Tag: comic books

10 Count | 10 creations of the late, great Sal Buscema

From Cypher to the Grandmaster, here are 10 characters that stand as a lasting reminder of what Sal Buscema gave to comics.

Sal Buscema’s impact on Marvel Comics can’t be measured by a single run or a single title — although given the depth of his work on Incredible Hulk and Spectacular Spider-Man, I can see why someone might. Passing away Jan. 23 at the age of 89, Buscema left behind decades of work that shaped how Marvel stories looked and felt. He was a master storyteller whose art anchored everything from cosmic epics to street-level brawls.

Just as enduring are the characters and concepts he co-created druing his long career, like the Grandmaster, Hyperion, Firebird and Constrictor, all of whom continue to appear and evolve long after their debut. Here’s 10 of my favorites.

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Slugfest | Discover the secret history of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in a new comic miniseries this April

Plus: Marvel’s April solicitations bring a Jubilee one-shot, a new Alien miniseries, more Doom 2099 and … April Pool’s Day!

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you. This edition focuses on Marvel’s April 2026 titles. Hit the links for more info.

Disney’s Galaxy’s Edge, or as we call it at my house, “Star Wars Land,” will get an update at Disneyland this spring, as they add Darth Vader, Han Solo and other characters from the original trilogy to the area. Until now, Galaxy’s Edge’s story has revolved around the most recent trilogy, with Kylo Ren, Rey and the First Order making appearances, but that’ll change in April. And the new “story” that connects the first Star Wars films to the area will come in the form of a comic this April.

Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge – Echoes of the Empire #1 kicks off a new five-issue miniseries set on Batuu, expanding the story of the Black Spire Outpost during the era of the original trilogy. Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and Chewbacca arrive on the remote world searching for critical intelligence, only to uncover a relic that draws the attention of the Empire. Their mission quickly escalates, placing Batuu at the center of a conflict that has been unfolding just out of sight of the films.

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Chris Condon + Stefano Caselli carry on the Ultimate Universe’s legacy in ‘Reborn: Ultimate Impact’

The story of the Ultimate Universe’s Origin Boxes continues in the 616 this May.

The end of the Ultimate Universe is just the beginning for a new set of heroes that’ll appear in the regular Marvel Universe.

Today Marvel announced Reborn: Ultimate Impact, a five-issue miniseries by Ultimate Wolverine writer Chris Condon and Ultimate Black Panther artist Stefano Caselli.

The miniseries spins out of Ultimate Spider-Man: Incursion, which saw Miles Morales and his baby sister arrive in the Ultimate Universe for a madcap game of “get the baby before the Maker’s cronies do.” Their adventure ended with them back in the regular Marvel Universe, a.k.a. the 616, but they brought home some souvenirs — several of the “Origin Boxes” the Maker used to collect the powers of various heroes before they could experience their secret origins. (You might remember seeing them distributed by Tony Stark and company to many of the heroes in the Ultimate titles).

Miles ended up with a whole bunch of unused ones, and someone’s after them, of course. The series will show the boxes “giving birth to new heroes and villains with familiar powers, but very different journeys.”

“I am so excited to be a part of this book and to be working with this fantastic team,” Condon said. “To be able to play with the idea of these universes colliding in a truly unique and interesting way like this, and to have the opportunity to create new and lasting creations within them – both characters and settings – is a dream for any creator in this industry. I’m having so much fun working on this book with artist Stefano Caselli and Editor Tom Groneman. I hope that shines through when readers pick up their copies of what I think will be an exciting new piece of the Marvel Universe.”

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Rest in peace, Sal Buscema

The Marvel legend passed away this month at the age of 89.

Sal Buscema, a classic Marvel artist whose work spanned decades for the publisher, passed away Jan. 23 at the age of 89, just a few days shy of his 90th birthday.

Buscema pencilled and inked a number of comics for Marvel throughout the years, including Avengers, Fantastic Four, Thor, Marvel Team-Up, Sub-Mariner, Daredevil, Nova, Eternals, Marvel Two-In-One, New Mutants, Iron Man, Ghost Rider, Ms. Marvel, Howard The Duck, Master Of Kung Fu, and three major Spider-Man series — Amazing, Web of and Peter Parker, Spectacular Spider-Man. He pencilled key runs on Captain America, ROM: Spaceknight and The Defenders, and a 10-year run on Incredible Hulk.

His death was reported by artist Sterling Clark on Facebook, who worked with Buscema on a project. “When I think back on my childhood and all of the comic books that I read, Sal’s name seems to have appeared in just about all of them,” Clark said. “I didn’t just read the books that he illustrated, I studied them. Every nuance in his pencils and his inks I saw and tried to mimic. He was definitely one of the greats during those years at Marvel, when handling more than three titles a month was not just a requirement but a necessity.”

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Sugar, We’re Goin’ Cosmic: Patrick Stump writes ‘Eternals’ for Marvel

The Fall Out Boy singer joins Phil Noto, Dale Eaglesham, Ralph Macchio, Michael Cho and more on ‘Eternals 50th Anniversary.’

When you’re in a band named after a superhero sidekick, it’s not surprising to find out you’re also a comic fan. Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump joins his bandmates Pete Wentz and Joe Trohman in leaving his mark on comics, as he contributes to the upcoming Eternals 50th Anniversary #1.

The one-shot marks five decades since Jack Kirby’s Eternals debuted. First introduced in 1976, the Eternals embodied the King of Comics at his most ambitious, with ancient gods, science-fiction divinity and grand ideas about humanity’s place in the cosmos. This oversized issue will serve as a tribute to that legacy with stories from Stump and several other creators.

“It’s fitting that Marvel’s version of God, its One-Above-All, was drawn in the likeness of Jack Kirby,” Stump said. “Through his cosmic work on titles like Tales of Suspense, Fantastic Four, Thor and climaxing with his mythologically inspired space opera The Eternals, he created the center of gravity all of Marvel’s galaxy is still orbiting. So when I was tasked with the responsibility of introducing a Lost Eternal, I turned to the same sci-fi and mythology that got his mighty imagination spinning to begin with. I’m beyond honored to be part of celebrating 50 years of the Eternals, and while I can’t imagine some rock singer like me doing a titan like Kirby justice, I can promise you this has definitely been as much of a passion project as any album I’ve ever made or film I’ve scored.”

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‘Swamp Thing 1989’ will debut in April

Rick Veitch and Michael Zulli’s cancelled Swamp Thing run will finally be completed this year.

As announced at last year’s New York Comic Con, DC will finally publish Rick Veitch, Michael Zulli and Vince Locke’s work on Swamp Thing #88 from 1989. The first of four issues of the DC Black Label title will arrive in April, featuring a cover by Veitch and a variant by Zulli.

Veitch’s run on Swamp Thing in the late 1980s was cut short when issue #88, which featured a time-displaced Swamp Thing arriving in time to meet Jesus Christ, was cancelled by the publisher. While this book was solicited to be published in May of 1989, it never was released. Instead Swamp Thing #88 featured a story by Doug Wheeler and Tom Yeates. 

Veitch credits years — or decades, even — of fan campaigns for convincing DC to finally finish the story Veitch intended to tell.

“The response from readers was immediate and overwhelming,” said Veitch. “It helped make the final decision to publish these issues. I am grateful to the fans for stepping up, and to DC’s team, especially editor Alex Galer and Editor-in-Chief Marie Javins, for pulling off the impossible.”

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Chip Zdarsky is ‘Mad About DC’ in a new special

“They say at DC there’s nowhere to go but down after writing ‘Batman,’ and, yeah, it’s true. It’s very true.”

MAD Magazine is turning its attention to the DC universe this April with a one-shot issue that will arrive on April Fool’s Day. DC has given former Batman writer Chip Zdarsky the reigns, as he pulls together a host of creators as the book’s guest editor.

“They say at DC there’s nowhere to go but down after writing Batman, and, yeah, it’s true,” said Zdarsky. “It’s very true.”

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Skybound unearths the dark fantasy miniseries ‘Corpse Knight’

Michael Chaves and Matthew Roberts team for a new fantasy/horror series where a father’s love survives the grave.

Skybound has announced Corpse Knight, a horror/fantasy miniseries from Michael Chaves of The Conjuring franchise fame, along with artist Matthew Roberts and colorist Rico Renzi. The comic combines dark fantasy, brutal horror and an emotional core rooted in family, as a father and daughter embark on a “sacred quest” after he returns from the dead.

“Corpse Knight was born out of my love of dark fantasy, but it quickly became something more. It’s a story of parenthood and mortality, told through heroes, monsters, and all the shades in between,” said Chaves. “I’ve been a fan of Matthew Roberts since Manifest Destiny, and I truly believe this is some of his finest work. His art is beautiful, tactile, and, when it needs to be, amazingly gruesome. Alongside Rico Renzi’s awesome color work, it’s everything you want from this kind of book.”

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Ghost Machine announces an official handbook for their universes

The five-issue ‘Ghost Machine: The Official Guidebook’ will detail facts and figures about Geiger, Hyde Street and more.

In the spirit of the indispensable guides that were the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe and Who’s Who in the DC Universe, Ghost Machine has announced a five-issue Ghost Machine: The Official Guidebook, which will include entries on characters from the various universes they publish.

Launched in 2023, the Ghost Machine family of titles span genres and universes, from Geoff Johns and Gary Frank’s Geiger to Peter J. Tomasi and Francis Manapul’s The Rocketfellers. If you want to get familiar with all the characters they’ve introduced, now is your chance.

“I was always a huge fan of these entertaining encyclopedic comics,” said Brian Cunningham, Ghost Machine editor-in-chief. “Whenever I wanted to know something about a character, I knew where to go. I also loved learning about characters I had never seen before, and then wanting to track down those comics with them so I could read those stories. I’m hoping fans will do the same with our Guidebook.”

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Kevin Smith, Eric Carrasco + Nick Pitarra will explore Bizarro’s origins in a new miniseries

‘Bizarro: Year None’ will launch in April.

Clerks writer/director Kevin Smith will team with Eric Carrasco, a writer of the CW’s Supergirl TV show, to co-write a new miniseries exploring the origins of Bizarro. Nick Pitarra, artist of the wonderful The Manhattan Projects, will bring Bizarro: Year None to life, presenting an “indefinitive” origin for the character.

“Me am NOT excited for new comic!” Bizarro said in the press release. “Bizarro: Year None am worst thing to happen!”

A teen version of Bizarro first appeared in Superboy #68 by Otto Binder and George Papp in 1958, and the adult version quickly followed in the Superman newspaper strip. The sometimes villain, sometimes anti-hero has had several incarnations over the years, typically serving as an antagonist to Superman , but also teaming with heroes like Red Hood and the Outlaws. He’s also starred in back-ups, specials and his own miniseries in the past.

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Miles Morales, Spider-Gwen + more enroll in ‘Spider-Versity’

Class is in session this April.

If you’ve been keeping up with Amazing Spider-Man, you know that while Peter Parker went off into space, Norman Osborn took over as the Spider-Man on Earth. Now he’d like to take all that knowledge he learned while under the mask — no, not his Spider-Man mask; his Green Goblin mask — and pass it on to the next generation of Spider-heroes.

Amazing Spider-Man: Spider-Versity by Jordan Morris, Joe Kelly and Pere Perez will put Norman and Spider-Woman into the roles of teachers for Miles Morales, Spider-Gwen, Spider-Boy, Spider-Girl, Arana and Silk. And the lesson plan includes how to fight the Green Goblin.

“Spider-Versity spins directly out of the events of Amazing Spider-Man,” Kelly said. “Norman has a definitive threat in mind that he’s trying to protect the young Spiders against. One he knows intimately. But even for a master planner like Norman, things may perhaps go awry, and the kids will face some unexpected threats. Nothing like learning on the job!”

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DC announces ‘Fury of Firestorm’ + ‘Zatanna’ for April

DC Next Level continues with two more series.

DC has announced two more titles that’ll debut in April as part of their DC Next Level publishing initiative, featuring two characters who have had their own ongoings in the past — Fury of Firestorm and Zatanna.

Jeff Lemire and Rafael De Latorre will bring Ronnie Raymond and Professor Martin Stein — as well as their alter ego, Firestorm — back in what Lemire is calling “both a deconstruction of the character and a love letter to his past.”

“The Fury of Firestorm by Gerry Conway and Pat Broderick was one of my favorite comics when I was a kid in the 1980’s, so it’s a huge thrill to be relaunching the title, along with artist Rafael DeLatorre, and colorist Marcelo Maiolo, as part of DC Comics “Next Level” initiative,” Lemire said in his newsletter.

Jamal Campbell, who wrote and drew a Zatanna miniseries last year, returns to write and draw an ongoing Zatanna series. The new series will focus on Zatanna’s role as the “newest and first Prime Magus in millennia,” as she embarks on a world tour “to oversee and guide the world of magic.”

Zatanna and Firestorm follow the announcement of three news series that’ll launch in March featuring Lobo, Batwoman and Deathstroke. Other Next Level series the publisher has teased for 2026 include The Demon, Jonah Hex, the Teen Titans and more.

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