Tag: Martin Simmonds

The first meeting of ‘The Graveyard Club’ convenes in September

R.L. Stine and Carola Borelli bring fresh YA scares this fall.

Welcome to Graves End, a town with a curious trait — it’s surrounded by graveyards. That’s the perfect meeting place for The Graveyard Club, a new project coming from horror master R.L. Stine, artist Carola Borelli and BOOM! Studios.

“In The Graveyard Club graphic novels, the teens hang out in the graveyard–because it might be the safest place in town,” Stine said. “Their town is surrounded by graveyards. And swarms of red-eyed bats come swooping out every night. And that’s just the BEGINNING of the horror! I’m having a lot of fun with this series!”

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Christian Ward takes Batman into a ‘City of Madness’ in a new Black Label series

The three-issue series will feature the Court of Owls and a twisted version of Batman.

DC’s solicitations for October arrived today, revealing a project from Christian Ward that originated from a social media post last year.

“One day I’ll do my cosmic horror Batman,” Ward wrote on Twitter (0r X, or whatever it’s called now). Someone was listening, because that image spawned a three-issue, 48-page Black Label series from DC, and it kicks off Oct. 10.

With this being the day after San Diego, it might seem odd that DC wouldn’t have mentioned such a major project at the convention, but there is something appropriate about Ward essentially announcing it on Twitter. Here’s the original tweet:

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Tynion + Simmonds resurrect ‘Dracula’ at Skybound

The Universal Monsters version comes to comics in October.

Count Dracula returns to comics as part of a partnership between Skybound and Universal Products & Experiences, which manages the Universal Monsters license. James Tynion IV and Martin Simmonds will bring Dracula, R.M. Renfield, Mina Seward, Doctor John Seward, Van Helsing and more to the comics page in the four-issue Universal Monsters: Dracula miniseries.

“A few times in my life I’ve had the pleasure of writing about one of the great pop culture icons, but there is something singular about Dracula that made this opportunity too good to pass up,” Tynion said. “The challenge in front of Martin and I is to take the bloody heart of the Universal Pictures classic and find a bold new way to bring the character to life. It’s been one of the most exciting creative challenges of my life, and I am phenomenally excited for you to see the horrors we have in store for you.” 

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The end is just the beginning in W. Maxwell Prince’s ‘Swan Songs’

The co-creator of ‘Ice Cream Man’ kicks off a new anthology series about the end of things.

W. Maxwell Prince has proven himself a master of the one-issue story, between the anthology series Ice Cream Man and Haha. Prince will continue this “one-shot formula” in July with the launch of Swan Songs, which will tell one-issue stories about endings.

The series will be published by Image Comics.

Martin Simmonds, artist of The Department of Truth, will join Prince for the first issue. The series will naturally start with the end of the world. Caspar Wijngaard will draw the second issue, which the artist says is about the end of a marriage. Filipe Andrade will also draw a future issue.

“It’s a shame that everything has to end,” said Prince. “But dem’s the rules.”

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Steve Niles + Damien Worm return to IDW for ‘Brynmore’

The five-issue gothic horror series begins in June.

Steve Niles, writer of the first IDW comic in 30 Days of Night, will return to the publisher for a new miniseries this summer titled Brynmore. He’s joined by artist Damien Worm, who he previously collaborated with on October Faction (also an IDW title).

The five-issue series is set on a remote island plagued by a sinister generational curse, as a prodigal son returns to his hometown to reconnect with his daughter — and ends up battling “malefic forces beyond his control.”

​​“I’ve had the title Brynmore in mind for years, waiting for the right story,” Niles said. “This one just felt right. It has themes that I love to work with often: being an outsider in a strange land, the struggles of a single parent, plus a good dose of horror and scares. One of the big motivations for Brynmore was getting to work with Damien Worm again. I love working with him, and he’s really bringing out the big guns for this series.”

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Kindt + Jenkins cough up a ‘Hairball’ at Dark Horse

Apologies for the headline; it had to be done.

Writer Matt Kindt will team again with artist Tyler Jenkins and colorist Hilary Jenkins for Hairball, a new horror drama centered on a family’s cat, Bestie.

The new miniseries will fall under Kindt’s Flux House imprint, which was announced earlier this year.

“I’ve written stories of international intrigue and locked room murder mysteries, but in 20 years of making comics, I’ve rarely been compelled to create a horror story,” Kindt said. “And for good reason. I was actually sick to my stomach when I finished writing the end of issue 1. I grossed myself out. I knew that I’d need someone fearless to draw it. (There was no way I was going to.) I knew that Tyler was the perfect artist and co-creator for the story. And when Tyler and Hilary started sending his pages in, it was just as horrible as I’d imagined —in the very best way.”

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Slugfest | Beware Doom the Living Planet!

Check out news and announcements about ‘Avengers Assemble,’ Miracleman, ‘Space Job,’ Spawn and more.

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you from comics creators, publishers and more. Hit the links for more information.

Marvel’s upcoming Avengers Assemble crossover is set to kick off in Avengers Assemble Alpha later this month, but Marvel’s already teasing what’s in store for the big multiversal event in February.

Those plans include more info on Avenger Prime, the “most important Avenger in the Multiverse,” as well as the introduction of Doom the Living Planet! You’d have to have a pretty big Ego to turn yourself into a planet, so it’s no surprise to see a multiverse version of Dr. Doom has done exactly that.

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Mind control goes viral in Kaplan + Pearson’s ‘Mindset’

The new Vault Comics series debuts in June.

Vault Comics will publish the “new psychedelic sci-fi thriller” Mindset, written by Zack Kaplan (Eclipse, Port of Earth), drawn and colored by Eisner-winning Blue In Green artist John J. Pearson, lettered by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou and designed by Tim Daniel. 

“Mindset is a mind-bending sci-fi thriller about four wide-eyed grad students who discover mind control and put it in an app, and a dark journey that follows, twists and turns, murder and mystery, love and heartbreak through the absurd world of overnight technopreneurs and social media empires,” said Kaplan. “But the series is really about a dilemma I think we all feel today. How do we use devices, social media and apps to connect with each other and feel influential without allowing the technology to influence the very choices we make and thoughts we have? We believe the timing for the story couldn’t be more socially reverent, since we’ve increased our dependency more than ever on technology, but as Silicon Valley tightens its digital grip on our behavior, mind control exists right now.”

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Image announces ‘The Department of Truth’ by Tynion IV + Simmonds

New ongoing series will follow a conspiracy theorist and the organization dedicated to covering them up.

James Tynion IV seems to be competing for the title of comic’s busiest writer (if he hasn’t claimed it already). This week Image Comics announced a new title by the writer of Wynd and Batman, among many others, titled The Department of Truth.

Tynion will team with artist Martin Simmonds, whose work you may know from Friendo, Dying is Easy and Punk’s Not Dead. They’re joined by letterer Aditya Bidikar and designer Dylan Todd.

“It is the story of a young man named Cole Turner recruited into a shadowy organization within the United States government that makes sure that conspiracy theories stay conspiracy theories, a job that will push him to his own limits as he grapples with the nature of truth, history, the human condition and the American dream,” Tynion wrote in his email newsletter. “It is a conspiracy thriller, told with a horror edge.”

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Check out a bunch of covers from upcoming Black Crown titles

Artwork for ‘Assassinistas,’ ‘Kid Lobotomy’ and more revealed at Comic-Con International in San Diego.

Yesterday in San Diego Shelly Bond announced three more titles that’ll launch in a few months from her Black Crown imprint at IDW Publishing, joining the already-announced Kid Lobotomy. If you’re curious what those titles will look like, wonder no more and check out some art below.

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Shelly Bond’s Black Crown expands with three more titles

New comics by Tini Howard, Gilbert Hernadez, David Barnett and Martin Simmonds, plus an anthology, set to debut after ‘Kid Lobotomy.’

When Shelly Bond’s Black Crown comics line was announced earlier this year, we were told “Black Crown” not only referred to the line’s name, but also to a pub that would anchor this shared, creator-owned universe. In April we found out that Kid Lobotomy will be the first Black Crown title, and now we know three more that will join it at the bar:

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