Campbell + Zonno gear up for the the post-apocalyptic sports comic ‘I Heart Skull-Crusher’

The first issue from BOOM! Box arrives in March.

Josie Campbell and Alessio Zonno will team for a new series from BOOM! Studios’ BOOM! Box imprint next year.  I Heart Skull-Crusher is about an aspiring player of Screaming Pain Ball, the most popular sport in post-apocalyptic America, and her journey to becoming just like her favorite pro, Skull-Crusher.

“I am BEYOND thrilled to bring I Heart Skull-Crusher to life with the talented Alessio; it’s everything I love–queer characters, anime influences, action, comedy, broken hearts, broken bones, Post-Apocalypse death matches–wrapped up in one gorgeous package. This is the story I’ve been wanting to tell for years!” Campbell said

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Pichetshote + Lonergan head to the stars in ‘Man’s Best’

The BOOM! Studios series will feature three pets tasked with saving humanity from an alien threat.

Pornsak Pichetshote and Jesse Lonergan will send three emotional support animals into hostile alien territory in Man’s Best, a new series coming from BOOM! Studios next year.

The three pets live on the Starship Horizon, which is searching for a new home “to house a humanity compromised by bad decisions and corporate greed.” Kind of like Wall-E meets We3. Things, of course, go horribly wrong for the human, and it’s up to the support animals to provide a different kind of support.

“It’s really weird to say a book about a cat in a mech suit, a golden retriever with a bionic leg, and a French bulldog with a rocket strapped to his back might be my most personal book ever, but…that’s kinda what happened?” said Pichetshote, whose resume includes InfidelSandman Universe: Dead Boy Detectives and the Eisner-winning The Good Asian. “I’ve never written anything where I can see recent realizations in my life directly incorporated onto the page as much as this book and have no idea how readers will respond. What I’m a lot more confident in is how much of an honor it is to work with Jesse Lonergan. It’s amazing how as a ‘professional writer’ I still have no words to explain how innovative his art keeps getting with each issue.”

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BOOM! announces ‘The Displaced’ by Brisson + Casalanguida + Cunniffe

The story of a forgotten Canadian city kicks off next year.

A project that was almost writer Ed Brisson’s first published comics project will finally see the light of day, as BOOM! Studios has announced The Displaced, which is about a city that has vanished without a trace and that no one can remember.

Brisson is joined by artist Luca Casalanguida, colorist Dee Cunniffe and letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou on the project, which kicks off in February.

The Displaced was almost my very first published work. About a year before Comeback was picked up by Shadowline/Image, I had pitched The Displaced and had interest from a publisher. However, after months of back-and-forth notes, the book ended up veering away from the book that I wanted to do, so we amicably parted ways. It was a tough call to make, but ultimately, the right one. This book is too dear to me, I didn’t want to lose that,” Brisson said in his email newsletter. “The concept sat in a digital drawer for years. I’d periodically take it out, blow off the dust, and work on it. Yet it always felt like there was a piece missing. At some point during 2022, that piece finally fell into place and I set out to pitch it again — the first time since that 2011 experience.”

Brisson has worked with BOOM! in the past, on titles like Cluster and The Last Contract, and The Displaced marks his return to the publisher for the first time in about seven years.

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Free Comic Book Day 2024 Gold sponsors include DC, Marvel and more

Free comics featuring Spider-Man, Hellboy, Jonny Quest, Encanto and more will be available next year on May 4.

Diamond has revealed the “Gold Sponsor” comic publishers and titles for Free Comic Book Day 2024, which includes Marvel, DC, Dark Horse and more. A dozen comics from the gold sponsors will be available during next year’s event, which is scheduled for May 4.

“We’re looking forward to another great year of celebrating comic books and comic book shops!” said Ashton Greenwood, Free Comic Book Day spokesperson. “This year’s lineup has a title for everyone. Whether you’re new to comics or a longtime reader, you’re sure to find a title that grabs your attention. And with the event falling on Star Wars Day this year, that adds a little extra excitement to the day!”

Interestingly, DC returns to the list for 2024, promoting an “exciting new project” that’ll be revealed at a later date. Since DC left Diamond back in 2020, they’ve participated in the event, but their books were not promoted by Diamond nor were they included on the Free Comic Book Day website.

Here’s a look at the gold sponsor titles, many of which are teasers rather than actual announcements. The extensive silver sponsor title list will be announced later this week.

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Slugfest | ‘Titans: Beast World’ has giant starfish and lenticular covers

Plus more news and announcements on Canto, Nomads, Batman, Blue Book, Star Wars and more.

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

DC has released a preview of the upcoming Titans: Beast World miniseries, which was announced this past summer. The crossover event will feature a main series by Tom Taylor, Ivan Reis and Danny Miki, with various tie-ins throughout.

The story centers on The Necrostar, a giant space starfish that rivals Starro and who the Titans, along with the rest of the DC Universe, team up to fight. Along the way, they somehow end up being turned into animal versions of themselves. Beast Boy, in fact, will show that it takes a giant starfish to stop a giant starfish, as he transforms into a version of Starro himself.

Here’s a preview, along with a look at the main cover, which is by Ivan Reis, Danny Miki and Brad Anderson:

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Slugfest | Soule + Alburquerque continue ‘The Shrouded College’ storyline in a new miniseries

Plus: News and announcements about Star Wars, Sea Serpent’s Heir, Richard Corben, Kingdom Come, Stranger Things and more.

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

Charles Soule and Alberto Jiménez Alburquerque will present the second of seven interconnected miniseries in “The Shrouded College” saga that started with Soule and Will Sliney’s Hell to Pay.

The Bloody Dozen will run for six issues and kicks off in December.

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Christine Larsen’s ‘Orcs!’ return in December

The appropriately titled miniseries ‘The Gift’ will arrive just in time for the holiday season.

Christine Larsen will return to the world of her Orcs! series this winter for Orcs! The Gift, which wraps up the trilogy of miniseries published through BOOM! Studios’ KaBOOM! imprint.

“I’m stoked to finally reach the culmination of this trilogy, where my characters are put to a true test, and I can test my own ability to balance the dramatic moments and the comedy of this series,” said Larsen. “I hope everyone enjoys this final arc as much as I’ve enjoyed crafting it.”

Larsen has been working on Orcs! for at least a decade now, if you go back to the art books she self-published and crowdfunded before BOOM! started publishing the series. You can read more about their pre-BOOM! history here.

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The Laphams + Hilary Jenkins create a ‘hellish new hardboiled heist’ series at BOOM! Studios

‘Underheist’ debuts in December.

Stray Bullets creators David and Maria Lapham, along with colorist Hilary Jenkins, will conjure up a supernatural crime story in Underheist, which is coming from BOOM! Studios on December.

“If you know our work then you know that we traditionally come at the crime genre from a very non-traditional angle with very non-traditional noir protagonists,” David Lapham said. “I often call them ‘domestic noirs.’ But with Underheist, we had this idea for a more straightforward story, centered around maybe the most traditional crime trope—the heist. Of course, we can’t do anything straightforward for more than five minutes, and very quickly all these twisted, nightmarish ideas started to flood in…”

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Slugfest | ‘Antarctica’ will continue as an ongoing

Plus: a new ‘Alien’ series, Marv Wolfman returns to ‘Tomb of Dracula,’ ‘The Walking Dead’ tribute covers and more.

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

Antarctica by Simon Birks and Willi Roberts, the Top Cow miniseries that debuted in July, will continue as an ongoing series after issue #5.

“If readers already love the first two issues of volume one, they’re going to love this new arc as we get the chance to delve deep into the previous events surrounding the Fracture and explore the Hannahs’ stories,” Birks said. “We’re thrilled to once again be working with the team at Top Cow. Not only have they been professional, but they’ve really taken the time to get to know us, and I’m delighted they love the book as much as we do. Antarctica takes no prisoners, and I’m excited to share our adventure with the readers. Willi and I have created something exceptional; an incredible experience full of unique twists and turns to keep everyone guessing right up until the end. As if one married The Fugitive with The Cabin in the Woods.”

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BOOM! Box will publish Dialynas’ foodie/monster mash-up ‘Zawa + The Belly of the Beast’

The new series begins in November.

BOOM! Box, BOOM! Studios’ original title imprint, will publish Zawa + The Belly of the Beast, a new series by Wynd co-creator Michael Dialynas, who will write and draw the series.

“I’ve done it! I’ve managed to swindle BOOM! into letting me write and draw my series! Zawa + The Belly of the Beast has all my art passions, from drawing tasty foods to weird creepy monsters in a cottage-core apocalyptic seaside city! This is a story about facing your own fears and standing up for what you believe…plus it has a cute guard cat and a chill chicken,” said Dialynas. “It’s gonna be awesome!”

The main character, Zawa, does look pretty awesome:

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Bechko + Luckert will launch ‘The Space Between’ at BOOM! this fall

The story will follow the crew of a giant spaceship across multiple generations.

The Expanse writer and fossil preparator Corinna Bechko will team with Ghostlore artist Danny Luckert for a new miniseries titled The Space Between from BOOM! Studios.

Set on a spaceship called the Dodona, the series will span across generations as the starbound ark continues across the years to its destination, with each issue featuring new protagonists.

“I feel incredibly fortunate to be telling this story of romance and revolution with Danny,” said Bechko. “Life might be what happens while you’re making other plans, but what if those plans were made long before you were even born? I can’t wait for folks to enter The Space Between and find out!”

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BOOM! prepares a ‘Slow Burn’ for October

Ollie Masters and Pierluigi Minotti present the story of a robbery gone bad and a getaway to a town on fire.

Snow Blind writer Ollie Masters moves from frozen Alaska to a town literally on fire in Slow Burn, a new miniseries with artist Pierluigi Minotti, who drew the Comixology originals title Lost Falls.

Slow Burn is about a crew of thieves who botch a robbery in New York, then head to a mining ghost town in Pennsylvania to hide out — a town where a coal-seam fire as been burning since the 1960s.

“This is a comic about a fire that’s been burning underneath a town for decades and will continue burning for centuries. It’s about desperate people with violent pasts living on the edge, looking for a way out” said Masters. “About how our parents shape who we are, for better and for worse.”

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