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Speaking of AdHouse, a second printing of Jim Rugg’s classic Street Angel is out today, the story of a homeless girl who fights crime while riding around on her skateboard. It was action packed, sad and beautiful.  Originally appearing in 2004, this book was, along with Scott Pilgrim, an early adapter of the “new mainstream” esthetic whereby comics broke out of both superhero and autobiographical tropes to reach a new, younger audience growing out of the manga boom. Originally published by Slave Labor the book had a cult following beforei being released by AdHouse last year. And now its in its second printing. Rachel Edidin has an overview of the book here.

The new edition has a pink pages and purple ink, making it perhaps the most perfect Street Angel edition of all. And just because I can here’s a preview:

CCS just keeps turning out interesting new cartoonists. Sophie Goldstein is a recent grad whose works defies easy categorization, except to say that she’s got a great line and a keen eye, she writes stories and anything can happen. And now AdHouse is bringing out The Oven by Goldstein in April. It’s set in a totalitarian future where “dwindling resources have driven the human race into domed cities where population controls are strictly enforced. When a young couple goes looking for an anti-government paradise in the desert they may have found more than they bargained for.”

Biblio deets:
80 2C pages
5.5″ x 7.5″ SC
$12.95 US funds
ISBN 978-1-935233-33-6
Shipping April 2015
Diamond Order Code: FEB15 0903

And here’s a preview, AND a link to Goldstein’s 20 thumbnails for the cover image.

By Davey Nieves

As Aspen Comics announced towards the end of last year the Fathom universe’s anti-hero Kiani would get a new volume in her saga. Written by Vince Hernandez, with Giuseppe Cafaro on art, this February will see Fathom: Kiani Vol.4 #1 hit stores.

Following the catastrophic destruction of the Volna, the Russian Government’s secret Blue research facility, the United States has decided to take action against the rising threat of the Blue. However, in Africa, Kiani and Anika discover that their family bond is stronger than any one army—as their fight to survive above the surface will lead to a revolution amongst the people that will change the landscape of the human race forever!

Fathom: Kiani #1 will be out February 11th, 2015. Check out the preview below including a painfully cute cover by MLP artist Agnes Garabowska.

One of the more offbeat titles of the Image Renaissance. THE HUMANS by Keenan Marshall Keller (Galactic Breakdown) and artist Tom Neely (Henry and Glenn Forever) will be collected in March at the popular $9.99 price point. Set in 1070 Bakersfield, it’s about a gang of bikers who are…apes. It’s biker exploitation action as you like with added MONKEYS.

“I just love me some biker flicks and exploitation/genre in all forms,” said Keller in an interview with Comicosity. “It wasn’t like I was trying to do an ape project and settled on them being bikers… The Humans were bikers from the start. It’s my love affair with the fringe, with outlaws and no-good-doer’s and made me focus on biker culture.”

Neely, whose art captures the energy and abandon of The Humans’ life on the road, has relished the chance to draw full-time. “I get up and draw monkeys and motorcycles all day and it’s the best,” he said. “It’s also really great collaborating with another artist – Kristina Collantes is doing the coloring and I love to see how she transforms my pages. I love my black and white drawings for this book, but they really don’t come to life to feel like a real comic book until Kristina’s colors complete the picture.”

THE HUMANS, VOLUME 1 will be in comic book stores on March 11 and in bookstores on March 25.

As you may recall, several new lady members of the Spider-verse awe swinging your way in the coming days. One of them is Cindy Moon, a young woman who was bitten by the same spider that bit Peter Parker! Wow can you believe that happened!!! She was hidden away fro years but now her powers are on display and has her own comic book, by Robbie Thompson and Stacey Lee with variant covers by Dave Johnson, Lee and Scottie Young

“Cindy fascinates me,” says series writer Robbie Thompson, in an interview with Marvel.com. “She gave up 10 years of her life and the world moved on without her. What does that do to a person?”

Now, Cindy is back in New York City, patrolling it’s rooftops as SILK! And she’s going to make up for lost time. Searching for her past, defining her own future, and webbing wrong-doers along the way. Now is your chance to hop on board one of the slickest new launches of 2015 as SILK #1 swings in to comic shops this February!

Plunder #1 Main Cover by Skuds McKinley

If nothing else, Archaia’s new horror series Plunder has the best named team in comics, Swifty Lang and Skuds McKinley. “Hey have you seen Skuds and Swifty?” is what everyone will be saying at Comic-Con 2015.

The book arrives in February, and offers us a tale reminiscent of both Captain Phillips and The Thing.

“Horror on the high seas,” said BOOM! Studios Editor-in-Chief Matt Gagnon. “That’s what Swifty and Skuds have created with Plunder. This is a visceral horror story that has a killer setup and a flat-out intense narrative. Step on board for a wild journey!”

After facing off with an illegal Chinese vessel, a gang of Somali pirates tries to board what they think is a research vessel, only to find themselves in the midst of a massacre. As their worst nightmares become reality, the 14-year-old boy who went from translator to reluctant pirate not only becomes the key to survival, but must decide for himself how far he is willing to go in the name of self-preservation.

Plunder #1 10 Years Incentive Cover by Ramón K. Pérez (Full wraparound image shown)

Plunder #1 Retailer Incentive Cover by Daniele Serra

By Davey Nieves

Screenwriter Eric Heisserer, a writer and director known for The Thing (2011), Final Destination 5 (2011), A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010), and Hours (2013),brings his new cinematic vision to comics in a thrilling new Dark Horse Comics miniseries titled Shaper.

Eric Heisserer aims to tell a tale in the tradition of Arthurian legends and Star Wars. With artwork by Felipe Massafera (Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors, Captain Midnight), Shaper looks to carve a niche for itself in the rich tapestry of sci-fi adventure.

The premise of the story launches readers into the stars as a galactic empire hunts a race of shape shifters prophesied to overthrow its rule. When orphaned teenager Spry discovers that he is one of the hunted—a Shaper—he must learn to use his newfound abilities to escape the empire’s prime enforcer, Tor Ajax, and save his entire race!

Shaper #1 (of 5) is on sale March 18 in comic shops everywhere

Follow Davey on twitter and send him pictures of your cats and comic shops

By Davey Nieves

2015 is shaping up to be a great year in comics. With mega events, character deaths, and relaunches there’s something for everyone. Valiant has their own plans to build on their popular Valiant Next initiative that’s already launched original books like Divinity and will bring a new ongoing Ninjak title in March. In April the publisher launches a new series for their nano fueled killing machine in Bloodshot Reborn #1.

Featuring the creative team of New York Times best-selling writer Jeff Lemire (THE VALIANT, Green Arrow) and Mico Suayan (HARBINGER, Moon Knight) Bloodshot Reborn aims to plunge the ultra commando into his darkest depths ever as a rash of shootings by copycat killers forces him out of his self imposed exile to face the violence of his past.

The debut issue will also feature an armory of covers by top talent like Dave Johnson, Butch Guice, and many more. Take a look at the preview below.

BLOODSHOT REBORN #1 [VALIANT NEXT]
Written by JEFF LEMIRE
Art by MICO SUAYAN with JEFF LEMIRE
Cover A by JUAN DOE
Cover B by MICO SUAYAN
Cover C by DAVE JOHNSON
Cover D by LEWIS LAROSA
Valiant Next Variant by MICO SUAYAN & TOM MULLER
Variant Cover by JEFF LEMIRE
Variant Cover by BUTCH GUICE
B&W Sketch Variant by LEWIS LAROSA
Blank Cover also available
$3.99 |40 pgs.| T+ | On sale APRIL 15 (FOC – 3/23/15)

Follow Davey on twitter to find out just how underrated the X-O Manowar/Iron Man game was and where the best donuts in L.A are.

This preview of the new Richard Corben book from Dark Horse came in my email yesterday to promote the FOC of the book—the last day that retailers can adjust orders. So I missed posting it when it would do any good (I was in meetings and on deadline yesterday). But perhaps consumers will be interested as well! Corben is a powerhouse of the first wave of self-publishing and “ground level” publishing in the 80s, and he’s still rocking out with the art. Rat God is described as

Terrible things stalk the forests outside Arkham in this chilling original tale from comics master Richard Corben! An arrogant city slicker on a quest to uncover the background of a young woman from the backwoods finds horrors beyond imagining, combining Lovecraftian mutations with Native American legends.

No one does backwoods horror quite like Corben, who hails from the great midwest himself.

RAT GOD #1 is on sale February 4th.

At the summer Image Expo one of the most notable announcements was Tooth and Claw by Kurt Busiek and Ben Dewey. Not only did it mark the return of Busiek with a new comic for the first time in years, but Dewey’s art looked amazing. The story involves high fantasy, with animal protagonists and Game of Thrones level intrigue. The first issue is on sale today in a bargain format: just $2.99 for 40 pages of story. As you can see from the preview pagesk, this is one spectacular comic.

One of the best things comics do is world-building and this looks to be a strong examples of that by Busiek and Dewey.

The Valiant is the lynchpin of  Valiant Next, a new hopping on point for readers from Valiant. A prestige format limited series with art by Paolo Rivera, and a variant cover by Francesco Francavilla, there’s no chance we’re not going to run a preview any time it gets into our  inbox.  The story by Matt Kindt and Jeff Lemire doesn’t hurt either—and they’ve also collaborated on a variant cover.

The Immortal Enemy has crawled out from the black depths of history to destroy this generation’s Geomancer and send Earth back to the Dark Ages! Now…the Eternal Warrior, Ninjak, and Kay McHenry must overcome their worst nightmares before the unlikeliest of white knights rides in to save the day. Will he be enough to battle back the unyielding evil that threatens to plunge the Valiant Universe into the darkness?

Be here on January 21st as the world’s most formidable heroes join a battle ten millennia in the making, only in THE VALIANT #2 – featuring covers by Paolo Rivera (Daredevil), Jeff Lemire (Trillium) & Matt Kindt (Mind MGMT), and Francesco Francavilla (Afterlife with Archie)! An entirely self-contained comics event spotlighting Bloodshot, Eternal Warrior, Geomancer, and a cast of heroes and villains from across the Valiant Universe, THE VALIANT is a visionary new adventure from three of the greatest creative talents in comics today. 

THE VALIANT leads into a number of new series that sound intrguing, including,

• IVAR, TIMEWALKER #1 by Fred Van Lente and Clayton Henry in January
• DIVINITY #1 (of 4) by Matt Kindt and Trevor Hairsine in February
• IMPERIUM #1 by Joshua Dysart and Doug Braithwaite in February
• NINJAK #1 by Matt Kindt and Clay Mann in March
• BLOODSHOT REBORN #1 by Jeff Lemire and Mico Suayan in April

THE VALIANT #2 (of 4) [VALIANT NEXT]
Written by JEFF LEMIRE & MATT KINDT
Art and Cover by PAOLO RIVERA (NOV141677)
Interconnecting Variant Cover by JEFF LEMIRE & MATT KINDT (NOV141678)
Variant Cover by FRANCESCO FRANCAVILLA (NOV141679)
$3.99 | 32 pages. | T+ | On sale JANUARY 21 (FOC – 12/29/14)

[T]his conversation about making ends meet as a cartoonist has always been around (and something that I’ve explored before, re: Market Day) and seems to be on the forefront of people’s minds. At SPX, with SO many cartoonists around, it will certainly be an undercurrent. So this pamphlet is a part of that conversation.

And here’s a preview of what everyone will be talking about. 

This sells itself doesn’t it: hawkeye takes on the most popular Marvel character of the moment in a Halloween adventure. by Gerry Duggan and Matteo Lolli with a cover by James Harren (!) and a Jason Pearson variant. ANd Cap, Black Cat and DD are all in on the fun…or are they?

This October, the no-holds-barred antics of the Marvel Universe’s most unlikely duo continue in HAWKEYE VS. DEADPOOL #1 – the official first issue of the blockbuster comic event of the fall. Even though this is really the second issue, but who’s counting? Gerry Duggan and Matteo Lolli return for the battle of the century (maybe) as the Merc with a Mouth battles the Avenging Archer! It’s Halloween night in Brooklyn, and that can only mean one thing – disaster is around the corner! And candy, always candy. The names and addresses of every active S.H.I.E.L.D. agent are about to be released, and it’s up to one Avenger and one (sometimes) X-Man to stop it. But is it trick or treat when they encounter bad guys dressed like good guys? Will Deadpool and Hawkeye kill each other before the night is through? Find out when the clash continues this October in HAWKEYE VS. DEADPOOL #1!

 HAWKEYE VS. DEADPOOL #1 (AUG140824)

Written by GERRY DUGGAN
Art by MATTEO LOLLI
Cover by JAMES HARREN
Variant Cover by JASON PEARSON (AUG140825)
FOC – 09/15/14, On-Sale – 10/08/14

 

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Let’s leave this day with some nice are, a preview of a deluxe hardcover collection of BLUE ESTATE by Viktor Kalvachev and Kosta Yanev. The art provided below is all by different artists — can you spot them?

As dueling crime families battle in the glitziest and grittiest parts of Los Angeles, Rachel Maddox tries to disentangle her life from her abusive action-hero husband in this Eisner Award-nominated tale of desperate starlets, suspiciously macho actors, bungling mobsters, and hapless private dicks.

Kalvachev’s work on BLUE ESTATE garnered nominations for Best Cover Artist and Best Coloring Eisner Awards in 2012. His stunning painted covers and vivid coloring unite the work of a dozen artists — including Nathan Fox, Tomm Coker, Dave Johnson, Paul Maybury, and Marley Zarcone — whose different styles bring different moods and effects to his and Kosta Yanev’s over-the-top story (scripted with incisive wit by Andrew Osborne).

BLUE ESTATE will be in comic book stores on September 10 and in bookstores onSeptember 23. In addition to collecting all twelve issues of the Image Comics series, it’s packed with bonus material, including Kalvachev’s character and location designs, and an exclusive making-of feature about the 2014 HESAW/Focus Home Interactive Blue Estate video game, released for the PlayStation 4 in 2014, featuring art and character designs.

For more information about all things BLUE ESTATE, visitwww.blueestatecomic.com and www.blueestatethegame.com.

Among the selling points of this news mini-series from Dark Horse is that it’s “creator owned.” It’s also got a nice throwback look, with flat, chunky color replicating the primitive (yet still relevant) coloring techniques of the pre-scanning era.

Written by Curt Pires and drawn by artist-to-watch Jason Copland, it’s a thriller set in a world where celebrities are literally manufactured by the ultra-rich and powerful. When one of them escapes, a five issue mini series breaks loose.

Pop #1 is on sale August 27th. 


It looks like Marvel has done the utterly impossible by turning Guardians of the Galaxy—a movie based on an obscure SF team of misfits—in a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, $65 mil at the BO certified feel good movie of the summer.

And their also releasing a bunch of comics that will keep the characters as fresh on the page as the screen. Among them is Thanos: The Infinity Revelation, a standalone graphic novel by Jim Starlin, the greater of GotG mainstays such as Gamora and Thanos. To make sure movie fans are aware of the book, Marvel has just released a newly lettered preview of the book, which goes on ales next Wednesday, 8/6. The story features Thanos and Warlock in the kind of cosmos battle for life and death Starlin is best known for, with guest stars along the way: the Guardians of the Galaxy, Silver Surfer, the Badoon, the Annihilators and—because this is a book by Jim Starlin—Death.

The book is part of a new line of oversized, original Graphic novels—a genre Marvel hasn’t had much presence in in recent years, but one they are putting some muscle behind. THe book also includes a code for a digital edition redeemable via the Marvel Comics app or online at the Marvel Digital Comics Shop.
 
THANOS: THE INFINITY REVELATION OGN (APR140765)
Written by JIM STARLIN
Art & Cover by JIM STARLIN
On Sale 08/06/14!

Responsible for some of last year’s most visually arresting comics in the form of Winter’s Knight: Year One, Robert Ball’s next project is going to be launched at ELCAF: ‘Dark Times’.

With an immediately distinctive style, his polygon…y artwork stands out – but here he seems to be working on a less angular, more realistic artistic style. Interestingly, this also seems to have more scale than his past comics, as well, focusing on what looks to be a dystopic future in which human bodies pile up in scrapheaps, too many to get rid of.

And the style keeps changing, from what the previews suggest. One section even reminds of Frank Miller’s ‘Sin City’, in fact. This is an interesting project from an artist who keeps on experimenting and pushing his work. Look out for it at ELCAF!

If you’re not at ELCAF? Keep up to date with Robert’s work right here!

Astounding designer and comic-maker Kristyna Baczynski will be at ELCAF, debuting what look to be a number of new pieces. One will be her zine ‘Intrepid’ which she says mixes a short existential story with “jungle girl drawings”. Which, now there’s a combination nobody could refuse, right?

She’ll also be launching a new comic called ‘A Measure of Space’, which she announced a few days ago on Twitter. Here’s a look at the cover, as well as one of the risograph spreads within the book. Want to see more? See her at ELCAF!

Not heading to ELCAF? Then you can keep up with her work here instead!

Launching early for ELCAF (the full release isn’t slated until September), Jörg Tittel and John Aggs’ book ‘Ricky Rouse Has A Gun’ will be on offer at the SelfMadeHero booth. Possibly the most likely comic ever to get sued by Disney, the book takes aim at a certain familiar rodent, and the rest of his crew.

Billed as being a satirical action-comedy, the book is a manic take on US-China relations, as US army deserter Rick Rouse finds himself in China, where the only job he can get is on a knockoff Disney theme park. But when terrorists land in the grounds, he’s the only one who can save the day – only, he’s probably not allowed to take off that costume, because that’d break canon.

John Aggs will be on hand himself to sign copies of the book – and like I say, this is an early chance to get your hands on a book that nobody else will get to touch until September!

If you’re not at ELCAF? You can keep an eye on the book right here!

Isabel Greenberg, who can’t walk five minutes down the road without another well-deserved award being lobbed at her head, will be debuting a new zine at ELCAF. Spinning off from her Encyclopaedia of Early Earth, this one is called “Rites, Customs and Histories of the Great Empire of Migdal Bave”.

Featuring sketches, short stories, and more, this’ll be a collection of all sorts of things – it isn’t strictly speaking a comic, because there’s all kinds of other material in there as well. She’ll also be selling badges, her other comics, and maybe even a plate or two? I cannot confirm that as of yet. There may or may not be plates.

If you’re not at ELCAF? You can keep up with her work right here!

ELCAF is tomorrow, and all sorts of wonderous and startling comics and arts are going to be going on all day. Remember the Kokiri Forest from Ocarina of Time? It’s essentially going to be like that, only with more pixies floating through the sky at any given moment. It’s a magical sort of festival, and there’s more things going on than you could justifiably shake a deku stick at.

So to help you keep track of all the books you’ll be pining for across the rest of 2014, tonight I’ll be looking at some of the many projects that are launching or will be available to you. Previews Night!

Dan Berry will be launching a new book at the festival, called ‘The End’. With just 100 copies available tomorrow, each issue is embossed with a gold numbering, and should sell fairly quick, I’d imagine. The premise of the book is that one morning, people wake up to find that the number ’14′ has been daubed across walls all around the UK. Assuming it’s a viral marketing gimmick or something, they don’t pay too much attention – until the next day, when the number has been replaced with a ’13′. And so as the days go by, the numbers start ticking down.

Something supernatural is going on! Zounds, alors! Berry; best known for books like ‘The Suitcase’, ‘Carry Me’, and ‘Cat Island’; will be on hand to explain more.

If you’re not at ELCAF? You can keep up with Dan Berry’s comics here!

Story By: Joshua Williamson

Art By: Mike Henderson
Cover By: Mike Henderson
Price: $2.99
Diamond ID: APR140582
Published: June 4, 2014

Officer Nicolas Finch doesn’t care about Buckaroo, Oregon’s serial killers or its secrets—he just wants to find his missing friend. With time running out he turns to the one man who has all the answers…the infamous Nailbiter!

At the Beat WE LOVE TED MCKEEVER. And here’s his latest, on sale next Wednesday, The Superannuated Man, which we’re told:.

By the time most people realized it, they were no longer in charge of the world we know. In an unspecified future, the small seaside town of Blackwater has now been taken over by advanced and mutated animals. Most of the humans that lived there are now either dead or gone, but one old man remains—a man called HE—who scavenges off the scraps and refuse of humanity’s past on the outskirts of Blackwater, and doggedly defies the new tenants. 

Magnetic Press continues its mission to bring a bunch of great looking French comics to the US with announcement they’ll b publishing Tony Sandoval’s DOOMBOY, an official selection at the 2012 Festival d’Angouleme and winner of the “Coup de Coeur” Youth Jury prize. Magnatic’s first ever English edition will be out in September.

The story concerns an ordinary teenage boy who loves metal music. After his girlfriend dies, he becomes Doomboy, and plays heartfelt music to her. But when other people hear this music, “Doomboy” becomes a legend.

Sandoval is known for his other books Nocturno, The Corpse And The Couch, and his most recent work, The Sea Serpent.

As you can see from the six page preview below, Sandoval’s work, in addition to being gorgeous, is a teeny bit reminiscent of the recent hit Beautiful Darkness. French comics have been a hard sell in the US for a long time, but I think that is changing quickly because of more comics in a more up to date style.

More information is available at the Magnetic website.