Titan announces a second ‘Horizon Zero Dawn’ miniseries

‘Horizon Zero Dawn: Liberation’ begins in July.

Titan Comics is following up last year’s Horizon Zero Dawn miniseries with a second arc, titled Horizon Zero Dawn: Liberation. The comic is based on the video game of the same name, which came out in 2017.

Returning for this second story are writers Ben McCaw and Anne Toole. They’ll be joined by artist Elmer Damaso, who previously worked on Titan’s Robotech title.

“All of us who worked on the story – myself, Anne Toole, Annie Kitain, and Ari Martinez – feel humbled by the praise the series has received,” McCaw said. “During the writing process, we could only hope that fans would connect with the characters the same way we do, and it’s gratifying to hear that we succeeded.”

Peach Momoko is providing the first issue’s main cover:

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Star Wars, Blade Runner, InvestiGators among the 2021 Free Comic Book Day gold sponsor comics

This year’s Free Comic Book Day on Aug. 14 will include titles from Marvel, IDW, Dark Horse, Titan and more.

Diamond Comics Distributors has announced the 12 gold sponsor titles that retailers will offer on Free Comic Book Day this year. This year’s event will take place Aug. 14.

“This year’s lineup of titles has something for every kind of comic fan,” said Ashton Greenwood, Free Comic Book Day spokesperson. “We can’t wait to once again share the FCBD experience with fans, especially on our landmark 20th anniversary! We hope fans will safely visit their local comic shops to celebrate and to pick up a few of the great titles available this year.”

Missing from the list is DC Comics, who no longer use Diamond to distribute comics to U.S. retailers. DC has indicated their plans to participate, however.

The titles were curated by more than 20 comic shop retailers who make up the FCBD Selection Committee. The Gold Sponsor titles come from Marvel Comics, Dark Horse Comics, IDW Publishing, Image Comics, Archie Comics, BOOM! Studios, Macmillan/First Second Books, Penguin Workshop, AfterShock Comics, Titan Comics, TOKYOPOP and VIZ Media.

This year’s gold sponsor books are:

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Titan Comics announces ‘Blade Runner Origins’

The prequel to ‘Blade Runner’ will kick off in February.

Titan Comics will take a look back at the creation of the Blade Runner division from the popular film franchise in a new series called Blade Runner Origins.

The creator team for the series will be Mike Johnson, co-writer of Titan’s Blade Runner 2019; K. Perkins of Batwoman, Wonder Woman and Supergirl fame; and screenwriter Mellow Brown (American Gods).

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Mail Call | Dark Horse to bring several comiXology Originals titles to print

A round-up of news from DC, Marvel, Titan Comics, IDW and more.

Mail Call is a roundup of the announcements we’ve received from comics publishers in our mailboxes recently. Hit the links for more information.

ComiXology announced this week that they’ve struck a deal with Dark Horse to bring several of their comiXology Originals digital titles to print, starting with four titles next spring: Afterlift, Breaklands, Youth and The Black Ghost.

“We were always hopeful comiXology Originals books would get into readers’ hands via comics retailers and book stores, and Dark Horse is a terrific collaborator to work with to do so, with an unmatched history of supporting creator-owned projects alongside unmatched distribution expertise. This deal fortifies the ability for these stories to reach customers like never before,” said David Steinberger, comiXology co-founder and CEO. “We’re thrilled to be working with Dark Horse.”

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Mail Call | Grifter coming to ‘Batman’ following the Joker War

Rounding up news from DC, IDW, Humble Bundle and more.

Mail Call is a roundup of the announcements we’ve received from comics publishers in our mailboxes recently. Hit the links for more information.

Trick or treat: DC Comics will release not one but two Halloween specials this October, the equivalent of getting a full-sized candy bar instead of those fun-sized ones.

The first one features Swamp Thing with stories by James Tynion IV, Tom King, Tradd Moore, Emma Rios and more. The second, titled DC: The Doomed and the Damned, will feature stories by Marv Wolfman, Ken Porter, John Arcudi, Saladin Ahmed, Riley Rossmo, Travis Moore and more. It’ll feature short stories starring Batman, Madame Xanadu, Man-Bat, Green Lantern, Etrigan and more.

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Mail Call | DC announces a new monthly digital catalog

Plus: Criminal’s ‘Cruel Summer,’ Green Lantern, a ‘Wynd’ trailer and more.

Mail Call is a roundup of the announcements we received from publishers in our mailboxes recently. Hit the links for more information.

Now that they’re using multiple distributors, it makes sense that DC Comics would launch a new means for communicating distribution information vs. just limiting it to Diamond’s Previews. That seems to be DC Connect, a new, downloadable catalog they announced this week. It contains information on upcoming comics and graphic novels, with plans to expand it to include “talent interviews, preview pages from upcoming stories, behind-the-scenes looks at projects in development, multimedia content and more.”

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Titan is bringing ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ to comics

The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical classic will haunt comic shops in June 2020.

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Charles Hart’s multi award-winning musical, The Phantom of the Opera, will soon get the graphic novel treatment, courtesy of Titan Comics.

“I’m thrilled Titan Comics is adapting The Phantom of the Opera,” said Titan Publisher Nick Landau. “It’s an honor to be working with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group on this project and I can’t wait for fans to discover the Phantom in this lavish new graphic novel.”

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Preview: First look at ‘Snowpiercer’ prequel

Titan Comics will release ‘Snowpiercer: Extinction’ in September.

Here’s a preview to get your mind off the midsummer heat: A first look at Snowpiercer: Extinction, the prequel to the original Snowpiercer graphic novel… wait, it’s complicated.

The original Snowpiercer series was published as four volumes in French, with art by Jean-Marc Rochette and scripts from three different writers: The Escape, by Jacques Lob, The Explorers and The Crossing, by Benjamin Legrand, and Terminus, by Olivier Bocquet. When they were published in English by Titan Comics, The Explorers and The Crossing were combined into a single volume.

The series has an absolutely smashing premise: In a post-apocalyptic ice-ridden world, the remnants of humanity travel across the snow-covered landscape in a very, very long train. As in life, there are different classes with different levels of privilege aboard this train: The wealthy ride in luxurious quarters toward the front of the train, while the less well-off travel in squalor at the rear. What’s more, that train can’t run forever, so change is coming no matter what. When some folks from the rear start to move toward the front, the entire equilibrium is upset. The first volume was adapted into a film in 2013.

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‘Blade Runner 2019’ debuts at Comic-Con this week [Preview]

The new comic by Michael Green, Mike Johnson and Andres Guinaldo will receive a variant in San Diego as it hits comic shops nationwide on Wednesday.

Titan Comics will debut its adaptation of the classic science fiction movie movie Blade Runner this week, both in comic shops and at Comic-Con International in San Diego.

Written by Michael Green and Mike Johnson, and drawn by Andres Guinaldo, Blade Runner 2019 will “tell original, in-canon stories set in the Blade Runner universe.” Check out a preview below.

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Comics Lowdown: Eric M. Esquivel fired from ‘Nightwing,’ ‘Border Town’ cancelled

Plus: Free Comics Book Day, George Freeman, Marie Javins and more!

Although it wasn’t yet announced, DC Comics has said Eric M. Esquivel will no longer co-write Nightwing. The news that Esquivel was writing the book was to be revealed today in DC’s January solicitations.

The news follows the cancellation of Border Town, a well-reviewed series Esquivel wrote with artists Ramon Villalobos and Tamra Bonvillain. Both Villalobos and Bonvillain announced on social media they had quit the title after allegations of sexual abuse against Esquivel became public. In a piece titled “X, my experience with my abuser,” toy designer Cynthia Naugle detailed a history of abuse by a co-worker at a comic shop, who has since been identified as Esquivel.

Neither DC Comics nor Vertigo have commented directly on the abuse allegations. Esquivel, who had changed his Twitter account to private following the allegations, has now made it public again and posted several tweets in response. At Book Riot, writer S.W. Sondheimer says she will no longer cover Vertigo titles as a result of their silence on the matter.

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Wolfman + Kowalski to adapt ‘Diablo’ for Titan Comics

Blizzard’s long-running video game franchise heads to comics.

New Teen Titans co-creator Marv Wolfman has written for both comics and video games during his 50-year career, so it’s no wonder Titan Comics has recruited him to write a comic adaptation of Blizzard’s video game franchise Diablo.

The news comes out of Comic-Con International in San Diego this weekend. Wolfman will be joined by Piotr Kowalski, who worked on Titan’s adaptation of Wolfenstein.

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Titan to bring ‘The Prisoner: Shattered Visage’ back into print

Motter and Askwith’s comic book sequel to The Prisoner returns to print for the first time in decades.

Back in the late 1980s Dean Motter and Mark Askwith created a comic book sequel to the cult classic TV show The Prisoner, which was published by DC Comics. In San Diego this week, Titan Comics announced that they will republish the long out-of-print story, The Prisoner: Shattered Visage, with Motter’s character sketches and notes.

“When I was approached to do a series based on The Prisoner, I leapt at the chance. It was one of my favorite TV shows when it first aired. My thinking turned to doing it as a post-modernist fable – one that took place in the current era, but that would re-open the questions from the original saga,” Motter said in a press release. “However, doing the research was going to take more resources than I had – so I drafted my friend and colleague Mark Askwith to help me with that aspect of the project. It became a collaboration almost instantly. I am honored to see it re-presented as part of Titan’s ongoing celebration of The Prisoner‘s ongoing 50th anniversary.”

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