The Comics Super Blog!
The pioneer of psychedelic surreal comic book art impacted culture like no other.
by Stephanie Chan and James Vicari
Legendary comic book artist Stephen J. Ditko has passed away at his home at the age of 90. In a statement to the Hollywood Reporter, the New York Police Department said that Ditko’s body was found on June 29th. The cause of death has not been released, but it is believed that he passed away two days prior to being discovered.
Continue reading “Spider-Man, Doctor Strange co-creator Steve Ditko, 90, passes away”
New material by Jimmy Palmiotti, Amanda Conner, Dan Jurgens, Tim Seeley, Tom King, Brian Michael Bendis and Andy Kubert joins past stories in new monthly line.
DC Comics and Walmart have teamed up to offer an exclusive line of 100-page “giant” anthologies at the big-box retailer. The anthologies will feature a mix of previously published and new materiel, including new material by Jimmy Palmiotti, Amanda Conner, Patrick “Patch” Zircher, Brian Michael Bendis, Dan Jurgens, Tim Seeley, Rick Leonardi, Steve Buccellato, Andy Kubert, Scott Eaton and Tom King.
“We are extraordinarily excited about working with Walmart to expand the reach of our books,” said DC Publisher Dan DiDio in a statement. “These new monthly books combine new and accessible stories with reprints of classic comic series. It’s a great way for new readers to get into comics and follow the characters they’ve grown to love in TV and film.”
Each of the four titles – Superman Giant, Justice League Of America Giant, Batman Giant and Teen Titans Giant – will arrive in stores by July 1. Beginning in August, the Superman and Justice League titles will arrive in week one of each month, with Batman and Teen Titans arriving approximately two weeks later. They’ll cost $4.99.
Continue reading “Walmart to offer exclusive ‘giant’ anthologies from DC — with new content”
IDW and DC Comics team up to publish a five-issue miniseries starring the Dark Knight and Arkham’s newest patient: The Maxx.
Sam Kieth’s The Maxx hasn’t been seen in about a decade, but that changes in September when IDW Publishing and DC Comics come together to present Batman/The Maxx: Arkham Dreams. The first issue of the five-issue miniseries, written and drawn by Kieth, will feature covers by Kieth and DC CCO/Publisher Jim Lee.
Continue reading “Sam Kieth returns to the Maxx with ‘Batman/The Maxx: Arkham Dreams’”
Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo’s ‘Batman: Damned’ miniseries kicks the imprint off in September.
DC Comics’ new Black Label imprint promises standalone, out-of-continuity comics from “top talent” like Frank Miller, John Romita Jr., Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, John Ridley and many others — and it looks like we’ll see the first new output from the line in September.
DC revealed that Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo’s Batman: Damned miniseries will run for three bimonthly issues starting on Sept. 19. It will be followed by Frank Miller and John Romita Jr.’s Superman: Year One three-issue miniseries in November, and John Ridley’s The Other History of the DC Universe, a seven-issue series, in December.
Continue reading “DC’s Black Label debuts in September, adds ‘beloved existing titles’ to the line”
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.”
Continue reading “King + Mann’s ‘Heroes in Crisis’ focuses on the human side of DC’s heroes”
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.
Continue reading “DC Comics reveals creative teams for their young readers lines”
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:
Continue reading “Vertigo announces 7 new titles for their 25th anniversary relaunch”
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).
Continue reading “Comics Lowdown | Chinese authorities crack down on Rage Comics”
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:
Continue reading “Vertigo reveals artist line-up for Gaiman-curated ‘Sandman Universe””
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:
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.”
Continue reading “C2E2: Joëlle Jones working on new ‘Catwoman’ series, statue”
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.”
Continue reading “DC’s Black Label imprint to offer out-of-continuity comics from ‘top talent’”
