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.

Continue reading “Gert returns for more mayhem in a new ‘I Hate Fairyland’ series”

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:

Continue reading “Young + Strahm’s ‘Twig’ will debut next year”

Mail Call | New release dates for the Milestone revival

Catch up on news and announcements from Dark Horse, Vault Comics, DC, Z2 and more.

Mail Call is a roundup of the announcements we’ve received from comics publishers in our mailboxes recently that we haven’t already covered. Hit the links for more information.

DC Comics has modified their plans for the upcoming Milestone Media relaunch. The three launch titles — Static, Icon and Rocket, and Hardware — will no longer arrive digitally before they come out in print. Instead, they’ll be released in both formats on the same day, as well as on DC Universe Infinite. Both Static and Icon and Rocket will come out later, but Hardware will be published earlier than originally announced. The new dates (and creative teams for each title) are:

  • Static: Season One, written by Vita Ayala, with layouts by CHRISCROSS, finishes by Nikolas Draper-Ivey with covers by Khary Randolph launches in print and digital on June 15.
  • Icon and Rocket: Season One, co-written by Reggie Hudlin and Leon Chills, with art by Doug Braithwaite and covers by Taurin Clarke launches in print and digital on July 27.
  • Hardware: Season One, written by Brandon Thomas, with art by Denys Cowan and Bill Sienkiewicz with covers by Mateus Mahanini, launches in print and digital on August 10.
Continue reading “Mail Call | New release dates for the Milestone revival”

DC launches ‘Let Them Live!’ on DC Universe Infinite

A lost Suicide Squad story written in 2011 surfaces on DC’s digital comics system.

When DC relaunched their DC Universe Infinite service last month, they promised exclusive content for subscribers. Today brought the first DCUI-exclusive comic, titled Let Them Live!: Unpublished Tales from the DC Vault, featuring a “lost” Suicide Squad story by Jim Zub, Tradd Moore, Felipe Sobreiro and Nate Piekos.

The story will be the first of several released by DC under this title, which seems like a way for them to clean out their files and share comics that were commissioned but never published. In fact, each issue will feature a framing sequence by Elliott Kalan, Mike Norton and Marissa Louise starring Ambush Bug — who has taken a job as a night janitor at the DC offices, where he finds the unreleased comics and provides commentary.

Future issues will include:

  • Let Them Live! #2 — a Nightwing story by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, Jorge Corona, Mat Lopes and Carlos M. Mangual — debuting Feb. 16 with a frame story by Elliott Kalan, Mike Norton and Marissa Louise. Let them Live! #3 — a Batman story by Scott Bryan Wilson, John Paul Leon, Dave Stewart and Deron Bennet — debuting 3/2 with a frame story by Elliott Kalan, Mike Norton and Marissa Louise.
  • Let them Live! #3 — a Batman story by Scott Bryan Wilson, John Paul Leon, Dave Stewart and Deron Bennet — debuting March 2 with a frame story by Elliott Kalan, Mike Norton and Marissa Louise.
Continue reading “DC launches ‘Let Them Live!’ on DC Universe Infinite”

New ‘Beasts of Burden’ miniseries tells a story from the past

‘Beasts of Burden: Occupied Territory’ heads to post-WW2 Japan in April.

The Eisner-winning Beasts of Burden returns in April with a new miniseries, Beasts of Burden: Occupied Territory.

Writers Evan Dorkin and Sarah Dyer tell a story set in post-World War II, as a member of the Wise Dogs must deal with a curse that creates an army of crawling heads. They’re joined by artist Benjamin Dewey and letterer Nate Piekos, while series co-creator Jill Thompson will provide a variant cover for issue #4.

“I’m very excited to have a new Beasts of Burden story for the fans and I’m extremely happy with the way everything came together working with Sarah, Benjamin and Nate,” Dorkin said. “Why post-war Japan? I used to half-jokingly ask editor Daniel Chabon if we could have his Shiba Inu, Zell. He said we should have a Shiba in the series, instead. One thing led to another, one idea led to three more, and that’s where our latest story of dogs fighting supernatural evil ended up.”

Continue reading “New ‘Beasts of Burden’ miniseries tells a story from the past”

Ringo Awards winners announced

Annual awards ceremony recognizes ‘the creativity, skill and fun of comics.’

The winners for the 2020 Ringo Awards were announced today, marking the fourth year for the awards program named for artist Mike Wieringo, who passed away in 2007.

The awards were presented virtually as part of the Baltimore Comic Con‘s online programming, and started with an introduction and keynote from Kevin Smith and Geoff Johns. It was also live, which led to some logistical/technical issues as they tried to “cut over” to winners for their acceptance speeches.

Here are the winners, in the order they were presented during the ceremony. They include the “fan favorite” awards, which have a different process than the rest of the awards. You can find more details on the process here.

Continue reading “Ringo Awards winners announced”

Killjoys will make more noise this fall

‘The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys: National Anthem’ will arrive in October from Gerard Way, Shaun Simon, Leonardo Romero and Dark Horse Comics.

It’s been about seven years since Gerard Way, Shaun Simon and Becky Cloonan teamed up for The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, the comic book spinoff of the My Chemical Romance album of the same name. Well, look alive, sunshine: The Killjoys, just like My Chemical Romance, are returning, in the new miniseries The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys: National Anthem from Dark Horse Comics.

According to Alternative Press, Simon and Way will be joined by illustrator Leonardo Romero, colorist Jordie Bellaire, and letterer Nate Piekos for the new series. Cloonan will return, but only to do variant covers:

Continue reading “Killjoys will make more noise this fall”

Natural 20: ‘Stranger Things’ to cross over with ‘Dungeons & Dragons’

Jim Zub, Jody Houser, Diego Galindo, Michele Assarasakorn and Nate Piekos will descend into the depths of licensed comics.

Writer Jim Zub shares the news that he’s working with Jody Houser on Stranger Things and Dungeons & Dragons, a new four-issue mini-series being co-published by Dark Horse Comics and IDW, who have the respective comics licenses for the two properties.

They’ll be working with the art team of Diego Galindo, Michele Assarasakorn and Nate Piekos. The announcement was made during Wizards of the Coast’s D&D Live 2020 online event.

Continue reading “Natural 20: ‘Stranger Things’ to cross over with ‘Dungeons & Dragons’”

Comics Lowdown: Standing behind retailers during the coronavirus

Plus: TCAF canceled, BookExpo postponed and more coronavirus news.

As the threat of the coronavirus continues to spread, and federal, state and local governments take action to try and stop it, “shelter in place” and social distancing orders inevitably harm small businesses, like comics retailers. Many retailers around the country have either closed up for a time or have moved to a mail order/”curbside pickup” system. In his weekly newsletter today, writer Cullen Bunn shared some tips for supprtoing your favorite shop during this time:

…SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL COMIC BOOK SHOP as much as you’re able. 

Running a comic book store can be difficult, even in the best of times. Right now, shops are taking a hit. The absolute last thing I want to see—as a reader, a fan, and a creator—is for comic book stores to disappear. It is vital that we all work together to support comic book stores as much as possible and help them get through the coming weeks. When comic book stores suffer, so does the comic book industry. A lot of stores are offering new services during this time of isolation and social-distancing. Some things you can do to help…

  • Inquiring about curbside pickup.
  • Inquiring about mail order or delivery options. 
  • Purchasing any books that are in your pull box.
  • Purchasing gift cards/gift certificates for upcoming birthdays, events, and holidays. 
  • Following your local comic shop on social media for updates on: curtailed hours of operation, events, special accommodations, and cleaning policy. 
  • Tagging your local comic shop on social media & posting photos of the comics you’ve purchased to read during self-quarantine and social distancing.

You can find a comic shop offering “safe services” during the pandemic by using this map from BOOM! Studios.

Image Comics, who issued a letter asking other publishers to help comics retailers during this crisis, also had Alex Cox, Skottie Young and Nate Piekos create a short comic on how fans can support their local shop:

Continue reading “Comics Lowdown: Standing behind retailers during the coronavirus”

Séance gets his own ‘Umbrella Academy’ spinoff series

‘You Look Like Death!’ by Gerard Way, Shaun Simon, I.N.J. Culbard and Nate Piekos starts in June.

Dark Horse Comics has announced the first solo series for a member of the Umbrella Academy, the supernaturally charged Klaus Hargreeves, a.k.a. Séance.

The aptly titled You Look Like Death! will be written by co-creator Gerard Way with an assist from Shaun Simon, illustrated by I.N.J. Culbard and lettered by Nate Piekos.

“For a long time, I had wanted to tell the story of Klaus Hargreeves’ life after the Umbrella Academy disbanded and before the events of Apocalypse Suite,” Way said in a press release. “I imagined a pretty wild decade for Klaus– full of ups and downs, seedy places, supernatural excursions, and internal battles within himself. I am thrilled to finally be able to tell this story with my co-writer Shaun Simon, who sees the world of the UA as clearly as I do. Also thrilled to work with such an amazing art and lettering team in I.N.J. Culbard and Nate Piekos.

Continue reading “Séance gets his own ‘Umbrella Academy’ spinoff series”

Dark Horse announces a third ‘Stranger Things’ miniseries

Jody Houser returns to tell the story of a pyrokinetic named Nine.

Jody Houser will continue to tell stories set in the world of Netflix’s hit Stranger Things with Stranger Things: Into the Fire, coming from Dark Horse next year.

This time around, Houser will team with artist Ryan Kelly of Local and Saucer Country fame, along with inker Le Beau Underwood, colorist Triona Farrell and letterer Nate Piekos.

Continue reading “Dark Horse announces a third ‘Stranger Things’ miniseries”

Dark Horse digs up a ‘Stranger Things’ zombie tale

New OGN from Greg Pak and Valeria Favoccia due out next February.

With the third season of Stranger Things now available for binge-watching and the franchise showing no signs of slowing down, it makes sense that we’d hear about a new project from Dark Horse. Following the previous two miniseries, the publisher will release an original graphic novel next February set in the Stranger Things universe.

Writer Greg Pak will team with artist Valeria Favoccia, colorist Dan Jackson and letterer Nate Piekos for Stranger Things: Zombie Boys. It’ll be set after season one and will feature a new character, Joey Kim, who wants to make his own horror movie.

Continue reading “Dark Horse digs up a ‘Stranger Things’ zombie tale”