What Are You Reading? | Avengers, Star Trek, Crossovers and more

See what the Smash Pages crew has been reading lately.

Happy New Year and welcome to What Are You Reading?, our weekly look at what the Smash Pages crew has been reading lately.

Let us know what you read this week in the comments or on social media.

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Can’t Wait for Comics | Should auld acquaintance be forgot

New comics arrive in the last week of the year by Ron Marz, Andy Lanning, Christopher Cantwell, Salvador Larroca, Magdalene Visaggio, Matt Furie, James Stokoe, Howard Mackie, Javier Saltares, Colleen AF Venable, Stephanie Yu and more.

The last week of the year is traditionally a light week, volume wise, for comics, and this week is no exception. Not that there aren’t plenty of reasons to head to your local comic shop this Wednesday, as you’ll see below. And if you’re lucky, maybe they’ll be having an end-of-year sale.

Here’s a look at what’s arriving in comic shops, bookstores and on digital this week. Check out a few recommendations below, or visit ComicList for this week’s list of new comics arriving in stores, and the comiXology new releases page for what’s available digitally.

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Marvel will celebrate Man-Thing’s 50th anniversary next year

Steve Orlando and Francesco Mobili put Man-Thing at the center of a worldwide threat, starting in ‘Avengers: Curse of the Man-Thing #1.’

Marvel will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the debut of Man-Thing next year with three comics featuring the muck monster by Steve Orlando and Francesco Mobili.

Avengers: Curse of the Man-Thing #1 kicks things off, “the start of a three-part Marvel Universe-spanning saga that will redefine one of Marvel’s most unique characters for a new age.” Each issue will focus on a different corner of the Marvel Universe, starting with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

“It’s a huge honor to be asked to make my debut as part of a character’s anniversary. There’s an incredible amount of faith and opportunity there, and it’s something I never take lightly!” Orlando told the website Bloody Disgusting. “It is honestly amazing to be welcomed to Marvel and tell this nailbiter of a story that’s going to remind people just how unique Man-Thing is. He’ll be better positioned than ever to shock and scare readers and villains alike, but first he’ll have to survive an attack that cuts him to his core and sets the Marvel Universe ablaze.”

Man-Thing was created by Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway and Gray Morrow. making his first appearance in 1971’s Savage Tales #1. Since then, he’s had his own ongoing title, several miniseries and has appeared in other comics like Avengers and Thunderbolts.

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Can’t Wait for Comics | ‘S.W.O.R.D.,’ ‘Home Sick Pilots,’ ‘Avengers’ and more

New comics arrive this week from Cullen Bunn, Kurt Busiek, Ben Dewey, Al Ewing, Valerio Schitti, Zeb Wells, Fred Van Lente, Ryan Dunlavey and more.

Once again, we take a look at what’s arriving in comic shops, bookstores and on digital this week, with a tour that stretches from Marvel’s prehistoric past to a pair of haunted houses to the end of the DC universe — and several points in between.

If you’re wondering what to get this week, check out a few recommendations below. ComicList has this week’s list of new comics arriving in stores, and the comiXology new releases page for what’s available digitally.

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Can’t Wait for Comics | I demand a ‘Recount’

New comics arrive this week from Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, Andi Watson, Kellie Sue DeConnick and more.

It’s time for another look at what’s arriving in comic shops, bookstores and on digital this week, from the latest issue of DC’s big crossover event to the return of Andi Watson to the end of the Lumberjanes ongoing series.

If you’re wondering what to get this week, check out a few recommendations below. ComicList has this week’s list of new comics arriving in stores, and the comiXology new releases page for what’s available digitally.

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What Are You Reading? | Valkyrie, X of Swords and Seeker 3000!

See what the Smash Pages crew has been reading lately.

Welcome to What Are You Reading?, our weekly look at what the Smash Pages crew has been reading lately. Both Tom and Carla are here to time travel into Marvel’s distant past, while JK wonders what the heck happened to X of Swords this week.

Let us know what you read this week in the comments or on social media.

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Eynd of Empyre

Carla Hoffman looks back at Marvel’s Empyre, both as a game-changing “event book” and from a story perspective.

With the world in flux, we can at least count on a major summer event to remain a constant for comic fans. Neither rain nor sleet nor dark of night will keep our Big Two from their appointed rounds of throwing their entire universe (or multiverse, as the case may be) into flux to determine the definitive path for their respective companies. At least until next year.

Let’s look at this year’s Empyre by Dan Slott, Al Ewing and Valerio Schiti, and see if a comic can rock our world harder than real life already has. WARNING: spoilers ahead for the basics of the main Empyre series, so if you’ve read all six issues, grab your comics and read along!

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‘Avengers,’ ‘Battlestar Galactica Counterstrike’ win at the 2020 Dragon Awards

Congratulations to this year’s winners.

The 2020 Dragon Awards were announced this past weekend, recognizing science fiction and fantasy books, movies, video games and comics. The awards are typically given out during Dragon Con, which was held virtually this year.

The awards, which have been presented annually since 2016, recognize comics in two categories — “Best Comic Book” and “Best Graphic Novel.” Winners were selected in an open vote from the general public.

The winners are:

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Mail Call | ‘X-O Manowar’ returns, ‘Death Metal’ one-shots and more

A round-up of news from DC, Marvel, Image Comics, Valiant and more.

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

The Dark Nights: Death Metal event grew again this week, as DC announced two new anthology one-shots for November prior to releasing their full November solicitations.

The first one is focused on Lobo and is titled Dark Nights: Death Metal Infinite Hours Exxxtreme! #1. It will feature “Uncle Lobo” telling “familiar yet freaky stories of the DC Universe, exactly as he remembers them: with blood and guts and exxxtreme gratuitous violence.” The creators involved include Frank Tieri, Becky Cloonan, Dale Eaglesham and more, with a cover by Kyle Hotz.

If that one isn’t ridiculous-sounding enough, the second one, Dark Nights: Death Metal The Multiverse Who Laughs “offers the curious—and the brave—a glimpse into the nightmare realities that the Batman Who Laughs has created in tales by creators who know what it means to have a truly twisted sense of misfit humor.” As you can tell by the cover, one of those worlds features evil super pets. It includes stories by Amanda Conner, Patton Oswalt, Jimmy Palmiotti, Scott Snyder, Brandon Thomas, James Tynion IV, Joshua Williamson, Chad Hardin and more.

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Nominees announced for the 2020 Dragon Awards

The awards have been presented annually since 2016.

The nominees have been announced for the 2020 Dragon Awards, which have been presented during DragonCon since 2016.

The awards include multiple categories for books, media tie-ins like movies and video games, and two categories for comics — “Best Comic Book” and “Best Graphic Novel” (although the “Best Graphic Novel” nominees are mostly trade paperback collections of comic book serials).

The nominees in those two categories are:

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Can’t Wait for Comics | Chu, Joker Wars, Bliss and more

New comics and graphic novels arrive this week from Tom Gauld, World Citizen Comics, Stan Sakai, John Layman, Al Ewing, Dan Slott, Sean Lewis and more.

Welcome to Can’t Wait for Comics, a look at what’s hitting your comic shop, bookstore or digital platform of choice this week. We’ve got comics, we’ve got graphic novels, we’ve got comic strips … and yeah, that’s about it. Comics of all shapes and sizes.

You can check Comic List to see what’s arriving in your local shop, and the comiXology new releases page for what’s available digitally. As always, you should check with your local shop on their hours, curbside pick-up and mask restrictions, due to COVID-19. Stay safe out there and enjoy some comics.

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What Are You Reading? | Red Goblins, celestial avatars, Klan smashers and Texas blood

See what the Smash Pages crew has checked off their ‘to read’ list lately.

Like I said last week, summertime is the right time for crossovers and comics. This week brought us a taste of Empyre, Marvel’s big crossover event featuring the Avengers, The Fantastic Four, the Kree, the Skrulls, the Blue Area of the Moon, the Swordsman and all that crazy cosmic space action Marvel fans have come to know and love. You can see Carla’s thoughts on it below, along with a list of comics Shane has been buying for his kids and Tom’s thoughts on two politically minded books from DC.

You can tell us what you’ve been reading in the comments below or on social media.

Shane Bailey

Lately my kids have started wanting to read more comics. My little one has always been into them, but now the older kids are as well. So I let them pick out their own comics to read on comiXology Unlimited.

My 9 yr old son picked Amazing Spider-Man: The Red Goblin by Dan Slott and Stuart Immonen, and he loves it. He wouldn’t stop commenting on how crazy scary Norman Osborn is, how it was gross when Carnage bit the head off a rat, and during one issue when the Goblin had a captive and was interrogating him, he wondered aloud over who it was, making guesses and gasping when he found out who it was and that Norman knew who Spider-Man was. It’s great seeing him get excited at things that are old hat for me. It made me appreciate those moments more.

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