Donny Cates + friends bring back ‘Marvel Knights’ for its 20th anniversary

Daredevil, Black Panther, Punisher and more will be featured in ‘MK20’ #1 this fall.

It was 20 years ago that two creators at a small publishing house called Event Comics got the green light to take over several Marvel titles. Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti helped usher Marvel out of the dark ages of the 1990s and into the future, bringing in creators like Kevin Smith, Brian Michael Bendis, Garth Ennis, Steve Dillon, Christopher Priest and many others to tackle Daredevil, Black Panther, Punisher, Inhumans and several other Marvel characters.

Overall it is was very successful, especially from a storytelling perspective; Quesada eventually took over as Marvel editor-in-chief, and the tone of the stories set the course for much of Marvel’s success over the past two decades. The Marvel Knights imprint eventually evolved into something else, featuring high-profile miniseries, and went dormant about five years ago.

Until now.

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No laughing matter: Snyder + Jock bring back ‘The Batman Who Laughs’

The ‘Dark Knights: Metal’ villain gets his own miniseries starting in November.

One of the evil Batmen who plagued the DC Universe in the big crossover event series Dark Knights: Metal will return this fall, as The Batman Who Laughs gets his own six-issue series by Scott Snyder and Jock.

Metal, for those who aren’t familiar, pitted the DC heroes against evil amalgamations of Batman + another character. The Batman Who Laughs, you may have guessed, is a mash-up of Batman and the Joker. As this image by Jock will attest, he’s bad news:

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‘Star Wars Adventures’ get creepy with ‘Tales from Vader’s Castle’

Fear leads to the dark side as a host of horror descends on the Star Wars universe.

IDW is heading to the even darker side with a new miniseries that combines Star Wars with “campfire ghost stories” — Star Wars Adventures: Tales from Vader’s Castle.

The five-part series will run for five weeks in October (of course!) and will feature stories by Cavan Scott, Derek Charm, Kelley Jones, Chris Fenoglio, Corin Howell, Robert Hack and Charles Paul Wilson III, and covers by Francesco Francavilla (again, I say, of course!)

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Tom Scioli brings back the Go-Bots

The 1980s toy line gets a comic book reboot thanks to IDW Publishing and the man behind ‘Transformers vs. G.I. Joe.’

It’s always a good day when you find out what Tom Scioli is up to next. IDW Publishing announced in San Diego that the creator of Transformers vs. G.I. Joe is working on a new comic starring the Go-Bots.

“This is a dream project – I’m writing, drawing, coloring, and hand-lettering this book. It’s a labor of love,” Scioli said in the press release. “When these characters were conceived of in the ’80s, the idea of robots with human personalities was science fiction. Now, it’s history. The world of living machines is here – we’re living it. The time is right for Go-Bots!”

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‘Spencer & Locke 2’ takes aim at all the comic strips

David Pepose and Jorge Santiago Jr.’s hard-nosed cop and his imaginary friend return this Winter.

One of last year’s pleasant surprises in the comics world was Spencer & Locke, David Pepose and Jorge Santiago Jr.’s re-imagining of Calvin & Hobbes by way of Sin City. Now a Ringo Award-nominated series, Spencer & Locke is getting a sequel that will introduce their take on other comic strip characters. The villain, Roach Riley, may look familiar to fans of Mort Walker’s Beetle Bailey.

“We’ve told fans from the beginning that there was a much larger universe for Spencer & Locke to explore — and we’re excited to expand their world further with their latest adversary, Roach Riley,” Pepose said. “Half The Deer Hunter, half Heath Ledger’s Joker, Roach is only the beginning of Locke’s latest gauntlet, as every classic comic strip from your childhood will be fair game for parody in our action-packed sequel.”

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DC confirms Marc Silvestri’s Batman project

‘Batman/Joker: The Deadly Duo’ will feature the Dark Knight and the Clown Prince of Crime teaming up.

Marc Silvestri’s long-rumored Batman project is a go at DC Comics, as the publisher confirmed this week in San Diego that the Cyberforce creator is working on Batman/Joker: The Deadly Duo.

No word yet on exactly when it will come out, but Silvestri said the book will be about seven and a half issues long and will feature someone “screwing” with the Joker, according to The Beat. Batman is forced to team up with the Joker when this mysterious person kidnaps Jim Gordon.

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First look at Johns/Eaglesham ‘Shazam!’ series

The Marvel family seems to have gotten bigger. Also: ‘Three Jokers’ artwork!

Earlier this year when DC revealed that Geoff Johns would step down as Chief Creative Officer for the company to focus on creating stuff, they mentioned he is working on a new Shazam! series.

At Comic-Con International in San Diego today, Johns shared a first look at artwork from the series by Dale Eaglesham:

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DeConnick + Rocha to take over ‘Aquaman’

DeConnick promises Zeppelin Aquaman — ‘Powerful. Dangerous. Sexy.’

Over bacon and eggs in San Diego this morning, DC Comics publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee spoke with reporters and shared news about a new creative team for AquamanKelly Sue DeConnick and Robson Rocha.

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Morrison + Sharp relaunch ‘Green Lantern’ in November

Hal Jordan gets a solo title that’s about ‘the everyday life of a space cop.”

Grant Morrison will return to the DC Universe this fall with Liam Sharp, as they tackle hard-nosed space crime in a new series that features Green Lantern Hal Jordan.

“Instead of the big, epic, 12-part stories, we’re focusing down on the everyday life of a space cop. Basically, it’s no more apocalypse-ending storylines,” Morrison told IGN. “The basic concept is that [Hal Jordan] is like a space cop that patrols a sector of the universe where anything can happen. We’ve made it more like a police procedural.”

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Kirby’s Great Disaster provides the backdrop for ‘Electric Warriors’

Steve Orlando and Travel Foreman head back to the future for a six-issue miniseries debuting in November.

Steve Orlando and Travel Foreman will revisit Jack Kirby’s classic Great Disaster — as detailed in the King’s work on Kamandiin a new miniseries titled Electric Warriors.

“Like Overwatch or Battle Royale, Electric Warriors will feature a team of unique, memorable leads representing a wide spectrum of readers in a setting rife with danger and adventure,” said Orlando. “This is the unexplored future of Jack Kirby’s DC Universe, rising from the Great Disaster of Kamandi. If the Legion of Superheroes is the universe’s Age of Enlightenment, the setting of Electric Warriors is more akin to the Dark Ages.”

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Tynion pits Wonder Woman, Justice League Dark against Hecate in October

The crossover event runs through the month of October.

Before G. Willow Wilson takes over the title in November, Wonder Woman will cross over with Justice League Dark for Wonder Woman and Justice League Dark: The Witching Hour. The five-part weekly crossover will run through two issues of Wonder Woman and one issue of Justice League Dark in October, bookended by two 48-page specials.

James Tynion IV will write all five comics, working with three different art teams.

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‘Shuri’ jumps into her own series by Okorafor + Romero

Marvel launches a new series starring Black Panther’s genius little sister.

One of Marvel’s breakout movie sensations is getting her own comic, as the publisher announced this week that Nnedi Okorafor and Leonardo Romero are working on a new Shuri series.

Shuri is the younger sister to the Black Panther, who first appeared in comics during Reginald Hudlin and John Romita, Jr.’s run on Black Panther in 2005. When her brother was injured, she took on the role of the Black Panther, and later died when their home country of Wakanda was attacked by the evil Thanos cronies The Cabal. She was revived in the latest volume of Black Panther. The character was a big part of the Black Panther film and also appeared in Avengers: Infinity War.

“[Shuri is] an African young woman of genius level intelligence who is obsessed with technology and has traveled spiritually so far into the past that she’s seen Wakanda before it was Wakanda. The Ancestors call her Ancient Future. And she’s super ambitious. What do I love about her? Alllll that and more,” Okorafor told Bustle. “She’s a character in the Marvel Universe who really sings to me.”

Sam Spratt is providing covers; here’s his first one:

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