Author: JK Parkin

Timm & Klein honor ‘The King’ on San Diego souvenir book

Comic-Con International’s annual publication will pay tribute to Jack Kirby, in honor of his 100th birthday.

Every year Comic-Con International in San Diego pays tribute to various anniversaries in their annual Souvenir Book, which features artists contributing pieces related to whatever comic or pop culture phenomenon is celebrating a milestone. With the upcoming 100th birthday of legendary comics creator Jack Kirby, this year’s edition will feature a cover by Bruce Timm of Batman: The Animated Series fame (which is also celebrating an anniversary) that honors the King in two ways.

Timm and award-winning letterer Todd Klein pay homage to Kirby’s cover to Superman’s Pal: Jimmy Olsen #141:

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AdHouse gets ‘Screwed Up’ in August

Konstantin Steshenko’s marriage-proposal-gone-wrong story comes to print this summer.

AdHouse Books will publish Konstantin Steshenko’s Screwed Up in August, a tale of a marriage proposal gone wrong.

How bad is it, exactly? Well, you can take a look at some preview pages below, and just know that it gets awfully worse from there.

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Pandas go wild in Rivera’s variant cover for ‘Shirtless Bear Fighter’

Fourth issue of the miniseries to feature a cover by the popular artist.

Following the “Nude Beariant” cover for Image’s upcoming Shirtless Bear-Fighter #1, Paolo Rivera reveals his variant cover for the book’s fourth issue.

While no one’s naked, it does feature gratuitous panda bears. Take a look below.

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Valiant to release ‘Secret Edition’ versions of ‘Secret Weapons’

Which ones are “Secret” editions? It’s a secret.

If you’re planning to buy Valiant’s Secret Weapons when it arrives June 28, be on the lookout for a special “Secret Edition” version of the first issue.

Valiant Entertainment announced that some versions of the first issue will contain “subtle differences” that will help readers to “decode a major secret at the heart of the Valiant Universe’s most important new series.”

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Lynda Barry climbs ‘through the circle’ to join ‘The Family Circus’

The same weekend she receives the Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award, Barry finds herself immortalized in the long-running comic strip.

Lynda Barry received the Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Cartoonists Society over the weekend, but that wasn’t the only honor she received — she was also immortalized with a special appearance in one of her favorite comic strips, The Family Circus.

The May 27 strip featured Jeffy introducing his dad to his new friend Lynda:

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Fantagraphics to launch ‘Now’ anthology in September

Eric Reynolds to edit the three-times-a-year publication; first issue will feature Sammy Harkham, Rebecca Morgan, Dash Shaw, Noah Van Sciver, Gabrielle Bell and more.

Fantagraphics is bringing back a reoccurring alt.comics anthology with the launch of Now this September. Like MOME, the quarterly anthology that ran for 22 issues about 10 years ago, Now will be edited by Fantagraphics Associate Publisher Eric Reynolds.

Reynolds spoke with The Comics Reporter’s Tom Spurgeon about why now is the time for Now:

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Shirtless Bear-Fighter loses his pants for ‘Nude Beariant’ cover

We already know from the title of Shirtless Bear Fighter that we’ll see the main character fight bears with his shirt off, but looking at the preview pages for the new Image title, it looks like he will be pants-less as well. That point is driven even further home with the release of a “Nude Beariant” cover for the first issue, which you can find after the jump — NSFW, obviously.

Hey, if you’re already fighting bears without a shirt, who needs pants slowing you down as well?

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‘Wytches’ returns in Image’s promotional magazine

Second volume of Image+ will also feature an autobiographical strip by Ed Piskor.

Image+, Image Comics’ supplemental magazine to Diamond’s monthly Previews catalog, has proven to be way more than just a means to share their monthly solicits. It regularly features editorial content, interviews with creators and even comics, as it ran Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard’s “Negan” strip, featuring the popular Walking Dead character’s back story, in its first volume. The fact that it is edited by former Comics Alliance contributor David Brothers probably explains why it’s not to be missed.

Starting in August, Image+ kicks off its second volume, and that issue will include an increased page count, an original autobiographical comic strip from Hip Hop Family Tree creator Ed Piskor, and the return of Scott Snyder and Jock’s Wytches.

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Anders Nilsen’s ‘Tongues’ kicks off in August

New comic retells the story of Prometheus, with a bit of a twist.

Big Questions creator Anders Nilsen has announced his next project, Tongues — a retelling of the Greek myth of Prometheus.

“The book is a mash-up of many things,” Nilsen writes on his website. “It’s an adventure story, set in the modern Middle East, it is based on Greek myth in part, but is also about human nature and origins, revenge and murder, politics and religion. And it brings back a character from the first real book I ever put out.”

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Smash Pages Q&A: Sebela & Kambadais serve up crime in ‘Short Order Crooks’

If you read the Eisner-nominated High Crimes, you know Christopher Sebela has a talent for turning crime stories on their head, setting them up in interesting places with compelling characters. With Short Order Crooks, Sebala leaves Mount Everest behind and heads to Portland’s food truck scene, enlisting the talented George Kambadais and Lesley Atlansky to help cook up a story with equal parts comedy, crime and cooking.

With eight days left on the timer, Short Order Crooks passed its funding goal yesterday on Kickstarter. As they look ahead to their stretch goals, I spoke with both Sebela and Kambadais about the project, food trucks and more.

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Faith teams with just about everyone in ‘Faith and the Future Force’ #1

Step aside, Rai — there’s a new Future Force coming from Valiant Entertainment, and their breakout character Faith is taking the reigns.

From the team of Jody Houser, Stephen Segovia and Barry Kitson comes Faith and the Future Force, a ‘standalone event series” that will future a huge cast of Valiant characters in “an all-star expedition into the time stream that will shake the foundations of the Valiant Universe for all time.”

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Tommaso’s childhood creation slides into comics this August

‘Spy Seal,’ created by Rich Tommaso when he was 13, takes on snipers, assassins and more in a new series from Image Comics.

Remember creating comics when you were a kid? Y’know, guys like Web Man and Tarantula Kid, who were basically Spider-Man crossed with Batman and Robin, or Captain Fantastic, who had all the powers of the Fantastic Four? Not everyone imagined blanket ripoffs of other characters; Rich Tommaso of She Wolf and Dark Corridor fame created Spy Seal, a seal that’s also a spy, and in August, the character finds his way into his own comic.

“It’s wonderful and surreal to be working with material that I created as a 13-year-old kid,” said Tommaso. “I’m enjoying doing a spy story too—it’s a genre I’ve never explored in my adult career as a cartoonist.”

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