NYCC: ‘Sins of Sinister’ erupts early next year

The X-Men once again enter an alternate reality — this time one shaped by Mr. Sinister’s diabolical experiments.

The mutant denizens of Krakoa are in for a very Sinister 2023.

During their Next Big Thing panel at the New York Comic Con today, Marvel finally revealed Sins of Sinister, an event coming next year that they’ve been teasing for months now.

The story will start in Sins of Sinister #1, a one-shot by Kieron Gillen, Lucas Wernock and more, before taking over three of the X-books for three issues. Immortal X-Men, X-Men Red and Legion of X will all take a siesta, replaced by Immortal X-Men, Storm and the Brotherhood of Mutants, and Nightcrawlers. They’ll be set in an alternate reality that … well, here’s the description of the project from Marvel, which is a bit confusing, in true Sinister fashion:

IMMORTAL X-MEN, X-MEN RED, and LEGION OF X will be washed away, transformed into three limited series: IMMORAL X-MEN, STORM & THE BROTHERHOOD OF MUTANTS, and NIGHTCRAWLERS! Series writers Kieron Gillen, Al Ewing, and Si Spurrier will pen their respective new titles, joined by artists Paco Medina, Patch Zircher, and Alessandro Vitti. Tackling three separate time periods, each superstar artist will draw an issue of all three titles as consecutive issues propel the Marvel Universe further and further into a dark future, dramatically escalating the stakes with each startling time jump. 10 Years… 100 Years… 1000 Years… The Powers of Essex will seek to stretch beyond the limits of time and space! All three writers will continue their current story plans after the X-Universe shattering finale one-shot, SINS OF SINISTER: DOMINION #1!

Continue reading “NYCC: ‘Sins of Sinister’ erupts early next year”

Who will reign as the Anti-Christ? Find out in ‘Blossoms 666’ #5 [Exclusive Preview]

Cullen Bunn, Laura Braga, Matt Herms and Jack Morelli’s tale reaches its final conflict, and no one in Riverdale is safe.

The Blossom twins’ devilish schemes will come to a head in the final issue of Blossoms 666 by Cullen Bunn, Laura Braga, Matt Herms and Jack Morelli.

Part of the Archie Horror line, Blossoms 666 features the two Blossom siblings, Cheryl and Jason, competing for the title of Anti-Christ. Throw in their long-lost brother and Satanist family, and you’ve got all sorts of trouble for the rest of Riverdale.

Courtesy of Archie Comics, take a look at an exclusive preview of Blossoms 666 #5 below, which wraps up the five-issue miniseries.

Continue reading “Who will reign as the Anti-Christ? Find out in ‘Blossoms 666’ #5 [Exclusive Preview]”

Roger Stern returns to the Avengers with ‘Avengers: Loki Unleashed’

Artist Ron Lim joins the legendary Avengers writer for a new one-shot.

Longtime Avengers scribe Roger Stern, who put the team through its paces back in the 1980s, will return to comics for a one-shot pitting his era of the team against Loki.

Continue reading “Roger Stern returns to the Avengers with ‘Avengers: Loki Unleashed’”

Walmart to offer exclusive ‘giant’ anthologies from DC — with new content

New material by Jimmy Palmiotti, Amanda Conner, Dan Jurgens, Tim Seeley, Tom King, Brian Michael Bendis and Andy Kubert joins past stories in new monthly line.

DC Comics and Walmart have teamed up to offer an exclusive line of 100-page “giant” anthologies at the big-box retailer. The anthologies will feature a mix of previously published and new materiel, including new material by Jimmy Palmiotti, Amanda Conner, Patrick “Patch” Zircher, Brian Michael Bendis, Dan Jurgens, Tim Seeley, Rick Leonardi, Steve Buccellato, Andy Kubert, Scott Eaton and Tom King.

“We are extraordinarily excited about working with Walmart to expand the reach of our books,” said DC Publisher Dan DiDio in a statement. “These new monthly books combine new and accessible stories with reprints of classic comic series. It’s a great way for new readers to get into comics and follow the characters they’ve grown to love in TV and film.”

Each of the four titles – Superman Giant, Justice League Of America Giant, Batman Giant and Teen Titans Giant – will arrive in stores by July 1. Beginning in August, the Superman and Justice League titles will arrive in week one of each month, with Batman and Teen Titans arriving approximately two weeks later. They’ll cost $4.99.

Continue reading “Walmart to offer exclusive ‘giant’ anthologies from DC — with new content”

Smash Pages End of Year Survey, Part 3

Comic folks answer the question, “What do you consider to be the top five important events of 2015?”

For this year’s inaugural version of the Smash Pages End of Year Survey I had people answer the question: “What do you consider to be the top five important events of 2015?” I encouraged people to not necessarily answer the question in that manner if it didn’t strike their fancy. I cannot thank everyone enough for the participation during a busy time of year. Part 1 is here, part 2 is here.

Corrina Bechko

Writer of Lara Croft and the Frozen Omen, Invisible Republic, Heathentown, Star Wars Legacy

HIGH CRIMES – Christopher Sebela and Ibrahim Moustafa
A comic this good deserves a beautiful presentation, and this lovely hardcover looks amazing on a shelf. The real treat is found inside though, as the story remains engrossing until the very end. Just beautifully done all the way around.

TREES Vol. 1 – Warren Ellis and Jason Howard
I’m so glad I read this in trade, as the story is rich and tragic and bore a lot of flipping back through after I had finished so that I could revisit certain plot threads. Comics don’t get much better than this.

Copperhead
Copperhead

COPPERHEAD Vol. 1 – Jay Faerber and Scott Godlewski
This book is just so much fun. A lot of people try to do scifi westerns, but hardly any get them right. At last, here’s one that does.

SHUTTER Vol 2 – Joe Keatinge and Leila Del Duca
Things here are just as crazy and inspired as in the first volume, but now that we know the characters better their plight is much more poignant. Big reveals happen, but it’s the relationships between the characters that carry the book.

MURDER BOOK – Ed Brisson (various artists, it’s an anthology)
I became a fan of Ed’s work when I first read a couple of his Murder Book stories several years back. I’m so happy they’re finally all collected here in such a nice package. There are some very brutal tales here, each one brought to vivid life by a wonderful artist.

Lorraine Cink

Host & Writer of Marvel’s The Watcher.

Marvel’s Jessica Jones on Netflix
Star Wars Force Awakens
Squirrel Girl
CritJuice Podcast
Star Wars Shattered Empire

Rico Renzi

Colorist of Spider-Gwen and Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, director of creative endeavors at http://heroesonline.com

Russian Olive to Red King
Russian Olive to Red King

Russian Olive To Red King is a BEAUTIFUL object and story.

Southern Bastards is amazing every month.

Unbeatable Squirrel Girl is the superhero action comedy I’ve always dreamed of. (full disclosure, I help make this comic)

The Divine/The Realist, anything made by Hanuka twins forever!

Cheating here, 2 collection that I read in the past but got collected beautifully for print in 2015: The Private Eye and The Complete Eightball

Marcelo Maiolo

Colorist of Batman Beyond, Old Man Logan, Pacific Rim, KING!

On Movies: Mad Max: Fury Road
On TV series: Justified Season Finale
On Brazilian comic book: A Vida de Jonas (The Life Of Jonas)
On comics: Saga
On My work: Old Man Logan #01 – With Lemire and Sorrentino

Patrick Zircher

Artist of Green Arrow

Island
Island

The Rise of the Woman Character: I didn’t add it all up but I think titles with female leads sold more copies this year than ever. And that’s fantastic.

Diversity: I don’t think we’ve reached a point that reflects the demographics of the lives we live but real improvements are being made.

DC You: The creativity embraced by DC You made for interesting new stories.

Island: This anthology showcasing a variety of cartoonists styles in a short story format is an essential venue for comics.

The Indies & Vertigo: Once again comic-makers offered a rich variety of well-craftedCchristianberanek

Christian Beranek

5. The Walking Dead has reached its peak. Have people finally had their fill of post apocalyptic zombie soap operas?

4. DC’s mad push for relevance has actually created some great television. They aren’t able to tie the movies into that continuity, however, and it might end up hurting their overall brand.

3. Marvel’s continued dominance. I imagine we’ll hear about Phase 4, 5 & 6 plans soon. Don’t see them slowing down for decades.

2. Webcomics continue to grow and have the most readership (some upwards of 500k) yet mainstream comics continues to discount their importance.

1. Star Wars. I was an active part of the 1999 excitement leading up to the prequels but more of an observer this time. There will be no one to stop Disney this time. They finally rule the audience they’ve always coveted and they’ve only just begun to exploit the property.

Mike Perkins

Star Wars in the Marvel Universe
Netflix and Marvel
BEST COMIC: Goddamned – Jason Aaron and R.M. Guera
BEST COMIC: Josephine (published by Delcourt) – Penelope Bagieu
PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENT – Rowans Ruin with Mike Carey ( published by BOOM!)