King + Mann’s ‘Heroes in Crisis’ focuses on the human side of DC’s heroes

The new miniseries debuts in September.

Fresh off an appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, where he talked about Mr. Miracle and Batman’s upcoming nuptials to Catwoman, Tom King will next turn his attention to the human side of superheroes with a new miniseries — Heroes in Crisis. Teaming up with Clay Mann, the duo will tell the story of “a crisis center for superheroes who spend their lives fighting villainy and protecting others.” It’s also a murder mystery.

“I feel like I’m part of a rolling generation of people who spent their 20s overseas fighting terrorism,” explained King. “Millions of people cycle through that machine and come home to America. And I think that sort of experience of violence is shaping who we are as a culture, and as a country. And I want to talk about that. I want to talk about that experience, the experience of what violence can do to a person, to a community, to a nation, to a world.”

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DC Comics reveals creative teams for their young readers lines

Both DC Ink and DC Zoom will debut next April with graphic novels featuring Batman, Raven, Black Canary, Mera and more.

Back in February DC Comics announced plans for two new graphic novel imprints aimed at younger readers — DC Zoom, aimed at middle grade readers (8-12 years) and DC Ink, aimed at young adult readers (13 and older). Today they’ve revealed the creative teams for the first four titles for each imprint.

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Vertigo announces 7 new titles for their 25th anniversary relaunch

The DC Comics imprint will publish new series from Mark Russell, Ramon Villalobos, Ben Blacker, Bryan Hill, Robbi Rodriguez and many more.

DC Comics announced plans last October for a linewide relaunch, and this week they made it official by revealing seven new titles from the 25-year-old imprint.

New titles by Mark Russell, Ramon Villalobos, Ben Blacker, Bryan Hill, Robbi Rodriguez and many more will debut starting next September, joining the already announced Sandman Universe titles.

“It’s time to rebuild DC Vertigo,” said Mark Doyle, Executive Editor of Vertigo. “We’re returning to our roots by spotlighting the most exciting new voices in comics, as well as bringing new voices to comics. From the corners of television, games, music, activism, podcasting, comics and more, all of our creators are passionate and have something to say. These sophisticated stories have amazing new characters and vast worlds to explore. That’s what it has always been about for me—new stories, new voices, new possibilities. We’re creating a new generation of DC Vertigo classics for readers of all genres.”

Here are the new titles:

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Comics Lowdown | Chinese authorities crack down on Rage Comics

Censorship: The Chinese government has banned rage comics (Baozou Manhua, or Baoman) channels from a number of online platforms, claiming violations of the recently enacted Law on the Protection of Heroes and Martyrs. In addition to the censorship, the article discusses how rage comics migrated from 4Chan to Chinese youth culture and why this is important: They are now a big-money business.

Besides the shutdown of the various social media channels, the closure of the baozoumanhua.com media empire is a huge blow to its fans and creators. The website’s founder Wang Nima’s net worth is estimated to be around 4 billion yuan (±US$628 million), according to Daily Economic News (每日经济新闻).

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Vertigo reveals artist line-up for Gaiman-curated ‘Sandman Universe”

Max Fiumara and Sebastian Fiumara, Bilquis Evely, Tom Fowler and Dominike “Domo” Stanton will help bring the new line to life later this year.

DC Comics’ Vertigo imprint has revealed the artists for the four “Sandman Universe” titles they announced earlier this year. Curated by Sandman writer Neil Gaiman, the line will kick off with a one-shot that’ll set up the return of three former Vertigo titles and one new one.

The creative teams for the four titles are:

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DC Collectibles adds Flash, Nightwing, Batgirl to their ‘Artist Alley’ statue line

New designer vinyl figures include Chris Uminga’s Flash, HaiNaNu ‘Nooligan’ Saulque’s Nightwing and Sho Murase’s Batgirl.

DC Collectibles has revealed some new additions to their “DC Artist Alley” line, which debuts in about a month.

“The DC Artists Alley line marks our entry into the designer toy market, and we couldn’t be happier with the fan and retailer reception we’ve received thus far,” stated Jim Fletcher, executive creative director of DC Collectibles. “The first wave has nearly sold out at the retailer level, and the figures haven’t even hit stores yet. We’re doubling down on this excitement by adding three new characters to the 2018 lineup.”

DC Collectibles will offer black and white variant editions of The Flash and Nightwing figures, and a vibrant green holiday variant for Murase’s Batgirl design. These new additions will be released in December. Take a look at them below:

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C2E2: Joëlle Jones working on new ‘Catwoman’ series, statue

Catwoman’s new series puts her back on the streets against a new villain.

At C2E2 in Chicago this weekend, Batman artist Joëlle Jones announced two new projects involving Bruce Wayne’s fiancée, Selina Kyle, A.K.A. Catwoman.

First up, starting this summer is a new Catwoman ongoing series, written and drawn by Jones. The new series will spin out of the big Batman wedding, which is set to occur in Batman #50.

“But if you’re expecting a romantic tale set during a tropical honeymoon or focused on Selina and Bruce’s newly wedded bliss, think again,” DC revealed in a press release. “Catwoman’s back on the streets dealing with a mysterious copycat and taking on a brand new, as-yet-unrevealed villain in the Eisner nominated Jones’ debut storyline.”

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DC’s Black Label imprint to offer out-of-continuity comics from ‘top talent’

DC Comics has announced Black Label, a new imprint aimed at giving creators the freedom to create out-of-continuity stories and future “perennially best-selling, critically acclaimed books.”

“Many of our perennially best-selling, critically acclaimed books were produced when we unleashed our top talent on standalone, often out-of-continuity projects featuring our most iconic characters, a prime example being Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns,” DC Entertainment co-publisher Jim Lee said in a statement about the new imprint. “Creating DC Black Label doubles down on our commitment to working with all-star talent and trusting them to tell epic, moving stories that only they can tell with the highest levels of creative freedom.”

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Gaiman to curate ‘The Sandman Universe’ line for Vertigo

Nalo Hopkinson, Kat Howard, Si Spurrier and Dan Watters join Gaiman for four new titles in the new line.

Neil Gaiman will return to the world of The Sandman in a new curated line for DC’s Vertigo imprint, called, appropriately, The Sandman Universe. The line will kick off with a one-shot that’ll set up the return of three former Vertigo titles and one new one.

“… it’s a huge sandbox with so many wonderful toys that nobody’s getting to play with right now,” Gaiman told Entertainment Weekly about why he decided to return to these characters. “I started feeling guilty. I liked the idea of getting the toys played with again, reminding people how much fun this is, and also getting the opportunity to work with some fantastic writers. Down the line, there will be fantastic artists as well.”

The project kicks off this August with The Sandman Universe one-shot special, which catches readers up on what’s been happening in The Dreaming, the realm where the Daniel, the current Sandman, rules. But Daniel’s gone missing, leaving chaos in his wake. The one-shot will also catch up with two other Gaiman creations who enjoyed their own success at Vertigo — Books of Magic star Tim Hunter and Lucifer, whose ongoing series ran for 75 issues and later inspired the FOX TV series of the same name.

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DC announces Bendis plans: Superman, new imprint, sampler comic

Bendis takes over all the Supermans as Jinxworld moves to DC and a “curated” imprint from the writer looms.

Former Marvel stalwart Brian Michael Bendis’ first work for DC will be on Action Comics #1000, but it won’t be his last opportunity to tug on Superman’s cape.

DC Comics has announced the writer’s plans at his new home, which includes a whole lot of Superman, the return of his Jinxworld books and a brand-new “curated” imprint. They’ll also release a 25-cent sampler, called DC Nation #0, spotlighting not only Bendis’ work but that of his fellow writers Tom King and Scott Snyder.

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‘Action 1000’ hardcover to include unpublished Siegel + Shuster story

Edited by Paul Levitz, ‘Action Comics #1000: 80 Years of Superman’ will include essays and past ‘Action Comics’ stories, including one by Superman co-creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster that was given to Marv Wolfman when he was a kid.

With plans for the 1,000th issue of Action Comics in place, DC Comics revealed more details about the hardcover collection they previously announced that will accompany the milestone issue.

Action Comics #1000: 80 Years of Superman, edited by former DC Publisher Paul Levitz, will feature several past Superman stories along with essays. The collection will also a never-before-published 12-page story from original Superman writer Jerry Siegel with art by the Joe Shuster Studio titled “Too Many Heroes.”

“The found Siegel and Shuster story is a true treasure with a fascinating backstory,” Levitz said. “Back when DC did regular tours of the New York office, it was common for fans to get original art that would have been otherwise disposed of as a tour souvenir. As a young fan on a tour Marv Wolfman found this Superman story and kept it all these years. It’s incredible to think that Marv not only rescued this unpublished story, he then went on to become one of DC’s most prolific writers, and shared the story with DC to publish as part of this special new collection.”

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An end, and a new beginning, for ‘Astro City’

With the final issue of the current volume due out in April, writer Kurt Busiek reveals the title’s future.

DC Comics’ solicitations for April 2018 reveal that the latest volume of Astro City, currently published as a part of their Vertigo imprint, will end with issue #52. But don’t panic: writer Kurt Busiek says Astro City will be back, as a graphic novel rather than a comic series.

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