Dark Horse teams with synthwave band The Midnight for a new graphic novel

Zack Kaplan, Stephen Thompson and Jahnoy Lindsay will bring the band’s music to the comics page.

Music and comics will collide in a new graphic novel this fall, as the synthwave band The Midnight teams with Dark Horse for The Midnight: Shadows.

Written by Zack Kaplan with art by Stephen Thompson and artist Jahnoy Lindsay, the graphic novel is about a soon-to-be father who gets literally sucked into a cyberpunk video game from his youth called The Midnight. Colorist Thiago Rocha and letterer DC Hopkins round out the team.

“Before I got the privilege to write this graphic novel, I was a fan,” Kaplan said. “Intoxicated by the immersive beats and heartfelt lyrics since their very first demo. It was no surprise to me to see them become one of today’s best synthwave bands. Their presence is so narrative that it was dying to be shared in this form. And it’s been a joy to bring it all to comic life, to partner with Dark Horse for such a vivid and mind-bending series, and to create this electrifying world with a powerhouse creative team, Stephen, Jahnoy, Thiago and DC, that will blow your mind with one visually stunning page after the next. Whether you are a listener of the music or you just love a good sci-fi adventure, we cannot wait to take you to that place half in dark and half in light, where arcade dreams are a reality, where heroes battle monsters. Get ready for a truly epic, synth wave adventure.”

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Andre Frattino will tell Tom Petty’s ‘origin story’ in a new graphic novel

University Press of Florida will publish ‘Tom Petty’s Dreamville: A Graphic Novel’ in September.

University Press of Florida will publish Tom Petty’s Dreamville: A Graphic Novel by Andre Frattino, the creator of A Land Remembered: A Graphic Novel and Tokyo Rose: Zero Hour.

The biographical graphic novel will tell the story of the early life of the late singer, whose legendary musical career produced such hits as American Girl, Free Falling and Mary Jane’s Last Dance (which isn’t about Spider-Man). Petty grew up in Gainesville, Florida in the 1970s, and Frattino interviewed several of Petty’s friends and fellow musicians to put the story together.

“Tom Petty’s origin story felt like a road trip adventure, with our hero encountering many pitfalls and peaks on his journey to discover himself and his music,” Frattino said. “It was unlike any rock star origin story I had ever heard, and it happened in my own backyard! It wasn’t so much an interest to me to tell this story…as it was a dream.”

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Exclusive: ‘Black Cat Social Club’ preview and trailer

The new graphic novel by Christopher Painter, Bob Quinn and more will arrive from Humanoids on April 25.

Today we have an exclusive first look at the trailer for Black Cat Social Club, fresh twist on the story of musicians selling their soul to the devil, coming out on April 25 from Humanoids. Take a look:

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Vault will publish music-inspired graphic novels through their Headshell imprint

Pete Wentz, Def Leppard, Metallica and more will rock their way into comics via the new imprint.

Vault Comics will team with several musicians for a new line of graphic novels called Headshell. Songwriter and producer Richard Rudolph, who has worked with everyone from Stevie Wonder to 2Pac, will “guide strategy and artist relations” for the new imprint.

According to the press release, Headshell will launch with Dying Inside from Fall Out Boy co-founder Pete Wentz, co-writer Hannah Klein and Witchblood artist Lisa Sterle. Alternative Press has a first look at the artwork.

“Creating a new graphic novel with Vault and one of my favorite writers, Hannah Klein, has been an insane experience–in the best possible way,” Wentz said. “Between her perspective, honesty, and super dark sense of humor and Vault’s creative support throughout the entire process, I’m excited to share it with the world soon.”

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Quick Hits | Graphic novels face scrutiny in Texas schools

Plus: Todd McFarlane wants ‘Batman/Spawn’ to be the biggest comic of the century! ‘Still Alive’ wins another award! And a look at Alan Moore’s funny funnybooks!

Book challenges | A police officer employed by Katy ISD, a suburb of Houston, Texas, removed a copy of the graphic novel Flamer by Mike Curato from high school shelves after a woman filed a criminal complaint alleging the district was providing “harmful” material to minors. The removal occurred last month, when school wasn’t in session, and was later returned to shelves after police concluded “the claim was unsubstantiated.”

The book had previously been challenged, reviewed and approved for high schools by a committee after earlier challenges by parents — although it was removed from junior high shelves at the time. The woman also threatened to report the district to the Texas Rangers if they didn’t remove the book.

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Weird Al’s songs come to comics, courtesy of Z2

Songs by the legendary singer will be adapted into comics by Peter Bagge, Michael Kupperman, Ryan Dunlavey, Bob Fingerman and more.

Weird Al Yankovic, the legendary parody/humor songwriter known for such classics as “Eat It” and “Amish Paradise,” will have his songs adapted into comics by some of the industry’s best talent.

Z2 Comics will release The Illustrated Al: The Songs of “Weird Al” Yankovic as a softcover and hardcover, featuring cover art by Drew Friedman and Mike & Laura Allred.

“It’s such an incredible honor to see my song lyrics brought to life by some of my all-time favorite cartoonists and illustrators,” Yankovic said. “I’ve actually been playing the long game—the only reason I spent four decades in the music business is so that one day I could have my very own graphic novel.”

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Smash Pages Playlist: Happy Batman Day

Get ready to dance — Batdance! — with a list of songs about your favorite millionaire vigilante.

Break out your cape and cowl and get ready to do the Batusi — it’s Batman Day, as declared by the fine folks at DC and Warner Bros., so we’re back with another Smash Pages playlist featuring songs about the Dark Knight, his partners and even his villains.

So maybe skip going to the movies with your parents today and instead stay in and jam to songs about Bill Finger and Bob Kane’s most famous creation. Enjoy, and let us know if we missed any of your favorite Spider-tunes in the comments below.

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Rosenberg + Boss’s ‘What’s the Furthest Place From Here?’ coming in November

Each issue will come in a standard edition and a deluxe one that will include a vinyl single.

Matthew Rosenberg and Tyler Boss, creators of 4 Kids Walk into a Bank, are getting the band back together for What’s the Furthest Place From Here?, which will debut from Image Comics in November.

The series was originally teased during the 2018 Image Expo and is about a gang of children living in the ruins of a post-apocalyptic wasteland, searching for hope and vinyl. It’ll kick off with a triple-sized first issue, and they’re also planning a deluxe version that’ll include a vinyl single with new music from Jawbreaker’s Blake Schwarzenbach and California rock band Joyce Manor.

“We knew whatever we did after 4 Kids would have to be something ambitious and crazy, but we also needed it to feel like something that only Tyler and I could make,” Rosenberg said. “I feel like we really accomplished all of that here.”

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Smash Pages Playlist: Happy Spider-Man Day

Take a look, overhead: Smash Pages presents your 2021 Spider-Man playlist.

According to the calendar, today is Spider-Man Day, based on the cover date of Amazing Fantasy #15, which saw the debut of Peter Parker as Spider-Man. Now if you ask some folks, Spider-Man Day should technically fall in either May or June, when the comic was actually published back in 1962, but we’ll go with the socially acceptable Aug. 1 — because who wants to argue with what’s trending on Twitter?

In any event, Happy Spider-Man Day; in honor of the wall-crawler, we’ve put together a playlist of songs that pay tribute to Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s most famous creation. Enjoy, and let us know if we missed any of your favorite Spider-tunes in the comments below.

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‘Dark Nights: Death Metal’ soundtrack available now

Mastodon, Manchester Orchestra, Soccer Mommy, Grey Daze and more provide tracks inspired by the comic series.

The soundtrack for Dark Nights: Death Metal has arrived on digital music platforms, featuring new tracks by Mastodon, Denzel Curry, Manchester Orchestra, Chelsea Wolfe, IDLES, Soccer Mommy, Grey Daze and more.

The soundtrack serves as a companion piece to the DC’s big event series by Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo and man others. It was executive produced by Tyler Bates, and each track features lyrics directly inspired by the text. Bates also produced a series of stop-motion comics featuring some of the songs with voice overs.

Here’s the track by Soccer Mommy, which was released as a single and video:

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‘Death Metal’ soundtrack arrives this summer

Mastodon, Denzel Curry, Manchester Orchestra and more provide tracks for the album that ties into the DC Comics event series.

As announced at last year’s DC FanDome, Dark Nights: Death Metal is getting a soundtrack, a joint production between DC and Loma Vista Records. The soundtrack will arrive on digital platforms on June 18, with a physical release set for July 16.

The album is executive produced by Tyler Bates and will feature tracks from Mastodon, Denzel Curry, Manchester Orchestra, Chelsea Wolfe, IDLES, Soccer Mommy and more.

“This soundtrack and motion-comic series was made by fans of comics, for fans of comics and music,” said Bates, who previously worked on the soundtracks for the films John Wick, Guardians of the Galaxy and Watchmen. “Dark Nights: Death Metal is next-level storytelling by two incredibly talented artists in Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo. The visual aspect of this comic is entirely compelling, and resonates throughout each song on the soundtrack.”

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Afua Richardson’s new series about mermaids will emerge in May

The Eisner-winning creator will write and draw ‘Aquarius: The Book of Mer.’

Artist Afua Richardson will dive into a new project at Image Comics this May — Aquarius: The Book of Mer, a quarterly series that will draw from mermaid myths and legends from all over the world.

“I like to look into the origins of things and find what is knowable of our history philosophy, and metaphors that may represent natural phenomena,” Richardson told ComicBook.com. “When looking into the origins of mermaids there seemed to be such a vast culture stretching everywhere I looked. Each land having a flood myth with common themes of half human half aquatic beings that pulled on the strings of nature and the emotions of humans. Where did it come from? What were their names and characteristics? It’s so easy to find what separates us these days. Leave it up to legend to reveal the rivers of our mythologies share a common source of inspiration.”

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