Tag: Image Comics

Smash Pages Q&A: Scott Snyder on ‘Nocterra’

The writer of ‘American Vampire,’ ‘Death Metal,’ ‘Batman’ and more discusses his newest creator-owned title, his Best Jackett Press imprint and more.

Scott Snyder has been in the driver’s seat for many of DC’s biggest projects over the last decade or so, including crossover titles like Metal and Death Metal, and of course his runs on Batman and Justice League. At the same time, he’s also kept a foot in the creator-owned world, writing titles like American Vampire, Wytches and Undiscovered Country, among others.

Last summer, he hit the gas on his creator-owned work, launching a Kickstarter for Nocterra, a new creator-owned series with Tony S. Daniel and Tomeu Morey that’s coming out from Snyder’s Best Jackett Press imprint. The crowdfunding effort brought in more than $200,000 and set the stage for the launch of the Nocterra ongoing title, which debuted last month from Image Comics. The explosive first issue introduced readers to truck driver Val Riggs, a woman who lives in a world where the sun stopped rising 10 years ago, plunging humanity “into an everlasting night that turns all living creatures into monstrous shades.” The only defense is artificial light; luckily Riggs’ 18-wheeler is heavily illuminated.

I spoke with Snyder about the comic, its villain, the differences between launching a creator-owned comic vs. a DC title, his plans for Best Jackett Press and more.

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Top Cow announces supernatural noir series ‘Syphon’

The three-issue miniseries by Patrick Meaney, Mohsen Ashraf and Jeff Edwards begins in July.

Patrick Meaney, who worked on the comic book documentaries Grant Morrison: Talking With Gods and The Image Revolution, among others, is trading his camera for the keyboard as he writes a new miniseries for Top Cow.

Meaney will team up with Mohsen Ashraf and Jeff Edwards for Syphon, a three-issue “fantasy noir” miniseries about a supernatural empath.

“Syphon explores how much of a burden we can take on ourselves in trying to help others and the world around us,” said Meaney. “After the past few years of world events, it feels extremely relevant to ask, how much can you do to try and save the world before you destroy yourself.”

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Smash Pages Q&A: G Romero-Johnson on ‘SFSX: Terms of Service’

The artist of the newest volume of the queer science fiction tale discusses her process and approach to creating the new story.

Sfsx (Safe Sex) was a stunning book when it was published in 2019. Writer Tina Horn was new to comics, but the journalist and podcaster took to the language of comics in a really exciting way. The queer science fiction tale was like nothing else in comics. The dystopic series is returning in a new graphic novel coming out from Image Comics. Writer Tina Horn and editor/designer Laurenn McCubbin and other members of the team are back with a new artist, G Romero-Johnson.

SFSX: Terms of Service is currently being kickstarted and G Romero-Johnson was kind enough to take a few minutes to talk. A cartoonist and illustrator, she’s made comics like Sweet Insecurity and The Red Side of The Moon and her work has appeared in anthologies including Stratos and the upcoming Nectar.

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Top Cow to publish J. Gonzo’s ‘La Mano del Destino’

The collection of Gonzo’s original six-issue miniseries arrives in May.

Here’s one I missed when Image’s solicitations came out for May, but Top Cow reminded me of it with a press release: After self-publishing six issues and crowdfunding a bilingual flipbook, J. Gonzo‘s epic luche libre comic La Mano del Destino will be collected and published by Top Cow in May.

“Top Cow is a place where creative ideas win,” Gonzo said in a press release. “If you look at their current projects, or even their back catalog, there is a rich variety of story types and approaches that is unlike most other publishers or studios. They are less interested in a homogeneity of some house style and truly promote the best, creative ideas. It really is an ‘artist’s company.’”

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Image Comics maps the route to eternal life in ‘Compass’

The adventure comic from Robert Mackenzie, Dave Walker and Justin Greenwood debuts in June.

Robert Mackenzie and Dave Walker, who worked on Lazarus Sourcebook with Greg Rucka, will team up with artist Justin Greenwood for a new adventure series set in 13th century Britain, titled Compass.

“Compass was born out of our desire to tell a story of discovery without colonialism, of adventure without exploitation—something with the verve and energy of the pulps, but with a perspective that hadn’t been seen much in that genre,” said Mackenzie. “Getting there was its own process of discovery, and it’s been a joy to work with co-creators who have the talent to truly unearth Shahidah‘s quest. I’m so pleased to be able to share Compass with the world.”

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A sunflower-farmer death cult and serial killers inhabit the world of ‘Vinyl’

The new Image Comics miniseries by Doug Wagner, Daniel Hillyard and Dave Stewart debuts in June.

Doug Wagner and Daniel Hillyard, the creators of Plastic, are teaming up again on Vinyl, a new miniseries from Image Comics. They’ll be joined by colorist Dave Stewart for a comic about serial killers, death cults and friendship.

“This is all Daniel Hillyard’s fault,” said Wagner. “He asked if I thought we could create a story about serial killers, inhuman monsters and a cult of sunflower farmers all trapped together inside an underground bunker. I mean, you have to do that, right?”

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Joe Benitez’s ‘Lady Mechanika’ moves to Image

The character takes the spotlight in one of Image’s Free Comic Book Day offerings in August.

As revealed in the 2021 Free Comic Book Day offerings announcement, Joe Benitez’s steampunk comic Lady Mechanika is moving to Image Comics. The entire backlist of the comic will be reprinted by Image, with plans for a new series coming later this year.

“I’m very excited that Lady Mechanika is moving to Image!” said Benitez. “We hope this move will provide an opportunity to share the series with a new, wider audience, and also give us more time to focus on our creative strengths while letting the experts at Image handle publishing and marketing. We have so many stories to tell, hopefully this will help us get more of them out faster. The next story arc we’re calling ‘The Monster of the Ministry of Hell-th’ will deal with a piece of Lady Mechanika’s haunted past. Check out a preview of the new book in our FCBD issue!”

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Star Wars, Blade Runner, InvestiGators among the 2021 Free Comic Book Day gold sponsor comics

This year’s Free Comic Book Day on Aug. 14 will include titles from Marvel, IDW, Dark Horse, Titan and more.

Diamond Comics Distributors has announced the 12 gold sponsor titles that retailers will offer on Free Comic Book Day this year. This year’s event will take place Aug. 14.

“This year’s lineup of titles has something for every kind of comic fan,” said Ashton Greenwood, Free Comic Book Day spokesperson. “We can’t wait to once again share the FCBD experience with fans, especially on our landmark 20th anniversary! We hope fans will safely visit their local comic shops to celebrate and to pick up a few of the great titles available this year.”

Missing from the list is DC Comics, who no longer use Diamond to distribute comics to U.S. retailers. DC has indicated their plans to participate, however.

The titles were curated by more than 20 comic shop retailers who make up the FCBD Selection Committee. The Gold Sponsor titles come from Marvel Comics, Dark Horse Comics, IDW Publishing, Image Comics, Archie Comics, BOOM! Studios, Macmillan/First Second Books, Penguin Workshop, AfterShock Comics, Titan Comics, TOKYOPOP and VIZ Media.

This year’s gold sponsor books are:

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Starks + Schweizer head to Hollywood for ‘The Six Sidekicks of Trigger Keaton’

The new ‘Whodunnit?’ series starts in June.

Six former sidekicks of a terrible TV will team to solve his murder in The Six Sidekicks of Trigger Keaton, by Kyle Starks and Chris Schweizer, who previously worked together on Mars Attacks! The new series from Image Comics/Skybound will start in June.

“I’m so excited to be working with Skybound again on another great action-comedy series,” said Starks. “This time I get to do it with my best friend, America’s best kept cartoonist secret and three-time Eisner nominee Chris Schweizer. Chris came to me and suggested the remarkable title which we crafted into the tale of six former kid TV sidekicks trying to solve the murder of their awful human TV mentor. Sort of like Knives Out meets Once Upon A Time In Hollywood? If there are two things I love to write, it’s charming dummies and action, and this book is full of both plus rising stakes, escalating nonsense and a lot of fun. Comics should be fun, so we made a fun one!”

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‘Jupiter’s Legacy: Requiem’ expands on the upcoming Netflix series

Mark Millar and Tommy Lee Edwards team up for the third and final Jupiter’s Legacy series.

Image Comics has announced a new Jupiter’s Legacy maxi-series, titled Jupiter’s Legacy: Requiem. The series, written by series co-creator Mark Millar and drawn by Tommy Lee Edwards, will pick up on plot points from the upcoming Netflix adaptation of the comic.

The new series also follows the previous two Jupiter’s Legacy comics, which focused on the present and the past, respectively.

“We’ve done the past, we’ve done the present and Requiem takes us into the future to finish this book epic tale with a 12-issue series starting in June,” Millar told The Hollywood Reporter. “The show launched May 7, so people will be licking their lips to see what happens next.”

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Review: ‘Nocterra’ #1 brings an ‘explosive, exciting’ start to the new series

Scott Snyder and Tony S. Daniel’s new series from Image Comics begins with an impressive debut.

Nocterra, the new title by Scott Snyder and Tony S. Daniel, began life as a Kickstarter project last year that raised more than $200,000, thanks to more than 4,000 backers. The plan, though, was to always publish it through Image Comics at some point, and this week the first issue arrives like a burst of light in a dark world.

I have to say I went into this book a little skeptical, as the creators involved have been hit and miss with me the past few years with their DC projects. But I’m a fan of both creators, and their independent projects resonated with me in the past. I’m happy to say this is one of those hits.

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Mail Call | Black Cat kicks off Marvel’s ‘Infinite Destinies’ event this summer

Plus more news from Marvel, DC, Image, AfterShock, Dark Horse and more.

Mail Call is a roundup of the announcements we’ve received from comics publishers in our mailboxes recently that we haven’t already covered. Hit the links for more information.

Last summer the “Infinite Destinies” storyline was supposed to run through several Marvel annuals, including Iron Man, Captain America, Black Cat and Thor, among others. The story revolves around the returning “infinity stones,” those pesky don’t-call-them-infinity-gems MacGuffins that regularly take center stage at Marvel.

Anyway, like with many other things, the COVID pandemic and comics industry shutdown threw a wrench in Marvel’s plans, and those annuals were never released. But now it looks like they are back on the schedule for 2021, with an added prelude comic to kick things off — Black Cat #8 by Jed MacKay and C.F. Villa.

“Felicia Hardy- the Black Cat- gets tangled up with the Infinity Stones, some of the most dangerous prizes in the universe. Felicia may be the most accomplished jewel thief on the planet, but when those jewels hold the power of the cosmos, it’s a whole new ball game. Felicia is in a race against the others who would seek to control the stones for their own ends- like Nick Fury (and a secret someone you won’t see coming!),” MacKay said. “Who can cross the world’s most dangerous men, wrangle a pack of villains hopped up on fragments of infinite power, (hopefully) get the job done and look great all the while? The Black Cat, that’s who!”

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