‘Michael Golden’s Micronauts Artist’s Edition’ coming in June

Proceeds from the book will be donated to writer Bill Mantlo’s medical care.

Although we live in the age of reprints, trade paperbacks, digital comics and old material being collected in fancy formats, there are certain comics from the past that, for one reason or another, we’ll probably never see collected or show up on sites like comiXology. Case in point, comics like Micronauts and Rom, which were licensed books published by Marvel that were integrated into the Marvel Universe — and thus featured guest appearances by the X-Men, Spider-Man and other Marvel characters on occasion. They also featured the debuts of original characters to the mythos, like various spaceknights in Rom and Bug in Micronauts, who are actually owned by Marvel.

While this made for a fun time in comics, those licenses eventually expired or transferred over to someone else — case in point, both Rom and Micronauts are published by IDW these days. That means we might see Bug show up occasionally in Guardians of the Galaxy, but he’s no longer a Micronaut, and it’s unlikely his buddy Acroyear is going to show up. Marvel owns Bug, Hasbro owns Acroyear, and all those great comics published back in the day end up in limbo in our reprint-driven era.

So all this is to say that besides the back-issue market, the upcoming Michael Golden’s Micronauts Artist’s Edition coming from IDW may be some fans’ only chance to own some of Bill Mantlo and Golden’s classic Micronauts comics.

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Artists pay tribute to Wein + Cockrum in ‘Giant-Size X-Men’ recreation

Tribute issue arrives from Marvel in May.

Almost 40 artists will come together to recreate Giant-Size X-Men #1 for the milestone issue’s 45 anniversary. Each page will be redrawn by a different artist, including Mark Brooks, Carmen Carnero, Alex Ross, Chris Samnee, Kevin Nowlan, Kris Anka, Aaron Kuder and Mike Hawthorne, among many others.

“The artists were so excited to work on it because the art in this book inspired them all,” said Editor Jordan D. White. “Everybody involved loves this comic book and is doing amazing work. You’ve gotta check it out.”

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Kelly, Bachalo reunite for ‘Nonstop Spider-Man’

New action-oriented title from Marvel starts up in June.

Marvel has announced a brand-new Spider-Man title by the team of Joe Kelly and Chris Bachalo — Nonstop Spider-Man.

“[Editor] Nick Lowe has a super-power,” Kelly said. “He picks up the phone, calls me, and says the exact combination of words that make me want to drop everything and dive head first into the Marvel Universe. Last time it was Spider-Man, Deadpool, Ed McGuinness. No brainer, YES. This time it was Spider-Man, Non-Stop, Chris Bachalo. Again, YES…but ‘Non-stop?’”

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Séance gets his own ‘Umbrella Academy’ spinoff series

‘You Look Like Death!’ by Gerard Way, Shaun Simon, I.N.J. Culbard and Nate Piekos starts in June.

Dark Horse Comics has announced the first solo series for a member of the Umbrella Academy, the supernaturally charged Klaus Hargreeves, a.k.a. Séance.

The aptly titled You Look Like Death! will be written by co-creator Gerard Way with an assist from Shaun Simon, illustrated by I.N.J. Culbard and lettered by Nate Piekos.

“For a long time, I had wanted to tell the story of Klaus Hargreeves’ life after the Umbrella Academy disbanded and before the events of Apocalypse Suite,” Way said in a press release. “I imagined a pretty wild decade for Klaus– full of ups and downs, seedy places, supernatural excursions, and internal battles within himself. I am thrilled to finally be able to tell this story with my co-writer Shaun Simon, who sees the world of the UA as clearly as I do. Also thrilled to work with such an amazing art and lettering team in I.N.J. Culbard and Nate Piekos.

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IDW, DC announce a Locke & Key/Sandman crossover

The crossover arrives in October, by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez.

Locke and Key co-creators Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez are re-teaming for a new story featuring their infamous keys — and this time, they’re unlocking the door to the Sandman universe.

In a move that can only be described as “Netflix synergy,” the IDW title will cross over with DC’s Sandman universe in October.

Besides the creative team, very little has been revealed at this point, but they do have a snazzy teaser video:

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Grist, Di Vito bring ‘The Union’ to Marvel

UK-based superhero team featuring Union Jack will debut in May, just in time for ‘Empyre.’

Paul Grist has brought his distinctive style to a variety of titles over the last three decades, including titles like Jack Staff, Mudman, Kane and the classic St. Swithin’s Day with writer Grant Morrison. He’s a fun writer and talented artist from the UK, and now Marvel has recruited him for a new title called The Union.

Grist will team with artist Andrea Di Vito for the new five-issue miniseries that ties into Marvel’s big Empyre crossover series. It will feature Union Jack, the former Invaders member, along with four new characters designed by R.B. Silva: Snakes, Kelpie, the Choir and Britannia.

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Valiant revives ‘Shadowman’

Cullen Bunn and Jon Davis-Hunt tapped to bring horror back to Valiant.

Valiant’s Shadowman will return in May with a new series by Cullen Bunn, Jon Davis-Hunt, Jodie Bellaire and Clayton Cowles.

“We’re taking Shadowman in some directions he’s never been taken before,” Bunn said in a press release. “He’s confronting a growing supernatural threat that is popping up all over the world. We are introducing the concept of the Blight, which is a weakening of the veil between our world and the Deadside. And these Blights occur in places of great sorrow and misery and evil.”

Bunn added, “We’re also introducing a new villain who will be changing the face of the supernatural in the Valiant Universe.”

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Hail to the king as Aaron, Asrar reteam for ‘King Conan’

Mahmud Asrar, Matt Wilson and Jason Aaron will continue telling Conan stories later this year.

It looks like the band is getting back together as artist Mahmud Asrar announced on Twitter that he’s working with writer Jason Aaron and colorist Matt Wilson on a new King Conan comic.

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Dini, Burnett, Templeton team for ‘Batman: The Adventures Continue’

DC revisits the world first created in ‘Batman: The Animated Series’ in a new digital-first miniseries.

Three names that became synonymous with the classic Batman: The Animated Series are returning to that world for a new six-issue miniseries.

Paul Dini and Alan Burnett, who produced the animated series, and Ty Templeton, who worked on the comic series based on the show, are working on Batman: The Adventures Continue, which will debut digitally in April and in print in May.

“Fans familiar with the Batman of The New Batman/Superman Adventures will be right up to speed,” Dini said. “Alan and I approached the writing with the idea that we were doing the season you might have seen if we had not put the series aside to do Batman Beyond.”

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DC announces plans for ‘Green Lantern 80th Anniversary 100-page Super Spectacular #1’

Liam Sharp, Geoff Johns, Darryl Banks, Mike Grell, Jeff Lemire, Ron Marz and more help celebrate DC’s 80th anniversary.

Following the footsteps of Batman, Superman, Wonder and the Flash, Green Lantern will break out into his own 80th anniversary special issue this May.

DC announced the 100-page special will include contributions from Geoff Johns, Darryl Banks, Charlotte Fullerton McDuffie, Sina Grace, Mike Grell, Jeff Lemire, Ron Marz, Denny O’Neil, Fernando Pasarin, Ivan Reis, Rafa Sandoval, Mariko Tamaki, Peter J. Tomasi, James Tynion IV, Robert Venditti and more, with a cover by current Green Lantern artist Liam Sharp. Strangely, current Green Lantern scribe Grant Morrison isn’t listed.

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DC announces the metal-er ‘Death Metal’ miniseries

Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo get the band back together for a sequel to the ‘Metal’ event series.

If DC’s Metal event wasn’t “metal” enough for you, Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo are coming back in May for an encore — Dark Knights: Death Metal. It promises to be “metal-er” than Metal. Metal!

“I’ve been waiting to do this story since we finished Dark Nights: Metal,” said Snyder. “As much as it was a complete event, we left some threads hanging there for sure. I’d hoped that if people liked the first series enough, we’d have a chance to set up something bigger, and that’s our plan for Death Metal.”

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Kurt Busiek returns to Marvel for a history-spanning series

Busiek teams with artist Yildiray Cinar for a new series that could include just about any Marvel character.

Kurt Busiek’s known for his work on a lot of different comics, from Avengers to Arrowsmith, but his latest project seems to marry the themes from two of his past projects: Marvels and Astro City.

The Marvels, which will feature artwork by Yildiray Cinar, will tell “stories that span decades and range from grand adventure to intense human drama, from street-level to cosmic, starring Marvel’s very first heroes to the superstars of tomorrow,” according to Marvel.com.

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