It’s open season on dragons in Orlando + Huang’s ‘The Scale Trade’

Steve Orlando and Megan Huang hunt the dragon hunters in the new title coming from Magma Comix in May.

Now that we’re a couple weeks into the Year of the Dragon, Magma Comix has officially announced The Scale Trade, the new modern fantasy series by Steve Orlando and Megan Huang. Magma mentioned it last month when the publisher started unveiling their 2024 slate.

In any event, the new series sounds great — set in a modern world where dragons still exist but are high on the endangered species list, one man takes a stand against the poachers and corrupt governments that want their scales.

“The Scale Trade was absolutely influenced by the depravity of the illegal exotic meat trade, poaching, and specifically the street-level vigilance against the abuse of horses and sale of horse meat in a variety of parts of the country,” said Orlando. “We wanted to talk about these things, but also thrill and excite on an elevated scale (no pun intended). So we built a world where dragons were part of the animal kingdom, where THEY, these creatures that awe us, were also some of the most valuable commodities in the world. It’s a modern fantasy—not high fantasy or low sword and sorcery. At the end of the day it’s about the way we as a species interact with nature—concepts bigger and older than us—and how we tend to commodify life on this planet. At the core, The Scale Trade is about heroic animal rescue. A man and his dog… if his dog was a majestic flying lizard.”

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Slugfest | Groo goes wild in a new miniseries

Plus: Batman Beyond, more Birdking, Thor vs. M.O.D.O.K., the return of ‘Fire Power,’ Hellfire Gala fashion and more.

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

Sergio Aragonés and Mark Evanier will reunite for Groo: In the Wild, a new miniseries that kicks off in July.

The duo is joined by letterer Stan Sakai and colorist Carrie Strachan for a story that sees the barbarian and his dog looking for food. Things go downhill from there, in typical Groo fashion.

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‘Batman: Urban Legends’ anthology title launches in March

First issue will feature stories about Batman and his entourage by Chip Zdarsky, Eddy Barrows, Stephanie Phillips and more.

DC has announced a new, monthly anthology title focused on Batman and all his Gotham City friends.

The first six issues will include a story by Chip Zdarsky and Eddy Barrows, featuring a team-up between Batman and the Red Hood.

“… this has been a ton of fun to work on,” Zdarsky said in his email newsletter. “I’m not going to lie, growing up on the comics, TV shows and movies, it was like Batman raised me. Like he was a father to me and I was simply another one of his Robins, trained to fight in daddy’s war.”

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Canadian creators unite for new ‘Alpha Flight’

A one-shot featuring three stories about the Canadian super team arrives in September.

Marvel is all about the one-shot specials in September, as they continue to celebrate their 80th birthday with special projects. You’ve got Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz doing New Mutants; Erik Larsen, Gerry Conway and Mark Bagley on Amazing Spider-Man; Roger Stern returning to Avengers; and, heck, you’ve even got Obnoxious the Clown in a Crazy one-shot.

But wait — there’s more! Also announced for September is a one-shot featuring a whole bunch of Canadian creators tackling Canada’s No. 1 team, Alpha Flight. Jim Zub, Scott Hepburn, Jed MacKay and more will contribute to Alpha Flight: True North.

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New Originals title from Zub + Dunbar debuts on comiXology

Jim Zub and Max Dunbar team up on ‘Stone Star,’ a five-issue miniseries.

They’ve been teasing it for days on Twitter, and today comiXology stealth-released a new title as part of their Originals line — Stone Star, by Jim Zub and Max Dunbar.

The science fiction story is set on a nomadic space ship called Stone Star that provides entertainment/arena-style combat to various planets, and stars a young thief, Dail, who gets in over his head — as young thieves tend to do.

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‘The Champions’ head for Weirdworld in issue #25

The team gets a D&D-esque makeover courtesy of Jim Zub, Sean Izaakse and Max Dunbar.

Remixing superheroes with different genres is a staple of the artform; who can forget Kurt Busiek and George Perez’s classic “Morgan Conquest,” which saw the Avengers recast as knights of the realm? It looks like the Champions will get their day in the sun as well, so I hope that armor breaths. Ms. Marvel and company will head to Weirdworld in issue #25 to save a couple of their teammates, courtesy of Jim Zub, Sean Izaakse and Max Dunbar.

“With two of their teammates having vanished into Weirdworld, the rest of the Champions have no choice but to follow them into that ever-changing landscape,” said SVP and Executive Editor Tom Brevoort in a press release. “However, the changes this will put them through are both profound and unexpected—and will lead to something new on the horizon.”

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