Bendis + Maleev will deliver a ‘Masterpiece’ in December

The six-issue miniseries features a 16-year-old genius who learns her parents were master criminals.

Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev are reuniting on a new series from Bendis’ Jinxworld imprint at Dark Horse. Masterpiece will star the daughter of two famous criminals who gets pulled into the life when their last victim comes for revenge.

Bendis and Maleev have been working together for more than two decades now, from Sam & Twitch for Todd McFarlane to Moon Knight and Daredevil at Marvel to their creator-owned series Scarlet.

“Anytime we’re given an opportunity to work together, we take it very seriously to make sure it’s everything it should be. I don’t want to waste a moment of his time. A lot of thought goes into what we do,” Bendis told the Hollywood Reporter.

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Slugfest | Mary Jane officially becomes a superhero in ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ #31

Plus: News on the Witcher’s next comic series, White Widow, ‘Coda’ returns, Ram V and Filipe Andrade reunite, ‘Killer Queens’ is back, and more.

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

Marvel has been teasing Mary Jane Watson’s new power set, most notably in the recent Mary Jane & Black Cat miniseries, but the longtime supporting character will put on a costume and go full superhero in Amazing Spider-Man #31.

The oversized issue will not only feature a story by the regular creative team of Zeb Wells and John Romita Jr., but also will include a story by Celeste Bronfman and Alba Glez that features Mary Jane suiting up to become Jackpot.

Here’s a look at her costume, designed by Humberto Ramos:

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Bendis’ ‘Fortune and Glory: The Musical’ debuts on Substack

Brian Michael Bendis returns to autobiographical comics to talk about that time he was asked to work on ‘Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.’

Brian Michael Bendis has kicked off the long-awaited sequel to Fortune and Glory this week on his Substack.

Bendis wrote and drew the original Fortune and Glory, which was published as a three-issue miniseries by Oni Press in 1999-2000. Dark Horse plans to release a new printing of the collected series in April.

Fortune and Glory was a graphic novel I did years ago, pre-Marvel, about my first adventures in Hollywood as a young independent comic book creator,” he wrote. “It was one of the books that got me where I am. I always wanted to do a sequel. Many of you have asked for one over the years. I loved doing an autobiographical comic book. I always thought I would do another one, or a bunch of them, but Spider-Man kept getting in the way.”

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Bendis + Oeming’s ‘United States of Murder, Inc.’ returns with a new title

‘Murder, Inc.: Jagger Rose’ will debut in May.

Dark Horse has announced the next project coming from Brian Michael Bendis’ imprint, Jinxworld — Murder, Inc.: Jagger Rose, a title that may sound familiar to longtime Bendis fans.

Bendis announced last year that the United States of Murder Inc., his series with Powers co-creator Michael Avon Oeming, would return, but with a shortened title. (United States of Murder, Inc. was a mouthful). Taki Soma and Carlos Mangual round out the art team.

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Slugfest | ‘Batman/Spawn’ gets an ‘inks only’ edition

Today’s round-up includes news and announcements on ‘Amazing Spider-Man,’ Brian Michael Bendis, Keanu Reeves, Shakespeare, ‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’ and more.

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you from comics creators, publishers and more. Most of this edition includes all those end-of-the-year announcements I missed because I was on vacation. Hit the links for more information.

DC and Todd McFarlane have announced Batman/Spawn Unplugged, an uncolored and unlettered version of the recent crossover comic by Todd McFarlane and Greg Capullo.

“It’s always exciting whenever us artists can present our work in as unfiltered a manner as possible,” said McFarlane. “This book will let you see the true skill of how Greg Capullo does his masterful storytelling… and every line that we both put down.”

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Bendis launches new content + a new comic on Jinxworld on Substack

The creator has added paid tiers to his newsletter and will offer a new ‘Fortune and Glory’ story and comics classes through it.

Although he’s had a free newsletter on Substack for awhile now, writer (and comics instructor) Brian Michael Bendis has announced plans to offer paid tiers with additional content through the platform.

That additional content will includes an educational series of videos titled Creation: The Series that will serve as a multimedia sequel to his Words for Pictures book that offers instructions on writing for comics. He’s also planning a series of videos with artist Taki Soma called Masterclass that will “pass on some of the very best and hardest lessons learned” during their time in the comics field. And if you’re looking for comics, Bendis has you covered — he plans to syndicate the sequel to Fortune and Glory through Substack, which is titled Fortune and Glory: The Musical.

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Bendis + Edgar bring ‘The Ones’ to Dark Horse

The four-issue miniseries kicks off in November.

Brian Michael Bendis’ Jinxworld will grow by one this fall as the award-winning writer teams with artist Jacob Edgar and colorts K.J. Diaz for The Ones.

The story will feature characters from multiple mythologies and multiverses who were told they were “The One” — think Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the kid from Good Omens, Highlander, the “One and Only” Richochet from WWE and everyone else given that label — only, not actually those characters, but new ones created for this comic. They’re brought together to defeat, naturally, The One.

“Jacob is an amazing artist and creating this brand-new, fun-as-hell world with him has been one of the greatest delights,” Bendis said. “Wilson and the rest of The Ones are among my absolute favorite creations I’ve ever been a part of and I can’t wait to introduce you to all of them.”

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Mail Call | Tynion, Brombal + Goodhart debut ‘Christopher Chaos’

Plus: News and updates on ‘Darkskulls,’ ‘The Bone Orchard Mythos,’ ‘The United States of Murder’ and more.

Mail Call is a roundup of cool things we’ve received in our mailboxes from comics creators, publishers and more. Hit the links for more information.

If you aren’t following James Tynion IV’s TinyOnion newsletter, then you likely missed the launch of his newest comic last week — The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos. He’s released the first chapter for free via his Substack newsletter.

“This is a comic for folks who like teenage angst and horror monsters,” Tynion said. “I’ve always liked books that don’t fit neatly into one category or another. You’ll see some trappings of young adult storytelling here, but when the horror kicks in we don’t hold back. And we don’t hold back on the language either. Hell, it’s not like teens do, anyways. It’s not a superhero bit, but it doesn’t shy away from some of my favorite superhero tropes. It’s not a YA story, but it similarly doesn’t shy away from the best of those tropes. I think when I first started kicking it around in the back of my mind I thought of it as ‘A queer horror answer to Invincible.'”

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What Are You Reading? | A whole lotta Moon Knight

See what the Smash Pages crew has been reading lately, from Noah Van Sciver, Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, Si Spurrier and more.

Welcome to What Are You Reading?, our look at what the Smash Pages crew has been checking off their “to read” list lately. Today’s reviews include a whole lot of Moon Knight, plus Amazing Spider-Man, Brubaker and Phillips’ Reckless and much more.

Let us know what you’ve been reading lately in the comments or on social media.

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Mail Call | Doctor Strange journeys to the ‘Nexus of Nightmares’ in April

Check out news and updates from Marvel, DC, Image, Jeff Lemire, Brian Michael Bendis and more.

Mail Call is a roundup of cool things we’ve received in our mailboxes from comics creators, publishers and more. Hit the links for more information.

Although Doctor Strange might currently be dead in the Marvel Universe, Marvel still has stories to tell about Stephen Strange’s past. April brings not only rain this year, but also Doctor Strange: Nexus of Nightmares, by Marvel veteran Ralph Macchio and artist Ibrahim Mostafa.

The one-shot will feature the Sorcerer Supreme taking on Nightmare and Baron Mordo, as they attempt to use Strange’s own nightmares against him. The one-shot comes out April 20, with a cover by Todd Nauck.

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‘Naomi’ returns for a second miniseries from DC Comics

Brian Michael Bendis, David F. Walker and Jamal Campbell reunite for ‘Naomi: Season 2.’

Brian Michael Bendis, David F. Walker and Jamal Campbell will continue to explore the mysteries behind their creation Naomi as the Justice League member leaps into her second solo series next year.

Naomi: Season 2 will run for six issues starting in March and will feature some of Naomi’s new friends since she joined the League — including Black Adam and Superman. DC also promises the return of the villainous Zumbado from her first series.

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DC announces ‘Justice League vs. Legion of Super-Heroes’

Brian Michael Bendis and Scott Godlewski will bring two of DC’s powerhouse teams together in an adventure that spans time.

Two eras of DC’s greatest superheroes will team up to face a “great darkness” in a new miniseries that begins in January.

Brian Michael Bendis and Scott Godlewski will bring together the Justice League and the Legion of Super-Heroes — two teams Bendis is very familiar with — in Justice League vs. Legion of Super-Heroes. But “vs.”? I thought they were teaming up?

The story involves “The Great Darkness,” according to DC, which seems to suggest this might have a tie to what I consider the greatest Legion of Super-Heroes story of all time, “The Great Darkness Saga.” So maybe can we expect an appearance by Darkseid as well.

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