NYCC | Joshua Williamson returns to Marvel to write ‘Iron Man’

The writer of ‘Superman’ and ‘G.I. Joe’ takes on the Armored Avenger in January.

It’s been almost a decade since Joshua Williamson did any work for Marvel, as he’s flown his flag for the past 10 years at DC and Image, writing high-profile titles like Superman, G.I. Joe and more. But he’ll make his return to the House of Ideas next year to write Iron Man.

Williamson will work with artist Carmen Carnero on the title, which will feature Madame Masque, members of the classic Thunderbolts team and a new archenemy.

“I am a huge Iron Man fan. A massive Iron Man fan… and I knew it was time. I absolutely had to do this,” said Williamson. “Part of our tagline for this book is that Tony Stark is the most dangerous weapon in the Marvel Universe. When he went into the cave, Tony built the armor… but after I thought about it more, the armor wasn’t what he built in the cave. Tony built Tony.”

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Let’s you and him fight: DC reveals all the ‘DC K.O.’ tournament participants

Dan Mora’s variant cover for the first issue of the event series reveals both expected and surprising entrants.

DC has revealed all the participants in the DC K.O. tournament, a big storyline that begins this fall and finds DC’s heroes (and some villains) competing for the honor of becoming King Omega.

Scott Snyder and Joshua Williamson are tag-teaming on the storyline, with Snyder writing the main event and Williamson working on the undercard in titles like Superman and Knightfight. Snyder will be joined by Javi Fernandez on the main miniseries, while Dan Mora did the tournament bracket cover that reveals who is all in for the fight:

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DC’s ‘Batman/Deadpool’ will include crossovers between Doctor Strange + Constantine, Harley Quinn + Hulk, more

Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Joshua Williamson, Denys Cowan, G. Willow Wilson, Bruno Redondo, Hayden Sherman and more will contribute to the comic.

We’ve heard a lot about Marvel’s plans for the first part of the Marvel/DC crossover that was announced back in May, and now DC has revealed more about Batman/Deadpool, which will arrive in November.

DC describes their side of the meet-up between Batman and Deadpool as  “a metaphysical car crash between two storytelling philosophies,” as Grant Morrison and Dan Mora “that’s equal parts cosmic horror, slapstick noir, and metafictional therapy session. It’s the kind of comic book that knows it’s a comic book, revels in being a comic book, weaponizes its comic bookiness—and dares you to keep reading anyway!” It’ll be one of five stories in the comic.

The back-up stories include:

  • Writers Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV and Joshua Williamson join forces with artist Hayden Sherman for a John Constantine and Doctor Strange meet-up.
  • Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo are doing a Nightwing (Dick Grayson) and Wolverine (Laura Kinney) crossover, “where acrobatics meet adamantium in a story that cuts deep.”
  • Mariko Tamaki and Amanda Conner “unleash chaos and charisma” in a Harley Quinn vs. Hulk showdown.
  • G. Willow Wilson and Denys Cowan bring together Static and Ms. Marvel.
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SDCC Slugfest | ‘Knightfight,’ Bad Batch, ‘Marian Heretic’ + more

Plus: Terrorbytes! Youngblood! And a big sale from Fantagraphics!

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you. With the San Diego Comic-Con upon us, we have news and announcements dropping left and right, so here’s an attempt to keep up with it all. Hit the links for more information.

From the DC All In Panel earlier this week came news of a tie-in title for the big DC K.O. event that DC announced last week — and it involves a whole lot of fighting and a whole lot of Robins.

According to reports from the panel, Knightfight by Joshua Williamson and Dan Mora “explores Batman’s worst nightmare: what if the Robins all became Batmen in twisted alternate futures?”

Yes, Dan Mora is adding another book to his schedule, and still killing it:

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Scott Snyder, Joshua Williamson + more pit hero against hero in ‘DC K.O.’

The DC All In event series will see heroes battling in a tournament for the honor of becoming King Omega.

Now here’s something we can get behind — DC has announced DC K.O., a new event series that features DC heroes in a smash’em up brawl-for-all style tournament, with enough power to rival Darkseid as the prize.

Scott Snyder will write the five-issue series, joined by artist Javi Fernandez. Joshua Williamson, meanwhile, will serve as Snyder’s tag-team partner and write several of the tie-in titles, including a prologue called Justice League: The Omega Act.

DC K.O. is a knock-down, drag-out fight between all your favorite DC Super Heroes in a cosmic tournament to save the universe from Darkseid,” said Snyder. “Darkseid has evolved into something bigger and stronger than ever.”

“He’s destroyed the future,” added Williamson. “There’s no future for the DC Universe because of what he’s done—the heroes’ only shot is to stop him in the present.”

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Slugfest | Prepare for the ‘Summer of Superman’ in DC’s April solicitations

Plus: Fire & Ice, ‘We Are Yesterday’ and an uncrackable case for the Dark Knight!

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you. This edition focuses on DC’s April 2025 solicitations. Hit the links for more information.

With James Gunn’s Superman film arriving this summer, it’s no surprise that the Man of Steel is front and center in DC’s publishing plans for the year. The “Summer of Superman” will officially kick off in April with Summer of Superman Special #1.

The one-shot will be written by three writers — incoming Superman Unlimited writer Dan Slott, current Superman writer Joshua Williamson and all-around Krypton-ologist Mark Waid. They’ll be joined by artist Jorge Jiménez for a three-act story that will feature the wedding of Lana Lang and John Henry Irons.

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Slugfest | Unwrapping DC’s December solicitations

Find Challengers of the Unknown, New Gods, Superwoman and more under your Christmas tree this December.

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you. This edition focuses on the new titles debuting in DC’s December solicitations, which you can find here or here. Hit the links for more information.

By December we’ll be a couple of months into DC’s All In publishing initiative, which not only features the publisher’s top talent working on top books — Mark Waid and Dan Mora doing a Justice League book, Tom Taylor and Mikel Janín on Detective Comics, etc. — but also the return of some quirky titles with new twists.

For instance, I didn’t have a new Metamorpho title or the first Two-Face title on my bingo card for 2024, but here we are. And here’s another one: Challengers of the Unknown will return in a new title by Christopher Cantwell and Sean Izaakse, and they’re getting a few new members — namely Wonder Woman, Superman and Batman.

As you can see on Mike Deodato’s cover for the first issue, DC’s Trinity may be joining the team, but they’ll be donning the traditional Challenger outfits:

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Slugfest | DC’s October solicitations bring new creative teams + storylines

Plus: A new Creature Commandos title by David Dastmalchian and Jesus Hervas!

DC’s October solicitations arrived this week, showcasing all the new storylines and changes to creative team that Scott Snyder and Joshua Williamson promised in their video earlier in the week. Yes, the sun has set on the Dawn of DC, and now we’re moving into the All In era.

 I pulled out some of the highlights below. To see DC’s full solicitations, you can find them over on The Beat.

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DC reveals more details on their ‘All In’ line-ups

The publisher has shared creative teams and cover art for three Absolute Universe titles, along with plans for several DCU series in the post-‘Absolute Power’ era.

If you missed the YouTube video yesterday, DC has revealed their next publishing initiative, All In, which will see several creative team changes and the birth of a whole new universe. Headed up by Scott Snyder and Joshua Williamson, the Absolute Universe will come into being thanks to Darkseid in October’s All In one-shot.

And today DC revealed some of the creative teams you can expect to see on some of the Absolute titles and the regular DC titles.

Starting first with the DC Absolute Universe — which is what they’re calling it in the press release, so we can assume that’s the official name — the line will launch with Absolute Batman by Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta, as revealed yesterday. The first issue will come out Oct. 9. It’ll be followed by Kelly Thompson and Hayden Sherman’s reinvention of Wonder Woman “from the ground up” in Absolute Wonder Woman #1, due out Oct. 23. Then you have Jason Aaron and Rafa Sandoval launching Absolute Superman #1 on Nov. 6.

“The creation of the AbsoluteUniverse is how I always imagined coming back to DC, and DC All In will be a great jumping-on point for new readers as well as lapsed fans to discover new stories to love and the chance to explore the new directions in store for DC’s core series lineup,” Snyder said in the press release.

Here’s more details and cover art for those titles, along with several DCU titles (which they refer to as the “Core Line” in the press release):

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Joshua Williamson + Scott Snyder are ‘All In’ on DC this fall

DC will launch the Absolute Universe this October, a new line of comics spearheaded by Snyder and Williamson.

Joshua Williamson and Scott Snyder took to YouTube today to announce DC’s next big publishing initiative, the Absolute Universe, as well as DC All In, a one-shot coming in October that will introduce a new universe of DC characters as well as spotlight upcoming storylines in the regular DCU.

If that’s confusing, think of it like this: DC is launching their own version of the Ultimate Universe, which will run parallel to the regular DC Universe. It’s creation, though, is part of the story in DC All In.

Williamson and Snyder will co-write the DC All In one-shot flipbook, which will feature art by Daniel Sampere and Wes Craig. Sampere’s story will focus on the post-Absolute Power DC Universe, while Craig’s will introduce the Absolute Universe — which has an interesting origin.

“If the main universe is sort of predicated on Superman energy right … then this universe is kind of founded on Darkseid energy,” Snyder said, which he described as chaotic, dangerous and wild.

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A ‘G.I. Joe’ ongoing series set in the Energon Universe will launch this fall

Joshua Williamson, Tom Reilly and Jordie Bellaire bring ‘a bold new vision’ of G.I. Joe and Cobra to comics in November.

Following the series of miniseries featuring Duke, Cobra Commander, Scarlett and Destro, Skybound has announced a new ongoing series featuring the war between G.I. Joe and the villainous Cobra. G.I. Joe, set in the Energon Universe alongside Void Rivals and Transformers, will launch in November.

Writer Joshua Williamson, artist Tom Reilly and colorist Jordie Bellaire will bring the Joe team together under the command of Conrad Hauser, Codename Duke, “to battle the rising power of the mysterious Cobra in the aftermath of the Autobots and Decepticons’ arrival on Earth.” It will be published alongside G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, which continues the continuity of the original Marvel (and later IDW) title launched in the 1980s that does not tie into the bigger universe Skybound has built.

“Finally! The team is together! The response to the mini-series that led to this moment has been phenomenal, it’s been exciting to see lifelong fans of the iconic series and new readers come together to support G.I. JOE in the Energon Universe,” Williamson said. “What has come before was just a glimpse into the massive world full of action and drama that we’re bringing with the new ongoing series. Now it’s time to amp up the story as newly formed G.I. Joe and Cobra meet for the first time! Our first issue rocks the Energon Universe in major ways with big moments we’ve been dying to unleash. Tom and Jordie are killing it and bringing the heat with every page. You do not want to miss G.I. JOE #1. Yo Joe!” 

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DC announces big plans for ‘Action Comics’ in 2024

Those plans include Bizarro, a Brainiac crossover event and Jason Aaron.

DC revealed big plans for their flagship title, Action Comics, in 2024 this weekend at the New York Comic Con. In what they’re calling the Superman Superstars initiative — which even has its own logo, shown above — Action will feature rotating creative teams telling stories about the Superman Family, starting in January with a new story by Jason Aaron and John Timms featuring the return of Bizarro.

“I’ve been writing comics for almost 20 years, and I’ve certainly enjoyed my share of special moments and exciting projects along the way, but getting to write Superman for the very first time, in the pages of Action Comics no less, the one that started it all, goes down as one of the absolute most significant honors of my career,” said Aaron. “So the amazing John Timms and I are doing our very best to give readers a Superman tale full of action and surprises, the most Bizarro of all Bizarro stories, in what Bizarro himself would call the worst Bizarro story ever told’!”

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