Batman villains steal the spotlight in ‘One Bad Day’ one-shots

Tom King, Mitch Gerads, G. Willow Wilson, Jamie McKelvie and more tell new stories about Riddler, Catwoman, Bane and more.

DC Comics spent the day on social media revealing a series of eight one-shots starring Batman’s villains by a variety of comics’ finest.

The 64-page one-shots will feature The Riddler, Two-Face, The Penguin, Mr. Freeze, Catwoman, Bane, Clayface and Ra’s al Ghul, by the likes of Tom King, Mitch Gerads, John Ridley and more. They’ll be released monthly starting in August.

Here’s a rundown of who is doing what, along with cover art for six of the projects:

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Quick Hits | Rest in peace, Dijjo Lima

A round-up of news on colorist Dijjo Lima, ‘Heartstopper,’ ‘Batman: The Dark Knight Returns’ and more.

Passings | Artist Mike Deodato, Jr. announced on Twitter that colorist Dijjo Lima, whose work included X Deaths of Wolverine, Devil’s Reign: Omega, Amazing Spider-Man and many other titles, passed away. A cause of death was not given. Multiversity Comics has posted an obituary for the 34-year-old Brazilian. You can see more of his work on his website.

Original Art | Frank Miller and Lynn Varley’s original art for the cover of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #1 will go up for auction on June 16, and Bloomberg is reporting it could go for up to $2 million.

Crowdfunding | If Kickstarter’s weird blockchain announcement from late last year left you scratching your head, Erin Ptah writes up a lengthy explanation about what it all means for The Beat.

Webcomics | Writing for Cherwell, Hetta Johnson provides some background on Alice Oseman’s Heartstopper, the webcomic turned hit Netflix adaptation.

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Dark Horse announces ‘Frankenstein: New World’

Mike Mignola’s take on Mary Shelley’s famous creation shambles into shops in August.

Dark Horse has announced a new miniseries set in the Hellboy universe featuring Mike Mignola’s take on a familiar character: Frankenstein: New World, an all-new four-part miniseries.

Mignola will be joined by writers Christopher Golden and Thomas Sniegoski for the project, which will feature art by Peter Bergting, colorist Michelle Madsen and letterer Clem Robins.

“At the end of B.P.R.D.: The Devil You Know when we burned down the world and then started it again with frog people, I really did think that would be all we’d see of it,” Mignola said in the press release. “And in that same issue, that little glimpse of the Frankenstein monster in the center of the earth, that’s the last I thought we’d see of him. But…when Chris and Tom came to me with the idea of having Frankenstein’s adventures in Frog World, I think it took me about ten seconds to say YES. And then two minutes later I think we were on the phone talking about all the possibilities. I just don’t seem to be able to put a lid on this thing—which I guess is a good thing.”

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‘Superboy’ by Porter + Lindsay wins the second DC Round Robin tournament

It will be published by DC later this year.

History has a way of repeating itself, so the results of the second DC Round Robin fan tournament should be no surprise — another teen sidekick comic has beaten out the Suicide Squad.

Superboy: The Man of Tomorrow by Kenny Porter and Jahnoy Lindsay was chosen by fans voting on the DC Universe Infinity message boards. The vote was not close:

It will go on to become a real comic later this year.

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Nominees announced for the Doug Wright Awards

Margaret Bloy Graham will be inducted into the Giants of the North Hall of Fame.

The nominees have been announced for the 18th annual Doug Wright Awards, which honor “the best work and most promising talent in Canadian comics.”

Candlewick Press, Conundrum Press, Drawn & Quarterly and Tundra Books all received multiple nominations for books they published, while creators Sofia Alarcon, Brigitte Archambault and Alexander Laird also received multiple nods.

This year the awards will be given out live and in-person for the first time since before the pandemic, on June 18 at 7 p.m. Eastern during the Toronto Comic Arts Festival. The event will also be livestreamed on YouTube.

The nominees are:

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Conan license will leave Marvel later this year

The license owners plan to publish their own Conan comics in the future.

It looks like Marvel’s license to publish new comics based on Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian is coming to end.

Bleeding Cool first reported that Marvel’s licensing of the character will end, which was confirmed by Heroic Signatures CEO Fred Malmberg in an article on ComicBook.com. Heroic Signatures manages the Conan license in addition to other Howard-created properties like Solomon Kane and Kull of Atlantis.

Marvel seemingly confirmed the change in a vague press release, which states “Jason Aaron’s epic King Conan #6 will mark the end of Marvel Comic’s new adventures into the Hyborian Age, but the fan-favorite character will continue to appear in several exciting stories including the upcoming trade collections and omnibuses.”

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Three Count | Steve Lieber, ‘Griz Grobus,’ newts

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

Three Count is a new column that spotlights, as the title suggests, three things from comics today. It’ll be three things with links, no more, no less. This is the second one, and a big bwahahaha to everyone who thought I’d only ever do one of them.

1. To Know: Steve Lieber’s alt.text skills are unparalleled

Earlier today DC revealed that the Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen: Who Killed Jimmy Olsen? team of Matt Fraction, Steve Lieber, Nathan Fairbairn and Clayton Cowles have reunited for a new story featuring Perry White as part of a one-shot that’s coming out next month.

While you can visit my original post from today to see what the final cover will look like, Lieber took to Twitter to show off an alternative cover he had created for the issue:

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Can’t Wait for Comics | ‘Savage Avengers,’ Earth-M, new ‘Fables’ and more arrive this week

Check out new comics and graphic novels from David Pepose, Carlos Magno, Greg Pak, Khoi Pham, Scott Hanna, Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, Steve Leialoha, Dean Haspiel, Geof Darrow, Johnnie Christmas, John Porcellino 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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‘Perry White’ one-shot will include a new story by ‘Jimmy Olsen’ team

The award-winning team of Matt Fraction, Steve Lieber, Nathan Fairbairn and Clayton Cowles reunite for a new story about Jimmy Olsen’s boss.

DC has announced a new one-shot, Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen’s Boss Perry White #1, which will not only come out next month (Great Caesar’s Ghost! That’s fast!) but will also include a new seven-page story from the team behind the award-winning Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen: Who Killed Jimmy Olsen? maxi-series.

Matt Fraction, Steve Lieber, Nathan Fairbairn and Clayton Cowles will have a story in the anthology, which will also include reprints of stories by Elliot S. Maggin and Curt Swan, Neil Kleid and Dean Haspiel, and Brian Michael Bendis and Ivan Reis.

It really is Miracle Monday, isn’t it?

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What Are You Reading? | ‘Batman: Killing Time’ and ‘Shaolin Cowboy: Cruel to Be Kin’

See what the Smash Pages crew has been reading lately.

Welcome to What Are You Reading?, our look at what the Smash Pages crew has been checking off their “to read” list lately. Today’s edition includes thoughts on Batman: Killing Time and a new Shaolin Cowboy miniseries coming this week.

Let us know what you’ve been reading lately in the comments or on social media.

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‘What a time to be (un)alive’: Zdarsky + Loo’s ‘The All-Nighter’ returns for a second season

The vampires-as-superheroes series continues with issue #6 this Tuesday.

The vampires-cosplaying-as-superheroes story The All-Nighter by Chip Zdarsky and Jason Loo will return later this week for a second season.

ComiXology Originals has announced The All-Nighter #6, which follows the first five-issue arc that debuted last fall.

“I’m thrilled to be continuing this story with Jason,” Zdarsky said. “He’s become quite popular these days and has more than once said, ‘Who are you again?’ when I email him, so the fact that he’s delivering the best work of his career on volume two of The All-Nighter is fantastic! I think every comic book reader in the world should be reading this book, that’s just my humble opinion!”

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Three Count | Ed Brubaker, public domain Dr. Seuss, Evan Cohen’s ‘Life’

Here are three things to read, to back and to buy today.

Three Count is a new column that spotlights, as the title suggests, three things from comics today. Or yesterday, or last week, or whatever. It’ll be three things with links, no more, no less.

[Image above: Reckless: Follow Me Down promo image by Sean Phillips]

1. TO READ: Reckless, the graphic novel series from the award-winning team of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, gets the spotlight in this feature story by the L.A. Times. Jim Ruland, author of Corporate Rock Sucks: The Rise & Fall of SST Records talks with Brubaker about ‘80s L.A., mining his personal history for the story and updating the lurid detective series his father used to read for the new century.

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