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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Quick Hits | A quick awards round-up

The Harvey Awards announce their Hall of Fame inductees, Tripwire honors comic creators and more.

It seems to perpetually be awards season, so today seems like a good day for another quick awards round-up post. Congrats to everyone being honored!

The Harvey Awards steering committee has announced four creators who will be inducted into their Hall of Fame this year: Neil Gaiman, Roy Thomas, Gilbert Shelton and Marge Buell.

“The first time I was given a Harvey Award, it was 1991, 31 years ago, I had a whole career or two ahead of me and Harvey Kurtzman was still alive,” Gaiman said in the press release. “It was the award that bore his name and was thus the most important award I had ever received. Now, with over three decades of comics career behind me, it’s just as thrilling to hear that I get to join a Hall of Fame named for Harvey. He was one of the greats, and so many of the people who have been inducted already have been people I looked up to over the years. So this is an unalloyed delight for me.”

The four creators will be inducted during the Harvey Awards ceremony at the New York Comic Con, which is coming up next weekend. Check out the list of all the nominees for this year’s Harvey Awards.

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‘Miracleman’ #0 preview features Young Miracleman, Big Ben, a new Warpsmith and more

The one-shot anthology includes stories by Jason Aaron, Leinil Francis Yu, Ty Templeton, Ryan Stegman, Peach Momoko and more.

Marvel has revealed more details and some preview artwork from the upcoming Miracleman #0, a one-shot anthology that celebrates the character’s anniversary and return to comics. It will also preview Miracleman: The Silver Age, which marks the return of Neil Gaiman and Mark Buckingham to a story they began telling several decades ago.

Other creators contributing to the anthology include Jason Aaron, Leinil Francis Yu, Michael Carey, Ty Templeton, Ryan Stegman, Peach Momoko and Paul Davidson.

Stories in the special zero issue include, according to Marvel:

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Marvel announces ‘Miracleman: The Silver Age’ by Gaiman + Buckingham

The story originally published by Eclipse some 30 years ago will finally be concluded.

In comics, there are many storylines that, for one reason or another, never saw an ending. Rick Veitch’s Swamp Thing comes to mind, as does the Kevin Smith-written Daredevil/Bullseye: The Target. And of course, there’s Miracleman, in particular the story from Neil Gaiman and Mark Buckingham, “The Silver Age,” that came to a halt when Eclipse Comics went under.

It’s been almost 30 years since Miracleman #24, the second chapter of “The Silver Age,” arrived in stores, but now that news Marvel teased earlier this week (and the news we’ve been waiting to hear since Marvel revealed they had the rights to Miracleman) is out — Gaiman and Buckingham will finish the story they started in Miracleman: The Silver Age.

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Gaiman, Buckingham, Aaron, Carey + more will contribute to ‘Miracleman’ #0

Marvel celebrates 40 years of Miracleman and promises more news about the character is coming.

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Miracleman, Marvel has announced Miracleman #0, a one-shot anthology that will feature stories by Neil Gaiman, Mark Buckingham, Jason Aaron, Michael Carey, Ty Templeton, Ryan Stegman and more.

Gaiman and Buckingham, whose previous work on Miracleman back when it was published by Eclipse Comics was cut short, “will deliver an exciting prelude to their upcoming new chapter of Miracleman.” Marvel also promises more Miracleman news will be coming later this week.

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‘Amazing Fantasy’ #1000 celebrates 60 years of Spidey

Neil Gaiman, Kurt Busiek, Dan Slott, Ho Che Anderson, Rainbow Rowell and more contribute stories to the anthology one-shot.

For the 60th anniversary of Spider-Man, Marvel will return him to his roots with a new issue of Amazing Fantasy featuring stories by Neil Gaiman, Kurt Busiek, Dan Slott, Jim Cheung, Olivier Coipel and more.

Amazing Fantasy #1000, which takes its name from the comic where Spider-Man first debuted, Amazing Fantasy #15, will be a giant-sized anthology one-shot. The stories will “explores the past and future of Amazing Spider-Man storytelling in tales that leave a profound impact on the Spider-Man mythos and showcase why Spidey is one of the most beloved heroes in history,” according to Marvel.com.

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Sunday with ‘Sandman’ | Looking back at the earliest issues of the beloved series

Shane Bailey cracks open ‘Sandman: The Deluxe Edition V1,’ journeying back to the late 1980s for a look at the influential series.

Last week I decided to start a massive reread of the Neil Gaiman-written Sandman family of books, starting with the Deluxe Edition v1, and honestly I forgot how great these books are. Over the years I’ve come to take them for granted, but they are really top of the class in terms of subject and craft.

Reading these books again I see how heavily it leans into horror, which I had forgotten. It has that creeping horror feel down, the kind that starts the hairs on the back of your neck to signal that something isn’t quite right, rather than in-your-face shock horror.

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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.
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Colleen Doran to adapt Neil Gaiman’s ‘Chivalry’

Dark Horse will release the graphic novel adaptation in September.

Colleen Doran will once again adapt a Neil Gaiman short story into a graphic novel later this year. Chivalry will arrive from Dark Horse in September.

Gaiman and Doran’s collaborations go back to the days of Sandman. She has also adapted his short stories for Dark Horse before, including the award-winning Snow, Glass, Apples and Troll Bridge.

“I’ve wanted to do an adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Chivalry ever since he sent a draft of the story to me at about 1 a.m. via fax machine decades ago,” Doran said. “It is one of Neil’s loveliest, most charming stories, and I cried with happiness when I learned I would get to do the adaptation. I wear my art on my sleeve throughout, bringing Golden Age illustration styles and Illuminated Manuscript studies to the work. It’s a Holy Grail project for me. I sincerely hope it brings joy to people.”

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Comics Lowdown: Can Disney stop cops from using the Punisher symbol?

Plus: News on Al Jaffe, Uncivilized Books, awards and more.

With police brutality once again in the public eye, many fans on social media have called out Disney/Marvel to put their litigious muscles to work and prevent cops from using the Punisher logo — a popular emblem with some members of law enforcement, despite the fact that Frank Castle is a criminal and a killer.

First, you can find some history of both the character and its popularity with police here. That piece’s writer, Brian Cronin, is not only a contributor to CBR, but also a lawyer, and he offers his thoughts on why he doesn’t think Disney would have much success in an article titled “There’s Not Much Marvel Can Do About Cops Using Punisher’s Logo.” Cronin writes:

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McAvoy, Egerton, Dennings + more to voice ‘Sandman’ audiobook

The classic Vertigo series comes to Audible in July.

James McAvoy, Kat Dennings, Taron Egerton and Neil Gaiman himself will bring The Sandman to Audible this summer in the first of several audio editions of the classic Vertigo comic series.

It’s an inspired cast, as McAvoy voices Morpheus, Dennings becomes Death and Egerton takes on what should be a fun role, John Constantine. They’re joined by Michael Sheen as Lucifer, Samantha Morton as Urania Blackwell, Riz Ahmed as the Corinthian, Andy Serkis as Matthew the Raven, Bebe Neuwirth as the Siamese Cat and Gaiman as the Narrator. The production will be directed by Dirk Maggs, while Gaiman will also serve as Gaiman as creative director and executive producer.

Check out the rest of the cast below:

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Nominees announced for the 2019 Bram Stoker Awards

Winners of the annual awards for horror/dark fiction will be announced April 18.

The Horror Writers Association has announced the nominees for the 2019 Bram Stoker Awards. The annual awards for horror/dark fiction include a “Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel” category.

Presented annually since 1987, the winners will be announced at StokerCon 2020 in Scarborough, England on April 18. The nominees in the graphic novel category are:

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