(W) Roger McKenzie (A) Klaus Janson (A/CA) Frank Miller In Shops: Aug 16, 2023 SRP: $150.00
Frank Miller helped redefine sequential storytelling in the early 1980s. His style, influenced by Will Eisner’s The Spirit, was new and exciting. One of his earliest issues featured the introduction of Elektra and was the first issue Miller wrote.
This Artist’s Edition features more than one hundred pages and covers, including many featuring Elektra from not only her first appearance but also from the legendary “Death of Elektra” issue.
Diamond Comic Distributors has announced that Massive Publishing, known for its inaugural imprint, Whatnot Publishing, will move into the Deluxe Tier with the June 2023 PREVIEWS catalog. In its first six months of publication, Massive distributed over 800,000 units to shops around the world. Massive has also announced 2 new imprints, the release of Sean Gordon Murphy‘s The Plot Holes, and will be distributing Sumerian Comics to the retail and direct market.
Sean Gordon Murphy’s new comic!
Massive’s first non-imprint series is the long-awaited retail release of The Plot Holes by writer/illustrator, Sean Gordon Murphy. With the release of the mini-series, Murphy makes his return to his creator-owned roots for the first time since building his own groundbreaking Batman universe at DC Comics in 2017.
Murphy, who won an American Library Association award with his first ever creator-owned book Off Road (released by Oni in 2005) will kick-off the MASSIVE flagship line this August, with cover variants by legendary artist such as Walt Simonson, Klaus Janson, Dan Panosian, Matteo Scalera, and more.
Two new imprints!
Massive also will mark its move to the Deluxe Tier category with the launch of multiple new imprints, significantly expanding its publishing footprint. Each new imprint will have its own unique flavor and creative direction spearheaded by a mix of established trailblazers in the industry and up-and-coming voices. They include…
Overlook: Catering to readers with a penchant for the macabre, the horror focused imprint will be helmed by arguably the most prolific horror writer in comics today, Cullen Bunn and Hustle & Heart Films CEO Heath Amodio. The high-end horror brand will also feature a who’s who of show runners and writers from across the Film and TV space alongside comic industry pros.
Kingwood Comics: An imprint focused on Black characters and stories will launch this September with the first retail distribution of the celebrated series Harriet Tubman, Demon Slayer, soon to be a live-action series on Disney +. The books creator, David Crownson will helm the Kingwood imprint as it builds on the legacy of diverse creators in comic books and highlights groundbreaking talent such as Courtland Ellis, Nikolas Draper-Ivey, Caanan White, Khary Randolph,and more.
Sumerian distribution!
Sumerian Comics: The publishing arm of Sumerian Records will join forces with Massive this fall as it shifts its primary publishing focus to licensed TV, Film and Music related properties curated by Co-Publishers Nathan Yocum and Ryan Swanson. Sumerian’s first release will be Bad Omens: Concrete Jungle #1, the comic series inspired by the popular band of the same name.
Klaus Janson, Barry Kitson, Bob McLeod, Sozomaika, Mark Sparacio, and Wade von Grawbadger will be guests of the 2023 Baltimore Comic-Con, taking place at the Inner Harbor’s Baltimore Convention Center on September 8-10. Tickets are available online now for purchase.
Klaus Janson was born in 1952 in Coburg, Germany, and came to America in 1957. As a child growing up in Connecticut, he learned how to read and write the English language almost exclusively from Lois Lane and Superman comics. Even at that early age, delusions of competence overtook him and he would cut apart the comics and paste them onto paper to construct new stories. This eventually led to the notion that drawing the stories outright and preserving the comics might be a more efficient way of approaching this medium. A valuable and life saving apprenticeship with his mentor Dick Giordano encouraged him to continue. After many summers of portfolio reviews and rejections, Marvel Comics offered a part time office job applying grey tones to the black and white horror comic reprints that were glutting the market. Two things happened that would change that: Daredevil and teaching at The School of Visual Arts. Daredevil with Frank Miller in the mid-1980s was a rare opportunity for two artists to work unconstrained by the typical expectations or oversight of corporate thinking. An anomaly for mainstream publishing, Daredevil was a struggle between artistic instinct and intellect that, at its best, resulted in that perfect balance. The other step forward was teaching at The School of Visual Arts. Klaus believes that communication is the most powerful tool human beings possess. That ability to communicate can come in many forms but at its root is called storytelling. Klaus lives in New York, where he writes, draws, inks, and colors, and teaches comics.
Barry Kitson began drawing comics professionally in 1983 and has been an extraordinarily prolific artist since then. His first published work was as the artist on Spider-Man for Marvel UK. He went on to draw The Transformers and various other titles for the company before moving on to 2000AD where he drew multiple Judge Dredd and Judge Anderson stories. At the end of the eighties, he was invited to work for DC Comics in America, becoming a staple artist on many of their flagship titles including Superman, Batman, The Justice League of America, The Legion of Superheroes, The Teen Titans, and Azrael. He also went on to work for Marvel Comics, illustrating Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, The Avengers, The Incredible Hulk, Doctor Strange, and Iron Man, amongst others.
Together with writer Mark Waid, Barry co-created the series Empire, currently optioned for production by Paramount + and published in French by Delcourt as Golgoth. Barry is currently working on new Empire material to see print in 2023.
Barry continues to illustrate the successful independent publication The Liberty Brigade, which features many of the Golden Age superhero characters and is set in the 1940s. He is beginning work on a second volume this year.
Bob McLeod is best known for co-creating and illustrating The New Mutants for Marvel Comics. He began his career with Marvel’s Crazy magazine, penciling, and inking movie and TV satires and the Teen Hulk strip. He has pencilled or inked all the major characters for Marvel and DC, including Spider-Man (most notably Kraven’s Last Hunt), The X-Men, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, GI Joe, Star Wars, The Hulk, Conan, and many more. Bob also wrote and illustrated a children’s alphabet book, Superhero ABC, published by HarperCollins, which received starred reviews. He edited and wrote articles for Twomorrows’ Rough Stuff magazine and taught art at the Pennsylvania College of Art & Design for many years. He’s currently doing occasional variant covers for Marvel and commissions for his fans, along with occasional freelance jobs and personal projects. His website is www.bobmcleod.com.
Sozomaika is a self-taught digital illustrator, concept artist, and 3D generalist currently based in LA. Maika is best known for her approach towards fashion design in her character illustrations. There is also a notable influence from noir, sploitation’ cinema, and eastern design elements in her work. So far, she has produced artworks for various companies including Under Armour, DC Comics, Wired, Image Comics, and Riot Games.
Successful illustrator Mark Sparacio studied sequential art for three years under the legendary Will Eisner — recognized as the creator of the Graphic Novel — at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, where he earned a B.F.A. in Illustration and Sequential Art.
While still in school, Sparacio received his first professional assignment to create a painting for the movie poster for the United Artist International film, The Draughtsman’s Contract. This opportunity resulted in a long run as a freelance illustrator in the advertising industry.
After working for both Marvel and DC Comics and creating covers for Comics Buyer’s Guide and The Overstreet PriceGuide, as well as creating paintings for card sets for UpperDeck/DC Comics and for Topps’ Wacky Packages and Garbage Pail Kids, Sparacio developed his second creator-owned graphic novel series, Chelsea Dagger, this one totally conceived, written, drawn, and with painted covers by Sparacio. After Book One’s critical success, Sparacio is currently drawing and painting covers for Chelsea Dagger Books II and III while also writing, drawing, and painting covers for two American Mythology Productions on-going comic book series, Bombshell and TommTomm, and Witch Hammer, which have release dates of late summer 2023. Sparacio is the Artist in Residence at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, where he teaches many traditional art classes and helped to create the new Visual Art and Design B.F.A. When he’s not in his studio and needs a place to sleep, Sparacio lives in Port St. Lucie, Florida, with his wife ToniAnn.
Embarking on his 30th year of creating comics, Harvey, Eisner, and Inkwell Award-winning artist Wade von Grawbadger is excited to be making his first ever appearance at Baltimore Comic-Con! Wade is primarily known for contributing ink art on such titles as Starman, Amazing Spider-Man, All-New X-Men, and Star Wars, but there has been so much more! Titles coming out in 2023 include Edge of the Spider-Verse 1 (featuring Spider-Rex) and Comics for Ukraine: Sunflower Seeds and New Talent Showcase: The Milestone Initiative 1 (helping new talent find their groove) among others! He hopes to see you there!
This year’s confirmed guests for the show include: Arthur Adams (Longshot), Sarah Andersen (Sarah’s Scribbles), Jeremy Bastian (Dune: House Harkonnen), Marty Baumann (Pixar artist), Brian Michael Bendis (Action Comics), Jon Bogdanove (The Death of Superman), Judy Bogdanove (Steel Annual), Mark Buckingham (Fables), Jim Calafiore (NED, Lord of the Pit), Chris Campana (Death Dealer), Richard Case (Edgar Allan Poe’s Snifter of Terror), Howard Chaykin (Time Squared), Jim Cheung (Young Avengers), Frank Cho (Harley Quinn), Amy Chu (KISS: The End), Steve Conley (The Middle Age), Katie Cook (Nothing Special), Abby Denson (Uniquely Japan), Todd Dezago (The Perhapanauts), Derec Donovan (Adventures of Superman), Jan Duursema (Star Wars: The High Republic), Garth Ennis (The Boys), David Finch (Moon Knight), Tana Ford (LaGuardia), Trish Forstner (Stray Dogs), Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (DC Nation), Mike Grell (Jon Sable), Gene Ha (Mae), Bob Hall (West Coast Avengers), Cully Hamner (Blue Beetle), Brian Haberlin (Spawn), Tony Harris (The Whistling Skull), Mike Hawthorne (Deadpool), Greg Hildebrandt (Star Wars), Morry Hollowell (Old Man Logan), Mark Irwin (Green Lantern), Klaus Janson (Daredevil), Dave Johnson (100 Bullets), J.G. Jones (Wanted), Barry Kitson (Amazing Spider-Man), Jeff Lemire (Black Hammer), Matthew Loux (Prunella and the Cursed Skull Ring), Kevin Maguire (Justice League), Tom Mandrake (Spectre), Laura Martin (Nubia: Queen of the Amazons), Ron Marz (Green Lantern), Bob McLeod (New Mutants), Adriana Melo (Action Comics), Pop Mhan (Gears of War 3), Al Milgrom (Spectacular Spider-Man), Karl Moline (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Mark Morales (Thor), Trevor Mueller (Re-Possessed), David Pepose (Savage Avengers), David Petersen (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Usagi Yojimbo: WhereWhen), Brandon Peterson (Uncanny X-Men), Richard and Wendy Pini (Elfquest), Ed Piskor (Red Room: Trigger Warnings), Joe Prado (Superman), Afua Richardson (Omni), Don Rosa (Uncle Scrooge), Craig Rousseau (The Perhapanauts), Steve Rude (Nexus), Jim Rugg (Hulk Grand Design), Andy Runton (Owly), Louise Simonson (The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special), Walter Simonson (Thor), Matt Slay (Equilibrium), John K. Snyder III (Suicide Squad), Sozomaika (DC Power: A Celebration), Mark Sparacio (Omega Paradox), Joe Staton (Dick Tracy), John Timms (Superman: Son of Kal-El), Wade von Grawbadger (Justice League), John Workman (Wild Things), and Thom Zahler (Love and Capes).
I’m a bit of a sucker for “true stories” of alien contact and abductions. There’s a campiness about them that’s fun mixed with a “is it real or not” aspect. Blue Book #1 promises a “nonfiction comic book experience depicting true stories of UFO abductions with an eye to capturing the strange essence of those encounters.” And it’s start is intriguing but a bit of a letdown at the same time.
Written by James Tynion IV, Blue Book #1 follows the infamous Betty and Barney Hill abduction. In an “Unsolved Mysteries” sort of way, the comic first sets out to make it clear that Betty and Barney are two upstanding and outstanding individuals. These aren’t cranks or conspiracy theorists, they’re two very ordinary individuals with fantastic jobs. It lays out its case as to why we should believe their story. From there, it follows their journey home and an encounter with a strange object. It’s the setup… unfortunately it’s a bit slow and lacks tension to really make it stand out.
Part of that issue is the art from Michael Avon Oeming. While it’s good. There’s something that doesn’t quite click building up the eventual encounter. You don’t get a sense of worry from Betty or Barney. There’s lack of fear that it really might be something else that might really harm them. Overall, it’s two people driving that see something weird in the sky. And by the end of this particular chapter, the build up visually feels like it doesn’t surprise or hook you. Part of that is Oeming shows the object and shows it often. The reader knows what it is before they do so the “reveal” has already happened taking away the vital aspect for the story.
The backup story features Tynion with art by Klaus Janson. Aditya Bidikar provides lettering for both. It takes us to Coney Island and some of the oddities featured there and its history. It has a Ripley’s Believe it or Not aspect to it that slightly undermines the nonfiction aspect of the main story. It also has nothing to do with aliens but is just “True Weird”. While it’s entertaining in its weird history, it feels like it clashes a bit with the featured story. As part of “weird tales” anthology, it’d be great, but here, it feels a little out of place.
Blue Book #1 is an interesting start but doesn’t quite abduct me and take me away in the mothership. The main story’s rather abrupt ending is a bit jarring and the build up, while good, is a bit too slow to leave things where they’re at. This might be one that’s a bit more enjoyable when the you can read it all at once.
Story: James Tynion IV Art: Michael Avon Oeming, Klaus Janson Letterer: Aditya Bidikar Story: 7.0 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7.25 Recommendation: Read
Dark Horse provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
James Tynion IV has always been fascinated by horror and what he calls “true weird,” or the cousin to true crime—strange and unusual events like supernatural and alien encounters—especially after publishing stories like Something is Killing the Children, The Nice House on the Lake, and The Department of Truth. Now, Tynion, Tiny Onion Studios, and Dark Horse Comics are teaming up to bring deeply weird non-fiction and high concept coming-of-age monster stories to print in a new line! Featuring new and previously published creator-owned work from the mind of James Tynion IV, the new line begins with Blue Book in February 2023 and The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos in June 2023. Both were originally published on Substack, but will soon be available in print for the first time.
In Blue Book, Tynion explores strange but true stories of aliens and the supernatural. The first series details Betty and Barney Hill’s abduction encounter, also known as the first widely-publicized abduction that went on to shape and influence all future encounter stories. Teaming up with Tynion on this tale are artist Michael Avon Oeming and letterer Aditya Bidikar. Included at the end of every issue will be a short comic called “True Weird,” the first of which is called True Weird: Coney Island by Tynion, Klaus Janson, and Bidikar.
The next series to be published will be The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos, an LGBTQ+ horror-hero coming-of-age series that’s Invincible meets Doom Patrol. The concept was created by James Tynion IV and written by Tate Brombal with art by Isaac Goodhart, colors by Kurt Michael Russell, and letters by Aditya Bidikar.
The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos focuses on the lonely teenage mad scientist, Christopher Chaos. When the cute boy at high school turns out to be a deadly creature, Christopher finds himself pitted in a world of monsters, heroes, and a cult of hunters out to kill them all.
Blue Book #1 (of 5) will be available in print starting February 22, 2023 and will include three variant covers: a foil variant by Michael Avon Oeming and variants by Dave Johnson and Jill Thompson. The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos #1 (of 5) will be available June 7, 2023.
Join the Baltimore Comic Con this October 28-30, 2022 at the Inner Harbor’s Baltimore Convention Center. The Baltimore Comic Con has announced the addition comic artists and cartoonists Cully Hamner, Klaus Janson, Andrew Pepoy, John Timms, Lee Weeks, and Matt Wieringo. Get your tickets for admission and VIP experiences online now.
Cully Hamner has drawn many things for many publishers, but he’s probably best known for his creator-owned comic Red, which was adapted as a pair of hit Bruce Willis films; for co-creating Jaime Reyes (the current Blue Beetle, also about to be a feature film); and his work on The Question. His list of credits at DC is about as long as your leg — most recently as cover artist on numerous titles across the Batman and Superman lines, as well as the new Blue Beetle: Graduation Day and interiors on books like Future State: Superman of Metropolis, Superman Red & Blue, and Blue and Gold. At Marvel, he’s provided numerous covers for the Spider-Man titles, Black Panther vs. Deadpool, War of the Realms, Yondu, M.O.D.O.K., Alien, and the upcoming Joe Fixit series. Also coming up are covers for numerous BOOM! Studios titles, such as Something is Killing the Children and Grim.
Klaus Janson was born in 1952 in Coburg, Germany, and came to America in 1957. As a child growing up in Connecticut, he learned how to read and write the English language almost exclusively from Lois Lane and Superman comics. Even at that early age, delusions of competence overtook him and he would cut apart the comics and paste them onto paper to construct new stories. This eventually led to the notion that drawing the stories outright and preserving the comics might be a more efficient way of approaching this medium. A valuable and life saving apprenticeship with his mentor Dick Giordano encouraged him to continue. After many summers of portfolio reviews and rejections, Marvel Comics offered a part time office job applying grey tones to the black and white horror comic reprints that were glutting the market. Two things happened that would change that: Daredevil and teaching at The School of Visual Arts. Daredevil with Frank Miller in the mid-1980s was a rare opportunity for two artists to work unconstrained by the typical expectations or oversight of corporate thinking. An anomaly for mainstream publishing, Daredevil was a struggle between artistic instinct and intellect that, at its best, resulted in that perfect balance. The other step forward was teaching at The School of Visual Arts. Klaus believes that communication is the most powerful tool human beings possess. That ability to communicate can come in many forms but at its root is called storytelling. Klaus lives in New York, where he writes, draws, inks, and colors, and teaches comics.
Andrew Pepoy has worked for U.S., Canadian, British, and French publishers on hundreds of comics on such characters and titles as The Simpsons, Fables, Batman, The X-Men, Iron Man, Star Wars, Wallace & Gromit, Scooby Doo, Betty & Veronica, Lanfeust, Uncle Scrooge, and many more over the last 30 years. In 2000, Andrew redesigned Little Orphan Annie and drew the newspaper strip for the next year, and in 2005 he brought his knack for retro glamour with a modern twist to writing and drawing a revival of the classic Archie Comics character, Katy Keene. Since 1990, he has written and drawn many stories of his own Harvey Award-nominated creation, The Adventures of Simone & Ajax, which has been collected in book form by IDW and appears as a webstrip at www.simoneandajax.com, with a new series in production. Nominated several times, Andrew won an Eisner Award in 2009 and has also won an Inkwell Award and been nominated for the Harvey and Hugo Awards. He lives in Chicago. His recent work includes drawing a Dinosaucers mini-series for Lion Forge, inking the 50th Anniversary graphic novel adaptation of the The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine for Titan, inking various Simpsons comics for Bongo Comics, art for MAD Magazine, a run as guest artist on the Dick Tracy newspaper comic strip, inking Die Kitty Die for Astrocomics, and drawing covers for Doctor Who, Archie vs. Predator II, Red Sonja, Lady Death, and other titles.
John Timms was born and raised in Costa Rica. He studied Graphic Design at Universidad de Costa Rica and worked for a long time as an animator, jumping to comics, a medium he always loved, eight years ago. He has worked on different series, including Inhumans and Nova for Marvel, and for DC Comics, Harley Quinn, Catwoman, Young Justice, Infinite Frontier, Superman, and he is the current artist for Superman: Son of Kal-El. He lives in Costa Rica with his wife and two daughters.
Lee Weeks has been drawing and occasionally writing comics for more than 30 years. Best known for his work on Batman, Superman, Daredevil, and Hulk, Weeks has illustrated nearly every major character while partnering with some of the most celebrated talents in the industry. His recent collaborations with Tom King on Batman (Annual #2, Cold Days, and Batman vs. Elmer Fudd) have produced some of the most memorable tales in the Dark Knight’s history. Born and raised in Maine, the son of a chair maker, Weeks began drawing before he can remember — sometimes on the walls and furniture. He and his wife live in Pennsylvania. They have two married daughters.
Matt Wieringo works in advertising. Chances are, you’ve swiped past, fast-forwarded through, or tweeted a rude response to something he’s worked on without knowing it. He’ll let it slide if you donate to the Mike Wieringo Scholarship Fund at S.C.A.D. See how he just effortlessly sneaked an ad into his bio? Dang, he’s good. Matt lives in Richmond, VA with his wife (and Wonder Woman uber-fan) Suzanne and their two cats, Ivan and Danger.
Confirmed guests for this year’s show include:
Andrew Aydin (Run), Chris Barcomb (The Amazing Adventure of Superior Sam), Jeremy Bastian (Cursed Pirate Girl), Marty Baumann (Pixar artist), John Beatty (Marvel Super Heroes: Secret Wars), Carolyn Belefski (Curls), Brett Breeding (Superman), Dan Brereton (Nocturnals), Russ Braun (The Boys), Reilly Brown (Deadpool), Harold Buchholz (Sweetest Beasts), Mark Buckingham (Fables), Jeffrey Burandt (Killer Bad), Greg Burnham (Tuskegee Heirs), Jim Calafiore (NED, Lord of the Pit), Chris Campana (The Adventures of Parker Reef), Joe Carabeo (Black Magic Tales), Richard Case (Edgar Allan Poe’s Snifter of Terror), John Cassaday (Astonishing X-Men), Howard Chaykin (Time Squared), Jim Cheung (Miracleman), Frank Cho (Harley Quinn), Matthew Clark (Adventures of Superman, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Steve Conley (The Middle Age), Katie Cook (Nothing Special), Kevin Cuffe (Metalshark Bro), Shawn Daley (Better Place), Alan Davis (Thanos), Nick Davis (The Night Guardians – Awakenings), Kristina Deak-Linsner (Roses for the Dead), J. Robert Deans (Crass Fed), Vito Delsante (Stray), Todd Dezago (The Perhapanauts), Terry Dodson (Harley Quinn), Mike Dringenberg (Sandman), Scott Dunbier (Jim Lee’s X-Men Artist’s Edition, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Ryan Dunlavey (The Comic Book History of Animation), Garth Ennis (The Boys), Tony Fleecs (Stray Dogs), Chris Flick (Capes and Babes), Scott Fogg (Phileas Reid Knows We’re Not Alone), Trish Forstner (Stray Dogs), LJ and Kayla Fowlkes (The Adventures of CHIBIWONGTONG), Franco (The Ghost, The Owl), Bob Frantz (Metalshark Bro), John Gallagher (Max Meow: Cat Crusader), Kami Garcia (Teen Titans: Raven), Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (DC Nation), Ron Garney (BZRKR, Friday and Saturday only), Mitch Gerads (Mister Miracle), Jimmy Gownley (Amelia Rules!), Steven Grant (X), Mike Grell (Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters), Dawn Griffin (Zorphbert & Fred), Brian Haberlin (Spawn), Bob Hall (West Coast Avengers), Cully Hamner (Blue Beetle), Dean Haspiel (The Fox), Mike Hawthorne (Happiness Will Follow), Jamal Igle (Molly Danger), Klaus Janson (Daredevil), Nikkol Jelenic (Midnight Rose), Chris Kemple (Artist Alley Comics), Phillip Kennedy Johnson (Alien), Kata Kane (Altar Girl), Tom King (Batman), Barry Kitson (Amazing Spider-Man), Greg LaRocque (The Three Stooges), Jim Lee (Action Comics, Friday only), Joseph Michael Linsner (Red Sonja), Howard Mackie (Ghost Rider), Kevin Maguire (Justice League), Francis Manapul (The Flash), Mariano Brothers (Claire Lost Her Bear at the World’s Fair), Laura Martin (Nubia: Queen of the Amazons), Ron Marz (Silver Surfer), Whitney Matheson (Pandemix: Quarantine Comics in the Age of ‘Rona), Jason May (LEGO Club Magazine), Bob McLeod (New Mutants), Mike McKone (Genis-Vell: Captain Marvel), Carla Speed McNeil (Finder), Jarrett Melendez (Chef’s Kiss), Adriana Melo (Action Comics), Frank Miller (Sin City, Saturday only), Chris Miskiewicz (Elvis: The Graphic Novel), Mark Morales (Thor), Bill Morrison (The Simpsons), Trevor Mueller (Albert the Alien), Jamar Nicholas (Leon: Protector of the Playground), Fabian Nicieza (Deadpool, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Ann Nocenti (The Seeds, Friday and Saturday only, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Sedat Oezgen (Judge Dredd), Jerry Ordway (Superman), Rachel Ordway (Chainmail Bikini), Steve Orlando (Rainbow Bridge, Saturday and Sunday only), Richard Pace (Second Coming, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Dan Parent (Archie vs. Sharknado), David Pepose (Savage Avengers), Andrew Pepoy (Simone & Ajax), David Petersen (Mouse Guard), Brandon Peterson (Uncanny X-Men), Khoi Pham (Teen Titans), Ed Piskor (Red Room: Trigger Warnings), Eric Powell (The Goon), Andy Price (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic), Tom Raney (Green Lantern), Afua Richardson (Omni), Christopher Ring (Seamus (the Famous)), David A. Rodriguez (Skylanders), Don Rosa (Uncle Scrooge), Craig Rousseau (The Perhapanauts), Arsia Rozegar (Shahnameh For Kids), Jim Rugg (Hulk Grand Design), Alex Saviuk (Web of Spider-Man), Stuart Sayger (The Joker), Mark Schultz (Xenozoic Tales, courtesy of Flesk Publications), Pat Shand (Destiny, NY), Liam Sharp (Green Lantern), Louise Simonson (X-Men Legends), Walter Simonson (Ragnarok), Don Simpson (Megaton Man), Matt Slay (Equilibrium), Matt Smith (Hellboy), John K. Snyder III (Suicide Squad), Jim Starlin (Infinity Gauntlet), Joe Staton (Dick Tracy), Brian Stelfreeze (Black Panther), Paul Storrie (Storm Kids: Stanley’s Ghost), Joe St. Pierre (New Zodiax), Jill Thompson (Scary Godmother), Billy Tucci (Shi), Fred Van Lente (The Comic Book History of Animation), Emilio Velez Jr. (The Dodgeball Teens), Dexter Vines (Civil War, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Sean Von Gorman (Return of Toe Tag Riot), Adam Wallenta (Punk Taco), Todd Webb (Mr. Toast Comics), Lee Weeks (Batman/Catwoman Special), Emily S. Whitten (The Underfoot), Matt Wieringo (Stargate Atlantis: Gateways), Keith Williams (Thor the Worthy), Charles P. Wilson III (Wraith), Rich Woodall (Electric Black), Gene Luen Yang (Superman Smashes the Klan), and Thom Zahler (Love and Capes).
(W) Kurt Busiek, Various (A) Jim Cheung, Various (CA) John Romita Jr. RATED T In Shops: Aug 31, 2022 SRP: $7.99
The comic that brought you SPIDER-MAN hits issue #1000! We’re going big to celebrate in this, our thousandth issue of AMAZING FANTASY! An ALL-STAR roster of creators – Anthony Falcone, Dan Slott, Ho Che Anderson, Jonathan Hickman, Kurt Busiek, Michael Cho, Neil Gaiman, Rainbow Rowell, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Jim Cheung, Marco Checchetto, Olivier Coipel, Ryan Stegman, Steve McNiven, Terry Dodson, Todd Nauck, and more – are coming together to celebrate Peter Parker and Spider-Man’s birthdays!
(W) Kurt Busiek, Various (A) Jim Cheung, Various (CA) John Romita Jr. RATED T In Shops: Aug 31, 2022 SRP: $7.99
The comic that brought you SPIDER-MAN hits issue #1000! We’re going big to celebrate in this, our thousandth issue of AMAZING FANTASY! An ALL-STAR roster of creators – Anthony Falcone, Dan Slott, Ho Che Anderson, Jonathan Hickman, Kurt Busiek, Michael Cho, Neil Gaiman, Rainbow Rowell, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Jim Cheung, Marco Checchetto, Olivier Coipel, Ryan Stegman, Steve McNiven, Terry Dodson, Todd Nauck, and more – are coming together to celebrate Peter Parker and Spider-Man’s birthdays!
Writer Chip Zdarsky and artist Marco Checchetto’s Eisner-nominated Daredevil run continued with a radical new saga that will explore both Matt Murdock and Elektra Natchios’ journeys as Daredevil. Daredevil #1 was an extraordinary debut issue that welcomed readers to the darkest Hell’s Kitchen era to date. And next month, the most legendary artists from throughout Daredevil history will join Zdarsky and Checchetto in Daredevil #2 for a giant-sized celebration to mark the milestone 650th issue of Daredevil including Rafael DeLatorre, Alex Maleev, Paul Azaceta, Phil Noto, Chris Samnee, Klaus Janson, and Mike Hawthorne.
In the aftermath of Devil’s Reign, everything it has ever meant to be Daredevil has changed. Thanks to Elektra and her newfound role as the Woman Without Fear, Daredevil is more ambitious than EVER. With a who’s-who of creators from across the fabled character’s history (and some can’t-miss surprises along the way), this oversized epic will kick off the next year of Chip Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto’s landmark run on Daredevil off in explosive style!
During June, DC will celebrate the 68th birthday of George Pérez, one of the titans of the comic industry, with a two-page spread featuring some of his most beloved characters. Working from a layout designed by Dan Jurgens, some of the industry’s biggest names including Jim Lee, Walter Simonson, Alex Ross, Dave Gibbons, Todd McFarlane, Daniel Sampere, Jerry Ordway, Nicola Scott and many more, collaborated on the colorful spread.
In December, Pérez took to Facebook to announce that he has been diagnosed with Stage 3 Pancreatic Cancer. His doctors estimated he has six months to a year left, and rather than undergoing time-consuming treatment, Pérez decided to spend the time with his friends and family.
The tribute features the following DC characters that Pérez is most known for, as well as the man himself, drawn by a number of the top artists in the industry and colored by Hi-Fi:
The Monitor & Anti-Monitor – Jim Lee & Scott Williams
Trigon – Todd McFarlane
The Spectre – Alex Ross
Darkseid – Walter Simonson
Firestorm & The Justice League Satellite – Scott Kolins
Ares & Hippolyta – Phil Jimenez
Cheetah & The Amazons – Colleen Doran
Lady H.I.V.E. & H.I.V.E. Agents – Scott Koblish
Vigilante – Dave Gibbons
Cheshire – Joëlle Jones
Brother Blood – Darryl Banks
Blackfire – Mike McKone
Gizmo & Mammoth – Klaus Janson
Shimmer – Bruno Redondo
Psimon – Mikel Janín
Neutron & Jinx – Dan Mora
The Legion of Super-Heroes – Francis Manapul
The Justice Society of America – Jerry Ordway
Power Girl & Huntress – Kevin Maguire
The Justice League of America (and the background) – Dan Jurgens & Norm Rapmund
Superboy-Prime & Alexander Luthor – Ivan Reis
Supergirl – Gary Frank
Harbinger – Adam Hughes
Pariah – Daniel Sampere
Jericho & Kole – Nicola Scott
The New Teen Titans, Deathstroke & George Pérez – José Luis García-López
Accompanying the spread on a separate page will be a key highlighting the characters and artists that participated.
In addition to being included in all of DC’s June issues, the tribute will also be featured as a variant cover for Dark Crisis #7. Each issue of the event series will feature a cover highlighting a previous crisis event from DC’s history, starting with the genre defining Crisis on Infinite Earths by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez for issue #1. Artwork and additional details on each of the covers will be announced at a later date.
A special version of the Dark Crisis #7 variant cover will be available for sale by The Hero Initiative to raise funds for one of Pérez’s favorite charities. Pérez is a founding member of Hero Initiative’s board of directors and has served as chair of its Disbursement Committee.
