Author: JK Parkin

Fantagraphics to publish Tenacious D’s ‘Post-Apocalypto’ graphic novel

Jack Black and Kyle Gass bring their unique brand of musical humor to comics.

Jack Black and Kyle Gass, a.k.a. the comedy metal duo known as Tenacious D, will make the jump to comics later this year with a project written by the duo and drawn (really!) by Black.

The graphic novel, Post-Apocalypto, will arrive in stores in September from Fantagraphics.

“When we finished this book there was only one publisher we ever really considered,” Tenacious D said in a press statement. “Fantagraphics has been the shining beacon of creativity in comic books for decades. We are thrilled to release our magnum opus with the undisputed greatest and best comic book publisher in the world. Fantagraphics 4 life.”

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Fund Me Sunday: ‘Jupiter Jet,’ ‘Wipe Out,’ ‘Nocturnal Commissions’ and more

Check out projects by Roger Langridge, Rick Geary, Jason McNamara and more.

As crowdfunding continue to become a viable method for creators to fund their creative endeavors, comic-related projects flourish on sites like Kickstarter, Patreon and IndieGoGo. The internet also allows creators to sell their projects direct to fans, through sites like Gumroad, Etsy and of course their own websites. If you’re looking to buy something from or support a creator directly, you’ve come to the right place.

Here’s a look at a few recent projects that fall into those buckets that caught my eye. Send any suggestions of your own to jkparkin@yahoo.com.

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‘Ley Lines’ reveals its 2020 lineup

Victor Martins, Simon Moreton, Xia Gordon and Brendan Leach will each create an issue of the quarterly series.

The Ignatz-nominated comics series Ley Lines will return this year with four new issues, giving cartoonists “a platform … to directly engage with influences beyond the realm of comics.”

Published by Grindstone Comics and Czap Books, each issue of Ley Lines features a different artist’s take on an artist’s work. Previous issues have featured Gloria Rivera tackling the work of author and naturalist John Muir, Diana Chu channeling singer Patti Smith and W.T. Frick focusing on science fiction writer Ursula Le Guin. L Nichols oversees the project.

Now in its sixth year, the 2020 lineup includes:

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DC shares details on their 2020 Free Comic Book Day titles

Wally West and Wonder Woman take center stage in this year’s ‘gold’ title.

DC has revealed the contents of their two Free Comic Book Day 2020 titles, which were first announced in December without any details.

Their gold title, Generation Zero, “sets the stage for the past, present and future of the DC Universe, ” according to the press release. It will feature Wally West, who has gone through a lot recently in DC continuity, if you’ve been following the story that started in Heroes in Crisis.

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Make some noise: Editor Erin Bried shares how ‘Noisemakers’ came together

The founder and editor-in-chief of Kazoo Magazine discusses her first foray into comics anthologies.

Four years ago, Erin Bried made history with Kazoo Magazine, the highest-funded journalism campaign on Kickstarter ever. Envisioned as a way to “celebrate girls for being smart, strong, fierce and true to themselves,” the quarterly magazine went on to gain fans and win awards, including the National Magazine Award for General Excellence in 2019.

In creating Kazoo, Bried also became something else — a comics editor. Each issue of Kazoo features a comic strip by a different female creator, celebrating the life of a woman who has made history. Those comics helped jumpstart Bried’s latest project — an anthology collecting similar comics by a host of talented creators. Noisemakers: 25 Women Who Raised Their Voices & Changed the World arrived in stores today, featuring comics by, among others, Emil Ferris, Lucy Knisley, Lucy Bellwood, Maris Wicks and Rosemary Valero-O’Connell, whose strip about Hallie Daggett, the first woman hired as a fire lookout by the United States Forest Service, can be seen below.

It’s an impressive line-up of talent, and Bried took some time to answer my questions about how it all came together.

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‘Strange Adventures’ becomes a Black Label title

Tom King, Mitch Gerads, Evan “Doc” Shaner and Clayton Cowles’ Adam Strange maxi-series will be aimed at readers over 17.

DC has announced that Strange Adventures, the upcoming Adam Strange maxi-series by Tom King, Mitch Gerads, Evan “Doc” Shaner and Clayton Cowles, will now be a Black Label title and will carry an “Age 17+ content descriptor” on the cover.

“As Strange Adventures was coming together, we had to take a step back and look at what made the most sense for the project,” said DC Group Editor Jamie S. Rich. “Since its tone and themes are more in the vein of Mister Miracle than, say, Tom King’s work on Batman, we decided that it made more sense to give Strange Adventures its own space, where Tom, Mitch, Doc and Clayton could follow the story to all the different places it might take them.”

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Top Shelf to publish Pat Grant’s ‘The Grot’ in May

The creator of ‘Blue’ returns with a new graphic novel about greed and environmental calamity.

Since the release of his well-received debut graphic novel Blue back in 2012, Pat Grant has been busy working on his dytsopian follow-up, The Grot. He’s been serializing the comic online and creating single issues, and come May you’ll be able to get your hands on a printed collection, courtesy of Top Shelf here in the U.S.

Grant is one of several literary cartoonists in Australia who have been catching people’s attention recently and what I’ve read of the webcomic is really strong. So this is one to watch for in May.

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Cartoonists go all in on Hourly Comics Day

Check out comics by Becky Cloonan, Kate Beaton, Celeste Woods, Faith Erin Hicks and more.

It’s early February, which means its time for the annual #HourlyComicsDay, where cartoonists commit to making and posting a comic every hour for a day.

Most hourly comics typically fall into the “autobiography” category, as participants detail their day in comics form, but some will share fictional stories as well. Unlike Inktober, which has prompts and structure (and, apparently, legal issues now) Hourly Comic Day is just a fun challenge that artists choose to take.

Here are a few examples from this year:

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There’s magic in the heirs at Marvel’s ‘Strange Academy’

Skottie Young and Humberto Ramos tell the story of the next generation of Marvel magicians.

Several Marvel releases this week featured a preview of the upcoming title Strange Academy, which features Doctor Strange, Doctor Voodoo and other magical characters teaching the next generation of magic users in the Marvel universe.

If you missed them, or you just want to know more, Marvel has released a new trailer that reveals more about the comic’s back story, as writer Skottie Young and editor Nick Lowe discuss the premise and who you can expect to see in it.

“It’s gonna be big and fun and magical and weird and exciting and all the things you want out of a Marvel comic,” Young said.

Watch the trailer below:

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‘Dune meets Asterix & Obelix’ in ‘Ludocrats’

Kieron Gillen, Jim Rossignol, Jeff Stokely, Tamra Bonvillain and Clayton Cowles team for a ludicrous new series from Image.

It’s been a long and winding road for co-writers Kieron Gillen and Jim Rossignol’s Ludocrats, a comic first announced at the Image Expo in 2015 (that’s the same year Paper Girls and Monstress were announced). Since that time, original artist David Lafuente has been replaced by Jeff Stokely, and the book is now on schedule for an April 1 (no foolin’) release.

“It’s a fantasy adventure,” Gillen said in his email newsletter. “The ‘Dune meets Asterix & Obelix’ is the most accurate way of describing it, which is why we lobbed it in the previews. There’s others. Imagine Pratchett if instead of being a kind and brilliant humanist, he was a complete shithead. Imagine the Neverending Story for adults, if not grown-ups.  Imagine imagining. We can and will go on.”

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Kochalka’s ‘Monkey vs Robot’ celebrates its 20th anniversary

A collection with new material will arrive from Top Shelf in June.

It was 20 years ago that James Kochalka showed the world what would happen when the monkey faced off with its natural enemy, the robot. To celebrate the anniversary of that confrontation, Top Shelf Comix will collect Kochalka’s original story, its sequel and an all-new chapter into one giant softcover.

Monkey vs Robot: The Complete Epic will arrive in June, with a new, final chapter that brings this long-running feud to its natural conclusion: Monkey Vs. Robot in Love. They’ve also added color to the entire saga — just like the original Star Wars trilogy.

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‘New Kid’ wins the Newbery Medal

Several graphic novels were honored at the American Library Association’s annual Youth Media Awards.

The American Library Association recognized several graphic novels this past weekend as part of the 2020 Youth Media Awards at their Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia. These included the prestigious Newbery Medal, which has been given out since 1922 to “the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children;” the Coretta Scott King Book Award; and many others.

The winner of this year’s Newbery Medal was New Kid, the graphic novel by Jerry Craft that was published by HarperCollins Children’s Books. It also won the Coretta Scott King (Author) Book Award. It’s interesting to note that these aren’t in a “graphic novel” category or anything like that; The Newbery Medal is the highest honor the ALA gives out every year, and this is the first time a graphic novel has won it outright.

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