The world has drowned. Denver survived… barely. Mad Cave Studios has announced Denver, a gritty and gratuitous thriller from acclaimed writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray, featuring art and colors by Pier Brito, letters by Bill Tortolini, and covers by Amanda Conner, Pier Brito, Uko Smith, and Dave Johnson.
In a near‑future world drowned by rising oceans, Denver survives as one of the last tightly controlled safe zones on the planet where every resource is rationed, and every citizen is monitored. Max Flynn, a veteran border officer struggling to protect his family under these unforgiving rules, is shattered when his wife is suddenly kidnapped. A mysterious enemy forces him to betray Denver from within or lose her forever. As Max assembles a trusted crew and descends into the city’s underbelly, his desperate hunt threatens to expose the cracks in Denver’s rigid order and ignite a reckoning that could end the last safe city on Earth.
A grounded dystopian thriller in the vein of Escape From New York, East of West, and Children of Men, Denver delivers a brutal survival story wrapped in political paranoia, collapsing infrastructure, and human desperation.
Denver #1 goes on sale August 26, 2026, with Final Order Cutoff on August 3.
Dynamite has announced a paperback volume coming this summer featuring the entirety of Gail Simone and Walter Geovani‘s revered, history-making run on Red Sonja.
The upcoming release reprints all of Red Sonja #0-18 as well as a batch of extras. Across over 500 pages, fans can dig into this celebrated saga from over a decade ago that brought a whole legion of new fans to the She-Devil With a Sword. In addition to all of the stories written by Simone and illustrated primarily by Geovani, a gallery of iconic covers from Jenny Frison, Nicola Scott, Fiona Staples, Amanda Conner, Stephanie Buscema, and more are also included.
Her yarns of the Hyrkanian Heroine include a revamped origin story, a memorable supporting cast and foes, to a nearly unanimously lauded reaction from readers and critics.
Following this series, Gail continued with Sonja in Dynamite’s crossover event Swords of Sorrow, featuring other legendary women of comics and pulp fiction like Vampirella, Dejah Thoris, Kato, Jungle Girl, and more. With tie-ins written by other top women in comics, the whole crossover is also available in a 500-page tome serving as a perfect companion to this new edition.
Writers: Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti Artists: Amanda Conner, Juan Samu Covers: Amanda Conner (A), Chad Hardin (B), Joeph Michael Linsner (C), Ben Caldwell (D) FC | All Cardstock Covers | 32 pages | Superheroes / Horror / Humor | $4.99 | Teen+
NO SLEEP ’TIL CONEY ISLAND! Even the coolest, most out-of-this-world road trips have to end sometime, and the party’s nearly over for the Mistress of the Dark and the Clown Princess of crime — but they are definitely going out with the biggest of big bangs! Will this fabulously dynamic duo be able to pull off the most ambitious holiday happening ever attempted by two amateur party planners? Find out as Elvira and Harley Quinn unleash upon the world the glory that is FOOL-O-WEEN! Carefully crafted by the crazed creative team of AMANDA CONNER, JIMMY PALMIOTTI, and JUAN SAMU, the crossover event of the century comes to a climactic close in Harley Quinn X Elvira #6 — clad in commemorative covers by CONNER, JOSEPH MICHAEL LINSNER, CHAD HARDIN, and BEN CALDWELL, as well as a special MYSTERY BLIND BAG featuring exclusive variants! Please Note: The number of Blind Bags is limited, and allocations may occur.
Initially announced and teased at last year’s San Diego Comic-Con, Dynamite Entertainment has revealed further details and a launch date for their Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic book. This new era of tales with writer Kelly Thompson and artist Stephen Byrne at the helm starts July 22nd everywhere comics are sold! Into every generation, a slayer is born. Headstrong, empathetic, and creative, Buffy Summers was a uniquely potent slayer. And in the seemingly idyllic California town of Sunnydale, she found friends and allies that made her particularly effective and beloved. She saved the world. A lot.
Though Thompson has kept the mysterious plot closely guarded — the oversized first issue kicks off an event story that draws in the cast of both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. Fans can expect to see all their favorite characters from both shows racing to deal with this wild new development in Sunnydale. Emotions are running high, and of course there’s a mythic new villain on the scene. It just wouldn’t be Sunnydale without some big bad trying to destroy the world in the midst of a personal crisis.
Picking up at a pivotal point in the character’s chronology, this is a must-read for any die-hard fan of the show, but also a cool moment to join the fandom for the first time with an epic event that brings all the characters together for one big story that points to the heart of everything Buffy The Vampire Slayer has always been about. The series includes the comics debut of a beloved Buffy character, and a massive twist that will shake the faithful fandom to the core. This is a vision of Buffy the Vampire Slayer that has to be read to be believed!
Eisner Award-winning writer Kelly Thompson continues a scorching hot run of Absolute Wonder Woman, Birds of Prey, Captain Marvel, Black Widow and more by taking on a franchise she has cherished for years. She will not only be writing the new Buffy the Vampire Slayer series, but a companion Angel title, with further details on the latter to come.
Artist Stephen Byrne has delighted readers with his inimitable style on titles including Justice League / Power Rangers, Wonder Twins, Green Arrow, and Mera: Tidebreaker. Another longtime fan of Buffy, fans can check out his character designs and an early sneak peek at the book.
The powerhouse duo are joined on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series by Eisner-nominated colorist Lee Loughridge and letterer Jeff Eckleberry. Steering the ship is editor and packager Nate Cosby, one of the primary guides behind other chart-toppers like Gargoyles, Darkwing Duck, ThunderCats, and more.
To mark this momentous occasion for Scoobies all over, Nate Cosby has assembled a gang of top tier cover artists to present gorgeous visions of everyone’s favorite slayers. David Nakayama, Amanda Conner, Joshua “Sway” Swaby, and Juliet Nneka are among the first wave. Additionally, Dynamite is remastering the first ever Buffy comic cover from 1998 by the legendary Arthur Adams.
Buffy collectors can also opt for a mystery blind bag, featuring three premium variant covers for the book selected randomly from a range of logo-less editions, line art presentations of art, and wholly original artwork exclusive to this offering including covers by Byrne, Declan Shalvey, and more icon covers by the likes of J. Scott Campbell.
Welcome to our revamped “Crowdfunding Corner” rounding up some of the latest crowdfunding news. We’re going beyond just announcement projects, we’ll be tracking to make sure these projects get delivered as well as what we think the “risk” of backing them are.
We’ll be updating the format as we get a better handle of the needs of this sort of coverage, so stay tuned and check out the first round of projects!
Reggie Bannister is CATCHING HELL in New Comic Book!
Publisher: American Mythology Creative Team: (w) S.A. Check, James Kuhoric (a) Emanuele Tommarelli Launch Date: Currently funding – ends April 9 2026 6:00 PM EDT Risk: Low – The publisher has run previous crowdfunding campaigns and they’ve been delivered.
Catching Hell #1 A Grindhouse Horror Comic Starring Reggie Bannister
From the Pages of a Lost Horror Magazine… Comes Pure Hellfire
This isn’t nostalgia. This isn’t a reboot. This is a blood soaked love letter to real horror icons.
In Catching Hell, Reggie Bannister doesn’t wear a superhero cape, he doesn’t need one. He’s an everyday guy with scars, grit, and a lifetime of bad decisions. When renegade demons slip through the cracks, someone has to do the dirty work. That someone is Reggie.
It’s loud. It’s brutal. It’s darkly funny in the way only true horror fans understand. And it proudly wears the DNA of drive in grindhouse films, midnight movie mayhem, and monsters that bite, not sparkle.
For over 50 years, Reggie Bannister has been a pillar of horror cinema. Most famously, he is the everyman hero Reggie from the legendary Phantasm franchise, a role that cemented his place in genre history. Fans around the world have cheered as he faced down the Tall Man and his nightmarish minions, proving that courage, heart, and stubborn determination can triumph over even the most unholy horrors.
Reggie isn’t just a name in the credits, he’s a living symbol of horror fandom, known for his grit, charisma, and everyman appeal. From independent cult classics to iconic genre films, he has earned lasting admiration from generations of horror fans.
Catching Hell puts Reggie front and center, not as a sidekick, not as a relic—but as the unstoppable, demon-slaying, witty, battle hardened hero we’ve always known he could be.
PAINKILLER JANE: UNCOVERED
Publisher: PaperFilms Creative Team: Joe Quesada, Amanda Conner, Sean Gordon Murphy, Tim Bradstreet, Peach Momoko, Jimmy Palmiotti, Rick Leonardi, Bill Sienkiewicz, Juan Santacruz, Lee Moder, Enrico Marini, Ben Caldwell, John Cebollero, Nelson DeCastro, Piere Brito, Josh Burns, Alecia Rodriguez, Dave Johnson, Scott Hampton, Justin Norman, Branko Jovanic, Rafel De Latorre, Peach Momoko, Sean Gordon Murphy, and Tim Bradstreet, and more. Launch Date:Currently funding – ends April 2 2026 11:00 AM EDT Risk: Low – The publisher has run previous crowdfunding campaigns and they’ve been delivered.
For thirty years, Painkiller Jane has carved out her place as one of the most enduring and explosive characters in independent comics. To celebrate her legacy, we’re bringing together an extraordinary collection of the most iconic, most requested, and most visually striking cover art and pin‑ups ever created for the character in PAINKILLER JANE: UNCOVERED.
This 64‑page one‑shot is a love letter to Jane’s history, gathering three decades of artwork from some of the most influential and celebrated artists in the industry. For the first time, fans will be able to experience these pieces in a premium format, presented as the artists originally intended—logo‑free, remastered, and curated with care.at plunges readers into a world where memory, mystery, and monsters collide.
PaperFilms has earned a reputation for producing some of the highest‑quality indie comics on Kickstarter, over 25 successful campaigns, with every release printed on premium stock, using rich inks and sharp reproduction that showcase the artwork exactly as it deserves to be seen. Backers know that when a project carries the PaperFilms name, they’re getting top‑tier production values, meticulous attention to detail, and a final product built to last in any collection.
THE PROJECT:
This collection features an astonishing lineup of talent. Joe Quesada, Amanda Conner, Sean Gordon Murphy, Tim Bradstreet, Peach Momoko, Jimmy Palmiotti, Rick Leonardi, Bill Sienkiewicz, Juan Santacruz, Lee Moder, Enrico Marini, Ben Caldwell, John Cebollero, Nelson DeCastro, Piere Brito, Josh Burns, Alecia Rodriguez, Dave Johnson, Scott Hampton, Justin Norman, Branko Jovanic, Rafel De Latorre, and many more have all contributed to Jane’s visual identity over the years. Their interpretations—gritty, elegant, fierce, stylized, and everything in between—showcase the evolution of a character who has survived bullets, betrayals, and the shifting landscape of comics themselves.
But this project isn’t just about celebrating the past. We’re also creating brand‑new, ultra‑limited covers exclusively for this Kickstarter campaign. Amanda Conner, Peach Momoko, Sean Gordon Murphy, and Tim Bradstreet are each contributing new pieces that will be available only through this campaign and never reprinted in this format again. These editions are designed to be true collector’s items—rare, striking, and created by artists whose work defines modern comics.
Painkiller Jane has always thrived because of the passion of her fans and the dedication of the creators who believed in her. This project is a chance to honor that history while giving readers something genuinely special: a beautifully produced, definitive art collection that captures everything that makes Jane unforgettable. Whether you’ve followed her since the ’90s or you’re discovering her for the first time, this book is a celebration of the character’s resilience, the artists’ craft, and the creative spirit that has kept Jane alive for three decades.
Drumsticks of Doom: Queen of Queens 1-3
Publisher: Part-time Comix Creative Team: (a) Dan Dougherty, JT Molloy (w) Jon Westhoff (l) Jon Westhoff Launch Date:Currently funding – ends April 22 2026 8:05 PM EDT Risk: Low – The publisher has run previous crowdfunding campaigns and they’ve been delivered.
When Black Sabbath (not the Beatles) became the world’s most famous band, the universe was changed, musically and otherwise. Lost arts, like Alchemy, were made common, schools taught about transfiguration and alternate science, Demons were summoned and some stuck around.
Lana LOVES music. She has played in bands all through high school and now, in college, she still plays in her ex’s fledgling metal band. She’s convinced their drummer to play her indie songs in secret. She’s finishing up the best practice yet when they are drawn into a spiritual battle to keep metal on the top of the charts.
The first miniseries was a wild ride of Daywolves, Metal Cults and hybrid creatures.
The second arc had Lana and the crew taking the next step in their musical journey as they headed to the mysterious Silver Mountain to record their first album. The recording session is a wrap and most of them didn’t get remastered.
The Final arc is taking the band on the road for their first World Tour, but who will make it to the encore!
All THREE issues- 20 Stunning Black and White interiors story pages- 18-19 by Dan Dougherty and 1-2 pages of added content- FINAL ISSUE 24 PAGES-Standard American size book, Full Color Covers.
Writers: Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti Artist: Juan Samu, Amanda Conner Covers: Amanda Conner (A), Chad Hardin (B), Joseph Michael Linsner (C), Ben Caldwell (D) FC | All Cardstock Covers | 32 pages | Adventure | $4.99 | Teen
IT’S A PARTY IN THE USA — AND BEYOND! When Elvira first met Harley Quinn, the Mistress of the Dark was desperate for any plan that could help her save her beloved TV show after it was threatened with cancellation by heartless corporate raiders. Well, the Clown Princess of Crime came up with a plan, all right, and now Elvira is along for the ride — no matter how crazy Harley’s scheme turns out to be! Putting together the biggest Halloween block party ever staged is a great idea in theory, but pulling it off means raising a massive amount of money — and a pile of cash that big is sure to draw the attention of every thug and delinquent in the Tri-State area. If Harley and Elvira want to keep their party funds secure, they’re going to have to become too big to fail — and that means going international! Famed Harley Quinn Whisperers AMANDA CONNER and JIMMY PALMIOTTI double down on the year’s most hotly anticipated crossover in Harley Quinn X Elvira #2, with Conner providing two captivating covers as well as several story pages to accompany artist JUAN SAMU’s interiors — all capped off by indecently alluring covers from JOSEPH MICHAEL LINSNER, CHAD HARDIN, and BEN CALDWELL!
Join the 2026 Baltimore Comic-Con at the Inner Harbor’s Baltimore Convention Center on September 25-27, 2026. Baltimore Comic-Con has announced Howard Chaykin, Steve Conley, Amanda Conner, Pop Mhan, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Brian Stelfreeze as guests of the 2026 event! Your tickets are waiting for you online now!
Howard Victor Chaykin is a longtime veteran of the comic book business. As a cartoonist — both writing and drawing — he has been a major influence on the direction of comics, referred to frequently as one of the principal architects of the modern comic book. His signature creation, American Flagg!, introduced a new level of narrative complexity, depth of character, and point of view in its text, not to mention a previously unseen level of design and craft to the visual nature of an all-too-frequently staid and timid medium. And, yes, sex that wasn’t confined to pinup posing for most proclivities to enjoy. Chaykin continues to produce work that pushes the envelope of concept, context, and content in comics…his The Divided States of Hysteria, for example, a comic book which, thanks to social media, enraged an entire new generation of the willfully ignorant who might have had a better case if they’d actually read the damned book. Chaykin’s Hey Kids! Comics! is a fictionalized history of the comic book business, a love letter written with just a frisson of acid in the ink, to the field he’s loved and called home for over five decades. His magnum opus bebop comic book, The Time² Omnibus, might still be out there…and The Black Kiss Omnibus, four hundred pages of unredeemed filth, is in stores now.
Steve Conley is the writer and artist of The Middle Age, a “beautifully drawn and hilarious” fantasy webcomic that has earned ‘best webcomic’ nominations in the Ringo Awards, Eisner Awards, and National Cartoonists Society Awards. He has provided art and covers for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (BOOM! Studios), Adventure Time (BOOM Studios!), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (IDW Publishing), Star Trek: Year Four (IDW Publishing), and Michael Chabon’s Escapist (Dark Horse Comics). Steve is a co-host of the weekly Pencil to Pencil comics livestream with Jamar Nicholas and Mike Manley.
When not making comics, Steve’s gaming work includes writing and illustrating Dungeons & Dragons-compatible supplements including Nibblemancy, Death Dealing, and Intoximancy. Steve’s comics and TTRPG work can be found online at SteveConley.com.
Amanda Conner has worked on many of the top titles in comics, such as Lois Lane, Codename: Knockout, and Birds of Prey for DC Comics, X-Men Unlimited for Marvel, Gatecrasher for Blackbull Comics (which she also co-created), and The Pro, an Eisner-nominated creator-owned book for Image Comics with Jimmy Palmiotti and Garth Ennis. Recently, she worked on the highly successful Before Watchmen: Silk Spectre series with Eisner-winning creator Darwyn Cooke.
Amanda’s work can also be seen outside the comic-book community, in such places as ABC’s Nightline, New York Times, MAD Magazine, Arm & Hammer, PlaySchool, and Nickelodeon. She has also done monthly spot illustrations for Revolver magazine and has enjoyed a huge success with the DC Comics title Harley Quinn with Jimmy Palmiotti. Her collaboration with pop sensation Ingrid Michaelson was industry celebrated. Additionally, her work has been featured and spotlighted on the award-winning CBS comedy series The Big Bang Theory, where her artwork was used for multiple episodes.
She continuously produces cover work for Marvel Comics, DC Comics, and an assortment of independent titles. Her involvement with DC and Warner Brothers for the Harley Quinn animated series along with several characters and themes leveraged for the cartoon and motion pictures are evident.
Pop Mhan was lucky enough to get his jump into the comics industry under the tutelage of Jim Lee at Wildstorm Productions. Since those early days, his art has graced the pages of comics from Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Top Cow, Dark Horse Comics, and Tokyopop. His recent work can be seen at DC Comics, where he has been penciling licensed properties like Gears of War 3 and He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, and Marvel Comics on All-New X-Factor and variant covers for Amazing Spider-Man.
Jimmy Palmiotti is a writer, editor, and a multi-award winning character creator with a wide range of experience in advertising, production, consulting, editorial, film writing, development and production, media presentation, and video game development. Just a few of his clients include Nike, Nickelodeon, Universal Pictures, Disney, Warner Brothers, DreamWorks, Lion’s Gate, Vidmark, Starz, Fox Atomic, Alliance Films, New Line, Spike TV, MTV, 2K Games, Midway, Radical Games, Activision, and THQ Games.
He is co-founder of such companies as Event Comics, Black Bull Media, Marvel Knights, a division of Marvel Comics, and the current Paperfilms, where he is partners with Amanda Conner. Together, they have created and co-created numerous universes, comics, TV series, and characters including: The New West, Monolith, 21 Down, The Resistance, The Pro, Gatecrasher, Beautiful Killer, Ash, Cloudburst, Trigger Girl 6, Thrill Seeker, Trailblazer, Ballerina, The Twilight Experiment, Killing Time in America, Rage, Queen Crab, Retrovirus, Pop Kill, and the TV series, Painkiller Jane. Other titles with which he is involved are hit series Harley Quinn, DC Comics’ relaunch into the Wal-Mart nationwide stores, Jonah Hex, and several other series. Several of his contributions for both DC and Marvel can be found in major motion pictures and TV series, including Black Panther, Daredevil, Suicide Squad, Harley Quinn animated, and more.
Brian Stelfreeze is an American comic book artist. Stelfreeze is a painter, penciller, inker, and colorist, and has worked for nearly every major American comic book publisher. He is one of the original members of Atlanta’s Gaijin Studios. Stelfreeze began his career as the artist of the sci-fi miniseries CyCops in the mid-1980s. While Stelfreeze has been known throughout his career primarily as a cover artist, painting more than fifty cover illustrations for DC Comics’ Shadow of the Bat, he’s also produced a significant amount of sequential work, most notably of late with the miniseries Domino for Marvel Comics and Matador for DC Comics’ Wildstorm imprint. Currently, Stelfreeze acts as art director for 12-Gauge Comics and occasionally has provided artwork for their series The Ride and its prequel, Gun Candy. Recent work can be seen on the Walt Simonson-written Demon/Catwoman feature in DC Comics’ Wednesday Comics. Stelfreeze is the artist on the 2016 revival of Marvel’s Black Panther with writer Ta-Nehisi Coates. In 2020, Stelfreeze launched Thomas River, a spy series with a 40-page first issue. He created the art for the series, and co-wrote the series with Doug Wagner. The first issue, crowdfunded through Kickstarter, surpassed its funding stretch goal of $30,000, and was published by 12-Gauge Comics.
This year’s confirmed guests for the show include: Jason Aaron (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Marty Baumann (Pixar artist), Mark Buckingham (Fables), Jim Calafiore (NED, Lord of the Pit), Howard Chaykin (Time Squared), Jo Chen (Runaways), Cliff Chiang (Paper Girls), Frank Cho (Harley Quinn), Steve Conley (The Middle Age), Amanda Conner (Harley Quinn), Olivia Cuartero-Briggs (The College Try),Todd Dezago (The Perhapanauts), Colleen Doran (The Sandman), Trish Forstner (Feral), Gene Ha (Mae), Larry Hama (GI Joe: A Real American Hero), Tony Harris (The Whistling Skull), Mike Hawthorne (Deadpool), Jamal Igle (Superman), Phillip Kennedy Johnson (Infernal Hulk), Dan Jurgens (Action Comics), Mike Kunkel (Herobear and the Kid), Jae Lee (Inhumans), Jose Marzen Jr. (Y: The Last Man), Mike McKone (Teen Titans), Bob McLeod (New Mutants), Carla Speed McNeil (Finder), Adriana Melo (Fantastic Four), Pop Mhan (He-Man and the Masters of the Universe), Al Milgrom (Spectacular Spider-Man), Terry Moore (Strangers in Paradise), Mark Morales (Thor), Bill Morrison (The Simpsons), Sarah Myer (TMNT Saturday Morning Adventures), Kevin Nowlan (Batman: Sword of Azrael), Patrick Olliffe (Untold Tales of Spider-Man), Ryan Ottley (Invincible), Jimmy Palmiotti (The Punisher), Andrew Pepoy (Simone & Ajax), David Petersen (Mouse Guard), Tom Raney (Incredible Hulk), Afua Richardson (Kahhori: Reshaper of Worlds), Don Rosa (Uncle Scrooge), Craig Rousseau (The Perhapanauts), Mark Schultz (Xenozoic Tales, courtesy of Flesk Publishing), Louise Simonson (The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special), Walter Simonson (Thor), Matthew Dow Smith (DC’s Misfits of Magic), Scott Snyder (DC K.O.), Brian Stelfreeze (Black Panther), Gus Vazquez (Sunfire and the Big Hero Six), Mark Waid (Action Comics), Matt Wieringo (Stargate Atlantis: Gateways), Rich Woodall (Sgt. Werewolf), and Thom Zahler (Long Distance).
writers: Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti artist: Juan Sammu, Amanda Conner covers: Amanda Conner (A), Chad Hardin (B), Joseph Michael Linsner (C), Ben Caldwell (D) FC | All Cardstock Covers | 32 pages | Horror / Humor | $4.99 | Teen+
OUT OF THE FRYING PAN AND INTO THE FIRE! With things getting too hot to handle back in Brooklyn, Elvira and Harley abscond to the cooler climes of Transylvania to crash with one of Elvira’s best buddies in his tastefully appointed castle. But despite their reputation as old-school hedonists, the Count’s already-invited guests don’t much care for this pair of interlopers – and they’ve got some decidedly medieval ideas for how to deal with party crashers!
Harley fan club co-founders AMANDA CONNER and JIMMY PALMIOTTI go continental in Harley Quinn X Elvira #4, with Conner once again serving up double helpings of steaming-hot covers (as well as adding flavor to JUAN SAMU’s tasty interior art) along with JOSEPH MICHAEL LINSNER, CHAD HARDIN, BEN CALDWELL, and a special MYSTERY BLIND BAG featuring exclusive variants!
writers: Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti artists: Juan Samu, Amanda Conner covers: Amanda Conner/Red (A), Chad Hardin (B), Joseph Michael Linsner (C), Ben Caldwell (D) FC | All Cardstock Covers | 32 pages | Superhero/Horror/Humor | $4.99 | Teen+
Harley Quinn’s plan to throw a borough-wide Halloween party in Brooklyn to save Elvira’s cancelled TV show is shaping up nicely — and by “nicely,” of course we mean “total chaos!”
Facing a distinct lack of legitimate investors on this side of the Atlantic, Harley and her reluctant partner in crime have to broaden their appeals. That means courting Old World money — and money doesn’t get much older than the mouldering family fortunes found in certain European crypts!
Shameless Harley Quinn enablers AMANDA CONNER and JIMMY PALMIOTTI raise the stakes in their third issue of Harley Quinn X Elvira, with Conner continuing to deliver double-barreled cover action — together with JOSEPH MICHAEL LINSNER, CHAD HARDIN, and BEN CALDWELL — as well as supplementing JUAN SAMU’s inimitable interior art!
The second big Marvel/DC crossover this year features a fifth dimension/fourth wall shattering lead Batman/Deadpool story from Grant Morrison, Dan Mora, and Alejandro Sanchez as well as four individual team-up tales ranging from great (Tom Taylor, Bruno Redondo, and Adriano Lucas are the perfect team for a Nightwing/Laura Kinney Wolverine crossover comic.) to good (It’s great to have new Amanda Conner interior art, but her, Mariko Tamaki, and Tamra Bonvillain‘s Hulk/Harley Quinn story has big “lol so random energy). The crossover explores the differences and similarities between the Marvel and DC Universes, connections between heroes, and in Morrison’s case, they mine their past as a writer and previous intercompany crossover. Let’s just say that Animal Man and bidders on the Gerry Conway/Ross Andru/uncredited house art fixer uppers’ Superman vs The Amazing Spider-Man are in for a good time.
I have a love/hate relationship with the lead Batman/Deadpool story, “The Cosmic Kiss Caper”. This would be a story that I would have died laughing over back in the day with my freshman roommate and our twin comic book collections of Grant Morrison JLA and Action Comics issues, Daniel Way Deadpool trade paperbacks, and various Marvel/DC intercompany crossovers. (Ron Marz and Darryl Banks’ Green Lantern/Silver Surfer slapped!) Morrison uses Deadpool’s fourth wall obliterating, over-caffeinated joke-a-minute personality to flex their incredibly deep reference pool, which Mora enhances through the visuals like a room dedicated to the Amalgam Universe. Like the Deadpool & Wolverine film, it can get grating after a while, but Grant Morrison is a much more clever writer than any of the five on that film and ends up using the comic’s barely there semblance of a plot to poke fun at themself.
“The Cosmic Kiss Caper” also made me realize how much I’ve missed Morrison’s sanity-in-a-sea of a chaos with a dry wit and bit of a James Bond flair take on Batman. Batman has been through these kind of situations before, and a Dark Claw reunion tour has nothing on Batman of Zur-En-Arrh or whatever the heck happened in Final Crisis. He reacts to the PG-13 Looney Tunes antics of Deadpool with style, grace, and dialogue that sounds like it could have been delivered by the late Kevin Conroy. On the art side, Dan Mora and Sanchez pour on flashy colors and poses that satisfied my inner action junkie while going for a more muted approach when this story’s special guest star appears. Batman/Deadpool can be cringy at times, but it’s a love letter to the enduring absurdity as well as emotional honesty of superhero comics. It’s solid pop comics, but Grant Morrison has more of knack writing Batman than the Merc with a Mouth.
Following up the chaos is a Dr. Strange/John Constantine story written by James Tynion, Joshua Williamson, and Scott Snyder, a triumvirate of writers, who have found success penning horror comics as well as Big Two superhero books. The art is handled by Hayden Sherman, who is one of the strongest visual storytellers in mainstream comics with their knack for inventive layouts, with colors by Mike Spicer. This story is about a showdown/conversation between Constantine and Strange (With a Ghost Rider vs Swamp Thing battle royale in the background.) that also ends up being about the nature of fear, darkness, and reality itself in the Marvel and DC universes. DC has the prestige of Vertigo, Alan Moore, Garth Ennis, Peter Milligan and more while Marvel has the more dubious “Midnight Sons” and the Nicolas Cage Ghost Rider duology. (Guillermo Del Toro has directed a Marvel horror film and not a DC one though.) However, Stephen Strange was doing his visually stunning occult thing way before the chain smoking lad from Liverpool, and Tynion, Williamson, and Snyder draw on the moral compromises that the Sorcerer Supreme has made in some of his more recent runs. This gives Sherman the opportunity to do some horrific chimera panels of Strange and Constantine merging with various mystical elements, and I love how they structure the story like a kind of wizard duel. As a fan of gritty fantasy, the occult, and superheroes, this story is a wicked delight, and team-ups between the supernatural denizens of the Big Two would be more than welcome.
The third story in Batman/Deadpool #1 is a team-up between Wolverine and Nightwing aka “nepo heroes” to rescue Gabby and Jonathan the Wolverine from Killer Croc. Tom Taylor uses a dual narration style that is a contemporary version of what Jeph Loeb did in Superman/Batman, and Bruno Redondo’s fluid choreography and grid brings a directness and ease of reading complemented by Adriano Lucas’ flat gold and blues. Taylor is a humorous writer with a side of pure heart like in moments where Dick Grayson, Laura Kinney, Gabby, and Barbara Gordon all bond over their different pets. Although different in outward demeanor, Dick and Laura have a lot of similarities, and Tom Taylor’s succinct narration adds context to the body language showcased in Redondo’s art. They have instant chemistry and could easily appear in each others’ books on regular basis without batting an eye. “Sticks and Snikts” is a no-brainer crossover that pays homage to Tom Taylor’s excellent work with both heroes as well as legacy heroes and their growth and development in general.
Batman/Deadpool #1 wraps up with a Hulk/Harley Quinn story and a Static/Ms. Marvel story that have polar opposite tones. “Harley and Hulk’s Amazin’ Saturday” is a bright adrenaline rush with boundless energy as the more colorful alter egos of Harleen Quinzel and Bruce Banner smash, eat, and even flirt their way through a five page story. There isn’t really a point for these characters to interact, but it’s a rare opportunity for Amanda Conner to show why she still has one of the smoothest lines in comics and shows that the anarchic nature of her Harley Quinn run with Jimmy Palmiotti could fit in with Hulk too. Also, it’s just nice to see the Hulk have fun and not being sent down to Hell or being sad and lonely for once.
On the flip side, “New Friends in Old Places” brings together the iconic teenage hero of the 1990s and the iconic teen hero of the 2010s. The old-ish, new school vibes matches the dynamic of the creative team of G. Willow Wilson, artists Denys Cowan and Klaus Janson, and colorist Francesco Segala. There’s not a lot of time to develop the story so Cowan ably transitions from domestic life to superhero ass kicking with plenty of teenage awkwardness as Static and Ms. Marvel team up to fight a generic kaiju. “New Friends in Old Places” felt like a few bits of an appetizer and not even a full small plate so hopefully there will be future interactions between these two heroes that have inspired young people of all genders, races, and religions. (And are also total nerds!)
Batman/Deadpool #1 is a satisfying intercompany crossover that features dynamic work from some of the best artists in comics and a range of tones and types of stories. It’s fun to see Grant Morrison turn back the clock to 1990 in some ways while dropping hit and miss one-liners about Gen Z Internet culture and Absolute Batman, and Dan Mora was born for this kind of big, bad action spectacular. However, my favorite stories were the Dr. Strange/John Constantine and Nightwing/Laura Kinney Wolverine crossovers because they were both intellectually simulating and visually enticing while digging to the core of their protagonists and roles in their respective universes. Also, it’s kind of epic to see Hayden Sherman draw Ghost Rider and Swamp Thing beating each other up. (One day your Alan Moore, Stephen Bissette, and John Totleben will come, Mr. Blaze/Ketch/Reyes!)
Story: Grant Morrison, James Tynion IV, Joshua Williamson, Scott Snyder Story: Tom Taylor, Mariko Tamaki, G. Willow Wilson Art:Dan Mora, Hayden Sherman, Bruno Redondo, Amanda Conner, Denys Cowan, Klaus Janson Colors: Alejandro Sanchez, Mike Spicer, Adriano Lucas, Tamra Bonvillain, Francesco Segala Letters: Todd Klein, Frank Cvetkovic, Wes Abbott, Dave Sharpe, Steve Wands Story: 8.2 Art: 8.9 Overall: 8.6 Recommendation: Buy
DC Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
