Queue up for ‘Dark Ride’ by Williamson + Bressan

The ‘Birthright’ team reunites for a four-issue miniseries set in a horrific amusement park.

I was reading this Rolling Stone article about adult Disney fans being seen as a “plague upon society” when the press release for a new series called Dark Ride hit my inbox. Dark Ride is a new title coming from Skybound this fall by the Birthright team of Joshua Williamson and Andrei Bressan that “introduces readers to The Scariest Place on Earth.” And they don’t mean a Disney World filled with Disneybounding adults or Purple Wall selfie-takers.

“Two of my biggest obsessions have always been HORROR…and AMUSEMENT PARKS. So, I had to find a way to combine them into something new. It’s a dream book I’ve been working on for a LONG time and it’s been awesome to finally pull it together with Andrei and the whole Birthright team!” said Williamson. “It’s great to get back to horror after Nailbiter ended, and here we dive into some new themes with horror: What is scary in today’s world? How can you create something scary when every day we’re living in a horror show? Those are the themes I wanted to explore with DARK RIDE. Amusement Parks are meant to be a place of FUN…but here we really bring the HORROR.” 

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Quick Hits | Comixology removes in-app purchases from Android app

Plus: People moves at AWA Studios and Image, Joshua Williamson, Al Madrigal and more.

Digital Comics | Similar to a move they made on iOS devices about eight years ago, Comixology has announced that they have removed the ability to purchase comics from their Android app. The email to users said that the change was made to “remain in compliance with updated Google Play Store policies,” which, as The Beat points out, are intended to close loopholes that allowed companies to sell items in their Android apps without paying fees to the Google Play Store. The move follows those made by two other Amazon entities, Audible and Kindle Books, earlier this year.

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Slugfest | The Massive-verse expands with ‘The Dead Lucky’

A round-up of comics publishing news from Image, Marvel, Top Shelf and more.

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you from comics creators, publishers and more. Hit the links for more information.

The Massive-verse — that’s the collection of titles headed up by Kyle Higgins that include Radiant Black, Inferno Girl Red and Rogue Sun, among others — will expand in August with a new title, The Dead Lucky.

Melissa Flores, French Carlomagno, Mattia Iacono and Becca Carey are the creative team for the new title.

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Mail Call | ‘Love Everlasting’ comes to print in August

Plus: more from Chris Eliopoulos on getting the rights back to ‘Cow Boy,’ plus free comics from Grant Morrison, Saladin Ahmed and more.

Mail Call is a roundup of cool things we’ve received in our mailboxes from comics creators, publishers and more. Hit the links for more information.

Love Everlasting, the Substack comic created by Tom King and Elsa Charretier, will make the jump to print, courtesy of Image Comics. The ongoing series kicks off in August.

The comic, which is up to issue #3 on Substack, plays with the tropes inherent to the romance genre:

In Love Everlasting, Joan Peterson discovers that she is trapped in an endless, terrifying cycle of “romance”—a problem to be solved, a man to marry—and every time she falls in love she’s torn from her world and thrust into another teary saga. Her bloody journey to freedom and revelation starts in this breathtaking, groundbreaking first issue.

Here’s a look at the variant cover to the first issue, along with two variants by Clay Mann and Tula Lotay:

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Iko iko an day: Grannies kick ass in ‘Golden Rage’

Chrissy Williams, Lauren Knight, Sofie Dodgson, Becca Carey and Joamette Gil present a series about old women baking cakes and fighting to the death.

A new Image Comics miniseries will explore a world where old women are sent to an island to live out the reminder of their lives — and battle to the death. My grandma and your grandma, sitting by the fire …

Golden Rage by Chrissy Williams, Lauren Knight, Sofie Dodgson, Becca Carey and Joamette Gil will feature a little-seen demographic in comics — older woman, and showcase how they can kick as much ass as anyone. (My grandmother, who played bingo in some pretty sketchy places, carried a butcher knife in her purse).

“Old women are formidable—I wrote Golden Rage to reflect that,” said Williams. “These characters are tough, capable, kind, and funny. I’ve fallen in love with the combination of cake and stabbing weapons, and hope you will too.”

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Schultz, Borelli + Contreras arrange ‘The Deadliest Bouquet’

The successful Kickstarter project will be published by Image in August.

When Jasmine Hawthorn’s past as a Nazi hunter catches up with her, it’s up to her three daughters to rely on their training to bring her killers to justice. Erica Schultz, Carola Borelli and Gab Contreras tell the story of The Deadliest Bouquet, a miniseries coming this summer from Image Comics after a successful Kickstarter campaign last year.

“This story has kicked around in my head for a long time, so it’s amazing to see it in print from Image!” Schultz exclaimed.

Schultz‘s credits include the recent Bylines in Blood from AfterShock, as well as Forgotten Home and Strange Tails. Borelli‘s work has appeared in Love University, and Contreras’ wonderful coloring can be seen on comics like Witchblood and Mezo.

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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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Jonathan Luna pays tribute to ’90s Image Comics in ‘The Phalanx’

Image will publish the crowdfunded comic in June.

Jonathan Luna’s latest one-shot, a tribute to 1990s Image Comics, has found a publisher — Image Comics.

Luna ran a Kickstarter campaign for The Phalanx last fall, raising more than $8,000 in the process. He described it as “my homage to 90s comics and the founding series of Image Comics,” calling out WildCATS, Youngblood and other titles that helped launch the publisher. And you can see even from the comic’s logo what he was going for.

“This era was a magical and formative time for me,” he said on the Kickstarter campaign page. “For many years, I’ve wanted to show my love, and I finally figured out how–this one-shot comic, The Phalanx. I want it to ooze ’90s comics’ in story, art and format, yet still contain my style and sensibilities. There will be tons of references, and I challenge you to find them!”

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Image will release print editions of Tynion + Zdarsky’s Substack comics

Both comics arrive in comic shops in June.

Image Comics has announced plans to publish print versions of two Substack comics — Public Domain by Chip Zdarsky and The Closet by James Tynion IV and Gavin Fullerton.

Zdarsky has been publishing Public Domain via his Substack newsletter almost since the newsletter went live last year, while The Closet debuted just a few weeks ago on Tynion’s Tiny Onion newsletter.

“In June, issue one will hit shelves, and it’ll be an ongoing monthly series (as long as my hand/arm/brain hold out)!” Zdarsky said about Public Domain, which he both writes and draws. “So for those of you who are NOT paid subscribers, you can check it out then and come back here to sign up and find out what happens next!”

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Comics Lowdown | Creators file class action suit against Action Lab Entertainment

Plus: News on TOON Books, Image Comics, Archie’s new editor-in-chief and more!

Nearly 40 creators have signed on for a class action lawsuit against Action Lab Entertainment and Action Lab president Bryan Seaton. Action Lab has published a long list of titles over the years, including Spencer & Locke, Princeless, Jupiter Jet, Midnight Tiger, Molly Danger and many others.

According to ClassAction.org, the 46-page complaint “contends that although Action Lab promised to print, promote and market creators’ works, report quarterly sales and income numbers, properly maintain social media accounts, and generally make a reasonable effort to sell comics, the company has largely done none of these things and even failed to inform creators when its office shut down ‘without reason.’”

Creators listed in the complaint include David Pepose, Rylend Grant, Jorge Santiago Jr., Jeremy Whitley, Ken Marcus, Tom Rogers and many more. You can read the full legal complaint here.

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‘Farmhand’ returns to fuel your organic produce nightmares

Image Comics announces that Rob Guillory’s creator-owned series will return later this spring.

About 19 months have passed since we last saw an issue of Rob Guillory‘s Farmhand, but a new crop of issues will sprout in April.

“A lot’s happened since the last issue of Farmhand, in the world of the Jenkins Farm and in our own,” Guillory said in a press release. “And I couldn’t be happier to finally bring to life what I believe will be the darkest, most intense chapter of this strange little story yet. Buckle up.”

Farmhand is about a farmer, Jedidiah Jenkins, who grows fast-healing, highly-customizable human organs. For years, Jed’s organic transplants have brought healing to many, but deep in the soil of the Jenkins Family Farm something sinister has taken root.

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Image staff unionize in historic move for the comics industry

Employees vote to form Comic Book Workers United.

The staff members of Image Comics have voted to form a union, Comic Book Workers United, “making Image Comics the FIRST unionized comic book publisher in the United States,” their website reads.

Of the 12 Image staffers who submitted ballots, seven voted yes, two voted no and three ballots were not counted due to questions around eligibility. “Although these three ballots were not opened, their challenge had no impact on our supermajority win. CBWU and the CWA continue to push for their inclusion in the democratic process,” their statement reads.

The staffers had hoped Image Comics would voluntarily recognize the union, which did not happen, leading to the vote. The CBWU is represented by the Communications Workers of America, a union that represents employees in the communications and information industries, as well as those in airlines, public service, higher education, health care and more.

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