Category: Comic Books

SDCC | It’s Christmas in July (and August, and September …) in ‘Christmas 365’

Mikey Way, Jonathan Rivera and Piotr Kowalski get jolly in a new miniseries coming from Dark Horse this December.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Comic-Con, as a few hours before the big event starts, Dark Horse has announced Christmas 365, a four-issue miniseries by Mikey Way, Jonathan Rivera and Piotr Kowalski.

“Like most kids growing up, I never wanted Christmas to end,” Way said. “When it’s over, you’re left having to wait an entire year for that magical feeling to return. I would often fantasize…what if it never had to end? That very thought was what sparked this story. But as the saying goes, is too much of a good thing not so good?”

Way is the bassist for My Chemical Romance, where his bandmate, brother and fellow comics writer, Gerard Way, is the lead singer. He’s also written Collapser for DC Comics. Rivera worked on Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye, part of Gerard Way’s Young Animal imprint a few years back. Kowalski, meanwhile, is the artist of Where Monsters Lie and its upcoming sequel; the graphic novel Skinner, which came out this week; and a whole lot more. The creative team is rounded out by Brad Simpson on colors and Joshua Reed on letters.

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SDCC | Dynamite announces the creative team for their ‘Terminator’ comic

Declan Shalvey and Luke Sparrow team up for tales of time-traveling mayhem.

Dynamite has announced a creative team and a release date for their Terminator comic. Writer Declan Shalvey and artist Luke Sparrow will team up to tell stories that spin out of the plot for the original film but take things in a new direction, with “mostly done-in-one” stories involving killer robots and time travel.

“The approach of this series is new situations, new dilemmas in each issue. Mostly done-in-one stories, but as the series progresses there may be some recognizable faces…” Shalvey said. “We’re going for a more stripped-down, pulpy approach to the book. As innovative and groundbreaking as the first film was, it was also grounded in its environment, being noirish and moody as hell. An unstoppable force is coming to kill you — that’s the element of the franchise I want to lean into.”

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Hell is for children: Cullen Bunn + Joe Bocardo bring ‘Hexiles’ to Mad Cave Studios

A very personal horror story rises from the depths of the underworld this October.

Horror master Cullen Bunn will team with Night Walkers artist Joe Bocardo on The Hexiles, a new series about six children who find out their true lineage just in time for their father’s demonic debtors to come calling.

Mad Cave Studios will publish The Hexiles beginning in October.

“The Hexiles is a dark tale about destiny, cursed inheritances and people bound by blood… lots of blood,” said Bocardo. “A horror story that found refuge in a cave of madmen, where they love comics and work with true professionalism, and created by Cullen, a diabolical mind capable of turning the worst nightmares into words and convincing you to stay and live in them. As an artist, I couldn’t ask for a better team.”

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Tim Seeley + Stefano Caselli will pay tribute to Jason Pearson with ‘Hack/Slash: Body Bags’

The crossover series by the original ‘Hack/Slash’ team begins in October.

The original Hack/Slash creative team of Tim Seeley and artist Stefano Caselli are re-teaming for a crossover series that brings together Cassie Hack and Jason Pearson’s Body Bags characters. The four-issue miniseries will begin in October.

Body Bags was originally published by Dark Horse and later moved to 12-Gauge Comics. The series starred two assassins, Mack Delgado, aka Clownface, and his daughter, Panda. Pearson passed away in December of 2022.

Seeley said he was a big fan of Body Bags, and he reached out to Keven Gardner, publisher of 12-Gauge Comics, about doing a crossover to honor Pearson’s creation.

“Tim reached out a little over a year ago via our mutual friend, Cully Hamner, one of Jason’s former studio mates at Gaijin Studios, with the idea to do this crossover,” said Keven Gardner, publisher of 12-Gauge Comics. “To be honest, before talking with Tim, my initial reaction was, ‘Probably not.’ This was about six months after Jason’s passing, his mom was in the middle of settling his estate—it just wasn’t something on her radar or mine. But, after I spoke with Tim it was immediately clear that he was a huge fan of Body Bags, that Jason’s work had been a strong influence on him, and that this was something he and Stefano really wanted to do. We talked about possible ideas, and I could see how this could be something special.”

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‘The John Constantine of the Archie Universe’: Cullen Bunn + Dan Schoening summon another ‘Salem’ one-shot

Ben Galvan, Matt Herms and Jack Morelli round out the team for ‘The Nine Lives of Salem.’

Salem, Sabrina the Teenage Witch’s familiar, advisor and feline friend, will get a second shot at a solo story in October’s The Nine Lives of Salem. The Archie Horror one-shot will reunite Cullen Bunn and Dan Schoening, who worked on 2022’s Chilling Adventures of Salem, and add artist Ben Galvan into the mix.

While the previous one-shot saw Salem defending local stray animals from an evil magic user, this time he’ll be facing his fellow four-legged creatures “in a series of magical battles culminating in a new direction for Sabrina’s once-cuddly confidante.”

“We’re setting our fiendish feline up as an occult investigator of sorts, the John Constantine of the Archie Universe,” Bunn said. “And, make no mistake, even with a cat as the protagonist, these stand-alone stories are dark and horror-filled. You can grab a copy and delight in the terror we’re unleashing in these pages.”

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SDCC | Def Leppard + Vault Comics team for a graphic novel named after the band’s iconic album ‘Hysteria’

Def Leppard’s Phil Collen teams with Eliot Rahal and Alex Schlitz on the story of the world’s most dangerous guitar.

Vault Comics is no stranger to working with musicians, having released Deathstalker with Guns’n’Roses’ Slash and the upcoming Dying Inside with Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz. Now, through their Headshell imprint, they’ve announced a new graphic novel that shares a name with one of the best-selling albums of all time, Hysteria.

Co-written by Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen and The Cursed Library scribe Eliot Rahal, the graphic novel will feature artwork by Alex Schlitz, colorist Fabi Marques and letterer Andworld Design.

“Blending music and comics together like this is an incredible and insane dream, and I could not be more thrilled by the work Eliot, Alex and Vault have put into Hysteria. It has been a joy and one hell of a ride. I know fans are going to love it,” Collen said. 

The graphic novel will not only feature Def Leppard, but will introduce a band called Darkside, whose frontwoman inherits a guitar that promises her fame — but it comes with a price.

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Marvel announces a prequel comic for ‘Alien: Romulus’

Zac Thompson and Daniel Picciotto will reveal more about the film’s back story in a one-shot this October.

With  Alien: Romulus set to hit theaters next month, Marvel has announced a prelude comic for the movie that will tackle “one of the film’s lingering mysteries.”

The film, which is set between the events of Alien and Aliens in the overall timeline, sounds like it’s getting back to the franchise’s roots: a group of young space colonists who, while scavenging a derelict space station, come face to face with the most terrifying life form in space.

Writer Zac Thompson and artist Daniel Picciotto are creating the one-shot with input from the film’s director/co-writer Fede Alvarez and his co-writer Rodo Sayagues. It’ll feature some of the back story behind the film’s antagonists.

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SDCC | Mignola + Stenbeck return to the Hellboy-verse for ‘The Serpent in the Garden: Ed Grey and the Last Battle for England’

The three-issue miniseries begins in November.

With SDCC on the horizon AND it being the 30th anniversary of Hellboy, it only makes sense we’d get some news from Mike Mignola this week. And now we have, in the form of The Serpent in the Garden: Ed Grey and the Last Battle for England, a new miniseries by Mignola, artist Ben Stenbeck, colorist Dave Stewart and letterer Clem Robins.

The series stars paranormal investigator Ed Grey, who first appeared in Hellboy: Wake the Devil and went on to star in Sir Edward Grey: Witchfinder. This new series finds him going up against famed sorceress Morgan Le Fay in a battle for England.

“Ed Grey feels to me like he took off like a rocket,” said Mignola. “He was my ‘regular guy’ occult detective but then just kept going. Being dismembered and stitched back together didn’t even slow him down. He became a magician and flew around doing stuff. He decided to take on some of Hellboy’s curse and everything just kept beating him and he just kept getting up, and before too long, I just felt bad for him and wanted to give him a quiet place to sit down – retire in peace. BUT he had just one more (I hope) thing to do and then not only could he retire but he could retire another of my favorite characters. Let’s hope both of them can finally relax after this one last battle for England.”

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SDCC | Vault Comics announces ‘Godfather of Hell’ by Cavan Scott + Pius Bak

The neo-noir series begins in October.

Cavan Scott and Pius Bak will show what happens when you send an ambitious mobster to hell in Godfather of Hell, a new series coming this fall from Vault Comics.

The series will focus on Dario Santini, a mobster who meets an untimely death and goes to hell — only to find that hell is just another business opportunity.

“Two of my favorite genres collide in Godfather of Hell: gangster noir and exorcist terror,” said Scott. “Brace yourself for visceral body horror, lashings of black humor, and moments of super-cool swagger brought to life by Pius’ neon-soaked art. It’s sexy, gritty and downright terrifying!”

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SDCC | Marvel’s Star Wars comics pick up after ‘Return of the Jedi’ with ‘Battle of Jakku — Insurgency Rising’

Alex Segura, Leonard Kirk, Stefano Raffaele and Jethro Morales tell the story of the final battle between the Rebel Alliance and the Empire.

Marvel’s current Star Wars titles will end with the 50th issues of Star Wars and Darth Vader, and in the lead-up to the San Diego Comic Con, StarWars.com has revealed what will come next.

Just as the two previous eras of Star Wars comics were set after Star Wars: A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back, this one will take us beyond Return of the Jedi into that fertile, uncharted space between that film and The Force Awakens. And they’ll start with the infamous Battle of Jakku, the final confrontation between an Empire struggling on without its two leaders and the New Republic, aka the evolved Rebel Alliance. It’s also the battle that left the planet covered in dead starships, as seen in The Force Awakens.

The maxi-series Star Wars: Battle of Jakku — Insurgency Rising is by writer Alex Segura and artists Leonard Kirk, Stefano Raffaele and Jethro Morales.

“I cannot say a lot about this yet, but it’s been an absolute thrill to explore this period of time in the Star Wars story and to elevate a fun new villain, especially when paired with such amazing artistic collaborators,” Segura said in his newsletter.

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Jay Stephens + Oni Press are preparing more ‘Dwellings’ to haunt your nightmares

The bloody ode to Harvey Comics returns with a Halloween special in October and a new miniseries next year.

One of the delightfully horrific surprises to arrive in comics in the past few years was Jay Stephens’ Dwellings, which started life as a crowdfunded project but went on to be published by Oni Press and pick up an NCS Divisional Awards nomination.

And now it’s coming back, as Oni Press has announced not only a Halloween special for October, but also a new miniseries for next year.

The ‘Saturday Morning’ meets ‘Stroke Of Midnight’ retro cute horror is back just in time for tricks and treats! The Dwellings: All Hallows’ Eve Special arrives this October, with all the old-school fake ads and blood-stained vintage kids’ comics stylings you’ve come to squeamishly love,” said Stephens. “This standalone story brings us back to the haunted streets of Elwich for a tale about a tall, dark, and handsome visitor Hell-bent on hunting down the monsters who hide in the town’s shadows. Set in the tight-knit underground ‘Sangunarian’ Elwich goth scene, “Come Hither” flips the classic bloodsucker tale in it’s grave, as a delusional, self-proclaimed ‘vampire hunter’ seduces the black-clad youth one by one in order to lay them to rest for eternity. Happy Halloween, Dwellers!”

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Fred Van Lente + Chris Panda provide a fast pass to ‘toon-themed terror’ in ‘Murder Kingdom’

The horror/mystery from Mad Cave Studios drops its ropes in October.

Writer Fred Van Lente and artist Chris Panda will set a madman loose inside the “Storybook Kingdom” theme park down in Florida in Murder Kingdom, a new title coming from Mad Cave Studios this fall.

Any similarities to existing Florida theme parks is, of course, coincidental. But Murder Kingdom is about a slasher who starts killing cast members, and it’s up to one fairytale princess to unmask the killer.

“Murder Kingdom riffs on classic slashers and classic fairy tales in equal measure,” said Fred Van Lente. “It’s a giallo whodunit with a tomboy princess detective who has to make sure she and her best friend live to see the sunrise—and that means unmasking the killer. One of my first jobs was as a fry cook at a theme park and I feel like I’ve been working on this project ever since. I’m so thrilled that the team at Mad Cave have helped me bring it to bloody life. And I am so lucky to have Chris on artwork. His work is equal parts adorable and terrifying, resulting in some of the most shocking kills I’ve seen in any horror comic ever.”

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