Tom and Carla lock down 2020

Tom Bondurant and Carla Hoffman review the year that was for Marvel and DC, while looking toward the future for both companies.

From 2009 to 2015, Tom Bondurant and Carla Hoffman collaborated on year-in-review posts centered around DC and Marvel. Circumstances kept them apart for a while; but it turns out that being stuck in your house for months on end can also help you reconnect. Therefore, Smash Pages proudly presents the return of an annual tradition, as Tom & Carla lock down 2020!

[This conversation has been edited from an extended Slack chat that occurred in December.]


Carla: Okay, so main topics for the year I see right up front are production (company decisions, strategies, etc), story (what’s actually happening in the comics) and media (TV and movie stuff).

Anything else this doesn’t cover? What’s the most important of these do you think?

Tom: I would say the production side of things – shutting down Diamond for six weeks, plus all the DC layoffs and cancellations, and DC changing distributors twice (or at least 1 1/2 times). Didn’t Marvel have some cancellations as well? Feels like Marvel had a low-key year event-wise, although it went from Empyre to X Of Swords to King In Black.

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What Are You Reading? | Valkyrie, X of Swords and Seeker 3000!

See what the Smash Pages crew has been reading lately.

Welcome to What Are You Reading?, our weekly look at what the Smash Pages crew has been reading lately. Both Tom and Carla are here to time travel into Marvel’s distant past, while JK wonders what the heck happened to X of Swords this week.

Let us know what you read this week in the comments or on social media.

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What Are You Reading? | Batman, X of Swords and more

See what the Smash Pages crew has been reading lately.

Welcome to What Are You Reading?, our weekly look at what the Smash Pages crew has been reading lately.

Let us know what you read this week in the comments or on social media.

Continue reading “What Are You Reading? | Batman, X of Swords and more”

Can’t Wait for Comics | Jokers, a ronin and the return of the Runaways

New comics arrive this week from Geoff Johns, Jason Fabok, Rainbow Rowell, Natacha Bustos, Eastman & Laird, and more.

We are back with a look at what’s arriving in comic shops, bookstores and on digital this week.

If you’re wondering what to get this week, check out a few recommendations below. ComicList has this week’s list of new comics arriving in stores, and the comiXology new releases page for what’s available digitally.

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What Are You Reading? | ‘Iron Man,’ ‘Commanders in Crisis,’ ‘American Flagg!’ and more

See what the Smash Pages crew has been reading lately.

Welcome to What Are You Reading?, our weekly look at what the Smash Pages crew has been reading lately.

Let us know what you read this week in the comments or on social media.

Continue reading “What Are You Reading? | ‘Iron Man,’ ‘Commanders in Crisis,’ ‘American Flagg!’ and more”

What Are You Reading? | ‘Batman,’ ‘X of Swords,’ ‘Skin Horse’ and more

See what the Smash Pages crew has been reading lately.

Welcome to What Are You Reading?, our weekly look at what the Smash Pages crew has been reading lately — including two recent big events from the big two, and some fun webcomics.

Let us know what you read this week in the comments or on social media.

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Can’t Wait for Comics | Zombies, vampires and more

New comics and graphic novels arrive this week from Scott Snyder, Howard Chaykin, Rafael Albuquerque, Peter Milligan, Jerry Craft, N.K. Jemisin, Jamal Campbell and more.

We are back with a look at what’s arriving in comic shops, bookstores and on digital this week.

If you’re wondering what to get this week, check out a few recommendations below. Comic List seems to be down right now, so I’ll have to direct you to Diamond’s new release list to see (most of) what’s arriving in comic shops, and the comiXology new releases page for what’s available digitally.

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What Are You Reading? | ‘X of Swords,’ ‘Green Arrow’ and more

See what the Smash Pages crew has been reading lately.

Welcome to What Are You Reading?, our weekly look at what the Smash Pages crew has been reading lately — including comics from the past, present and future.

Let us know what you read this week in the comments or on social media.

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Ewing + Schiti raise their ‘S.W.O.R.D.’ in December

The new Marvel series spins out of events in ‘Empyre’ and ‘X of Swords.’

Al Ewing and Valerio Schiti, the creative team behind the recent Empyre: Aftermath Avengers comic, will pull S.W.O.R.D. out of its sheath this December.

If you read that Aftermath issue, you know that Abigail Brand, who most recently worked with Captain Marvel as part of Alpha Flight, wasn’t happy that the Avengers and Fantastic Four never called her during Empyre. She quit Alpha Flight, and the last two pages showed a dark future for the new Kree/Skrull Alliance led by Hulkling — thanks to Brand and her new team.

But despite the foreshadowing in Empyre, this is actually an X-title and will tie into that line, as part of the aftermath of the just-started X of Swords crossover — which ends in November, right before this one debuts in December.

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Can’t Wait for Comics | ‘X of Swords’ begins

New comics arrive this week from Fabian Nicieza, Ron Garney, Jonathan Hickman, Pepe Larraz, Dan Panosian, Joshua Williamson, Howard Porter and more.

We are back with a look at what’s arriving in comic shops, bookstores and on digital this week. There are several first issues coming out, including new titles from Dan Panosian, Daniel Kraus, Fabian Nicieza, Ron Garney and of course the big X of Swords crossover event featuring Marvel’s merry mutants (with swords!)

If you’re wondering what to get this week, check out a few recommendations below. You can check out Comic List to see what’s arriving in your local comic shop, and the comiXology new releases page for what’s available digitally.

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Marvel’s 2020 FCBD titles will arrive in July

With no new date for Free Comic Book Day scheduled yet, Marvel has scheduled when their titles will be sent to retailers.

Marvel has announced plans to release their 2020 Free Comic Book Day titles in July.

Originally targeted for release in May as a part of Free Comic Book Day, Marvel’s two books — along with every other title that was going to be offered to fans for free as a part of the annual event –were delayed when Diamond Comics Distributors announced that FCBD would be postponed this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Diamond has not announced a new date for the FCBD yet, and with Marvel’s books offering “a first look at some of Marvel’s biggest upcoming events,” it makes sense they’d want to get their two books out there before these “game-changing” stories start.

Their two titles, and their new release dates, are:

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Mail Call | Clownhunter joins the ‘Joker Wars’

Plus: X of Swords, Star Wars manga, free Scooby comics and more.

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

Marvel is hyping up their next X-Men event with some new promo art for X-Men: X of Swords, which was announced right before the pandemic at C2E2. Jonathan Hickman, Tini Howard and Pepe Larraz bring you X-Men: X of Swords: Creation #1 in September.

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