DeMatteis + Cavallaro travel the cosmos and more in ‘Impossible, Incorporated’

The creative team behind ‘The Life And Times Of Savior 28’ returns with a new five-issue series this September.

A long-gestating project by J.M. DeMatteis and Mike Cavallaro will see the light of day in September, when IDW Publishing will release Impossible, Incorporated, a five-issue comic book miniseries about a 17-year-old and her train that can travel to “other worlds, new dimensions, parallel universes and through time itself.”

“I’ve been bouncing around the idea for Impossible, Inc. with Mike Cavallaro for five or six years now. We wanted to create something that had the innocence of Silver Age comics; the expansive imagination of Jack Kirby; a cosmic perspective on life; and – most of all – a big, beating heart at its core. A story that could explore the quantum corners of both the universe and the human soul. Now that dream is a reality and we’ve uncorked a tale that we hope meets our goals and delights our audience,” DeMatteis said in the press release. “I’ve been blown away by Mike’s art, which has a power and purity of vision that encompasses both infinity and intimacy. We hope comic book readers join us on this journey. We’re having a blast and we think that they will, too.”

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Tommaso + the Allreds bring Dick Tracy back to comics at IDW

The four-issue ‘Dick Tracy: Dead or Alive’ miniseries starts in September.

After a false start late last year involving a licensing snafu that kept Archie from publishing a Dick Tracy comic, the fedora-wearing detective is back in a new series from IDW Publishing.

Michael Allred, Lee Allred, Rich Tommaso and Laura Allred will team up for Dick Tracy: Dead or Alive, a four-issue miniseries launching in September. Lee and Michael will co-write the series, while Tommaso will draw it.

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The Mockingbird agenda: Creative team reunites for ‘Man-Eaters’ from Image Comics

Chelsea Cain, Kate Niemczyk, Rachelle Rosenberg and Joe Caramagna re-team for a new series where ‘a mutation in Toxoplasmosis causes menstruating women to turn into ferocious killer wildcats.’

After enduring terrible treatment on Twitter because of the cover to her final issue of Mockingbird, writer Chelsea Cain returns to comics with Man-Eaters — and she’s bringing the Mockingbird creative team with her.

Cain is joined by her previous collaborators, artist Kate Niemczyk, colorist Rachelle Rosenberg and letterer Joe Caramagna, as well as Lia Miternique and Stella Greenvoss, for the new series.

“It’s my first comic since Mockingbird, so I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have some Twitter-related PTSD,” Cain wrote on her website. “But I also have much better privacy settings and a hair trigger. I know the story goes that I left comics after Mockingbird, that I was driven away, dropped off at the state line by some trolls in a pick-up truck. I didn’t leave comics. Comics left me. I’ve been right here. I’ve been busy, working on this series, developing the exact story I wanted to tell, finding the perfect home for it – Image Comics – and then putting together my dream team. (If you’ve ever seen the TV show, The A-Team, it was EXACTLY like that.) Man-Eaters combines a lot of my interests: cats, murder, feminism, propaganda, dad with beards, detectives, people who are good at their jobs, sarcastic t-shirts, etc.”

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‘Iceman,’ ‘Unstoppable Wasp’ get a second life from Marvel

Two canceled series return this fall from Marvel, as Jeremy Whitley once again writes ‘Unstoppable Wasp’ and Sina Grace returns to ‘Iceman.’

Two canceled Marvel titles are getting a second chance at life, as the company has announced that Unstoppable Wasp and Iceman will both return in new series.

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King + Mann’s ‘Heroes in Crisis’ focuses on the human side of DC’s heroes

The new miniseries debuts in September.

Fresh off an appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, where he talked about Mr. Miracle and Batman’s upcoming nuptials to Catwoman, Tom King will next turn his attention to the human side of superheroes with a new miniseries — Heroes in Crisis. Teaming up with Clay Mann, the duo will tell the story of “a crisis center for superheroes who spend their lives fighting villainy and protecting others.” It’s also a murder mystery.

“I feel like I’m part of a rolling generation of people who spent their 20s overseas fighting terrorism,” explained King. “Millions of people cycle through that machine and come home to America. And I think that sort of experience of violence is shaping who we are as a culture, and as a country. And I want to talk about that. I want to talk about that experience, the experience of what violence can do to a person, to a community, to a nation, to a world.”

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Cab drivers and monsters collide in the 1970s in ‘MCMLXXV’

‘It’s about creating a new kind of folk hero that speaks to where we all are right now. Oh yeah… it’s also about smashing monsters into the pavement with an enchanted tire iron.’

Joe Casey and Ian MacEwan are heading back to MCMLXXV — that’s 1975 to you and me — for a new series about a Manhattan cab driver/badass monster-fighter.

In MCMLXXV, you’ll meet Pamela Evans during “the year of her greatest adventure.”

“This series is all about creating brand new iconography,” Casey said in a press release. “It’s about creating a new kind of folk hero that speaks to where we all are right now. Oh yeah… it’s also about smashing monsters into the pavement with an enchanted tire iron.”

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Ellis + Howard team for ‘relentless’ action comic ‘Cemetery Beach’

New series from the creators of ‘Trees’ debuts from Image Comics in September.

The creative team behind Trees is heading back to the beach for what Warren Ellis says might be “the most relentless action book I’ve ever written.” Cemetery Beach, by Ellis and artist Jason Howard, debuts in September from Image Comics.

“In Cemetery Beach, Warren wrote the perfect book for me as an artist,” Howard said. “It’s an insane world filled with old future tech, cool characters, big explosions, and enough heart to make you care. It’s the kind of comics I love reading and REALLY love drawing.”

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Bunn, Lolli team up on ‘Asgardians of the Galaxy’

Angela, Valkyrie and more team up for some space-spanning adventures from Marvel.

Marvel’s Infinity Wars crossover event has left the universe — and their publishing schedule — without Guardians of the Galaxy. But comics hate a void, so starting September, Cullen Bunn and Matteo Lolli will team up on a Asgardians of the Galaxy (see what they did there?) limited series.

“In this story, a group of Asgardians is drawn into an intergalactic quest to stop a terrible villain (I will not reveal who just yet, but this baddie has longstanding ties to cosmic Marvel tales) from unleashing … well … something terrible upon the universe,” Bunn told Marvel.com. “For various reasons, though, this group of Asgardians must work without the knowledge of their peers.”

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Vertigo announces 7 new titles for their 25th anniversary relaunch

The DC Comics imprint will publish new series from Mark Russell, Ramon Villalobos, Ben Blacker, Bryan Hill, Robbi Rodriguez and many more.

DC Comics announced plans last October for a linewide relaunch, and this week they made it official by revealing seven new titles from the 25-year-old imprint.

New titles by Mark Russell, Ramon Villalobos, Ben Blacker, Bryan Hill, Robbi Rodriguez and many more will debut starting next September, joining the already announced Sandman Universe titles.

“It’s time to rebuild DC Vertigo,” said Mark Doyle, Executive Editor of Vertigo. “We’re returning to our roots by spotlighting the most exciting new voices in comics, as well as bringing new voices to comics. From the corners of television, games, music, activism, podcasting, comics and more, all of our creators are passionate and have something to say. These sophisticated stories have amazing new characters and vast worlds to explore. That’s what it has always been about for me—new stories, new voices, new possibilities. We’re creating a new generation of DC Vertigo classics for readers of all genres.”

Here are the new titles:

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‘Monstress,’ ‘My Favorite Thing is Monsters’ win NCS Divisional Awards

Glen Keane honored with the Reuben as 2017’s ‘Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year,’ while John Allison and Gemma Correll win in the webcomics categories.

My Favorite Thing is Monsters by Emil Ferris and Monstress by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda continued their winning streaks this weekend, as the National Cartoonists Society honored both with divisional awards. Ferris’ work won for “Best Graphic Novel” while Monstress won for “Best Comic Book.”

In addition, John Allison was honored for his work on Bad Machinery in the “Online Comics – Long Form” category, while Gemma Correll won in the “Online Comics – Short Form” category.

The Daily Cartoonist reports that Academy Award-winning animator and Disney Legend Glen Keane won the 2017 Reuben Award, presented to the NCS’s pick for “Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year.”

The Reuben Awards ceremony took place Saturday at the National Cartoonists Society’s annual get-together in Philadelphia. The complete list of nominees, with the winners in bold, can be found below:

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Smash Pages Q&A: Brian Andersen on ‘Stripling Warrior’

Andersen discusses his collaboration with James Neish, which is about two queer ex-Mormons who are charged by an angel to be the Hand of God on Earth.

When Brian Andersen and James Neish set out to kickstart one issue of their comic Stripling Warrior a few years, they had no idea that not only would it be a success, but that it would strike a nerve. Some of the press and the attention has been about the very idea of a gay Mormon superhero, but Andersen uses Mormon theology and stories similarly to how Catholic teachings have become so familiar to many of us through pop culture.

The series, which has now been collected into a trade collection, is about Sam Shepard and Fe Fernandez, two queer ex-Mormons who are charged by an angel to be the Hand of God on Earth. It sounds heavily religious, but no more so than many other comics that draw from different religious traditions, but it’s a book that also embraces superhero conventions. At its heart, the book is about two conversations. One is between Sam and Fe about how they never stopped believing, the church’s hatred towards them has meant that they refuse to accept this mission as face value, even as they seek to carry out their quest. The other conversation is between their spouses, Jase and Shonda, about identity and how their sexuality is vital to who they have become, but it does not define them because they are so much more than that.

Stripling Warrior is a book unlike anything else on the stands, and I spoke with Brian Andersen about the project, making a sex positive, inclusive story, and what he’s working on now.

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‘Beasts of Burden’ returns in August from Dorkin + Dewey

Guest artist Benjamin Dewey heads to Burden Hill to help Dorkin tell a tale featuring the Wise Dogs.

Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson’s Beasts of Burden has appeared as a series of miniseries and one-shots over the years, winning awards and sharing tales from the fictional town of Burden Hill, where a group of dogs and cats defend their world against supernatural threats.

In the background of these stories has been another group called the Wise Dogs, who seem to have a much bigger jurisdiction than just Burden Hill. Dorkin and guest artist Benjamin Dewey (The Autumnlands, The Tragedy Series) will explore this other group in Beasts of Burden: Wise Dogs and Eldritch Men. Nate Piekos will letter the four-issue miniseries.

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