‘Sailor Moon’ arrives on comiXology

The popular manga series is available digitally in English for the first time.

Naoko Takeuchi’s beloved manga series Sailor Moon is now available on comiXology in four 300-page volumes, with future volumes planned to be released as the series hits print from publisher Kodansha Comics.

“Fans who enjoyed Sailor Moon as children have now grown into full-fledged adults – I am extremely grateful that their love for Sailor Moon continues to this day,” said Fumio Osano, editor of Sailor Moon. “Many people have told me they see the series in a different light now that they’ve re-read it as adults. Takeuchi-sensei started the series in her 20s and drew it into her 30s, so now that the fans who enjoyed it as children and teens are the same age she was, I think they’re making new discoveries.”

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AdHouse launches an online T-shirt shop

Matt Lesniewski’s ‘The Freak’ featured on their first ‘AdT of the Month.’

AdHouse Books, publisher of fine comics like The Freak and Pope Hats, has launched an online T-shirt store through Threadless.

The shop currently has four designs available, including the above logo. AdHouse’s Chris Pitzer said the design for a shirt titled “3905” proved to be popular enough to warrant this new venture.

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‘The Nib’ loses funding support from First Look Media

Site editor Matt Bors says he plans to continue The Nib with member support.

First Look Media, which has funded The Nib for the past three years, will drop its support for the political/non-fiction comics site and lay off its staff at the end of July. Editor Matt Bors said he is working with First Look so they can “hand the publication over to me so that I can continue The Nib.”

In addition to the website, Bors also oversees a print edition of The Nib, with the fourth issue scheduled for July. He said a fifth issue is in the works, and he plans to print it independently.

“This will be a major setback but I will be devoting all my time to continuing this publication with contributions from all the editors and cartoonists who have made this publication what it is,” Bors said.

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Charles Vess wins two Locus Awards

‘The Books of Earthsea: The Complete Illustrated Edition’ brings recognition to the ‘Sandman’ artist.

Artist Charles Vess, known to comic fans for his work with Neil Gaiman on Sandman and Stardust, among other projects, has won two Locus Awards this year.

Vess topped a stacked category for “Best Artist,” and was also recognized for “Best Art Book” for his collaboration with science fiction legend Ursula K. Le Guin on The Books of Earthsea: The Complete Illustrated Edition.

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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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