Magik will star in her own solo series next year

Writer Ashley Allen and artist Germán Peralta send the Darkchylde on a demon hunt in January.

Illyana Rasputin, a.k.a the mutant known as Magik, is getting a long-overdue ongoing series next year. Marvel has announced that Ashley Allen, who wrote the character earlier this year in her Blood Hunt one-shot, will work with Loki artist Germán Peralta.

The popular mutant has technically been around since the 1970s, as she debuted as a child in the pages of Giant-Size X-Men #1 by Len Wein and Dave Cockrum. In the 1980s, due to magical shenanigans and a weird time lapse in Limbo, she was aged up to be a teenager and starred in the Magik: Storm and Illyana miniseries, which is also where we saw her mutant powers blossom and the debut of her soulsword. She’s been a member of both the New Mutants and the X-Men, but this is her first solo ongoing series.

“I’m beyond excited to be returning to write Illyana!” Allen said. “Supernatural stories featuring characters with hearts of gold are my favorite, so this series has been a dream to write! I can’t wait for readers to experience the adventure we take Magik on to slay some demons … and maybe accept some of her own.”

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Paul Tobin + Carlos Olivares ‘String’ together a new supernatural thriller at Mad Cave Studios

The first issue arrives in November.

Mad Cave Studios has announced String, a new series about a woman who can see the “strings” that tie together murderers and their victims. String by writer Paul Tobin and artist Carlos Javier Olivares, with colors by Sara Colella and letters by Taylor Esposito, will kick off in November. 

“I’ve always been fascinated by the differences in how people see the world, and Yoon is a culmination of my fascinations. She can see connections others can’t. Secrets others can’t possibly know,” Tobin said. “It’s fun stepping into her world. Intimidating, though, too! And working with Carlos has been the most amazing part of it all, because he and I are doing the exact thing I’m talking about–working the same world in different ways! Whenever he turns in art I’m like, “Ooo! I didn’t expect that! But he’s RIGHT!”

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Christopher Cantwell + Victor Santos ‘revive’ the forgotten comic ‘Kid Maroon’

Things get surreal in the publicity for Vault Comics’ new series.

Vault Comics has announced Kid Maroon, a “revival” of a “lost” and “forgotten” controversial comic strip from the 1940s.

Yep, that’s a lot of words in quotes. Vault first announced the project with claims that they’d obtained the rights to a 75-year-old comic strip that nobody remembers by legendary cartoonist Pep Shepard, who people also don’t remember. But wait, there’s a fan website and everything, with comments! So he’s gotta be real, right?

But then they announced the creative team, and suddenly everything made sense. The series is written by Christopher Cantwell, who wrote The Blue Flame for Vault (in addition to things like She Could Fly and Iron Man and that recent Thanos miniseries that got a little “meta” at times). But The Blue Flame, in particular, told the story of a street-level repairman-turned-hero trying to make a difference in his community — or was it about an Adam Strange-like hero who was put on trial by a galactic tribunal with the fate of the entire planet Earth at stake? Sometimes it was hard to tell what was actually real across the 10 issues (which were excellent, by the way; if you haven’t read it, I recommend it), and Cantwell and Vault seem to be taking a similar approach with this new title, including how they market it.

So take the quotes and such they’re sharing for what they are — something fun that’ll probably make the book that much more interesting. What you need to know is Cantwell is good at this sort of thing, and he’s joined by the wonderful Victor Santos, who drew Polar, Ginger’s Revenge, Violent Love and other noir series.

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Aabria Iyengar + Mari Costa team up for the magical coming-of-age story ‘The Fade’

The new miniseries from BOOM! Studios begins in November.

Professional TTRPG gamemaster and podcaster Aabria Iyengar is teaming with Belle of the Ball artist Mari Costa for a new miniseries coming from BOOM! Studios’ BOOM! Box imprint. The Fade is about a college freshman in a world where people can pass over into a fantasy realm called The Fade while they sleep.

The Fade is my love letter to everyone that dreams of who they might be in a wilder, more fantastical world as a way of figuring out who they want to be in this one,” said Iyengar. “The dream is the first step. Keep going!”

Iyengar has made a name as not only a professional gamemaster for tabletop role-playing games, but overall as a great storyteller and improv talent. She is the gamemaster for the webseries Dimension 20: Misfits & Magic, which returns for a second season later this month. Costa is the artist of graphic novels like Belle of the Ball from First Second and the Demon of Beausoleil, and also the author of the forthcoming novel Shoestring Theory.

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IDW prepares for ‘Star Trek: Lore War’ in 2025

Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, Christopher Cantwell and Davide Tinto take the bridge for a crossover event next March.

Data’s evil twin, Lore, gets a huge upgrade next year after he becomes a god and remakes reality in Star Trek: Lore War by writers Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing and Christopher Cantwell, and artist Davide Tinto.

The event was teased in today’s release of Star Trek #500, the 500th issue of Star Trek published by IDW. The story will also run through IDW’s Star Trek and Defiant titles, along with various one-shots.

“Since the line’s inception, our grander story in both titles has dealt with Star Trek’s concept of godlike beings and the rejection of those godlike beings — order and entropy as it exists throughout the four quadrants of the galaxy,” Cantwell said. “Who pulls the strings and who dares to cut them? Lore War is quite literally the apotheosis of that shared theme, two years in the making.”

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Chris Moses + Andrea Giannini team up for ‘Synap’ at Mad Cave Studios

The science fiction title about a defense contractor that builds giant robots begins in November.

Mad Cave Studios has announced they will publish Synap, a new science fiction title by Chris Moses and Andrea Giannini this fall. The story centers on a defense company called Synap that creates giant robots to fight off potential alien invasions and the psychic individuals they recruit to control them.

Moses is an indie creator who has been making and crowdfunding his own comics under the Red Sea banner. This is Giannini’s debut comics project in the U.S.; he’s an Italian artist who has been working as an art assistant for publishing house Feltrinelli since he graduated from art school in 2022. They’ll be joined by colorist James Offredi and letterer Reed Hinckley Barnes.

Synap is a comic I’ve been extremely excited to put out, combining my love for UFOs, psychics and conspiracy theories into one action-packed series,” Moses said. “It’s been awesome working with Andrea Giannini on his debut project – he is doing awesome work on the interiors! Last, Mad Cave has done a fantastic job supporting us while we create this book and I couldn’t imagine publishing Synap anywhere else!”

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Archer & Armstrong face a possessed nun, freemasons + more in this exclusive preview of ‘Assassin Nation’ #2

The miniseries by Fred Van Lente, Emiliano Urdinola and Exequiel F. Roel wraps up this Wednesday, just in time for ‘Road to Resurgence.’

The Road to Resurgence of the Valiant Universe continues next week in the wrap-up to the two-issue Archer & Armstrong miniseries by Fred Van Lente, Emiliano Urdinola and Exequiel F. Roel. And courtesy of Alien Books, the new home of the Valiant line, we have an exclusive look at issue #2.

Van Lente is of course no stranger to Archer & Armstrong, having written numerous issues of the series prior to its move to Alien Books. The “Assassin Nation” story is a sequel to his previous run, bringing in several familiar characters and also spotlighting a change in the dynamic between the pair — Archer has acquired Armstrong’s immortality, which throws them both off. It’s not great timing, as they’re also dealing with possessed nun out to murder them, the usual conspiracy theories and, according to the solicit text, “even a porn-sized penis.” (Which I should note does not appear in the preview, as it is SFW).

The comic arrives in stores next Wednesday, and you can check out the exclusive preview, along with the cover by Nico Di Mattia and its variant by Andres Ponce, below. It’s one of the final stops before Resurgence of the Valiant Universe kicks off later in September.

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The Minor Threats universe continues to expand this year with ‘The Brood’

Heath Corson, I.N.J Culbard and Nate Piekos introduce the dysfunctional family of the world’s greatest villain.

Patton Oswalt, Jordan Blum and Scott Hepburn’s Minor Threats line-up will expand again in December with From the World of Minor Threats: The Brood.

The new series will be written by screenwriter Heath Corson, who worked on TV’s Animal Kingdom and He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. He’ll be joined by artist I.N.J Culbard (Tales from the Umbrella Academy: You Look Like DeathSalamandre), and letterer Nate Piekos. “The Brood” refers to the family of about Napoleon Archimedes, the world’s greatest supervillain, who is ready to pass the family business onto one of his three kids. It follows in the footsteps of the original Minor Threats miniseries and its sequel, as well as the spin-off series Barfly and The Alternates.

“The two major influences were Succession and then Wes Anderson’s Royal Tenenbaums, which you can very much see in Ian’s art and color palette,” said Corson. “The idea came when I was watching the film and thinking: What if this was the continuing story of Gene Hackman’s Lex Luthor? What if he married Ms. Teschmacher, had three children, and tried to raise them in the family business? So, Napleon’s brood was always his big idea: Have a dynasty. Eventually, you’ll outlive the heroes… AND WIN.”

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BOOM! Studios will launch a new Power Rangers title this fall

‘Power Rangers Prime’ by Melissa Flores and Michael Yg will debut in November.

BOOM! Studios’ Mighty Morphin Power Rangers series ended in July, but it won’t be gone for long — Power Rangers Prime by Power Rangers TV producer Melissa Flores and Iron Fist artist Michael Yg will debut in November.

The new title is a reboot of the property, according to Flores, who wrote the end to the previous incarnation of the team. The new book will feature designs by Absolute Power artist Dan Mora.

“With Power Rangers Prime, we’re bringing the comics into a reimagined world,” Flores said. “Familiar characters and settings will pop up in unexpected ways, but this is an all-new adventure – a crazy journey I can’t wait to share with you that beats with the heart of what it means to be a Power Ranger.”

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Ghost Machine expands in November with ‘The Rocketfellers’ + ‘Hornsby & Halo’

Peter J. Tomasi writes two new titles for the fledgling imprint at Image Comics.

Ghost Machine, the publishing group set up by Geoff Johns and several other creators, has been on a roll over the last few months. They’ve introduced multiple titles across several different genres in different “universes” where their stories are set. In November, they’ll launch two new series, both written by Peter J. Tomasi and set in the “Family Odysseys” universe.

First up is The Rocketfellers, which will debut on Nov. 20. It’s about a family from the future who discover the fate of humanity is in their hands, which makes them targets — so they move to the past as part of the “Time Zone Protection Program.”

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Two pulp heroes hunt down their mentor’s killer in ‘The Green Hornet/Miss Fury’ miniseries

Alex Segura, Henry Barajas and Federico Sorressa bring the two heroes together at Dynamite Entertainment.

Two pulp heroes will meet for the first time in The Green Hornet / Miss Fury, an upcoming miniseries co-written by novelist Alex Segura and Gil Thorp writer Henry Barajas, and featuring artwork by Federico Sorressa.

In the story, Miss Fury and the Green Hornet discover they shared a mentor, the Silver Shrike. When he turns up dead, they’ll have to use their very different crime-fighting styles to solve the mystery of who killed him and why.

“I have a soft spot for two things – writing pulp heroes I grew up reading as a kid, and working with my friends,” Segura said. “So when Dynamite approached me to take this series on, I instantly knew who I wanted to pair with. Henry and I have been brainstorming Green Hornet ideas for a while now, and this felt like the perfect springboard to not only spotlight the iconic hero, but put him up against one of the true classic heroines of comics, Miss Fury. Fleshing out her backstory and watching these two icons play off each other has been a treat – these characters almost write themselves. Add in the detailed, cinematic art Federico brings to every page and the end result is sure to be a fun ride for longtime fans of Green Hornet and Miss Fury – or folks looking for a fun, Bronze Age-style romp.”

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The Battle of Jakku continues in November with ‘Republic Under Siege’

Alex Segura, Stefano Raffaele and Jethro Morales continue their post-‘Return of the Jedi’ tale in Marvel’s Star Wars comics.

Marvel announced last month that after their current Star Wars titles end, they plan to fast-forward the timeline, jumping past the events of Return of the Jedi and picking up with the Battle of Jakku, the final confrontation between an Empire struggling on without its two leaders and the New Republic, a.k.a. the evolved Rebel Alliance.

While it was originally announced as 12 issues, Marvel has offered some clarity on their plans. They’re doing three four-issue miniseries, each with the title Star Wars: Battle of Jakku, and a different subtitle. Star Wars does enjoy a good trilogy, right?

Star Wars: Battle of Jakku — Insurgency Rising by writer Alex Segura and artists Leonard Kirk, Stefano Raffaele and Jethro Morales will run through October, followed by Star Wars: Battle of Jakku — Republic Under Siege by Segura, Raffaele and Morales, which kicks off Nov. 20. Here’s the cover by Taurin Clarke:

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