Thomas + Matthews team for the family crime drama ‘Mugshots’

The first issue of the miniseries arrives in May from Mad Cave Studios.

Writer Jordan Thomas and artist Chris Matthews will team up on Mugshots, a new miniseries coming from Mad Cave Studios in May. They’re joined by letterer by Lucas Gattoni on a crime series with a distinctly English flair.

Set in Brighton, the story starts with a kidnapping and soon devolves into “family trauma, betrayal, murder and revenge.”

Mugshots is an incredibly personal story for me. It’s set around where I grew up, contains experiences I’ve had and features characters based on people I’ve known, and it’s a collaboration with one of my best friends whom I’ve known since we were 11-years-old,” said Thomas. “Mainstream U.S. comics are full of crime stories set in the States but not many set in England by English creators, so I’m excited to see the reaction to this series we’ve poured our hearts and souls into and so happy that Mad Cave are the publisher putting the book out as they never put any restraints on what we wanted to do. It’s a tough, violent, complex, and sometimes funny 36-page per issue 4-parter – not many publishers out there would let you do that. It’s gonna be wild.”

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Papercutz will publish several Disney + Pixar graphic novels later this year

The Mad Cave imprint will release graphic novels featuring ‘Turning Red,’ ‘Encanto’ and more.

Papercutz, the kid’s graphic novel imprint owned by Mad Cave Studios, has announced a publishing partnership with Disney that’ll bring Turning Red, Phineas & Ferb, Encanto, Frozen and more to comics — or back to comics, in some cases — later this year.

The partnership isn’t too much of a surprise, as Papercutz announced a Free Comic Book Day title featuring Encanto and Turning Red for this year’s event. But the bench goes deeper than those two titles, as their plans include several titles that look like they may be reprints. For instance, the listing for Phineas & Ferb notes that it’s collecting comics that originally appeared in the Disney Presents magazine.

Here’s a rundown on what they plan to publish:

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Fawkes + Fuso impose a ‘Sanction’ on Mad Cave Studios

Set in the USSR in 1987, the crime story will see two detectives discover a body on New Year’s Day.

Ray Fawkes of In the Flood and Justice League Dark fame will team with Wyrd artist Antonio Fuso for Sanction, a new Soviet-era crime story coming from Mad Cave Studios in May.

They are joined by Dave Sharpe on colors and letterer Emilio Lecce on the project, which Fawkes said is “the gritty, high-impact, never-seen-this-before crime book I’ve always wanted to write.”

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Slugfest | Dark Horse resurrects ‘Lester of the Lesser Gods’

Plus: The Winx saga continues, Usagi turns 40, the Dreadnoks return and more!

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you. Hit the links for more information.

Lester of the Lesser Gods, which was originally published by Albatross Funnybooks, is finding new life at Dark Horse this year.

Written by Eric Powell and Lucky Yates, and featuring artwork by Gideon Kendall, Lester began life as unproduced animated short before finding its way to comics.

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Mad Cave announces ‘Love Me: A Romance Story’

Francesca Perillo and artist Stefano Cardoselli present a story of robot love.

Mad Cave Studios has announced a new romance/science fiction hybrid called Love Me: A Romance Story, which will arrive in stores this spring. It’s about a robot cabbie named JoJo who falls in love with Gilda, who is “entangled with the mafia.” Bulletproof heart, meet hollowpoint smile.

The story is by writer Francesca Perillo and artist Stefano Cardoselli. Cardoselli wrote and drew Don’t Spit in the Wind at Mad Cave last year, and if you haven’t checked that title out, I highly recommend it. They’re joined by colorist Lorenzo Scaramella and letterer Buddy Beaudoin.

Love Me is the story everyone can read: it’s about possibility, hope and diversity. It talks about the ability to wait for and recognize the love that comes after personal fulfillment,” Perillo said. “In fact, if you are fulfilled with your life, grateful for the work you have achieved, the conquests you have made and the friends you have chosen, despite the difficulties, you can leave room for true feelings even if they are scary and put you face to face with great challenges and strange emotions. Love me is the story of all those who have been able to wait for true love, in the seat of a taxi or at the table in a bar just like what happened to me.”

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FCBD 2024: Marvel’s ‘Blood Hunt,’ Spider-Man India, Dark Horse, Flash Gordon and more

Several publishers have revealed more about their plans for Free Comic Book Day 2024.

As we move into the new year, several companies have revealed additional details on their Free Comic Book Day plans for 2024. This year’s event will be held May 4 and will feature about 50 titles from various publishers.

And those publishers include Marvel, Dark Horse and Mad Cave, who have shared more about what to expect from this year’s titles. Let’s dig in …

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Comic strip news: Flash Gordon returns, Spider-Man canceled

Dan Schkade takes over Flash Gordon, bringing us new strips for the first time in 20 years.

This Sunday the Flash Gordon comic strip returned with new strips for the first time since 2003, both online and in print.

King Features has enlisted Dan Schkade, creator of Lavender Jack, to write and draw the strip. For the last 20 years King Features has offered reruns of the strip, as drawn by Jim Keefe (which can still be found online).

“The initial version of Flash I pitched was a little more purposefully a himbo,” Schkade told the Washington Post. Schkade won a competitive tryout earlier this year to take over the strip, and he agreed to make Flash less of a himbo and “a more classic, straightforward hero.”

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Dick Tracy will return to action at Mad Cave Studios

Michael Moreci, Alex Segura, Geraldo Borges and Chantelle Aimée Osman will bring the detective back to comics.

Mad Cave Studios has announced plans to launch a new comic featuring Dick Tracy, the legendary yellow coat-wearing detective who first debuted on the newspaper comic page in the 1930s.

Crime novelist and comics writer Alex Segura will co-write the title with Barbaric writer Michael Moreci, joined by No/One artist Geraldo Borges and creative consultant Chantelle Aimée Osman. Segura and Moreciwere tied to a Dick Tracy comic title at Archie Comics in 2017, but a licensing snafu put it on hold. In the press release, they, along with Osman, are listed as the “comics rights-holders” for Dick Tracy, which is owned by Tribune Content Agency.

“This has been a long time coming, and we are all so excited to bring our grounded, noir take on the Dick Tracy mythos to life at Mad Cave,” said Segura. “Michael and I have loved Dick Tracy, his stellar rogues gallery, and unforgettable supporting cast since we first became aware of the character as kids. It’s been a winding road to not only get the rights to publish new stories starring the iconic detective, and I’m so thankful that my journey with Chantelle and Michael brought us to Mad Cave. The stuff Geraldo is cooking up perfectly evokes the grounded, cinematic vibe we’re bringing to this origin story.”

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Mad Cave will unleash ‘Edenfrost’ in November

The new historical fantasy by Amit Tishler and Bruno Frenda is set in the Ukraine during the Russian Civil War.

Mad Cave Studios has announced plans to publish Edenfrost, an historical fiction/fantasy series written by Amit Tishler with art and colors by Bruno Frenda and letters by Taylor Esposito this fall.

“Edenfrost is a deeply personal and pertinent story, born from an amalgamation of my own philosophies, interests, family history and artistic passions,” Tishler said. “I wanted to create an epic journey that’s exciting and entertaining, but also delivers a nuanced and insightful message about the concept of identity.”

The story is set in the Ukraine during the Russian Civil War:

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Mad Cave teams with Tatsunoko Production for ‘Gatchaman’ comics

The anime that inspired ‘Battle of the Planets’ will return to comics in the U.S. next year.

Mad Cave Studios and Tatsunoko Production have announced that Mad Cave will bring Gatchaman back to the United States for a new Gatchaman series.

Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, or just Gatchaman for short, is a popular Japanese anime that first debuted in the early 1970s and was created by Tatsuo Yoshida. Those of a certain generation may remember Battle of the Planets, the American adaptation that was syndicated in the late 1970s and featured the same team, dubbed G-Force.

Gatchaman has entertained and influenced fans around the world for over 50 years, and it could not be a better time to introduce their futuristic world to a new generation of readers,” said Kaz Haruna, Tatsunoko Production director of international business. “Tatsunoko is absolutely excited to work with the team at Mad Cave Studios.”

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Flash Gordon will soar again at Mad Cave

The publisher plans both new and reprint titles, which will kick off next year.

Mad Cave Studios and King Features have announced plans for Mad Cave to publish new Flash Gordon comics, along with reprints of older material and graphic novels.

In addition Papercutz, the middle-grade imprint owned by Mad Cave, will publish new Flash Gordon comics aimed at that younger audience.

“As one of the first action heroes Flash Gordon has always been powerhouse in the comics universe,’ said Christina Nix Lynch, King Features’ licensing director. “We’re delighted to have a partner like Mad Cave Studios on board who are true Flash fans as well as publishing experts. This program will bring a long-awaited, regular stream of new and legacy content to generations of readers.”

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Matt Emmons unleashes ‘Crusader’ at Mad Cave

The new series begins in September.

Mad Cave has announced a new series by writer/artist Matt Emmons — Crusader, the story of a Templar knight who has to battle his way through a high-fantasy world. He’s joined by letterer Andriy Lukin on the project.

“I’ve been trying to capture the feeling of a pulpy, fun adventure story that embodies everything I’ve loved about the genre, and I hope it translates,” Emmons said. “I’ve also been wanting to draw Pilgrim in action for years, so it’s very exciting to finally bring him to the page. Crusader has been a fun challenge!”

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