Author: JK Parkin

Deathblow returns to his own title in new ‘Michael Cray’ series

Warren Ellis, Bryan Hill, N. Steven Harris and Dexter Vines team up for a new 12-issue miniseries starring everyone’ favorite Wildstorm assassin.

Back in October when DC Comics announced that Warren Ellis was bringing back the Wildstorm universe with the launch of The Wild Storm, they said they also planned to bring back several other series — including Zealot, WildCATS and “Michael Cray,” which is the real name of the assassin called Deathblow. If you’re wondering when that last title will see print, wonder no more: DC has officially announced Wildstrom: Michael Cray by Ellis, Postal writer Bryan Hill and artists N. Steven Harris and Dexter Vines.

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Mignola brings out the bad guys this winter

“Hellboy” creator MIke Mignola teams up with Adam Hughes, Chris Roberson, Christopher Mitten, Ben Stenbeck and more to tell new stories about Rasputin, Krampus and Koshchei the Deathless.

The “Mignolaverse” will continue to grow this coming winter with a pair of miniseries and a one-shot focusing on some of the unsavory characters Hellboy has encountered — namely Rasputin, Krampus and Koshchei the Deathless.

“We didn’t set out to publish three stories about bad guys for the holidays, it just worked out that way—and, really, at least one of these guys isn’t ALL bad,” Mignola said in a press release. “It’s been a real pleasure working with Chris Roberson and Christopher Mitten again to flesh out more of the history of the Hellboy world—focusing on Rasputin before the arrival of Hellboy. You just knew there had to be more to say about that guy. Just like I’ve always known there was a lot more to say about Koshchei the Deathless, who I’ve loved since Hellboy: Darkness Calls. Now thanks to the great Ben Stenbeck, we get his full, odd, and tragic life story. And then what is there to say about the Krampus? This grim little Christmas story has been gathering dust for years on my mental shelf, apparently just waiting for the right artist to come along and ask to draw it. I just never imagined that the right artist would be Adam Hughes!”

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‘Spy Seal’ enlists Joey Weiser’s ‘Ninja Fukuroh’ as a back-up feature

Rich Tommaso takes Weiser up on his offer to draw a back-up story for his new comic.

Back when Rich Tommaso started talking about Spy Seal, before it became an upcoming comic from Image, he shared several images of the character online that drew rave reviews from fans and fellow creators. One of those creators was Joey Weiser, creator of the really fun Oni Press graphic novel series Mermin, who offered (perhaps jokingly) to draw a back-up series for the comic:

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Welcome back to Horrorland: IDW announces ‘Goosebumps’ comics

New series will feature three-issue arcs by a variety of creators as R.L. Stine’s creation returns to comics.

In conjunction with the 25th anniversary of the “spooky” children’s series Goosebumps, IDW announced today that they will publish a comic series based on R.L. Stine’s popular books by a rotating series of creators. The first issue arrives in October.

“My first reading thrill when I was a kid were the EC horror comics, Tales from the Crypt and The Vault of Horror,” said R.L. Stine. “They introduced me to the excitement of reading. Now all these years later, I have another thrill–seeing my stories and characters come to life in a comic book series of their own.”

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Stephan Franck puts a stake in a third volume of his vampire heist series ‘Silver’

The animator returns to Kickstarter to fund a third volume of his graphic novel series that pits conmen versus vampires.

When he’s not helping to make animated hits like The Iron Giant and Despicable Me, Stephan Franck turns to his first love, comics. The son of two comic retailers, Franck started his own company, Dark Planet Comics, to publish Silver, a pulp-inspired heist story involving vampires.

Franck has used Kickstarter to crowd fund two volumes of the series already, and now a new campaign has launched for the third volume. I spoke with Franck about the project, the campaign and the appeal of working on comics.

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Live Through This: ‘Royal City’ homages ’90s alternative album covers

Jeff Lemire recruits Jeffrey Brown, Emi Lenox, Nate Powell and more to pay tribute to album covers by Weezer, Hole and more.

The second story arc for Jeff Lemire’s excellent Royal City will take the Pike family back to the early 1990s, and to help set the mood, Lemire has enlisted a bunch of great artists to draw music album tribute covers.

“This new arc takes a major shift as the story jumps back to the year 1993 and we follow the last week in the life of Tommy Pike!” Lemire wrote on his blog. “Meet the Pike siblings when they were all just teenagers in the 90’s and the tragedy that will come to haunt their family is still in the future.”

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DC Comics recruits horror writers for ‘DC House of Horrors’

The Halloween-themed one-shot arrives Oct. 25.

DC Comics will once again bring some frightening fun to the DC universe with a Halloween-themed one-shot titled DC House of Horrors.

The anthology will feature stories by horror writers Brian Keene, Weston Ochse, Edward Lee, Mary SanGiovanni, Wrath James White, Nick Cutter, Ronald Malfi and Bryan Smith. They’ll work with Rags Morales, Bilquis Evely, Howard Porter, Scott Kolins, Dale Eaglesham and other artists “for some short stories that will keep you reading late into the night.”

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New season of ‘Kaijumax’ starts on Wednesday [Preview]

Check out a preview of Zander Cannon’s giant monsters-in-prison epic, which returns for a third miniseries this week.

Hard times return for the inmates in Kaijumax prison this week, as the third “season” kicks off with gang tensions, mind-controlled murders and the Creature from Devil’s Creek maybe getting a break. Zander Cannon is in fine form for the latest Kaijumax miniseries from Oni Press, who provided a preview of the first issue.

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Get an early look at Davis-Hunt’s cover to ‘The Wild Storm’ #7

Writer Warren Ellis shares the cover and some hints about the story coming up in the comic’s second arc.

On his “Orbital Operations” mailing list today, The Wild Storm writer Warren Ellis shared Jon Davis-Hunt’s cover to issue #7 “a little early.”

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Sean Gordon Murphy pits ‘White Knight’ Joker against Gotham’s biggest threat — the Batman

‘White Knight,” a new seven-issue miniseries by Sean Gordon Murphy, introduces a world where a cured Joker tries to go straight — but still has it in for the Dark Knight.

Punk Rock Jesus creator Sean Gordon Murphy will take on Batman and the Joker in a new seven-issue miniseries called White Knight. According to DC Comics, the story will feature “a massive cast of heroes and villains” and explore a world where a “cured” Joker goes after Gotham’s greatest threat — Batman.

“We know Joker’s a genius, we know he’s relentless, and we know he can play the crowd, so why not make him a politician?” Murphy said. “Why not strip away the psychosis (the thing that’s holding him back) and let him challenge Batman unimpeded? And to make it even scarier, what if he did it legally and without breaking any rules, so that Batman couldn’t stop him?”

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Frank Miller’s ‘300’ prequel due next year

Check out new preview art for ‘Xerxes: The Fall of the House of Darius and the Rise of Alexander.’

Entertainment Weekly reports that Frank Miller’s 300 prequel will arrive next year from Dark Horse Comics.

With quite the mouthful for a title, Xerxes: The Fall of the House of Darius and the Rise of Alexander will “focus on the Persian emperor Xerxes, the so-called ‘King of Kings’ who raised a massive army to invade Greece in the fifth century B.C. to get revenge for his father’s death and become a god,” according to EW. “The title suggests the story will also look forward to the rise of Alexander the Great, who destroyed the Persian Empire a few centuries after Xerxes’ reign.”

Miller has talked about doing the comic for a while, at least as far back as 2009-2010.

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DC & Archie & Harley & Ivy & Betty & Veronica & Dini & Andreyko & Braga

Creators Paul Dini, Marc Andreyko and Laura Braga team up for a crossover tale starring DC’s Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy as they meet Archie Comics’ Betty and Veronica.

The distance between Gotham City and Riverdale is about to get much, much smaller, as DC Comics and Archie Comics bring together four of their most popular female characters for a big crossover: Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Betty and Veronica.

Harley Quinn co-creator Paul Dini will team with Marc Andreyko to write Harley & Ivy Meet Betty & Veronica, which will feature art by Laura Braga.

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