Joe Ciano + Joshua Hixson explore the monster within in ‘Children of the Woods’

The new horror/mystery graphic novel will arrive from Dark Horse in January.

Joe Ciano and Joshua Hixson will head into the woods for a new horror/mystery graphic novel this January.

Dark Horse will publish Children of the Woods, which the publisher says “will explore the monster within and what is left when that monster finally comes out.” Ciano and Hixson are joined by colorist Roman Stevens and letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou on the project.

“Children of the Woods is about the drive that makes people become monsters, whether it’s sparked through tragedy, anger, or just one’s own curiosity,” Ciano said in a statement. “This book is supported by an amazing coloring and lettering team with Roman Stevens and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. We’re thrilled that Children of the Woodshas found a home at Dark Horse. Josh and I always had Dark Horse in mind when we first started development on the book, so this is really special.”

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Tapas taps Jamie S. Rich as its new editor-in-chief

The former DC editor joins the webcomics company next week.

Former DC and Vertigo editor Jamie S. Rich has joined the webcomics juggernaut Tapas as its new editor-in-chief.

“Growing up reading indie and self-published comics in the 1980s, I saw whole new worlds, and I started telling my stories, too,” Rich told The Hollywood Reporter. “These days the realm may be digital, but it’s still comics. It’s still words and pictures, the basic components of modern storytelling. So, the great thing about Tapas is that it provides a platform for new voices, a place for the storytellers coming up now to share their voices. Anything is possible in a comic book.”

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‘Almost American’ tells the real-life story of a former Russian spy

Ron Marz and Marco Castiello will help tell the story of former spy Janosh “Jan” Neumann and his wife as they defected to the United States.

Who’s better to tell a spy story than an actual spy? Almost American, by former Russian spy Janosh “Jan” Neumann, Ron Marz, Marco Castiello, Flavio Dispenza and Rus Wooton, will tells how Neumann and his wife defected to the United States in 2008.

AfterShock Comics will publish the miniseries, which sees Marz and Neumann unite in what Marz called “a beautiful friendship,” noting this was likely the first of several collaborations between the two

“Almost Americans is the real-life story of husband and wife Jan and Victorya Neumann, Russian intelligence operatives who had to flee Russia for their lives, and wound up in America, caught up in the bureaucracy and red tape of the U.S. government,” Marz said.”The story is that much more fascinating because it’s all true. These are real events that happened to real people, and it gives some pretty fascinating insight into the intelligence world works … and doesn’t work.”

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Stellar motorcycle shots: Heroes Reborn roundtable, week 6

Carla, Tom, Shane and JK continue to discuss Marvel’s latest comics event and its tie-in one-shots.

The Smash Pages team is back this week for our sixth Heroes Reborn roundtable, where we break down the latest Marvel crossover issue by issue. This week Shane Bailey, Tom Bondurant, Carla Hoffman and I talk about Heroes Reborn #6, as well as two tie-in issues: Night-Gwen and Squadron Savage.

You can read part one of our roundtable discussions here, part two here, part three here, part four here and part five here.

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Julia Mata’s ‘Crisis!’ coming from D+Q in 2024

Drawn and Quarterly have announced that they’ve acquired the first graphic novel from the New York-based creator.

Drawn and Quarterly has announced that they’ve acquired Julia Mata‘s debut graphic novel, Crisis!, with plans to publish it in 2024.

Mata is one-third of Spicy Mango Comics, along with Daisy Ruiz and Rachelle Hall. They are a New York-based small-press imprint that’s been releasing comics, prints, apparel and other items from all three creators, including Mata’s Crisis! zines.

“Julia’s characters—Dania and Mayra—are complex and layered and filled with possibility. I love watching their friendship come to life in all its realness,” D+Q Senior Editor Tracy Hurren said in a blog post. “Crisis! does one of my favorite things: it captures young women living messy, complicated, busy lives and coming out stronger. It’s fiction at its best.” 

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Can’t Wait for Comics | Milestone Media’s revival finally kicks off with ‘Static: Season One’ #1

Check out new comics this week from Tom King, Bilquis Evely, Jason Aaron, Aaron Kuder, Gerry Duggan, Pepe Larraz, Peach Momoko, Stan Sakai 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 from Marvel, DC, AfterShock Comics, Milestone Media, Fantagraphics and more.

Check out a few highlights below, or visit Diamond’s website for this week’s almost complete list of new comics arriving in stores — you can visit Lunar Distribution’s home page to see DC’s release — and the comiXology new releases page for what’s available digitally.

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Ka-Zar rises again in a new miniseries by Thompson + Garcia

‘Ka-Zar: Lord of the Savage Land’ #1 arrives in September.

Marvel’s headed back to the Savage Land this fall, and writer Zac Thompson and artist Germán Garcia will be your tour guides.

Following his appearance in Empyre last year — where he died and came back — Ka-Zar will headline a new miniseries — Ka-Zar: Lord of the Savage Land. The comic will flesh out Ka-Zar’s new abilities since his resurrection, as well as introduce a new Savage Land villain.

“Ka-Zar: Lord of the Savage Land is the book I’ve always wanted to write,” Thompson said to Marvel.com. “It’s an absolute dream-come-true to take a character created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and propel them into the modern Marvel universe with a whole host of horrifying new powers! It’s been years since Ka-Zar had his own series and we wanted to mark the occasion with an evolution that channels something like Immortal Hulk but with a distinct throwback to the old adventure pulps that inspired the character’s creation 65 years ago.”

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CXC plans some in-person events for 2021, announces the Tom Spurgeon Award

This year’s Cartoon Crossroads Columbus will be a hybrid event, with some events hosted online and some in-person.

Cartoon Crossroads Columbus has announced that this year they plan to return to hosting live crowds, as this year’s event, scheduled for Sept. 30-Oct. 3, will feature both in-person and online events.

Like most comics festivals and conventions, CXC went all virtual for its 2020 show due to the COVID-19 pandemic. CXC said some events this year will be online only, including the CXC Expo, and several of the in-person events will be broadcast online. They plan to follow the city of Columbus’s health guidelines and the recommendations of its programming sponsors when determining any necessary precautions. More details on programming and locations are forthcoming.

“Every Fall the art community in Columbus comes together for CXC, and once again we’ve put together an incredible guest list of creators,” said Bone creator Jeff Smith, CXC’s co-founder and artistic director. “Whether in person or online, we have events and activities planned for anyone who likes cartoons. Which is everyone!”

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‘Batman: Earth One’ Vol. 3 ‘reframes a number of classic elements in an entertaining way’

Tom Bondurant reviews the latest in DC’s line of Earth One graphic novels, the long-awaited third part of Geoff Johns and Gary Frank’s Batman trilogy.

This week I read a lot of Batman, which sounds stereotypical, but it’s kind of unavoidable. The new issue of Detective came out this week, along with the third issue of Batman: The Detective; and both featured Bruce Wayne battling overmuscled man-mountains with handlebar mustaches and crazy glints in their eyes. There was also issue #3 of The Batman/Scooby-Doo Mysteries, plus a decent amount of the Darknight Detective in issue #2 of Justice League: Last Ride. And I’m still in the middle of a New 52 Batman re-read, getting into the “Zero Year” epic.

All that said, I’m going to talk about Batman: Earth One Volume Three, written by Geoff Johns, pencilled by Gary Frank, inked by Jon Sibal and colored by Brad Anderson.

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Floating World Comics will publish E.S. Glenn’s ‘Unsmooth 2: BUM’ this fall

The prequel to his 2020 graphic novel arrives in September.

The New Yorker cartoonist E.S. Glenn will follow up his 2020 graphic novel, Unsmooth, with its prequel, Unsmooth 2: BUM, in September. And if the preview pages that Floating World Comics provided are any indication, we’re all in for a treat.

Described as “a poetic journey through the human condition,” the graphic novel is populated by poets, prisoners, assassins and artists, and even the author himself. It takes place before the story from the first volume, which focused on a fictional portrayal of E. S. Glenn himself as an artist who entered the criminal underground, and became a petty thief and an assassin.

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Sunday with ‘Sandman’ | Looking back at the earliest issues of the beloved series

Shane Bailey cracks open ‘Sandman: The Deluxe Edition V1,’ journeying back to the late 1980s for a look at the influential series.

Last week I decided to start a massive reread of the Neil Gaiman-written Sandman family of books, starting with the Deluxe Edition v1, and honestly I forgot how great these books are. Over the years I’ve come to take them for granted, but they are really top of the class in terms of subject and craft.

Reading these books again I see how heavily it leans into horror, which I had forgotten. It has that creeping horror feel down, the kind that starts the hairs on the back of your neck to signal that something isn’t quite right, rather than in-your-face shock horror.

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Sunday Comics | The Superman/Batman fan comic that was nominated for an Eisner

Check out free comics on the web from Chan Chau, Connor Willumsen, Kerry Callen and more.

Here’s a round up of some of the best comics we’ve seen online recently. If we missed something, let us know in the comments below.

The 2021 Eisner Award nominees were released last week, so let’s start off by highlighting two of the comics nominated in the “Best Short Story” category. Up first is “Soft Lead” by cartoonist Chan Chau, a fan comic about Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne. Is this the first time a fan comic has ever been nominated for an Eisner? I’m guessing the answer is yes. Chau is also nominated in that same category for their short story “Parts of Us,” which appeared in the anthology Elements: Earth, A Comic Anthology by Creators of Color. They’re also currently working on the next Baby-Sitters Club graphic novel.

“I’m having an incredibly hard time coming up with words, but this all came as a huge shock,” Chau said about the double nomination. These two stories have been very dear to me, and to have them recognized means the world.”

“Soft Lead” re-imagines Clark Kent as a cartoonist, and the Daily Planet publishes his comic strips about his cat. He has a bit of a crisis as he contemplates whether it’s selfish to be doing something he enjoys — drawing cats — instead of saving the world. Luckily, he has a fan in Bruce Wayne.

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