THRUD THE BARBARIAN

Writer(s):  Carl Critchlow
Artist Name(s): Carl Critchlow
Format: Hardcover Collection
Page Count: 144pp
Full Color, B&W, or partial color: FC
Retail Price: $19.99
Street Date: September 24, 2013

Thrud: big of muscle, tiny of head, which is fine for Thrud as you only need a big brain if you need to talk your way out of trouble. Instead, he lets his axe speak for him!

In the first collected volume of this hugely popular cult, er, hero, Thrud faces down the necromancer To-Me Ku-Pa (FWAP! THWOK!); protects his beer supplies from fierce Frost Giants (KRISH! KER-THUNK!); faces his arch-nemesis (THUNKTHUNKTHUNK!); assumes the stately role of the king he accidentally killed (GAK! POK!) and gets his pint spilled on a mission into the depths of a primeval jungle (ARRGGLE! SPLUTCH!)!

A hilarious, timeless parody of Conan The Barbarian and his musclebound ilk!

Thrud the Barbarian hits stores on September 24, 2013.  The collection will also be available to read day and date on the iPad, iPhone, Web, Android and Kindle Fire, exclusively through the comiXology app and comiXology.com

Retailers can order Thrud the Barbarian from the June edition of Diamond PREVIEWS (order code: JUN131289)

BOOM! Studios is proud to release the first Adventure Time Annual! In response to fan and retailer demand for more Adventure Time comics, the Adventure Time Annual #1 is jam-packed with a variety of special short stories in the Land of Ooo and will arrive in stores on May 29th.

THE FUN WILL NEVER END IN THIS SPECIAL EXPANDED ADVENTURE TIME ANNUAL! Featuring some of the hottest talent in comics today putting their creative spin on the land of Ooo! A great tool for bringing readers into the series and an awesome book for die-hard Adventure TimeE fans! Featuring stories from Roger Langridge, Derek Fridolfs, Dustin Nguyen, Alex Cox, Josh Williamson, Jason Ho, Bryce Carlson and others!

Adventure Time Annual #1 ships with a main cover by Ale Garza and variant covers by Natasha Allegri and Derek Fridolfs.

It’s the hit comic book event of the spring, and this June – get your first look at the monumental fallout from Age Of Ultron in Age Of Ultron #10A.I.! From  Eisner Award winning writer Mark Waid and artist Andre Araujo, founding Avenger Hank Pym, stands at a crossroads! Faced with a dilemma only he can solve, Pym must gamble his past AND his future! By the end of this issue, one of the smartest men in the Marvel Universe will have an entirely new role, but will he have been redeemed?

So what are you waiting for? A whole new world is about to be unveiled following the end of Age Of Ultron #10!

AGE OF ULTRON #10A.I. (APR130594)
AGE OF ULTRON #10A.I. RIVERA VARIANT (APR130595)
Written by MARK WAID
Pencils by ANDRE ARAUJO
Cover by SARA PICHELLI
Variant Cover by PAOLO RIVERA
FOC – 5/27/13, ON-SALE – 6/26/13

Marvel has unveiled Marvel Chief Creative Officer, Joe Quesada’s, wraparound variant cover to Age of Ultron #10 – featuring Angela! To save the Marvel Universe, Earth’s Mightiest made the most controversial decision of their lives resulting a disaster unlike any they’ve seen before. But with one final shot to make things right, can they turn back the hands of time and restore everything to its former glory? And if they can’t what happens next?! Age Of Ultron #10, by the jam packed, creative team of Brian Michael Bendis, Bryan Hitch, Carlos Pacheco, Brandon Peterson, Alex Maleev, Butch Guice, David Marquez and Joe Quesada, leaves no stone unturned and has an ending nobody can see coming!

The Avengers are down to their last resort as they forge the ultimate plan to finally break free from Ultron’s ferocious iron grip.

AGE OF ULTRON #10 (APR130589)
AGE OF ULTRON #10 ANGELA VARIANT (APR130592)
Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS
Art by BRYAN HITCH, CARLOS PACHECO, BRANDON PETERSON, ALEX MALEEV, BUTCH GUICE, DAVID MARQUEZ & JOE QUESADA
Cover by BRANDON PETERSON
Variant Cover by JOE QUESADA
ON-SALE – 6/19/13

Death Sentence #1 by Montynero and Mike Dowling, hits stores on October 9, 2013

Archie Comics is celebrating the release of Jinx: Little Miss Steps with two signings in two countries. The first signing will take place at Star Clipper in Saint Louis, MO with Eisner award winning artist Rick Burchett on Saturday, May 25. One week later, Harvey award winning writer J. Torres will be signing at Little Island Comics in Toronto, ON on Saturday June 1.

Star Clipper
Saturday 5/25 – 12pm-3pm
6392 Delmar Blvd.
Saint Louis, MO 63130

Little Island Comics
Saturday 6/1 – 11:30am-1pm
742 Bathurst St.
Toronto, ON M6G 1K1

Both volumes of the critically acclaimed original graphic novel will be available for purchase at the signings which star a teenage spin on the classic Li’l Jinx character, a fan favorite comic strip that runs in the Archie Comics digests.

By popular demand, Dynamite Entertainment is proud to expand their beloved Vampirella line with a new five-part miniseries, entitled Vampirella: Southern Gothic.  A tale of dark magic and mystery set against a Mississippi backdrop, the series features the writing talent of Nate Cosby and illustrations by Jose Luis.  The first issue will hit store shelves in August 2013, available in two cover editions: an art edition by Johnny Desjardins, and Subscription-Only photo variant featuring model Kitana Baker.

In Vampirella: Southern Gothic #1, the industry’s most iconic horror heroine may not be prepared — even after a lifetime of fighting vampires, aliens, magicians, and monsters — for the evil that lurks on the shores of the Mississippi.  As the story begins, Vampirella confronts a demon whose blue blade leaves her with a glowing, mystical wound.  Heading to the Deep South to recover, she is reunited with an old flame… and finds herself drawn into a murder mystery thick with old time religion and blood, blood, blood.

While the Southern Gothic series stands on its own, completely accessible to new readers, Cosby assures that the tale will fit faithfully into the overall Vampirella mythos, as pioneered by many of the industry’s top talent.

Vampirella: Southern Gothic #1 is solicited in the Diamond June Previews catalog for release in August.

Elephantmen, Richard Starkings‘ epic science fiction series exploring the ramifications of genetic experimentation, war, and racism, is reaching a milestone this July: its 50th issue. Elephantmen debuted in 2006, published by Image Comics, a spin-off of Starkings self-published (and now Image title) Hip Flask.

Following a group of human/animal hybrid super-soldiers who are struggling to integrate themselves into a society that is often hostile to their very existence, the series has gone on be collected into six hardcovers and trade paperbacks. It has featured art by Ladrönn, Boo Cook, Chris Burnham, Shaky Kane, and Axel Medellin, and the cover of Elephantmen #43 is among the work that earned Brandon Graham a “Best Cover Artist” Eisner Award nomination.

“Fifty issues! One more and Elephantmen is as old as I am!” marveled creator and writer Starkings, who also owns the well-respected comics lettering studio Comicraft. “When we launched the series in 2006, I thought maybe I had six issues in me, yet here we are, seven years later and six Elephantmen collections in stores and another in preparation for release this summer!”

Elephantmen #50, “Blue Collar Blues,” has a cover by renowned comics artist Frank Quitely, and comes after the close of the monumental “Sleeping Partners” story arc. It brings the story into the intimate sphere of one Elephantman, following his everyday life with its struggles and small triumphs. The issue is illustrated by series regular Axel Medellin and Gabe Bautista and also includes a re-presentation of Elephantmen #1, with art by Moritat, and a gallery of covers by Brandon Graham, Camilla d’Errico, J. Scott Campbell, Brian Bolland, Chris Weston, Ladrönn, Ian Churchill, and Ed McGuinness.

Elephantmen #50 will be in stores on July 17 and is available for pre-order from the May issue of Previews. The revised and expanded Elephantmen Volume 1, which now includes issue #0 with art by Ladrönn and an introduction by Jonathan Ross, will be in stores on May 22. The newest collection, Volume 6: Earthly Desires, due in stores in July 10, is also available for preorder.

Knuckleheads #2

.99 – Ages 15+
Brian Winkeler, Writer
Robert Wilson IV, Artist
Jordan Boyd, Colors
Thomas Mauer, Letters

The monster has a hot drunk English chick! Trev has a video game controller! Pizza Guy has three things in his pocket! And Lance has a plan! It’s another action-packed day in the life of the world’s laziest superhero, The Crystal Fist! Written by Brian Winkeler, drawn by Robert Wilson IV, colored by Jordan Boyd, and lettered by Thomas Mauer.

SUBATOMIC PARTY GIRLS #1

$.99 – Ages 12+
Chris Sims & Chad Bowers, Writers
Erica Henderson, Artist
Josh Krach, Letters

Cleo, Libby and Vette are Beryllium Steel, the hottest power pop trio in the world — and they’re about to be the hottest band in outer space! When a plan to make them the first band to perform live on the moon goes wrong, they find themselves on the wrong side of the galaxy, faced with space pirates, intergalactic crime bosses and no way to get home. Their only option: ROCK OUT!