Tag: Dan Schkade

Comic strip news: Flash Gordon returns, Spider-Man canceled

Dan Schkade takes over Flash Gordon, bringing us new strips for the first time in 20 years.

This Sunday the Flash Gordon comic strip returned with new strips for the first time since 2003, both online and in print.

King Features has enlisted Dan Schkade, creator of Lavender Jack, to write and draw the strip. For the last 20 years King Features has offered reruns of the strip, as drawn by Jim Keefe (which can still be found online).

“The initial version of Flash I pitched was a little more purposefully a himbo,” Schkade told the Washington Post. Schkade won a competitive tryout earlier this year to take over the strip, and he agreed to make Flash less of a himbo and “a more classic, straightforward hero.”

Continue reading “Comic strip news: Flash Gordon returns, Spider-Man canceled”

Dan Schkade + Brennan Wagner create a new hero for Portland in ‘Saint John’

Dark Horse Comics and Portland Gear team up on the four-issue miniseries.

Portland-based publisher Dark Horse Comics has teamed up with apparel company Portland Gear for Saint John, which introduces a new superhero operating in the Oregon city.

Local artist Brennan Wagner will team with writer Dan Schkade and letterer Frank Cvetkovic on the four-issue miniseries that introduces a hero “built for the quirks that make the city unique.”

“A few years ago, I set out to create a positive storyline for the city and utilize the connections I’ve had in town for many years.” said Marcus Harvey, founder and owner of Portland Gear. “With the assistance of Brennan, Dan and Mike Richardson, the idea of a superhero for Portland came to life—an individual radiating positivity and dedicated to community building. Portland is a magical place, and I believe that employing the medium of a comic book would provide a unique opportunity to share its wonders with the world.”

Continue reading “Dan Schkade + Brennan Wagner create a new hero for Portland in ‘Saint John’”

Sunday Comics | John Allison kicks off ‘Author Unknown’

Check out other recent online comics from Matt Kindt, Frankee White and Kat Baumann, Jason Loo and Dan Schkade.

Here’s a round up of some of the best comics we’ve seen online recently. If we missed something, let us know in the comments below.

John Allison has created several webcomics and comics over the years, from Bad Machinery to Scary-Go-Round to Wicked Things and Steeple. Last week he kicked off a brand-new story on the Steeple site, called Author Unknown. The 44-page comic has been in the works since November of 2019 and will feature Charlotte Grote, his character from Bad Machinery.

“… it’s been through a lot of revisions to make sure it meant something even taken in isolation,” Allison said. “It needed me to make all the comics I did over the last year to give it a bit of weight. There is something for both long-term and newer readers, to the exclusion of no-one.”

You can start reading the new story by going here, or, if you don’t want to wait, you can read the entire story by becoming a supporter of Allison’s on Patreon.

Continue reading “Sunday Comics | John Allison kicks off ‘Author Unknown’”

Smash Pages Q&A: Dan Schkade on ‘Lavender Jack’

The creator of ‘San Hannibal: The City of Love and Fear’ discusses his latest comic, which is now available on Line Webtoon.

Dan Schkade has been working in comics for a few years now. Readers might remember his artwork from books like Will Eisner’s The Spirit, which Matt Wagner wrote; Battlestar Galactica: Gods and Monsters; or San Hannibal: The City of Love and Fear, which he wrote and drew, among other projects. His new project is Lavender Jack, a new weekly series on Line Webtoon. The titular character is a thief and vigilante exposing the misdeeds of his town’s corrupt and wealthy elite. Desperate the Mayor seeks out the world’s greatest detective, Theresa Ferrier.

Set in a vague time early in the 20th Century, the book is witty and erudite, and feels familiar in many ways even as it strikes its own path as a woman who was once the world’s greatest detective is now older and disillusioned comes face to face with a new kind of adversary in a new kind of century. It’s a book about crime and conventions with a love of design and verbal wordplay. Lavender Jack updates every Tuesday and I reached out to ask Schkade about how he works and the unique but familiar world he’s created.

Continue reading “Smash Pages Q&A: Dan Schkade on ‘Lavender Jack’”