‘Justice Warriors’ returns this fall as an original graphic novel

‘Justice Warriors: Vote Harder’ takes aim at politics and elections.

Matt Bors and Ben Clarkson’s Justice Warriors will return from Ahoy Comics this fall as a full-length graphic novel, titled Justice Warriors: Vote Harder.

A dystopian satire series that pokes fun at capitalism and law enforcement in a future of severe inequality, the first Justice Warriors miniseries was released in 2022 and collected in 2023. This new graphic novel takes aim at politics and elections, which no doubt makes it the perfect companion to what’s happening in America this year.

“Bubble City is having its first ever mayoral election and mutant cops Swamp and Schitt are pulled in to special duty to protect the vote from the people,” Bors said in his newsletter. “Ben Clarkson and I have been hard at work, along with our colorist Felipe Sobreiro, to top our first volume of the series and bring you an election year satire for the ages.”

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Jason Aaron, Paul Davidson + Alex Lins explore Marvel’s undersea world in ‘Namor’

The eight-issue miniseries kicks off in July.

If you thought Jason Aaron’s time at Marvel was over when his exclusivity ended, think again. The writer of Thor, Avengers and Punisher will work with Paul Davidson and Alex Lins on an eight-issue miniseries starring one of Marvel’s first characters, Namor the Sub-Mariner.

“The Last King of Atlantis” will start with the antihero in prison, never intending to return to the sea. Meanwhile, seven would-be kings vie for the throne of Atlantis.

“He’s always been a guy who has wavered back and forth between outright hero and outright villain, while spending a lot of time floating around somewhere in the middle,” Aaron told Marvel.com about Namor. “And all of that has left him in a very dark place, locked in a surface world prison, praying he never has to set foot in the seas again. That’s where our story begins.”

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Can’t Wait for Wednesday | It’s the end of an era for ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’

Check out new comics and graphic novels hitting stores this week by Sophie Campbell, Dan Watters, Ram V, Matthew Roberts, Dave Stewart, Charlie Adlard, Cullen Bunn, Dan Schoening, James Tynion IV, Christian Ward, Tim Lane, Kristen Kiesling, Rye Hickman, Bianca Xunise and more.

Welcome to Can’t Wait for Wednesday, your guide to what comics are arriving in comic book stores, bookstores and on digital.

I’ve pulled out some of the highlights below, but for the complete list of everything you might find at your local comic shop and on digital this week, you’ll want to check out one or more of the following:

As a reminder, things can change and what you find on the above lists may differ from what’s actually arriving in your local shop. So always check with your comics retailer for the final word on availability.

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Kurt Busiek, Fabian Nicieza + Stephen Mooney bring ‘Free Agents’ to Image Comics

The new “superhero series with a twist” debuts in July.

Two veteran superhero writers will return to the genre with a fun concept. Kurt Busiek and Fabian Nicieza — who, between them, have written X-Men, Justice League, Avengers, Superman, X-Force, Astro City, New Warriors and countless other superheroes — are teaming up with artist Stephen Mooney, colorist Triona Tree Farrell and letterer Tyler Smith for Free Agents.

“It’s a superhero series with a twist,” Busiek said. “The Agents were done. They were retired, and had started building new lives, going to college, making themselves a place here on Earth. And then it all starts coming back.”

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‘Star Wars: Inquisitors’ hunt the Jedi in July

The popular minions of Darth Vader serve the Dark Side this summer, courtesy of Rodney Barnes and Ramon Rosanas.

The Inquisitors — the force-wielding minions of the Empire who hunted the Jedi for Darth Vader — have appeared in comics, on TV and in video games, and are set to star in their own miniseries coming from Marvel this summer.

Writer Rodney Barnes and artist Ramon Rosanas will send the “Redblades” after Tensu Run, a Jedi who survived the purge caused by Order 66 and seeks to rebuild the Jedi Order in that harrowing time between Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: A New Hope.

“It’s such an honor to be writing the very first Inquisitors solo story,” Barnes told StarWars.com. “I love this time period of Star Wars lore because it’s the one I grew up on — when Darth Vader and the Empire were imposing their will on the entire galaxy. Plus, I got to create an all-new legendary Jedi with Tensu Run! Truly the best of times!”

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Marguerite Bennett + Giuseppe Cafaro reimagine ‘Witchblade’ this summer

Top Cow relaunches the 1990s character with a new origin.

Witchblade, arguably the most well-known creation from Top Cow’s early days, will return this summer in a new series by writer Marguerite Bennett and artist Giuseppe Cafaro.

Along with Witchblade co-creator Marc Silvestri, the duo will reimagine the character’s origin, with “contemporary takes on familiar characters.” Witchblade first debuted in 1995 and was created by Silvestri, editor David Wohl, writers Brian Haberlin and Christina Z, and artist Michael Turner. This new series has Sara Pezzini back as the wielder of the Witchblade gauntlet, after a 2017 series cast journalist Alex Underwood as the Witchblade.

“The ability to tell a story full of monsters, sexuality, vision, and history was irresistible,” said Bennett. “Our saga is sleek, vicious, ferocious, and has a lot to say about power in the 21st century and will be the first time that we are stopping the roller coaster to let more people on. I’ve loved Witchblade since I was a child, and there is truly no other heroine like Sara with such an iconic legacy and such a rich, brutal relationship to her own body.” 

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Crowdpuncher | Comics Are Dying, Vampires on Mars, Tanga + more

Check out crowdfunding campaigns you can support by Louis Southard, Kevin Maguire, Oliver Mertz and Alex Diotto, and more.

Welcome to Crowdpuncher, where we round up cool comics crowdfunding campaigns. If you’re looking to biy from or support a creator directly, you’ve come to the right place.

If there are two axioms about comics that you hear over and over, it’s that they’ll break your heart and that they’re dying. Writer Louis Southard is taking one of those axioms and running with it in the anthology Comics Are Dying: The Comic.

For the better part of a century, people have said that comic books are dying. Crisis after crisis, the comic book industry has survived and lives to this day. So, to celebrate its harrowing journey into the 21st century, a satirical OGN about the history of comic books has taken shape. Introducing the ironically named Comics Are Dying: The Comic – a brief history and celebration of the comic book industry!

Southard has written 100 single-page stories about the comics industry that are being drawn by artists like Roger Langridge, Jacob Edgar, Beetle Moses, Ben Matsuya, Andrew Farago, Angela Wu and more.

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Kaare Andrews returns to Spider-Man for a ‘Reign’ sequel

‘The most infamous Spider-Man story ever told’ will continue in a five-issue miniseries this summer.

It’s been almost two decades since Kaare Andrews’ Spider-Man: Reign imagined an authoritarian future New York where an elderly Peter Parker put his mask back on to stand up to an evil mayor and his jackboot police force. Andrews and Marvel will return to that world this summer in Spider-Man: Reign 2.

“I never imagined that I would ever be creating a sequel to a comic series from so long ago, my first major work in comics,” Andrews said. “Nor did I anticipate that a four-issue miniseries would continue to vibrate in the public consciousness today. But without fail, Spider-Man: Reign is mentioned in articles, lists and social media posts.”

The four-issue miniseries had many controversial moments, causing fans to either love or hate it. In the series, Mary Jane had died from cancer after exposure to Peter Parker’s radioactive semen over the years. But it also gave the Hypno-Hustler a prominent role, so it wasn’t all bad.

“Many call it the most infamous Spider-Man story ever told. But for me, what’s kept it relevant is the love behind creating that book,” Andrews said. “This is the character I grew up with, the one that taught me how to be a man, how to live with failure and keep standing back up, the unrelenting force of trying to make things better.”

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Old rivals + new attractions strike in ‘Fence Challengers: Long Shot’

The popular BOOM! Box series returns from C.S. Pacat and Johanna the Mad.

The award-winning team of C.S. Pacat and Johanna the Mad are back with another volume of Fence, their comic series about an aspiring fencing champion published by BOOM! Studios’ BOOM! Box imprint.

Fence Challengers: Long Shot will debut in July, and follows the original 12-issue series that ran in 2017-2018, two subsequent graphic novels and the miniseries Fence: Redemption, which was released last year.

“The State championship begins,” Pacat said. “Everything the boys of Fence have fought for is on the line. Get ready for some epic showdowns–this is my favorite volume yet!”

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‘Older, grittier’ Avengers will face off with the Xenomorphs in ‘Aliens Vs. Avengers’

Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribić will bring the two Disney properties together in a four-issue miniseries.

“Game over, Iron Man, Game over.” Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribić will introduce a new take on the Avengers to battle the Xenomorphs from Aliens in a new miniseries coming this summer.

Aliens Vs. Avengers, or “AVA,” as the cover suggests, will be set in a new timeline many years in the future. As the Xenomorphs make landfall on Earth, they’ll find a grittier version of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes ready and waiting.

“Probably one of the coolest things about the project is how we’ve found really fun ways to ‘Avengerize’ Aliens and ‘alien-up’ Avengers,” Hickman told Entertainment Weekly. “I think fans will be surprised at how elegantly some of those things fit together. It really turned out to be a chocolate-and-peanut-butter situation.”

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Nominees announced for the Eisner Awards Hall of Fame class of 2024

The final inductees will be announced during a ceremony at Comic-Con International in July.

Comic-Con International has announced  16 nominees for this year’s Eisner Awards Hall of Fame, from which voters will choose the final four inductees.

The 16 nominees are Gus Arriola, Eddie Campbell, Mike Friedrich, Don Heck, Klaus Janson, Abe Kanegson, Jim Lee, Mike Mignola, Tom Palmer, Bob Powell, Mike Royer, Ira Schnapp, Phil Seuling, Leonard Starr, Jill Thompson and Angelo Torres.

Voting will be conducted online among comic book creators, retailers and other industry personnel. You can find more details on the CCI website.

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‘Absolute Power’ corrupts absolutely in DC’s July titles

Amanda Waller and friends have big plans for DC’s heroes and villains.

DC has revealed more details about their upcoming Absolute Power crossover series, including a companion series titled Absolute Power: Task Force VII and Absolute Power: Origins, which will tell the “definitive history” of Amanda Waller.

These follow the Free Comic Book Day issue in May and the prelude issue that comes out in June that we learned about earlier this year.

The press release also gives some information on Amanda Waller and the Trinity of Evil‘s plans — using Failsafe, Brainiac Queen and Amazo to capture the super powers of every superhero and villain on Earth. As a squad of Amazo robots captures the powers of DC’s mightiest heroes, leaving them powerless, a “league” of resistors led by Batman starts to form. Each issue of Absolute Power: Task Force VII will be by a different creative team and will be focused on a different Amazo who has stolen someone’s powers, including Last Son (Superman), Depth Charge (Aquaman) and Jadestone (Green Lantern).

You can find more details on Absolute Power and the tie-ins below.

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