Mail Call | Say hello to the New (Old) Fantastic Four

Check out news and announcements from Marvel, IDW, AfterShock, Drawn and Quarterly, and more.

Mail Call is a roundup of cool things we’ve received in our mailboxes from comics creators, publishers and more. Hit the links for more information.

Back in the early 1990s Wolverine, Spider-Man, Ghost Rider and Hulk had a brief team-up in the pages of Fantastic Four while the actual Fantastic Four were out of town. It was a fun story by Walt Simonson and Art Adams that only last a few issues. But now Marvel will revisit that team — and time period — in The New Fantastic Four, a limited series by Peter David and Alan Robinson.

“Although their original stint was extremely short-lived, the alternate version of the FF has had its fans for years, including myself,” David said. “I am fortunate Marvel has given me the opportunity to revisit with them and take their battles to new heights in a new location with new allies and new enemies.” 

Like Maestro and X-Men Legends, this story takes place in the past, shortly after the quartet’s first appearance.

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Allred + Milligan’s ‘X-Cellent’ debuts in February

The X-Statix team returns to the Marvel universe to confront a new team of mutants taking their spotlight.

The creative team behind one of Marvel’s most creative and fun comics from the early 2000s will reunite in February for The X-Cellent.

Writer Peter Milligan and artists Michael and Laura Allred, whose run on X-Force and X-Statix introduced us to Doop, Anarchist, Mister Sensitive, Vivisector, U-Go Girl, Dead Girl and many others (most of whom ended up dead), will return to Marvel for the new series.

“I’m thoroughly X-Statix to be working with Mike and Laura Allred again,” Milligan told Marvel.com. “And it’s been truly X-CELLENT to discover that we’ve lost none of our alchemical fizz in conjuring up this new comic, this new title, this new beginning: The X-Cellent!”

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Don’t feel so loud: Milligan, Cantirino + Kelly scare up ‘Human Remains’

The horror/sci-fi series debuts in September

How good are you at hiding your emotions? In the world created by writer Peter Milligan, artist Sally Cantirino and colorist Dearbhla Kelly for Human Remains, you better be good at it or you’ll wind up dead. The aliens will find you if you feel too strongly.

Inspired by the isolation Milligan felt during quarantine from the COVID-19 pandemic, the series stars Dax and Bisa who must hide their love for each other if they want to live. Alien monsters roaming the earth hunt humans by sensing strong emotions.

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Milligan + Kowalski bow down to the ‘God of Tremors’ in August

The new title from AfterShock Comics is a ’19th Century gothic horror of exorcism, demonic worship and epilepsy.’

Peter Milligan, writer of X-Statix, Shade the Changing Man and so much more, will team with Bloodbourne and Sex artist Piotr Kowalski for a story of “gothic horror of exorcism, demonic worship and epilepsy” in God of Tremors, a new one-shot from AfterShock Comics.

“It’s a story of dark secrets, shameful longings and terrifying changes,” Milligan said. “A Gothic tale of isolation and horror. Aubrey is a young man living in a straight-laced, 19th century English Victorian world, whose father is a vicar, renowned for his fiery speeches against the evils of new scientific ideas. When Aubrey has his first epileptic seizure it begins a harrowing series of ‘exorcisms,’ as both Aubrey and his father are convinced his condition is the work of the devil. Hidden away in his father’s country estate, Aubrey’s only release is walking in the wild woods that surround the house. It’s deep in these woods that Aubrey discovers an ancient stone pagan effigy that slowly changes his and all his family’s lives.”

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Get happy (or else) in Milligan + Montenat’s ‘Happy Hour’

The new series from Ahoy Comics starts in November.

What if being sad was against the law? What if the “Joy Police” brutally enforced a “cheery code” all citizens had to abide by? That’s the premise of an upcoming Ahoy Comics title, Happy Hour, by Peter Milligan, Michael Montenat and Felipe Sobreiro.

“I was a miserable child. Strangers would approach me in the street and tell me to cheer up. But I didn’t want to cheer up,” Milligan said in the July Ahoy newsletter “Years later, these feelings morphed into Happy Hour, the strange story of a society of legally-enforced cheerfulness… and a young man who just wants the right to be miserable. Finally, I feel vindicated!”

Check out the cover below:

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Music meets the apocalypse in Milligan + Hervas’ ‘Tomorrow’

New title due from Berger Books in February.

The deluxe edition of Enigma wasn’t the only Peter Milligan news Dark Horse revealed at the New York Comic Con — they also announced that Milligan, Jesús Hervas, and James Devlin are working together on a new miniseries titled Tomorrow for their Berger Books imprint.

“It’s so great to be working with Peter Milligan again! He’s simply one of the best, and his new thriller Tomorrow shows why he continues to be one of comics’ most original, provocative, and passionate writers,” said Berger. “Jesús Hervas’s illustrative and expressive art is perfect for this frightening tale that could very well be our future.”

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‘Enigma’ returns as a deluxe hardcover edition

Peter Milligan and Duncan Fegredo’s classic Vertigo title returns from Berger Books.

Peter Milligan and Duncan Fegredo helped kick off the Vertigo era back in 1993 with Enigma, an eight-issue avant-garde miniseries that met with much critical acclaim. At New York Comic Con, Dark Horse announced that a deluxe hardcover collection of the series will be released under their Berger Books imprint in the Fall of 2020.

“I’m thrilled to be publishing this brilliant seminal work of one of Vertigo’s key launch titles, which was ahead of its time and inspirational to many,” said Karen Berger, who was running Vertigo back when it was originally published. “Dark Horse is known for publishing beautiful high-quality books, and it’s long overdue for Enigma to be presented in the fashion that it deserves.” 

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Milligan + Allred teaming for an ‘X-Statix’ spinoff next year

This week’s ‘Giant-Sized X-Statix’ brings old friends and new surprises.

Fans who were happy to see the team reunite again in the pages of this week’s Giant-Size X-Statix #1 will be positively, um, ecstatic to see the final page.

(Spoilers for Giant-Size X-Statix #1 below)

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Jemas, Alonso return to comics at AWA

New publisher Artists, Writers & Artisans, Inc. plans to launch several titles this fall.

Two former Marvel executives are making their return to comics at a new publisher called Artists, Writers & Artisans, Inc. or AWA. They’re joined by a slew of creators, with plans to launch their new titles this fall.

Bill Jemas will serve as the company’s CEO and publisher, while Axel Alonso will serve as Chief Creative Officer, according to The New York Times. They’re joined by Jonathan F. Miller as chairman, who helped broker the deal between Netflix and Mark Millar. They plan to have a shared superhero universe in addition to publishing stand-alone titles.

“The model here really is the old United Artists model, where people who are actually doing the creative have ownership, control and decision-making power over the work that they’re doing,” Jemas told the NYT.

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Lost Kirby/Kane ‘Prisoner’ comic coming from Titan Comics

An unpublished Prisoner comic by Jack Kirby, Gil Kane and Steve Englehart accompanies a new comic series by Peter Milligan and Colin Lorimer.

Titan Comics announced last fall plans to publish a new comic based on the cult classic TV show The Prisoner, and now they’ve revealed more details about what they have planned for Number 6 next July.

First up is printing a “lost” Prisoner comic by Steve Englehart, Jack Kirby and Gil Kane. This special oversized collectors edition will contain the entire 17-page Kirby strip, the first six pages of which were inked and lettered by Mike Royer, as well as 18 pages of pencils drawn by legendary comic artist Kane. The comic was originally intended to be published by Marvel back in the 1970s; read more about it here.

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Peter Milligan to write ‘The Prisoner’ comic for Titan

Milligan will team with artist Colin Lorimer on an all-new comic series based on the original TV show.

So this just seems kind of perfect — Titan Comics has recruited Peter Milligan to write a comics adaptation of The Prisoner. He’ll be joined by artist Colin Lorimer.

The Prisoner first aired on TV in the UK in 1967 and in 1968 in the U.S. The cult classic was a surreal mix of spy fiction with sci-fi, allegory and psychological drama elements, and starred Patrick MacGoohan as Number 6 — a British secret agent who was held captive by unknown abductees in a coastal town as they tried to extract information from him.

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Check out a bunch of covers from upcoming Black Crown titles

Artwork for ‘Assassinistas,’ ‘Kid Lobotomy’ and more revealed at Comic-Con International in San Diego.

Yesterday in San Diego Shelly Bond announced three more titles that’ll launch in a few months from her Black Crown imprint at IDW Publishing, joining the already-announced Kid Lobotomy. If you’re curious what those titles will look like, wonder no more and check out some art below.

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