Mail Call | ‘That Texas Blood’ returns with a new story arc in June

Today’s round-up includes announcements and previews from Marvel, DC, Skybound, Image, Dark Horse and more.

Mail Call is a roundup of the announcements we’ve received from comics publishers in our mailboxes recently that we haven’t already covered. Hit the links for more information.

That Texas Blood, the excellent small-town noir series by Chris Condon and Jacob Phillips, returns next month from Image Comics with a new story arc that delves into Ambrose County’s past, “blowing off some of that desert dust and seeing what lurks beneath,” Phillips said.

That Texas Blood #7 will arrive in comic shops on June 30.

“Returning to Ambrose County and these characters is like going home in many ways. They feel like old friends more than old creations and none more so than Sheriff Joe Bob Coates. I’m beyond excited to explore a bit of Joe’s past in this next story arc as we travel back in time to 1981. We’ll see new places, meet new people, and explore ideas we haven’t before. I’ve always believed that the beginning years of any decade are the hangover of the previous one, and I am absolutely thrilled that we are allowed to dissect this over the next six issues with our merry band of Ambrose Countians,” said Condon. “But don’t be fooled, we aren’t viewing the past through rose-colored glasses. I’ve said before that Texas is America’s mystical land, but every fantasy world has a minotaur lurking in the dark or a dragon breathing through smoking nostrils over armor-clad corpses. Our Texas is no different. The shadows there stretch to the horizon, devouring all light. But there are some who see the darkness and strike a match to light the way. I hope that you’ll join us on our trip down Highway 90, into the heart of Ambrose County and into the dark depths of the past. But don’t you fret, we’re not out of matches yet.”

Check out the first issue’s covers:

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Skybound Xpo reveals new comic series, teases ‘Skybound X’

Creators appeared to discuss ‘Rick Grimes 2000,’ ‘Everyday Hero Machine Boy,’ ‘Clementine’ and more.

Robert Kirkman’s Skybound held one of its online Xpo events today, revealing a comic adaption of the video game Trover Saves the Universe as well as some addition details and preview art from the upcoming Skybound X miniseries.

Trover Saves the Universe is a video game created by Justin Roiland, co-creator of the hit cartoon series Rick & Morty. Skybound has enlisted Tess Stone to work with Roiland on the miniseries.

“When Skybound mentioned they were interested in doing a Trover Saves the Universe comic with the help of Tess Stone, I knew it was going to be something of high quality,” said Roiland, who is also CEO and co-founder of Squanch Games. “Important cosmic jobs is such fertile soil for storytelling, and Tess has successfully expanded it beyond the game’s DLC to create a whole new crazy adventure for Trover fans to follow.”

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Kelly, Lanzing + Magno will provide the definitive origin of ‘Kang the Conquerer’

The Marvel villain takes the spotlight in a new miniseries that starts in August.

Marvel has announced plans to release a miniseries that’ll tell the “definitive origin story” of one of the Avengers’ greatest foes. Kang the Conquerer will launch in August by the writing team of Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing, with art by Carlos Magno, Espen Grundetjern and Joe Caramagna.

“Time may mean nothing to Kang, but Kang means everything to us. This is the book we’ve been wanting to write for years,” Lanzing said. “It’s a total dream come true for Collin and I to be making our Marvel debut – we’re best friends who first met through a mutual love of Young Avengers, Runaways and Ultimate Spider-Man. But to make our first mark with a character as storied as Kang the Conqueror, on a very personal pitch we never in a million years thought would be greenlit, is a genuine honor. Carlos Magno is delivering jaw-dropping work that recalls the exacting detail and operatic emotion of Kang’s co-creator Jack Kirby. We’re genuinely stunned by every new page. Add the brilliant colors by Espen Grundetjern, letters by the Marvel master Joe Caramanga, and the insightful leadership of our editor Alanna Smith, and you’ve got a team worthy of one of Marvel’s greatest unsung characters.”

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Erik Larsen will launch a new ‘Ant’ series in August

Larsen will debut a new origin story for the character in the first issue.

Image Comics has announced that Erik Larsen will launch a new ongoing Ant series in August, sharing a new origin story for the character he bought from her creator, Mario Gully.

Back in March, Larsen announced he had obtained the rights to Ant. Previously Ant has been published by both Image and Arcana Comics. Larsen helped bring the series to Image and also helped out with the initial storyline, but it was never completed. It’s been 14 years since the last issue of Ant appeared, but Larsen will release Ant #12 in June, which brings the first volume to a close.

“I’ve been invested in Ant ever since Mario Gully initially pitched the book at Image back when I was the publisher,” said Larsen. “Mario and I threw a lot of ideas back and forth about how to make the character work at Image and the more I thought about the possibilities—the more I liked the character. I even plotted and laid out a final Ant chapter for Mario’s run on the book, which I ended up completing myself as the finale to her initial series.”

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Marvel announces ‘Marvel’s Voices: Identity’ featuring Asian creators

Gene Yang, Greg Pak, Jason Loo, Marcus To and more will contribute stories to the anthology.

Marvel has announced the next one-shot in their Marvel’s Voices series, Marvel’s Voices: Identity, which will focus on Asian creators and characters.

“It’s unreal to me that one of Marvel’s first Asian super heroes, Jimmy Woo, was first introduced in in 1956. He predates the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, and the X-Men,” Editor Darren Shan told Marvel.com. “It just goes to show that Asians have been an integral part of Marvel’s history, both on the page and behind it. So I’m incredibly excited to celebrate that with all these amazing creators, new and established, featuring some of Marvel’s greatest (and dare I say it, best) super heroes!”

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Marvel celebrates 60 years of the Fantastic Four in August

Dan Slott, John Romita Jr. Mark Waid, Paul Renaud and more contribute stories to the giant-sized issue #35.

In celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Fantastic Four, Marvel has announced that August’s issue #35 will be special giant-sized issue featuring three stories.

The main story will featured the FF going up against all the Kangs, as the time lord and his various incarnations target the team at different points in history. It’ll be written by Dan Slott and drawn by John Romita Jr., who recently returned to Marvel after spending a few years at DC, and inker JP Mayer.

“I’ve read, and been told by much smarter people, that ‘luck is the residue of design’ so I won’t even attempt to claim I designed the events of these last few months, but I will take this kind of luck any day any time,” Romita Jr. said. “I was lucky to begin my career with Marvel and now am extremely lucky to re-connect with Marvel. That’s an enormous amount of good fortune. I sincerely thank all the folks up at Marvel, and Disney, who worked for this fortunate re-connection to happen.

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‘Death Metal’ soundtrack arrives this summer

Mastodon, Denzel Curry, Manchester Orchestra and more provide tracks for the album that ties into the DC Comics event series.

As announced at last year’s DC FanDome, Dark Nights: Death Metal is getting a soundtrack, a joint production between DC and Loma Vista Records. The soundtrack will arrive on digital platforms on June 18, with a physical release set for July 16.

The album is executive produced by Tyler Bates and will feature tracks from Mastodon, Denzel Curry, Manchester Orchestra, Chelsea Wolfe, IDLES, Soccer Mommy and more.

“This soundtrack and motion-comic series was made by fans of comics, for fans of comics and music,” said Bates, who previously worked on the soundtracks for the films John Wick, Guardians of the Galaxy and Watchmen. “Dark Nights: Death Metal is next-level storytelling by two incredibly talented artists in Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo. The visual aspect of this comic is entirely compelling, and resonates throughout each song on the soundtrack.”

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It’s a New Day comic (yes it is)

The popular WWE trio break out into their own solo miniseries from BOOM! Studios.

Don’t you dare be sour — WWE’s tag-team trio The New Day are bringing the power of positivity to comics, with a new miniseries arriving from BOOM! Studios this summer.

Writers Evan Narcisse and Austin Walker, along with artist Daniel Bayliss, will tell the story of the early days of the group, including how Kofi Kingston, Big E and Xavier Woods came together to become The New Day.

“Collaborating with my colleague Austin Walker so we could tap into the personalities of The New Day to tell the origin story of this history-making trio has been an incredibly enriching experience,” said Narcisse. “We tried to write a love letter to an unseen side of WWE history, and I’m so excited that WWE fans everywhere will finally be able to read how Kofi, Xavier, and Big E came together to form sports entertainment’s most electrifying tag team.”

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Milligan + Kowalski bow down to the ‘God of Tremors’ in August

The new title from AfterShock Comics is a ’19th Century gothic horror of exorcism, demonic worship and epilepsy.’

Peter Milligan, writer of X-Statix, Shade the Changing Man and so much more, will team with Bloodbourne and Sex artist Piotr Kowalski for a story of “gothic horror of exorcism, demonic worship and epilepsy” in God of Tremors, a new one-shot from AfterShock Comics.

“It’s a story of dark secrets, shameful longings and terrifying changes,” Milligan said. “A Gothic tale of isolation and horror. Aubrey is a young man living in a straight-laced, 19th century English Victorian world, whose father is a vicar, renowned for his fiery speeches against the evils of new scientific ideas. When Aubrey has his first epileptic seizure it begins a harrowing series of ‘exorcisms,’ as both Aubrey and his father are convinced his condition is the work of the devil. Hidden away in his father’s country estate, Aubrey’s only release is walking in the wild woods that surround the house. It’s deep in these woods that Aubrey discovers an ancient stone pagan effigy that slowly changes his and all his family’s lives.”

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‘Blackhand Ironhead’ returns for a second season

David Lopez’s digital comic returns at Panel Syndicate today.

David Lopez‘s Blackhand Ironhead returns for a second season today at Panel Syndicate, the digital comics website founded by Brian K. Vaughan, Marcos Martin and Muntsa Vicente. It’s available for download in Panel Syndicate’s traditional “choose your own price” model.

Lopez writes and draws the comic, while Kike J. Diaz provides the colors.

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Clownhunter takes the spotlight in a ‘Secret Files’ one-shot this summer

The Gotham vigilante is on a collision course with Punchline in a story by Ed Brisson and Rosi Kämpe.

Clownhunter will hunt again in Batman Secret Files: Clownhunter by Ed Brisson and Rosi Kämpe, which arrives in August. The one-shot follows the previously announced Secret Files issues that will focus on The Signal and the Huntress, who get the spotlight in July.

The comic will mark Brisson’s first work for DC in six years, while it will be the first for Kämpe, who draws the Unknown Lands webcomic on Tapas.

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Kakao Entertainment buys Tapas Media for $510 million

Founder Chang Kim will continue the day-t0-day management of Tapas.

South Korea-based entertainment company Kakao Entertainment has announced that they’ve acquired the webcomics site Tapas Media for an estimated $510 million.

Chang Kim, who founded Tapas in 2012, will continue to oversee the day-to-day management of Tapas and also become Global Strategy Officers within Kakao Entertainment.

Kakao Entertainment was already a stakeholder of Tapas as of last November, and several of Kakoa’s webcomics are available via Tapas, including A Business Proposal, Space Sweepers, The Uncanny Counter, and Navillera.

“We’re thrilled to join forces with Kakao Entertainment, an entertainment content juggernaut with a massive library of original webtoon IPs, which can be introduced to the US audience through the Tapas platform,” Kim said. “Our team, our unique company culture and our awesome creator community stay the same while we race ahead with the exact same mission but on a much bigger scale.”

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