Kurt Busiek, Fabian Nicieza + Stephen Mooney bring ‘Free Agents’ to Image Comics

The new “superhero series with a twist” debuts in July.

Two veteran superhero writers will return to the genre with a fun concept. Kurt Busiek and Fabian Nicieza — who, between them, have written X-Men, Justice League, Avengers, Superman, X-Force, Astro City, New Warriors and countless other superheroes — are teaming up with artist Stephen Mooney, colorist Triona Tree Farrell and letterer Tyler Smith for Free Agents.

“It’s a superhero series with a twist,” Busiek said. “The Agents were done. They were retired, and had started building new lives, going to college, making themselves a place here on Earth. And then it all starts coming back.”

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Cantwell’s run on ‘Iron Man’ will wrap up with the oversized ‘Iron Man’ #25

Marvel celebrates 650 issues of ‘Iron Man’ in November with stories by Christopher Cantwell, Angel Unzueta, Kurt Busiek and more.

November brings not only the 65oth issue of Iron Man, if you go by Marvel’s “legacy numbering” system, but also the finale of Christopher Cantwell’s run on the title.

Iron Man #25 is an “oversized celebration” of Iron Man, featuring stories by a variety of creators, including Murewa Ayodele, Dotun Akande, Kurt Busiek, Ben Dewey and more. But the main story will focus on “Iron Man Day” in New York, as Cantwell and Angel Unzueta bring their run to a close.

“I have come to love this guy so much. This book has been a highlight of my career,” Cantwell said on Twitter. “I will miss Tony. I already do.”

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‘Amazing Fantasy’ #1000 celebrates 60 years of Spidey

Neil Gaiman, Kurt Busiek, Dan Slott, Ho Che Anderson, Rainbow Rowell and more contribute stories to the anthology one-shot.

For the 60th anniversary of Spider-Man, Marvel will return him to his roots with a new issue of Amazing Fantasy featuring stories by Neil Gaiman, Kurt Busiek, Dan Slott, Jim Cheung, Olivier Coipel and more.

Amazing Fantasy #1000, which takes its name from the comic where Spider-Man first debuted, Amazing Fantasy #15, will be a giant-sized anthology one-shot. The stories will “explores the past and future of Amazing Spider-Man storytelling in tales that leave a profound impact on the Spider-Man mythos and showcase why Spidey is one of the most beloved heroes in history,” according to Marvel.com.

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Hero Initiative will bring ‘JLA/Avengers’ back into print

Marvel and DC’s biggest and arguably best crossover event returns to print next month in honor of artist George Perez.

JLA/Avengers, arguably one of the greatest comics crossover events ever and, hell, probably a contender for one of the greatest Avengers AND Justice League stories of all time, will find its way back into print later this year thanks to the Hero Initiative.

The organization announced a special limited-edition reprint collecting the stellar miniseries by Kurt Busiek and George Perez, with the intent to honor “one of George Pérez seminal bodies of work and his long-time support of Hero.” Perez is a founding member of their board of directors and has served as chair of its Disbursement Committee, and this of course follows the news from last year that the legendary artist was diagnosed with Stage 3 Pancreatic Cancer.

JLA/Avengers walked a long and winding road to publication, with many speed bumps and false starts along the way.

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The long-awaited return of ‘Astro City’

‘Astro City: That Was Then…’ asks the question, ‘Who were the Jayhawks?’

It’s been too long since new Astro City has hit comic book shelves, but that drought will end in March. Image Comics has announced Astro City: That Was Then…, a new one-shot by the team of Kurt Busiek, Brent Anderson, Alex Ross, Alex Sinclair and Comicraft.

Image Comics announced the return of Astro City to their publishing line last year — along with several other Busiek projects, like the Arrowsmith sequel and a new comic called Free Agents.

The story in the one-shot will delve into Astro City’s past, specifically the late 1960s — the era of the teenage sidekick. It also sets up the forthcoming Astro City series.

“It’s also wonderful to be back in the world of Astro City,” Busiek said back in October, when the new Image deal was announced. “Alex, Brent and I have been planning this for a long time—we’re introducing a teen-hero team, The Jayhawks (and more), in the special, and setting off a mystery as important to Astro City as what happened to the Silver Agent or the story of the Broken Man. Alex has designed a cornucopia of new characters, and Brent is going to town on the artwork. It’ll be a very fun ride—and yes, longtime readers, we will get to the story of the N-Forcer, I promise!” 

Here’s the cover:

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Image announces new ‘Astro City,’ ‘Arrowsmith’ + more from Kurt Busiek

The publisher will reprint several older Busiek comics, as well as new series like ‘Free Agents.’ Plus, more ‘Autumnlands’!

Image Comics today has announced enough new Kurt Busiek projects to fill that empty space you’ve been saving on your bookshelf. In fact, you may need a bigger bookshelf …

Next year the publisher will launch new volumes of Astro City and Arrowsmith, as well as a new comic called Free Agents. Autumnlands, Busiek’s Image Comics series with artist Benjamin Dewey and Jordie Bellaire, will also return, and the publisher plans to release new editions of Shockrockets, The Wizard’s Tale and Superstar: As Seen on TV.

“I’m thrilled to be back at Image and glad to be working with Eric Stephenson and the whole crew here,” said Busiek. “Image is the best comics publisher for creator-owned work, so it’s very nice to be bringing my books together here, where they can be available as a group, supported by the team here—and sitting alongside such great series as Saga, The Walking Dead, Criminal, Savage Dragon and so many more. And not just because Image is only about 20 minutes from where I live, so I can actually drop by the place, once the pandemic is in the rearview. My creative partners and I are looking forward to a having a home for the work we’re doing now and lots of new ideas to come.”

Here’s a look at what to expect:

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Several of Kurt Busiek’s creator-owned series are coming to digital

‘Astro City,’ ‘Arrowsmith,’ ‘Shockrockets’ and more are coming to comiXology Aug. 4, courtesy of Image Comics.

Several comic series written by Kurt Busiek over the last few decades are coming to digital courtesy of Image Comics, including collaborations with Stuart Immonen, Brent Anderson, Carlos Pacheco and more.

The titles will be added to comiXology on Aug. 4, followed by Apple Books and Google Play at a later date.

“I’m thrilled to be consolidating my creator-owned books at Image,” said Busiek. “Readers have been asking us to make these stories available again, so we’re glad to have them all together at last, and in great company with the rest of the Image line. This is just the beginning, too—there’ll be new material coming as well, but that’ll be another announcement for another day.”

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‘The Marvels’ returns to Marvel’s schedule in April

The new series by Kurt Busiek and Yildiray Cinar will offer ‘a smorgasbord of Marvel heroes and history.’

Marvel has announced that The Marvels, a new series by Kurt Busiek and Yildiray Cinar, will now arrive in April.

The series, which was described as telling “stories that span decades and range from grand adventure to intense human drama, from street-level to cosmic, starring Marvel’s very first heroes to the superstars of tomorrow,” was originally announced last year, but was delayed due to the pandemic.

Alex Ross, who Busiek previously worked with on the Marvels miniseries and Astro City — two projects whose influences seems to live on in this series — will provide the covers.

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Green Goblin returns in ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ #850

The oversized issue will feature the work of Nick Spencer, Ryan Ottley, Mark Bagley, Kurt Busiek, Humberto Ramos and more.

Marvel has announced that Amazing Spider-Man #850 — or #49 if you’re using the current numbering — will be an oversized issue with stories by a variety of creators, and will feature the return of the Green Goblin.

Those contributing include Nick Spencer, Ryan Ottley, Tradd Moore, Humberto Ramos, Mark Bagley, Kurt Busiek, Chris Bachalo, Saladin Ahmed and Aaron Kuder. Ottley will supply this issue’s cover.

“This is maybe the most action-packed and harrowing issue of Amazing Spider-Man ever,” said Executive Editor Nick Lowe. “There are so many twists and turns and Spidey has never had his back up against a wall like this before.”

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Kurt Busiek returns to Marvel for a history-spanning series

Busiek teams with artist Yildiray Cinar for a new series that could include just about any Marvel character.

Kurt Busiek’s known for his work on a lot of different comics, from Avengers to Arrowsmith, but his latest project seems to marry the themes from two of his past projects: Marvels and Astro City.

The Marvels, which will feature artwork by Yildiray Cinar, will tell “stories that span decades and range from grand adventure to intense human drama, from street-level to cosmic, starring Marvel’s very first heroes to the superstars of tomorrow,” according to Marvel.com.

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An end, and a new beginning, for ‘Astro City’

With the final issue of the current volume due out in April, writer Kurt Busiek reveals the title’s future.

DC Comics’ solicitations for April 2018 reveal that the latest volume of Astro City, currently published as a part of their Vertigo imprint, will end with issue #52. But don’t panic: writer Kurt Busiek says Astro City will be back, as a graphic novel rather than a comic series.

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