Author Archives: Graphic Policy Team

Preview: Shinobi: Ninja Princess – The Lightning Oni Volume 2

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SHINOBI: NINJA PRINCESS – THE LIGHTNING ONI VOLUME 2

Writer(s): Martheus Wade
Artist Name(s): Martheus Wade (Pencils), Janet Wade (Colors and Inks), Gene Fayne (Colors)
Cover Artist(s): Martheus Wade and Janet Wade
128 pgs./ E / FC
$14.99

IT’S STEEL VERSUS LIGHTNING IN THE SECOND CHAPTER OF THE NINJA PRINCESS SAGA! After the capture and narrow escape of fourteen year old ninja-in-training, Shainndrea, the Toshigawa Ninja Clan has been forced to move to a new secret base further on the outskirts of Osaka. The evil Red Dragon has taken leadership of the rival Azumi Ninja Clan and is determined to fulfill the contract to capture Shianndrea at any and all costs. Now, with her new commanders in place, the stage is set for the Red Dragon to reveal her most powerful Oni yet, Yawata, the embodiment of war with the powers of lightning. However, Yawata has his own agenda and capture is the furthest from his mind.

Preview: Warlord of Mars Omnibus Vol. 2 TP

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Warlord of Mars Omnibus Vol. 2 TP

writers: Arvid Nelson and more
artists: Rafael Lanhellas, Leandro Oliviera, and more
cover: Joe Jusko
FC | 496 pages | $29.99 | Teen+

COLLECTS ISSUES 19-35, #0, AND #100

John Carter has freed Mars from Issus, the false goddess whose tyranny once ruled the entire planet… but at a great personal cost. Dejah Thoris, his beloved princess, was taken by Matai Shang, a renegade priest determined to avenge the planet’s shattered religion. Activating a doomsday device to destroy the fragile Martian atmosphere, Shang flees into the unknown regions of the north. Carter, aided by his son Carthoris and trusted alien pet Woola, must unite the many races of Mars — despite the ages of distrust and open warfare among them — for the singular purpose of averting Judgment Day!

Preview: Transformers Windblade: The Last City

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Transformers Windblade: The Last City

Mairghread Scott (w) • Sarah Stone, Corin Howell, Sara Pitre-Durocher (a) • Sara Pitre-Durocher (c)

The original fan-made Transformer stars in her own series. She cuts straight to the truth and no obstacle is going to stand in her path. Windblade is a force for good, who never fails to do the right thing. But what happens when she’s forced to work with Starscream to recruit new colonies to the Council of Worlds? Collects both the four-issue and seven-issue Windblade mini-series.

TPB • FC • $24.99 • 220 pages • ISBN: 978-1-68405-224-0

Vampirella Tarot Cards

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Vampirella Tarot Cards

artists: Frank Frazetta, José Gonzalez, Esteban Maroto, Paul Gulacy, Enrich, Sanjulian, and more!

FC | 78 Cards | 4.75” x 2.75” | $19.99 | Teen +

Dynamite Entertainment celebrates the vibrant history of the one and only Vampirella with a functioning Tarot Card Deck that captures the timeless images of the 1969 Vampirella Magazine art in a unique and enjoyable collectible. Created in 1969 by horror icon Forrest J. Ackerman, Vampirella has thrived for nearly 50 years delivering classic tales of terror in comics, graphic novels, and magazines. These cover images helped to define the horror comic genre with master illustrators like Frank Frazetta, Sanjulian, Bill Hughes, Jose Gonzalez, Enrich, Esteban Maroto, and Paul Gulacy along with a host of other legendary contributing artists.

This first game offering from Dynamite Entertainment is a fun and exciting way to immerse yourself in the world of Vampirella. This set of 78 Vampirella Tarot cards illustrates the major and minor arcana and comes in a deluxe illustrated box with instructions for divining the future. The cards are built in a beautiful art deco style that embraces the vintage look and feel of the classic Vampirella Magazine covers.

Ice Cream Man #1 Gets a Second Printing

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Image Comics is thrilled to announce that the debut issue of W. Maxwell Prince and Martín Morazzo’s genre-defying anthology series Ice Cream Man is being rushed back to print in order to keep up with overwhelming customer demand.

Each installment of Ice Cream Man features its own cast of strange characters, each dealing with their own special sundae of suffering. And on the periphery of all of them, like the twinkly music of his colorful truck, is the Ice Cream Man: a weaver of stories, a purveyor of sweet treats. The man who, with a snap of his fingers—lickety split!—can change the course of your life forever.

Ice Cream Man #1, 2nd printing (Diamond code: DEC178074 ) will be available Wednesday, February 14th. The final order cutoff deadline for comics retailers is Monday, January 22nd.

LEGO Art Installation in Los Angeles Includes Designs from Celebrities & Artists on 1/21

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The Art Revolution Foundation and contemporary artist Nathan Sawaya will place over 100 sculptures made out of LEGO bricks across Los Angeles on January 21, National Hugging Day, to support the foundation and its mission to strengthen arts education programs. Referred to as HUGMAN, the vividly-colored human figures will create a mass street art installation and will include designs from notable artists, influencers and designers, such as Tony Hawk, Justine Ezarik (“iJustine”), Alec Monopoly, Ashley Eckstein and more.

Standing nearly 20 inches tall, the HUGMAN figures will wrap their arms around table legs, sign posts, bicycle racks, trees, fence posts and anything they can get their arms around throughout Los Angeles. Made from rectangular LEGO bricks and customized with a variety of materials such as glass, paint and yarn, these vibrant sculptures will be put in public places from Culver City and Downtown LA to the San Fernando Valley. Angelenos are encouraged to take part in the scavenger hunt by following along on Twitter to help locate these street art sculptures and share a photo using the hashtag #HugmanAdventures.

The HUGMAN street art craze began when Sawaya began placing the human figures throughout New York City in 2009 as a form of street art.  Since then, HUGMAN have been found strategically placed across the globe.

For the Los Angeles-based project, blank hugging figures were provided to a variety of creative collaborators to personalize. Collaborators have since painted, drawn and customized the figures as part of the National Hugging Day installation.

Following the one-day art installation, the unique sculptures will be featured in an online art auction to support the Art Revolution Foundation, an organization that works to strengthen art education in schools and supply students with the tools they need to be creative.

Other renowned artists, influencers and designers contributing to Art Revolution’s HUGMAN initiative include: Jonathan Coulton, Chris Miller, Phil Lord, Phil LaMarr, Adam Savage, Paul Sabourin, Greg “Storm” DiCostanzo, Anne Wheaton, Justin Willman, Chris Pirillo, Bronwyn Lundberg, Sarah Zucker, Joseph Scrimshaw, Sean Kuehner, Ben Blacker, Kevin Champeny, Dave Pollot, Marc Fornes, Kim Evey, Greg Benson, Victor Lucas, David Orozco, Judy Richards and more.

In an effort to make HUGMAN available for all to enjoy, the HUGMAN sculpture is currently featured on the LEGO Ideas forum. If it receives over 10,000 supporters, HUGMAN will be nominated as an official LEGO set.

Kelly Thompson Goes Exclusive with Marvel

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Marvel Entertainment has announced that writer Kelly Thompson will bring her creativity and captivating storytelling to Marvel in an exclusive agreement.

Thompson’s run of Hawkeye, which wraps up this March, has received critical acclaim thanks to the sharp characterization of its female-led protagonist Kate Bishop. The series, and Thompson herself, wound up on numerous “best of” lists for 2017.

Currently, Thompson is writing the mini-series Rogue & Gambit, which has drawn rave reviews and excitement from X-Men fans and new readers alike.

Marvel has promised more fun surprises in store for the future, where she will continue to bring her talents to both fan-favorite characters and well-known Marvel heroes going forward.

Expect more announcements over the months in the lead up to San Diego Comic Con revealing Thompson’s next projects.

ComicsPRO Industry Awards Nominees Announced

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ComicsPRO has announces the nomineed for its annual Comic Industry Awards. The awards honor those people who are or have been the best at what they do, making a significant difference in the business of the comic-book specialty market. ComicsPro is the trade association for comics specialty retailers. A non-profit trade association, the organization is dedicated to the health and progress of direct market comic book retailers. ComicsPRO allows retailers to speak with a unified voice on important industry issues, provides educational and mentoring opportunities to current and future retailers, and provides ways for members to reduce the fixed costs they all incur.

There are two categories for the ComicsPRO Awards, the Industry Appreciation Award for active professionals in the industry and the Memorial Award to recognize giants of the comics business who are no longer with us.

The 2018 ComicsPRO Industry Award nominees are:

Industry Appreciation Award

  • Raina Telgemeier – Her blockbuster best-selling graphic novels, including Smile, Sisters, Drama, and Ghosts are leading the way in exciting and igniting new and younger comics readers.
  • Gene Luen Yang – The first graphic novelist to be named The Library of Congress’ Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, Gene is also a recipient of a MacArthur Foundation “genius” grant and is the creative force of many graphic novels including American Born Chinese and the Secret Coders series, as well as the co-creator of DC Comics’ New Super-Man.
  • DC Comics Retail Support Team – The DC Comics Retail Support Team work tirelessly to give comics retailers the information and tools to build their DC business.
  • Adam Freeman – As Director of Sales at Valiant Entertainment, Adam has been instrumental in helping spread the word to retailers and the public about the Valiant Universe. Freeman is a former retailer and has worked for various other publishers in his career

Memorial Award

  • Steve Dillon (Deadline, Preacher, Punisher)
  • Len Wein (Writer/editor, co-creator Wolverine, Swamp Thing)
  • Carl Barks (Scrooge McDuck creator, the “Good Duck Artist”)
  • Bernie Wrightson (Frankenstein, co-creator Swamp Thing, seminal horror artist)

ComicsPRO members will vote on the nominees with the results announced at the 2018 ComicsPRO Comic Industry Conference in Portland OR February 22-24.

At the annual meeting, the ComicsPRO Board Of Directors will also posthumously present the first ever ComicsPRO Unsung Hero Award to Diamond’s Outside Sales Manager Dave Hawskworth. Hawksworth’s career spanned 30 years, initially working at Capital City Distribution’s Columbus OH warehouse, before transitioning to Diamond Comic Distributors outside sales manager position when Diamond bought Capital City in 1996. Dave passed away unexpectedly on January 9, 2018. ComicsPRO is honored to have Dave’s wife Patti attend the Portland event to accept the award.

The ComicsPRO Unsung Hero Award will be given at the discretion of the ComicsPRO Board of Directors to those in the comics industry the Board deems worthy of special recognition beyond mere praise as a result of their tireless efforts to improve the comics industry.

Diamond Announces 2017 Gem Award Winners

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Diamond Comic Distributors has announced the winners of the 2017 Diamond Gem Awards, selected by comic book specialty retailers and celebrated within the comic book industry as a key annual award honoring sales success.

DC Entertainment took home Comic Book Publisher of the Year (Over 3% Market Share) in 2017. Retailers recognized DC with the most Gem Awards–seven–including the Comic Book of the Year $3.99 or Under with Batman #24; Comic Book of the Year – Over $3.99 with Doomsday Clock #1 (of 12); Backlist Publisher of the Year; Licensed TP or HC of the Year with Batman TMNT, volume 1, shared with IDW Publishing; Best All-Ages Original/Reprint Graphic Novel with DC Super Hero Girls TP volume 4: Past Times at Super Hero High; and Original Graphic Novel of the Year with Wonder Woman Earth One, volume 1. DC Collectibles, the collectibles branch of DC Entertainment, won Collectible Statue of the Year with the DC Designer Series: The Joker by Brian Bolland Statue.

Marvel Comics earned three Gem Awards, including Top Dollar Market Share Publisher of the Year, Top Dollar Comic Book of the Year for Marvel Legacy #1; and Licensed Comic of the Year with Star Wars: The Screaming Citadel #1.

Image Comics received three Gem Awards, taking home Reprint TP or HC of the Year with The Walking Dead: Here’s Negan; Best Free Comic Book Day Book withFCBD 2017 I Hate Image; and Best New Comic Book Series for Redneck.

IDW Publishing received three Gem Awards as well, taking home Anthology of the Year with Love is Love GN; Best All Ages Series with Ducktales, and shared Licensed TP or HC of the Year with Batman TMNT, volume 1 with DC Comics.

Dark Horse Comics took home the Gem Award for Trade Book of the Year with The Legend of Zelda: Art & Artifacts HC.

Retailers also recognized AfterShock Comics as New Publisher of the Year for 2017, VIZ Media with two Gem Awards, including Manga Publisher of the Year; and Diamond Select Toys for Toy Product of the Year with the Marvel Gallery: Dr. Strange PVC Figure.

2017 Diamond Gem Award Suppliers of the Year

2017 Comic Book Publisher of the Year – Over 3%: DC Comics

2017 Comic Book Publisher of the Year – Under 3%: Aftershock Comics

2017 Backlist Publisher of the Year: DC Comics

2017 Manga Publisher of the Year: VIZ Media

2017 Game Manufacturer of the Year: WizKids

2017 Toy Manufacturer of the Year: Funko

2017 Diamond Gem Award Products of the Year

2017 Comic Book of the Year – Under $3.99: Batman #24, DC Comics

2017 Comic Book of the Year – Over $3.99: Doomsday Clock #1 (of 12), DC Comics

2017 Best New Comic Book Series: Redneck, Image Comics

2017 Best All Ages Series: DuckTales, IDW Publishing

2017 Best All Ages Original/Reprint GN: DC Super Hero Girls, volume 4: Past Times at Super Hero High, DC Comics

2017 Licensed Comic of the Year: Star Wars: The Screaming Citadel #1, Marvel Comics

2017 Licensed TP or HC of the Year: Batman TMNT, volume 1, DC Comics/IDW Publishing

2017 Original Graphic Novel of the Year: Wonder Woman Earth One, volume 1, DC Comics

2017 Reprint TP or HC of the Year: The Walking Dead: Here’s Negan, Image Comics

2017 Indie Graphic Novel of the Year: My Favorite Thing is Monsters GN Vol. 1, Fantagraphics Books

2017 Manga TP of the Year: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Volume 1, VIZ Media

2017 Anthology of the Year: Love is Love GN, IDW Publishing

2017 Magazine of the Year: Heavy Metal, Heavy Metal Magazine

2017 Trade Book of the Year: The Legend of Zelda: Art & Artifacts HC, Dark Horse Comics

2017 Best Free Comic Book Day Book: FCBD 2017 I Hate Image, Image Comics

2017 Game Product of the Year: Marvel HeroClix: Deadpool and X-Force Booster Brick, WizKids/NECA

2017 Toy Product of the Year: Marvel Gallery: Dr. Strange PVC Figure, Diamond Select Toys

2017 Toy Line of the Year: POP!, Funko

2017 Collectible Statue of the Year: DC Designer Series: The Joker by Brian Bolland Statue, DC Collectibles

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