For the first time, two women comic writers will receive this year’s Bill Finger Award

Joye Hummel Murchison Kelly and Dorothy Roubicek Woolfolk, two comic book pioneers who kicked off their careers in the 1940s, will receive the award during the Eisners ceremony at Comic-Con International.

Comic-Con International has announced the recipients of this year’s Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Writing, which goes to writers who have not been given due recognition for their work.

Joye Hummel Murchison Kelly and Dorothy Roubicek Woolfolk, two comic book pioneers active in the 1940s, will be the first women to receive the award.

“We’re really excited about this one,” committee chair Mark Evanier said in a statement. “The comic book industry employed too few women in its early decades. Back when this year’s honorees were active, their gender was horribly unrepresented among the creative talents that made the comics—and what few there were went totally unrecognized. The work of these two extraordinary ladies deserves to be acknowledged and celebrated.”

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Smash Pages Q&A: Van Jensen + Amber Bellerjeau on ‘Walk Together’

Jensen and Bellerjeau discuss making a comic book about Stacey Abrams, who is running for governor of Georgia.

Stacey Abrams is running for governor of Georgia in November. Abrams’ campaign is historic and notable for many reasons, but her campaign did something really dynamic and interesting – they made a comic book. It’s not the first time someone has used comics for a campaign or for educational purposes, but Walk Together was a striking project and I reached out to writer Van Jensen and artist Amber Bellerjeau to talk a little about the project.

Van Jensen is perhaps best known to comics readers as the writer of Flash, Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer, and the new publisher of the website ArtsATL. Bellerjeau is an artist and illustrator. Both are Georgia residents and were kind enough to answer a few questions about the project.

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King + Mann’s ‘Heroes in Crisis’ focuses on the human side of DC’s heroes

The new miniseries debuts in September.

Fresh off an appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, where he talked about Mr. Miracle and Batman’s upcoming nuptials to Catwoman, Tom King will next turn his attention to the human side of superheroes with a new miniseries — Heroes in Crisis. Teaming up with Clay Mann, the duo will tell the story of “a crisis center for superheroes who spend their lives fighting villainy and protecting others.” It’s also a murder mystery.

“I feel like I’m part of a rolling generation of people who spent their 20s overseas fighting terrorism,” explained King. “Millions of people cycle through that machine and come home to America. And I think that sort of experience of violence is shaping who we are as a culture, and as a country. And I want to talk about that. I want to talk about that experience, the experience of what violence can do to a person, to a community, to a nation, to a world.”

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Cab drivers and monsters collide in the 1970s in ‘MCMLXXV’

‘It’s about creating a new kind of folk hero that speaks to where we all are right now. Oh yeah… it’s also about smashing monsters into the pavement with an enchanted tire iron.’

Joe Casey and Ian MacEwan are heading back to MCMLXXV — that’s 1975 to you and me — for a new series about a Manhattan cab driver/badass monster-fighter.

In MCMLXXV, you’ll meet Pamela Evans during “the year of her greatest adventure.”

“This series is all about creating brand new iconography,” Casey said in a press release. “It’s about creating a new kind of folk hero that speaks to where we all are right now. Oh yeah… it’s also about smashing monsters into the pavement with an enchanted tire iron.”

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Ellis + Howard team for ‘relentless’ action comic ‘Cemetery Beach’

New series from the creators of ‘Trees’ debuts from Image Comics in September.

The creative team behind Trees is heading back to the beach for what Warren Ellis says might be “the most relentless action book I’ve ever written.” Cemetery Beach, by Ellis and artist Jason Howard, debuts in September from Image Comics.

“In Cemetery Beach, Warren wrote the perfect book for me as an artist,” Howard said. “It’s an insane world filled with old future tech, cool characters, big explosions, and enough heart to make you care. It’s the kind of comics I love reading and REALLY love drawing.”

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Smash Pages Q&A: Beth Evans on “I Really Didn’t Think This Through”

The webcomics creator discusses the release of her first book, her influences and process, Eurovision and more.

Beth Evans has been posting comics online for a few years now. In the comics, which range in length, she uses a fairly simple style to tackle anxiety and depression in ways that range from the strange to the funny to the disturbingly true.

Evans’ first book, I Really Didn’t Think This Through: Tales From My So-Called Adult Life came out this month. The book is part memoir and part self help guide, part comics and part prose, Evans talks in depth about her own life and details her struggles with mental illness and ways to cope and find stability.

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DC Comics reveals creative teams for their young readers lines

Both DC Ink and DC Zoom will debut next April with graphic novels featuring Batman, Raven, Black Canary, Mera and more.

Back in February DC Comics announced plans for two new graphic novel imprints aimed at younger readers — DC Zoom, aimed at middle grade readers (8-12 years) and DC Ink, aimed at young adult readers (13 and older). Today they’ve revealed the creative teams for the first four titles for each imprint.

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Geoff Johns steps down at CCO of DC Entertainment as Jim Lee steps up

Johns signs exclusive with Warner Bros./DC Entertainment to create films, TV and comic books, including a pop-up imprint at DC Comics called ‘The Killing Zone’ and a new Shazam! comics series.

DC Entertainment announced today that Geoff Johns will leave his executive position as president and chief creative officer to focus on the “hands-on” creative side, as he launches Mad Ghost Productions and signs an exclusive deal with the company to create comics, TV shows and films full time. Jim Lee’s duties will now include those of the Chief Creative Officer, in addition to his co-publisher role at DC Comics with Dan DiDio.

“I took on a role at DCE because I love the characters and this universe more than anything. But, I want to spend my days writing and on set. I’m thrilled to get back to a more hands-on creative role. It’s a dream job on dream projects, reaching even deeper into DC’s vast pantheon of characters,” Johns said in a statement. “I’m also excited to continue to work with the amazing team at DCE and my colleagues at Warner Bros.”

Johns took on his CCO role in 2010, and they added “president” to his title in 2016. The change follows the departure of Johns’ boss, Diane Nelson, who left the company last week.

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Bunn, Lolli team up on ‘Asgardians of the Galaxy’

Angela, Valkyrie and more team up for some space-spanning adventures from Marvel.

Marvel’s Infinity Wars crossover event has left the universe — and their publishing schedule — without Guardians of the Galaxy. But comics hate a void, so starting September, Cullen Bunn and Matteo Lolli will team up on a Asgardians of the Galaxy (see what they did there?) limited series.

“In this story, a group of Asgardians is drawn into an intergalactic quest to stop a terrible villain (I will not reveal who just yet, but this baddie has longstanding ties to cosmic Marvel tales) from unleashing … well … something terrible upon the universe,” Bunn told Marvel.com. “For various reasons, though, this group of Asgardians must work without the knowledge of their peers.”

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Vertigo announces 7 new titles for their 25th anniversary relaunch

The DC Comics imprint will publish new series from Mark Russell, Ramon Villalobos, Ben Blacker, Bryan Hill, Robbi Rodriguez and many more.

DC Comics announced plans last October for a linewide relaunch, and this week they made it official by revealing seven new titles from the 25-year-old imprint.

New titles by Mark Russell, Ramon Villalobos, Ben Blacker, Bryan Hill, Robbi Rodriguez and many more will debut starting next September, joining the already announced Sandman Universe titles.

“It’s time to rebuild DC Vertigo,” said Mark Doyle, Executive Editor of Vertigo. “We’re returning to our roots by spotlighting the most exciting new voices in comics, as well as bringing new voices to comics. From the corners of television, games, music, activism, podcasting, comics and more, all of our creators are passionate and have something to say. These sophisticated stories have amazing new characters and vast worlds to explore. That’s what it has always been about for me—new stories, new voices, new possibilities. We’re creating a new generation of DC Vertigo classics for readers of all genres.”

Here are the new titles:

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Smash Pages Q&A: Ben Truman on ‘Scout: Marauder’

Truman discusses working with his father on the next chapter of ‘Scout,’ which you can help bring to life on Kickstarter.

Ben Truman is a writer and game designer, but comics fans might know him best for co-writing A Man Named Hawken with his father, the great Timothy Truman. He’s written or co-written other comics over the years for Creepy, Conan, FUBAR and elsewhere, but he and his father have just launched a Kickstarter for their biggest project to date, Scout: Marauder.

For people who don’t know, Scout and its sequel Scout: War Shaman were two books written and drawn by Tim Truman in the 1980s and early 90s about Emmanuel Santana, an Apache ex-Army Ranger in a collapsed United States in the distant future of 1999. At the end of the series, Scout was killed leaving his two sons behind. The new book opens years later, the two boys having been separated since. At a time when the idea of an environmentally ravaged United States that collapsed due to infighting no longer seems insane or absurd, it is perhaps a good time for Scout to return.

The Kickstarter recently launched and Ben Truman answered a few questions about the book and working with his father on it.

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Steve Niles, Marcelo Frusin take over ‘Kick-Ass’ with issue #7

After a decade of kicking ass, Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. hand over the reigns to their creator-owned title.

Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. returned to the world of Kick-Ass this year with a new title and a new character under the mask. And now, with issue #7 of the series, the duo will bring in a new creative team — Steve Niles and Marcelo Frusin.

“When we sold Millarworld to Netflix, the one and only downside was not being able to write more Kick-Ass with my new executive role, and so I did the next best thing—I got my favorite writer to continue Patience Lee’s adventures,” said Millar. “Steve Niles is without question my favorite writer in comics, and I rank 30 Days of Night as my favorite graphic novel of the last 20 years. I’m honored he’s taken the time to do this and slightly in awe that, like Jeff Lemire on Hit-Girl, he’s already outclassed me on this book. I finally get to enjoy Kick-Ass as a reader!”

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