Archer & Armstrong face a possessed nun, freemasons + more in this exclusive preview of ‘Assassin Nation’ #2

The miniseries by Fred Van Lente, Emiliano Urdinola and Exequiel F. Roel wraps up this Wednesday, just in time for ‘Road to Resurgence.’

The Road to Resurgence of the Valiant Universe continues next week in the wrap-up to the two-issue Archer & Armstrong miniseries by Fred Van Lente, Emiliano Urdinola and Exequiel F. Roel. And courtesy of Alien Books, the new home of the Valiant line, we have an exclusive look at issue #2.

Van Lente is of course no stranger to Archer & Armstrong, having written numerous issues of the series prior to its move to Alien Books. The “Assassin Nation” story is a sequel to his previous run, bringing in several familiar characters and also spotlighting a change in the dynamic between the pair — Archer has acquired Armstrong’s immortality, which throws them both off. It’s not great timing, as they’re also dealing with possessed nun out to murder them, the usual conspiracy theories and, according to the solicit text, “even a porn-sized penis.” (Which I should note does not appear in the preview, as it is SFW).

The comic arrives in stores next Wednesday, and you can check out the exclusive preview, along with the cover by Nico Di Mattia and its variant by Andres Ponce, below. It’s one of the final stops before Resurgence of the Valiant Universe kicks off later in September.

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Exclusive Preview | ‘Ninjak vs. Roku’ #3

The Road to Resurgence of the Valiant Universe continues this week in a new issue by AJ Ampadu, Emiliano Correa and Marina Leon.

Since acquiring the rights to publish comics set in the Valiant Universe last year, Alien Books has been not only rejuvenating the line, but also building toward something big that’s coming in September — Resurgence Of The Valiant Universe. And along the way, there have been plenty of stops on the Road to Resurgence, including the Ninjak vs. Roku miniseries by AJ Ampadu, Emiliano Correa and Marina Leon.

Courtesy of Alien, we’re pleased to present an exclusive preview of Ninjak vs. Roku #3, which will arrive in stores this Wednesday.

The series pits the two former-lovers-turned-rivals Ninjak and Roku against each other, as they search for the same objective in competing missions. As you’ll see in the preview, things aren’t going well for Ninjak, as issue #2 was not kind to him. Ampadu’s taking a smart approach to the comic, pulling enough from Ninjak and Roku’s shared history to keep previous fans interested but providing enough of a “jump on” point for anyone new to the title. Correa returns to art duties for this issue, alternating with Diego Giribaldi, who drew the previous issue.

You can check the preview out below, along with the main cover and a variant, both by Richard Ortiz.

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Rest in peace, Don Perlin

The co-creator of Moon Knight and Bloodshot and artist of countless comics passed away at the age of 94.

Don Perlin, the veteran comics artist who co-created Moon Knight and Bloodshot, passed away May 14 at the age of 94, his daughter confirmed on social media.

“I am devastated to report the death of an amazing man. My father Don Perlin passed away peacefully yesterday at the age of 94,” Elaine Perlin wrote on Facebook. “He was an amazing father, husband, grandfather and great-grandfather. We will all miss him terribly. He was an amazing artist and considered a legend in the comic world. To me he was my best friend. I will miss him so much.”

Born in New York City and raised in Brooklyn, Perlin began pursuing his career in high school when he began taking classes from Burne Hogarth, who worked on the Tarzan comic strip and wrote several anatomy books aimed at artists.

“I always wanted to draw and I always like to draw cartoons,” he told Nerd Team 30 back in 2018. “While I was in high school, Burne Hogarth had put an ad in some of the high school papers about a class he’d be having on Saturday mornings in Manhattan. I showed it to my dad and he called Hogarth. We went to his apartment and showed him some of the things I’d done, and he accepted me into to the class. There I started learning about comic books and comic strips and the ‘how-to’ part of things.  From there on I started trying to get into the business and slowly I managed to.”

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Valiant, Alien Books announce a publishing partnership

Alien Books will take over publishing comics for Valiant, with plans to increase the overall number of titles featuring Valiant characters.

Valiant Entertainment has announced a publishing partnership with Alien Books, where Valiant is essentially outsourcing their publishing to the fledgling publisher. According to Popverse, the deal will see Alien Books “take over all publishing of Valiant properties.”

This is not completely unexpected; the surprising part — and good news for fans of the characters — is that Valiant’s comic line isn’t just fading away. For the past couple years Valiant’s output has declined considerably, with the publishing line seemingly on life support as they published somewhere between 0-2 titles per month. The press release said Alien would “expand Valiant’s publishing capabilities,” with clarifications from Popverse and the Beat both saying this is pretty much the end of Valiant publishing their own comics (and graphic novels and the like). The Beat adds that “some remaining Valiant staffers will stay on to work on the transition.”

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GlobalComix adds Valiant comics to their library

The growing digital comics platform adds 1,600 new comics from the publisher to their library.

GlobalComix has announced they’ve entered into a partnership with Valiant Entertainment, bringing more than 1,600 comics — including Faith, Eternal Warrior, Shadowman and more — to the digital comics platform.

“Since its foundation in 1989, Valiant Entertainment’s deep character development and rich storytelling have been hallmarks of the Valiant Universe,” said Christopher Carter, CEO & Founder of GlobalComix. “It’s that attention and care that has made Valiant Entertainment one of the most successful publishers in the history of comics. We are honored to partner with them to bring the Valiant Universe to comics fans around the world through GlobalComix.”

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Mail Call | New release dates for the Milestone revival

Catch up on news and announcements from Dark Horse, Vault Comics, DC, Z2 and more.

Mail Call is a roundup of the announcements we’ve received from comics publishers in our mailboxes recently that we haven’t already covered. Hit the links for more information.

DC Comics has modified their plans for the upcoming Milestone Media relaunch. The three launch titles — Static, Icon and Rocket, and Hardware — will no longer arrive digitally before they come out in print. Instead, they’ll be released in both formats on the same day, as well as on DC Universe Infinite. Both Static and Icon and Rocket will come out later, but Hardware will be published earlier than originally announced. The new dates (and creative teams for each title) are:

  • Static: Season One, written by Vita Ayala, with layouts by CHRISCROSS, finishes by Nikolas Draper-Ivey with covers by Khary Randolph launches in print and digital on June 15.
  • Icon and Rocket: Season One, co-written by Reggie Hudlin and Leon Chills, with art by Doug Braithwaite and covers by Taurin Clarke launches in print and digital on July 27.
  • Hardware: Season One, written by Brandon Thomas, with art by Denys Cowan and Bill Sienkiewicz with covers by Mateus Mahanini, launches in print and digital on August 10.
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Mail Call | John Ridley makes his Marvel debut in January

A round-up of news from Marvel, IDW, Top Shelf 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.

Academy Award winner John Ridley has several projects in the works at DC right now, but DC’s not the only publisher he’s doing work for. Marvel has announced that the writer of 12 Years A Slave will have a story in Wolverine: Black, White and Blood #3. The anthology series will feature short stories about the popular mutant, told in black and white … and red. Jorge Fornés is the artist on his story.

“I can think of no better way to kick off my writing relationship with Marvel Comics than by contributing to a truly fantastic anthology series centered around Wolverine,” Ridley told Marvel.com. “Equally exciting is having the story illustrated by Jorge Fornés. I look forward to writing more stories set in the Marvel Universe, and with their roster of iconic characters.”

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Mail Call | ‘X-O Manowar’ returns, ‘Death Metal’ one-shots and more

A round-up of news from DC, Marvel, Image Comics, Valiant 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.

The Dark Nights: Death Metal event grew again this week, as DC announced two new anthology one-shots for November prior to releasing their full November solicitations.

The first one is focused on Lobo and is titled Dark Nights: Death Metal Infinite Hours Exxxtreme! #1. It will feature “Uncle Lobo” telling “familiar yet freaky stories of the DC Universe, exactly as he remembers them: with blood and guts and exxxtreme gratuitous violence.” The creators involved include Frank Tieri, Becky Cloonan, Dale Eaglesham and more, with a cover by Kyle Hotz.

If that one isn’t ridiculous-sounding enough, the second one, Dark Nights: Death Metal The Multiverse Who Laughs “offers the curious—and the brave—a glimpse into the nightmare realities that the Batman Who Laughs has created in tales by creators who know what it means to have a truly twisted sense of misfit humor.” As you can tell by the cover, one of those worlds features evil super pets. It includes stories by Amanda Conner, Patton Oswalt, Jimmy Palmiotti, Scott Snyder, Brandon Thomas, James Tynion IV, Joshua Williamson, Chad Hardin and more.

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Valiant recruits Parker + Pulido for a new ‘Ninjak’ comic

The new title will launch next year.

Valiant Entertainment’s Ninjak will return in a new title next year from the creative team of Jeff Parker and Javier Pulido.

Ninjak, for the uninitiated, is Collin King, superspy/ninja, as the name implies. He was created in 1993 by Mark Moretti and Joe Quesada, and has headlined his own title several times since. The most recent version was written by Matt Kindt and published by Valiant in 2015.

Pulido’s always an interesting artist to watch, as he has such a unique style, and Parker’s really good at pulpy adventure stories. So this is a great match-up.

“I love how Javier’s mind works,” Parker said. “He comes up with the most brilliant panel progressions and layouts, and very striking compositions that look so simple but you have to be a next-level talent to attempt a lot of what he does.”

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Comics Lockdown: The latest on comics and COVID

Featuring news from Valiant, Archie Comics, MICE and more.

As the news that Diamond Comics Distributors is putting shipments on hold as of April 1 reverberated throughout the comics industry, reactions came from many quarters. Here’s a roundup of as many as I could find, with more (I’m sure) tomorrow:

Let’s start with some perspective: At Comichron, John Jackson Miller looks at the history of the comics retail market and offers some hope for the future.

At ICv2, editor, comics market analyst, and former distributor Milton Griepp gives his perspective.

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‘Savage’ returns at Valiant from Bemis + Stockman

Kevin Sauvage returns in a new miniseries this June.

Valiant has tapped Max Bemis and Nathan Stockman to tell the next chapter in the story of Savage, a Kazar/Tarzan-esque boy who grew up on a remote island populated by dinosaurs and other terrifying things. The new miniseries will kick off in June.

Savage is the biggest story I’ve ever told. As in it’s my aesthetic turned up to eleven and crammed into the skin of a summer blockbuster film,” Bemis said in a press release. “If you dig the more fun and up-tempo stuff I’ve done like Worst X-Man Ever, this is the book you’ve been waiting for.”

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Valiant revives ‘Shadowman’

Cullen Bunn and Jon Davis-Hunt tapped to bring horror back to Valiant.

Valiant’s Shadowman will return in May with a new series by Cullen Bunn, Jon Davis-Hunt, Jodie Bellaire and Clayton Cowles.

“We’re taking Shadowman in some directions he’s never been taken before,” Bunn said in a press release. “He’s confronting a growing supernatural threat that is popping up all over the world. We are introducing the concept of the Blight, which is a weakening of the veil between our world and the Deadside. And these Blights occur in places of great sorrow and misery and evil.”

Bunn added, “We’re also introducing a new villain who will be changing the face of the supernatural in the Valiant Universe.”

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