‘American Vampire 1976’ wraps up the series this fall

Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque’s former Vertigo title returns for its last ride in October.

Skinner Sweet, the lovable, deadly star of Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque’s long-running, Esiner-winning American Vampire, will take one more ride in October.

The former Vertigo series will find new life this fall as a nine-issue miniseries, American Vampire 1976, under DC’s Black Label banner.

“Scott, Rafael, and I, we cut our teeth together on American Vampire 10 years ago,” said Executive Editor Mark Doyle. “Returning to finish the story we started a decade ago is a thrill. Working on American Vampire 1976 has been so creepy and cool, especially because the parallels between ’70s paranoia and today are really chilling.”

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What Are You Reading? | Stargirl, the Beatles, psychics and more

See what the Smash Pages crew has checked off their ‘to read’ list lately.

Welcome to What Are You Reading?, our weekly look at what the Smash Pages crew has been reading lately.

This week’s edition is ripe with not only nostalgic looks at the past, including some that go all the way back to the 1940s, but also at the future of comics by the bright stars of today and tomorrow.

Let us know what you read this week in the comments.

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What Are You Reading? | Death Metal and more

See what the Smash Pages crew has checked off their ‘to read’ list lately.

Speaking of this week’s comics, the big release this week was probably Dark Knights: Death Metal #1, DC’s big crossover series. Although the pandemic slowed down its release, it’s appropriate that it came out right here at the beginning of summer, kicking off the season with something big and brash and, as Carla puts it, “Stupid.” Summertime is the right time for crossovers and comics.

Oh, hey, welcome to What Are You Reading?, our weekly look at what we’ve been reading. You can play along in the comments or on social media if you’d like.

Let’s get to it …

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Warren Ellis writing T-Rex Batman is the news the world needs right now [Update: No, it’s not]

Ellis joins many other writers in two anthologies that tie into DC’s ‘Death Metal.’

Update, June 30: Following allegations of sexual misconduct, DC Comics has removed the Warren Ellis-written story from Dark Nights: Death Metal Legends of the Dark Knights #1. And good riddance to it.

Original story:

DC Comics put out a press release today detailing two new titles related to their upcoming Death Metal event by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo. Dark Nights: Death Metal Guidebook #1 and Dark Nights: Death Metal Legends of the Dark Knights #1 are both anthologies, containing various stories related to the event by a host of creators.

The guidebook will “showcase the new factions of Earth and explore the mystery of what happened to the Justice League after their battle with Perpetua,” while the Legends title will be “collection of short tales where demons dwell and reality is overrun by monstrous versions of the Dark Knight.”

Including T-Rex Batman, as written by Warren Ellis.

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DC announces the metal-er ‘Death Metal’ miniseries

Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo get the band back together for a sequel to the ‘Metal’ event series.

If DC’s Metal event wasn’t “metal” enough for you, Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo are coming back in May for an encore — Dark Knights: Death Metal. It promises to be “metal-er” than Metal. Metal!

“I’ve been waiting to do this story since we finished Dark Nights: Metal,” said Snyder. “As much as it was a complete event, we left some threads hanging there for sure. I’d hoped that if people liked the first series enough, we’d have a chance to set up something bigger, and that’s our plan for Death Metal.”

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DC shares details on their 2020 Free Comic Book Day titles

Wally West and Wonder Woman take center stage in this year’s ‘gold’ title.

DC has revealed the contents of their two Free Comic Book Day 2020 titles, which were first announced in December without any details.

Their gold title, Generation Zero, “sets the stage for the past, present and future of the DC Universe, ” according to the press release. It will feature Wally West, who has gone through a lot recently in DC continuity, if you’ve been following the story that started in Heroes in Crisis.

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Snyder + Soule + Camuncoli reveal ‘Undiscovered Country’ in November

The ‘big, wild, world-building story’ will explore a United States that’s been walled off from the rest of the world for decades.

Following a teaser image that was released in early July, Image Comics revealed the new title coming from the team of Scott Snyder, Charles Soule, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Matt Wilson, Daniele Orlandini, Crank! and editor Will Dennis — Undiscovered Country.

“As soon as Charles and I came up with this idea I knew it was special—one of those ideas that turns into big, wild, world-building story. And this series is just that: a twist-filled trek across a landscape that’s alien, mysterious, and full of adventure,” said Snyder. “It’s like Land of the Lost meets Lewis and Clark, with a team of characters we’ve already come to love as family.”

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DC announces ‘Tales from the Dark Multiverse’ one-shots

‘Batman:Knightfall’ and ‘The Death of Superman’ get twisted in new prestige format one-shots.

DC will revisit past tales and put “a twisted and terrifying spin” on them in a series of prestige one-shots under the title Tales from the Dark Multiverse. The first one will feature a retelling of the classic “Batman: Knightfall” storyline, while the second will focus on “The Death of Superman.”

Here’s how DC describes Tales from the Dark Multiverse: Batman: Knightfall, which will be released Oct. 16:

Co-written by Scott Snyder and Kyle Higgins, with art by Javier Fernandez and a cover by Lee Weeks, this one-shot takes place in a Gotham City 30 years after a broken Bruce Wayne failed to take back the mantle of the Bat. In his place arose Jean-Paul Valley, also known as Saint Batman. Under his iron rule, Saint Batman has turned Gotham into the city of his dreams – killing has become commonplace and criminals live in constant fear—all in the name of justice.

But just when all seems lost, a new hope for Gotham rises: The Son of Bane.

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Snyder + Soule + Camuncoli tease something for San Diego

New adventure comic by the team coming from Image Comics.

Scott Snyder and Charles Soule are both powerhouse comic writers in their own right, but together they form a Voltron-like super writer. The duo will team up on a new Image Comics series, which they began teasing yesterday on social media.

They’ll be joined by the art team of Giuseppe Camuncoli, along with Matt Wilson, Daniele Orlandini, Crank! and editor Will Dennis. The actual announcement will take place at Comic-Con International later this month.

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McFarlane’s ‘Spawn’ celebrates 300 issues in August

Greg Capullo, Scott Snyder, J. Scott Campbell and more help celebrate the milestone.

Todd McFarlane’s Spawn will reach its 300th issue in August, and the creator has gone all out for the big occasion.

“I created Spawn back when I was a teenager hoping to someday break into the comic book industry,” McFarlane said in a press release.  “Now, over 40 years later, not only was I able to have a career drawing and writing comics, but Spawn has been by my side for most of that journey. Even more exciting, Spawn is becoming the longest running creator-owned comic in the world!”

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‘Detective’ #1000 to feature Dini, Lee, Bendis, Cloonan, Ellis and more

DC Comics has unveiled the line-up for Detective Comics #1000, the landmark issue that arrives in stores in March.

The comic will feature short stories by a variety of creative teams, from classic Batman creators like Denny O’Neil, Paul Dini and Kelley Jones, as well as more recent creators like Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo and Tom King.

“Following in the footsteps of the blockbuster Action Comics #1000, Detective Comics #1000 is going to be a must-have for every kind of Batman fan,” said DC Publisher Dan DiDio. “Everyone we asked to be a part of this monumental issue immediately said yes and we can’t wait for fans to get their hands on the comic book.”

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DC announces ‘Year of the Villain’ 25-cent comic

The almost-free comic arrives a few days before this year’s Free Comic Book Day.

Just prior to Free Comic Book Day, DC Comics will release a 25-cent DC Year of the Villain comic that spotlights several villains and sets the stage for future stories.

The book will include stories by Scott Snyder, Brian Michael Bendis, James Tynion IV, Jim Cheung, Francis Manapul and Alex Maleev, with a cover by Greg Capullo. Variant cover artists include Maleev and Cheung, as well as Stanley “Artgerm” Lau.

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