War II — but not this series. This one will be set right after Captain America was thawed out of the ice, as seen in Avengers #4 back in the 1960s, and it’ll flesh out the adventures he had before he joined the team.

“I’ve been a massive Captain America fan for decades. I loved writing the grizzled, older Cap in Avengers: Twilight, so getting to write the actual Captain America title feels like a dream!” Zdarsky said. “We’re exploring Cap’s early days in the modern era with a twist that I think is going to really surprise readers! I’m pretty excited to get this out there in the world, especially with Valerio and Frank’s amazing art!”

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Ryan North + Mike Norton team for ‘Krypto: The Last Dog of Krypton’

The bestest boy fetches a five-issue miniseries this summer.

DC’s “Summer of Superman” initiative is going to the dogs in June, as the publisher announced this week that the team of writer Ryan North and artists Mike Norton and Ian Herring will return to Krypton to tell the story of Superman’s bestest friend Krypto.

Krypto: The Last Dog of Krypton will take our heroic canine — the breakout star of the Superman trailer — from Krypton to Earth.

“Krypto’s origin has always been done at kind of a high level,” North said. “The little guy starts out on Krypton, ends up on Earth, and helps Superman fight crime. The chance to really define Krypto—to show what a little lost dog would go through if he landed all alone on a strange alien world named Earth—was really enticing. And I also fell in love with the idea of treating Krypto as the actual dog he is: he doesn’t talk, and we don’t cheat by reading his thoughts in balloons either. Mike Norton’s art captures exactly what needs to be ‘said’ in every scene. Krypto tells us who he is and how he’s feeling like all dogs do: through his expressions and behaviour, through body language and barks and snuggles and licks and sighs. Dogs are some of the most expressive animals, and we absolutely love them, and I wanted to tell a story that really captured and honoured these animals—Krypto in particular.”

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Marvel will ‘Bring On The Bad Guys’ this summer

Doctor Doom, Mephisto, Loki and more will star in a series of seven connected one-shots.

Marvel will resurrect an old title for a new event this summer. The publisher will pay tribute to Bring On The Bad Guys, a collection of villain-focused origin stories published in the 1970s, with a connected series of seven one-shots.

Marc Guggenheim and Stefano Raffaele will kick things off with Bring On The Bad Guys: Doctor Doom in June, followed by comics featuring Green Goblin, Loki, Abomination, Red Skull, Dormammu and Mephisto, which will take us through August. Creative teams for subsequent volumes have not been announced.

These are the seven villains featured on John Romita Sr.’s cover of the original collection:

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Matt Fraction + Jorge Jiménez will helm a Batman relaunch in September

“Jorge and I have a very superhero-forward kind of take on Batman.”

DC Comics announced at this week’s ComicsPro meeting that Hawkeye and Sex Criminals writer Matt Fraction will join Jorge Jiménez on Batman in the fall.

The title will launch with a new first issue in September, following the completion of Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee’s Hush sequel.

“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Batman. It was the first comic I ever read,” said Fraction. “Jorge and I have a very superhero-forward kind of take on Batman. We’ve got a new Batmobile, we’ve got a new costume, we’ve got new characters, and we’ve got a lot of old ones too—good and bad; all the stuff that makes Batman the coolest character in comics. We want to celebrate it all.”

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Sophie Campbell will write and draw a new Supergirl series

The Woman of Tomorrow will return to Midvale to confront an imposter Supergirl in May.

Supergirl will return to her own series later this year courtesy of Wet Moon creator and former Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles writer/artist Sophie Campbell.

The new series will debut in May, with Campbell both writing and drawing it. The “Summer of Superman” tie-in series will find Supergirl back in Midvale, the suburb of Metropolis where she used to live, dealing with a mysterious imposter Supergirl who is now protecting the town.

“I came up in the comics industry doing mostly graphic novels that I wrote and drew myself, so doing the same with Supergirl feels like I’m returning to my storytelling roots,” said Campbell. “My main touchstones to Kara Zor-El were the stories and the wild costumes from the 70’s, the 1984 Supergirl movie, and the CW show, which I was a huge fan of. In creating this version of Supergirl, I’ll be drawing on some of those influences as the series unfolds.”

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Nominees announced for the 45th annual L.A. Times Book Prize

Books by Ram V, Filipe Andrade, Bhanu Pratap and more have been nominated in the graphic novel category.

The Los Angeles Times has announced the finalists for this year’s L.A. Times Book Prize, which includes a category for Graphic Novels/Comics. The prize recognizes books published in 2024.

The Los Angeles Times has given an award in the graphic novel category since 2009, when Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli took home the award. Other winners include The Love Bunglers by Jaime Hernandez, Duncan the Wonder Dog by Adam Hines, Beverly by Nick Drnaso, Tillie Walden’s On a Sunbeam, The Hard Tomorrow by Eleanor Davis, R. Kikuo Johnson’s No One Else, and Jamila Rowser and Robyn Smith’s Wash Day Diaries. A Guest in the House by EM Carroll won the award last year. 

The winners will be revealed on April 25. Check out the finalists for this year below.

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Exclusive Preview | ‘Heartcore’ by Štěpánka Jislová

The award-winning graphic novel arrives in English from Graphic Mundi in May.

Courtesy of Graphic Mundi, we’re pleased to present a preview of Heartcore, the award-winning graphic novel by Štěpánka Jislová. Originally published in Czech in 2023, Graphic Mundi will publish an English version, translated by Martha Kuhlman, on May 13.

Heartcore delves into the psychology of romantic attachment by examining the author’s own troubled relationships. Through powerful visual storytelling, Jislová confronts toxic patterns, trauma, and societal influences on love while offering an inspiring journey toward healthier connections.

Jislová is an award-winning comics artist based in Prague and the cofounder of the Czech branch of Laydeez do Comics, an international organization that promotes female comic artists and their work. Jislová collaborated with Czech writer Tereza Čechová on the 2021 Muriel prize–winning Bez vlasů, later published by Graphic Mundi in English as Bald. Srdcovka (the original Czech edition of Heartcore) received the Muriel Award in three categories in 2024, including the main prize.

You can check out the publisher’s full description and the preview below.

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Al Letson + Valentine de Landro will explore the origin of Mr. Terrific

The six-issue miniseries begins in May.

Journalist Al Letson, host of the radio show and podcast Reveal, will make his return to comics later this year at DC Comics, where he’ll team with artist Valentine de Landro on a Mr. Terrific miniseries that retells the hero’s tragic origin.

They’ll work with colorist Marissa Louise, letterer Lucas Gattoni and a second artist, Edwin Galmon, who will “provide present-day sequences integral to the story.”

“Valentine and I are diving deep and telling the origin story of who Mr. Terrific is as a man, and as a super hero,” said Letson. “I’ve loved Valentine’s work for years, and working on this series has been a dream. I can’t wait for fans to see what we’re cooking up.” 

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James Tynion IV, Michael Walsh + friends team up for ‘Exquisite Corpses’

The high-concept series brings together a dozen creators to the story of a dozen killers facing off in a small town in Maine.

James Tynion IV and Michael Walsh will bring an “exquisite corpse” to comics in May with the aptly titled Exquisite Corpses, a new series that assembles a group of creators to tell the story of one small town plagued by a dozen killers.

The comic will be published by Image Comics through Tynion’s Tiny Onion imprint.

In his newsletter, Tynion described it as a “high-octane horror comic that sees 12 of the deadliest and most colorful killers in the world descend on a small town to see who will be the last killer standing. It’s the story of those killers, the ordinary people of that small town who have to survive their deadly melee, and the wealthy families that sponsored the killers and unleashed them in the first place.”

Some of the creators participating include Adam Gorham, Becca Carey, Che Grayson, Claire Roe, Gavin Fullerton, Jordie Bellaire, Marianna Ignazzi, Pornsak Pichetshote, Tyler Boss and Valentine De Landro.

“Sometimes you have an idea, and you know it’s crackling with energy and potential but you have to wait for the right moment to unleash it,” Tynion said in the press release. “When the final pieces were falling into place for the formation of Tiny Onion, the first call I made was to pitch Michael Walsh the story of Exquisite Corpses. Later that week, Michael had sketches of the first dangerous killers, and the ideas have been flowing rapid-fire for almost a year and a half since. We’re trying to bring the kind of energy and excitement that’s usually reserved in the comics space for a superhero comic or licensed property. That’s why we’re calling this a horror comics event. We feel like this has the potential to be something really special and lasting.”

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Harley Quinn + Elvira will meet in a crossover; chaos to ensue

Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner will bring the two icons together.

Two pop culture dynamos will meet up in a crossover series written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner this summer. Dynamite Entertainment has announced that Elvira, Mistress of the Dark will “pair up” with DC’s Harley Quinn.

“What do you get when you slam a Maid of Mischief and a Mistress of the Dark together?” Conner said. “Sheer chaos, escapades and fun! Holee pandemolee, who WOULDN’T wanna see the Vivacious Elvira and the Hijinky Harley Quinn get together for a bunch of wisecracking and clowning around? And a bit of naughtiness. Okay. Maybe a lot. I can’t wait to work on this book!”

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Smash Pages Q&A | MK Reed + Jonathan Hill on ‘Budding Crisis’

The creators of ‘Americus’ reunite for a new fantasy series from Comixology Originals.

MK Reed and Jonathan Hill are no strangers to collaboration. Having previously joined forces on graphic novels like Americus and Science Comics: Wild Weather, they’ve established themselves as a formidable creative duo. Now, they’re venturing into new territory with their latest digital comic series, Budding Crisis, for Comixology Originals.

This fantasy epic plunges readers into a world where the Onamanthe plant—whose seeds possess the extraordinary power to grant wishes—has become extinct. When the remaining seeds aboard a ship called The Eclipse are stolen in the Bay of Cygnus, the Dureni people must race against time to recover this irreplaceable treasure. As they hunt for both the magical seeds and the thieves who took them, they stumble upon a conspiracy far greater than they could have imagined.

I spoke with Reed and Hill about the origins of this new series, their creative process and the unique challenges of crafting a fantasy world where the most precious resource is rapidly disappearing. The second issue arrived on Amazon today.

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Yadsendew Rof Tiaw T’nac | ‘Zatanna’ returns to the spotlight

Check out new comics and graphic novels arriving this week by Jamal Campbell, Jose Pimienta, Dean Stuart, Dave Dwonch, Travis Hymel, James Tynion IV and more.

Welcome to Can’t Wait for Wednesday, your guide to what comics are arriving in comic book stores, bookstores and on digital.

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. With Diamond going through bankruptcy proceedings, distribution has become even more tumultuous, with deliveries and arrival dates changing. So check with your retailer to see what’s arriving at their shop.

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