Clover Press – SMASH PAGES

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.

Exclusive | Get your first look at the slipcase for The DC Art of Bruno Redondo

The three-time Eisner Award winner gets the art book treatment from Clover Press.

Here’s a treat — courtesy of Clover Press, we’re pleased to share an exclusive first look at the slipcase for The DC Art of Bruno Redondo, the upcoming art book from Clover Press that collects some of the most gorgeous DC artwork of the past decade. Just writing that sentence makes me happy, because if there’s one artist working in superhero comics right now who deserves this kind of book, it’s Bruno Redondo.

Also, the slipcase features Nightwing and Batgirl — and Bitewing! — which is a huge plus.

Redondo got his footing on titles like Human Target and Batman: Arkham Unhinged, but things really started to click when he teamed up with writer Tom Taylor on Injustice: Gods Among Us. What could have been a straightforward video game tie-in became something special, in no small part because of what Redondo brought to the page , with his fluid, expressive linework, a real sense of weight and motion, and layouts that actually served the story rather than just showing off.

Clover Press announces a new art book celebrating ‘Marvel Masterpieces’ artist Dan Dos Santos

The Kickstarter will begin in the new year.

Clover Press is expanding their Marvel Art Of… series with a new volume dedicated to award-winning artist Dan Dos Santos, set to launch on Kickstarter next month.

The Marvel Art of Dan Dos Santos will showcase Dos Santos’ distinctive oil painting style, which brought Marvel’s heroes to life with remarkable realism. The artist is perhaps best known for hand-painting more than 135 traditional oil pieces for the 2022 Marvel Masterpieces trading card set, and this book collects all of those stunning works alongside pieces from the 2023 set and never-before-seen artwork.

“Over 30 years ago, as a young teen, it was my exposure to a similar collection of Marvel art that set me on the path of wanting to be a professional artist in the first place,” Dos Santos said. “So it is incredibly apt, and really thrilling, to see it all come full-circle in this new collection of my own. This book represents years of work, and contains hundreds of paintings that I feel are my finest work to date. I labored tirelessly to breath as much life and backstory into each of these modern mythological heroes as I could. It is my hope the next generation of young artists and fans will find these characters as inspiring as I found them so many years ago.”

Clover Press completes their ‘Tom the Dancing Bug’ collection with two new volumes

Check out the slipcase artwork created to hold all 8 volumes.

Great news for fans of political satire comics: Clover Press has launched a Kickstarter campaign this week to publish the final two volumes in their eight-volume collection of Ruben Bolling’s Tom the Dancing Bug comic strip.

The two new books will collect the earliest strips from the 1990s: Secret Origins (1990-1994) and Sex, Tom the Dancing Bug, & Rock ‘N’ Roll (1994-1998). Each volume will be over 200 pages in the 8″ x 9″ format.

“With the announcement of these two volumes, The Complete Tom the Dancing Bug program will soon stand as a full eight-volume chronicle of 35 years of comics – my life’s work,” said Bolling. “I’m grateful to Clover Press for its commitment to the project. The quality of the books has been extraordinary, and I’m honored to have this complete set in print. These two volumes will document this strip’s earliest years, and in some ways, my most audacious and ambitious work.”

Stan Lee and John Romita’s ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ newspaper strips return from Clover Press

The campaign is now live on Kickstarter.

Clover Press and The Library of American Comics are teaming up to bring The Amazing Spider-Man Classic Newspaper Comics back into print—this time in an affordable softcover format—and they’re turning to Kickstarter to make it happen.

“The Library of American Comics remastered and collected the strip in a series of hardcover collections—but so many of them are out of print, making the collection highly sought after and almost impossible for your average comics lover to get their hands on,” said Clover Publisher Hank Kanalz. ”Now, Clover Press and The Library of American Comics are bringing the collections back to print in an affordable softcover format! We’re collecting the strip strictly by year, reprinting each installment from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31. We can’t wait to help get these iconic comic strips into the hands of Spidey lovers everywhere!”

The campaign’s first offering will collect the strip from 1977–1980 across four softcover volumes, each measuring 11″ x 8.5″ in a horizontal format, housed in a protective slipcase designed for easy shelving. Backers can pick up all four volumes as a bundle, along with campaign-exclusive extras including a puzzle, stickers, lithographs and more. And today we have your first look at the sticker sheets:

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