Ms. Marvel, Laura Kinney + more star in the revived ‘NYX’

Marvel resurrects an early 2000s title by the creative team of Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing and Francesco Mortarino.

Marvel is reviving an old title for a new run as part of the X-Men: From the Ashes publishing initiative.

NYX by writers Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing and artist Francesco Mortarino will debut this summer alongside X-Force, Phoenix and the three X-Men titles that follow the end of the Krakoa era. NYX will focus on five young mutants — Kamala Khan, Laura Kinney, Anole, Prodigy and Sophie Cuckoo — as they navigate living as young mutants on the Lower East Side of New York City.

“This is the kind of book we came to Marvel to create,” Kelly shared. “When the Hivemind first formed, Collin and I bonded over books like Runaways, Young Avengers and the original NYX—stories that showcased that tense, wonderful place where the mundane world and marvels collided. And no book has embodied that more in recent years than Ms. Marvel—Kamala Khan is one of the most definitive protagonists in the Marvel canon and we’re deeply honored to be inheriting the character from Iman [Vellani] and Sabir [Pirzada], while chronicling a whole new phase in her growth as a young adult.”

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Nominees announced for the 20th annual Doug Wright Awards

Deni Loubert and Maurice Vellekoop will be inducted into the Giants of the North: The Canadian Cartooning Hall of Fame.

The nominees have been announced for the 20th annual Doug Wright Awards, which honor “the best work and most promising talent in Canadian comics.”

First Second, Conundrum Press, and Drawn & Quarterly all received multiple nominations for books they published

In addition to this year’s nominees, the Doug Wright committee also announced this year’s inductees for the Giants of the North: The Canadian Cartooning Hall of Fame: Deni Loubert, founder of Renegade Press and co-founder of Aardvark-Vanaheim, and Maurice Vellekoop, the cartoonist and fashion designer whose comics and illustrations have appeared in Time, GQ, Cosmopolitan, The New Yorker, Madamoiselle and many other magazines, as well as in the graphic novels The World of Gloria Badcock, A Nut at the Opera and I’m So Glad We Had This Time Together.

Nominees were selected from entries of books published in the 2023 calendar year. The short list and winners were chosen by a panel of three judges for each category. Each winner will receive a small cash prize, and the winner of The Nipper will be awarded a week-long stay at the Valleyview Artist Retreat in Caledon, Ontario.

And here are this year’s nominees …

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Rest in peace, Trina Robbins

The influential comics creator and pioneer has passed away at the age of 85.

“Trina wears her wampum beads
She fills her drawing book with line
Sewing lace on widows’ weeds
And filigree on leaf and vine
Vine and leaf are filigree
And her coat’s a secondhand one
Trimmed with antique luxury
She is a lady of the canyon”

–Joni Mitchell, Ladies of the Canyon

Trina Robbins, a comics creator, historian, advocate and pioneering figure in the underground comix movement — and, yes, the “Trina” Joni Mitchell sang about in 1970 — passed away yesterday at the age of 85.

Her death was first reported by her daughter on social media last night, followed by tributes and obituaries by her fans, fellow artists and news outlets, including The New York Times and Forbes. Forbes reported that Robbins passed away following a stroke that left her hospitalized earlier this year.

“Not only was she a legendary creator of comics, she was also one of comics’ greatest historians and researchers, and a guiding light to countless girls and women who had a hard time believing there was space for them in this art form,” Gail Simone said in a remembrance of her “hero, friend and mentor.”

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Jeff Lemire + BOOM! tease something new for this fall

“… as both a comics fan and a creator, I have been craving longer format stories again.”

BOOM! Studios has announced that Jeff Lemire, creator of Sweet Tooth, Essex County, Fishflies, The Nobody and many other comics and graphic novels, will launch a new ongoing series at the publisher this fall.

Lemire will both write and draw the new title. No title or artwork was shared, beyond the “Eye of Providence” sketch shown above.

“For a while now I have felt like the ‘ongoing series’ in comics is a dying breed,” Lemire said. “I’m guilty of this myself, having put out a lot of shorter projects over the last several years. But as both a comics fan and a creator, I have been craving longer format stories again. Series like the classic Vertigo monthlies that would drive me to the comic shops every week when I was younger.”

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Crowdpuncher | ‘The Pride’ returns, ‘Who Killed Nessie?’ + Cecil Castellucci becomes the comic

Check out crowdfunding campaigns by Joe Glass, Cecil Castellucci, Paul Cornell and Rachael Smith, Pan-Universal Galactic Worldwide and more.

Welcome to Crowdpuncher, our new feature on cool comics crowdfunding campaigns. If you’re looking to support a creator directly, you’ve come to the right place. And that’s a good thing to do, now more than ever.

Joe Glass has been working on his LGBTQ+ superhero comic The Pride for a number of years now, going back to at least 2016. Now he’s back with a new series, The Pride: Agenda Dysphoria, which is up now on Kickstarter.

In his latest newsletter, he discussed why he still makes The Pride and comics featuring LGBTQ+ characters.

“You might wonder why I still make a comic all about LGBTQ+ superheroes. Certainly, since I started, queer characters are much more present and active than they were when I began,” he said, noting Marvel and DC both have Pride specials they do every year. But while things might have changed for the better in the world of mainstream comics, progress in the real world has come under threat in recent years.

“We’ve seen the effects and activity of the agenda of a multi-millionaire author, as she attacks and sends her legions of supporters and fans to pile on trans people,” Glass wrote. “Her agenda is both plainly clear and yet somewhat unclear – clear because we can see that harming the trans community is the agenda, but what’s unclear is why? That’s not the case of many politicians that jump on this issue and throw terms like ‘woke culture’ or ‘social justice warriors’ around – they’re clearly hopping onto the ‘culture war’ bandwagon to try and solidify a power base, no matter it harms to get there.”

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Stephanie Phillips + Alessandro Miracolo send ‘Phoenix’ into space this summer

Jean Grey once again wields the power of the Phoenix in the new ‘From the Ashes’ series.

Jean Grey will once again soar the spaceways as Phoenix in a new series coming later this year by Stephanie Phillips (Grim) and Alessandro Miracolo (White Widow).

Part of the “From the Ashes” publishing initiative that follows the end of the current Krakoa era in the X-Men titles, the new series will spin directly out of the final Krakoa issues we’re seeing hit stores between now and the summer, in particular X-Men Forever and Rise of the Powers of X. While Marvel’s a little coy on what exactly happens to bring Jean Grey and the Phoenix back together, the new series has them working in apparent harmony.

“Jean is one of the most powerful characters I’ve ever written,” Phillips said. “The beauty and challenge to Jean is that she is imbued with a cosmic force alongside the morals, shortcomings, and empathy of a human being. The dichotomy between those two is something incredibly special about Jean, and means that she is constantly doing a dance between humanity and absolute power.”

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Smash Pages Q&A | S.E. Case on ‘Rigsby WI’

The creator of the slice-of-life webcomic discusses its first print collection, her approach to creating the small-town setting and drawing on her teenage experiences to bring her characters to life.

S.E. Case is four chapters in on Rigsby, WI, a webcomic she’s been posting since 2019. The comic is about four average Wisconsin teenagers and the trials and tribulations they encounter with their friends, their families and their futures. While the teenagers may be average, the strip is anything but, as Case has brought to life four characters who will make you laugh, cry, yell and ultimately remember what life was like when you knew everything and nothing at the same time.

Case has teamed up with Iron Circus Comics to publish the first print collection of the webcomic, which is up now on the crowdfunding site BackerKit.

Here’s the description from the publisher: Sometimes as a teen in a small town, you can feel trapped — trapped enough to want to gnaw off your own leg to escape. Bethany has gotten some much needed stability in Rigsby, WI — she’s away from her oppressively disapproving mother, and the other local teens Jeordie, Erik and Anna have welcomed her in — and together the four of them know how to escape from the world that is closing in on them. While Case’s vibrant art and naturalistic writing doesn’t shy away from the rougher experiences and feelings of teens, it also covers the truly important topics like, “is Phish a good band?”, “is the neck the dong of the torso?” and “Ernest Hemingway: Was he a piece of shit?” Nostalgic, sweet, bitter and funny all at once, Rigsby WI feels like a teenage afternoon spent with friends, with all the pathos, boredom and absurdity inherent therein. 

I spoke with Case about the campaign, as well as the webcomics’ small-town setting, why now was the right time for a print collection and, yes, is Phish a good band?

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Fantagraphics will release Joe Matt’s final issue of ‘Peepshow’ this summer

The new issue will arrive almost 17 years after issue #14 was released.

Fantagraphics has announced plans to release Peepshow #15, the final issue in the series by late cartoonist Joe Matt.

Matt passed away unexpectedly last year before finishing the issue after a 17-year gap since issue #14 was released. With only four pages of art left to be inked, Fantagraphics enlisted cartoonist Chester Brown to finish the issue.

“Peepshow is amongst the great bodies of autobiographical work in the history of comics,” said Eric Reynolds, VP and Co-publisher of Fantagraphics. “I’m grateful to Joe’s friends, and to Joe’s family, who have come together to put his final work out into the world where it belongs.”

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Geoffrey Thorne + Marcus To will bring X-Force back ‘From the Ashes’ this summer

Forge, Betsy Braddock, Rachel Summers and more will headline the rebooted X-title.

Forge, the X-Men’s resident inventor, has a plan to repair the world, and that solution is X-Force. Geoffrey Thorne and Marcus To will helm the new team book with a familiar title this summer as a part of Marvel’s “From the Ashes” X-Men reboot.

First launched in the early 1990s by writer/artist Rob Liefeld, X-Force has long held the role of the team that would go to extremes to help mutantkind. In this latest iteration, Forge “will bear witness to everything broken in the world,” and he assembles an “off the books” team to fix it that includes Rachel Summers, Betsy Braddock, Sage, Surge and Tank.

“I cannot believe the reaction to my pitch with, ‘That sounds like X-Force to us,'” Thorne said. “It’s a new vibe and a different mission, but it’s still X-Force. Looking at all the books coming out under this banner, I’ll just paraphrase the prophet, Sheryl Crow: ‘All I wanna do is have some fun.’ Looking at what I’m getting to do and what the others are bringing, I’m absolutely not the only one.”

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Coca-Cola + Marvel’s new campaign brings more than 30 comics characters to Coke cans

A new ad for the campaign features Colossus, Daredevil and more delivering a Coke to a comic shop employee.

Coca-Cola and Marvel has teamed up for a new marketing program that includes Marvel Comics characters appearing on cans, along with a TV commercial, prizes and an immersive augmented reality experience.

Titled Coca-Cola x Marvel: The Heroes, the campaign will bring a line of exclusive cans and bottles of Coca-Cola and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar products that will feature more than 30 Marvel characters in red, white and black tones. Cans will feature Hulk, Iron Man, Black Panther, Deadpool, Juggernaut, Nick Fury, Super Skrull, Cable and more.

The real star here, though, has to be the fun new commercial. Not only is it set in a comic shop, but it also features the comic book versions of Colossus, Daredevil, Black Widow and more trying to deliver a bottle of Coke to an employee:

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Can’t Wait for Wednesday | Enter the ‘House of Brainiac’

Check out what new comics and graphic novels are arriving this week by Joshua Williamson, Rafa Sandoval, Tony Fleecs, Dave Wachter, Erica Schultz, Cullen Bunn, Patrick Piazzalunga, Kevin Maguire, Travis Dandro, Emily Carroll and more.

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

This week the House of Brainiac kicks off in the Superman Family and related titles, while another comic emerges from the Spawn universe. Meanwhile, Winnie-the-Pooh entering the public domain nets us a beautiful new graphic novel, while a classic by Emily Carroll returns to print.

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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‘Gender Queer,’ ‘Flamer’ among the most banned books of 2023

For the third year in a row, a record number of books were challenged in libraries and schools.

Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe was once again the most challenged book in libraries in 2023, as reported today by the American Library Association. This makes the third year in a row that the graphic novel about gender identity has topped the list.

Gender Queer was one of seven books in the top 10 that was challenged based on LGBTQIA+ content, along with two other graphic novels — Flamer by Mike Curato, which was the fifth most challenged book, and Let’s Talk About It by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan, which was the ninth.

“In looking at the titles of the most challenged books from last year, it’s obvious that the pressure groups are targeting books about LGBTQIA+ people and people of color,” said ALA President Emily Drabinski. “At ALA, we are fighting for the freedom to choose what you want to read. Shining a light on the harmful workings of these pressure groups is one of the actions we must take to protect our right to read.”

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