Stephanie Phillips + Goran Sudzuka team for the crime thriller ‘Red Before Black’

The new series from BOOM! Studios begins in August.

Stephanie Phillips and Goran Sudzuka are headed down south to Florida — where you can beat the heat if you beat the charges too — for a new series from BOOM! Studios. Red Before Black “is a violent, hyper kinetic, women-led Florida crime thriller”that begins in August.

“For me, Florida is like that relative that you make fun of but become defensive about the minute you hear someone else making fun of them. I grew up there…I’ve been chased by water moccasins, had to call someone about alligator removals, thrown more than one hurricane party, and dressed like a pirate for the annual invasion of Tampa’s bay,” Phillips said. “There is truly no better place I could think of to set Red Before Black–a weird crime story with an even weirder setting. Val and Leo might be our main characters, but Florida is ever present and Goran truly draws the s*** outta this curious place that will forever feel like home for me, no matter where I live.”

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Ennis + Burrows pit the Punisher against Nick Fury in ‘Get Fury’

The Marvel MAX miniseries set during the Vietnam War begins in May.

Garth Ennis, writer of many memorable Punisher stories during the Marvel Knights and MAX eras, will re-team with his Punisher Soviet and Crossed collaborator Jacen Burrows for Get Fury, a new MAX miniseries that kicks off in May.

Ennis mentioned the project back in 2019 in an interview with The Lakes International Comic Art Festival, right before Punisher Soviet kicked off. Set in Vietnam, the out-of-continuity story features Nick Fury being held hostage by the Viet Cong — and the CIA sends in Lt. Frank Castle to protect their secrets.

“There’s a nice sense of things coming full circle with Get Fury; the editor is my good friend Nick Lowe, who handled Born back at the beginning some 20+ years ago, and just like that story, this one sees Frank Castle as a U.S. Marine in Vietnam (in fact, it goes some way to explaining how he ended up at Firebase Valley Forge in the first place),” Ennis said.

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The Laphams + Hilary Jenkins create a ‘hellish new hardboiled heist’ series at BOOM! Studios

‘Underheist’ debuts in December.

Stray Bullets creators David and Maria Lapham, along with colorist Hilary Jenkins, will conjure up a supernatural crime story in Underheist, which is coming from BOOM! Studios on December.

“If you know our work then you know that we traditionally come at the crime genre from a very non-traditional angle with very non-traditional noir protagonists,” David Lapham said. “I often call them ‘domestic noirs.’ But with Underheist, we had this idea for a more straightforward story, centered around maybe the most traditional crime trope—the heist. Of course, we can’t do anything straightforward for more than five minutes, and very quickly all these twisted, nightmarish ideas started to flood in…”

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Silk returns in a new miniseries in May

Emily Kim and Ig Guara send Silk into the Spider-Verse this spring.

Silk, aka Cindy Moon, the character who was bitten by a radioactive spider on the same day as Peter Parker but whose life took a completely different turn, will return in another miniseries in May.

Writer Emily Kim and artist Ig Guara will send the character off on a new adventure within the Spider-Verse — which is appropriate, given the big role she’s played in the most recent issue of Spider-Man during the “End of Spider-Verse” storyline.

“I’m thrilled to be able to continue writing for Cindy. It felt like I spent the first run getting to know her and now that I do, I can use the second run to explore how she’d change when thrown into wildly different worlds,” Kim told Marvel.com. “But the true fun will be to see the ways in which she stays the same Cindy we’ve known and loved for many years even when in brand new environments.”

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Guggenheim + Chaykin re-team for ‘Too Dead To Die’

The original graphic novel will return to the world of Simon Cross, a faux comic published in the 1980s.

Marc Guggenheim and Howard Chaykin, who previously worked together on Marvel’s Blade and Wolverine titles almost two decades ago, will reunite for Too Dead To Die, a new graphic novel coming from Image Comics.

Guggenheim said the story of a 1980s spy set in the world of today is an idea he’s been planning for years.

Too Dead To Die is one of those ideas I’ve been thinking about for years before the COVID quarantine gave me the opportunity to actually write it,” Guggenheim said. “I started off writing ‘on spec’ without any particular artist in mind. But 10 pages in, I realized that all the images I was seeing in my head were illustrated by Howard, whom I had the good fortune to collaborate with on Blade and Wolverine. I was writing with Howard in mind without realizing it. Fortunately, Howard was amenable to coming aboard and I love how he’s brought Simon’s story to life. It’s very exciting to be getting Too Dead To Die out into the world after all this time.”

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‘Onyx,’ ‘The Mighty’ find a new home at Image

Both titles will arrive in September.

Two projected originally published elsewhere have found a new home at Image Comics.

First up is Onyx, which was originally published by IDW Publishing in 2015. It’s a science fiction tale by artist Gabriel Rodriguez, colorist Jay Fotos and writer Chris Ryall. Today Image announced a one-shot simply called Onyx coming from Syzygy, Ryall’s venture with Ashley Wood that publishes through Image.

Onyx came from the idea of doing a story that would be our love letter to sci-fi adventure comics from our childhoods and also ‘80s action movies, but ended up becoming much more,” said Rodriguez. “Mainly because our heroine came to life in a much deeper, more vivid and intriguing way than we expected. We didn’t just want to join her on this ride, we wanted to explore her psyche and her soul through a non-stop adventure set in a world as rich, thrilling and fun as we thought she deserved. Hopefully, our readers will discover in her a character to root for here and want to see more of in future books, too.”

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‘Shirtless Bear-Fighter’ returns in August to battle Ursa Major

The shirtless one fights again!

The day you’ve been waiting for has finally arrived — the day you find out there’s going to be a second Shirtless Bear-Fighter miniseries from Jody LeHeup and Nil Vendrell.

And if this is the day you discover there was a first Shirtless Bear-Fighter miniseries, then oh my — what a day to be alive. Image Comics announced the news with a press release filled with an appropriate number of bear puns.

Shirtless Bear-Fighter is quite possibly the most joyful comic of all time and given the events of the last few years, we could all use some of that joy right now,” LeHeup told ComicBook.com. “So I’m absolutely thrilled to announce Shirtless Bear-Fighter 2. We always said we wouldn’t do more unless we found the right story and boy did we find it. I cannot wait for fans to see what Nil and I have in store. If you thought volume one was wild, you haven’t seen anything yet. Prebear yourselves!”

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‘Comics for Ukraine: Sunflower Seeds’ anthology supports Ukraine relief efforts

A comics anthology featuring an impressive line-up of talent that’s being offered through Zoop will benefit Operation USA.

A new anthology featuring the works of Walt Simonson, Kurt Busiek, John Layman, Rob Guillory, Stan Sakai, Sergio Aragones, Dave Gibbons and more will benefit relief efforts in the war-torn Ukraine.

Comics for Ukraine: Sunflower Seeds can be purchased in several variations from the comics crowdfunding website Zoop, which will donate proceeds to Operation USA. The charitable organization is raising money to support Ukrainian refugees on the ground in Poland and other nearby countries.

The project is being edited by Scott Dunbier, who currently works at IDW and heads up the Artist’s Edition line. The campaign ends in May, when funds will be collected and sent to Operation USA, and delivery of the final books is expected to be wrapped up by December.

“Like everyone, I have been sickened by the atrocities perpetrated on the Ukrainian people for nearly two months,” said Dunbier, “and I had to do something, anything, to try and help. The comic-book community is full of good and caring people who have stepped up to say, ‘I stand with Ukraine,’ and to contribute to this book.”

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ComiXology will publish Phillips + Krause’s ‘We Only Kill Each Other’

The gritty series featuring 1930s gangsters will arrive in November.

ComiXology Original’s newest comic will pit gangsters against Nazis in the 1930s, courtesy of Stephanie Phillips, Peter Krause, Ellie Wright and Troy Peteri.

We Only Kill Each Other will debut on the digital comics platform in November, followed by a print release from Dark Horse Comics next April.

We Only Kill Each Other is the kind of story I love telling,” Phillips said in a press release. “It’s got a historical setting and flawed heroes, in this case Jewish gangsters who are opposing Nazis in New York City in the 1930s. It’s based on actual events but, at the same time, it unfortunately feels very contemporary as America wrestles with division in our streets. This feels like the right time to tell this story, and I couldn’t be happier to team with Peter, Ellie, Troy and Dave to tell it.” 

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#Bwahaha: Blue Beetle + Booster Gold take on social media in new miniseries

‘Blue & Gold’ by Dan Jurgens and Ryan Sook will go online in July.

Get ready, internets — Blue Beetle and Booster Gold are coming for you.

DC has announced that the duo will get an eight-issue miniseries this summer from the team of Dan Jurgens and Ryan Sook.

Blue & Gold, based on the description, returns the team to their more comical roots, as Booster Gold enlists Blue Beetle’s aid in becoming a social media star.

“To be clear, this is the third, maybe even fourth time this project has been on my board, the first in ’88 or ’89,” Jurgens said on Twitter. “Nice to have it become a reality and even better to have the incredible Ryan Sook drawing it. So good!”

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Smash Pages Q&A: Jimmy Palmiotti and Dave Johnson

The two-award-winning creators discuss their latest project together, the second issue of ‘Pop Kill’ from Paperfilms.

Dave Johnson is the award-winning cover artist of 100 Bullets, Punisher, Deadpool, Hellboy and the B.P.R.D., Lobster Johnson, Abe Sapien, The Butcher of Paris and many other comics. Jimmy Palmiotti began his career as an inker, but quickly became a writer and editor, co-creating comics like Ash, 21 Down and The Monolith. In recent years, Palmiotti has continued to work with his wife, the great Amanda Conner, on a variety of projects, but much of his work has been writing and co-writing creator-owned graphic novels including Killing Time in America, Retrovirus and Random Acts of Violence, which was adapted into a film just released on video-on-demand, in addition to continuing the story of his characters Painkiller Jane and The Monolith.

Many of those projects, like Pop Kill, which is currently being kickstarted, are collaborations with artist Juan Santacruz. This time they’re joined by co-writer Dave Johnson on a series that’s violent, sexy, very absurd, and they were kind enough to take a few minutes out to talk about the second issue of the series, and continuing the absurd tale of violence, sex, and corporate espionage.

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Dini, Burnett, Templeton team for ‘Batman: The Adventures Continue’

DC revisits the world first created in ‘Batman: The Animated Series’ in a new digital-first miniseries.

Three names that became synonymous with the classic Batman: The Animated Series are returning to that world for a new six-issue miniseries.

Paul Dini and Alan Burnett, who produced the animated series, and Ty Templeton, who worked on the comic series based on the show, are working on Batman: The Adventures Continue, which will debut digitally in April and in print in May.

“Fans familiar with the Batman of The New Batman/Superman Adventures will be right up to speed,” Dini said. “Alan and I approached the writing with the idea that we were doing the season you might have seen if we had not put the series aside to do Batman Beyond.”

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