Slugfest | BOOM! celebrates 25 years of ‘Farscape’

Plus: ‘Life,’ ‘Remote Space,’ Fantagraphics’ fall schedule, Minecraft, Dog Man and more.

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you. Hit the links for more information.

Farscape, the Australian-American science fiction television series created by Rockne O’Bannon and the Jim Henson Company that ran on SciFi, will return to comics in August courtesy of BOOM! Studios, who published the previous Farscape series.

The 25th anniversary special one-shot will be the first Farscape comic published since 2010, and it’ll feature stories by  Keith R.A. DeCandido, who wrote many of BOOM!’s previous Farscape comics, along with Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly, Sarah Gailey, Sina Grace and more.

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Smash Pages Q&A | Luke Arnold + Chris ‘Doc’ Wyatt on ‘Essentials’

The writing duo discusses their crowdfunding project for the new graphic novel from The Lab Press.

Luke Arnold is an actor and writer best known for his roles as Long John Silver in Black Sails and INXS frontman Michael Hutchence in Never Tear Us Apart. His first novel The Last Smile in Sunder City came out in 2020 as part of the ongoing series The Fetch Phillips Archives.

Chris “Doc” Wyatt is a writer and producer whose work includes independent films like Napoleon Dynamite and Coyote, as well as animated series like Rocket and Groot, Lego Ninjago: Dragons Rising, Ultimate Spider-Man, Marvel’s Avengers Assemble, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and many more. He’s also written comics for Marvel, Dark Horse, 1First Comics and more.

Together, they are the writing team for Essentials, a new graphic novel coming from the newly formed The Lab Press. The story centers on a mathematician who predicted the end of the world but failed to prevent it. He discovers there are other survivors, but they’re trapped in alternate realities full of zombies, robots, mythical creatures and more.

Each of these alternate realities will be illustrated by a different artist, including Vince Locke, Andrea Mutti, MK Perker,Brendan McCarthy, DaNi and Jason Howard, with colors by Jordie Bellaire, Brad Simpson and Wesley Wong, and lettering by DC Hopkins. Bill Sienkiewicz provides a chilling main cover.  

The graphic novel is currently up on Kickstarter, and has already reached its goal. (Please note that the interview was conducted prior to the project’s launch). I spoke with Arnold and Wyatt about the project, working with seven different artists and what’s “Essential” in this story. My thanks to them both for their time.

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Clay McLeod Chapman + Andrea Mutti conjure up ‘Seance in the Asylum’ at Dark Horse

The historical horror miniseries begins in July.

Dark Horse Comics has brought two of the scariest words in the English language together to make something even scarier, as they’ve announced the miniseries Seance in the Asylum.

The historical horror series is by Clay McLeod Chapman, writer of What Kind of Mother and Ghost Eaters, and artist Andrea Mutti, whose horror pedigree includes titles like A Legacy of Violence, Maniac of New York, Parasomnia, Bunny Mask and Haunt You to the End.

“Years back, I uncovered an esoteric text — The Homeopathic Principle Applied to Insanity: A Proposal to Treat Lunacy by Spiritualism by Dr. James John Garth Wilkinson — written all the way back in 1857, and I knew within my bones, my blood, that this was destined to be a story,” said Chapman. “As a lifelong acolyte of the Fox Sisters, I’ve always been obsessed with stories about tapping into the hereafter. Now it’s an honor to usher you through the veil and explore the other side… “ 

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Slugfest | Groo goes wild in a new miniseries

Plus: Batman Beyond, more Birdking, Thor vs. M.O.D.O.K., the return of ‘Fire Power,’ Hellfire Gala fashion and more.

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you. Hit the links for more information.

Sergio Aragonés and Mark Evanier will reunite for Groo: In the Wild, a new miniseries that kicks off in July.

The duo is joined by letterer Stan Sakai and colorist Carrie Strachan for a story that sees the barbarian and his dog looking for food. Things go downhill from there, in typical Groo fashion.

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Mad Cave announces three new titles for late 2022

Cullen Bunn, Andrea Mutti, Zac Thompson, Bayleigh Underwood, Joe Corallo, Andrea Milana and more will create new comics this Fall.

Mad Cave Studios has announced three new titles that will arrive in stores at the end of the year.

First up will be A Legacy of Violence, a 12-issue horror/mystery series by Cullen Bunn and Andrea Mutti in October, followed by Nature’s Labyrinth by Zac Thompson and Bayleigh Underwood In November. Then December brings Dahlia In The Dark by Joe Corallo and Andrea Milana.

Here’s a look at the three titles:

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TKO goes Rogue with new prose imprint

New novels by Joshua Dysart with MK Perker and Alex Grecian with Andrea Mutti will debut in January.

TKO Studios has announced TKO Rogue, a new prose imprint that will release illustrated novels by authors and artists “from the literary and pop culture worlds.”

The first two books they plan to release are Brood X by Joshua Dysart with art by MK Perker, and One Eye Open by Alex Grecian and Andrea Mutti.

“The launch of TKO Rogue is the next step in the evolution of TKO Studios and bridges the vibrant worlds of novelized fiction and comics with works from a renowned pair of award- winning, bestselling authors and internationally recognized artists,” said Tze Chun, co-founder of TKO Studios, in a statement. “We invite readers to enjoy these new books and join us as we develop an exciting roster of original prose titles.”

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Maniac Harry returns to burn down the Bronx in December

Elliott Kalan and Andrea Mutti bring back the unstoppable killing machine in ‘Maniac of New York: The Bronx is Burning.’

Elliott Kalan and Andrea Mutti’s Maniac Harry tore through a New York subway train in the pages of his first miniseries, and now he’s back to wreck havoc on the Bronx.

The seemingly unkillable slasher-killer inspired by Friday the 13th‘s Jason will return in Maniac of New York: The Bronx is Burning in December, where Kalan and Mutti team up with letterer Taylor Esposito to tell the next chapter in their story. While the first arc introduced the killer and the mayor’s aide who fought to bring him down, this one will show more of the impact he’s had on New York as a whole.

“The new arc, ‘The Bronx Is Burning,’ will give us more glimpses of how Maniac Harry has really insinuated himself into the fabric of New York life: copycat criminals, school Maniac drills, rap lyrics …” Kalan said. “We’ll also be following the Maniac into parts of the city we haven’t seen before, culminating in a huge scene at a public event that I’ve been wanting to include ever since the first series and which I can’t wait to see Andrea draw.”

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Hell hath no fury like ‘The Heathens’

Cullen Bunn, Heath Amodio and Sami Kivelä team up for a new series from AfterShock Comics.

AfterShock Comics has announced a new project featuring souls escaping from Hell, and the powers that be sending the worst of the worst after them — The Heathens, led by pirate queen Ching Shih.

Co-writers Cullen Bunn and Heath Amodio, who together founded Hustle & Heart Films, are working with artist Sami Kivelä, colorist Jason Wordie and letterer Simon Bowland on the series. Shih’s team will include several other notorious historical figures helping her on her mission, including Wild West outlaw Billy the Kid, gangster Lucky Luciano and Russian con artist Sofia the Golden Hand.

“Anyone who is familiar with me as a creator knows I love historical figures and time periods,” Bunn said in his email newsletter. “They also know I love infusing stories featuring those characters and time periods with a healthy dose of the supernatural. Heath brought the seed of this idea to me, and I loved it from the jump. It has history, villains, even worse villains, supernatural worlds and redemption — everything that I could hope for in a book!”

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Mail Call | Shang-Chi’s mutant sister debuts in ‘Shang-Chi’ #3

Like fireworks lighting up the night sky comes a barrage of news, previews and announcements from Marvel, Dark Horse, Image, Mad Cave 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.

Gene Luen Yang and Dike Ruan’s run on Marvel’s Shang-Chi has focused both on family and legacy, and in the third issue Marvel’s Master of Kung Fu finds out he has yet another sibling — and she’s a mutant.

Zhilan is a mutant warrior with a dazzling power: she can turn music into solidified energy. According to Marvel.com, she was exiled by Shang-Chi’s evil father years ago, and now Shang-Chi is seeking her out — as is the Krakoa mutant nation, which will lead to a confrontation with Wolverine.

Check out the variant cover by Michael Cho, along with some preview pages by Ruan, below:

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Mail Call | The Avengers brace for ‘World War She-Hulk’

Plus: More news and announcements from Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, AfterShock, Top Cow, Skybound 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.

Marvel is dusting off a classic event title for an upcoming Avengers storyline — “World War She-Hulk,” which references the popular “World War Hulk” story from 2007.

The new storyline will find She-Hulk declared a global menace, so the Winter Guard decides to bring her in.

“When the Russian Winter Guard invade Avengers Mountain to arrest She-Hulk, it sets off a global espionage adventure that takes us from the notorious assassin training academy of the Red Room to an undersea kingdom on the verge of violent revolution,” said writer Jason Aaron. “Along the way, traitors will fall, regimes will crumble and the dark evolution of Jennifer Walters will reach its bloody red crescendo, all as we build toward the epic events of Avengers #50.”

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Bunn + Mutti’s ‘Parasomnia’ awakens in June

The four-issue miniseries from Dark Horse details one man’s journey through a nightmarish dreamscape.

Cullen Bunn and Andrea Mutti set off on a horrific adventure through the land of nightmares in the new miniseries Parasomnia.

Parasomnia is an eerie dark fantasy adventure. Part of it is set in our world–the waking world–and part of it is set… someplace else,” Bunn said. “A land of ruthless highwaymen and forgotten gods and fierce monsters. It’s a little bit sword and sorcery, a little bit mystery, a little horror, and a whole lot of action adventure.”

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Tobin + Mutti deliver horror with ears in ‘Bunny Mask’

The new series from AfterShock Comics launches in June.

Eisner winner Paul Tobin will return to the horror genre for a new series from AfterShock Comics, titled Bunny Mask. The writer of Colder and Bandette will team up with Maniac of New York artist Andrea Mutti for a horror title with an adorable name.

“Bunny Mask is the story of Tyler Severin, who—due to traumatic incident—uncovers and releases Bunny Mask herself, an ancient, supernatural creature, incredibly powerful and possibly evil, but the thing is…she likes him,” Tobin said. “It’s almost as if she’s imprinted on Tyler, since he helped her ‘hatch.’ The series is about the ripple effects, or more honestly the tsunami effects, on Tyler’s life and the world.”

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