Donald Duck proves himself worthy this fall

‘What If Donald Duck Became Thor?’ by Steve Behling, Riccardo Secchi, Lorenzo Pastrovicchio + more brings the thunder in September.

We’ve seen everyone from Captain America to Beta Ray Bill to even Wonder Woman deemed “worthy” to hold Thor’s enchanted hammer, Mjolnir, and this fall you can add another name to the list — Donald Duck.

Following Marvel’s foray into the world of Disney’s Duckburg later this month in Uncle $crooge and the Infinity Dime #1 and July’s Donald Duck/Wolverine mash-up, What If Donald Duck Became Thor? will explore what happens when Donald Duck discovers an ancient cane that allows him to transform into Thor — much like another Donald, Donald Blake, did back in the 1960s. It sounds like you can expect the one-shot to pull from a lot of that early Thor lore.

“When we saw the designs for the Stone Ducks of Saturn and The Destroyer we literally laughed out loud,” the book’s editor, Mark Paniccia, said. “I can honestly say I never thought I’d see something like this in my career. I gotta pinch myself to make sure it’s not a dream.”

This particular mash-up comes courtesy of writers Steve Behling and Riccardo Secchi and artist Lorenzo Pastrovicchio.

Continue reading “Donald Duck proves himself worthy this fall”

Sunday Comics | Let’s ‘Runaway to the Stars’

Check out webcomics by Jay Eaton, Joe Poland, Nicholas Gurewitch, Campbell Whyte and more.

Here’s a round up of some of the best and most interesting comics we’ve seen online recently. If we missed something, let us know in the comments below.

Jay Eaton has been working on Runaway to the Stars for quite awhile now, posting pages on Patreon and Tumblr, but now they’ve gone and gotten a shiny new comics website.

Runaway to the Stars is a worldbuilding project that I’ve been working on for over a decade,” Eaton said. “It started as an excuse to design some aliens and throw all my science fiction thoughts in the same vat, and eventually a book started to grow out of it like a fungus. If this comic intrigues you, there’s tons of additional artwork, writing and short comics that can be found on my perpetual work-in-progress Neocities website and my ancient tumblr blog. There is quite a rabbit hole to go down, if you don’t mind some bespoke coding jank.”

Continue reading “Sunday Comics | Let’s ‘Runaway to the Stars’”

Roxxon wages a hostile takeover against Thor + Marvel this spring

The Roxxon Age of Comics is upon us.

Thor will get a corporate makeover of sorts in April, as Marvel’s longtime evil oil company, Roxxon Energy Corporation, “takes over” Marvel in April and releases their own Thor comic.

Roxxon Presents: Thor is a one-shot by current Immortal Thor writer Al Ewing and, probably the perfect artist for a project like this, Greg Land. Roxxin’ Thor will “be there to defend big business and the sanctity of shareholder value,” as he smashes woke environmentalists at the bequest of longtime Thor villain and Roxxon CEO Dario Agger, a.k.a. the Minotaur.

Continue reading “Roxxon wages a hostile takeover against Thor + Marvel this spring”

Can’t Wait for Comics | ‘Knight Terrors’ begins

Check out new comics and graphic novels arriving this week by Joshua Williamson, Howard Porter, Jeremy Haun, W. Maxwell Prince, Martin Simmonds, Ann Nocenti, Shaky Kane, Scott Snyder, Tula Lotay, Rafer Roberts, Mike Norton, Sarah Myer and more.

Welcome to Can’t Wait for Comics, your guide to what comics are arriving in comic book stores, bookstores and on digital. Despite it being a holiday week in the United States, it’s pretty big week for comics, as DC starts their big summer event, Captain America celebrates a milestone and Pink Lemonade gets collected.

I’ve pulled out some of the highlights below, but for the complete list of everything you might find at your local comic shop and on digital this week, you’ll want to check out one or more of the following:

As a reminder, things can change and what you find on the above lists may differ from what’s actually arriving in your local shop. So always check with your comics retailer for the final word on availability.

Continue reading “Can’t Wait for Comics | ‘Knight Terrors’ begins”

‘Immortal Thor’ faces elder gods + buried secrets this summer

Al Ewing + Martín Cóccolo will tell new tales featuring Asgard’s All-Father starting in August.

Al Ewing will return to his “Immortal” roots this summer as he and artist Martín Cóccolo plot new adventures and uncover old secrets for the God of Thunder in Immortal Thor.

The title mirrors Ewing’s earlier run on Immortal Hulk, which wrapped up in 2021. In an interview with Polygon, Ewing talked about the differences in his approach to the two titles.

“Hulk was horror and tragedy,” he told Polygon, “but Thor tacks more toward fantasy and hope. Bruce Banner is fractured by his origin, going through a hell of his own making to gain the power of a monster — Don Blake becomes the person he truly is inside, and in so doing, gains the power of a god. (An unconventional god! Long hair in the early ’60s was more of a flex than we might credit, though I do remember Jane fantasizing about giving him a haircut.) To put my biblical hat back on for a second — if Immortal Hulk was the Old Testament, Immortal Thor is the New Testament.”

Continue reading “‘Immortal Thor’ faces elder gods + buried secrets this summer”

Slugfest | Groo goes wild in a new miniseries

Plus: Batman Beyond, more Birdking, Thor vs. M.O.D.O.K., the return of ‘Fire Power,’ Hellfire Gala fashion and more.

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you. Hit the links for more information.

Sergio Aragonés and Mark Evanier will reunite for Groo: In the Wild, a new miniseries that kicks off in July.

The duo is joined by letterer Stan Sakai and colorist Carrie Strachan for a story that sees the barbarian and his dog looking for food. Things go downhill from there, in typical Groo fashion.

Continue reading “Slugfest | Groo goes wild in a new miniseries”

Hulk + Thor collide next year in ‘Banner of War’

Donny Cates and Martin Coccolo set two Avengers on a collision course in a five-issue crossover that begins in April.

Two Donny Cates-written characters will cross over next year in Hulk vs. Thor: Banner of War.

The story, which kicks off with an “alpha” issue from Marvel before erupting into the Hulk and Thor monthly titles, will find the two Avengers brought together by “mysterious circumstances.” And then the fighting starts.

“Well, I was a little surprised that Marvel approached me to write this, if I’m being honest. I’m mostly known for writing very small, very quiet, intimate comics, so I had to—ha!! Sorry. Couldn’t keep that up. Yeah, this is gonna be bonkers as hell, guys,” Cates told Marvel.com. “We’re going to break EVERYTHING! Happy birthday, Hulk and Thor! Hope you enjoy MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF VIOLENCE!” 

Continue reading “Hulk + Thor collide next year in ‘Banner of War’”

Can’t Wait for Comics | Cliff Chiang sends Catwoman into a ‘Lonely City’

Check out what’s arriving in comic shops this week from Cliff Chiang, Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, Scott Snyder, Francesco Francavilla, Todd McFarlane, Erik Larsen, James Tynion IV and more.

Welcome to Can’t Wait for Comics, your guide to what comics are arriving in comic book stores, bookstores and on digital this week.

Check out a few highlights below, or visit Diamond’s website for this week’s almost complete list of new comics arriving in stores. You can visit Lunar Distribution’s home page to see DC’s releases, and the comiXology new releases page for what’s available digitally.

I should also add that the list of what is actually arriving at your local shop can vary from what’s on anyone’s official website for a myriad of reasons — so always check with your comics retailer for the final word on availability.

Continue reading “Can’t Wait for Comics | Cliff Chiang sends Catwoman into a ‘Lonely City’”

Momoko’s ‘Demon Days’ continues in December with ‘Rising Storm’

Marvel will also release a ‘Creator’s Cut” edition of the first ‘Demon Days’ comic by Peach Momoko.

Over the last year Peach Momoko has been building out her own alternate universe that combines Japanese folklore with the Marvel Universe. Those stories continue in December with Demon Days: Rising Storm, the second-to-last one-shot set in the same world as the previous Demon Days comics.

The comic will continue to focus on Mariko’s journey, introducing Momoko’s version of Thor and Storm into the story.

Continue reading “Momoko’s ‘Demon Days’ continues in December with ‘Rising Storm’”

Marvel announces plans for milestone ‘Avengers’ #750

The oversized issue will include stories by Jason Aaron, Christopher Ruocchio, Steve McNiven, Carlos Pacheco and more.

Marvel is pulling out the stops on issue #750 of the Avengers, which arrives in November, as the 96-page issue will include multiple stories by current Avengers writer Jason Aaron and artists like Carlos Pacheco, Aaron Kuder, Ed McGuinness and Javier Garrón.

“It’s such an honor to be a part of issue #750 of Avengers, and I’m looking to celebrate the rich history of the title and its iconic characters by using this issue as the gargantuan-sized kick-off for a story that’ll be as wildly sweeping and swing-for-the-fences epic as it can possibly be,” Aaron told Marvel.com. “It’s not just that everything I’ve been doing in the last 50 issues of Avengers has been leading to this, but there are threads feeding into the next year’s worth of stories that stretch back to most every major series I’ve ever written in my 15 years at Marvel Comics.”

Continue reading “Marvel announces plans for milestone ‘Avengers’ #750”

Sunday Comics | A cartoon journey around Vermont

Check out recent online comics from Caanan Grall, Ben Passmore, Matthew Dow Smith, Lar DeSouza and more.

Here’s a round up of some of the best comics we’ve seen online recently. If we missed something, let us know in the comments below or on social media.

Vermont’s indie newspaper Seven Days produces an issue dedicated to comics every year, with the most recent one arriving about a month ago. Contributors included Sally Pollak, Michael Tonn, Jordan Barry, Coco Fox, Ezra Veitch and more, while Vermont cartoon laureate James Kochalka provided the cover.

“… any of the stories in the following pages could have been reported and written traditionally,” Assistant Arts Editor Dan Bolles wrote. “Presented in graphic form, however, they shimmer through the lenses of talented artists, who see the material differently from reporters.”

Some of the topics they covered included a visual trip through Guster lead singer Ryan Miller’s Vermont (shown above), a look at a Vermont law that allows to-go cocktails and an excerpt from a comic about the U.S. health care system created by Vermont’s Center for Cartoon Studies. You can find links to all these different comics from Bolles’ write-up on the issue.

Continue reading “Sunday Comics | A cartoon journey around Vermont”

Stellar motorcycle shots: Heroes Reborn roundtable, week 6

Carla, Tom, Shane and JK continue to discuss Marvel’s latest comics event and its tie-in one-shots.

The Smash Pages team is back this week for our sixth Heroes Reborn roundtable, where we break down the latest Marvel crossover issue by issue. This week Shane Bailey, Tom Bondurant, Carla Hoffman and I talk about Heroes Reborn #6, as well as two tie-in issues: Night-Gwen and Squadron Savage.

You can read part one of our roundtable discussions here, part two here, part three here, part four here and part five here.

Continue reading “Stellar motorcycle shots: Heroes Reborn roundtable, week 6”