Author: JK Parkin

Smash Pages Q&A: Fabian Rangel Jr. on ‘Blood Brothers’

The prolific writer of ‘Doc Unknown’ talks about his newest Kickstarter campaign for a graphic novel with artist Javier Caba.

Fabian Rangel Jr. has been building up a strong portfolio of comics work over the last few years, both as a self publisher and for various companies. In addition to working with places like Stela and Black Mask Studios, he’s taken crowdfunding to heart, and recently kicked off his fifth campaign to fund a new graphic novel called Blood Brothers.

Rangel is working with artist Javier Caba, letterer Ryan Ferrier and editor Jim Gibbons on the new supernatural/pulp story, which features two brothers solving mysteries in a city populated by monsters from myth and fantasy. Oh, and one of the brothers is a glow-in-the-dark luchador, which was enough to win me over.

I spoke to Rangel about the project, the appeal of Kickstarter and the recently formed Two Headed Press, an imprint he helped found with Ferrier, Chris Sebela, Ed Brisson, Curt Pires and Tini Howard.

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‘The Once and Future Queen’ imagines King Arthur as a chess champ

Adam P. Knave, D.J. Kirkbride and Nickolas Brokenshire update Arthurian legend in a new comic coming from Dark Horse next March.

The team behind the MonkeyBrain/IDW series Amelia Cole is putting the band back together for a new series that ties into the legend of King Arthur.

Dark Horse Comics announced today The Once and Future Queen, a five-issue miniseries by Adam P. Knave, D.J. Kirkbride and Nickolas Brokenshire, along with letterer Frank Cvetkovic. Per the release, a teen named Rani Arturus travels to the UK to compete in a chess championship, where she finds the sword Excalibur and meets a “surprisingly modern” Merlin.

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Extra, extra: Get your own ‘Paper Girls’ pins to support the CBLDF

Wear Rita Pearl and Petey Boy proudly by donating to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

At the New York Comic Con, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund delivered a set of pins based on Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang’s Paper Girls — and now they’re offering them on their website.

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‘Edison Rex’ returns via Patreon, the web

Read the adventures of Chris Roberson and Dennis Culver’s villain-turned-hero every Tuesday and Thursday.

Chris Roberson and Dennis Culver are setting their villain-turned-hero free — free on the web, that is. They’ve launched a new website for Edison Rex, where they plan to post all 18 issues of the series, as well as a Patreon campaign to fund the creation of new issues.

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Mignola, Roberson, Grist reveal ‘The Visitor: How and Why He Stayed’

The five-issue miniseries will cast a light on a long-brewing Hellboy mystery.

Hellboy’s universe is populated by all sorts of strange, magical characters drawn from myths and legends around the world — but also, on a couple occasions, from out of this world. Fans of the characters over the years may have noticed — and wondered about — a group of aliens seen in Hellboy: Seed of Destruction and Hellboy: The Conqueror Worm, and come next year, they’ll get some answers.

Due out next February is The Visitor: How and Why He Stayed, a five-issue series by Mike Mignola and Chris Roberson, featuring art by Paul Grist. (Grist! Seeing his promo art in the trailer, available below, makes you wonder why he’s never worked in the Mignolaverse before. He’s a natural for it. Also, I sure miss Mudman and Jack Staff). The book will feature these mysterious aliens and will “probe into a pivotal moment in Hellboy’s past for a surprising tale that harkens back to the character’s first ever appearance.”

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Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye — and a theme song

Watch Michael Avon Oeming draw Cave Carson to the tune of Gerard Way and Ray Toro’s ‘Into the Cave We Wander.’

At this year’s New York Comic Con, Gerard Way and DC Comics gave away a cassette tape featuring a new, original song, “Into the Cave We Wander.” Recorded by Way and his former My Chemical Romance band mate Ray Toro, it serves as a theme song for the second Way-written Young Animal comic, Cave Carson has a Cybernetic Eye.

The first issue of Cave Carson arrives tomorrow, by Way, Jon Rivera and Michael Avon Oeming, and if it’s as good as Way’s first Young Animal title, Doom Patrol, has been, then I suspect we’re all in for a treat. In the meantime, if you weren’t one of the lucky few to get a copy of the song in New York, Oeming has released a YouTube video that features the song AND Oeming working on a Cave Carson sketch.

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Cates, Shaw deliver magic swords to Texas in ‘God Country’

The creative team behind ‘Buzzkill’ create a new series from Image Comics.

The creative team behind Buzzkill and The Paybacks will re-team for God Country, due out from Image Comics in January.

Described as “Southern Bastards meets American Gods,” God Country, by Donny Cates and Geoff Shaw, tells the story of an old man with dementia in Texas whose small town is destroyed by a tornado — which also happens to deliver a mystical sword that restores his mind and body. Then he fights monsters!

“This is a story Geoff and I have been wanting to tell for such a long time, and to be able to do it with Image is beyond a dream come true,” said Cates in the press release. “God Country is full of heart, action, giant swords, Kirby Gods, Texans, magic tornados, and family drama…so it’s really just everything I love piled into one great, epic yarn. This January everyone is welcome to come on in, grab a beer, have a seat and get ready… we have a hell of a story to tell you.”

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José Luis Ágreda’s stunning character renditions

I’ve been sitting on this link long enough now that I can’t remember where I first saw it — maybe Facebook? — but no matter where it came from, cartoonist and animator José Luis Ágreda’s renditions of various comic characters are really pretty. The set of characters, which he “redesigned with a limited color palette,” come from all over the world and include Batman, Kamandi, Devil Dinosaur, Astroboy, Little Nemo, Tintin, Tank Girl, Capitan Trueno, Johan and Pirluit, Corto Maltes and many others.

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‘Dapper Men’ books land at Top Shelf

Jim McCann and Janet Lee’s whimsical tale gets a deluxe edition next summer and a sequel in 2018.

Return of the Dapper Men and its planned sequels have found a new home at Top Shelf Productions. Announced at the New York Comic-Con this past weekend, the IDW imprint will release a deluxe edition of the book next summer.

Return of the Dapper Men, by Jim McCann and Janet Lee, was originally published by Archaia in 2010, and McCann and Lee acquired the rights from them to the book in 2014. The whimsical story of a boy, a robot girl and the Dapper Man known as 41 won the Eisner Award for “Best Graphic Album: New” (tying with Daniel Clowes’ Wilson) in 2011.

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Dark Horse to publish ‘American Gods’ comic

P. Craig Russell, Scott Hampton and many more will adapt Neil Gaiman’s novel into a 27-issue comic series.

With all the attention on the upcoming television adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods novel, it’s no surprise that Dark Horse Comics has announced a comic book adaptation as well.

“There’s a tremendous amount of excitement, in my house and in the world, about the American Gods TV series coming up on Starz,” Gaiman said in a press release. “What we’ve managed to keep a secret until now is that there is something just as exciting out there: American Gods, the comic. I’ve been watching P. Craig Russell breaking down the book into comic form, watching Scott Hampton painting the pages, watching Glenn Fabry create the covers, and grinning to myself with delight, because the American Gods comic is going to be an astonishing, faithful and beautiful adaptation.”

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DC to launch new ‘Batwoman’ title next year

Spinning out of ‘Detective Comics,’ Marguerite Bennett and Steve Epting team up to tell solo stories starring Kate Kane.

Batwoman will once again star in her own solo title beginning next February, by writer Marguerite Bennett and artist Steve Epting, who returns to DC Comics after a 16-year absence. James Tynion IV, who currently writes the character in Detective Comics, will co-write the first arc.

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James Stokoe is doing an ‘Aliens’ comic

Dark Horse announces two new projects due out in time for next April’s “Aliens Day 2017.”

In space, no one can hear you scream … with excitement. Dark Horse announced today that James Stokoe, creator of Orc Stain and Wonton Soup, will write and draw a four-issue Aliens series.

Per the press release, Aliens: Dead Orbit finds Wascylewsk, an engineering officer, trapped in a space station after a horrific accident. Wascylewsk is forced to use all available tools—a timer, a utility kit, and his wits—to survive an attack from the deadliest creature known to man. The first issue will feature a variant cover by Geof Darrow and goes on sale next April.

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