Tag: DC Comics

McAvoy, Egerton, Dennings + more to voice ‘Sandman’ audiobook

The classic Vertigo series comes to Audible in July.

James McAvoy, Kat Dennings, Taron Egerton and Neil Gaiman himself will bring The Sandman to Audible this summer in the first of several audio editions of the classic Vertigo comic series.

It’s an inspired cast, as McAvoy voices Morpheus, Dennings becomes Death and Egerton takes on what should be a fun role, John Constantine. They’re joined by Michael Sheen as Lucifer, Samantha Morton as Urania Blackwell, Riz Ahmed as the Corinthian, Andy Serkis as Matthew the Raven, Bebe Neuwirth as the Siamese Cat and Gaiman as the Narrator. The production will be directed by Dirk Maggs, while Gaiman will also serve as Gaiman as creative director and executive producer.

Check out the rest of the cast below:

Continue reading “McAvoy, Egerton, Dennings + more to voice ‘Sandman’ audiobook”

Lemire teases new ‘Sweet Tooth’ comics

Following the announcement of an adaptation coming from Netflix, Jeff Lemire offers some chocolate-covered hope for a new comic series.

Using a fun Twin Peaks reference, Jeff Lemire has teased the return of Sweet Tooth, the long-running Vertigo Comics series he wrote and drew.

“It is happening again…that candy bar you liked is going to come back in style,” he wrote on Twitter, as he shared some new art and a page labeled “Sweet Tooth: The Return #2, Page 13.” It’s dated April 15, and at the rate he works, he’s probably on issue #22 by now.

Continue reading “Lemire teases new ‘Sweet Tooth’ comics”

Can’t Wait for Comics: Everything must change

Marvel makes its return (digitally) as DC makes Tuesday comics a permanent thing.

Welcome to our newly renamed Can’t Wait for Wednesday Comics, our weekly look at what’s arriving in shops, on digital and wherever else you can find comics.

So why the name change? Well, with comics and graphic novels arriving in different places and channels on different days — and even some publishers shifting weekly comics away from the traditional Wednesday — it seemed antiquated to assume that people are only buying new comics on one day during the week. When DC started releasing their comics again in April, they shifted from the traditional comic-shop Wednesday to Tuesday — which is consistent with when trades and graphic novels arrive in book stores. They plan for this to be a permanent change moving forward.

So yeah, it’s a crazy time in the comics world right now, just like it is in the larger world. But here are some comics and graphic novels you can find this week — in comic shops or bookstores if they’re open, through online shops or via digital channels.

Continue reading “Can’t Wait for Comics: Everything must change”

Rest in peace, Martin Pasko

After a career that spanned comics, TV and animation, the writer/editor passed away at 65.

Martin “Marty” Pasko, a writer and editor whose career span decades, has passed away at the age of 65, multiple sources have reported, including his friends and colleagues Paul Levitz and Mark Evanier.

During his long career, Pasko worked in many creative and editorial capacities, with much of his career spent in the comics industry and animation. His love for comics, though, started before that, as a fan and frequent contributor to letter columns.

“Marty connected with comics originally as a letterhack, with Julie Schwartz pinning the label ‘Pesky’ Pasko on him,” Levitz said on Facebook. “Whether commenting on the latest comic he read, the events of the day in politics, creative theory, or just making conversation, Marty had one of the sharpest wits of our generation, and opinions…oy, did he have opinions. I learned from him, learned by arguing with him, and took joy in ample helpings with the hamburgers or Chinese food we shared over the decades.”

Continue reading “Rest in peace, Martin Pasko”

Can’t Wait for Wednesday: If you buy one plague-themed comic this week …

See what the Smash Pages crew has their eyes on this week, as a small number of comics make their way to stores and digital.

It’s week two of DC’s attempt to get comics in front of people during the global pandemic, and they’ve got more on their release list this week than they did last week. It’s still a very small number of comics, but here’s what Carla and I have our eyes on.

Continue reading “Can’t Wait for Wednesday: If you buy one plague-themed comic this week …”

Can’t Wait for Wednesday: Slowly turning the faucet

DC Comics returned to (some) stores this week with a handful of comics, plus see what’s new in digital, OGNs and more.

And we are back, not with a bang, but with a whimper. We’re still several weeks away from Diamond and most of the comics industry returning to regular operations, but DC decided to break the model and bring back new comics in April, using two new distributors. Also, their new comics were available Tuesday, rather than Wednesday. Up is down, right is left … everything’s insane in this new world.

This feels more like a “beta” week for DC, too, who slowly dip their toes back in the water with their two new distribution partners. Thus, the new release list is very limited. But subsequent weeks should see more new comics from DC. And Diamond is targeting May 20 for their triumphant return, which should bring back even more comics from other publishers. The list of comics for that week is still being finalized, but you can see how it’s shaping up.

Anyway, let’s jump into what came out this week …

Continue reading “Can’t Wait for Wednesday: Slowly turning the faucet”

Oni Press, DC, Binc unite to announce new fund for comics retailers

The Comicbook United Fund will provide one location to make contributions to support comic book shops and their employees.

The Book Industry Charitable Foundation, or Binc, has announced the launch of the Comicbook United Fund, a dedicated relief fund designed to provide financial assistance to comic shops and their employees. Both DC Comics and the Oni Press-Lion Forge Publishing Group joined them in the announcement, with both offering funds to the organization.

The idea isn’t new — last year, the Oni-Lion Forge Publishing Group ​teamed with Binc to create the “Forge Fund.” It provides ​monetary support for comic retailers and their employees during times of hardship, like during Hurricane Harvey. The company continues to donate 5% of proceeds from their titles to the fund, and so far have donated $100,000 to the Forge Fund, which is operated by Binc

“The comic industry has a long history of banding together to protect and promote the art form we all love. We hope that this incredible action from DC will inspire a new wave of generosity and support for the great number of individuals and shops struggling through these times,” said James Lucas Jones, President and Publisher of Oni-Lion Forge Publishing Group. “Comics is an expansive community that still feels like a close-knit family, and these efforts feel like we are helping family members.”

Continue reading “Oni Press, DC, Binc unite to announce new fund for comics retailers”

DC to release ‘100-Page Giant’ stories digitally

Starting today, look for daily almost-new comics through the DC Digital First program.

DC Comics today announced that they will make stories from their 100-Page Giant anthologies available digitally, starting today with a Superman story by Robert Venditti, Paul Pelletier, Drew Hennessy and Adriano Lucas. Additional stories will be added daily for at least the next week.

“Comic book fans want more access to content than ever before,” said Jim Lee, DC Chief Creative Officer and Publisher, in a press release. “This strategy is intended to get daily content to fans immediately, and also to ensure that when comic shops open back up for business, they will have new content and product that their customers will want. In the meantime, we will have properly stoked and protected the demand for comics, keeping fans interested in our characters and stories.”

Here’s the line-up for the next seven days:

Continue reading “DC to release ‘100-Page Giant’ stories digitally”

What Are You Reading? Daredevil, Mister Miracle and more!

See what the Smash Pages crew has checked off their “to read” list lately.

We’re back this week with another look at what the Smash Pages crew has been reading lately; we’ve been sheltering in place with several vigilantes, some sci fi characters and a girl that talks to squirrels. Now that’s a party …

Continue reading “What Are You Reading? Daredevil, Mister Miracle and more!”

Diamond targets May to restart comics distribution, as DC makes their own plans

DC will work with two new distributors with ties to comic retailers to deliver comics in late April and the first half of May.

It’s been a crazy day on the comics distribution front. Since Diamond Comics Distributors announced in March plans to temporarily halt comics distribution because of the coronavirus, the question has been when we’ll see new comics start to hit direct market shelves again. Now Diamond has provided an answer, as one of their biggest customers has given a different one.

Let’s start with the Diamond news, which you can find on Newsarama. That article quotes from a letter sent to retailers and publishers, saying that “While there are many steps and conversations that need to happen between today and resuming distribution of new weekly product, we are currently targeting mid- to late-May with the hope that, as an industry, we can all work toward that timeframe.”

The way that’s worded is interesting, as it was not long after that DC put out a press release of their own, saying they planned to have a limited number of comics in shops on Tuesday, April 28, as well as on May 5 and May 12. “After surveying more than 2,000 stores across the U.S. and Canada, it became clear that many comic book store owners are finding new and creative ways to get books to the fans who want them,” the press release reads. They’ve also set up a comic shop tracker on their site so you can see who will have their comics on April 28.

So what exactly is DC doing to get comics out to shops?

Continue reading “Diamond targets May to restart comics distribution, as DC makes their own plans”

Can Wait for Wednesday: DC, Marvel delay many of this week’s digital comics

Just a handful of digital releases will arrive on comiXology this week.

Although it seemed to take them longer to make a decision than most of the other publishers, both DC and Marvel have indicated that many of the single-issue comics they had planned to release this week digitally have been pushed out.

The news comes after Diamond Comic Distributors announced they would halt physical comics distribution to comic shops due to the coronavirus, starting with the comics originally scheduled for this Wednesday, April 1.

Many comics publishers announced fairly quickly after the news broke that they planned to hold off on releasing their comics digitally until their print releases were rescheduled.

Continue reading “Can Wait for Wednesday: DC, Marvel delay many of this week’s digital comics”

Comics Lockdown: Publishers react to COVID-19

With news from Marvel, Dark Horse, Humanoids, Vault Comics and more.

Marvel offers some suggestions on how to support local comic shops, along with a list of stores that are still open and what services they provide.

Christina Merkler of Discount Comic Book Service discusses the effect of the Diamond shutdown on the Collected Comics Podcast.

UK comics blogger John Freeman rounds up resources and links, including free comics sites, information on UK stores that sell by mail order, and stuff to keep homebound kids amused, at Down the Tubes.

Continue reading “Comics Lockdown: Publishers react to COVID-19”