Category: Comic Books

DC’s going to the dogs in ‘Barkham Asylum’

The all-ages graphic novel will feature the pets of some of Batman’s greatest villains.

DC Comics has announced a new young adult graphic novel about Batman’s villains’ pets — the cleverly titled Barkham Asylum. Yehudi Mercado, creator of the recent Shazam! Thundercrack, is writing and drawing this one as well.

“When crafting this graphic novel, I pulled some inspiration from my own experience growing up,” said Mercado. “I was a class clown in school and as a result of that, I spent a lot of time in detention. So I can kind of relate to the lead dog, Jester, in my own way.”

In addition to Jester, the book will also feature “a tough-talking stray cat named Penny.”

“All Jester wants is to make people laugh, so in his mind, his master isn’t such a bad guy. Locked up with him is an innocent stray cat named Penny, a loner who rejects Jester’s request to join his pack. But if they’re going to get out of this mess, they will have to team up. And if a stray cat and The Joker’s dog can get along, then maybe there’s hope for all of us,” Mercado said.

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Here’s a look at the new characters debuting in ‘Marvel’s Voices: Pride’

Nightshade, Muzzle, Dark X-Men and more will appear in this year’s special.

As previously mentioned, this year’s Marvel’s Voices: Pride special will continue the tradition set by previous volumes and introduce new characters — specifically a new symbiote, a new Nightshade and a third character with a “fascinating” origin.

In the past, Marvel has used the Pride special introduced characters like Escapade and Somnus, two characters who have since appeared in Marauders and New Mutants. So there’s no telling where this year’s debuting characters could pop up next.

Here’s a look at each of them, plus some additional previews from the issue:

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Fantagraphics announces a series of Atlas Comics collections

The publisher will work with Marvel to bring the 1950s comics line back into print.

Fantagraphics and Marvel have announced a series of hardcover volumes collecting comics from Marvel’s 1950s Atlas Comics line. Fantagraphics plan to release collections of individual titles and compilations of a single artist, starting with Adventures Into Terror and artist Joe Maneely.

Edited by Atlas scholar Dr. Michael J. Vassallo, the comics were scanned “directly from the original printings and meticulously restored with a wealth of detail never seen before.” Fantagraphics will publish five volumes a year, with the first two volumes coming this fall.

“It is with great pleasure that I reintroduce modern audiences to this hidden gold and Marvel’s talented 1950s creators, many of whom would go on to fame in the silver age and beyond,” Vassallo said.

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‘Star Wars: Dark Droids’ kicks off in August

The crossover event introduces a droid virus that corrupts their programming and spreads like wildfire across the galaxy.

Both the Empire and the Rebel Alliance will face dire consequences when their droids break bad during an event that will run through Marvel’s Star Wars titles starting in August.

Announced during the Star Wars Celebration event earlier this month, Star Wars: Dark Droids will introduce something called the Scourge that will spread through the galaxy. It’ll infect everything from Lobot to a squad of Clone War-Era Prototype Battle Droids, bringing a sense of dread and horror to the Star Wars line.

The event kicks off in Star Wars: Dark Droids #1, which comes out Aug. 3 from writer Charles Soule and artist Luke Ross, before spreading through the other Star Wars titles. Here’s the rundown …

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Andolfo + Braga will release ‘Purr Evil’ on the world in July

The six-issue miniseries from Image Comics will feature ‘blood, sweat, tears and a tremendous lot of malevolent kittens.’

The cat’s out of the bag on Purr Evil, a new miniseries coming this summer from Image Comics. Sweet Paprika creator Mirka Andolfo will team with Harley Quinn artist Laura Braga to tell a story of mothers, daughters and evil kitties.

“I’m very excited to see this new comic come to life,” said Adolfo. “And, even more to have my friend Laura with me to work on such a great and fulfilling project, as well as Bryan Valenza, our colorist, Fabio Amelia, our letterer, and the whole team at Arancia Studio! I can’t wait to find out what the fans think of our new madness, and I’m enormously grateful to Image Comics and the other international partners for believing in our crazy project. We are sure fans will love it, too!”

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Marvel + Clover Press will crowdfund a series of fine art books

‘The Marvel Art Of David Mack’ and ‘The Marvel Art Of Alex Maleev’ will be available via Kickstarter.

Marvel and Clover Press have announced plans to release a series of art books showcasing different artists, starting with David Mack and Alex Maleev.

The Marvel Art Of David Mack and The Marvel Art Of Alex Maleev are described as “prestige coffee table books” that will feature “iconic images alongside rare and never-before-seen artwork.” Clover Press, which is no stranger to crowdfunding, will use Kickstarter to raise funds for both volumes — which might be the first time we’ve seen an official Marvel project on the platform.

“Since its launch in 2019, Clover Press has established a reputation as an eclectic publisher whose books celebrate the arts and the creative process,” said Clover Press Publisher Hank Kanalz. “The Marvel Art Of David Mack and The Marvel Art Of Alex Maleev are a testament to the vision of two awesome artists whose storytelling helped define the look and feel of today’s Marvel Universe. We’re working very closely with the artists on the design and contents of the book to create stunning art books that you will not want to miss.”

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The future’s gone to the dogs in ‘Scrapper’

Cliff Bleszinski, Alex De Campi and Sandy Jarrell tell the story of a stray dog who fights for justice in a post-apocalyptic domed city.

Video game designer Cliff Bleszinski, who helped bring games like Gears of War and Fortnite to life, is teaming up with Alex De Campi and Sandy Jarrell on a new comic series called Scrapper.

Image Comics will publish the science fiction series, which is about a stray dog living in a post-apocalyptic domed city

“As a lifelong fan of comics it’s an honor to actually create one with Alex,” said Bleszinski. “Scrapper comes from the heart; first, the loss of my Aussie Teddy and then finding puppy love again with our Pomsky Lady. I truly hope everyone enjoys this deeply personal work.”

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Marvel’s ‘What If?’ returns this summer

Walt Simonson, Gerry Conway, Stephanie Phillips, Scott Eaton and more create new stories set in alternate universes.

Marvel has announced the return of What If?, their classic alternate history comic, for the summer, with four one-shots planned under the title What If? Dark.

I chuckled a bit when I saw that they added “Dark” to the title. If you ever read any of the original What If? run, you know that more times than not, the stories would take a dark turn. For instance, “What If Phoenix Had Lived?” ended with the death of pretty much everything else.

In any event, What If? helped introduce Marvel’s version of the multiverse, and this year will introduce four new universe where things took a different turn. The one-shots also mark the return of two classic Marvel creators, Walt Simonson and Gerry Conway, as they revisit stories they’ve become synonymous with.

Here’s the rundown:

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DC announces new titles featuring Power Girl, Fire & Ice

Both titles will spin out of May’s ‘Power Girl Special.’

The upcoming Power Girl Special will serve as the launching point for two new Dawn of DC titles.

Due out on May 30, the first story in the special, naturally, focuses on Power Girl, who has new powers as seen in back-up stories in the pages of Action Comics. Come September, Power Girl will star in her own title by writer Leah Williams and artist Eduardo Pansica.

Per DC, Power Girl will face “a long dormant Kryptonian threat” that has returned to take down Superman and his family.

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Birks + Roberts head south — far, far south — for the science fiction tale ‘Antarctica’

Top Cow and Image Comics will kick off the new series in July.

Simon Birks and Willi Roberts will follow a conspiracy to the bottom of the world in Antarctica, a new title debuting from Top Cow in July.

The story’s roots go back to a six-page short story in Top Cow’s Stairway Anthology, which came out in 2020. It follows a woman whose search for her missing father takes her to an Antarctic research station.

“Antarctica takes no prisoners, and I’m excited to share our adventure with the readers. Willi and I have created something exceptional; an incredible experience full of unique twists and turns to keep everyone guessing right up until the end,” Birks said.

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Wilson + Wildgoose present a ‘high fantasy tour de force’ in ‘The Hunger and the Dusk’

The new series from IDW will debut in July.

G. Willow Wilson, best-selling novelist and co-creator of Ms. Marvel, will team with artist Chris Wildgoose for a new “high fantasy tour de force” from IDW titled The Hunger and the Dusk.

The series will feature humans and orcs on a dying world who were once mortal enemies but now must team up to face an ancient race called the Vangol that threatened them both. The Hunger and the Dusk will be colored by MsassyK and lettered by Simon Bowland.

“During the pandemic, I thought a lot about the many different times in history when the world has come to an end. I was also revisiting the science fiction and fantasy comfort food that I grew up with, and bit by bit, almost like a bedtime story, this saga—with orcs and humans banding together in a world that is slowly becoming uninhabitable, with enemies facing the choice to stand together or die separately—began to take shape,” said Wilson. “Ordinarily, high fantasy is not something I write a lot of, but coming out of the pandemic, I thought, ‘To hell with it. Death is coming for us all. Do what you love. Write the hot orc saga.’ And here we are!”

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Blue Beetle will face a ‘Scarab War’ in September

The ‘Graduation Day’ creative team will continue to tell stories featuring Jaime Reyes this fall.

With the final issue of Blue Beetle: Graduation Day arriving this week, DC has announced that Jaime Reyes’ adventures will continue in September with an ongoing series by the same creative team of writer Josh Trujillo and artists Adrian Gutiérrez, Wil Quintana and Lucas Gattoni.

The miniseries introduced two new beetles, Dynastes and Nitida, and they’ll continue to play a role in the new series, with the first arc titled “Scarab War.”

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