Can’t Wait for Comics | The X-Statix return, a Reckoning War begins and the Monkey Prince debuts

New comics and graphic novels arrive this week by Dan Slott, Carlos Magno, Peter Milligan, Michael + Laura Allred, Gene Luen Yang, Bernard Chang, Cullen Bunn, Brian Hurtt, Tyler Crook, Amy Chu, Sarah Stern, Kendra Wells and more.

Welcome to Can’t Wait for Comics, your guide to what comics are arriving in comic book stores, bookstores and on digital this week.

I’ve pulled out some of the highlights below, but for the complete list of everything you might find at your local comic shop and on digital this week, you’ll want to check out one or more of the following:

As a reminder, things can change and what you find on the above lists may differ from what’s actually arriving in your local shop. So always check with your comics retailer for the final word on availability.

Continue reading “Can’t Wait for Comics | The X-Statix return, a Reckoning War begins and the Monkey Prince debuts”

‘LaGuardia’ wins the Hugo Award

In the “Best Graphic Story or Comic” category, the Berger Books title by Nnedi Okorafor, Tana Ford and James Devlin took home the award.

LaGuardia by Nnedi Okorafor, Tana Ford and James Devlin has won the 2020 Hugo Award in the “Best Graphic Story or Comic” category.

This is the second major award for the comic in the past two weeks, as it follows the book’s Eisner win in the “Best Graphic Album”—Reprint category.

Set in an alternative world where aliens have come to Earth and integrated with society, LaGuardia features a pregnant Nigerian-American doctor who has just returned to New York with an illegal alien plant named ”Letme Live” through LaGuardia International and Interstellar Airport’s customs and security. There, she and Letme become part of a growing population of African and shape-shifting alien immigrants, battling against interrogation, discrimination and travel bans.

Continue reading “‘LaGuardia’ wins the Hugo Award”

Nominees announced for the 2020 Hugo Awards

“Monstress” receives its fourth nomination in four years, and is joined by “Die,” “Paper Girls, “Mooncakes” and more.

The nominees were announced via livestream today for the 2020 Hugo Awards, which includes a “Best Graphic Story or Comic” category. Four of the six nominees were published by Image, while Dark Horse’s Berger Books imprint and Oni Press each received one.

Presented annually since 1955, The Hugo Awards recognize the best science fiction in books, comics, movies, TV and more. The Hugo Awards are voted on by members of the World Science Fiction Convention every year. The Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story has been awarded since 2009, with previous winners including volumes of Saga, Ms. Marvel, Girl Genius and Sandman: Overture. Monstress has won the award for the last three years and is up for the award again this year.

The nominees are:

Continue reading “Nominees announced for the 2020 Hugo Awards”

Comics Lowdown: Batton Lash, Ron Smith pass away

Plus: News on Grant Morrison, Tintin, Stan Lee and more.

Batton Lash, the creator of the long-running comic-strip-turned-comic-book Wolff and Byrd, Counselors of the Macabre (later re-titled Supernatural Law) passed away Jan. 12 at the age of 65 from brain cancer.

Lash’s comics career began in the late 1970s when Wolff and Byrd began running as a weekly comic strip in The Brooklyn Paper and then later in The National Law Journal. In the 1990s, he and his wife, Jackie Estrada, formed Exhibit A Press, which began publishing Wolff and Byrd comics under the title Supernatural Law. It later migrated to the web. His other works included writing the Archie Meets The Punisher crossover as well as Bongo Comics’ Radioactive Man book, which received an Eisner Award in 2002. He also collaborated with James Hudnall on Obama Nation, a conservative political comic strip that appeared on one of Andrew Breitbart’s websites.

Many of the creators and industry professionals who knew Lash have started to share their remembrances, including Heidi MacDonald and Rob Salkowitz. The Comics Reporter has a round-up of more of them.

Continue reading “Comics Lowdown: Batton Lash, Ron Smith pass away”