Comixology will release Liniers’ ‘The Ghost of Wreckers Cove’ this Tuesday

The Middle Grade graphic novel will feature ghosts, pirates and magic on the coast of Maine.

Comixology Originals will release The Ghost of Wreckers Cove, a “wildly imaginative” Middle Grade graphic novel that blends historical fiction and magical realism, on their platform this Tuesday. The new story is by Liniers (The Big Wet Balloon, Good Night, Planet, Written and Drawn by Henrietta), his frequent collaborator Angelica del Campo, colorist Christian Argiz and editor John Lind.

The new graphic novel about two young girls on the coast of Maine will feature ghosts, pirates, stolen treasure, seashells, swimming and a young lighthouse keeper. 

“Liniers’ work is so profoundly beautiful, spirited, and touching,” Bryce Gold, Comixology Originals Lead, said in the press release. “It is an honor to bring The Ghost of Wreckers Cove to English language audiences worldwide for the first time and my hope that readers of all ages, alive, spectral, or otherwise, enjoy it.”

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Comixology Originals will publish the debut graphic novel from Xavier Saxon

‘Night at the Belfry’ arrives on the platform Oct. 18.

Comixology Originals has announced plans to publish Night at the Belfry, the debut graphic novel by writer and artist Xavier Saxon.

The story is about a 73-year-old former postman who starts remembering his time as a recreational boxer in the 1980s and “hatches a life altering plan to regain the control he believes he’s lost.”

Night at the Belfry is my first book and I am super proud of it, but it is not where I would have expected myself to start off in the world of comics,” Saxon said. “I don’t have much of an interest in boxing, I’m not a 70-plus year-old retiree (yet), and my preferences in terms of fiction have always skewed more towards the fantastical, genre-based stuff. The idea came from a few places. It started purely visually, the idea of a boxing match in a church belltower. But as I developed the story I became fascinated with the idea of applying undue importance to an, in retrospect, insignificant period of one’s own life. Mostly, though, the book came from a place of frustration. I wanted to finish something. And now that I have, I hope what I’ve made will resonate with readers.”

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Snyder + Jock open the ‘Book of Evil’

The creators of ‘Batman: Black Mirror’ reunite for a new illustrated prose series for Comixology Originals.

As part of his eight-book deal with Comixology Originals, Scott Snyder will once again team with artist Jock for The Book of Evil, a “visionary serialized horror story” that blends Snyder’s prose with Jock’s illustrations.

The story follows four young friends growing up in world where over 90 percent of the population are born as psychopaths, but they don’t know it until they become a teenager. Despite the danger, the four friends “set off together on a journey that will take them down the roads and rivers of this transformed America in the hope of finding a place where goodness still lives.”

Snyder shared more about it in his newsletter:

“It imagines that not long from now, 92% of the population start being born sociopaths. Nobody knows why, nobody knows if it’s a toxin or a mutation or evolution. But suddenly, the vast majority of people being born present as sociopaths when they hit adolescence. So when you’re about 13 or 14, you switch over into either being part of the majority, a psychopath, or you’re one of what they call ‘subs,’ a ‘subhuman’ person who still has the vestigial limb of empathy or compassion or a conscience, and you’re relegated to the terrible hard labor of this world. So it’s a really dark book,” he said. “I’m very, very, very proud of this one. It’s prose with spot illustrations and it’s presented as the journal, like an artifact by a kid in this world named Homer, who’s growing up with his three best friends in the slums that they keep kids in until they present one way or another. And it’s about an adventure they have to try and escape all of the terrors of this future.”

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Segura + Hart + Eisma make a ‘Blood Oath’ for Comixology Originals

The digital series arrives on the platform next week.

Novelists Alex Segura and Rob Hart have come together to write Blood Oath, a new miniseries that debuts from Comixology Originals on Aug. 30. They’ll be joined by artist Joe Eisma, colorist Hilary Jenkins and letterer Jim Campbell, all under the watchful eye of editor Heather Antos.

Blood Oath is set during Prohibition in 1922 and will feature a woman who runs a “secret business” who crosses paths with the mafia and their “sinister partner.”

Blood Oath is a blend of some of our favorite things, in terms of story and genre – historical fiction, the early days of organized crime, and horror – all things we wanted to explore, and they blended together perfectly to ask a key question: what if there was a secret, monstrous crime family that’s been part of the underworld for decades?” Segura said.

Segura, of course, is no stranger to comics, having worked in the industry for more than two decades and having written comics like The Dusk, The Black Ghost and many more. (He also has a Spider-Verse novel coming out, which was announced today). Hart’s new to comics, but has written several novels like The Paradox Hotel and The Warehouse. He and Segura have also collaborated before, teaming their two literary characters, Ash McKenna and Pete Fernandez, together in a short story called “Bad Beat.”

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Chip Mosher leaves Comixology Originals

Bryce Gold will take over as head of the digital comics imprint.

Comixology’s Chip Mosher, who spearheaded their Comixology Originals line and grew it into what it is today, has announced he’s leaving Amazon at the end of this week.

“After 11 years, I’ve decided it’s time for a change and this will be my last week at Comixology,” he said on Twitter. “It’s been an amazing decade+ for me & I’m grateful to have been able to be part of the company’s growth. In particular, it’s been an honor pioneering the Comixology Originals program.”

Under Mosher’s leadership, Comixology Originals has brought original, digital-first comics to the platform by creators like Scott Snyder, Spike Trotman, Curt Pires, Chip Zdarsky, Alex Segura, Rachel Pollack and many more — and then later to print through an arrangement with Dark Horse. He also worked with the Harvey Kurtzman Estate bring Marley’s Ghost to fruition, a “lost” graphic novel by the creator that went on to win an Eisner Award.

Before Comixology Originals launched, Mosher served as their head of marketing and PR, and prior to that was at BOOM! Studios in a similar role. He’s a comics veteran with a lot of knowledge and a good reputation with creators, so it’ll be interesting to see what he does next.

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Slugfest | Lemire + Sorrentino’s ‘Ten Thousand Black Feathers’ takes flight in September

A round-up of recent comics news and announcements from Marvel, Skybound, Image, Aftershock and more.

Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino kicked off their shared universe The Bone Orchard Mythos earlier this month with the original graphic novel The Passageway, and they plan to continue the story later this year with the miniseries Ten Thousand Black Feathers.

The Passageway introduces readers to the Bone Orchard and now with Ten Thousand Black Feathers we dig in and really start to explore this new universe,” said Lemire. “This is a story of friendship, coming of age and imagination that is equal parts horrific, mysterious and heart wrenching.”

Image announced the first issue of the miniseries will hit stores on Sept. 14 and also shared a preview:

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Segura + Gallagher + Kambadais resurrect ‘The Black Ghost’ this summer

The Comixology Originals title returns digitally in August and in print from Dark Horse next year.

Following an intriguing debut back in 2019, The Black Ghost will once again haunt your digital devices when it returns from Comixology Originals in August.

The new five issue miniseries by writers Alex Segura and Monica Gallagher, artist George Kambadais, colorist Ellie Wright, letterer Taylor Esposito and editor Greg Lockard will be collected by Dark Horse in January.

“When Hard Revolution, the first arc in our series was received so warmly – and got the attention of places like The Hollywood Reporter, The New York Times, Publishers Weekly, and a print edition from Dark Horse Comics – we started to think of more,” Segura said. “I could almost feel Monica and I looking at each other from across the country and thinking, ‘Well, what do we do now?'”

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Pollack + Corallo + Cabrera host ‘The Never Ending Party’ at Comixology

The digital miniseries debuts on Amazon June 7.

Author and former Doom Patrol writer Rachel Pollack will return to comics next week with The Never Ending Party from Comixology Originals. She’s joined by co-writer Joe Corallo (She Said Destroy), artist Eva Cabrera (Kim & Kim), colorists Cons Oroza and Claudia Aguirre, letterers Zakk Saam and Micah Myers, and editor Noah Sharma.

“This was great fun to work on,” Pollack said. “I got to write a Tarot reading heroine, play with how a street smart wild trans woman from the 1990s might look at our current world, and turn the Greek God of ecstasy, Dionysus, into a super-villain who’ll destroy the world just to keep the party going!  And best of all, co-write a book with Joe Corallo.”

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‘What a time to be (un)alive’: Zdarsky + Loo’s ‘The All-Nighter’ returns for a second season

The vampires-as-superheroes series continues with issue #6 this Tuesday.

The vampires-cosplaying-as-superheroes story The All-Nighter by Chip Zdarsky and Jason Loo will return later this week for a second season.

ComiXology Originals has announced The All-Nighter #6, which follows the first five-issue arc that debuted last fall.

“I’m thrilled to be continuing this story with Jason,” Zdarsky said. “He’s become quite popular these days and has more than once said, ‘Who are you again?’ when I email him, so the fact that he’s delivering the best work of his career on volume two of The All-Nighter is fantastic! I think every comic book reader in the world should be reading this book, that’s just my humble opinion!”

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Curt Pires + Sunando C’s ‘Memoria’ will debut next Tuesday

The horror noir follows two detectives pursuing the unsolvable case of America’s most prolific serial killer.

ComiXology will release Curt Pires and Sunando C’s Memoria graphic novel next Tuesday, the digital comics platform announced today.

Announced back in April, Memoria is the latest title coming from Pires’ publishing deal with comiXology, following the release of Youth and its sequel, as well as Lost Falls. The two creators are joined by colorist Mark Dale and letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou for the project.

Memoria is a dark and literary exploration of institutional corruption and the fall of America, through the lens of a sprawling murder mystery that sends two broken men on the trail of a prolific serial killer,” Pires said. “This is a book for fans of true crime and the films of David Fincher. I believe this series includes some of my strongest writing and I’m excited for everyone to check out the amazing work that Sunando, Hassan and Mark have done on this project.” 

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Smash Pages Q&A: Francis Manapul on ‘Clear’

The artist of ‘Flash,’ ‘Justice League’ and more discusses his new creator-owned title with writer Scott Snyder.

Francis Manapul has been drawing comics for more than 20 years now. He became an artist to watch while working on Top Cow comics like Witchblade before moving on to DC Comics. While there, he drew Legion of Super-Heroes, Detective Comics and Justice League, among other titles, but he might be best known for his work on The Flash, which he eventually wrote in addition to drawing it.

After years at DC, Manapul is collaborating with his former Justice League partner-in-crime, Scott Snyder, for a new creator-owned comic called Clear. It’s one of several titles written by Snyder as part of his deal with comiXology Originals, and the second issue became available on the digital comics platform yesterday. Snyder and Manapul are clearly having fun with the neo-noir science fiction environment they’ve created that’s a departure from the bright world of superheroes, as Snyder said in our interview with him that was posted yesterday.

“People think of [Manapul] as doing this bright vibrant exuberant superhero work with a lot of emotionality that has a light, painterly feel,” Snyder said. “With this he’s showing that he has this whole range that hasn’t been explored with darkness and nightmarish kinds of abilities that he didn’t get to do much in superheroes.”

I spoke with Manapul at length about the origins of Clear, the opportunities that working on a digital comic have given him and drawing on the styles of other artists to create the “skins” featured in the first issue.

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Smash Pages Q&A: Scott Snyder on ‘Clear’ and more

The writer and teacher discusses the first three comics released through his exclusive deal with comiXology Originals.

Scott Snyder made a splash earlier this year by announcing eight new comics coming out digitally through comiXology and then in print from Dark Horse Comics.

Three very different first issues have already come out from the line:

  • We Have Demons, which re-teams Snyder with Greg Capullo after the duo’s long run on Batman and other DC projects.
  • Clear, a cyberpunk tale featuring art and colors by Francis Manapul.
  • And Night of the Ghoul, a monster horror tale drawn by Francesco Francavilla.

With these three books out, I checked in with Snyder about the books and how they represent what he’s thinking about right now.

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