IDW celebrates 20 years with ‘IDW 20/20’ one-shots

Ghostbusters, My Little Pony, Star Trek and more head back to the future (or the past) in January.

At this week’s New York Comic Con, IDW announced IDW 20/20 — five one-shots featuring some of their licensed properties that will celebrate the publisher’s 20-year history.

Featuring Ghostbusters, Jem and the Holograms, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Star Trek and My Little Pony, each story will be set either 20 years in the past or 20 years in the future.

“An anniversary like the one IDW is celebrating is a cause to look to the future and the past,” said IDW Editor-in-Chief John Barber. “It gives us a moment to reflect on where came from and where we’re going, because both directions are pretty exciting. We’re lucky to have partners like Hasbro, Nickelodeon, CBS Consumer Products, and Sony to share in the celebration — and to have these five sets of characters that have helped place IDW at the center of the pop culture universe!”

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Marvel revives ‘Invaders,’ ‘Marvel Comics Presents’ as part of their 80th anniversary

Chip Zdarsky, Carlos Magno, Butch Guice and more dip into Marvel’s past to help celebrate the future.

With their 80th anniversary coming up next year, Marvel is reviving two titles in January — the anthology Marvel Comics Presents, and Invaders by Chip Zdarsky, Carlos Magno and Butch Guice.

Marvel Comics Presents ran as a bi-weekly anthology series from 1988 until 1995. Some of the highlights of the original run included the first published work of Scott Lobdell (including a clever story about Reed and Sue Richards living in the suburbs); Barry Windsor Smith’s “Weapon X” serial, one of the first stories to detail Wolverine’s origins; and the first appearances of characters like Cyber, Damage Control and Nth Man. There was also a very wonderful Colossus story, Colossus: God’s Country, written by Ann Nocenti. The series returned in 2007 for a 12-issue run.

The new volume will feature the works of Charles Soule, Greg Pak, Ann Nocenti, Tomm Coker and Paulo Siqueira, telling stories about Namor, Captain America and of course Wolverine, who appeared in many issues of the first volume.

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BOOM! to publish R.L. Stine’s ‘Just Beyond’ graphic novel series

Stine will team with artists Kelly and Nichole Matthews on “The Scare School,” due out next year.

R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps have already made the jump to comics, but now the creator is going all in with a new line of original graphic novels from BOOM! Studios.

The first Just Beyond OGN, subtitled “The Scare School,” will debut in September 2019 with artwork by Kelly and Nichole Matthews (Pandora’s Legacy) and featuring a cover by Julian Totino Tedesco (Life of Captain Marvel).

“Kids spend a lot of time in school. So it’s the perfect place for scares. What if everything you thought you knew about your school was wrong?” Stine said in a press release. “What if your school held a secret so terrifying it could threaten your life? That’s where the idea for The Scare School began. Where the story ended surprised even me!”

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Humanoids launches H1 line of comics

John Cassaday, Mark Waid, Kwanza Osajyefo, Yanick Paquette and Carla Speed McNeil spearhead the new line of comics.

As promised, Humanoids revealed more about their H1 line of comics at New York Comic Con this week. Known mainly as a publisher of graphic novels for the last 20 years in America, Humanoids moves into the monthly comic market and shared universes with H1.

With John Cassaday and Mark Waid already announced as being on board, the publisher revealed three additional “architects” of the H1 line: Kwanza Osajyefo (Black, DC’s Zuda imprint), Yanick Paquette (Wonder Woman Earth One, Swamp Thing) and Carla Speed McNeil (Finder, Sensation Comics).

“H1 represents a number of important milestones for Humanoids,” said Humanoids CEO and Publisher Fabrice Giger. “This is our first foray into a shared universe, one with stories by talented creators whose undeniable creative chemistry is forging a new and fantastic world. Next summer, we’re launching three ongoing comic book series, the first three ongoing periodicals in this company’s history, and we’ll be publishing them in an unprecedented and unexpected way which we’ll announce in the coming months.”

Working on the three ongoings will be Phil Briones, Vanessa Del Rey, Cheryl Lynn Eaton, Mike McKone and Afua Richardson.

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Marvel to relaunch ‘Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’ in January

Tom Taylor, Juann Cabal and Nolan Woodard team up to tell stories about Spidey’s ‘human side.’

Marvel has announced the return of another past Spider-Man title. Joining Amazing Spider-Man and Peter Parker, Spectacular Spider-Man in January is Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man by Tom Taylor, Juann Cabal and Nolan Woodard.

“[Spider-Man editor] Nick Lowe contacted me in a period where I was weighing up a lot of exciting writing offers, but as soon as I saw Spider-Man in the email, there was nothing else in my mind,” Taylor told Marvel.com. “Spidey was my first Marvel hero and a character I’ve always wanted an opportunity to write. As a fan, this is a bit of a dream come true. I was already writing X-Men and Star Wars comics for Marvel, and to add Spider-Man to that is, frankly, a little ridiculous.”

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DC Collectibles reveals new statues + props at NYCC

Sean Murphy’s Joker, Greg Capullo’s the Merciless and Batman’s cowls are coming next year.

At the New York Comic Con, DC Collectibles announced several Batman-related additions to their line or statues and props.

On the statue front, the Joker from Sean Murphy’s popular Batman: White Knight comic will debut in June of next year, along with a statue of the Merciless from Dark Knights: Metal by Greg Capullo and Harley Quinn by Frank Cho.

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‘Wolverine: The Long Night’ gets a comic book adaptation

Marvel’s popular podcast featuring the man called Logan will be adapted into a comic by writer Benjamin Percy and artist Marcio Takara.

Marvel’s popular podcast, Wolverine: The Long Night, will get a comic book adaptation next year, the publisher revealed at the New York Comic Con.

Benjamin Percy, who wrote the story for the podcast, will work with artist Marcio Takara on the adaptation. Rafael Albuquerque will provide the cover.

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All the best Star Treks converge in IDW’s ‘Star Trek: The Q Conflict’

Scott and David Tipton, along with David Messina, bring together the crews of The Original Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager.

Several of the Star Trek crews are coming together — to fight! — in a new miniseries from IDW Publishing.

Star Trek: The Q Conflict, announced at New York Comic Con, sees the villainous Q bringing together the crews from The Original Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager. The six-part series will be written by Scott and David Tipton, with art by David Messina.

“This is it – the biggest Star Trek series ever, spanning starships, centuries, and galaxies!” said Scott Tipton in a press release. “All of Starfleet’s most legendary officers join together for the first time against some of the greatest threats they’ve ever faced. It’s like nothing you’ve seen before!”

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DC + Funko enter the Primal Age with retro-style action figure line

Marv Wolfman and Scott Koblish will create a comic based on the new line of toys.

If you’ve ever pitted your DC figures against your He-Man figures and thought, “Man, it would be great if these figures were the same size,” then you are in luck. DC and Funko have announced DC Primal Age, a line of figures featuring “retro-style barbarian fantasy themed Super Heroes and Super-Villains from the DC universe.”

The first wave includes Wonder Woman, Batman, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Scarecrow, King Shark, Mister Freeze and the Joker, along with two “battle rides” — Ace the Bat Hound and “The Joker Beast.” There’s also a Castle Greyskull-like Batcave playset. All the toys are now available on Amazon.com, and the Mister Freeze figure can be bought at the New Yokr Comic Con this weekend.

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Dynamite revives ‘Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt,’ ‘Turok’

Both comics set to launch in January.

Heading into this weekend’s New York Comic Con, Dynamite Entertainment announced two reboots of some old comic favorites.

First up is Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt, by Kieron Gillen and Caspar Wijngaard.

“I’ve been away from the genre for a few years. This is me refreshed, grinning and more than a little bit angry. I want to try things. I want to have fun. Hell, we’ve created a whole new supporting cast of heroes for this series because we wanted to. I wanted to do a state of the art, state of the superheroic nation, and Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt is it,” Gillen said in a press release. “High adventure, big ideals, epic destruction, heroism, despair and nine-panel grids.”

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Bendis’ Wonder Comics line to feature ‘Young Justice,’ ‘Wonder Twins’ and more

David Walker, Sam Humphries, Joe Quinones, Patrick Gleason and more join Bendis for his curated imprint.

Shortly after Brian Michael Bendis signed an exclusive contract with DC Comics, the publisher announced that the writer of Action Comics and Superman would also oversee a curated/”pop-up” imprint that would “feature some of Bendis’ all-time favorite characters in very unique and unusual situations, combined with new characters created specifically for this new imprint.”

Today at the New York Comic Con, DC publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee hosted a “Meet the Publishers” panel where Bendis revealed more details about his imprint. The imprint, Wonder Comics, will feature four “teen-focused, in-continuity comic books scheduled to debut in early 2019.”

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Smash Pages Q&A: Stephanie Phillips and Jamie Jones

The creators of ‘Kicking Ice’ from Ominous Press discuss their graphic novel about hockey, overcoming bullying and breaking down barriers.

The graphic novel Kicking Ice debuts this week at New York Comic Con. Written by Stephanie Phillips with line art by Jamie Jones, and published by Ominous Press, the book is the story of two girls, Bella and Skye who become fans of hockey – especially the NWHL – and become hockey players.

It’s about hockey, it’s about overcoming bullying, and breaking down barriers, but it’s also about being young, about being passionate, becoming obsessed and having the opportunities to pursue that passion. The book is also supported by the National Women’s Hockey League, including a forward by the commissioner and appearances by players in the story.

I spoke with Phillips and Jones about hockey, collaborating with the NWHL, why the book is set in Connecticut – which they don’t say is because the Connecticut Whale is best pro hockey team out there, but that’s clearly what I’m choosing to read into their answers – and their hopes to make a second volume and tell more stories.

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