Tag: Nate Piekos

NYCC | Second Stranger Things + Dungeons & Dragons miniseries will debut next year

‘The Rise of Hellfire’ reveals the secret origin of Eddie Munson and his D&D group.

Dark Horse Comics has announced a second Stranger Things and Dungeons & Dragons miniseries, set to arrive in stores next year. Subtitled The Rise of Hellfire, the series will explore the D&D origins of popular season 4 character Eddie Munson, including how he first met Lucas, Dustin and Mike.

The four-issue miniseries will be co-written by Jody Houser, who co-wrote the previous Stranger Things and Dungeons & Dragons miniseries, and Eric Campbell, writer of Dungeons & Dragons Worlds & Realms. Diego Galindo also returns to illustrate it, joined by colorist Diana Sousa and letterer Nate Piekos. While the previous series was co-published by IDW, the Dungeons & Dragons license is now with Dark Horse Comics, which makes this their first official D&D comic.

“As soon as I saw Stranger Things season 4, I knew the story of Eddie Munson and the Hellfire Club would be a perfect sequel to our Stranger Things and Dungeons & Dragons miniseries,” Houser said. “Both Eric and I are very familiar with how D&D forges friendships and storytellers, and it’s been wonderful exploring Hawkins through that lens.”

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Dark Horse will publish Richard Corben’s final graphic novel

A special edition hardcover of ‘Dimwood’ will arrive next April.

As part of their publishing partnership with Fantagor Press, Dark Horse Comics has announced plans to release the final work of legendary underground artist Richard Corben, who passed away in 2020.

Dimwood is about a woman who returns to her childhood home to try to recover missing pieces in her memory. Written and illustrated by Corben and lettered by Nate Piekos, the hardcover includes a dust jacket, an introduction by author Joe Lansdale, an epilogue by project art director José Villarrubia and other bonus material.

“I’m excited to share his new story that he poured all of his imagination and artistic vision into,” his widow, Dona Corben, said in 2022 when the partnership was announced. “I’m incredibly proud of him as an artist and a person, and touched that his work means so much to so many.”

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Three Count | Happy Letterer Appreciation Day!

Here are three things to know, follow and watch on the day of the year we celebrate comic book letterers.

Three Count spotlights, as the title suggests, three things from comics today. And today is Letterer Appreciation Day, so make a big sound effect for your favorite letterer.

So what is a “letterer,” exactly? The person who fills the word balloons on a comic page? The designer of those great sound effects you see in an image? The saint making all those foreign language comics available to us in English? “One of the two most unheralded jobs in comics“? “The inkers for the writers“?

Maybe it’s all of the above. I also like this description from a Marvel.com article by Meagan Damore: “…letterers are the graphic artists who take the writer’s words and add them to the artwork, but their job extends beyond the simple transfer from script to the published page. Letterers also control pacing, convey emphasis, create sound effects, distinguish spoken words from thoughts and so much more.” Most modern comics are created collaboratively, and letterers are an important piece of the puzzle, bringing together the words and the art in a way that doesn’t hamper or overpower either. Quite frankly, you couldn’t have comics without them (except G.I. Joe #21, and even then, who added the title and credits to that first page, hmmm?).

So in appreciation of letterers, here are three things to know, follow and watch on Letterer Appreciation Day:

1. To know: Letterer Appreciation Day falls on Gaspar Saladino’s birthday

According to lettering living legend Todd Klein, Gaspar Saladino is “one of the greatest comics letterers of all time.” Saladino worked in the comics industry for about 60 years, lettering comics like Romance Trail, Strange Adventures, Mystery in Space, Justice League of America, The Flash, Showcase, Iron Man, The Avengers, Tales to Astonish, Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man and many more.

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The Minor Threats universe continues to expand this year with ‘The Brood’

Heath Corson, I.N.J Culbard and Nate Piekos introduce the dysfunctional family of the world’s greatest villain.

Patton Oswalt, Jordan Blum and Scott Hepburn’s Minor Threats line-up will expand again in December with From the World of Minor Threats: The Brood.

The new series will be written by screenwriter Heath Corson, who worked on TV’s Animal Kingdom and He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. He’ll be joined by artist I.N.J Culbard (Tales from the Umbrella Academy: You Look Like Death, Salamandre), and letterer Nate Piekos. “The Brood” refers to the family of about Napoleon Archimedes, the world’s greatest supervillain, who is ready to pass the family business onto one of his three kids. It follows in the footsteps of the original Minor Threats miniseries and its sequel, as well as the spin-off series Barfly and The Alternates.

“The two major influences were Succession and then Wes Anderson’s Royal Tenenbaums, which you can very much see in Ian’s art and color palette,” said Corson. “The idea came when I was watching the film and thinking: What if this was the continuing story of Gene Hackman’s Lex Luthor? What if he married Ms. Teschmacher, had three children, and tried to raise them in the family business? So, Napleon’s brood was always his big idea: Have a dynasty. Eventually, you’ll outlive the heroes… AND WIN.”

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Gerard Way, Shaun Simon + Chris Weston check into a care center for the bizarre this summer

‘Paranoid Gardens’ combines ‘Kafkaesque nightmares with sweet Silver Age reveries.’

Gerard Way and Shaun Simon return to comics this summer with Paranoid Gardens, a six-issue miniseries coming from Dark Horse Comics. The writing team behind The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys: National Anthem team with Judge Dredd artist Chris Weston on the series, which Weston said “combines Kafkaesque nightmares with sweet Silver Age reveries.”

“I’m excited to be back with my incredibly handsome and talented brother-from-another-basement Shaun Simon penning a story that’s really special to us, and honored the masterful Chris Weston joined us to create a visually powerful and emotionally tangible physical object that is this comic,” said Way. “I’m now more complete getting to share something we’ve wanted to for a very long time, and working with this fantastic group of individuals in the process.”

They’re joined by Hellboy colorist Dave Stewart and letterer Nate Piekos on the new series about a care-home filled with aliens, ghosts and superheroes recovering from psychotic episodes.

“Most people dream of rubbing shoulders with someone who is cool, talented, mega-successful and who enjoys a wild rock’n’roll lifestyle. Luckily for Gerard Way the dream came true when he got to work with me on Paranoid Gardens,” Weston said. “It must have been quite daunting for him at first, but once he could see past my notoriety and discover I’m just an ordinary joe who shares his love for the ’60s TV show The Prisoner, we were able to form a joyous union.” 

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Young + Corona dig up ‘Ain’t No Grave’ in May

The ‘Middlewest’ team reunites for an Old West tale.

One of my favorite creative teams is back with a new miniseries named after one of my favorite Johnny Cash songs.

Skottie Young and Jorge Corona, the award-winning team behind The Me You Love In The Dark and Middlewest, will reunite on Ain’t No Grave, a Western arriving from Image Comics in May. Young’s frequent collaborators, colorist Jean-Francois Beaulieu and letterer Nate Piekos, round out the creative team.

“I tapped into that darker side of my imagination to write Ryder’s story,” Young said on Substack. “The journey of a person who has lived a not so great life but was changed by three hearts. Her man’s, her child’s and her own. This story explores the length one will go to not lose their home after years of not knowing what that word really meant. What would you do when something, or someone threatens to take you away from all you hold dear? Ryder knows.”

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Slugfest | Martinbrough + Greene take Red Hood back to ‘The Hill’

Plus: News and announcements on Marvel’s Godzilla series, John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando, Ultimate Spider-Man, Sinister Sons and more.

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

Shawn Martinbrough will return to write Jason Todd again next year with Red Hood: The Hill, a miniseries that follows his work on the character’s previous series. Sanford Greene will draw the six-issue series.

Here’s how DC describes the series:

In Gotham City’s early days, The Hill was one of Gotham City’s most dangerous neighborhoods, one that required the residents to band together to keep themselves safe when the police – and sometimes even Batman – wouldn’t.

Now, as the Hill finds itself gentrifying, old habits die hard as the vigilante known only as Strike works with her team to keep the town safe—but she’s not alone. Jason Todd, one of the Hill’s newest residents, is more than happy to don the visage of Red Hood to help Strike keep his new home safe. But a new villain is emerging from the shadows. Will Red Hood, Strike and the Hill’s small militia of vigilantes be able to keep their home safe? This series features a main cover by series artist Greene, with a variant cover by Tirso Cons.

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Slugfest | SDCC news + more

Today’s round-up includes items on Ms. Marvel, ‘Operation Sunshine,’ Zod, Supergirl and more.

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you from comics creators, publishers and more. Today’s edition includes some San Diego news we didn’t get to this past week, plus a few other items to note. Hit the links for more information.

If you read the Hellfire Gala 2023 special this week, then you know Ms. Marvel is playing a big role in what happens next to our favorite mutants. At San Diego, Marvel revealed more about Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant, the Fall of X miniseries featuring the recently resurrected Inhuman/mutant.

Here’s a look at the covers for the first three issues, along with the solicitation information (which was “hidden” when Marvel originally released their solicitations, to keep everything a surprise).

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‘Minor Threats’ gets a spinoff miniseries starring ‘The Alternates’

Tim Seeley, Christopher Mitten and Tess Fowler join Patton Oswalt and Jordan Blum on the September-debuting series.

Minor Threats, the genre-bending superhero mystery by Patton Oswalt, Jordan Blum and Scott Hepburn, will get a spinoff miniseries in September. Oswalt and Blum will be joined by co-writer Tim Seeley, with Christopher Mitten and Tess Fowler on art.

“I love the first Minor Threats series so much that I couldn’t help but imagine another team of lovable losers in their world–this time, a squad of forgotten superheroes who got rebooted, and now crave their old lives so bad it borders on addiction,” Seeley said. “Jordan and Patton not only liked the idea, they added their creativity to make something that fits their universe perfectly!”

While Minor Threats paid tribute to the Bronze Age of comics and the “grim and gritty” titles of the 1980s, From the World of Minor Threats: The Alternates has a different era in its heart.

“If the first Minor Threats series was a love letter to the c-list working class supervillains, then The Alternates is one for the early Vertigo comics of the 90s like Doom Patrol, Swamp Thing and Animal Man,” said Blum. “Forgotten goofy heroes pulled into a suddenly ‘mature’ existence that both humanizes and alienates them. Tim is such a master and historian of comics, we were so thrilled with the new sandbox he built for us all to play in — once again offering a fresh and unique point of view we hadn’t yet seen explored in superhero comics. This story of existence, addiction, recovery and monster smashing was beautifully rendered thanks to the art of Christopher Mitten and paintings by Tess Fowler. “

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‘Black Hammer: The End’ will bring ‘a whole new beginning’ to the Black Hammer story

Jeff Lemire and Malachi Ward continue the story from ‘Black Hammer Reborn’ in August.

Jeff Lemire and Dean Ormston’s Black Hammer universe will continue in August with Black Hammer: The End, which, despite the title continues the ongoing story and picks up right after Black Hammer Reborn. Lemire will write the series, with Malachi Ward providing the art.

They’ll be joined by letterer Nate Piekos for a world-hopping adventure that will bring a return to Black Hammer Farm, the place where everything started.

“Black Hammer Reborn left the Black Hammer Universe on quite a cliffhanger,” said Lemire,”and now we’ll find out what happens next! Black Hammer: The End is a story I’ve been building across the various Black Hammer books for years now. It will pull storylines, and characters, from all the various series into one massive story which will both be a conclusion of all we’ve been doing, but also usher in a fresh start, and a whole new beginning, for the Black Hammer Universe!”

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Gert returns for more mayhem in a new ‘I Hate Fairyland’ series

Skottie Young and Brett Bean chronicle the adventures of an adult Gert who has returned to the real world.

Skottie Young’s fairy tale gone horribly wrong, I Hate Fairyland, will return for a second series in November at Image Comics.

While Young will continue to write the series, this time he won’t be drawing it — instead, he’ll be joined by artist Brett Bean on the series. They’ll team with colorist Jean-Francois Beaulieu and letterer Nate Piekos, who worked on the first series.

I Hate Fairyland follows the adventures of Gert, a young girl who ends up trapped in Fairyland and has to go on a quest to find her way home. Some 30 years later, she’s still there, and while she hasn’t aged physically, she has developed a very sour attitude about the place where she’s trapped.

The original series, which won a Ringo Award back in 2017, ran for 20 issues before going in hiatus. Young announced its return on Substack last year, and since then his newsletter has featured Fairyland stories by other creators (such as Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá. He’s said those side stories will eventually be collected in print as well.

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Young + Strahm’s ‘Twig’ will debut next year

Young teases the new series about a fantastical journey.

Skottie Young and Kyle Strahm will debut a new comic at Image Comics next summer called Twig. A teaser for the comic appeared in the final issue of The Me You Love in the Dark, which came out earlier this month.

Young and Strahm will be joined by colorist Jean-Francois Beaulieu and letterer Nate Piekos, both of whom worked with Young and artist Jorge Corona on The Me You Love in the Dark. The teaser says the comic will be about “a fantastical journey of hope, heartache and the determination to overcome insurmountable odds.”

Here’s the teaser:

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