Venom gets extreme — and an anthology series — in May

‘Extreme Venomverse’ arrives just in time for ‘Death of the Venomverse’ and ‘Summer of Symbiotes,’ as Venom celebrates his 35-year anniversary.

How easy would it be to apply the template of the Spider-Verse to Venom? We’ll find out later this year, as Marvel has announced Extreme Venomverse, an anthology series that will feature various versions of Venom from around the multiverse.

This year is the 35th anniversary of the character, who was created by Todd McFarlane and David Michelinie and had his first, full appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #300. But you have to tip your hat to the creators of Amazing Spider-Man #252 — Roger Stern, Todd DeFalco, Mike Zeck and Ron Frenz — for creating Spider-Man’s black alien costume. And are you familiar with Randy Schueller? He was a comics fan who came up with the idea for putting Spider-Man in a black costume.

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Venom battles Doctor Doom in ‘Lethal Protector II’ miniseries

David Michelinie and Farid Karami send Eddie Brock to Latveria in the new miniseries.

It was on this day in 1987 that we saw our first glimpse of Venom, the character co-created by David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man #299. So it’s an appropriate day for Marvel to announce a sequel to Venom: Lethal Protector, the recent miniseries by Michelinie and Ivan Fiorelli.

For Venom: Lethal Protector II, Michelinie will be joined by artist Farid Karami as they pit Venom against Doctor Doom.

“One of the happiest parts of my career was when I was originating and developing Venom,” Michelinie told Marvel.com. “So returning to that era is like having my own time machine. And to put Venom up against Doctor Doom, my favorite villain… sweet icing on the cake!”

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2023 Free Comic Book Day gold titles include Spider-Man, Fishflies, Dog Man and more

The first 13 titles include selections from Marvel, BOOM!, IDW, Image, Dark Horse and more.

Diamond has announced the first round of Free Comic Book Day titles for 2023. The “gold sponsor” titles for next year will include comics from Marvel, Dark Horse, AfterShock, Image, VIZ, Kodansha, Archie, BOOM!, Graphix, IDW, Titan and Dynamite, for a total of 13 titles, as Marvel will have two gold level books.

“This year’s lineup of titles has something for every kind of comic fan,” said Ashton Greenwood, Free Comic Book Day spokesperson. “We’re looking forward to another great year celebrating comic books and comic book shops, and we think this year’s lineup gives fans a lot to be excited about!”

The rest of the batch — otherwise known as the silver sponsor titles — will be announced later this week. Free Comic Book Day is scheduled for May 6, 2023.

Here’s a look at each gold-level title:

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Marvel’s 2023 Free Comic Book Day offerings will feature X-Men, Spider-Man, Venom and more

‘Summer of Symbiotes,’ ‘Fall of X’ and more will be previewed by Marvel next May.

Marvel has announced their plans for next year’s Free Comic Book Day event, as the publisher will release four free comics on that day.

Just like they did this year, Marvel will use FCBD to promote several of their upcoming events, like Summer of Symbiotes and Fall of X. They’ll also have another Marvel’s Voices issue, and will round things out with a title aimed at the younger set — Spidey & His Amazing Friends, which will adapt the Disney Junior TV show.

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Can’t Wait for Comics | ‘Batman Incorporated’ is back in business

See what’s arriving in comic shops this week.

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

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.

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Mary Jane Watson teams with the Black Cat for new ‘Dark Web’ miniseries

Jed MacKay and Vincenzo Carratù bring together the former rivals in December.

Two of Spider-Man’s ex’s will team up in a new miniseries this December, as a part of the bigger Dark Web crossover event Marvel announced at the San Diego Comic Con earlier this year.

The series will be written by Jed McKay, who wrote the most recent Black Cat series as well as the Black Cat/Mary Jane one-shot that tied into the “Beyond” storyline in Amazing Spider-Man. He will work with artist Vincenzo Carratù on the series, who has drawn several series for Dynamite in recent years.

“I’ve kind of lost track of how many lives Felicia has left at this point, but she keeps coming back- and this time she’s brought a friend,” MacKay told Marvel.com. “Getting back to Mary Jane and Black Cat after their one-shot last year has been a delight—and seeing how they’ve been catching up on all the drama that’s happened since then has been, well, catnip.”

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Slugfest | A round-up of comics publishing news

Ultraman, Blink, Sleeper Agent, Human Target and more slug it out in our first Slugfest comics publishing news round-up.

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you from comics creators, publishers and more. Hit the links for more information.

Ultraman returns in August

Marvel has announced a third Ultraman miniseries by Kyle Higgins, Mat Groom and Davide Tinto. Subtitled ‘The Mystery of Ultraseven,” the story will include “an enigmatic new Ultra and a secret that has remained hidden for decades.”

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David Michelinie returns to write Venom in a new ‘Lethal Protector’ miniseries

The co-creator of Venom returns for a story set in Venom’s past.

David Michelinie, the writer of Amazing Spider-Man, Iron Man and other titles who co-created Venom, Carnage and War Machine, will return to Marvel for a new miniseries featuring Venom.

Venom: Lethal Protector — which shares a name with a 1993 miniseries also written by Michelinie — will be set in the past and feature artwork by Ivan Fiorelli.

“Getting to do a multi-issue story with the original Venom was like sitting down to dinner with an old friend—who wants to eat your brain for dessert!” Michelinie told Marvel.com. “It was both fun and exciting, and I hope people enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.”

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Free Comic Book Day 2022 Gold titles revealed

Diamond Comics Distributors has revealed the 11 gold-tiered titles you can get for free next May.

Diamond Comics Distributors has revealed the 11 “gold sponsor” titles that retailers will have available on Free Comic Book Day 2022, which is scheduled for May 7.

“This year’s lineup of titles has something for every kind of comic fan,” said Ashton Greenwood, Free Comic Book Day spokesperson. “We’re excited for FCBD to return to the first Saturday in May, and we can’t wait to celebrate the day with another incredible line up of comic book titles. 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.”

Free Comic Book Day returns to its traditional May date next year after a couple of years where the pandemic caused a bit of a shuffle — but what’s new, right? This past year the event was held in August, while in 2020 the date went through several changes before ultimately being cancelled — but comics were still delivered to retailers for distribution as they saw fit during the summer.

Here’s a look at the Gold Sponsor titles; the Silver titles will likely be announced soon as well. Also, there are no DC titles on the list, since they no longer use Diamond, but it’s a safe bet they’ll have free comics available in May as well.

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Can’t Wait for Comics | A new era of ‘Venom’ kicks off this week

New comics and graphic novels arrive this week from Jeffrey Brown, Rachel Smythe, Al Ewing, Ram V, Walter Mosley, Bryan Hitch, Kikuo Johnson and more.

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

You can visit Diamond’s PreviewsWorld website (which is still up; see below) for this week’s almost complete list of new comics arriving in stores. The Lunar Distribution home page has 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. And this week, in particular, will likely bring delays for some titles, as Diamond Comics Distributor’s website was taken down earlier this week by a ransomware attack. They’ve set up a temporary website where they’re giving updates, and according to one from yesterday, “some customer shipments of product with an on-sale date of November 10 will be delayed.”

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Mail Call | More on Al Ewing + Ram V’s symbiotic relationship on ‘Venom’

Check out news, announcements and previews from Image, DC, BOOM! Studios 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.

When Venom returns in a new series from Marvel later this fall, it’ll be co-written by Al Ewing and Ram V. Each writer, it turns out, will be writing a separate character in the series, as the book focuses both on Eddie Brock and his son Dylan.

“How me and Ram are working together—we’re a band, essentially. Every issue is a new single, every trade is an album, and Eddie and Dylan are our instruments,” Ewing told Marvel.com. “They’re similar, but they make different notes, produce different sounds, build different stories. And for a while—so you should get used to it now—we’re going to be taking turns in the spotlight, playing Dylan songs or Eddie songs, while the other band member stays in the background. As each new single comes out, you’ll see how it fits together, forms one big concept album—or maybe a symphony. And then, when we’re ready, we bring all the instruments in for the crescendo—and that’s going to be something to hear.”

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Mail Call | Marvel’s Free Comic Book Day titles

Get ready for Free Comic Book Day, which is coming up this Saturday. Also check out news from DC, Image Comics, IDW, AfterShock Comics 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.

Marvel’s Free Comic Book Day offerings for this year have been somewhat confusing — at one point Chip Zdarsky was mentioned as contributing — but the company has put out a press release detailing what you specifically can from them this coming Saturday.

Marvel will have two books, as previously announced — Spider-Man/Venom and Hulk/Avengers, both of which will tease upcoming storylines for the four titles represented.

As previously reported, Amazing Spider-Man is getting a new creative team AND a new person under the mask, as infamous clone Ben Reilly returns to take on the mantle of Spider-Man. One of the new writers of Amazing, Zeb Wells, will team with artist Patrick Gleason for a story featuring Reilly as Spider-Man. It will be accompanied by a Venom story by the new creative team of Ram V., Al Ewing and Bryan Hitch “in a glimpse that will show you just how twisted their upcoming run will be.”

Then, in the second title, Donny Cates and Ryan Ottley will present a look at their upcoming run on Hulk. And Jason Aaron teams up with Iban Coello to “present the dangerous new threat that the Avengers will face in the next arc of his hit Avengers run.”

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