graphic novels – SMASH PAGES

Oni Press expands EC Comics line with ‘Cruel Kingdom 2,’ treasury edition collection

The publisher continues its EC Comics revival with another round of its fantasy-horror miniseries and a treasury-sized collection of the imprint’s best stories so far.

Oni Press is continuing its EC Comics line with two new September releases.

First up is Cruel Kingdom 2, a second helping of the dark fantasy-horror miniseries that launched last year. The six-issue miniseries will kick off with stories by writers David M. Booher, Matt Bors and Jude Ellison S. Doyle, and artists Ryan Kelly, Lukas Ketner and David Lapham.

The anthology-style series continues the EC tradition of ironic, gruesome morality tales set in a medieval fantasy world. Future issues will include contributions from John Arcudi, Ramón F. Bachs, Sarah Gailey, Sami Kivelä, Curt Pires, SOM and Alison Sampson, among others.

Box Brown explores AI resurrection + big tech in next graphic novel ‘Forevr’

The Top Shelf graphic novel follows a family grappling with a consciousness-uploading app that lets them keep chatting with their dying mother … for a reasonable monthly fee.

Top Shelf Productions will publish Forevr, a new original graphic novel from Brian “Box” Brown, creator of Andre the Giant: Life and Legend, Is This Guy for Real? The Unbelievable Andy Kaufman and many other wonderful graphic novels.

The story follows Brenda, whose dying mother uploads her consciousness to the aptly named “Forevr,” an app that allows surviving family members to continue chatting with deceased loved ones. As Brenda and her girlfriend pursue careers as wilderness survival influencers, her father grows increasingly dependent on the digital version of his wife, and tensions come to a head on a family camping trip.

Smash Pages Q&A | Mel Gillman on ‘The Goblin Throne’

The webcomic-turned-graphic novel is now being crowdfunded by Iron Circus Comics.

Mel Gillman’s The Goblin Throne begins with a broken promise and the consequences that follow when you think you can outrun it.

The graphic novel, the latest from the creator of As the Crow Flies and Stage Dreams, follows a young woman who makes a pact with the Goblin Queen for peace and safety, then flees when confronted with the true cost. What she doesn’t realize is that all roads lead back to the Goblin Kingdom.

The Kickstarter campaign from Iron Circus Comics has already blown past its funding goal, with more than $20,000 raised as I type this. I spoke with Gillman about sapphic fairy tales, colored pencil illustration and more.

Mike Mignola wins Bram Stoker Award for ‘Bowling With Corpses and Other Strange Tales From Lands Unknown’

The Hellboy creator’s Dark Horse graphic novel beat out four other nominees at the Horror Writers Association’s annual gala in Pittsburgh.

Mike Mignola’s first project in his shared universe with Ben Stenbeck has won the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel. Bowling With Corpses and Other Strange Tales From Lands Unknown, which was published by Dark Horse in January of 2025, took home the award Saturday night at StokerCon in Pittsburgh.

“It all started with an Italian Folktale about a boy who goes bowling with corpses,” Mignola said about the story back when it was announced. “I fell in love with the story as soon as I discovered it but I wanted to play fast and loose when adapting it, so I created a whole new world. Not TOO different than our world a few centuries ago, but with a lot more gods and monsters. Once I created that world new characters and stories just started pouring out of it. There is a whole lot to play with here and I expect to be at it for a very long time.”

‘Mary Shelley’s School for Monsters: The Killing Stone’ wins first-ever Nebula Award for Best Comic

Jessica Maison and Anna Wieszczyk’s graphic novel beat out seven other nominees in the inaugural category.

Mary Shelley’s School for Monsters: The Killing Stone has won the first-ever Nebula Award for Best Comic. The award was announced this weekend at the 61st annual Nebula Awards, presented annually by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association.

The Killing Stone is the second book in the graphic novel series, written by Jessica Maison and illustrated by Anna Wieszczyk, with lettering by Matt Krotzer. The series reimagines the Frankenstein author as having become an immortal monster who founded a school for other misunderstood creatures.

Matt Wagner + Kelley Jones announce a fourth + final Dracula volume

The final graphic novel in the series will be funded through Kickstarter, picking up after the events of Bram Stoker’s original novel.

Happy World Dracula Day! To celebrate the most unholiest of holidays, Matt Wagner and Kelley Jones have announced they’ll launch a Kickstarter for Dracula: Book IV — The Undead, the fourth and final volume in their series of original graphic novels from Orlok Press.

The new volume will taek the series past the events of Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel, exploring what happened after the Count’s apparent defeat. The previous three books — The Impaler, The Brides, and The Count — each told stories set in and around the original novel’s story. Colorist José Villarrubia and letterer Rob Leigh round out the creative team.

Mad Cave Studios announces charity anthology ‘You Are on Native Land’

All profits from the September anthology will be donated to Not Our Native Daughters.

Mad Cave Studios will release You Are on Native Land: A Charity Comic for Indigenous Rights, an anthology collecting work by Indigenous comics creators, in September.

All profits from the book will be donated to Not Our Native Daughters, a Native-led, survivor-led organization dedicated to addressing the Missing, Murdered and Exploited Indigenous Women and Girls crisis.

“Storytelling has always been a way our people carry truth forward,” said contributing poet Kelly Lynne D’Angelo. “Being part of You Are on Native Land means honoring that responsibility — not just to be seen, but to be heard, celebrated and held.”

The anthology will also include contributions from Jon Proudstar, Gord Hill, Chas Lowry, Jackie Fawn, Steph Littlebird, Roy Boney, Jim Terry, David Cutler, David Mack and others. It also includes a reprint of Tribal Force #1 by Proudstar and Chris Williams, the first comic to feature a superhero team made up entirely of Indigenous heroes.

Exclusive | First look at the slipcase editions for ‘The Complete Urbance’

Magnetic Press is heading to Kickstarter soon with a deluxe collection of the manga-inspired cyberpunk saga by Joël Dos Reis Viegas.

Urbance by Joël Dos Reis Viegas has had an unusual journey. It began as an animated short film developed at the studio he co-founded, Steambot Studios, went viral and earned a devoted international fanbase after a successful Kickstarter campaign. Yapiko Animation in Tokyo helped bring the 8-minute pilot to life in 2015, and the response was strong enough that Viegas took the world of Neopolis somewhere the animation couldn’t fully go: a four-volume comic series.

Now Magnetic Press and Oni Press are bringing the complete Urbance comic book saga to Kickstarter, and today I’ve got your first look at the slipcase editions that will be available as part of the campaign.

Papercutz announces first original ‘Mandalorian and Grogu’ comic, set before the upcoming film

Din Djarin and Grogu head underground in a one-shot announced on May the 4th and set for release this July.

Mad Cave Studios and their Papercutz imprint announced The Mandalorian and Grogu: Danger in the Dark today, and what better day to reveal the first original comic one-shot starring Din Djarin and Grogu? The book goes on sale in July.

Written by Delilah S. Dawson with art by Arianna Florean, the story is set just before the events of the upcoming Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu film and follows Din Djarin and Grogu as they venture into the lava tubes beneath Nevarro to defuse a crashed pirate ship, joined by a crew of Anzellan droidsmiths.

Ed Brubaker + Sean Phillips return this winter with ‘Unfinished Tales’

The paranoid thriller about writer’s block, ego and murder arrives from Image Comics in November.

Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, the multiple award-winning duo behind Criminal, The Fade Out, Kill or Be Killed and the Reckless series, are teaming once again on a new graphic novel arriving later this year. Unfinished Tales will arrive in comic shops this November and in book stores this December from Image Comics.

The story follows Finnegan Blake, one of the most successful authors in the world whose epic fantasy series has been adapted into a massive TV hit. Thing is, he is 10 years past his deadline on the final book and has no hope of finishing it. (Is it called A Game of Thrones?) When an old friend arrives with what seems like the perfect solution to his writer’s block, the two enter a secret pact that quickly turns dark as their egos and ambitions collide.

Picture + Panel | K Czap + Suzana Harcum talk about love stories

Check out our interview in advance of a live question-and-answer session between the two creators in Boston next week.

We continue our interview series with creators speaking at the monthly Picture + Panel event in Boston, which brings together two comic creators to talk about a specific topic — in this case, love stories.

K. Czap, Suzana Harcum,and Owena White, along with Lily Barrett from the pop-up romance book store Read My Lips, will engage in a discussion about “the many faces of falling in love.” The event is hosted by the Boston Comic Arts Foundation, Porter Square Books and the Boston Figurative Arts Center.

Suzana Harcum & Owena White, a lesbian couple from Tucson, Arizona, and Worcester, Massachusetts, respectively, are an artist-writer duo making LGBT-centered comics. Their collaborative efforts blend Suzana’s art with Owena’s storytelling, crafting stories that explore communication, self-discovery and acceptance. In creating together, they seek to share their perspectives and experiences growing up queer, through heartfelt slice-of-life comics. They enjoy making relatable stories for readers, aiming to foster a sense of community and understanding through their work.

K Czap is an acclaimed cartoonist, author of Four Years and Fütchi Perf, and colorist for comics from Scholastic, First Second and more. Residing in Providence RI, Czap is a board member of Binch Press × Queer.Archive.Work., an artist studio collective.

‘Absolute Wonder Woman,’ ‘The Power Fantasy’ among nominees for the 2026 Hugo Awards

Winners will be announced in August.

The nominees have been announced for the 2026 Hugo Awards, which includes a “Best Graphic Story or Comic” category.

Presented annually since 1955, the Hugo Awards recognize the best science fiction in books, comics, movies, TV and more. The Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story has been awarded since 2009, with previous winners including volumes of Saga, Ms. Marvel, Girl Genius, LaGuardia, Far Sector and Monstress. The graphic novel Star Trek: Lower Decks: Warp Your Own Way won the category last year.

This year DC, Image and First Second all scored a nomination, with a picture book, a webcomic and an Ursula K. Le Guin adaptation rounding out the category.

This year’s nominees are:

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
	1	2	3	4	5	6
7	8	9	10	11	12	13
14	15	16	17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24	25	26	27
28	29	30

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