Dark Horse to bring Nintendo’s ‘ARMS’ to comics

Crazy fighting game gets a graphic novel next fall.

Dark Horse Comics will turn ARMS, a fighting game for the Nintendo Switch, into graphic novels beginning next fall, the publisher announced via press release.

If you aren’t familiar with ARMS, it’s a pretty funky game featuring fighters with long, stretchy, Slinky-like arms. Using the Switch’s motion controllers, a player can guide the arms to their target in midflight, among other moves. The game is filled with characters like Spring Man, Helix, Ribbon Girl and Lola Pop, mnay of whom will no doubt have their stories explored more fully in a graphic novel.

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DC announces the return of Milestone with five new titles

Static Shock, Icon, Rocket and more set to return next spring as a part of ‘Earth M.’

Milestone Comics was a big, groundbreaking idea back in the 1990s, and now it’s coming back to comics in a big way.

At the New York Comic Con, DC Comics announced plans to launch five new titles featuring characters from the 1990s imprint. The new initiative, called Earth M, will feature creators like Reginald Hudlin, Ken Lashley, Greg Pak, Kyle Baker and more.

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Former Vertigo editor explores Islamophobia in new series from Image

Pornsak Pichetshote and Aaron Campbell team up for ‘Infidel,’ a horror story with political undertones.

Former Vertigo editor Pornsak Pichetshote and artist Aaron Campbell are teaming up for a new horror title that will explore Islamophobia called Infidel. Per the press release, it’s the story of an American Muslim woman and her multi-ethnic neighbors “who move into a building haunted by creatures that feed on xenophobia.”

“I’m a huge fan of horror and was really interested in a horror story that more accurately reflected the multi-racial world we live in and the fears that seem to come with it,” said Pichetshote. “Aaron, Jose, Jeff, and I are really trying to take a classic horror staple—the haunted house—and update everything about it—setting it in the heart of the city, giving it a multi-racial cast where those backgrounds actually matter to the turns of our story, and centering our horror around the very distinct fears of today. I’ve taken to calling Infidel ‘political horror,’ and while we’ve been cooking this project for a while, the success of movies like Get Out make us optimistic that audiences will be as hungry to read something like this as we are to make it.”

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‘The Walking Dead’ #175 cover teases a ‘new world order’

Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard prepare for ‘all new friends, all new enemies, all new threats’ in forthcoming storyline.

During the Robert Kirkman spotlight panel at the New York Comic Con today, The Walking Dead writer and co-creator revealed the cover to issue #175 by series artist Charlie Adlard.

Per Image Comics, “This jaw-dropping new story arc of the bestselling The Walking Dead will feature all new friends, all new enemies, all new threats, and will appropriately be called, New World Order.”

Check it out below:

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Kirkman + De Felici sing an ‘Oblivion Song’ in March

New Skybound title transfers Philadelphia to an alternate dimension.

Skybound has announced the next project from The Walking Dead and Invincible scribe Robert Kirkman — Oblivion Song, co-created with artist Lorenzo De Felici. Joining the duo on the project are colorist Annalisa Leoni, letterer Rus Wooton and editor Sean Mackiewicz.

Here’s how Skybound describes the project: “A decade ago 300,000 citizens of Philadelphia were suddenly lost in Oblivion. The government made every attempt to recover them but after many years they gave up. Nathan Cole… won’t. He makes daily trips, risking his life to try and rescue those lost, alone and afraid, living in the apocalyptic hellscape of Oblivion. But maybe… Nathan is looking for something else? Why can’t he resist the siren call of the Oblivion Song?”

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More ‘Goosebumps’ coming from IDW

Jen Vaughn and Michelle Wong offer a modern take on the classic Goosebumps book ‘Say Cheese and Die!’

IDW announced back in July that they will publish a comic series based on R.L. Stine’s popular Goosebumps books by a rotating series of creators. With the first miniseries kicking off later this month, IDW has announced a second one that will follow in February.

The second three-issue arc, “DOWNLOAD AND DIE!,” is a self-contained story set in the Goosebumps universe from writer Jen Vaughn and artist Michelle Wong.

“This Goosebumps tale is going to delve into what makes friends tick and what can drive them apart,” said Vaughn. “What’s that saying, ‘you can always make new friends?’ Well, not when people find out what you did to your last ones. Michelle brought my characters to life so well…too well. They laugh, they cry, they dream, and bleed through the power of her lines. I’m terrified to read the comic now.”

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Peter Milligan to write ‘The Prisoner’ comic for Titan

Milligan will team with artist Colin Lorimer on an all-new comic series based on the original TV show.

So this just seems kind of perfect — Titan Comics has recruited Peter Milligan to write a comics adaptation of The Prisoner. He’ll be joined by artist Colin Lorimer.

The Prisoner first aired on TV in the UK in 1967 and in 1968 in the U.S. The cult classic was a surreal mix of spy fiction with sci-fi, allegory and psychological drama elements, and starred Patrick MacGoohan as Number 6 — a British secret agent who was held captive by unknown abductees in a coastal town as they tried to extract information from him.

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First Second announces new ‘Maker Comics’ series

Robyn Chapman will edit the line that taps into “DIY energy.”

Graphic novel publisher First Second announced today a new series of “DIY”-type books called Maker Comics.

“Comics is THE medium for visual instruction—there is no better way to offer step-by-step directions for complex tasks,” their Tumbler post reads. “For perfect examples, look no farther than the safety brochure on your next flight or the instructions that come with your IKEA furniture. With Maker Comics, we pair visual instruction with narrative. Each volume has its own characters and story. And seamlessly woven into that story are instructions for five to ten fun projects that readers can complete themselves.”

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Whedon returns to Dark Horse’s ‘Buffy’ comics for new miniseries

Whedon and Erika Alexander will co-write a new miniseries starring Giles, who goes back to class as a high school student.

Joss Whedon makes his triumphant return to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe with a new four-issue comic book limited series — Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Giles.

In the lead up to New York Comic Con, Dark Horse Comics announced that the Buffy creator will work with co-writer Erika Alexander of Concrete Park fame on the series. Artist Jon Lam, colorist Dan Jackson, and cover artists Steve Morris and Arielle Jovellanos round out the team.

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Smash Pages Q&A: Kim Dwinell on ‘Surfside Girls’

The animator discusses her first graphic novel, surfing, the ocean and more.

Kim Dwinell has been teaching and working in animation for years, but this years she’s written and drawn her first graphic novel, Surfside Girls, Book One: The Secret of Danger Point. The book, which is out now from Top Shelf, is a beautifully painted young adult mystery/adventure story. Two 12-year-olds, Samantha and Jade, live in the sleepy beach town of Surfside and become involved in s series of strange occurrences that include the titular Danger Point, ghosts, the town’s history, and a group of boys who find what they think is a baby pterodactyl.

There’s a timeless quality to the adventure, but Dwinell is also threading other more complicated stories in the background, stories of the town, of the history of California, and the result is a book that manages to capture some of that spirit and energy found in Scooby Doo and a lot of other old mystery stories that so many of us fell in love with as kids, and establishing a rich setting. This is Dwinell’s debut book, but the way she uses design and layout throughout show just how much she understands about how comics work. Summer is over, but I reached out to Dwinell to talk about the book, her background in animation, and the ocean.

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Dynamite announces ‘Pumpkinhead’ by Cullen Bunn

Bunn tapped to write original comic book projects based on the cult classic horror film series.

Horror writer extraordinaire Cullen Bunn will have the opportunity to put his stamp on one of his favorite monsters, Pumpkinhead, in a new series coming from Dyanmite Entertainment.

“I’ll admit, when I heard that Dynamite had acquired the rights to do this book, I immediately contacted them asking to pitch for the series,” Bunn said on his website. “Good ol’ Pumpkinhead may be my favorite movie monster, and I’ve always had the urge to add my own spin to his story.” (Bunn has already decorated his Twitter page in honor of the announcement).

Dynamite announced the series in the lead-up to New York Comic Con. No artist was announced, but the series is set to launch in February.

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Lemire, Sorrentino reteam on creator-owned ‘Gideon Falls’

The ‘Green Arrow” and ‘Old Man Logan’ team is joined by colorist Dave Stewart for ‘a suspenseful ongoing supernatural/horror series’ at Image Comics.

Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino breathed new life into Green Arrow and Old Man Logan at DC and MArvel, and now they’ve teamed up on a creator-owned series, Gideon Falls, at Image Comics. Dave Stewart will color the new ongoing supernatural/horror series.

“Gideon Falls has been percolating in my brain for a long long time. A lot of the ideas have been with me for over a decade, but I just never found the right time or way to pull them together…that was until I started working with Andrea Sorrentino,” Lemire said. “Andrea and I quickly developed an incredible chemistry while working on Green Arrow and Old Man Logan. And, as much as we loved working on those books, we were dying to create something all our own too, and now we have with Gideon Falls, one of the weirdest and wildest things either of us has ever done. We are excited to be at Image and excited to be unleashing Gideon Falls with the incomparable Dave Stewart joining us on colors.”

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