Dark Horse announces their first new Star Wars titles

‘Star Wars: Hyperspace Stories’ will kick off Dark Horse’s all-ages Star Wars line in August.

Dark Horse and Lucasfilm have announced the first two Star Wars comics projects coming from Dark Horse under the new licensing deal struck between the two companies late last year.

While Marvel continues with their line of comics aimed at older audiences, Dark Horse has picked up the license for “all-ages comics and graphic novels in partnership with Lucasfilm.” It’s a license that previously was held by IDW.

The new comics include Star Wars: Hyperspace Stories, an anthology featuring stories set in every era of the Star Wars timeline, and Star Wars: Tales from the Rancor Pit, a collection of “frighteningly fun” stories for Halloween.

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Schultz, Borelli + Contreras arrange ‘The Deadliest Bouquet’

The successful Kickstarter project will be published by Image in August.

When Jasmine Hawthorn’s past as a Nazi hunter catches up with her, it’s up to her three daughters to rely on their training to bring her killers to justice. Erica Schultz, Carola Borelli and Gab Contreras tell the story of The Deadliest Bouquet, a miniseries coming this summer from Image Comics after a successful Kickstarter campaign last year.

“This story has kicked around in my head for a long time, so it’s amazing to see it in print from Image!” Schultz exclaimed.

Schultz‘s credits include the recent Bylines in Blood from AfterShock, as well as Forgotten Home and Strange Tails. Borelli‘s work has appeared in Love University, and Contreras’ wonderful coloring can be seen on comics like Witchblood and Mezo.

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Three Count | Tinto Press, Greg Smallwood, Uncle Jerk

Here are three things to support, to read and to watch today.

Three Count is a new column that spotlights, as the title suggests, three things from comics today (or yesterday or whenever). It’ll be three things with links, no more, no less. It’s also the third edition, so, y’know, three is the magic number and all that.

1. To Support: Tinto Press kickstarts its 2022 line-up

Small press publisher Tinto Press is crowdfunding its 2022 line-up, which includes new books by Mike Bender, Denis Kitchen, Karl Christian Krumpholz and Julian Brier. The Colorado-based publisher has released a wide variety of comics since 2012, and I believe this is their second time to turn to Kickstarter.

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Quick Hits | A quick awards round-up

‘The Inhabitant of the Lake’ wins the Bram Stoker Award, plus nominations for the Graphic Medicine International Collective Award, Locus Awards and more.

It’s awards season, so today seems like a good day for a quick awards round-up post. Here we go …

The Horror Writers Association has announced the winners of the 2022 Bram Stoker Awards. In the graphic novel category Alessandro Manzetti and Stefano Cardoselli’s The Inhabitant of the Lake, published by Independent Legions Publishing, won the award, beating out what started as a large and very competitive field.

You can find the complete list of winners across all categories on the HWA website.

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Virginia politicians seek restraining order to prevent Barnes & Noble from selling ‘Gender Queer’ to minors

The move comes a week after the Virginia Beach school board removed the book from library shelves.

Virginia State Delegate and lawyer is seeking a restraining order against Barnes and Noble and Virginia Beach Schools “to enjoin them from selling or loaning” the graphic novel Gender Queer and the novel A Court of Mist and Fury to minors without parent consent, according to Book Riot.

On his Facebook page, Tim Anderson, a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, says he is seeking the restraining order on behalf of his client, Tommy Altman, who is currently running for U.S. Congress in Virginia.

“Today, the Virginia Beach Circuit Court has found probable cause that the books Gender Queer and a Court of Mist and Fury are obscene to unrestricted viewing by minors,” Anderson posted. “My client, Tommy Altman, has now directed my office to seek a restraining order against Barnes and Noble and Virginia Beach Schools to enjoin them from selling or loaning these books to minors without parent consent.”

The move follows a decision from last week by the Virginia Beach school board to remove Gender Queer from shelves in the school district’s libraries.

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‘Shirtless Bear-Fighter’ returns in August to battle Ursa Major

The shirtless one fights again!

The day you’ve been waiting for has finally arrived — the day you find out there’s going to be a second Shirtless Bear-Fighter miniseries from Jody LeHeup and Nil Vendrell.

And if this is the day you discover there was a first Shirtless Bear-Fighter miniseries, then oh my — what a day to be alive. Image Comics announced the news with a press release filled with an appropriate number of bear puns.

“Shirtless Bear-Fighter is quite possibly the most joyful comic of all time and given the events of the last few years, we could all use some of that joy right now,” LeHeup told ComicBook.com. “So I’m absolutely thrilled to announce Shirtless Bear-Fighter 2. We always said we wouldn’t do more unless we found the right story and boy did we find it. I cannot wait for fans to see what Nil and I have in store. If you thought volume one was wild, you haven’t seen anything yet. Prebear yourselves!”

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Archie goes Jurassic in ‘Archie Jumbo Comics Digest’ #330 [Exclusive Preview]

Check out a preview of ‘Archie Jumbo Comics Digest’ #330.

There’s no time better then summertime, and what does summertime bring? Sun, surf and dinosaur movies! Wait, what? OK, this summer does, and it also brings a brand new story featuring a prehistoric version of the Archie gang.

Courtesy of the fine folks at Archie Comics, we’re pleased to present an exclusive look at next week’s Archie Jumbo Comics Digest #330, which features 192 pages of comics — including a new story by Dan Parent, Bob Smith, Glenn Whitmore and Jack Morelli, titled “Jurassic Farce!” We’ve got a snippet of the new story, as well as a complete Frank Doyle/Harry Lucey story from the archives.

You can find all the solicitation details and the preview below:

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Slugfest | A round-up of comics publishing news

Ultraman, Blink, Sleeper Agent, Human Target and more slug it out in our first Slugfest comics publishing news round-up.

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you from comics creators, publishers and more. Hit the links for more information.

Ultraman returns in August

Marvel has announced a third Ultraman miniseries by Kyle Higgins, Mat Groom and Davide Tinto. Subtitled ‘The Mystery of Ultraseven,” the story will include “an enigmatic new Ultra and a secret that has remained hidden for decades.”

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Graphic Mundi announces four new graphic novels for later this year

Look for new work by Fabien Toulmé, Catherine Pioli, Kathleen Founds and Maureen Burdock in the fall.

Graphic Mundi, the graphic novel imprint of Penn State University Press, has announced four new graphic novels they’ll publish later this year.

The line-up includes a third Hakim’s Odyssey book from Fabien Toulmé (who was nominated for an Eisner earlier today), plus new works by Catherine Pioli, Kathleen Founds and Maureen Burdock.

The Graphic Mundi imprint, which was announced at the end of 2020, spun out of PSU Press’s Graphic Medicine line. But it’s featuring graphic novels on a broader set of topics, including health and human rights, politics, the environment, science and technology. And despite only being around for a short time, they’ve already picked up two Eisner nominations.

Here’s a rundown of the four new books:

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Nominees announced for the 2022 Eisner Awards

Winners will be announced at Comic-Con International in July.

Comic-Con International has announced the nominees for this year’s Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards. This is the 34th year for the awards, which will be given out at this year’s Comic-Con International on July 22 — a return to a live awards show.

In terms of publishers, DC received the most nominations, followed by Image, Fantagraphics and IDW. Creator-wise, James Tynion IV led the pack with five nominations. Hall of fame nominees and inductees were announced earlier this month.

Check out the full list below.

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Taylor + Hairsine pit DC’s heroes against an undead Darkseid in ‘DCeased: War of the Undead Gods’

The finale of the ‘DCeased’ saga will rise in August.

Writer Tom Taylor and artist Trevor Hairsine will reunite one more time for the final chapter in the DCeased storyline — DCeased: War of the Undead Gods.

The eight-issue monthly limited series will take the action into the cosmos, as the Anti-Life Equation spreads among the stars and the surviving heroes from Earth prepare to battle a reborn, undead Darkseid — who has also infected the New Gods. Taylor and Hairsine talk about the new series in a launch trailer:

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Oswalt + Blum + Hepburn make ‘Minor Threats’ at Dark Horse

The new superhero series arrives in August.

Patton Oswalt and Jordan Blum, the showrunners behind the unjustly canceled Hulu series Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K., will co-write a new series for Dark Horse — Minor Threats, “a genre-bending crime drama about superheroes and villains and the last gasp of the colorful innocent days of the silver and bronze era of comics before they are dragged into the grit-soaked modern times.”

They’re joined by artist Scott Hepburn, with colors by Ian Herring and letters by Nate Piekos, on this four-issue series.

“Every comic book fan dreams of creating their own universe,” said Oswalt. “This one is mine and Jordan’s. There is fun and danger and violence and sadness just like in real life, but with WAY brighter colors. I can’t wait to see you guys experience it.”

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