comic books – SMASH PAGES

Mike Mignola returns to ‘Hellboy in Hell’ with artist Cyrille Pomès

The two-issue miniseries begins in October and revisits the period following Satan’s death in the underworld.

Dark Horse Comics has announced Hellboy in Hell: Nothing But Blood, a two-issue miniseries from Hellboy creator Mike Mignola and French artist Cyrille Pomès, with colors by longtime Mignola collaborator Dave Stewart. The series marks Pomès’ debut in the Hellboy Universe.

The story is set after the death of Satan and the fall of Pandemonium, as chronicled in Hellboy in Hell #8, with Hellboy intervening when he sees a young woman being chased by winged beasts amid a demonic uprising.

“Yes, I too thought Hellboy in Hell was a closed book—But a while back I discovered the work of Cyrille Pomés and instantly fell in love with it,” Mignola said. “We actually met and when he said he’d like to do a Hellboy story, well, how could I say no to that? I still had half an idea for a Hell story rattling around in my head and invited him to flesh that out, so now what you have is a true collaboration on the story and his absolutely wonderful art and storytelling. I’m so happy to introduce this guy to the American comic book audience.”

Daniel Warren Johnson’s ‘Beta Ray Bill’ miniseries is getting an Artist’s Edition

The oversized collection of Johnson’s acclaimed 2021 Marvel miniseries arrives in February 2027.

Act 4 Publishing and Skybound have announced Beta Ray Bill by Daniel Warren Johnson Artist’s Edition, a 144-page, 12-by-17-inch collection of Johnson’s 2021 Marvel miniseries, arriving in comic shops Feb. 3, 2027.

The Artist’s Edition format, developed by Act 4 founder Scott Dunbier when he was at IDW, presents original art at its original size, making ink gradients, blue pencil and other nuances of the physical pages visible. The collection includes the complete five-issue Beta Ray Bill miniseries, which Johnson wrote and drew, along with an introduction by Walt Simonson, who created Beta Ray Bill during his epic run on Thor in the 1980s.

“I’ll never forget the first artist edition I bought: Jack Kirby’s New Gods. It’s still in my studio, treasured, inspiring me to this day,” said Johnson. “It’s an honor to have Scott Dunbier give my story the same treatment.”

Dare to Be Super: Weird Al Yankovic teams with the World’s Finest in September

Batman, Superman and the king of musical parody unite to save two dimensions from a plague of boringness in a new one-shot.

Weird Al Yankovic is no stranger to comics, having edited an issue of MAD Magazine, appeared on various covers at DC and even had his songs turned into comics over at Z2. But now he’s going one step further by teaming up with Batman and Superman in Batman/Superman/Weird Al: World’s Weirdest #1.

The 40-page one-shot from writer Mark Waid and artist Dan Schoening, with “vibes” by “Weird Al” Yankovic himself, arrives in September. Naturally, it features Mr. Mxyzptlk.

Marvel celebrates 50 years of Spider-Woman in September

Ann Nocenti, Dan Watters and more contribute to the one-shot.

Jessica Drew is the latest Marvel character to hit a big anniversary — almost 50 years, having debuted in Marvel Spotlight #32 — and to celebrate, Marvel is dedicating a one-shot to the character with stories by Dan Watters, Andrea Broccardo, Ann Nocenti and more.

Spider-Woman 50th Anniversary Special #1 will arrive in September and brings Nocenti back to a character she has some history with. In the 1980s, Nocenti wrote the final four issues of Spider-Woman’s ongoing series, not only ending the original series with issue #50 but also killing Jessica Drew off in that final issue. But you can’t keep a good hero down, so she was resurrected in the pages of Avengers a short time later.

“In the 1980s editor Mark Gruenwald gave me the assignment to ‘retire’ Spider-Woman, ending the book’s run with issue #50, so returning to write a story about how Jess’s friendships and battles are hard won feels redemptive,” she said. “Added bonus—with art by the spectacular Stefano Raffaele, the story will be gorgeous!”

Nocenti will team with Raffaele for a detective story set in L.A. that features the Flying Tiger.

Smash Pages Q&A | Juan Gedeon on ‘Super Mondo Mega Mutts’

The artist of ‘The Jurassic League,’ ‘C.O.W.-boys of Moo Mesa’ and more talks about his newest book with writer Curt Pires, which kicks off in July.

Juan Gedeon has wanted to draw comics since he was a kid staring at a Spawn cover and thinking about Greg Capullo’s artwork. The Argentina-born artist, who has moved from working in animation to American mainstream comics, has made a name for himself on projects like Ghost Racers, Venom, The Jurassic League and C.O.W.-boys of Moo Mesa, among many others.

And now turning his attention to four mutant dogs on a tear through Los Angeles.

Super Mondo Mega Mutts #1 arrives from Oni Press in July, written by Curt Pires and drawn by Gedeon, and it is, by his own description, considerably more violent than the Saturday morning cartoons that inspired it. We talked about designing dogs with distinct personalities, what it means to go cartoony in a superhero book and the projects he’s got waiting in the wings.

Marvel revisits the Mangaverse for its 25th anniversary

The weekly event series returns to the manga-inspired alternate Marvel universe this September.

Marvel is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Marvel Mangaverse with five weekly one-shots releasing throughout September, bookended by a two-part story from writer Joe Kelly, his son Jack Kelly and artist Kenny Ruiz.

The Mangaverse launched in 2000 as a line of one-shots presenting manga-inspired re-imaginings of Marvel characters, and this anniversary event picks up as if the line had been publishing continuously ever since.

“Every week my dad and I talk for hours about everything that’s happening in our favorite comics and manga, so being asked to do this for Marvel has been an honor,” said Jack Kelly.

The original Mangaverse kicked off with Marvel Mangaverse: New Dawn, written and drawn by Antarctic Press founder Ben Dunn. It introduced a female Iron Man, a kaiju Hulk and President Steve Rogers. A sequel, New Mangaverse, followed in late 2005 and early 2006. The line was a mixed bag, with an ambitious concept but an uneven execution, with its alternate-universe Spider-Man becoming the most enduring character to emerge from it thanks to all the Spider-verse books we’ve had in recent years.

Exclusive | Take a first look at the insides of ‘Babs: The Black Road South’ #4

Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows’ sword-and-sorcery comedy returns with its fourth issue, arriving June 17 from Ahoy Comics.

Courtesy of Ahoy Comics, today we have an exclusive first look at Babs: The Black Road South #4, the latest issue of the ongoing sword-and-sorcery comedy from Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows that goes on sale June 17 from Ahoy Comics.

If you haven’t caught up with the series yet, Babs is a gleefully irreverent take on sword-and-sorcery fantasy. The title character is a foul-tempered barbarian who is very good at violence but not much else, and she cuts through goblins, ogres and various other fantasy nuisances with equal parts competence and chaos. Fans of Ennis’ comedic work on Hitman and Dicks should enjoy it.

The Black Road South is the second Babs miniseries from the team. In this six-issue run, Babs and her partner Izzy find themselves dealing with the unexpected consequences of a gladiatorial windfall. Issue #4 finds the pair, along with a new companion named Culpepper, adrift on a raft (that’s actually a corpse) navigating a sea of something deeply unpleasant, with the added complication that their vessel may not be entirely dead.

The issue is titled “Harsh Language,” which you can expect from the comic and this preview:

‘Absolute Cassandra Cain’ will spin out of ‘Absolute Catwoman’

Che Grayson and Matias Bergara bring everyone’s favorite bad ass Batgirl to the Absolute Universe.

It seems like anything “Absolute” is going to sell out these days, and this Wednesday’s Absolute Catwoman is no exception. DC announced today plans to reprint the first issue and publish a spin-off one-shot, Absolute Cassandra Cain: The Shadow’s Hand #1, in September.

Absolute Cassandra Cain: The Shadow’s Hand #1 will be written by Absolute Catwoman co-writer Che Grayson, with art and a variant cover by Matias Bergara. Absolute Catwoman artist Bengal provides the main cover:

Chip Zdarsky + Marco Checchetto re-team for ‘Avengers’

Earth’s mightiest heroes get a new title and line-up starting in November.

Marvel has announced that Chip Zdarsky’s work on Avengers: Armageddon will lead into the launch of a new Avengers title, slated to debut in November. The writer will once again team up with Marco Checchetto, who worked with Zdarsky on a pretty great Daredevil run.

“It’s obviously a massive honor getting to write the world’s greatest super hero team,” Zdarsky said “And after what happens in Avengers: Armageddon, this lineup is angry as hell and ready to avenge.”

The book will feature a very Bendis-esque line-up, with mainstay Captain Marvel teaming with Luke Cage, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Daredevil and “an all-new hero set to make their explosive debut soon.” If you’ve been reading Zdarsky’s Wolverine: Weapons of Armageddon or Captain America, you probably have a guess as to who that “newcomer” will be. Editor Will Moss also teased there may be more than who we’re seeing here, too.

Oni Press reveals more details on their new Archie Comics line

Ben H. Winters joins Fábio Moon on the flagship ‘Archie’ title in a lineup that also includes new ‘Sabrina’ and ‘Archie in Hell’ series launching this fall.

Oni Press has shared more details on their upcoming Archie Comics line, including a change to the creative team on the Archie title.

When Oni and Archie Comics announced their partnership last year, W. Maxwell Prince was named as the writer on Archie. The series will now be written by Ben H. Winters, best known for his Last Policeman novels and for creating and showrunning CBS’s Tracker. Winters made his comics debut on Oni’s EC Comics line with Cruel Universe in 2024, followed by the miniseries Benjamin in 2025. He joins the art team of Fábio Moon and Nick Cagnetti, along with cover artist Stuart Immonen.

“What an extraordinary honor it is to write these stories,” Winters said. “And more importantly, what a total blast. Archie Andrews is an honest-to-goodness American icon, right up there with Mickey Mouse and Bart Simpson…and just like them, he’s enterprising, curious and kind, forever bouncing into some new adventure along with his loyal pals. I’m finding these characters delightful to write, for the same reason people have enjoyed reading Archie lo these many years — Riverdale’s just a fun place to hang out.”

Slugfest | Thor, Fantastic Four + Mary Jane celebrate anniversaries in Marvel’s August solicitations

Marvel’s August lineup includes a new Star Wars series, video game tie-ins and more.

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

Like DC, Marvel is kicking the crossovers into gear for the summer, with August bringing the first issues of DNX and the new Midnight Universe line, as well as more Queen in Black and Avengers: Armageddon. There are also several milestone issues, not the least of which is Amazing Spider-Man #1000.

What else does Marvel have coming out in those waning days of summer? Check’em out below.

Hannah Rose May + Andrea Scalmazzi team on the Hollywood horror satire ‘Fatal Fest’

The writer of ‘The Exorcism at 1600 Penn’ unleashes a survival horror series about six filmmakers competing at a deadly film festival.

Film festivals can be brutally competitive, as we’ll learn in Fatal Fest, a new horror series from writer Hannah Rose May and artist Andrea Scalmazzi, coming from IDW’s horror imprint, IDW Dark.

The series follows six emerging horror filmmakers invited to compete at Fatal Fest, a mysterious festival run by reclusive horror maestro Frank Finch and his production empire, Fatal Films. The catch: to create true fear, contestants must experience it and be willing to kill for it.

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