Category: Comic Books

The State of Future State, Part 3

JK, Shane and Tom continue their look at DC’s Future State titles, this time around focusing on ‘Dark Detective,’ Superman/Wonder Woman’ and more.

We’re back with part three of our discussion about of DC’s Future State comics, as Shane Bailey, Tom Bondurant and I talk about the first issues of Dark Detective, Superman/Wonder Woman, Teen Titans, Robin Eternal and Kara Zor-El, Superwoman.

As always, the timeline DC provided helps put the timing of these stories into context:

You can also read part one and part two of our roundtable on other, earlier DC Future State titles.

And away we go …

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Voting for the X-Men: The time is right for Tempo

With Marvel allowing fans to help chose the final member of the X-Men, the Smash Pages crew shares their endorsement(s).

In the grand tradition of voting for the leader of the Legion of Super-Heroes and whether Jason Todd would live or die, Marvel has launched a website where you can vote for the final member of the X-Men.

The campaign ties into the current X-Men storyline, where Cyclops and Jean Grey have decided to recruit a new team of mutants to protect the mutant nation of Krakoa. Marvel has offered up 10 options for fans to choose from: Banshee, Polaris, Forge, Boom-Boom, Tempo, Cannonball, Sunspot, Strong Guy, Marrow and Armor.

Voting is open from now until 11:59 p.m. Eastern, Feb. 2, 2021.

We here at Smash Pages have our own thoughts about who the new member should be — with one dissension — so please read our heartfelt pleas for your vote below.

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Eric Palicki teases ‘Black’s Myth’ from AHOY Comics

The ‘Atlantis Wasn’t Built For Tourists’ writer teases a new project with artist Wendell Cavalcanti.

Writer and editor Eric Palicki has teased a new series he’s working on, Black’s Myth, on Twitter:

He’s working with artist Wendell Cavalcanti, who he collaborated with on Atlantis Wasn’t Built For Tourists at Scout Comics. Liana Kangas will provide covers and AHOY Comics will publish it, which they confirmed in their most recent email newsletter.

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‘Heroes Reborn’ imagines a world with no Avengers

The series spins out of Jason Aaron’s work on ‘Avengers.’

Marvel has announced Heroes Reborn, a new project by Jason Aaron and Ed McGuiness that asks the question, “What if the Avengers never assembled?”

The story spins out of Aaron’s current work on Avengers, as the world is “reborn” after the Phoenix burns it to ashes — at least that’s what Executive Editor Tom Brevoort says.

“It’s only natural that after the Phoenix burns the world to ash, there should come a rebirth, and so REBORN is the next big step in the massive super-story that Jason and Ed have been crafting in Avengers,” he said. “Prepare to enter a very different yet hauntingly familiar Marvel Universe!”

In the reborn world, Tony Stark never built his armor, Thor avoids hammer and a frozen Captain America was never found. Only Blade seems to remember the way things were, as he looks for what shifted reality. The story will feature the Squadron Supreme, who have been a thorn in the Avengers side as of late, and also, if you look closely at the teaser image, Mephisto — another thorn who has popped up in Aaron’s run.

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Image Comics ignites ‘Jules Verne’s: Lighthouse’ in April

The Shadowline series by David Hine and Brian Haberlin is inspired by a lesser-known Jules Verne story.

David Hine and Brian Haberlin, who have worked together previously on The Marked and Sonata, will team up once again on Jules Verne’s: Lighthouse, a new miniseries coming from Image’s Shadowline imprint in April. They’ll be joined by Geirrod Van Dyke on a story, as the title implies, inspired by the work of author Jules Verne.

“Brian introduced me to this lesser-known Jules Verne story of dastardly brigands and survival on a lonely, windswept island,” said Hine. “We did the obvious thing and transformed it into an epic science-fiction tale of space piracy, wormholes, galaxy-spanning conflict and a glitchy but lovable robot called Moses.”

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‘Home’ miniseries will follow an asylum seeker who develops superpowers

New miniseries from Julio Anta, Anna Wieszczyk and Bryan Valenza comes out in April.

Image Comics has announced the very topical Home, the first miniseries from creators Julio Anta and Anna Wieszczyk, who are joined by colorist Bryan Valenza. It’s about a boy taken from his family as they seek asylum in the U.S. — and then he develops superpowers.

“As the son and grandson of Cuban and Colombian immigrants, and now a parent myself, the news of the governments family separation policy both broke my heart, and filled me with anger,” Anta told The Hollywood Reporter. “Home is an attempt to channel those complicated feelings about what it means to be an American into a story about empowered Latinx characters dealing with the cruelty of our modern immigration laws.”

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Top Cow announces ‘Helm Greycastle’ by Barajas + Handoko + Valenza

New miniseries combines high fantasy with Aztec myths.

Henry Barajas, Rahmat M. Handoko and Bryan Valenza are teaming up on a new comic that combines high fantasy with Aztec mythology. Helm Greycastle — both the title of the miniseries coming from Top Cow and the name of the main character — is both an ode to J. R. R. Tolkien and Dungeons and Dragons, and an opportunity for the creative team to showcase Mesoamerican history.

“What if the Aztec Empire defeated the Spanish Conquistadors? As a Mexican-American who has had no formal education on my indigenous background, writing this book has been very empowering,” said Barajas. “I’m excited to share some Mesoamerican history while mixing it with swords and sorcery.”

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The State of Future State, Part 2

JK, Shane and Tom continue their look at DC’s Future State titles, this time around focusing on ‘Justice League,’ ‘Green Lantern,’ ‘Harley Quinn’ and ‘Swamp Thing.’

Following part one from earlier this week, Shane Bailey, Tom Bondurant and I are back to talk more about of DC’s Future State comics, roundtable style.

This time around, Shane and I finish off week one by discussing Harley Quinn and Swamp Thing, and then Tom rejoins us as we jump into week two’s Superman of Metropolis and Green Lantern.

As always, the timeline DC provided helps put these stories into context:

So let’s get to it …

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BOOM! Studios acquires the license for ‘Magic: The Gathering’ comics

Jed MacKay, Ig Guara, Arianna Consonni and Ed Dukeshire team up for ‘Magic,’ which debuts in April.

BOOM! Studios has announced that they’ve acquired the rights to publish comics based on Magic: The Gathering, the popular card game made by Wizards of the Coast. They plan to start publishing Magic: The Gathering comics in April with, appropriately, a comic called Magic.

Writer Jed MacKay, artist Ig Guara, colorist Arianna Consonni and letterer Ed Dukeshire are the creative team for Magic, which will feature names and concepts that most Magic: The Gathering fans will recognize.

“Magic: The Gathering is more than a game—it’s a rich, expansive multiverse and mythology you can really live in and spend an infinite amount of time traversing. This all-new and unique story we’re launching into is full of beloved characters and shocking reveals from the world of Magic that are going to entertain readers new to the brand and surprise lifelong fans in the best possible ways,” said Bryce Carlson, Vice President, Editorial & Creative Strategy, BOOM! Studios. “Jed, Ig, Arianna, Ed, all of our incredible cover artists, and the entire team at BOOM! Studios are firing on all cylinders so I can confidently say that this is far and away the best Magic: The Gathering has ever been executed in the comics medium. Period.”

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Transformers, My Little Pony will cross over again in April

The Autobots and Decepticons will revisit Equestria in the four-issue series.

Two of Hasbro’s properties will collide again in My Little Pony / Transformers II, a four-issue miniseries launching in April from IDW Publishing.

The creative team for the first issue includes writers James Asmus and Sam Maggs, and artists Jack Lawrence and Casey W. Coller. Ian Flynn, Priscilla Tramontano and Tony Fleecs will also contribute to the series.

“I can’t wait to jump back into this world of magical friendships that really is More than Meets the Eye,” said Maggs. “It’s such a blast coming up with the most fun (and downright weird) pairings of ponies and ‘bots, and I think fans of both series are going to be surprised at what’s we’ve got for them this second time around!”

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Fantagraphics to publish Ed Piskor’s ‘Red Room’

The comic series will be 12 issues of ‘subversive, stand alone stories that are all part of a larger, twisted narrative.’

Hip Hop Family Tree creator Ed Piskor will debut his first creator-owned, shared universe in a new comic, Red Room, which debuts in May from Fantagraphics.

“Red Room is a cyberpunk, outlaw, splatterpunk comic that you can’t unsee once you feast your eyes on the mayhem,” said Piskor in a press release. “Think of Red Room as modern day E.C. Comics, infused with the dream of Black Mirror. These are subversive, stand alone stories that are all part of a larger, twisted narrative.”

Piskor has been sharing pages from the new project on his Patreon, where he describes it as an “epic in the funnybook tradition of Faust, The Crow and other comics that make parents nervous.“

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Dark Horse announces ‘Jenny Zero’ for April

The ‘hard-drinking, hard-partying’ daughter of a superhero goes monster-hunting in April.

Dave Dwonch, Brockton McKinney, Magenta King and Megan Huang are teaming up on Jenny Zero, a new series about the ‘celebutante’ daughter of a superhero who tries to give up the party lifestyle to become a superhero herself.

“When Dave and I started working on Jenny Zero we wanted to get back to the idea of making ‘fun comic books’ simply for fun’s sake,” said McKinney, who is co-writing the comic with Dwonch. “And the end product, the idea of an ass-kicking lush who hunts monsters, most certainly is. But as we worked, and as series artist Magenta King began to bring Jenny and her world to life, it also took on the themes of self-responsibility, parental contrition, and the idea that no one but yourself can define who you are. All that, set against the backdrop of off-the-wall characters and otherworldly creatures. But yeah, in the end, it’s still very much about getting a good buzz on and going monster-hunting.”

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