AdHouse Books announces ‘Comrade Kill’ for October

Patrick Sparrow’s new graphic novel is (likely) the last project ever from AdHouse.

When Chris Pitzer announced he was shutting down AdHouse Books earlier this month, he mentioned that he still had one more release for October. That release is Comrade Kill, a new graphic novel from Patrick Sparrow.

“A cold war super soldier accidentally wakes from a cryogenic freeze long after the war has ended to find out his existence is now meaningless,” the description reads. “Being too dumb to reconcile this, he goes out into the wild to satisfy a pointless mission objective that no one asked him to do.”

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After 20 years and 100 books, Adhouse calls it quits

Chris Pitzer plans to close down the company he started in 2002 after publishing two more books this fall.

Chris Pitzer, publisher and owner of AdHouse Books, has announced plans to close down the “boutique publishing juggernaut” later this year.

For the past 20 years, AdHouse has brought a variety of creative indie comics and graphic novels to market from Joshua Cotter, Jim Rugg, Paul Pope, Hartley Lin, Zack Soto, Joey Weiser and many more. The recently announced Grass of Parnassus by Kathryn Immonen and Stuart Immonen will be AdHouse’s 100th release, and as it turns out, one of its last. He also ran a program called AdDistro, where he helped distribute small press/self-published comics.

Pitzer explained his reasoning for deciding to shut down what was essentially a “side gig”:

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AdHouse will collect the Immonens’ ‘Grass of Parnassus’

The hardcover collection will be released in September.

AdHouse Books will publish a hardcover collection of Kathryn Immonen and Stuart Immonen’s Grass of Parnassus in September.

The husband and wife duo have worked together in the past on Never As Bad As You Think, Moving Pictures and Marvel’s Hellcat. They initially launched Grass of Parnassus on Instagram, although the account for it no longer exists. You can, however, see a lot of artwork, sketches and behind-the-scenes information on the Immonens’ Twitter feed. And you can check out a trailer for it below:

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Mail Call | New release dates for the Milestone revival

Catch up on news and announcements from Dark Horse, Vault Comics, DC, Z2 and more.

Mail Call is a roundup of the announcements we’ve received from comics publishers in our mailboxes recently that we haven’t already covered. Hit the links for more information.

DC Comics has modified their plans for the upcoming Milestone Media relaunch. The three launch titles — Static, Icon and Rocket, and Hardware — will no longer arrive digitally before they come out in print. Instead, they’ll be released in both formats on the same day, as well as on DC Universe Infinite. Both Static and Icon and Rocket will come out later, but Hardware will be published earlier than originally announced. The new dates (and creative teams for each title) are:

  • Static: Season One, written by Vita Ayala, with layouts by CHRISCROSS, finishes by Nikolas Draper-Ivey with covers by Khary Randolph launches in print and digital on June 15.
  • Icon and Rocket: Season One, co-written by Reggie Hudlin and Leon Chills, with art by Doug Braithwaite and covers by Taurin Clarke launches in print and digital on July 27.
  • Hardware: Season One, written by Brandon Thomas, with art by Denys Cowan and Bill Sienkiewicz with covers by Mateus Mahanini, launches in print and digital on August 10.
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Mail Call | Black Cat kicks off Marvel’s ‘Infinite Destinies’ event this summer

Plus more news from Marvel, DC, Image, AfterShock, Dark Horse and more.

Mail Call is a roundup of the announcements we’ve received from comics publishers in our mailboxes recently that we haven’t already covered. Hit the links for more information.

Last summer the “Infinite Destinies” storyline was supposed to run through several Marvel annuals, including Iron Man, Captain America, Black Cat and Thor, among others. The story revolves around the returning “infinity stones,” those pesky don’t-call-them-infinity-gems MacGuffins that regularly take center stage at Marvel.

Anyway, like with many other things, the COVID pandemic and comics industry shutdown threw a wrench in Marvel’s plans, and those annuals were never released. But now it looks like they are back on the schedule for 2021, with an added prelude comic to kick things off — Black Cat #8 by Jed MacKay and C.F. Villa.

“Felicia Hardy- the Black Cat- gets tangled up with the Infinity Stones, some of the most dangerous prizes in the universe. Felicia may be the most accomplished jewel thief on the planet, but when those jewels hold the power of the cosmos, it’s a whole new ball game. Felicia is in a race against the others who would seek to control the stones for their own ends- like Nick Fury (and a secret someone you won’t see coming!),” MacKay said. “Who can cross the world’s most dangerous men, wrangle a pack of villains hopped up on fragments of infinite power, (hopefully) get the job done and look great all the while? The Black Cat, that’s who!”

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Mail Call | Z2 to publish graphic novel inspired by All Time Low

Plus: news from Image, AdHouse, Dark Horse, BOOM! Studios and more.

Mail Call is a roundup of the announcements we’ve received from comics publishers in our mailboxes recently that we haven’t already covered. Hit the links for more information.

Z2 Comics has announced another music-related collaboration, this time with the pop-punk band All Time Low. In June, the publisher will release a graphic novel inspired by the 2017 album Last Young Renegade.

“When we wrote our album ‘Last Young Renegade’ we imagined an entire world separate of our own, almost a “what if” version of All Time Low, both with our musical sound and with the visual narrative we put together around it” says All Time Low’s Alex Gaskarth. “Creating ‘Young Renegades’ the graphic novel allows us to tell more stories in the universe we imagined and delve deeper into the mythos and thematic ideas that were at play when we were celebrating that era. ‘Young Renegades’ is another branch, another thread and another look into the LYR continuity through an incredible medium we’ve never collaborated in before. Working with the story-tellers and artists on this project has been an incredible new undertaking and we can’t wait for everyone to enjoy it with us.”

Young Renegades will be written by Tres Dean and Robert Wilson IV, with art by Megan Huang.

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Mail Call | ‘Lumberjanes’ reach the end of summer, new D&D and more

Catch up on news from Marvel, DC, BOOM!, IDW and more.

Mail Call is a roundup of the announcements we’ve received from publishers in our mailboxes recently. Hit the links for more information.

Former WWE superstar turned author AJ Mendez and Lucifer actress Aimee Garcia will write a new Dungeons & Dragons series for IDW. Dungeons & Dragons: At the Spine of the World will be set in the property’s Icewind Dale world with new characters and artwork by Martín Cóccolo.

Here are some of the character designs, by Max Davenport and Katrina Mae Hao:

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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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‘Pope Hats’ returns in June

New issue of the critically acclaimed series will feature an autobiographical story from Hartley Lin.

The award-winning, critically acclaimed, darling of 2018 “best of” lists returns with a new issue this summer, as AdHouse Books announces Pope Hats #6 will be published in June.

This will be the first issue that creator Hartley Lin, formerly known as Ethan Rilley, releases under his real name. Lin began using his real name with the publication of Young Frances last year, which collects four of the five previous issues of the series

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The first prez fights imposters in ‘Washington Unbound’

Jason Lex’s graphic novel arrives from AdHouse in May.

AdHouse Books will unleash the fury of George Washington in May, as they radically ratify Jason Lex’s Washington Unbound. Washington will bring the veto down on an imposter trying to take over the White House after an abduction attempt. Oh, and there’s a cat!

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AdHouse celebrates 10 years of ‘Skyscrapers of the Midwest’

New limited-edition comic and slipcase edition highlight the publisher’s plans to celebrate.

Joshua W. Cotter‘s debut comic, Skyscrapers of the Midwest, came out 10 years ago from AdHouse Books, and to celebrate the publisher is releasing a new Cotter comic, Skyscrapers Inc., and a limited slipcase edition of the original series.

“It seems like only yesteryear when a youngish publisher was walking the floor of the MoCCA Festival (when it was COOL and at the PUCK, you kids!) when he happened upon one of those skinny, unkept cartoonist types standing in line,” AdHouse publisher Chris Pitzer said on the company’s blog. “It wasn’t so much the cartoonist that caught his eye, but the comic that he held in his hands. You see, he had just heard tell of this comic winning the first ever Isotope Award for Excellence in Mini-Comics. The publisher then approached this cartoonist, and even though a table wasn’t between them, he offered to buy said Mini-Comic. Was it bought, or was it given? Only time and possibly the cartoonist knows!”

Since then Cotter has gone on to create Driven by Lemons, Nod Away and other works, but Skyscrapers still stands as a strong look at childhood by an artist with a unique style and voice.

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‘Pope Hats’ collected (finally!) in May

Hartley Lin drops his ‘Ethan Rilly’ pseudonym for the release of ‘Young Frances,’ which collects his award-winning comic.

AdHouse Books brings some long-awaited news — the award-winning Pope Hats by Hartley Lin, a.k.a. Ethan Rilly, will be collected in May. In addition, the creator is dropping his “Ethan Rilly” pseudonym and will begin using his real name.

Young Francis collects the series, which AdHouse has been publishing since 2009. Lin received a Xeric Foundation Grant in 2008 to create the series, and it has since won a Doug Wright Award, an Ignatz Award and a Joe Shuster Award, and has been nominated for an Eisner Award.

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