Clover Press – SMASH PAGES

Exclusive | Clover Press reveals Cal McDonald shirt + hat ahead of Kickstarter

The new merchandise features art by ‘October Faction’ co-creator Damien Worm and the logo for Steve Niles’ Bloody Pulp Books.

Clover Press has given us an early look at two pieces of merchandise planned for its upcoming Kickstarter campaign for Cal McDonald: Plague of Evil and Other Stories, a new collection featuring Steve Niles’ longtime occult detective.

The merch includes a T-shirt featuring new artwork by Damien Worm, co-creator of October Faction, and a hat featuring the logo for Niles’ Bloody Pulp Books.

The merchandise will be offered as part of the crowdfunding campaign for Cal McDonald: Plague of Evil and Other Stories, which will launch through Clover Press’ new The Fourth Leaf imprint. The 216-page hardcover will collect 10 new Cal McDonald short stories, each accompanied by an illustration from a different artist.

Smash Pages Q&A | Hank Kanalz on the Marvel Masterworks line moving to Clover Press

The Kickstarter for the first four volumes is now live.

For nearly 40 years, Marvel Masterworks has been one of Marvel Comics’ definitive archival collections, bringing classic stories from across the company’s history to readers in carefully produced hardcover editions. Now the long-running line enters a new era with a new publisher, as Clover Press takes over publication.

The boutique publisher behind the line of comics-related art books, special editions and original comics launched its first Marvel Masterworks releases yesterday through Kickstarter, with plans to bring them to the direct market. The first wave includes Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men, Vol. 18; The Mighty Thor, Vol. 25; The Tomb of Dracula, Vol. 6; and Super-Villain Team-Up, Vol. 1.

The new editions will retain the familiar Marvel Masterworks legacy trade dress while also introducing a new variant design by Clover Press art director and co-founder Robbie Robbins. But the publisher’s plans go well beyond a new look. The books will feature extensive restoration work overseen by longtime Marvel Masterworks editor Cory Sedlmeier, including material restored from original art, new scans and high-resolution reproduction.

I spoke with Clover Press co-founder Hank Kanalz about how the partnership with Marvel came together, why maintaining continuity with the existing line was important, the challenges of restoring hundreds of pages of classic comics and what Clover Press has planned for Marvel Masterworks over the next three years.

Clover Press reveals Marvel Masterworks plans, including four new volumes and a Jim Lee puzzle

The publisher will launch its new era of Marvel’s iconic archival series with restored editions of X-Men, Thor, Super-Villain Team-Up and Tomb of Dracula, and we have an exclusive look at one of the Kickstarter rewards.

The return of Marvel Masterworks under Clover Press was one of the more well-received announcements to emerge from San Diego Comic-Con this summer, especially from fans of the line. Now, the publisher is revealing exactly what that new era will look like as they prepare to launch the first Kickstarter for it.

Clover Press has announced the first four volumes of its ambitious plan to continue Marvel’s long-running archival hardcover series, with new editions devoted to The Uncanny X-Men, Super-Villain Team-Up, The Mighty Thor and The Tomb of Dracula. The books will feature extensive new restoration work, including hundreds of pages sourced directly from original art, as well as three distinct cover treatments, including a new trade dress designed by Clover Press co-founder and art director Robbie Robbins.

Smash Pages Q&A | Zeronis on the art of character design

The ‘League of Legends’ artist looks back at the games, anime and personal artwork that shaped his distinctive style in ‘Reminiscent: Art of Zeronis.’

Paul “Zeronis” Kwon has spent much of his career creating characters for some of the biggest games in the world, including League of Legends, where he helped design fan-favorite champions such as Ahri, Vi and Gwen. He also worked on the Star Guardian universe and K/DA, bringing familiar characters into different visual worlds.

But Zeronis’ path to the video game industry began much earlier, with Final Fantasy VII and a young artist trying to make friends after moving from Korea to the United States. Unable to speak English, he drew Cloud Strife from memory and gave the drawings to his classmates.

That early connection between games and art eventually became a career, but Zeronis says his artistic identity is still evolving. His new book, Reminiscent: Art of Zeronis, collects 152 pages of professional work, fan art and, most importantly, personal pieces that show the experimentation happening outside the constraints of game development. The deluxe hardcover is currently being crowdfunded through Kickstarter by Clover Press.

I spoke with Zeronis about finding his artistic voice, the difference between designing characters for games and for himself, the lessons he learned creating League of Legends champions and skins, and the games and anime that continue to inspire him.

Doug Wagner + Daniel Hillyard reunite for ‘I Love Apocalyptic Zombie Misfits!’ at Clover Press

The ‘Plastic,’ ‘Plush’ and ‘Narco’ creators return with a supernatural horror comedy about zombies, psychics, Heaven and Hell, and homicidal chickens. Check out our exclusive preview.

The Fourth Leaf, the new creator-owned imprint from Clover Press, is officially getting underway with a graphic novel that seems tailor-made for the imprint’s promise of “bold, bloody and pulpy stories”: I Love Apocalyptic Zombie Misfits! by Doug Wagner and Daniel Hillyard.

The longtime collaborators behind Plastic, Plush, Vinyl and Narco are back together for a supernatural horror comedy that features a pacifist, a psychic kid, a really big serial killer, the forces of Heaven and Hell, and, of course, a squad of murderous chickens.

Courtesy of Clover Press, we’re pleased to offer an exclusive preview of the new graphic novel, which launched today on Kickstarter.

Crowdpuncher | ‘Rise,’ ‘Another Realm’ and more projects to support

Check out comics and graphic novels you can support by Trevor Fernandes-Lenkiewicz, Ryan Best, Kristyna Baczynski, Aaron Sammut, Lauren Marshall and more.

Welcome to Crowdpuncher, where we round up cool comics crowdfunding campaigns. If you’re looking to buy from or support a creator directly, you’ve come to the right place.

Trevor Fernandes-Lenkiewicz and Ryan Best are wrapping up the first arc of their superhero drama Rise with a fifth and final issue clocking in at 52 pages.

The series, published by Pocket Watch Press, follows Jonathan Prufrock, a man whose superpowers scale directly with his dopamine levels, so his ability to save the world depends entirely on his capacity to feel good about himself. It’s a premise that lets the book dig into masculinity, ego and the performance of heroism across five issues totaling more than 210 pages.

Clover Press launches a creator-owned graphic novel line, The Fourth Leaf

The publisher will launch the imprint with projects by Doug Wagner, Daniel Hillyard, Steve Niles, Sean Lewis and Jonathan Marks Barravecchia.

Clover Press has become well known for everything from their Marvel and DC art books to their comic strip reprints. Now the boutique publisher is launching a line of creator-owned graphic novels, calling the imprint The Fourth Leaf. (Clever name, right?)

“We’re living in an unparalleled time of creativity and opportunity in the comic book industry,” said Clover Press Publisher Hank Kanalz. “We may not have flying cars (yet) and we may not be living on space stations (yet), but we are absolutely living in the future of near endless creative possibilities. It’s our distinct pleasure at Clover Press to spotlight some of the stories that resonate deeply with us, and connect them directly to readers looking for something new and different. These are bold, bloody and pulpy stories by fearless creators, and we’re proud to provide them a place to create without limits. These are stories to invigorate and ignite the future.”

Their first three projects under the new imprint are:

I Love Apocalyptic Zombie Misfits! by longtime collaborators Doug Wagner and Daniel Hillyard, the team behind Narco, Plastic, Vinyl and many more.
Bear Pirate Viking Queen by Sean Lewis and Jonathan Marks Barravecchia, a hardcover collection of the Image Comics series.
Cal McDonald: Plague of Evil and Other Stories, a return to his supernatural detective character by writer Steve Niles, who will team up with a “superstar line-up of international artists” for this short story collection

Like most projects from Clover Press, all three will be funded through Kickstarter. See below for more information on these first three projects.

Review | Clover Press delivers a swingin’ look at Spider-Man’s newspaper adventures

Clover Press’s first collection of Spider-Man’s classic newspaper strip captures a fun, accessible chapter in the wall-crawler’s history.

Clover Press’s first volume of The Amazing Spider-Man: Classic Newspaper Comics is an engaging artifact of a pivotal period in the character’s history. Produced by the foundational Spidey team of writer Stan Lee and penciller John Romita, the strip debuted almost 50 years ago, on January 3, 1977. Volume one, which covers that calendar year, presents a series of arcs that certainly feel like Spider-Man, just with the format and rhythms of daily installments.

Of course, by the time this strip started, Lee and Romita had both moved on from the Amazing Spider-Man comic book. During 1977, writer Len Wein and penciller Ross Andru headed up ASM (issues #166-178), while penciller Sal Buscema and an assortment of writers were getting its companion title, Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man, off the ground (issues #4-16).

In hindsight, 1977 was part of a transitional period for the character. Following Gwen Stacy’s death four years earlier, Peter had started seeing Mary Jane Watson regularly, while Spidey faced off in ASM against C- and D-listers like Stegron, Will O’ The Wisp, Rocket Racer, the Molten Man, and a non-Osborn Green Goblin. Things were a little more original over in PPTSSM, which guest-starred the White Tiger and introduced Razorback. Maybe the biggest news was on CBS, where the first Amazing Spider-Man TV movie premiered on September 14.

Exclusive | Clover Press reveals rewards for Amazing Spider-Man Newspaper Comics Kickstarter

Ahead of the campaign launch, Clover Press reveals two new collectibles accompanying its latest collections of the classic ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ newspaper strips from 1981-1984.

Clover Press is heading back to the newspaper pages of the 1980s again with another Kickstarter campaign collecting more of The Amazing Spider-Man newspaper comic strip.

Following the success of last year’s crowdfunding campaign collecting the strip’s earliest years, Clover Press is continuing its archival reprint program with four new softcover volumes collecting every Amazing Spider-Man newspaper strip published between 1981 and 1984.

“By the early 1980s, Spider-Man was firmly established on the newspaper page,” said Clover Press Publisher Hank Kanalz. “Following the success of our campaign to collect the first four years of The Amazing Spider-Man Newspaper Comic, we are thrilled to continue the line. The strips from 1981 to 1984 feature a more seasoned wall-crawler navigating longer, more intricate storylines that balance action, emotional drama and classic Peter Parker misfortune.”

Written by Stan Lee and drawn by Larry Lieber, Fred Kida and Floro Dery, these strips delivered a unique blend of superhero action, soap-opera drama and offbeat storylines. Peter Parker had encounters with killer robots, Doctor Doom’s flying saucer, the Spider Brigade and even the unforgettable Spidey Jeans craze.

Today, we can exclusively reveal two new campaign extras: the cover to an upcoming pocket book facsimile edition and a brand-new lithograph print available to backers.

Clover Press + Aspen Comics announce ‘The DC Art of Michael Turner’

The deluxe hardcover collecting Turner’s DC Comics work is the third volume in Clover Press’ ongoing art book series, with a Kickstarter campaign launching soon.

Clover Press is back with another of their high-end art books, this time focused on the artwork the late Michael Turner created for DC Comics. And today we have an exclusive first look at the dust jacket for the book, which will be funded through Kickstarter.

The DC Art of Michael Turner is the third volume in Clover Press’ The DC Art Of… series, following The DC Art of Jorge Jimenez and The DC Art of Bruno Redondo. It’s also a nice companion piece to The Marvel Art of Michael Turner, which Clover Press published in 2024.

Exclusive | First look at the slipcase for ‘The Marvel Art of Mike Zeck’

The Kickstarter campaign for the 200-plus page coffee table book celebrating the artist behind ‘Secret Wars,’ ‘Kraven’s Last Hunt’ and the first ‘Punisher’ miniseries, launches soon

Today we have an exclusive first look at the slipcase for The Marvel Art of Mike Zeck, the 10th volume in Clover Press and Marvel’s ongoing series of high-end artbooks celebrating legendary Marvel artists.

You can follow the campaign on Kickstarter.

The slipcase itself is a showcase of some of Zeck’s most iconic imagery. The front features his artwork from the cover of Captain America #286, which featured a Deathlok story by J.M. DeMatteis and Zeck. It’s inked by John Beatty, Zeck’s frequent collaborator during his celebrated run on the title. The back features a striking pin-up from Silver Surfer Annual #4, and tucked on the spine is an image of Kraven the Hunter from Kraven’s Last Hunt, the landmark Spider-Man story that remains one of Zeck’s most enduring projects.

“I first met Mike at the Chicago Comicon in 1986 right after his Punisher was released, and he left such a positive impression on this very impressionable kid,” said Clover Press Publisher Hank Kanalz. “I had the privilege of working with him on a couple of projects over the years, and I am thrilled that in retirement, he’s agreed to be a part of our prestigious The Marvel Art Of… line of art books.

Smash Pages Q&A | Bruno Redondo on ‘The DC Art of Bruno Redondo’

From a 12-year-old reading ‘Incredible Hulk’ to three Eisner Awards, Redondo reflects on the career that led to his first major art book.

Bruno Redondo has spent the last decade building an impressive body of work in comics. From his early DC work on Human Target and Batman: Arkham Unhinged to his career-defining runs on Injustice and Nightwing, he’s developed a visual language that’s entirely his own — fluid, expressive, and packed with personality. Along the way, he’s picked up three Eisner Awards and won over countless fans.

Now, Clover Press is giving his work a retrospective with The DC Art of Bruno Redondo, a 200+ page, 9″x12″ hardcover collecting his best DC work to date, with an introduction by his longtime collaborator Tom Taylor. The campaign is live now on Kickstarter, with edition options ranging from hardcover to signed slipcase, plus extras like a fold-out edition of the iconic Nightwing #87, rarely-seen sketches and commissions, a sticker pack and more.

I recently had the chance to talk with Bruno about how he fell in love with comics, what makes his creative partnership with Tom Taylor tick, what it means to look back at a career still very much in progress. and more. Here’s what he had to say.

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