Zdarsky + Loo offer you a ride to Hell in ‘Afterlift’

New miniseries coming later this year from comiXology Originals.

Chip Zdarsky and Jason Loo will tell the story of a ride-share driver with a literal passenger from Hell in Afterlift, a five-issue series from comiXology Originals.

The project was announced today during a press conference at Comic-Con International. Zdarsky and Loo are joined by Paris Alleyne on colors, letterer Aditya Bidikar and editor Allison O’Toole.

“The upcoming publication of Afterlift marks a major turning point in the literary career of Chip Zdarsky, award-considered writer,” said Zdarsky. “Someday soon an Afterlift trade paperback will sit on the shelves of libraries around the world, alongside dusty, leather bound tomes of John Milton’s Paradise Lost and other books.”

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comiXology announces ‘Adora and the Distance’ OGN

Marc Bernardin and Ariela Kristantina tell a story inspired by Bernardin’s autistic daughter.

Genius and The Highwaymen writer Marc Bernardin has been more active as a TV writer lately, working on shows like Alphas, Carnival Row and Castle Rock in recent years, but he’s making his return to comics with a new graphic novel from comiXology Originals.

Artist Ariela Kristantina, colorist Jessica Kholinne, letterer Bernardo Brice and editor Will Dennis will work with Bernardin on Adora and the Distance, a story inspired by Bernardin’s daughter, who was diagnosed with autism at four years old.

“There are millions of parents of kids on the autism spectrum and there are millions of children with siblings on the spectrum,” Bernardin said in the press release. “This isn’t a book about how hard it is to be a parent or a sibling, it’s one that imagines the unknowable: What’s going on inside the mind of a loved one who has never been able to tell us?”

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‘The Pride’ returns this week from comiXology Originals

Second season of the LGBTQ+ super hero series debuts June 5.

“There’s still so much left to say with The Pride too, so don’t worry. The Pride is far from over,” Writer Joe Glass told Alex Dueben last year. And just in time for Pride Month, we now know the details on when they’ll return.

The LGBTQ+ super hero series makes its triumphant return from comiXology this Wednesday as part of their Originals line. The Pride Season Two is a new six-issue series written by Glass and illustrated by Cem Iroz, with colors by Mark Dale and letters by Mike Stock.

“I began The Pride because I want to tell stories where queer characters and stories are not only told through metaphor, analogy and subtext, but are open, accessible and show a diversity of life not usually seen in the medium,” Glass said in a press release.

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New Originals title from Zub + Dunbar debuts on comiXology

Jim Zub and Max Dunbar team up on ‘Stone Star,’ a five-issue miniseries.

They’ve been teasing it for days on Twitter, and today comiXology stealth-released a new title as part of their Originals line — Stone Star, by Jim Zub and Max Dunbar.

The science fiction story is set on a nomadic space ship called Stone Star that provides entertainment/arena-style combat to various planets, and stars a young thief, Dail, who gets in over his head — as young thieves tend to do.

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Smash Pages Q&A: Spike Trotman and MK Reed

The duo discuss their comiXology Originals title ‘Delver,’ the fantasy genre and much more.

Spike Trotman is the woman behind Iron Circus Comics, one of North America’s best comics publishers. She is also the creator of the webcomic Templar AZ and the book Poorcraft, the writer of Yes, Roya and Iris and Angel, and cohost of the podcast Dirty Old Ladies. MK Reed is the writer of many comics including Americus, Palefire and Science Comics: Dinosaurs, and the co-writer of The Castoffs.

The two have teamed up with artist Clive Hawken on Delver, a new series coming out from comiXology Originals. It’s the story of Temerity, whose life and town is changed when a portal opens, and the town and the region becomes overrun with adventurers. It’s a story that takes a look at the fantasy genre in a different way and asks a few of the questions that sometimes bother those who like the genre. The second issue is out tomorrow, and they were kind enough to answer a few questions about the series.

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SPX, TCJ, OMG: A Hot Take

Brigid Alverson responds to a recent opinion piece on TCJ.com and shares her thoughts on comiXology/Amazon’s presence at this weekend’s Small Press Expo.

I know that contentious commentary is part of the The Comics Journal brand, but maybe it’s time to drop it. Especially because the latest article isn’t just mean-spirited, it’s straight-up wrong.

I am referring, of course, to RJ Casey’s recent post, ominously titled “A Plague Comes to SPX,” in which he warns that Amazon is poised to ruin comics.

I’m at SPX, and I went to the exhibitors’ reception last night, where, like everyone else, I got a copy of Hit Reblog, the book he disparages:

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comiXology adds seven titles to their ‘Originals’ line

New titles by Sam Humphries, Kel McDonald, Tyler Crook, Tim Seeley, Mike Norton and more join the growing line.

In June comiXology released four new titles as part of their comiXology Originals line, as they expanded the program to include creator-owned titles and a print-on-demand option. Today in San Diego, a dapper Chip Mosher, comiXology’s head of content, announced seven new titles coming to the line, four of which are available now.

“When we debuted the first wave of creator owned comiXology Original titles, we launched all five issues of the Superfreaks series in one day so readers could binge read the series at once. No one had ever done that before, and that’s just the tip of what we have planned,” said comiXology’s Head of Content Chip Mosher. “Today we are making history again with Goliath Girls, which is releasing simultaneously in English and Japanese. Going forward we’ll continue to push the envelope with new ways to connect with readers. It’s great to be able to offer the over 100 million Prime members worldwide the opportunity to experience these great books.”

The four book now available on their site include:

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comiXology expands their ‘Originals’ line with creator-owned titles, print-on-demand

comiXology moves into print comics with an ‘experiment’ using Amazon’s print-on-demand capabilities.

comiXology Originals debuted in 2016 and have since published comics in conjunction with Marvel, BOOM! Studios, Valiant Entertainment and the estate of Harvey Kurtzman — and even earned an Eisner nomination. Now the Amazon-owned company is branching out to include creator-owned comics as part of the program.

The company announced four new titles that can be found on comiXology’s storefront, with the promise of more to come. Interestingly, comiXology is expanding beyond digital and will offer three of the four books through Amazon’s print-on-demand service — giving consumers the opportunity to buy comiXology material directly, rather than through a traditional comic book publisher.

The new comiXology Originals releases include: Savage Game created by NFL player Ryan Kalil, written by Shawn Kittelsen, and art by Chris B. Murray; Superfreaks from writers Elsa Charretier and Pierrick Colinet, with artist Margaux Saltel; Elephantmen 2261: The Death of Shorty from writer Richard Starkings, and artists Axel Medellin and Boo Cook; Ask For Mercy from writer Starkings and artist Abigail Jill Harding.

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comiXology announces ‘Originals’ line with new Valiant, Kurtzman and ‘Adventure Time’ comics

The digital comics platform’s new program features exclusive comic content for comiXology and Kindle.

ComiXology has announced a line of exclusively digital comics, teaming with BOOM! Studios, Valiant Entertainment and the estate of Harvey Kurtzman on new content. Called “comiXology Originals,” the comics can only be found on comiXology and Kindle starting next year.

“Our mission is to make everyone on the face of the planet a comic fan, and with comiXology Originals we’re excited to offer a range of content by diverse creators,” said comiXology co-founder and CEO David Steinberger in a press release. “It’s fantastic to be working with publishers across the spectrum to deliver great comics to comiXology and Kindle, offering fans stories that they can’t get anywhere else.”

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