Tag Archives: z2 comics

Ice-T, Arabian Prince, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Treach, and Z2 Comics Unite for New Gangster Graphic Novel, Death for Hire: The Origin of Tehk City

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Z2 Comics has announced Death for Hire: The Origin of Tehk City, a new hard-crime graphic novel prelude to a massive IP universe that will span animation, music, toys, NFTs, and beyond. Created by iconic musician and actor Ice-T, founding NWA member Arabian Prince, and Award-Winning artist Tommy The Animator, the graphic novel introduces a brutal ensemble of pushers and murderers in a world where the line between anti-hero and arch-villain blurs quickly. Death for Hire: The Origin of Tehk City is edited by Z2’s Rantz Hoseley, with Josh Bernstein of Z2 Comics and Shannon Eric Denton of Monster Forge Productions serving as executive producers. 

Within these pages, crooked Mayor Chuck Davis (Ice-T), his deadly female assassin Rhonda Knuckles (Coco), and right-hand-man Maniac Max (Treach) navigate the savage law of the street. With his hands busy in everything from money laundering to hired hits, Davis tries to stay one step ahead of the competition in the Round Table Gang—Benny Tang (Ben Baller), Azul Michoacan (Emilio Rivera), and Vinny “Pipes” Roselli (Jeffrey Peterson)—who have controlled the black market undercurrent of Tehk City for years. But information comes at a price, especially when purchased from Pretty Black (Snoop Dogg), whose black market network feeds him intelligence from the furthest reaches of Tehk City. Davis and his crew will soon learn that grabbing power from the top dog can take you sky high or drag you to the grave. 

A murderer’s row of rap luminaries and pop culture icons will serve as the likeness and voices within the upcoming Tehk City animated series. In addition to iconic producer Dr. Dre providing an original score for the animated series, each rap artist will write and perform a custom theme for their character. The following talent will be involved and voice a character in the animated series:  

  • Ice-T as Mayor Chuck Davis
  • Coco as Rhonda Knuckles
  • Snoop Dogg as Pretty Black
  • Tracy Morgan as Thirsty Mike
  • Busta Rhymes as Killa Whale
  • Mike Epps as Louiie
  • Treach as Maniac Maxx
  • Arabian Prince as Kenyatta Prince 
  • Peter Scanavino as Slimm Roselli 
  • Roxanne Shanté as Officer Petty
  • Ben Baller as Benny Tang
  • Styles P as Barkim
  • Tone Trump as Bones
  • Emilio Rivera as Azul Michoacan
  • Tommy The Animator as Tommy Chrome
  • Shannon Eric Denton as Dropout

Death for Hire: The Origin of Tehk City is created by Ice-T, Arabian Prince, and Tommy The Animator, with a script by Gary Phillips and illustrations by Montos.

Death for Hire: The Origin of Tehk City will be available in standard hardcover and deluxe hardcover editions. The deluxe hardcover will come with movie poster art prints and collector’s cards. Oversized platinum editions will come signed by Ice-T, Arabian Prince, and Tommy the Animator and come with an elegant slipcase, classic movie poster-style art prints, collector card packs, an ultra-rare Mayor Chuck Davis foil card, and the first-ever Tehk City NFT collection featuring a Chuck Davis NFT. Death for Hire: The Origin of Tehk City will release in summer 2023. 

Z2 Comics and Jamie Hewlett Resurrect the Gorillaz Co-Founder’s Anarchic Comic in New Art Book, Phoo Action: Silver Jubilee

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Following the releases of The Gorillaz Almanac and The Gorillaz Art Book, Z2 Comics will once more collaborate with artist and design luminary Jamie Hewlett with Phoo Action: Silver Jubilee, a new oversized art book featuring the comic and show that serve as the kinetic missing link between Tank Girl and Gorillaz. 

Written and curated by Phoo Action co-author Mat Wakeham and featuring original designs by Hewlett, the book will present the full trajectory of what would become the cult sensation—from the Get the Freebies comic strip first presented in UK magazine The Face from 1996 to 1997, to the 2008 Phoo Action BBC pilot and beyond. 

Meticulously assembled by Wakeham with forewords that serve as an oral history of the evolving project, Phoo Action: Silver Jubilee shows the origins of Whitey Action, a cynical teen and potty-mouthed heroine, alongside Terry Phoo, a hapless kung-fu super cop. Born from counter-culture superhero chic and hyperactive pre-millennial angloism, the comic features the pair waging a two-person war against the mutant Freebies gang—led by an outlandish, hysterical crime boss with a basketball for a head.

For the first time, this book will collect the entirety of the 12-part Get the Freebies comic in English, alongside a cover piece from Hewlett—the first new official comic art of Terry and Whitey to celebrate their 25th anniversary. Phoo Action: Silver Jubilee will also include a never-before-seen introductory comic to a planned second season that was never produced, with a prose novel from Wakeham detailing the rest of the chapters. The novel will feature original illustrations from iconic comic artist Philip Bond. A treasure trove of unseen development and character artwork from Hewlett presents a definitive and exhaustive timeline of this underground masterpiece. 

Phoo Action: Silver Jubilee will come in a standard hardcover and deluxe hardcover with a clamshell cover. The deluxe hardcover will come with enamel pins, magnets, and embroidered patches. Phoo Action: Silver Jubilee will release in early Winter.

Z2 Comics and Nothing More weave a supernatural tale with Nothing More: Spirits Vol. 1

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Z2 Comics has announced a collaboration with multi-GRAMMY nominated hard rock quartet Nothing More for Nothing More: Spirits Vol. 1, a graphic novel that will dive deeper into the mystical narrative behind the band’s upcoming LP of the same name, due October 14th via Better Noise Music. Writer Dan Watters and artist Christian Rosado join the band for a story that ignites in 1952 and spans decades, driven by four disparate souls as their spirit selves search for greater purpose. Their trajectories will weave through continents and neighboring lives, building off Nothing More’s arcanic Spirits Test and Spirit Types—an original system developed by lead singer Jonny Hawkins. 

Guitarist Mark Vollelunga proposed a deeper exploration to be revealed in the comic, debuting in late winter 2023. 

Z2 Comics and Nothing More present Nothing More: Spirits Vol. 1 in hardcover, as well as an oversized hardcover deluxe, and an oversized hardcover deluxe hand-signed edition. Ghonz provides cover art. Nothing More will offer an exclusive softcover “Tour” edition with cover art courtesy Christian Rosado at store.nothingmore.net. Deluxe editions include an ornamental octahedron as well as four (4) Spirit Art Prints and Spirit Cards representing the eight (8) Spirit Types.

SDCC 2022: Z2 Comics at San Diego: Major Lazer, Jason Derulo, Emily Hampshire, Last Podcast on the Left & More!

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Z2 Comics

Z2 Comics is rocking Comic-Con International in San Diego with a flurry of talent and panels spotlighting its current and upcoming graphic novels. On Thursday, Diplo, Walshy Fire, and Ape Drums—better known as the globally celebrated electro-reggae epiphany Major Lazer—will introduce their new graphic novel, Year Negative One, alongside creative director/cartoonist Ferry Gouw.

On Friday, Schitt’s Creek breakout star Emily Hampshire will show an exclusive preview of her upcoming graphic novel, Amelia Aierwood: Basic Witch, opening a door to an enchanting new world where the mundane and mystical collide in hilarious, charming, and touching ways. Also on Friday: the morbid, mischievous trio behind The Last Podcast on the Left—Ben Kissel, Henry Zebrowski, and Marcus Parks—will haunt the halls of the San Diego Convention Center with pages from The Last Comic Book on the Left, alongside contributor and famed actor David Dastmalchian (Count Crowley, Suicide Squad). Prepare to snicker and shriek. 

All of these panelists will partake in signings at the Z2 Comics Booth—2621. (Check the full schedule below for details.) Other signings include:
• Spencer Charnas (lead singer of Ice Nine Kills, co-writer Ice Nine Kills: Inked in Blood)
• Phillip Sevy (Artist, Ice Nine Kills: Inked in Blood)
• Charlie Benante (Anthrax, Pantera, Writer/Artist Anthrax: Among the Living)
• Carla Harvey (The Butcher Babies, Writer, Pantera: Vulgar Display of Power)
• Jimmy Palmiotti & Amanda Conner (Creative Team, Blondie: Against the Odds)
• Steve Niles (Writer, Dio: Holy Diver)
• Brittany & Brianna Winner (Writers, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts: 40×40)
• Chris Miskiewicz & Vincent Kings (Creative Team, This Is Where We Fall)
• Jazzlyn Stone & Liana Kangas (Writer/Artist, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts: 40×40)

And in a very special appearance, R&B megastar Jason Derulo will sign copies of his upcoming graphic novel, UZO, on Sunday.

Z2 Comics’ full San Diego Comic-Con 2022 Schedule below!   

Thursday, 7/21/2022

Z2 Comics: Major Lazer: Year Negative One
1:00PM – 2:00PM 
Room: 5AB
Major Lazer has been making the world smaller by making the party bigger since 2008, merging the worlds of dance hall, reggaeton, afrobeat, and beyond through the eclectic collaboration of Diplo, Walshy Fire, and Ape Drums. At the center of this collective stands the eponymous figure—a man defined by his lethal bionic arm and equally lethal beats. Discover Jamaica’s greatest hero in Major Lazer: Year Negative One, a new graphic novel written and drawn by Major Lazer art director Ferry Gouw. Join Major Lazer’s own Diplo, Walshy Fire, Ape Drums, and Gouw for an exclusive look into a world of vampires, zombies, and brawling club owners during this essential panel on the making of a modern cross-media action icon. Moderated by Ryan Downey (MTV, Loudwire). 
THURSDAY SIGNINGS AT Z2 COMICS BOOTH 2621
• Brittany & Brianna Winner (Joan Jett & The Blackhearts: 40×40): 11:00 – 12:00
• Major Lazer: 2:15 – 3:15
• Spencer Charnas (Ice Nine Kills) & Phillip Sevy: 4:00 – 5:00

Friday, 7/22/2022

Z2 Comics: The Last Comic Book on the Left with Ben, Marcus, Henry, and Special Guest David Dastmalchian, 10:30AM – 11:30AM
Room: 10
Ben Kissel, Marcus Parks, and Henry Zebrowski have been filling our ears with laughs and shrieks for over a decade with The Last Podcast on the Left. This summer, their hilarious, obsessively-researched tales of the morbid and morose transcended mediums for The Last Comic Book on the Left, a chilling anthology filled with Last Podcast icons including Detective Popcorn, the Sandown Clown, and John Wayne Gacy. Join the trio and Last Comic writer/rad actor David Dastmalchian (Count Crowley, Suicide Squad) for a hilarious panel filled with tons of heart—both metaphorical and literal. Moderated by Z2 Comics Publisher Joshua Frankel.
 

Z2 Comics: Emily Hampshire Conjures Magic with Amelia Aierwood
5:30PM – 6:30PM
Room: 24ABC
This autumn, actress Emily Hampshire will cast a spell of delight and whimsy over readers with Amelia Aierwood: Basic Witch. The breakout star of Schitt’s Creek and the upcoming sci-fi series The Rig will jump from the screen to the panel in the charming tale of a black-sheep witch struggling in the shadow of her reality-show family. Join Emily as she shows an exclusive, enchanting preview of her upcoming graphic novel. Moderated by Nerdist Editor-in-Chief Amy Ratcliffe. 
 FRIDAY SIGNINGS AT Z2 COMICS BOOTH 2621
• Steve Niles (Dio: Holy Diver): 11:00 – 12:00
• Last Podcast on the Left: 12:00 – 1:00
• Spencer Charnas (Ice Nine Kills) & Phillip Sevy (Ice Nine Kills: Inked in Blood): 1:30 – 2:30
• Charlie Benante (Anthrax) & Carla Harvey (Butcher Babies): 3:00-4:00
• Emily Hampshire: 4:00 – 5:00

Saturday, 7/23/2022

SATURDAY SIGNINGS AT Z2 COMICS BOOTH 2621
• Last Podcast on the Left: 11:00 – 12:00
• Jimmy Palmiotti & Amanda Conner (Blondie: Against the Odds): 1:00 – 2:00
• Charlie Benante (Anthrax) & Carla Harvey (Butcher Babies): 2:00 – 3:00
• Chris Miskiewicz & Vincent Kings (This Is Where We Fall): 3:00 – 4:00

Sunday, 7/24/2022

SUNDAY SIGNINGS AT Z2 COMICS BOOTH 2621
• Jason Derulo (UZO): 11:00 – 12:00
• Jazzlyn Stone & Liana Kangas (Joan Jett & The Blackhearts: 40×40): 1:00 – 2:00

Review: Cheech and Chong’s Chronicle: A Brief History of Weed

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Cheech and Chong take us a bit through the history of weed as they attempt to get to a gig in Reno.

Story: Ceech Marin, Tommy Chong, Eliot Rahal
Art: Noah Van Sciver, Soo Lee, Ryan Dunlavey, Butch Mapa, J Gonzo, Chris Visions, Patricio Delpeche, Gideon Kendall, Ellen Lindner
Letterer: AndWorld Design
Color: Mark Rodrigues, Matt Harding

Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.

Bookshop
Amazon
Z2 Comics

Z2 Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site

Review: Jason Derulo’s Uzo

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A planet killing asteroid has hit the planet and decades later humanity is struggling. Uzo protects his village and the asteroid nearby while a military group wants it for its power.

Story: Jason Derulo, Anthony Piper
Art: Eric Koda
Letterer: Andworld Design
Color: Felipe Sobreiro
Contributions: Ragon Miller

Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.

Bookshop
Amazon
Z2 Comics

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site

Weekly Preview! Dogs of London. Basketball. Jason Derulo. Cheech and Chong!

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There are a lot of comics coming out this week to be covered. Check out some of what we’ll be reviewing and this is only the beginning!

This week’s reviews include:

  • Cheech & Chong’s Chronicles: A Brief History of Weed (Z2 Comics)
  • Dogs of London #3 (AfterShock)
  • The Fifth Quarter: Hard Court (First Second)
  • Jason Derulo’s UZO (Z2 Comics)

AfterShock, Z2 Comics, and First Second provided Graphic Policy with FREE copies for review

Yungblud and Z2 team for a third collaboration, Yungblud Presents Twisted Tales of the Ritalin Club 3: The Funeral

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Following his incendiary journey into sequential art with The Twisted Tales of the Ritalin Club and Weird Times at Quarry Bank University, Yungblud and Z2 Comics return with the third volume in the musician’s ballistic tales of super-powered outcasts rebelling against sinister boarding schools and beyond. Yungblud Presents Twisted Tales of the Ritalin Club 3: The Funeral is co-written by Ryan O’Sullivan featuring interior art courtesy Annapaola Martello and Vasilis Lolos, with covers from Martello and Butch Mapa. This graphic novel serves as a cross-media experience alongside Yungblud’s single, “The Funeral,” released in March. 

This new chapter builds off the gleefully irreverent, bitingly profane adventures of Yungblud and his super-powered coterie—the titular Ritalin Club—of Harmony, Scout, Zombie Joshua, Em, and Encore. After breaking free from the repressive constraints of Blackheart’s High School and navigating the horrors of Quarry Bank University, Yungblud will face his greatest foe: mortality. 

Two years after saving the world from the Mangaverse, Yungblud died. No one knows how, only that it was enough to cause The Ritalin Club to disband and stop talking to each other. But as their old foe, The Spreading Darkness, has returned, more powerful than ever, it falls to Zombie Joshua to get the band back together. Everymember. Living or dead.

Z2 Comics and Yungblud present Twisted Tales of the Ritalin Club 3: The Funeral in both softcover and deluxe clamshell formats, including a hand-signed edition of the book, four prints, and CD. Annapaola Martello and Butch Mapa provide cover art. 

Z2 Comics and Dee Snider Capture the Rocker’s Fight Against Censorship and the PMRC in the Original Graphic Novel, He’s Not Gonna Take It

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More than 35 years ago, Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider marched into the United States Senate’s Committee on Commerce in a jean jacket and tank top to confront a band of concerned Washington housewives hellbent on silencing the howl of metal and beyond. Co-founded by Tipper Gore, a committee of politicians’ spouses labeling themselves the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) had lobbied to plaster “Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics” labels on any music that conformed to their definition of sexual, violent, or drug-endorsing. Partnering with Z2 Comics, Snider’s war to preserve the first amendment will be immortalized in He’s Not Gonna Take It, a graphic novel charting the rocker’s passionate battle against censorship alongside writer Frank Marraffino and artist Steve Kurth. 

The following journey would forever forge the name Dee Snider alongside the battle for freedom of expression—in the arts and beyond. This new graphic novel charts that one-man war throughout Dee’s life. From a childhood where he was frequently silenced, through the early efforts to stifle his band’s music, to the open warfare of the PMRC hearings in Washington DC, and his current efforts on social media, He’s Not Gonna Take It tells the story of why free speech is so important to this man who has perpetually fought for it—even when it endangered everything that was important to him.

Z2 Comics and Dee Snider present He’s Not Gonna Take It in both softcover and hardcover formats, as well as oversized hardcover deluxe, and an oversized hardcover deluxe hand-signed edition. Erik Rodriguez and Josh Bernstein provide cover art. Deluxe editions include retro-comic art prints from Roy Burdine, Javier Aranda, and Carlos Olivares, as well as a Dee Snider commemorative coin.

The Last Comic Book on the Left Rises for Volume Two

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Following the launch of The Last Comic Book on the Left this summer, curators of the grotesque Marcus Parks, Henry Zebrowski, and Ben Kissel will return this Fall with a new volume stuffed with  tales disgusting, disturbing, and perversely delightful. Alongside the clandestine organization known as Z2 Comics, the minds behind Last Podcast on the Left have recruited a new batch of victims creators devoted to ushering terror and hilarity onto panel and page for The Last Comic Book on the Left Volume 2. These conjurors of the profane will unleash new tales featuring Bigfoot, Philip K. Dick android, Gef the Talking Mongoose, the return of the Well Actually Killer, Alcatraz island, the Manson Family, and more sad, buttery goodness from Detective Popcorn.

What deviants are responsible for this debauchery? 

  • James Tynion IV (The Department of Truth, Something Is Killing the Children)
  • Rick Veitch (Swamp Thing, Miracleman)
  • Bob Fingerman (Minimum Wage, Beg the Question)
  • Ian McGinty (Adventure Time, Invader Zim)
  • Tom Neely (Henry & Glen Forever)
  • Lonnie Nadler (Black Stars Above, X-Men)
  • Brandon Montclare (Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur)
  • Butch Mapa (Avengers)
  • Masa Minoura (Genesis One: A Poppy Graphic Novel) 
  • Jensine Eckwall (Almost A Full Moon)
  • Tyler Boss (4 Kids Walk Into a Bank, What’s the Furthest Place From Here?)
  • Eliot Rahal (Machine Gun Kelly’s Hotel Diablo, the upcoming Cheech and Chong’s Chronicles: The Graphic Novel)
  • Logan Faerber
  • Bayard Morse

Like the first volume of The Last Comic Book on the Left, a series of prints will come bundled with deluxe editions of the book. Artists and subjects include: 

  • Koren Shadmi, Alien…um…accessories
  • Ashley Ross, Hail Yourself 
  • Butch Mapa, The Birdman of Alcatraz
  • Jenna Cha, Sexy Mothman
  • Zack Pape, Jeffrey Dahmer’s Apartment 
  • Joefur, Last Podcast on the Left Medley
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