Shelly Bond spearheads ‘Black Crown’ imprint at IDW

Former Vertigo editor Shelly Bond has joined IDW Publishing and will head up a new line of connected, creator-owned comics called “Black Crown.”

“I’ve long admired from afar Shelly’s track record and have been a huge fan of the direction, vision, and creative teams she’s assembled on her books over the years,” said Chris Ryall, IDW’s Chief Creative Officer, in a press release. “I’m ecstatic about the idea of getting to work directly with her in building Black Crown into ‘the Ruling Class’ of creator-owned comics.”

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Image announces everything and the kitchen sink at ECCC

New projects from Ales Kot, Joe Casey, Joe Keatinge, Declan Shalvey, Matt Wagner, Jeff Lemire, Phil Hester and more announced at Emerald City Comic Con.

For the past few years Image Comics has held an Image Expo, which is kind of their own mini-convention where they feature creators and make announcements. Since they ended up skipping it this year (it’ll be back in 2018) they used their Thursday panel at the Emerald City Comic Con to unleash a huge slew of comic book announcements.

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de Campi, ChrisCross pull the trigger on ‘Bankshot’

New comic from Dark Horse promises high-octane, no holds barred action.

In conjunction with this week’s Emerald City Comic Con, Dark Horse Comics has announced Bankshot, a “no-holds-barred action story” by writer Alex de Campi, artist ChrisCross and colorist Snakebite.

The book stars an anti-hero named Marcus King, who is hired by the Russian government to reclaim a KGB lab in the Ukraine. “With everything on the line, Marcus needs to become for real the man he has always pretended to be. He also needs to punch a shitload of dudes and blow a lot of stuff up,” the press release reads.

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‘Zodiac Starforce’ returns from Dark Horse this summer

‘Cries of the Fire Prince’ reunites creators Kevin Panetta and Paulina Ganucheau for another tale starring the team of magical teenage girls.

With Emerald City Comic Con just a few days away, Dark Horse has began rolling out the announcements — including one for a new Zodiac Starforce miniseries.

Subtitled “Cries of the Fire Prince,” the new series by Kevin Panetta and Paulina Ganucheau follows the original series, Zodiac Starforce: By the Power of Astra, which landed in comic shops back in 2015.

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Gillen, Fuso enlisted for James Bond one-shot

Dynamite announces ‘James Bond: Service,’ a one-shot featuring an assassin’s plot to exterminate the “special relationship” between the U.S. and Great Britain.

Joining a list of writers that already includes Warren Ells, Andy Diggle, James Robinson and Benjamin Percy, Kieron Gillen has signed on to write Dynamite’s James Bond. He’ll team with artist Antonio Fuso to write James Bond: Service, a one-shot due out in May.

“The thing with the icons is that I’m not particularly interested in doing a one-size-fit-all story for them,” Gillen said in his email newsletter today. “You need to make them live, and that means finding something that really captures you. As such, this ends up digging into some of the interest in history and geopolitics which drives work like Uber, and merging it with the contemporary era. It is very much a Bond inspired by Brexit and realpolitik. If you can’t use a country’s icon to talk about the country, what’s the point, right?”

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Luna + Vaughn build an ‘Eternal Empire’ at Image

New fantasy comic from the team behind ‘Alex + Ada’ invades your world in May.

Jonathan Luna and Sarah Vaughn, who turned a lot of heads with their science fiction series Alex + Ada, are reuniting for a new ongoing fantasy series called Eternal Empire.

“I am passionate about fantasy,” Vaughn said in a press release. “It feeds my soul, and it’s what I reach for when I need comfort and restoration. I can’t tell you how happy I am to be working with Jonathan again on this book, and to dive into Eternal Empire’s world and its characters.”

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Next ‘Dragon Age’ mini features the new viscount of Kirkwall

Dark Horse Comics announced a new Dragon Age miniseries, “Knight Errant,” back in October at NYCC, and now via Polygon they’ve release a few more details on the project.

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Team Allred assembles for ‘Bug!: The Adventures of Forager’ from Young Animal

Michael, Laura and Lee Allred team up to tell a story straight from Jack Kirby’s Fourth World.

DC Comics’ Young Animal line will expand in May with ‘Bug!: The Adventures of Forager’ by Michael, Lee and Laura Allred. The six-issue miniseries is set to debut May 10.

“Every time I get to work with my ‘big bro’ Lee, it’s like tapping into our most thrilling childhood comic book daydreams,” Michael Allred said in the press release. “If you gave me the chance to list the characters I’d most like to get my hands on from Kirby’s ‘Fourth World,’ Forager the Bug sits squarely at the top. And now we are throwing him into the DC’s Young Animal mix, winding him up and letting him go! When you add in our not-so-secret weapon of Laura’s magical colors, I couldn’t possibly be more pumped about this series!”

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Werewolf western ‘High Moon’ returns from Super Genius

The first of three collections of the former Zuda series by David Gallaher and Steve Ellis arrives in October.

The western/horror comic High Moon by David Gallaher and Steve Ellis returns to print in October from Papercutz’s Super Genius imprint, with the first of three slipcase editions collecting the story.

High Moon: Bullet Holes and Bite Marks kicks off the story of a bounty hunter with a secret, who battles werewolves and supernatural forces in Texas. Volume two will follow in May of 2018, while volume three will conclude the story with all-new material. All three graphic novels will feature new covers by Ellis and will be published simultaneously in hardcover and paperback.

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Latour, Brandon, Hinkle, Wilson unleash a ‘Black Cloud’ in April

Jason Latour, Ivan Brandon, Greg Hinkle and Matt Wilson are teaming up for a new comic from Image, Black Cloud, about a girl named Zelda “born in a world of dreams.”

The book was originally announced last year with a fall 2016 release date, but Image confirmed via press release this week that it will now come out in April.

Here’s the description:

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Birdcage Bottom benefit backs ACLU

Publisher/distributor J.T. Yost shares more on his current fundraiser.

Birdcage Bottom Books, which publishes minicomics and distributes for other small presses and individuals, is running a fundraiser through the month of February: 50% of the sales of selected comics will go to the ACLU. This is a great opportunity to pick up minicomics by rising and accomplished creators such as Glynis Fawkes, Whit Taylor, Hazel Newlevant, Kevin Budnik, and Jonathan Baylis, and help a great cause at the same time.

I checked in with J.T. Yost, who runs Birdcage Bottom and publishes his own comics there, to find out more about the fundraiser—and ask for some personal recommendations!

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