New ‘Locke & Key’ story to debut in San Diego

‘Locke & Key: Nailed It!’ gets a convention exclusive preview at next month’s Comic-Con International.

Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriquez’s Locke & Key came out as a series of miniseries between 2008 and 2013, wrapping up with the Omega and Alpha issues that brought the story to a close. Or so it would seem …

Both IDW Publishing and Rodriquez have teased this month plans to reopen the doors to the Keyhouse, and now a list of exclusives being offered by IDW at Comic-Con International next month reveals a new comic: Locke & Key: Nailed It!

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Idaho school bans ‘The Walking Dead’

Despite a committee vote to keep it at the school, the district superintendent calls for the removal of the popular Image Comics series.

Wallace Junior/Senior High School in Wallace, Idaho has removed The Walking Dead from its library shelves following complaints from a teacher and parents.

According to the Shoshone News-Press, a teacher saw a student reading a volume of The Walking Dead during the 2018-2019 school year and objected to the content, including the “graphic language, violence and sexually explicit content.” Upon discovering the school library had several volumes of the comic, he took his concerns to the school’s principal, Chris Lund.

The principal then formed an 11-person committee that included students, staff and parents to review the material and vote on whether The Walking Dead should be removed from the school library.

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DC Black Label announces new high fantasy series, ‘The Last God’

Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Riccardo Federici, Dean White and Tom Napolitano tell the story of ‘a cross-generational quest to kill an evil tyrant king.’

Epic fantasy and horror will collide in a new series from DC Black Label — The Last God, by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Riccardo Federici, Dean White and Tom Napolitano.

According to the press release, the story “will follow a cross-generational quest to kill an evil tyrant king—also known as the Last God—as he seeks to destroy the land of Cain Anuun.”

“This is a terrifying horror story told in a stunning epic-fantasy world,” Johnson said. “Set in two different generations, it follows a mighty fellowship of heroes that travels beyond the borders of creation to kill a god, and the next generation, who learn their predecessors aren’t the heroes the world believes them to be.”

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Adidas + Marvel team for Spider-Man inspired shoes

With great sneakers come great responsibility.

Adidas and Marvel have teamed up with the Utah Jazz player and major Spider-fan Donovan Mitchell for a line of shoes inspired by the various suits worn by Spider-Man.

The “D.O.N. Issue #1” line kicks off with the traditional red-and-blue suit getting a sneaker makeover, while the Iron Spider, Stealth and of course Symbiote suits also get some love.

The “D.O.N.” in the name stands for “Determination Over Negativity.” “Determination Over Negativity is a belief that anything is possible no matter who you are or where you come from,” said Mitchell . “I wanted this sneaker to be a symbol of that – for the kid who believes they can do anything.”

Mitchell, whose nickname is “Spida,” also appears in an ad for Spider-Man: Far from Home. “It made up a lot of movies I watched as a kid,” Mitchell said back in November after the death of Stan Lee, about the influence Lee and Spider-Man had on him. “It was pretty special for me to take that Spider-Man name and kind of run with it. It is an honor. He has done so much for the community and for us as kids growing up. [Lee’s] made an everlasting impact due to the comics, the movies, the ideas. He never stopped, and I think that is one thing that you can attest to his work ethic. I kind of put that into my work ethic. There’s always something, you always have to do more, he never stopped, and that was very impressive.

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Smash Pages Q&A: Sarah W. Searle

The creator of ‘Sincerely, Harriet’ discusses the book’s themes, her creative process and much more.

Sincerely, Harriet was released by Graphic Universe earlier this year but cartoonist Sarah Winifred Searle has been working in comics for years. Searle has contributed short comics to Jem and the Holograms, Gothic Tales of Haunted Love, Twisted Romance and Colonial Comics, among many others. She’s contributed to publications like Bitch, Symbolia and The Nib about subjects personal, historical and political.

Sincerely, Harriet is a middle-grade novel that like so much of her work is subtle and nuanced in ways that reward repeated reading. We spoke recently over email about the book, her upcoming graphic memoir and life in sunny Perth, Australia.

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News of a ‘Spider-Man’ miniseries by JJ + Henry Abrams sparks mixed reactions

Fans and pros had many opinions on Marvel’s newest Spidey series.

Marvel teased and then announced last week that filmmaker JJ Abrams and his son Henry will write a new miniseries simply titled Spider-Man. The comic will feature artwork by Sara Pichelli and Dave Stewart, with covers by Olivier Coipel.

The quick version:

  • Marvel began hyping the series with a series of teasers on Twitter that counted down to the day it would be announced, starting with a stylized “4” that looked like Spider-Man’s webs.
  • The announcement was made via a New York Times interview with JJ and Henry Abrams.
  • Reactions were, to put it lightly, mixed. Many fans expressed their disappointment with the overall announcement, as many were hoping the teasers were referring to a comic book adaptation of the script for the unmade Spider-Man 4 by Sam Raimi. Many comic creators criticized the fact that the inexperienced Henry Abrams seems to be getting a big break into comics simply because of who his father is.

So what’s this all about? Let’s break it down …

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Joe Hill to oversee pop-up imprint at DC

Hill House Comics brings new work from Mike Carey, Peter Gross, Kelley Jones and more.

Locke & Key co-creator Joe Hill is making a big return to comics with House Hill Comics, a pop-up imprint from DC. House Hill Comics will launch with five miniseries this fall, according to Entertainment Weekly.

“I’ve always been a comic book writer first,” Hill told EW. “When I started writing comics, I felt almost instantly that I had discovered my element. It was the version of writing I liked best. I felt, when I worked in comics, that my strengths were amplified, and the stuff I struggled with as a writer almost completely vanished. Working on Locke & Key was one of the most satisfying creative experiences of my life. But it’s tremendously exciting to get back into it: scripting again, working with artists, working with other writers. Working in comics is the closest you can get as a storyteller to feeling like what it must be like to be in the Rolling Stones.”

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‘Fairlady’ pays tribute to a classic 80s cartoon

Latest issue of the high-fantasy procedural features a fun homage to a Steve Gerber co-creation.

Fairlady, the Image Comics title by Brian Schirmer and Claudia Balboni, promised “a complete 30-page story” every issue when it debuted, and three issues in, it has not disappointed. Issue #3, which came out last week, delivered not only another enjoyable story, but also paid homage to a cartoon with a strong comic book pedigree from the 1980s.

Probably best described as a fantasy detective comic, the “Fairlady” in the title is Jenner Faulds, a specially licensed private investigator who also works security for a local wizard. The “done in one” story in issue #3 revolves around a barbarian who winds up dead on the first page, a barbarian who hired Jenner for a job. It of course gets more complicated from there, and that’s where the fun starts.

(Note: this post contains minor spoilers for issue #3 of Fairlady)

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Smash Pages Q&A: G.E. Gallas

The creator of ‘The Poet and the Flea’ discusses ‘The Plague and Doctor Caim,’ which she is currently crowdfunding.

G.E. Gallas has been making historical comics for years and is currently crowdfunding her newest project, The Plague and Doctor Caim, about a 17th Century plague doctor. The image of a plague doctor is familiar to a lot of people, but the reality and experience of that period is rarely explored.

Gallas is perhaps best known for her comic The Poet and the Flea, an amazing story of the great William Blake, and here she’s returning to historical fiction with a very different story and an aesthetic and design that draws form illuminated manuscripts. Gallas is currently crowfunding the book on Unbound and we spoke recently about the book, research, and what’s funny about the plague.

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Help pick AHOY’s next title in ‘Steel Cage’ throwdown

Buy the one-shot this week to get a taste of three potential titles, then crush the dreams of two hopefuls by picking your favorite.

AHOY Comics is ready to rumble, and they want you to help choose the winner of their Steel Cage comics competition.

This Wednesday, Steel Cage arrives in stores, featuring three stories by very un-jobberlike creative teams. But only one of these stories can go on to lose the Money in the Bank briefcase to Brock Lesnar, who wasn’t even in the match win their very own title. You can vote for your choice at https://comicsahoy.com/vote.

“Steel Cage just might be the greatest moment of fan participation since fans called a 1-900 number and voted for a teenage sidekick to die,” AHOY Publisher Hart Seely said.

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Canadian creators unite for new ‘Alpha Flight’

A one-shot featuring three stories about the Canadian super team arrives in September.

Marvel is all about the one-shot specials in September, as they continue to celebrate their 80th birthday with special projects. You’ve got Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz doing New Mutants; Erik Larsen, Gerry Conway and Mark Bagley on Amazing Spider-Man; Roger Stern returning to Avengers; and, heck, you’ve even got Obnoxious the Clown in a Crazy one-shot.

But wait — there’s more! Also announced for September is a one-shot featuring a whole bunch of Canadian creators tackling Canada’s No. 1 team, Alpha Flight. Jim Zub, Scott Hepburn, Jed MacKay and more will contribute to Alpha Flight: True North.

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DC announces new YA/DC Kids projects at ALA

New titles for 2020 and 2021 announced at the American Library Association’s annual convention.

Although they may be dropping the DC Ink and DC Zoom (the latter is still a better name than DC Kids) brands, DC has announced a slew of new projects and updates for their young readers line at the American Library Association’s annual convention this weekend.

Of note in this latest list are several new Teen Titans Go! books; with the comic cancelled as of September, it’s good to see that the young reader-friendly material based on the show will continue. You’ve also got new material by Jeffrey Brown, Art Baltazar and Franco, Louise Simonson, Mariko Tamaki and Leila del Duca. And finally, John Constantine, of all characters, will finally make the leap into a YA title, courtesy of Ryan North and Derek Charm.

Check out the full list below.

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