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Rowser and Smith’s ‘Wash Day Diaries’ wins in the graphic novel category, while Segura’s novel about the 1970s comics industry wins in the mystery category.
Jamila Rowser and Robyn Smith’s Wash Day Diaries has won this year’s L.A. Times Book Prize in the Graphic Novels/Comics category.
Published by Chronicle Books, their story actually began as a comic Kickstarter in 2018, but was later expanded into a graphic novel containing five interconnected stories.
Continue reading “Jamila Rowser, Robyn Smith, Alex Segura win L.A. Times Book Prizes”Noah Van Sciver, Tommi Parrish, Jamila Rowser, Robyn Smith and more were nominated this year.
The nominees have been announced for this year’s L.A. Times Book Prize, which includes a category for Graphic Novels/Comics.
The Los Angeles Times has given an award in the graphic novel category since 2009, when Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli won the award. Other previous winners include The Love Bunglers by Jaime Hernandez, Duncan the Wonder Dog by Adam Hines, Beverly by Nick Drnaso, Tillie Walden’s On a Sunbeam and The Hard Tomorrow by Eleanor Davis. R. Kikuo Johnson’s No One Else won the prize last year.
The nominees for this year are:
Continue reading “Nominees announced for the 2023 L.A. Times Book Prize”The pulpy sci-fi comic strip is available on Comics Kingdom.
Secret Identity and The Black Ghost writer Alex Segura has teamed up with artist Nickolej Villiger for a new comic strip on Comics Kingdom called Mara Llave – Keeper of Time.
Described as a “sci-fi/time travel romp,” the new strip has only had three installments thus far, but already has introduced a world overseen by a group called the Time Keepers.
“In the wake of what many call ‘The Great Schism,’ (though the remaining Keepers themselves refer to it as ‘The Giant Eff-Up’) the Keepers are all but gone, leaving the time stream vulnerable to an assault that could destroy the universe as we know it,” the description reads. “But one keeper survives – an aging human man named Kent Gordin, stranded in the 21st century. As the life he’s known falls apart, Gordin holds on to one sliver of hope – a child, an alien from a distant world, shunted to Earth to escape a militaristic, fascist regime that threatened to destroy her family.”
Continue reading “Alex Segura + Nickolej Villiger launch ‘Mara Llave – Keeper of Time’”The digital series arrives on the platform next week.
Novelists Alex Segura and Rob Hart have come together to write Blood Oath, a new miniseries that debuts from Comixology Originals on Aug. 30. They’ll be joined by artist Joe Eisma, colorist Hilary Jenkins and letterer Jim Campbell, all under the watchful eye of editor Heather Antos.
Blood Oath is set during Prohibition in 1922 and will feature a woman who runs a “secret business” who crosses paths with the mafia and their “sinister partner.”
“Blood Oath is a blend of some of our favorite things, in terms of story and genre – historical fiction, the early days of organized crime, and horror – all things we wanted to explore, and they blended together perfectly to ask a key question: what if there was a secret, monstrous crime family that’s been part of the underworld for decades?” Segura said.
Segura, of course, is no stranger to comics, having worked in the industry for more than two decades and having written comics like The Dusk, The Black Ghost and many more. (He also has a Spider-Verse novel coming out, which was announced today). Hart’s new to comics, but has written several novels like The Paradox Hotel and The Warehouse. He and Segura have also collaborated before, teaming their two literary characters, Ash McKenna and Pete Fernandez, together in a short story called “Bad Beat.”
Continue reading “Segura + Hart + Eisma make a ‘Blood Oath’ for Comixology Originals”Plus: News on Ron Zimmerman, Paul Coker Jr., Frederik L. Schodt, Ed Brubaker and more.
Publishers | Although it might be hard to believe that there’s anyone left at the Oni-Lion Forge Publishing Company to speak anonymously at this point, Popverse has an interview up with one such staffer, who gives more details on what’s been going on behind the scenes — and offers some context about that not-at-all-thought-out statement that was released on social media. The statement, the anonymous source says, came from parent company Polarity. “They thought it was so good. They did not listen to anyone who told them it was not, and then we reaped the whirlwind of their failure, like pretty much every week this month.”
This unsurprising account by the anonymous staffer follows several rounds of layoffs and departures from the Oni-Lion Forge Publishing Company. Associate publisher Michelle Nguyen left the company voluntarily, following the layoffs of James Lucas Jones, Charlie Chu, Alex Segura, Amanda Meadows, Jasmini Amiri and Henry Barajas in July.
Publishers | Both The Beat and Popverse have reported that webcomics platform Tapas Media has laid off several staff in what’s being described as both a consolidation with sister companies Radish and Wuxiaworld, as well as a shift toward more user-generated content. Bleeding Cool reports that Tapas Media Chief Creative Officer Michele Wells is one of the people impacted by the layoffs. All three companies are owned by Kakao Entertainment, which acquired them in 2021.
Continue reading “Quick Hits | Behind the scenes at Oni Press”The Comixology Originals title returns digitally in August and in print from Dark Horse next year.
Following an intriguing debut back in 2019, The Black Ghost will once again haunt your digital devices when it returns from Comixology Originals in August.
The new five issue miniseries by writers Alex Segura and Monica Gallagher, artist George Kambadais, colorist Ellie Wright, letterer Taylor Esposito and editor Greg Lockard will be collected by Dark Horse in January.
“When Hard Revolution, the first arc in our series was received so warmly – and got the attention of places like The Hollywood Reporter, The New York Times, Publishers Weekly, and a print edition from Dark Horse Comics – we started to think of more,” Segura said. “I could almost feel Monica and I looking at each other from across the country and thinking, ‘Well, what do we do now?'”
Continue reading “Segura + Gallagher + Kambadais resurrect ‘The Black Ghost’ this summer”The comics writer, novelist and industry veteran discusses his newest book, which combines his love of mysteries with the comic book industry.
Alex Segura is known to comics readers for various comics projects ranging from The Dusk to The Black Ghost to Archie Meets the B-52’s to the upcoming The Awakened, but the Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Oni-Lion Forge has another career as a novelist. Segura has written an acclaimed series of novels featuring journalist-turned-private eye Pete Fernandez, and his new novel Secret Identity bridges these two worlds.
A murder mystery set in 1970s New York, the novel centers around Carmen Valdez, an assistant at Triumph Comics who aspires to be a writer. After a co-worker is murdered, Valdez tries to understand what happened. Chapters of the novel are also interspersed with pages from the fictional The Lynx comic book, which Valdez co-wrote in the novel, but are drawn by real-life artist Sandy Jarrell.
The novel is a departure for Segura, less focused on plot but more about character and atmosphere, focused on evoking another era and a look inside the comics industry of that time. It’s his best and richest work to date, and we had a chance to talk recently about the novel, which is out this week.
Continue reading “Smash Pages Q&A | Alex Segura’s ‘Secret Identity’”New titles by Jimmy Palmiotti, Amanda Conner, Phil Jimenez, Eric Canete, Alex Segura, Dean Kotz and more are expected next year.
A new digital comics platform that’s focused on helping creators “monetize their creations” will debut next year with titles by Eric Canete, Amanda Conner, Phil Jimenez, Jimmy Palmiotti, Alex Segura, Peter Tomasi and more, according to The New York Times.
Zestworld, who have a very basic website set up here, was founded by Chris Giliberti, who told the NYT that “this industry is broken for creators; and it’s broken in publishing and TV and film; it’s also broken in events and collectibles.”
“We wanted to build something that’s useful across all areas of their business — anywhere they generate income,” he said, noting that the creators they’re working with will be stockholders in the company.
Continue reading “Subscription-based comics platform Zestworld will launch next year”The new anthology will feature stories by Terry Blas, Daniel José Older, Amparo Ortiz, Juan Ponce, Karla Pacheco, Alex Segura and more.
Marvel’s Voices, the anthology series that puts the spotlight on underrepresented characters and creators, will continue with a new edition in October: Marvel’s Voices: Comunidades.
Marvel’s Voices: Comunidades will feature stories by established and new Latinx comics creators, telling stories about Latinx characters.
“Marvel Voices is such a unique project that I feel really drills down on the core Marvel tenet of reflecting the world outside your window–so when the opportunity came to help put together Marvel Voices: Comunidades and celebrate the Latinx community, I couldn’t have been more excited,” co-editor Lauren Amaro said. “And that excitement only continues to grow as story pitches continue to roll in–trust me, you’re not going to want to miss out on what this talented group of creators have got cooking up!”
Continue reading “Marvel will spotlight Latinx creators + characters in ‘Marvel’s Voices: Comunidades’”Plus: the comics industry loses two inspirational creators.
Alex Segura has left Archie Comics to become senior vice president of sales and marketing for the Oni-Lion Forge Publishing Group. Segura has been with Archie for a total of about 10 years now, most recently as co-president, and worked for DC Comics before that. He’s also a mystery author and comics writer, on projects like The Dusk, The Black Ghost and Archie Meets the B-52s.
“While it’s been an amazing honor and privilege to call Riverdale my professional and creative home for over a decade, when Oni-Lion Forge approached me with this opportunity, I couldn’t say no,” Segura said in a statement to Publisher’s Weekly. “Getting the chance to help amplify the ever-expanding, talented, and diverse voices at Oni is a great fit.”
Continue reading “Comics Lowdown | Alex Segura leaves Archie for Oni-Lion Forge”The editor, author and comics writer discusses his current project that’s up on Kickstarter, as well as his next comics-themed novel, Micro-Face and more.
Alex Segura has many irons in many fires on any given day. He serves as co-president of Archie Comics, where he has also been known to write comics featuring the flagship character meeting bands like the Ramones and the B-52s. And when he’s not in Riverdale, he’s working on his own projects, whether that’s novels like the Peter Fernandez mystery series and Poe Dameron: Free Fall, or comics like The Black Ghost and The Dusk.
It’s the latter that’s occupying a lot of his time right now. It’s a new comic he’s made with Elizabeth Little, David Hahn, Ellie Wright, Taylor Esposito and Joseph Illidge, and it currently has 10 days left in its Kickstarter campaign. It’s about a lawyer/divorced dad by day, superhero by night who tries to take a different approach to fighting crime.
Segura was kind enough to speak with me about this project, as well as his next novel, Secret Identity, and an upcoming comic he’s made with the folks at NPR’s Planet Money podcast, among other topics.
Continue reading “Smash Pages Q&A: Alex Segura on ‘The Dusk’”Eliot Rahal, Julius Ohta, Matt Herms and Jack Morelli delve into the world of ‘Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’ in this Archie Horror one-shot.
A key character from Archie’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Netflix series will headline her own one-shot later this year, as Eliot Rahal, Julius Ohta, Matt Herms and Jack Morelli bring Madam Satan to her own comic.
“We wanted to make sure that our first new title for the direct market this Fall was something retailers would be excited to present to customers old and new,” said Archie Comics Co-President Alex Segura. “Playing in the world of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina felt like a surefire bet, and pairing two rising stars like Eliot and Julius ensures that readers get an essential and engaging story. We know fans are clamoring for more Archie Horror and this one-shot is just the beginning of new stories we can tell going forward.”
Continue reading “Archie announces ‘Madam Satan’ for October”
