In 2018, upstart comics publisher AHOY Comics told us to “expect more” from our comics. They delivered exactly that with four acclaimed comics that blended comics with magazines delivering full length comic stories, prose, poetry, and cartoons from more than seventy artists and writers.
The publisher has announced a second wave of releases starting in April 2019 that features more of what we’ve come to expect and even a crossword puzzle!
AHOY Comics Second Wave includes:
BRONZE AGE BOOGIE
by writer Stuart Moore, artist Alberto Ponticelli and colorist Giulia Brusco, with a cover by Ponticelli and Brusco
April 3, 2019; $3.99
“From its jawdroppingly odd first page to its hilariously insane last, BRONZE AGE BOOGIE sets itself apart from every other comic in the best possible ways. I loved every insane minute of it.” — Matthew Rosenberg (Uncanny X-Men, The Punisher, 4 Kids Walk Into A Bank)
“It’s like skateboarding uncontrollably through 1970s comics with kaleidoscopes strapped to your eyes — but in a good way! I mean, I guess they could have called it SAVAGE SWORD OF THE PLANET OF THE DEADLY HANDS OF THE WORLDS ON THE LOOSE…but BRONZE AGE BOOGIE is, at the very least, shorter. Don’t miss it!”— Kurt Busiek (Astro City, Marvels)
What do you get when you combine all the best-loved comics genres of the 1970s: apes, monsters, Kung Fu, sword-and-sorcery, and cosmic adventure? You get BRONZE AGE BOOGIE, an intense, character-based action-fest with plenty of style! In this collector’s item first issue, young barbarian princess Brita Constantina finds herself battling a Martian invasion—in 1975 AD and BC! Back-feature: Meet MAJOR URSA, the first bear in space. But will he be a hero or a villain? Plus the usual assortment of AHOY text stories!
PLANET OF THE NERDS
by writer Paul Constant, artists Alan Robinson and Randy Elliott, and colorist Felipe Sobreiro with covers by David Nakayama
April 17, 2019; $3.99
“PLANET OF THE NERDS #1 captures the goofy joy of 80s classics like Revenge of the Nerds, Back To The Future, and Real Genius. Then, with the most elegant of plot twists, it updates the story for a different age. Smart, fast paced and beautifully drawn.”— Gene Ha (Mae)
“We all know that nerds won the great nerd/jock battle of the 80s, but what if a bunch of jocks were frozen in time and emerged not knowing the war was over? That’s the question PLANET OF THE NERDS asks, and the answer is, ironically, delightfully nerdy nerdy fun.”—Arthur Wyatt, (Judge Dredd)
“This is a really good bit.” — Daniel Kibblesmith (Santa’s Husband)
“AHOY’s offerings so far have been a celebration of a comic world won by all us geeks. Planet of the Nerds continues that creatively invigorating streak while also serving as a cleverly written, beautifully illustrated cautionary tale for non-comics bullies everywhere.” — Chris Ryall, President & Publisher/CCO, IDW Publishing
Three high school jocks in the 1980s are accidentally frozen by an experimental cryogenics device, only to be revived in the computer-driven, superhero movie-loving world of 2019–an era ruled by nerds! PLUS! A backup series explores the characters’ origins. EXTRA! Prose and pictures by the finest talents in and out of comics.
HASHTAG: DANGER
by writer Tom Peyer, artist Chris Giarrusso, and covers by Richard Williams
May 1, 2019; $3.99
“HASHTAG: DANGER! is the greatest thing since sliced bread, and, as we all know, sliced bread is pretty great—vastly superior to unsliced bread which has to be pulled apart with your fist like an animal.”— Erik Larsen (Savage Dragon)
“AW YEAH, HASHTAG!” – Art Baltazar (Tiny Titans)
“AW YEAH, DANGER!” – Franco (Patrick the Wolf Boy)
Exploding from the pages of High Heaven, three scientific adventurers face strange creatures, lost civilizations, and supernatural threats–when they’re not too busy being complete jerks to each other. PLUS! Follow the depressing misadventures of Snelson, an over-the-hill comedian who peaked in the 90s. EXTRA! Pics, prose, and possibly poems!
Painted cover by Richard Williams (MAD, EDGAR ALLAN POE’S SNIFTER OF TERROR)
STEEL CAGE
One-Shot, featuring stories by writer Mark Waid and artist Lanna Souvanny, writer Tom Peyer and artist Alan Robinson, writer Stuart Moore and artist Peter Gross; and a cover by Elsa Charretier
June 26, 2019; $3.99
Three dazzling short “pilot” stories from AHOY’s finest – and YOU get to vote on which series continues! In “Noah Zark” by Mark Waid and Lanna Souvanny, an alien boy is kidnapped into an interplanetary zoo—and becomes the protector of the animals. In “True Identity” by Tom Peyer and Alan Robinson, we learn what secret anguish drives the most beloved superhero on Earth! And Stuart Moore and Peter Gross’s “Bright Boy” tells the grim tale of the world’s smartest human—and the havoc he leaves in his wake.