‘Amazing Fantasy’ #1000 celebrates 60 years of Spidey

Neil Gaiman, Kurt Busiek, Dan Slott, Ho Che Anderson, Rainbow Rowell and more contribute stories to the anthology one-shot.

For the 60th anniversary of Spider-Man, Marvel will return him to his roots with a new issue of Amazing Fantasy featuring stories by Neil Gaiman, Kurt Busiek, Dan Slott, Jim Cheung, Olivier Coipel and more.

Amazing Fantasy #1000, which takes its name from the comic where Spider-Man first debuted, Amazing Fantasy #15, will be a giant-sized anthology one-shot. The stories will “explores the past and future of Amazing Spider-Man storytelling in tales that leave a profound impact on the Spider-Man mythos and showcase why Spidey is one of the most beloved heroes in history,” according to Marvel.com.

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‘Wynd’ soars again in August

James Tynion IV and Michael Dialynas return to the skies of Esseriel for a new five-issue miniseries.

James Tynion IV and Michael Dialynas will return to the world of Wynd this August for another miniseries subtitled “The Throne in the Sky.”

“Wynd at its heart is about how people resist change in themselves and the world around them, and how that fear fills them with hate. It’s about how young people must navigate a world in which change is necessary, and overcome that hate to find themselves and find a path forward for their people and their world,” said Tynion IV.  “I’m absolutely thrilled to be working with Michael Dialynas to bring the Wynd saga to a whole new level. The stage has been set, the world of Esseriel is at the brink of war, and our band of teenagers are at the heart of unraveling a centuries old mystery that could change the face of their world forever. This is where our Fantasy epic kicks into a high gear, and moves ever closer to its action-packed climax. We can’t wait for you to see what we have in store for you.” 

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Azim + Del Col + Adams + Hickey win the Pulitzer for ‘Illustrated Reporting and Commentary’

The winning comic details an Uyghur woman’s escape from a Chinese internment camp.

Fahmida Azim, Anthony Del Col, Josh Adams and Walt Hickey of Insider have been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for “Illustrated Reporting and Commentary,” for their comic “How I escaped a Chinese internment camp.”

The write-up by the Pulitzer committee says the creators received the award for “using the comics medium to tell a powerful yet intimate story of the Chinese oppression of the Uyghurs, making the issue accessible to a wider public.” The prestigious award comes with a $15,000 prize.

Ann Telnaes of The Washington Post and Zoe Si, a contributor to The New Yorker, were both finalists in the category.

This is a more expansive category for the Pulitzer, which previously recognized editorial cartoons for about 100 years — but not last year — and the new category widens the net to include the growing field of comics journalism.

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Voting opens for the finals of the DC Round Robin tournament

It’s Superboy vs. Suicide Squad Dark in the final vote of the tournament.

DC’s second Round Robin tournament will come to a close this weekend, as voting has opened for the final round. The finals pit Suicide Squad: Dark by Zac Thompson and Garry Brown against Superboy: The Man of Tomorrow by Kenny Porter and Jahnoy Lindsay.

The tournament, which has been conducted through DC’s social media accounts and the DC Community message boards, allowed fans to vote on their choice for a new DC series. Last year’s winner was, appropriately, Robins by Tim Seeley and Baldemar Rivas, which brought together several of Batman’s former sidekicks. It went on to become a six-issue miniseries that recently wrapped up.

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Smash Pages Q&A | Andrew J. Kunka

The professor and author discusses his new book about the life and work of the late cartoonist Howard Cruse.

Andrew J. Kunka is the author of the book Autobiographical Comics and a professor of English at the University of South Carolina Sumter. The comics scholar’s new book is The Life and Comics of Howard Cruse: Taking Risks in the Service of Truth.

The book looks at the life of the late cartoonist Howard Cruse, but it primarily takes a deep dive into a lot of the short comics work that Cruse did over the course of his career. Cruse is known as the godfather of gay comics and is known for his graphic novel Stuck Rubber Baby, his long running comic strip Wendel and his role as the founding editor of Gay Comix. His short comics work, from the earliest stage of his career and the comics he drew in the later years of his life, have been understudied, and Kunka does a deep dive into why these comics, which are reprinted in full, are important. It is a thoughtful and deep analysis and celebration of an important and understudied cartoonist.

Kunka was kind enough to take some time out to talk about the book and his work.

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Can’t Wait for Comics | DC goes full dinosaur in ‘Jurassic League’

Check out new comics and graphic novels arriving this week from Donny Cates, Martin Coccolo, Daniel Warren Johnson, Juan Gedeon, Charles Soule, Ryan Browne, Cullen Bunn, Guillem March, Joe Flood 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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IDW adds three to editorial staff

Jamie S. Rich, Charles Beacham and Russ Busse join the publisher.

IDW Publishing has added three new faces to their editorial staff, they announced in a press release today.

Longtime comics fan will recognize the name Jamie S. Rich, a former editor at places like Dark Horse, Oni Press, DC Comics and Tapas Media, his most current workplace. Rich is also an accomplished comics writer and prose novelist, having worked on books like 12 Reasons Why I Love Her, You Have Killed Me and Lady Killer, among many others.

“IDW has a tremendous legacy for bringing people’s favorite characters from across genres and media to life in new and exciting ways,” Rich said. “I am excited to be a part of that and enhance that legacy. The editorial team has been doing some phenomenal work, and I look forward to innovating with them further.”

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Rest in peace, George Pérez

The renowned artist of ‘New Teen Titans,’ ‘JLA/Avengers’ and more passed away from Stage 3 Pancreatic Cancer.

Legendary artist and Eisner Hall of Fame member George Pérez passed away yesterday at the age of 67 from Stage 3 Pancreatic Cancer.

Pérez revealed his heartbreaking diagnosis last year and took every opportunity over the last few months to connect with fans of his work. The news was shared by his friend, Constance Eza, who manages his Facebook page.

“We are all very much grieving but, at the same time, we are so incredibly grateful for the joy he brought to our lives,” Eza said in the Facebook post. “To know George was to love him; and he loved back. Fiercely and with his whole heart. The world is a lot less vibrant today without him in it. He loved all of you. He loved hearing your posts and seeing the drawings you sent and the tributes you made. He was deeply proud to have brought so much joy to so many.”

The post states that a memorial service for the artist will take place at MEGACON Orlando at 6 p.m. on May 22. It will be open to all.

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Artists celebrate ‘May the Fourth be With You’ Day

Enjoy some Star Wars Day art — and a song.

Today is May 4, Star Wars Day, the day we are legally obliged to celebrate everything Star Wars. And many artists took to social media to fulfill their legal obligation, so let’s take a look at some Star Wars art:

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Dark Crisis expands with five specials focused on the Justice League members who just died

‘Dark Crisis’ will run through December with multiple tie-ins, crossover issues and more.

DC has revealed more of their plans for Dark Crisis, the big event series spearheaded by Joshua Williamson that kicked off in Justice League #75 with the “death” of several members of the Justice League.

I put “death” in quotes because with this latest announcement, we find out that all those dead Leaguers will appear in a series of specials over the next few months, with the big conclusion to the event expected to land in December.

Here’s a look at what’s been announced thus far:

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R. Kikuo Johnson’s ‘No One Else’ wins the 2022 L.A Times Book Prize

The graphic novel about a family on Maui dealing with grief was published by Fantagraphics last fall.

The Los Angeles Times has awarded R. Kikuo Johnson’s No One Else its annual Book Prize for 2022 in the Graphic Novel/Comics category.

“I once believed that awards were given mostly on merit, but obviously luck and other factors have just as much to do with it, and that makes me even more grateful that the dice rolled my way this time,” Johnson said on Instagram. “The five other finalists made beautiful books that make me proud to be a cartoonist and so thankful to the generation of artists before us who built the doorways that we get to walk through.”

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Can’t Wait for Comics | ‘Last Call’ for Cooke’s Parker, plus ‘Twig,’ Obi-Wan and more

This week’s list includes new comics and graphic novels from Darwyn Cooke, Skottie Young, Kyle Strahm, Nyla Rose, Steve Orlando, David Cutler, Peter Milligan, Artecida, Zack Kaplan, Guilherme Balbi 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.

Continue reading “Can’t Wait for Comics | ‘Last Call’ for Cooke’s Parker, plus ‘Twig,’ Obi-Wan and more”