Have a nice summer, X-Men

Marvel announces an ‘X-Men: Hellfire Gala’ one-shot and a prelude issue for the upcoming Judgment Day crossover — keeping the X-Men plenty busy this summer.

Although they left their school in Westchester behind for the sunny shores of Krakoa, the gifted youngsters who make up the X-Men are really going to be longing for a summer break this year. In addition to a starring role in Marvel’s upcoming crossover event “A.X.E. Judgment Day” — with the A.X.E. standing for Avengers, X-Men and Eternals — they’ll also be hosting another Hellfire Gala in June.

Unlike last year’s gala, this year’s won’t run through the full line of X-Men comics. Instead, it’ll be a standalone special by Gerry Duggan, Russell Dauterman, Matteo Lolli, C.F. Villa and Kris Anka that Marvel promises will be “loaded with high-stakes drama, shocking character developments, and of course, showstopping Super Hero fashion.” Also: a new team of X-Men, including the winner of the latest fan vote.

“Last summer your host Emma Frost invited you to celebrate Krakoa with some fireworks. This year, it’s about celebrating mutantdom’s friendship with humanity,” Duggan said. “Once again, we have a murderer’s row of talent crafting a one-shot with revelations that will chart the biggest stories in the Marvel Universe. All that, and meet a new team of X-Men.” 

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Can’t Wait for Comics | ‘World’s Finest’ returns, ‘JLA/Avengers’ returns in a limited run

Check out new comics this week from Mark Waid, Dan Mora, Chip Zdarsky, Peach Momoko, Ram V, Javier Rodríguez, Dan Slott and more.

Welcome to Can’t Wait for Comics, your guide to what comics are arriving in comic book stores, bookstores and on digital this week.

I’ve pulled out some of the highlights below, but for the complete list of everything you might find at your local comic shop and on digital this week, you’ll want to check out one or more of the following:

As a reminder, things can change and what you find on the above lists may differ from what’s actually arriving in your local shop. So always check with your comics retailer for the final word on availability.

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Poison Ivy, Tim Drake + more headline DC’s Pride Month titles

DC announces a wave of new titles, reprints and variant covers that will arrive in June featuring LGBTQ+ characters and creators.

DC has announced new projects that will debut in June as a part of Pride Month, including another Pride anthology, a Poison Ivy miniseries, another miniseries featuring Nubia, lots of variant covers and more.

In addition, DC will release Galaxy: The Prettiest Star by writer Jadzia Axelrod and artist Jess Taylor in May, which is a young adult graphic novel about a new character — an alien princess disguised as a human boy. DC will release a preview of the title as part of their 2022 Free Comic Book Day offerings.

Here’s a rundown of what to expect in June:

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Smash Pages Q&A | Nate Cosby on ‘Alter Ego’

The writer and editor discusses his latest graphic novel, which is now being crowdfunded on Kickstarter.

Nate Cosby has been writing and editing comics for years His work has included from Cow Boy, Pigs and other projects, including his latest graphic novel, Alter Ego.

Alter Ego stars Hollywood stuntman Ace Adams as two different superheroes. Cosby mentioned the late great Gene Kelly as one inspiration for their hero, and it’s easy to see the balletic acrobatics of Kelly’s The Three Musketeers in Ace Adams’ moves as artist Jacob Edgar depicts the character’s double duty as the heroes Whiz-Bang and The Black Dog.

The graphic novel is currently being kickstarted and Cosby answered a few questions about the book and his inspirations.

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‘Stone Fruit,’ ‘Thirsty Mermaids’ among the nominees for the 2022 Lambda Literary Awards

The annual awards recognize LGBTQ books, poetry, comics and more.

The nominees for the 34th annual Lambda Literary Awards have been announced, celebrating “the very best in LGBTQ literature.” The awards include an “LGBTQ Comics” category.

According to the press release, this year was the “most competitive yet,” with the highest ever submission volume in Lammy Award history. “We are particularly inspired by such amazing numbers in the LGBTQ Young Adult and Children’s/Middle Grade categories,” the unnamed awards manager said. “The modern movement to ban access to LGBTQ books for young people is horrendous, but we hope the publishing industry continues backing these remarkable works in volume to meet that resistance.”

The nominees in the “LGBTQ Comics” category include:

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DC announces ‘Black Adam’ by Priest + Sandoval

The new series finds the ruthless anti-hero infected with a plague that’s destroying his immortality.

Before launching into his own film later this year, DC’s Black Adam will star in a new comic series by Christopher Priest and Rafa  Sandoval, as the former villain and current Justice League member faces his own mortality.

“Forgive the cliché, but I’ve rarely been this excited about a new project,” Priest said. “DC has provided an amazing opportunity for me to explore and, to some degree, reimagine this character in a very new light while bringing new challenges and consequences to a man who has lived far too long and is desperate for redemption. Rafa Sandoval brings palpable voltage to every panel, bringing out my Kirby-Simonson Big Noise instinct as Rafa’s gifts take me to places I never knew I wanted to go. My only regret is we only have 22 pages a month for this.”

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Paging Scott + Ponce for Dark Horse’s ‘The Ward’

The new supernatural medical drama kicks off in June.

Cavan Scott and Andres Ponce will put a supernatural spin on the medical drama in The Ward, the story of a hospital and its staff that treat minotaurs, ghosts and more.

The four-issue miniseries kicks off in June from Dark Horse Comics.

“I’ve always been fascinated in ordinary people doing extraordinary things in the most incredible of situations, and that certainly describes the indomitable Nat Reeves as she plunges head first into a shift in the world’s only emergency room for supernatural entities,” Scott said. “From murderous minotaur to gelatinous cubes with severe cases of food poisoning, no two patients are alike at St. Lilith’s.”

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Guest Column: Jarrett J. Krosoczka on his early influences

The creator of ‘Hey, Kiddo’ and the ‘Lunch Lady’ series shares his love for Batman, the X-Men, Gummi Bears and more.

Before becoming an award-winning cartoonist and the author of Hey, Kiddo, the Lunch Lady series and other books, Jarrett J. Krosoczka was a fan, wearing his love for the Smurfs, Gummi Bear, X-Men and more on the sleeve of his Batman T-shirt.

Now, with the re-release of the Lunch Lady series as two collected editions, we’re happy to present this guest essay from Krosoczka about those early influences on his work and the escape they provided for him as child.

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Ewing + Rodríguez pit the Defenders against the Beyonder in June

Blue Marvel, Loki, Tigra and more team up to face a Jheri-curled threat from beyond.

Al Ewing and Javier Rodríguez will re-team for another Defenders miniseries later this year, titled Defenders: Beyond. The new story will focus on a different set of characters than last year’s miniseries and will feature the return of the cosmic being The Beyonder.

“So in this book, we’re going on a magical journey into the Mystery itself, mapping the Marvel Godhead and bringing back knowledge that ties into what has gone before, some seismic things to come… and if we’re lucky, maybe a little off-the-page magic to feed your hungry head,” Ewing told Marvel.com. “We’ve got an eclectic new crew of Defenders chosen for the task by the final spell of Stephen Strange – I’m saying what’s probably a final goodbye to a lot of stuff from the past 10 years with this one, and for at least one character, this will be the last adventure. Hope you survive the psychedelic experience, pilgrim!”

This new miniseries will star Taaia, the mother of Galactus, who was introduced in the previous series, along with Blue Marvel, America Chavez, Tigra and Loki.

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Jessica Jones teams with herselves in ‘The Variants’

Gail Simone and Phil Noto teams up multiple versions of the cantankerous P.I. from across the universe.

Jessica Jones will meet her match in June, and that match is herself. Herselves? I don’t know if that’s really a word, but Marvel’s favorite super-powered P.I. is getting a new miniseries this summer where she’ll team up with different versions of herself from across the multiverse.

Gail Simone and Phil Noto will team for The Variants, a five-issue miniseries that will have Jones “question everything she thought she knew about her life and her choices.”

“First, let me get this out…when Tom Brevoort offered me this project, I went and re-read all the Jessica stories, from the classic, groundbreaking [Brian Michael] Bendis stories to the more recent and fantastically good Kelly Thompson stories (that you definitely should read!), and they’re just exciting, compelling reads. There isn’t another comics character like her. That was immensely exciting,” Simone told Marvel.com.

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Smash Pages Q&A | Eric Palicki on ‘Black’s Myth’

With the collection now out from Ahoy Comics, writer Eric Palicki talks about the first volume of the supernatural ‘L.A. noir’ comic ‘Black’s Myth.’

In the past few years Eric Palicki has developed his reputation as a writer and editor thanks to comics like Atlantis Wasn’t Built for Tourists, Fake Empire and No Angel, and anthologies like All We Ever Wanted, Dead Beats and This Nightmare Kills Fascists. For the Ahoy Comics series Black’s Myth, the collection of which was just released, Palicki re-teamed with artist Wendell Cavalcanti to tell the story of a werewolf named Strummer who lives in Los Angeles and avoids the supernatural world. Or tries to, at any rate.

The book is a dark noirish tale with a lot of humor, with Cavalcanti’s black and white artwork inside contrasted with the neon colors of Liana Kangas’ covers, the book screams “L.A. noir.” The supernatural angle, though, is all Palicki, and Black’s Myth feels like a book he’s been building towards, both in terms of subject and sensibility, and in his skill at storytelling.

The trade collection of the first was just released with a second volume coming out in the fall, and Palicki answered a few questions about the book.

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Nominees announced for the Bram Stoker Awards

Comics by Grant Morrison, Dan Panosian, Marianna Ignazzi, Mico Suayan, Kami Garcia and more have been nominated for the annual awards for horror fiction.

Following the reveal of the preliminary ballot earlier this year, the Horror Writers Association has announced the final nominees for the 2021 Bram Stoker Awards.

The annual awards recognize “superior achievement” in horror/dark fiction. This year BOOM! Studios dominates the list with three nominees, while DC and Independent Legion Publishing each garnered one nomination.

Winners will be announced during the Annual Bram Stoker Awards Banquet held during StokerCon 2022 in Denver. Here are the nominees in the graphic novel category: 

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