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The long awaited debut of Welcome to Showside is here.

Local Comics Shop Day is the latest holiday on the comics calendar, to be held November 28th, the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The date has been promoted as “Small Business Saturday” for a while, but this new date and focus will allow comics shops to tie in to the desire to shop locally and support small […]

We’ve been telling you about the big plans from new publisher Z2 Comics for a while now, including their launch of a line of periodical comics. The flagship title is Ian McGinty’s Welcome to Showside, a charming all-ages tale about Kit, a friendly little demon, and his pals and Kit’s desire to escape from the […]

Z2 Comics is on a roll, having announced a new line of graphics novels, a line of periodical comics and now a productions company, Modern Prometheus, which got inked in THR.

Z2 Comics, best known for publishing the graphic novels Escapo, Fear my Dear, Cleveland and Henni, is getting into the periodical business with three new titles. The announcement was made in the Washington Post where publishing Josh Frankel expanded on his plans noting, “There’s no house style, but these days there’s no need for a house style,” he said. “There’s a diverse audience of readers out there waiting to discover the next big thing in comics. We think this could be it. ”

“Being able to offer readers new stories from incredibly talented creators is really gratifying, and will also help Z2 Comics continue to grow,” Frankel told The Post’s Comic Riffs. “Serializing comic books is a great model for a smaller publisher, allowing us to pay all the artists and writers a livable page rate for their creator-owned comic books, which helps me sleep at night.”

“As a publisher, our job is to find ways to get our stories into the hands of readers, across multiple platforms, working closely with our distribution partners,” Frankel said. “There’s so much excitement for comic books right now, and comics readers are more diverse than ever before. It’s the perfect time to launch three equally diverse titles.”

The addition of a new creator owned line of periodicals s a pretty bold move in today’s market, but as we just pointed out, this industry needs more options.
Here’s the full line-up, with an exclusive look at the Welcome to Showside cover:

WELCOME TO SHOWSIDE by Ian McGinty
October, 2015
Following his stint as artist on the BRAVEST WARRIORS comic book, Ian McGinty will publish his creator owned debut as a writer/artist with Z2 Comics. WELCOME TO SHOWSIDE features the adventures of Kit, a lovable kid with a monstrous secret: his dad is the Great Shadow King and he wants Kit to take over the family business of destroying the world.

“Kit is a fun-loving dude who wishes he didn’t have a care in the world,” said Ian McGinty. “But as much as he wants to skateboard, eat rad food, and hang with his buds like any kid would, well, his father is the Shadow King, Ruler of the Nexus, and that means sometimes Kit and his friends have to defend the town of Showside from ghosts, demons and monsters.”

CARVER by Chris Hunt
November, 2015
After an absence of five years, globe trotting and notorious gentleman of fortune Francis Carver returns to Paris in 1923. He has come back to aid Catherine Ayers, the wife of a wealthy Parisian socialite and the only woman he has ever loved. Her daughter has been kidnapped by the leader of a crazed anarchist gang, a man named Stacker Lee. In order to bring the girl home, Francis will have to crawl through the underbelly of the city while confronting the demons of his past, before being faced with a final choice: succumb to the man he has become, or take that mask off and be the hero he always wanted to be.

“CARVER is my homage to CORTO MALTESE,” said Chris Hunt, “I’m bringing a modern edge and sensibility to classic, serialized adventure storytelling, starting with the first storyline CARVER: A PARIS STORY.”

ALLEN: SON OF HELLCOCK by Will Tracy, Gabe Koplowitz, Miguel Porto
December, 2015
Allen is cowardly, directionless, and less physically menacing than a daffodil. He’s also the only son of the mightiest hero ever to plunge his sword hilt-deep into the dark heart of evil… the mighty HELLCOCK! Enjoy the ride as Allen is thrust sword-first into a not-so-classic fantasy quest that, frankly, he would rather just sit out. ALLEN: SON OF HELLCOCK is the comic book debut of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver writer Will Tracy, co-writer Gabe Koplowitz and artist Miguel Porto.

“ALLEN: SON OF HELLCOCK has it all: washed-up sorcerers and swordsmen, terrifying horse-donkeys, sensitive ogres, fashionable elves, ornery minotaur landlords, an exceedingly polite retired despot, a black-hearted but oddly lovable villain, and an idealistic young woman who’s the only one with any brains,” said Will Tracy.

“Uh, don’t forget Allen,” said Gabe Koplowitz.

“Did you mention the horrid horse-donkeys already? Oh god… the horse-donkeys…” said Miguel Porto.

the boutique graphic novel publisher of acclaimed graphic novels by Paul Pope, Harvey Pekar, Dean Haspiel and Miss Lasko-Gross, announced today a new line of creator owned periodical comic books. The New York-based company will launch its periodical line in the fall of 2015 with three dynamic titles: the first creator owned comic book by BRAVEST WARRIORS comic book artist Ian McGinty, an international adventure caper by Paul Pope’s protege Chris Hunt, and the comic book debut by Last Week Tonight with John Oliver writer Will Tracy and co-writer Gabe Koplowitz. All Z2 Comics standard periodicals will be 32 pages and priced at $3.99; they will be distributed at comic book stores nationwide via Diamond and will be available digitally via ComiXology.

“There’s no house style to Z2 Comics, because our comics are spectacularly diverse,” said Z2 Comics Publisher Josh Frankel. “We have an all ages comic book chock full of demons and monsters about the eternal tension between a slacker son and his ambitious father who literally wants to take over the universe. There’s a world trotting caper full of sex, intrigue and adventure. And then there’s a hilarious fantasy story about an aspiring cartoonist who must avenge his father’s death.”

“Z2 Comics are wildly eclectic,” said Frankel. “What does a graphic novel from Paul Pope, Dean Haspiel or Miss Lasko Gross have in common with the periodicals announced today? They are exceptional works from exceptional creators and comics you’ll want to read.”

ABOUT THE CREATORS:
Ian McGinty is an American artist, writer and designer based in Savannah, Georgia. He is the artist on the comic book adaptation of Pendleton Ward’s BRAVEST WARRIORS and MUNCHKIN for Boom! Studios. He is the creator of Top Shelf’s upcoming graphic novel, CHOMP! and co-creator of Frederator Books’ ROBERTO ROBERTO. Ian has previously worked on ADVENTURE TIME: CANDY CAPERS (Boom! Studios), WHICH WAY, DUDE? (Penguin), STEVEN UNIVERSE (KaBOOM!), BEE & PUPPETCAT, UGLYDOLL books (Viz Media) and the Eisner nominated HELLO KITTY books (Viz Media).

Chris Hunt is an American cartoonist born in Columbus, Ohio, and raised in Boise, Idaho. Never formally educated, Hunt developed his talents mostly through self-directed study, and the generous guidance of his friend and mentor, Paul Pope, whose comics Chris was inspired by at a young age. He worked on the Ghostface Killah comic 12 REASONS TO DIE for Black Mask, and has also done artwork for IDW Comics, Vertigo and ZIP Comics and film and music industry work for AMC, Biz3 Mgmt, Tribeca Film and the Universal Music Group. In 2010, Hunt was invited to study as a resident artist at the Atlantic Center for The Arts, under Master Artist Paul Pope. Hunt is currently working on CARVER: A PARIS STORY, which expands the story of Francis Carver, the gentleman of fortune that premiered in Hunt’s self published VOLUME ONE.

Will Tracy is a writer for HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and the former Editor in Chief of The Onion, America’s Finest News Source. He lives in Brooklyn.

Gabe Koplowitz is a writer/director who makes promos at VH1. Originally from San Francisco, he developed a love for comics by stealing his brother’s copies of GROO THE WANDERER at a young age. He lives in Brooklyn.

Miguel Porto is a cartoonist, and illustrator living in Vigo, Spain. He has worked for Redbook, El País, Mongolia, done posters for music groups (Foot Village’s European tour), and covers (the spanish edition of LORD OF CHAOS), but mostly he spends his days doing educational books and teaching drawing and color. He likes forests, ghosts, and owns two cats named Olive and Munchausen, and has enough scars to prove it.