Events – SMASH PAGES

SDCC Slugfest | The morning after edition

With SDCC 2026 in the books, we round up news from DC, Mad Cave, Marvel and more.

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you. With the 2026 San Diego Comic Con wrapped up, this edition covers news and tidbits from the weekend I haven’t already covered. Hit the links for more information.

Following several DC Next Level reveals and their big Eisner wins on Friday night, DC continued to roll out announcements and previews over the weekend. Here’s a rundown of what they shared …

The Metropolis & Beyond Panel held on Saturday brought news of the October debuting DC All In Saga: Darkseid vs. the World. This one is by Scott Snyder, Joshua Williamson, Sanford Greene and Yasmine Putri, and will “present the hidden past of the being called Uxus, his descent into Darkseid, and his plans for the fate of all creation.” Yes, it is a Darkseid origin story, and we’re getting a pre-teen Darkseid out of it:

Jeff Smith, Colleen Doran, Chris Ware + Akira Toriyama join the Eisner Hall of Fame

Congrats to the Eisner Hall of Fame class of 2026.

In a ceremony held earlier today at the San Diego Comic-Con, the Will Eisner Comic Awards Hall of Fame added 23 new inductees into their ranks.

The Hall of Fame committee chose most of those inductees earlier this year, while voters chose four to join them from a field of 16.

The four who were voted in are:

SDCC Slugfest | Comic-Con renews with San Diego through 2030

Plus: Anniversary specials for Archie and Captain Britain, Halloween specials for Spider-Man and Terrorbytes, and more!

With the San Diego Comic-Con kicking off tonight, we have news and announcements dropping left and right, starting with one about the convention itself.

Comic-Con International and San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria announced earlier today that the San Diego Comic-Con will stay in the city through 2030, a year that will mark 60 years of the pop culture convention.

Gloria made the announcement before preview night kicked off alongside officials from Comic-Con, the San Diego Convention Center and the San Diego Tourism Authority.

“Comic-Con belongs in San Diego, and today’s announcement ensures this incredible tradition will continue here through 2030,” Gloria said. “This agreement is the result of years of partnership and reflects our shared commitment to the fans, creators, businesses and workers who make Comic-Con unlike anything else in the world. We’re proud to welcome everyone back to San Diego for another unforgettable year and excited about the future we’re building together.”

Rumors have circulated for years that the convention could move to another city, for reasons that include the price and availability of hotels, as well as the convention center size. As San Diego’s largest convention, it is of course a huge money maker for the city, with the 2026 event expected to attract more than 135,000 attendees and generate more than $160 million in regional economic impact and $3 million in hotel and sales tax revenue for the city.

SDCC Slugfest | Chef José Andrés helps the Avengers to take on Ultron in ‘Meals to Astonish: Avengers’ #1

Plus: Archie gets bigger, Christian Ward makes his Oni and more news on the eve of Comic-Con!

With the San Diego Comic-Con coming up on July 23-26, we have news and announcements dropping left and right, so here’s an attempt to keep up with it all. Hit the links for more info.

Chef José Andrés is teaming up with the Avengers this October in Meals to Astonish: Avengers #1, the second one-shot from Marvel to highlight World Central Kitchen’s disaster-relief work.

Following his debut earlier this year in Spider-Man: Meals to Astonish #1, Andrés teams with Tony Stark as they travel to Vegas to unveil new disaster relief technology, only for Ultron to interrupt. Steve Orlando and Roi Mercado return for the main story, joined by a new “Jeff’s Table” installment from Paul Eschbach and E.J. Su, plus the debut of Jacob Chabot’s “VenomNom” backup.

SDCC Slugfest | Oni Press brings a can to the con

As Comic-Con International approaches, here’s more news on the show from Marvel, Skybound, IDW and more. Plus: Rascal Randy roams the streets of San Diego!

With the San Diego Comic-Con coming up on July 23-26, we have news and announcements dropping left and right, so here’s an attempt to keep up with it all. Hit the links for more info.

Matt Kindt’s Flux House imprint is known for doing things a little differently, so it’s not surprising that they’ve come up with something unique and fun for San Diego this year as they’re relaunching at Oni Press. So here’s one of the show’s more unusual exclusives: the Fort Psycho “Comic in a Can.” Limited to just 250 copies and priced at $25, the resealable can includes an exclusive 16-page mini-comic by Matt Kindt and Brian Hurtt, a bumper sticker, toy army men and even a brand-new prose story printed directly on the can’s label.

SDCC Slugfest | News from DC, 2000 AD, Fantagraphics + more

As San Diego Comic-Con looms, we round up news on the show, recent comic announcements and more. Plus: comics at the G1 Climax opener!

With the San Diego Comic-Con coming up on July 23-26, we have news and announcements dropping left and right, so here’s an attempt to keep up with it all. Hit the links for more info.

DC has unveiled its plans for San Diego Comic-Con, which includes a continuation of their decade-long plan to spotlight a different era of the company in their booth, building toward their 100th anniversary in 2035. Last year the spotlight fell on the 1940s, so, given how numbers work, this year will focus on the 1950s — the decade that brought us Supergirl, Legion of Super- Heroes, Barry Allen, Hal Jordan and MAD Magazine.

Their booth will feature a 1950s-style Daily Planet newsstand, and they plan to give away free copies of MAD Magazine #1 facsimile edition, based on the original that debuted in 1952.

Here’s a video DC released spotlighting the comics and characters of that decade:

Picture + Panel | Abby Denson + Matthew Loux talk about Japan

Check out our interview in advance of a live question-and-answer session between the two creators in Boston tonight.

We’re happy to continue our interview series with creators speaking at the monthly Picture + Panel event in Boston, which brings together two comic creators to talk about a specific topic. This time we have Abby Denson and Matthew Loux joining us to talk about Japan.

Omega Au, convention chair of Anime Boston 2026, will host a conversation with Loux and Denson tonight at 7 p.m. Eastern at the Boston Figurative Arts Center in Somerville, Massachusetts. The event is brought to you by the Boston Comic Arts Foundation, Porter Square Books and the Boston Figurative Arts Center.

Abby Denson is the author of Uniquely Japan; the Kitty Sweet Tooth books, illustrated by Utomaru; Cool Tokyo Guide; Cool Japan Guide; Dolltopia; and Tough Love. She has written for comics series such as The Powerpuff Girls, The Simpsons, Sabrina the Teenage Witch and The Amazing Spider-Man Family. Her work has garnered the International Manga Award, Moonbeam Children’s Book Award and the IPPY Award. Abby has taught and lectured at various venues, including the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art, The New School and Sophia University in Tokyo. Abby goes to Japan whenever she gets the chance.

Matthew Loux is author and artist of the graphic novels The Time Museum Vol. 1, published by First Second Books; Sidescrollers; and the five volume series Salt Water Taffy, originally published by Oni Press. Matthew has also illustrated the graphic novels F-Stop and Good Night Gabbaland, and has contributed cover artwork for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Matthew resides in New York.

Big thanks as always to Gina Gagliano and Jason Viola, who organize the monthly series in Boston and brought this Q&A series to Smash Pages.

Picture + Panel | Meera Subramanian + Katy Doughty on making comics about the climate crisis

Check out our interview in advance of a live question-and-answer session between the two creators in Boston next week.

We’re happy to continue our interview series with creators speaking at the monthly Picture + Panel event in Boston, which brings together two comic creators to talk about a specific topic — in this case, stories about “humanity’s closest brushes with extinction.”

On April 6, Meera Subramanian and Katy Doughty, along with WBUR environmental correspondent Barbara Moran, will discuss what it takes to keep the world alive, given the current climate crisis and, well … (motions at everything). The event is hosted by the Boston Comic Arts Foundation, Porter Square Books and the Boston Figurative Arts Center.

Meera Subramanian is an award-winning freelance journalist who writes narrative nonfiction about home in the personal and planetary sense, in a time of climate crisis. Her work has appeared in publications such as Nature, The New York Times, The New Yorker, Virginia Quarterly Review, and Orion, where she is a contributing editor. Her first book was A River Runs Again: India’s Natural World in Crisis, which was short-listed for the 2016 Orion Book Award. A Better World Is Possible: Global Youth Confront the Climate Crisis, a graphic novel she did with artist Danica Novgorodoff, arrived in March.

Katy Doughty is a California-born, Texas-bred, New England—educated illustrator who holds a bachelor of fine arts in illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design and a master of public health from Boston University School of Public Health. Her unique background fuels her interest in the intersection of visual communication, research, and health care. She lives in Boston with her husband.

DC Comics will mark 40th anniversary of ‘The Dark Knight Returns’ with yearlong celebration

The landmark series by Frank Miller, Klaus Janson and Lynn Varley will be honored with new editions, variant covers, facsimile reprints and more.

DC Comics will honor the 40th anniversary of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, the landmark four-issue series by writer/artist Frank Miller, inker Klaus Janson and colorist Lynn Varley with a yearlong celebration that includes new editions, reprints, variant covers and more.

The celebration kicks off later this week at the ComicsPro meeting, where Miller and Janson will appear together for a panel for comics retailers. Also beginning this month, DC will release monthly Facsimile Editions of The Dark Knight Returns #1–4, reproducing the single issues complete with their covers, original advertisements and back matter. A DC Compact Comics Edition will arrives April 7.

Picture + Panel | Robert Mgrdich Apelian + Shaina Lu talk about the intersection of food, family and comics

Check out our interview in advance of a live question-and-answer session between the two creators in Boston next week.

Today we continue our interview series with creators speaking at the monthly Picture + Panel event in Boston, which brings together two comic creators to talk about a specific topic. Robert Mgrdich Apelian and Shaina Lu, whose graphic novels explore “the intersections of culture, community and comestibles,” talk to us about food and comics. You can find more details on the Feb. 2 event here.

Picture + Panel is a monthly conversation series produced in partnership by the Boston Comic Arts Foundation, Porter Square Books and the Boston Figurative Arts Center, Picture + Panel provides thought-provoking discussions for the unique form of expression that is the comics medium.

Robert Mgrdich Apelian (he/him) is an Armenian American author-illustrator based in Everett, Massachusetts. He’s an avid reader of seinen manga and is especially passionate about making the most of comics as a storytelling medium. A primary goal of his work is to celebrate the diversity and cultural excellence of the Middle East and to portray it as something other than tragic and war-torn.

Shaina Lu (she/her) is a queer Taiwanese American community artist exploring the intersection of art, education, and activism. She graduated from Wellesley College and Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she studied arts in education. When she’s not creating community art, she works with young artists and makers in Boston’s Chinatown. Most important, she drinks juice every day, and she is full of sugar.

Hourly Comic Day gets a new organizer, moves to Feb. 8

The annual event that encourages artists to draw a comic every hour celebrates its 20th anniversary.

Hourly Comics Day, the annual challenge where creators commit to making and posting a comic every hour for an entire day, has a new organizer and a new date, beginning this year.

The Cartoonist Cooperative has taken over the event and its website, following its lapse by the event’s founder, Simone Veil. Veil founded the event in 2006, making this year the event’s 20th anniversary.

Traditionally the day has been held on Feb. 1, but the Coop has decided to move it to Feb. 8 to avoid conflicts with the start of the U.S.’s Black History Month, which marks its 100th anniversary in the United States this year.

“In prior years, Black cartoonists have noted that when social media and blogs are saturated with posts from non-Black cartoonists focusing on their daily lives, it can make the first day of this important month feel like an afterthought,” the announcement on the site read. “As Feb 1st was an arbitrarily chosen date, there is no reason it cannot be changed, particularly given the anniversary.”

It’s a fun day to follow on social media, so be sure to check your favorite platform on Feb. 8 using the hashtag #HourlyComicsDay. You can see some of my favorites from 2025 here. For more information, visit the event’s website.

Free Comic Book Day 2026 will include titles from DC, Skybound, Titan, Vault + more

See what you can get for free on Saturday, May 2.

This year’s Free Comic Book Day is starting to take shape, with publishers announcing some titles and the FCBD website sharing many more. The titles have also popped up on the distributors’ websites, revealing some of the cover art you can expect to see in May.

Universal Distribution now owns Free Comic Book Day and its branding, having bought it in the wake of the Diamond Comics Distributors bankruptcy. They’ve teamed up with Lunar Distribution for the event, which will occur on May 2, which is the same day as Penguin Random House’s Comics Giveaway Day.

Here’s a look at what to expect:

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