Author: JK Parkin

Jeph Loeb + Simone Di Meo resurrect the ‘Age of Apocalypse’ this fall

‘X-Men of Apocalypse’ will bring Blink, Sabretooth, Morph and other Age of Apocalypse characters to the 616.

Marvel will return to one of the most popular X-Men crossover events from the 1990s in the upcoming X-Men of Apocalypse miniseries by Jeph Loeb and Simone Di Meo.

The story will be set up in this summer’s Giant-Size Age of Apocalypse, one of several one-shots that’ll explore past X-Men-related events. Loeb and Di Meo will have a back-up story in that issue. Loeb worked on the original Age of Apocalypse storyline, as he wrote the X-Man miniseries and co-created the character with artist Steve Skroce.

Also, in a nod to the original crossover, the story will start with an “alpha” issue, followed by a four-issue miniseries, and will conclude with an “omega” issue.

“Thirty years ago, The X-Men of Apocalypse took the comics world by storm and I was lucky enough to be part of it,” Loeb said. “There were new characters! New designs! Heroes who were villains and villains who were heroes! Now, for the 30th anniversary, an all-new, all-different story with spectacular art by Simone Di Meo brings us to this uncanny team that shouldn’t even exist — and they are coming here! Join Gambit, Sabretooth & Wild Child, Blink, Forge and Morph and more as they try to save one universe without dooming another!”

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Mad Cave Studios will serve up ‘Eat Your Young’ this summer

There can be only one in the new series by Brian Buccellato, Mattia Monaco and Buddy Beaudoin.

The battle for immortality will begin in August in Eat Your Young, a knock down, drag out free-for-all between members of an immortal family. The six-issue miniseries by writer Brian Buccellato, artist Mattia Monaco and letterer Buddy Beaudoin will begin in August.

“Eat Your Young is my kind of chaos—immortal family feuds, bloody betrayals, and a violent journey through the pop culture that raised me,” said Buccellato. “It’s been incredible collaborating with Mattia again and bringing it all to life with Mad Cave fully behind us.”

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Reza Farazmand, Sarah Andersen, Manu Larcenet + more nominated in this year’s NCS divisional awards

The National Cartoonist Society has announced the divisional nominees for the 79th Annual NCS Reuben Awards.

The National Cartoonists Society has announced the 2024 NCS Divisional finalists for the 79th Annual NCS Reuben Awards, which annually recognize creators of comic strips, illustrations, comic books and more. This follows the nominees that were announced for the Reuben Award itself last month.

The awards recognize the cartoonist or artists specifically, so you’ll note that the actual comic, the writer and the publisher aren’t called out in the nominations. Also, the comics category can be a bit eclectic compared to other awards programs; the NCS definitely have a type.

This year’s nominees in the comic book category include Jeff Austin and Phil Miller, artists of the independent comic Avenger (New Blood) #1, published by Lenovations Press; George Broderick Jr., creator of Scintillating Tales and Ballad of the Lavender Dot; and Gideon Kendall, the artist of Lester of the Lesser Gods.

In the graphic novel category, the nominees are Jay Fosgitt, creator of Bodie Troll; Manu Larcenet, who adapted Cormac McCarthy’s The Road into a graphic novel that was published last year; and LeUyen Pham, a children’s book author who drew Lunar New Year Love Story, which was written by Gene Luen Yang.

Webcomics creators are recognized in two categories — long form and short form. The long-form nominees are Amy Kurzweil, David Milgrim and Sean Wang. The short-form webcomics nominees include Sarah Andersen, Jen Bateman and Reza Farazmand.

Check out the full list of nominees across all the categories for this year:

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Greg Rucka + Nicola Scott reunite for a Justice League heist story

‘Cheetah and Cheshire Rob the Justice League’ features a group of villains targeting the Justice League Watchtower.

The Black Magick team of Greg Rucka and Nicola Scott will re-team for Cheetah and Cheshire Rob the Justice League, a heist story featuring a group of villains robbing the Justice League Watchtower.

Rucka and Scott will be joined by colorist Annette Kwok and letterer Troy Peteri on the six-issue DC All In series.

“I won’t bury the lede,” said Rucka. “This is a crew of villains, or at least nominal bad guys. Not one of them has access to—let alone would be welcomed aboard—the Justice League Watchtower. We’re not making this easy on them. But for Cheetah especially, this is an all-or-nothing play—she needs to do this job, and she’s not going to let anything, or anyone, keep her from getting what she’s after.”

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Turns out it was ‘New Avengers’ all along

Appropriately, there’s a twist to the New Thunderbolts* comic as well.

Much like the film of the same name that debuted last week, Marvel has revealed that it’s upcoming New Thunderbolts* title won’t actually be called New Thunderbolts.

In a synergistic move, the new title is actually called New Avengers.

“Plot twist, it’s been New Avengers all along,” said writer Sam Humphries. “I promised surprises, and this is the first of many. It’s a thrill and an honor to continue the grand New Avengers tradition of team dynamics that are as explosive as the threats. And this era has two combustible teams: the New Avengers and the Killuminati!”

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Smash Pages Q&A | Taki Soma on ‘Alienated’

The creator of ‘Sleeping While Standing’ and more discusses her newest miniseries from Comixology Originals.

Taki Soma has shown her mastery of comics several times over in her career, working as a writer, artist and colorist — and sometimes all three. Her previous works include titles like Rapture, The After Realm, Sinergy, The Old Guard: Tales Through Time, Iron Man, the autobiographical Sleeping While Standing and Bitch Planet, for which she was nominated for a Hugo Award back in 2018.

Her most recent work is Alienated, a digital miniseries she’s writing that Comixology Originals launched last month. For Alienated, Soma is working with artist John Broglia, whose most recent work includes Nice Jewish Boys.

Alienated is a different take on the alien invasion story, one that’s less about shady government officials and wide-scale panic, and more about how a specific set of characters — which include a retired teacher and his grandkids — react to finding a live alien.

I spoke with Soma about the title and what to expect from it. The first and second issues of the six-issue miniseries are available now.

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‘Feeding Ghosts’ by Tessa Hulls wins a Pulitzer Prize

Former Washington Post political cartoonist Ann Telnaes also won this year in the Illustrated Reporting and Commentary category.

Feeding Ghosts: A Graphic Memoir by Tessa Hulls has become the second graphic novel to win a Pulitzer Prize.

The graphic novel won the award in the “Memoir” category, which comes with a prize of $15,000. Hulls follows in the footsteps of Art Spiegelman, who won a Pulitzer in 1992 for his work on Maus.

Pulitzer Prize administrator Marjorie Miller announced the awards today in a livestream on YouTube and described Feeding Ghosts as “an affecting work of literary art and discovery whose illustrations bring to life three generations of Chinese women — the author, her mother and grandmother — and the experience of trauma handed down with family histories.”

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Rest in Peace, Butch Guice

The co-creator of Resurrection Man and Apocalypse, and artist of everything from ‘Iron Man’ to ‘The Death of Superman’ storyline has passed away at the age of 63.

Jackson “Butch” Guice, the artist who rose to fame drawing Micronauts, X-Factor, The Flash, Doctor Strange and more, has passed away. He was 63.

The news was reported by his brother-in-law, James Hettel, on Facebook. Guice had reported on his own Facebook page in early April that he was experiencing health issues that landed him in the ICU, and noted he had been in a “losing a fight to a strong case of pneumonia.”

“Words to describe Butch: Solid. Dependable. Influential. Kind (in a very straight forward, get your ass back up and get back in there kind of way). Loving. Love for his family like a mountain. And a Holy Anger like a Mountain Slide if he saw you looking sideways at those he protected,” his brother-in-law said in his post.

Guice was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1961, and became a fan of comics not long after that.

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Smash Pages Q&A | Corinna Bechko on EC Comics’ ‘Blood Type’

The accomplished writer talks about writing the first-ever continuation of an EC Comics anthology short, which gets a preview this weekend on Free Comic Book Day.

The revival of EC Comics has been one of the most interesting and fun things to happen in comics this past year. Oni Press has done a tremendous job of paying tribute to the notorious publisher while also making it feel fresh and different.

Speaking of which, their revival will take another turn this summer as they debut Blood Type. Following the various anthologies Oni has released under the EC Comics banner this past year, Blood Type is the first-ever continuation of an EC Comics anthology short, “picking up the thread of how one lone vampire lost at sea will soon wash ashore on a tropical isle, where she is not the only creature with a taste for flesh and blood,” according to Oni Publisher Hunter Gorinson.

Ada, the lone vampire in question, made her debut in Epitaphs from the Abyss #3, in a story by Corinna Bechko and Jonathan Case. That story will appear in EC Comics Presents Blood Type #0, a Free Comic Book Day offering that’ll be available this Saturday. Bechko, in fact, has a store signing at Collector’s Paradise in Winnetka, California on May 3, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., signing alongside creators Rodney Barnes (Killadelphia) and Patrick Horvath (Free For All, Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees).

For the miniseries, Bechko is working with artist Andrea Sorrentino and colorist Dave Stewart to continue the story of Ada. It will kick off on June 18.

I spoke with Bechko about the new series, its historical significance, her love for the horror genre and more.

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Look, up in the sky, it’s … Wilbur? Galaxy Man arrives in ‘Betty & Veronica Jumbo Comics Digest’ #335

Check out a preview of a new story by Dan Parent coming next month from Archie Comics.

Courtesy of Archie Comics, we’re pleased to share a preview of Betty & Veronica Jumbo Comics Digest #335, which arrives in stores June 4.

The digest’s new story, written and drawn by Dan Parent, features an all-star red carpet for the opening of the Galaxy Man movie, with appearances by the Mighty Crusaders, Katy Keene and … Wilbur Wilkin? Wilbur lands a gig dressing up as the movie’s hero, but when he runs into trouble, he needs a hero of his own. Inker Bob Smith, colorist Glenn Whitmore and letterer Jack Morelli join Parent on this story.

Check out the preview below, along with some classic Archie material that’ll appear in the digest.

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Diamond moves closer to having a new owner

The bankruptcy court approves the bid from Universal Distribution and Ad Populum, with a final closing date still pending.

It looks like Diamond is moving ever closer to having a new owner, and — surprise! — it’s not the top bidder in their bankruptcy auction.

Alliance Entertainment, “a global distributor and wholesaler specializing in music, movies, video games, electronics, arcades, and collectibles,” won the auction, which led to a bunch of drama that I’ll recount below. But after all sorts of shenanigans — is that a legal term? — the bid from Universal Distribution LLC and holding company Ad Populum has been approved by the court.

Under the agreement, Universal will acquire Alliance Game Distributors (a different company than Alliance Entertainment; things haven’t gotten that weird), and Ad Populum will acquire Diamond Comic Distributors, Diamond Book Distributors, Diamond Select Toys & Collectibles, Collectible Grading Authority and “other related assets.” Diamond UK remains separate from this sale process, and the transaction is subject to final closing.

The press release had quotes from all three entities, with Joel Weinshanker, managing director of Ad Populum, winning with the best one:

“Ever since I was young, I’ll never forget walking through the front door of my neighborhood shop and spotting those iconic Diamond Comic boxes, each one opening to reveal my dreams and ambitions,” said Joel Weinshanker, managing director of Ad Populum. “We’re incredibly excited to build on Diamond’s remarkable legacy by bringing Ad Populum’s best-in-class sales, marketing, and distribution to the next chapter.”

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Ed Brubaker + Sean Phillips return to ‘Criminal’ with a new graphic novel

Image Comics will release ‘The Knives’ in August.

It’s been about half a decade since we’ve seen new Criminal material from Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, but that dry spell ends this year with The Knives, the first Criminal story since 2019.

The Knives arrives from Image Comics in August as an original graphic novel. Previous volumes of Criminal started as comic series that were eventually collected, so it’s a shift to the OGN format the duo has been excelling in for the past several years with Pulp, Night Fever and other projects.

“A few years ago someone reached out to me to return some of my uncle’s lost possessions, after his family estate had been plundered, and bizarrely, that sparked the inspiration for what I hope is the biggest and best Criminal book yet. A crime story about one generation growing up in the life, another growing older and trying to get out of it, and Hollywood, somehow, too,” said Brubaker. “This book is an epic, the longest original graphic novel we’ve ever done, and it’s been a joy to return to this series and these characters, especially after spending most of the last three years watching them come to life on set and screen. I can’t wait to get this book into readers’ hands.”

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