Winners announced for the 2021 Doug Wright Awards

S. Bédard, Veronica Post and more took home awards as Fred Kelly was inducted into the ‘Giants of the North’ hall of fame.

The Doug Wright Awards, which honor “the best work and most promising talent in Canadian comics,” presented their 2021 awards last night during a livestream, which you can find embedded below.

Author Margaret Atwood, cartoonist David Collier, last year’s Nipper winner Sylvia Nickerson and author/teacher Emily Pohl-Weary were on hand to present the awards during a ceremony hosted by Don McKellar. R. Sikoryak was on hand once again to “live” draw the ceremony, and the evening also included tributes to Annie Koyama of Koyama Press and Bill Wright, the son of Doug Wright, who died in December.

Continue reading “Winners announced for the 2021 Doug Wright Awards”

Dark Horse will wrap up ‘She Can Fly’ with a graphic novel

The third chapter of Christopher Cantwell and Martín Morazzo’s Berger Books title will arrive all at once, in October.

Christopher Cantwell, Martín Morazzo and Miroslav Mrva will soar once more with the final volume of She Can Fly in October. She Can Fly: Fight or Flight will be released as an original graphic novel through Dark Horse’s Berger Books imprint, wrapping up the story of Luna — who finally gets to fly.

“Luna finally gets to fly, and we fly with her in this storytelling tour-de-force from Christopher, Martin and Mirsolav,” said Karen Berger, who oversees the Berger Books imprint. “It’s an emotional and thrilling finale that totally captured my heart.”

She Could Fly debuted as a miniseries back in 2018, and was followed by a second miniseries, She Could Fly: The Lost Pilot, in 2019. While both were released as single issues and then later collected, the third volume will be released as a single collection, much like the finales of two other Berger Books titles, Invisible Kingdom and The Seeds.

Continue reading “Dark Horse will wrap up ‘She Can Fly’ with a graphic novel”

Mail Call | The Hellfire Gala guest list includes mutants, Avengers … and Eminem?

As Marvel’s mutant event gets closer, take a look at what’s in store at the big party — and afterwards.

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.

It seems like we’ve been talking about Marvel’s Hellfire Gala forever, and Marvel’s publicity team has been working on overdrive to hype up the big X-Men event. And they aren’t stopping now! I’ll do a broader round-up over the weekend, but for this one we’re strictly looking at Marvel’s mutants.

As for the gala, Marvel announced this week that you can expect to see some familiar faces at it — and not just from the world of comics. The potential guest list includes real-life celebrities like Eminem, Conan O’Brien, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, Ira Glass, Pete Alonso and possibly more.

“The Hellfire Gala will be the culmination of months of anticipation, and as one of the biggest nights in X-Men history, it only made sense that the nation of Krakoa would invite some of the world’s biggest stars to witness it for themselves,” said Mike Pasciullo, Vice President, Marketing and Communications at Marvel. “We thank all of our special guests for joining us for this exclusive in-world event, along with the incredible artists who brought them to life on the page.” 

Continue reading “Mail Call | The Hellfire Gala guest list includes mutants, Avengers … and Eminem?”

comiXology Originals announces ‘Hailstone’

Rafael Scavone and Rafael de Latorre head to a winter-ravaged Montana for a new horror title.

comiXology Originals and Stout Club Entertainment are teaming up again for Hailstone, a “horror thriller set during the U.S. Civil War,” by Rafael Scavone, Rafael de Latorre, Wesllei Manoel, Bernardo Brice and Bis Stringer Horne.

This is the second comic in a five-title deal between comiXology and Stout Club, following last year’s Funny Creek.

“Hailstone presents a story of mystery, mixed with historical, horror and supernatural elements, all seasoned with good old western action,” Scavone said. “If I had to pick only one genre to define it, I’d definitely go for weird-fiction. The characters range from a traumatized Sheriff, unable to help his people, to an arrogant army officer running a military factory in a remote town. Art-wise Rafael de Latorre gave it a beautiful but uneasy atmosphere, his work is a perfect match for the story. The moody ambience he created grows denser as the story goes on poking the characters’ fears with it. All of these elements allowed us to play with sequences and pacing. We hope the readers dig it as much as we did while creating this comic.”

Continue reading “comiXology Originals announces ‘Hailstone’”

Comics Lowdown | Zunar is in trouble again

Plus: A new graphic novel looks at Japanese Americans who resisted internment.

Zunar’s cartoon critiquing the minster of the state of Kedah, who canceled the festival of Thaipusam. The cleaver says “No Thaipusam” and the caption on the right reads “Kedah’s inhabitants lived in peace until he came.”

The Malaysian political cartoonist Zunar is in trouble with the law again. Police in the state of Kedah have summoned him to appear before them on May 7 (the original date, given in the linked article, was May 2 but it was rescheduled) for violating the country’s sedition law, a much-criticized relic of its colonial past, with a cartoon criticizing the Kedah state minister’s decision to cancel the traditional Tamil Hindu festival of Thaipusam.

Zunar got into lots of trouble during the tenure of Prime Minister Najib Razak, whom he mocked endlessly for his corruption; Razak was not amused and his government repeatedly raided Zunar’s studio, confiscated his books, banned him from traveling, and brought charges against him that could have led to lengthy prison sentences. The pressure eased once Najib was voted out.

Ironically, Zunar’s latest skirmish coincides with World Press Freedom Day, which was Monday; several national and international groups have criticized the Malaysian government for its repressive stance.

Continue reading “Comics Lowdown | Zunar is in trouble again”

Vote for the final two in DC’s Round Robin brackets

Four pitches remain in DC’s competition that allows fans to choose their next title.

DC Comics has opened up voting for round three of their Round Robin competition, where fans vote on which comic book concept they’d like to see made and published. They’ve also released preview pages for each of the four concepts to give you a better sense as to what exactly you’re voting for.

The competition started about a month ago, as DC pitted 16 comic book pitches against each other, March Madness style, and let fans vote on the one they wanted to see become a real comic. After two round of voting, they’ve narrowed it down to four pitches:

Continue reading “Vote for the final two in DC’s Round Robin brackets”

Jeff Smith returns with a crowdfunding campaign for ‘Tuki: Fight for Fire’

The creator of ‘Bone’ and ‘RASL’ is crowdfunding two volumes of his latest project.

Jeff Smith, creator of one of the best-ever kid’s comics of all time, Bone, and the science fiction romp RASL, is crowdfunding his next project — the resurrected Tuki: Fight for Fire.

As longtime fans of the creator know, Tuki started life as a webcomic back in 2013. It grew from Smith’s love of fantastic heroes of pulp fiction, mythical lost realms and human evolution.

“I’ve always been fascinated by evolution,” Smith writes on the project’s Kickstarter page. “I visited Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, the famous archaeological site occupied by many early humans over time. Standing down amongst the rocks and dirt, looking up at the swaying trees above the gorge, I had a vision of multiple human species walking around and interacting with each other. It was almost like seeing an echo of something that really happened.”

Continue reading “Jeff Smith returns with a crowdfunding campaign for ‘Tuki: Fight for Fire’”

‘Guantanamo Voices’ wins the 2021 Lynd Ward Graphic Novel Prize

The anthology details stories told to Sarah Mirk by the prisoners, lawyers, officials and others connected to the notorious prison.

Guantanamo Voices: True Accounts from the World’s Most Infamous Prison, the graphic novel anthology that tells the stories of several veterans, prisoners, lawyers and government officials with connections to Guantanamo Bay prison, has won the 2021 Lynd Ward Graphic Novel Prize.

The prize is awarded by Penn State University Libraries and the winner is chosen by a jury. Sarah Mirk wrote and edited the graphic novel, and worked with a variety of artists on the different stories it contains, including Nomi Kane, Hazel Newlevant, Gerardo Alba, Alexandra Beguez, Omar Khouri, Maki Naro, Jeremy Nguyen, Tracy Chahwan, Kane Lynch, Kasia Babis and Chelsea Saunders.

According to the write-up, jurors said Guantanamo Voices provides a “nuanced” look at the prison and the American judicial system:

Continue reading “‘Guantanamo Voices’ wins the 2021 Lynd Ward Graphic Novel Prize”

Can’t Wait for Comics | ‘Heroes Reborn’ arrives; ‘Die’ begins its final act; Richard Sala’s final work gets collected

New comics arrive this week from Jason Aaron, Ed McGuinness, Zander Cannon, Ed Piskor, Charles Soule, Steve McNiven, Stephanie Hans, Kieron Gillen, Richard Sala, Garth Ennis 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. This week brings new comics and graphic novels by Jason Aaron, Ed McGuinness, Zander Cannon, Ed Piskor, Charles Soule, Steve McNiven, Stephanie Hans, Kieron Gillen, Richard Sala and more.

Check out a few highlights below, or visit ComicList for this week’s full list of new comics arriving in stores, and the comiXology new releases page for what’s available digitally.

Continue reading “Can’t Wait for Comics | ‘Heroes Reborn’ arrives; ‘Die’ begins its final act; Richard Sala’s final work gets collected”

Dark Horse will issue new ‘Sin City’ editions starting in September

‘Frank Miller’s Sin City Volume: 1 The Hard Goodbye’ kicks off a line of softcover editions with new covers and a pinup gallery.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Frank Miller’s Sin City series, Dark Horse will release new softcover editions of each volume starting in September with The Hard Goodbye.

These new editions will be presented at their original size, with new wrap-around cover art and a pinup gallery featuring a variety of artists, including Joyce Chin, Amanda Conner, Klaus Janson, Paul Pope, Philip Tan and Gerardo Zaffino.

“Frank Miller’s association with Dark Horse has flourished for over 30 years,” said Dark Horse founder and publisher Mike Richardson. “The original publication of Sin City was a watershed moment for our company, and we are very pleased to celebrate its 30th anniversary with a brand-new edition. Readers will find that Sin City is just at powerful today as it was the day it was first released, exactly what you would expect from one of comics’ master creators.”

Continue reading “Dark Horse will issue new ‘Sin City’ editions starting in September”

Rest in peace, John Paul Leon

The artist of ‘Static,’ ‘The Winter Men,’ ‘Earth X’ and many other comics projects passed away at the age of 49.

Multiple sources are reporting that artist John Paul Leon, whose work included Static, The Winter Men, Earth X, Batman: Creature of the Night and the upcoming Batman/Catwoman Special, has passed away. He was 49 when he died.

According to a press release from his family, Leon had battled cancer for 14 years. He is survived by his wife, his daughter and an older brother. Artist Tommy Lee Edwards has set up a Gofundme page in honor of Leon, with proceeds to go to Leon’s daughter’s future education.

DC Black Label editor Chris Conroy shared the news on Twitter. “It seems the news is out. Last night we lost John Paul Leon, one of the greatest draftsmen in the history of comics, the kind of artist that EVERY artist revered,” Conroy wrote. “Those who loved him had some warning, but not enough.”

Continue reading “Rest in peace, John Paul Leon”

What Are You Reading? | ‘Robin,’ ‘Seconds,’ ’20 Fists’ and more

See what the Smash Pages crew has been reading lately.

Welcome to What Are You Reading?, our weekly look at what the Smash Pages crew has been checking off their “to read” list lately — from older stuff like Night Force and Seconds to more recent releases like Robin, Transformers/My Little Pony and more.

Let us know what you read this week in the comments or on social media.

Continue reading “What Are You Reading? | ‘Robin,’ ‘Seconds,’ ’20 Fists’ and more”