NYCC | ‘Ultimate Wolverine’ is the Maker’s ultimate weapon in a new series coming next year

Chris Condon and Alessandro Cappuccio’s ‘Ultimate Wolverine’ will launch in January 2025

Marvel’s Ultimate Universe is getting a new but familiar addition this January, as today at the New York Comic Con the publisher announced Ultimate Wolverine by the team of Chris Condon and Alessandro Cappuccio.

Like many of the inhabitants of the Ultimate Universe, Wolverine’s a bit different in this universe than he is in the 616. Sporting the codename “The Winter Soldier,” this Wolverine isn’t in control of himself — he’s an agent of three members of the Maker’s council, Magik, Colossus and Omega Red. To ensure they maintain control of a world that now has superheroes running around and causing a raucous, they unleash him to do all those things that he’s best at.

“When Wil Moss called me and asked me if I wanted to take on this title, I jumped at the chance and immediately had an idea of what to do with it,” said Condon. “I’m bringing my essence of storytelling from That Texas Blood to the Marvel Universe with Wolverine, looking back at what came before and bringing us something new.”

(If you haven’t read That Texas Blood, by the way, it’s one of my first go-to “This is the comic you should be reading” recommendations whenever someone asks.)

Continue reading “NYCC | ‘Ultimate Wolverine’ is the Maker’s ultimate weapon in a new series coming next year”

Phillip Kennedy Johnson + Adam Gorham unleash ‘Hellhunters’ this winter

The five-issue miniseries spinning out of ‘Incredible Hulk’ begins in December.

Phillip Kennedy Johnson’s run on Incredible Hulk has introduced all sorts of new monstrous characters into the Marvel universe, with one of them being a World War II era Ghost Rider — Sergeant Sal Romero, who fought the Nazis alongside several other Marvel characters you might recognize. Now Sergeant Ghost Rider is getting an origin story, courtesy of Johnson and artist Adam Gorham.

“Ghost Rider ’44 is definitely my favorite guest star that’s appeared in our Incredible Hulk series so far,” Kennedy Johnson said. “I had a fully-realized origin story for Sergeant Sal Romero in my head before my partner Nic Klein brought him to life with his art, and the character turned out so unbelievably cool and fun, we knew the ‘War Devil’ arc wouldn’t be his last appearance.”

The five-issue miniseries, Hellhunters, will feature appearances by Wolverine, Nick Fury, Peggy Carter, Bucky Barnes, and, from the pages of Jason Aaron’s Avengers, Soldier Supreme.

Continue reading “Phillip Kennedy Johnson + Adam Gorham unleash ‘Hellhunters’ this winter”

Can’t Wait for Wednesday | A double dose of Wolverine

Check out new comics and graphic novels arriving this week by Chip Zdarsky, David Brothers, Marcus To, Matt Wilson, Tony Fleecs, Tim Seeley, Kev Walker, Saladin Ahmed, Martin Coccolo, Stephanie Williams, Khary Randolph, Matt Bors, Ben Clarkson, Aaron Alexovich and more.

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

This week brings two new first issues featuring Wolverine, as he returns in a new ongoing series as well as a Venom Wars tie-in. We’ve also got the final issue of Star Wars, a new Groo series and the return of Justice Warriors.

I’ve pulled out some of the other highlights for this week 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 Wednesday | A double dose of Wolverine”

‘Hellverine’ races into an ongoing series this December

Benjamin Percy will continue to chronicle the adventures of the Wolverine/Ghost Rider mash-up, joined by artist Raffaele Ienco.

Hellverine, the Wolverine/Ghost Rider mash-up that debuted in last year’s Wolverine/Ghost Rider crossover and then landed his own miniseries, will continue to blaze a trail through the Marvel Universe in an ongoing series.

His co-creator, Benjamin Percy, will continue to write the character, joined by artist Raffaele Ienco. Initially Hellverine was a demon-possessed Wolverine, but Logan’s inner heroism turned the demon good. After Logan’s son Akihiro, a.k.a. Daken, was killed by Sabretooth, the demon brought him back to life as the new Hellverine.

“I had so much fun expanding the mythos of the demon Bagra-ghul and finding a way to not only bring Akihiro back from his savage death in Sabretooth War, but to explore some fresh possibilities for a complicated character I’ve always loved. And now? There’s more mayhem and occultism and hellfire on the horizon. I’m grateful to readers and retailers for their support, because a Hellverine ongoing is coming your way. I’m joining forces with powerhouse artist Raffaele Ienco, and we’ve got huge, horrifying plans for the Hellverine and his role in the 616,” Percy said.

Continue reading “‘Hellverine’ races into an ongoing series this December”

Nova 2099’s story will continue in October in ‘Conquest 2099’

Spinning out of ‘Annihilation 2099,’ the new miniseries will feature Dracula 2099, Spider-Man 2099 and more.

Marvel introduced — or, actually, re-introduced; sorry, it’s complicated — Nova 2099 this past week in the pages of Annihilation 2099, another miniseries penned by Steve Orlando and set in Marvel’s futuristic cyberpunk universe. But this new character wasn’t so new — the first issue revealed that under the helmet, Nova 2099 is actually …

(I should add a SPOILERS WARNING and a jump here …)

Continue reading “Nova 2099’s story will continue in October in ‘Conquest 2099’”

Slugfest | BOOM! celebrates 25 years of ‘Farscape’

Plus: ‘Life,’ ‘Remote Space,’ Fantagraphics’ fall schedule, Minecraft, Dog Man and more.

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

Farscape, the Australian-American science fiction television series created by Rockne O’Bannon and the Jim Henson Company that ran on SciFi, will return to comics in August courtesy of BOOM! Studios, who published the previous Farscape series.

The 25th anniversary special one-shot will be the first Farscape comic published since 2010, and it’ll feature stories by  Keith R.A. DeCandido, who wrote many of BOOM!’s previous Farscape comics, along with Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly, Sarah Gailey, Sina Grace and more.

Continue reading “Slugfest | BOOM! celebrates 25 years of ‘Farscape’”

Slugfest | Wolverine seeks ‘Revenge’ in Marvel’s August solicitations

We run through Marvel’s August solicitations, which include Venom War, Phases of the Moon Knight, Blood Hunters and more.

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you, with this edition focusing on Marvel’s August 2024 announcements. Hit the links for more information.

Marvel’s solicitations for August landed late last week, right before the long weekend here in the U.S. (which I made even longer!) so let’s catch up on all the new stuff they plan to release in the last month of the summer. Just like I did with DC, I’ll hit the titles I haven’t previously covered. You can read about Spider-Society, the Iron Fist 50th anniversary anthology, Storm joining the Avengers and Rob Liefeld’s final Deadpool comic elsewhere on the site.

Now let’s get to it …

Continue reading “Slugfest | Wolverine seeks ‘Revenge’ in Marvel’s August solicitations”

Rob Liefeld’s final Deadpool comic kicks off in August

The five-issue miniseries ‘Deadpool Team-Up’ brings the character together with Wolverine, Spider-Gwen, Crystar and more.

It seems like Deadpool is all about the team-ups these days. Not only will he and Wolverine buddy it up in their big road trip movie this summer, but now Marvel has announced that Rob Liefeld’s final Deadpool comic will bring the Merc with a Mouth together with several friends, new and old, in this miniseries.

Deadpool Team-Up will be written and drawn by Liefeld, who is also doing the covers. As for who exactly Deadpool is teaming up with, it’s an eclectic mix of Marvel mainstays and obscure choices: Wolverine, the Hulk, Spider-Gwen, Crystar (the Crystal Warrior!) and Major X, another Liefeld creation.

“Everyone has that one comic with that obscure character that they always wanted more of,” Liefeld said. “l, myself, have several of these and I pulled them from relative obscurity from the deepest corners of the Marvel Universe and placed them next to Deadpool, right at the center of an all new, cataclysmic adventure!”

Continue reading “Rob Liefeld’s final Deadpool comic kicks off in August”

Saladin Ahmed + Martín Cóccolo bring Wolverine back to his roots in September

Part of the ‘X-Men: From the Ashes’ line, the new title kicks off in September.

Marvel has announced that Daredevil writer Saladin Ahmed and “Stormbreakers” artist Martín Cóccolo will helm the new Wolverine title that will launch in September as a part of the X-Men: From the Ashes initiative.

According to Marvel.com, Wolverine will “turn his back on humanity, mutantkind and the X-Men” in the new series following the end of Krakoa and the “Sabretooth War” storyline that will finish out his current title. Which seems counter to the fact that he’s one of the characters in Gail Simone and David Marquez’s Uncanny X-Men title.

In any event, the new series finds Logan in the Canadian wilderness, where he’s back with his wolfpack and being attacked by his most hated foes, one by one, at the bequest of some ancient villain that “has been bubbling under the surface of the Marvel Universe since the days of myth.”

“Logan is simultaneously a mythic hero, an abused animal, and a man of flesh, blood, and adamantium,” Ahmed said. “Our story is about what happens when these parts of him all pull in opposite directions – and threaten to rip Logan to pieces that won’t come back together again.”

Continue reading “Saladin Ahmed + Martín Cóccolo bring Wolverine back to his roots in September”

Quick Hits | Medar de la Cruz wins the Pulitzer for Illustrated Reporting and Commentary

Plus: Cartoonist sue Google over AI, Civics for All Comics Group celebrates 2 million comics, Mark Evanier on who created Wolverine and more!

Medar de la Cruz has won this year’s Pulitzer Prize in the Illustrated Reporting and Commentary category. The Brooklyn-based illustrator won for the illustrated story “The Diary of a Rikers Island Library Worker,” which appeared in the New Yorker last May. De la Cruz is an artist who also works in New York City jails as a library assistant for the Brooklyn Public Library. Phones and cameras aren’t allowed inside Rikers Island, so his drawings are based on his memories of the prison.

The other finalists in the category this year included Claire Healy, Nicole Dungca and Ren Galeno for “Searching for Maura,” which appeared in the Washington Post; “Is My Toddler A Stochastic Parrot?” by Angie Wang, which appeared in the New Yorker; and Clay Bennett of the Chattanooga Times Free Press, for a “portfolio of deceptively gentle, mostly wordless cartoons full of juxtapositions that ably communicate complex, sophisticated messages.” You can see some of them here. Bennett also recently received a National Headliner Award, which recognizes journalism in a multitude of categories, in the Editorial Cartoon category.

This is the third year now where the Pulitzers have given awards in the Illustrated Reporting and Commentary category. It replaced the Editorial Cartoons category in 2022.

Continue reading “Quick Hits | Medar de la Cruz wins the Pulitzer for Illustrated Reporting and Commentary”

Old Man Donald: Marvel + Disney announce ‘What if…? Donald Duck Became Wolverine’

Writer Luca Barbieri and artist Giada Perissinotto reimagine Duckburg as a superhero wasteland.

At first I thought these were just variant covers or maybe an April Fool’s Day joke that someone forgot to post, but no, this is a real comic — Disney and Marvel will release Marvel & Disney: What if…? Donald Duck Became Wolverine #1 this summer.

And I think that the greatest part of this announcement isn’t that it’s a Donald Duck/Wolverine mash-up — it’s that it’s a Donald Duck/Old Man Logan mash-up, featuring characters like Mickey-Hawkeye, Goofy-Hulk and Pete-Skull, who turns Duckburg into a wasteland. It’s by two acclaimed Italian comics creators — writer Luca Barbieri and artist Giada Perissinotto

“Donald Duck and Wolverine are two characters that seem almost impossible to make coexist, but in fact they possess very similar personality: they are both hot-tempered and unlucky, but in adversity they do not lose heart and always show that they have a big heart,” Barbieri said. “Once this point was focused, writing the story turned out to be easy and fun!”

Continue reading “Old Man Donald: Marvel + Disney announce ‘What if…? Donald Duck Became Wolverine’”

Ms. Marvel, Laura Kinney + more star in the revived ‘NYX’

Marvel resurrects an early 2000s title by the creative team of Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing and Francesco Mortarino.

Marvel is reviving an old title for a new run as part of the X-Men: From the Ashes publishing initiative.

NYX by writers Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing and artist Francesco Mortarino will debut this summer alongside X-Force, Phoenix and the three X-Men titles that follow the end of the Krakoa era. NYX will focus on five young mutants — Kamala Khan, Laura Kinney, Anole, Prodigy and Sophie Cuckoo — as they navigate living as young mutants on the Lower East Side of New York City.

“This is the kind of book we came to Marvel to create,” Kelly shared. “When the Hivemind first formed, Collin and I bonded over books like Runaways, Young Avengers and the original NYX—stories that showcased that tense, wonderful place where the mundane world and marvels collided. And no book has embodied that more in recent years than Ms. Marvel—Kamala Khan is one of the most definitive protagonists in the Marvel canon and we’re deeply honored to be inheriting the character from Iman [Vellani] and Sabir [Pirzada], while chronicling a whole new phase in her growth as a young adult.”

Continue reading “Ms. Marvel, Laura Kinney + more star in the revived ‘NYX’”