(W) Fabian Nicieza, Erica Shultz (A) Giada Belviso, Bernard Chang (CA) Greg Land Rated T+ In Shops: Jul 17, 2024 SRP: $4.99
When Earth’s skies go dark, it attracts the attention of the Silver Surfer! See the BLOOD HUNT event from an entirely new and cosmic perspective! Then Satana and her basilisk intend to show the invading vamps exactly what happens when you cross the daughter of Satan! And finally, Hallows’ Eve enters the fray, joining Dagger, Elsa Bloodstone and White Widow for a final showdown with the vampiric hordes! But the end of this tale is just the beginning for…the BLOOD HUNTERS!
Hero Initiative, the charity that helps comic book creators in medical or financial need, will host six amazing creators at its booth at the 2024 Baltimore Comic-Con, September 20-22, 2024 at the Baltimore Convention Center. Tickets can be purchased online now.
Hero’s guests include:
Tom Brevoort, VP of Publishing and Executive Editor of Marvel Comics
Matthew Clark, artist of Justice League and Amazing Spider-Man
Scott Dunbier, Owner and Operator, Act 4 Publishing
Fabian Nicieza, writer of Deadpool and Avengers
Alex Segura, writer of Secret Identity and Daredevil
Bob Wiacek, artist of X-Men and Daredevil
This year’s confirmed guests for the show include: Arthur Adams (Longshot), Rodney Barnes (Killadelphia), Jeremy Bastian (Cursed Pirate Girl), Marty Baumann (Pixar artist), John Beatty (Marvel Super Heroes: Secret Wars), Rose Besch (Miles Morales: Spider-Man), Russ Braun (The Boys), Brett Breeding (Superman), Tom Brevoort (coursey of Hero Initiative, FCBD 2023: Avengers/X-Men), Mark Brooks (Immoral X-Men), Mark Buckingham (Fables), Jim Calafiore (NED, Lord of the Pit), Chris Campana (Amazing Spider-Man), Richard Case (Doom Patrol), John Cassaday (X-Force), Castillo Studios, Keith Champagne (Stranger Things), Howard Chaykin (Time Squared), Cliff Chiang (Paper Girls), Frank Cho (Harley Quinn), Michael Cho (Star Wars: Hyperspace Stories–Qui-Gon Jinn), Amy Chu (KISS: The End), Matthew Clark (Adventures of Superman, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Steve Conley (The Middle Age), Katie Cook (Nothing Special), Vito Delsante (Stray), Todd Dezago (The Perhapanauts), Scott Dunbier (Jim Lee’s X-Men Artist’s Edition, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Ben Edlund (The Tick), Chris Eliopoulos (Ordinary People Change the World), Steve Epting (New Avengers), David Finch (Moon Knight), Trish Forstner (Feral), Franco (Teen Titans Go to the Library), Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (DC Nation), Ron Garney (BZRKR), Mitch Gerads (Mister Miracle), Sanford Greene (Bitter Root), Gene Ha (Mae), Bob Hall (West Coast Avengers), Cully Hamner (Blue Beetle), Bo Hampton (Batman: Castle of the Bat), Scott Hanna (Amazing Spider-Man), Tony Harris (The Whistling Skull), Dean Haspiel (The Red Hook), Glenn Hauman (They Keep Killing Glenn), Mike Hawthorne (Deadpool), Marc Hempel (Sandman), Kyle Higgins (Radiant Black), Derek Hunter (Walking Dead: Small Bites), J.G. Jones (Wanted), Dan Jurgens (Action Comics), Jamal Igle (Superman), Klaus Janson (courtesy of Hero Initiative, Daredevil), Sandy Jarrell (Batman ’66), Dave Johnson (100 Bullets), Joëlle Jones (Lady Killer), Chris Kemple (Artist Alley Comics), Karl Kesel (Impossible Jones), Tom King (Wonder Woman), Barry Kitson (Amazing Spider-Man), Scott Kolins (The Flash), Dan Krall (House of Night), Emma Kubert (Inkblot), Jim Lee (Superman, Friday only), Greg Land (Symbiote Spider-Man), Jeph Loeb (Batman: The Long Halloween), Sam Maggs (Marvel Action: Captain Marvel), Shawn Martinbrough (Red Hood: The Hill), Whitney Matheson (Pandemix: Quarantine Comics in the Age of ‘Rona), Charlie McElvy (Spider-Squirrel), Mike McKone (Red Goblin), Bob McLeod (New Mutants), Carla Speed McNeil (Finder), Adriana Melo (Action Comics), Al Milgrom (Spectacular Spider-Man), Terry Moore (Strangers in Paradise), Mark Morales (Thor), Fabian Nicieza (courtesy of Hero Initiative, Deadpool), Tom Nguyen (The Switch), Jerome Opena (Uncanny X-Force), Ryan Ottley (Invincible), Dan Parent (Sabrina the Teenage Witch), Andrew Pepoy (Simone & Ajax), David Petersen (Mouse Guard), Brandon Peterson (Uncanny X-Men), Khoi Pham (Star Wars: Darth Vader), Nick Pitarra (Ax-Wielder Jon), Andy Price (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic), Tim Probert (Lightfall), Ron Randall (Trekker), Tom Raney (Green Lantern), Mark Redfield (Vampire Hunters Incorporated), Amy Reeder (Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur), Afua Richardson (Omni), Don Rosa (Uncle $crooge), Jennifer Rouse (Frankenstein Mobster), Craig Rousseau (The Perhapanauts), Ethan Sacks (A Haunted Girl), Alex Saviuk (Web of Spider-Man), Alex Segura (Secret Identity, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Liam Sharp (X-O Manowar Unconquered), Geoff Shaw (God Country), Don Simpson (Megaton Man), Louise Simonson (The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special), Walter Simonson (Thor), Matt Slay (Equilibrium), Matt Slay (Equalibrium), John K. Snyder III (Suicide Squad), Mark Sparacio (Omega Paradox), Jim Starlin (Dreadstar), Joe Staton (Dick Tracy), Ryan Stegman (X-23), Brian Stelfreeze (Black Panther), Joshua “Swayart” Swaby (Star Wars), Babs Tarr (Batgirl of Burnside), Martha Thomases (Second-Hand Rose), Zoe Thorogood (Hack/Slash: Back to School), Gus Vazquez (Sunfire and Big Hero Six), Lee Weeks (Batman/Catwoman Special), Mark Wheatley (Skultar), Jeremy Whitley (Navigating With You, courtesy of Mad Cave Studios), Matt Wieringo (Stargate Atlantis: Gateways), Stephanie Williams (Nubia: Queen of the Amazons), G. Willow Wilson (Ms. Marvel), Marv Wolfman (What If…? Dark: Tomb of Dracula), Rich Woodall (Electric Black), John Workman (Wild Things), David Yardin (Daredevil: Woman Without Fear), Leinil Francis Yu (Wolverine), Thom Zahler (Love and Capes).
Salvo. Pike. Katari. Shakti. Ridge. Maraud. Chalice. They’ve fought every day of their existence and won a terrible victory. Now they’re stranded on Earth, free agents for the first time. But when relics from their long war appear, threatening their chance at better lives, their greatest battle begins. They’ve fought for a million planets. Can they fight to save their own souls? Free Agents #1 is an interesting concept of a comic but its execution falls short of its pitch.
Free Agents #1 packs a lot into the first issue. Not only does it introduce, with a good amount of detail, a large cast, but it also gives their tragic history and kicks things off with some action. Written by Kurt Busiek and Fabian Nicieza, Free Agents #1 has potential. Its concept of soldiers finding refuge on Earth and trying to move on from their traumatic experience is a story well worth telling. But, this debut issue doesn’t dive into their struggle enough to get that across. The struggle feels almost non-existent.
The comic kicks off with the team battling a remnant from the war they thought they left behind. It teases their being a part of the Image superhero universe, with a name drop of Cyber Force, and has them going back to their “civilian” lives they’re trying to forge. From there it’s debriefs and letting readers know what happened to get to this point in a debut issue that feels a little choppy. I remember reading Image superhero comics in the 90s during the launch, and Free Agents feels a lot like that, the concept is better than the execution with a story that feels like it’s missing details or something to get the point across. Here, reader aren’t given a sense of these individuals really struggling with their past. They treat the battle we witness like it’s part of their war with debriefs instead of really focusing on wanting to get away from it all. They all question “why” far too much instead of some anger about wanting their previous life to go away. We’re told they were all forced to fight but their actions never really indicate they don’t want to fight. They say it but never really act on it.
And the art doesn’t help a ton. Stephen Mooney is talented and I read the comic in a non-ideal digital form but there’s some sequences where things are completely clear as to what’s going on and there’s a rough aspect to it all. With color by Triona Tree Farrell and lettering by Richard Starkings and Tyler Smith, the comic’s visuals, like the story, feels a little rough at times. There’s odd movement in some of the action sequences and the mix of civilian and soldier doesn’t always come across well. The disguises feel like they’re encroached by their soldier uniforms at times or there’s aspects to something they do (like the healing scene) that’s not always clear. The comic attempts to “show” at times instead of “tell” and the show doesn’t make the tell clear. Like the story itself, there’s a lot of potential.
Free Agents #1 is an interesting concept and there’s a lot to it. Hopefully, like some of those 90s Image superhero comics, the story will clear up with more issues and right its path. But, as far as being a debut issue, it doesn’t live up to the quality you’d expect with the high caliber talent on it. It’s a better idea than execution as the execution doesn’t get the idea across enough. Instead of being soldiers trying to escape to a new life, it comes off as refugee soldiers being dragged back into the war they thought was over. They’re two concepts that are close, but different. This may be one where the first arc is read as a whole instead of individual issues.
Story: Kurt Busiek, Fabian Nicieza Art: Stephen Mooney Color: Triona Tree Farrell Letterer: Richard Starkings, Tyler Smith Story: 7.0 Art: 7.25 Overall: 7.0 Recommendation: Read
Image Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
(W) Kurt Busiek, Fabian Nicieza (A) Triona Farrell (A/CA) Stephen Mooney In Shops: Jul 03, 2024 SRP: $3.99
Series Premiere. Giant-Size! Bargain Price! An all-new ongoing series! Kurt Busiek (Astro City), Fabian Nicieza (Deadpool), and Stephen Mooney (Half Past Danger) introduce a team of young veterans, survivors of a massive intergalactic war. Salvo. Pike. Katari. Shakti. Ridge. Maraud. Chalice. They’ve fought every day of their existence and won a terrible victory. Now they’re stranded on Earth, free agents for the first time. But when relics from their long war appear, threatening their chance at better lives, their greatest battle begins. They’ve fought for a million planets. Can they fight to save their own souls?
(W) Fabian Nicieza (A) Scot Eaton (CA) Whilce Portacio Rated T+ In Shops: May 01, 2024 SRP: $3.99
TIME’S RUN OUT – THE NEOCRACY IS AT YOUR DOOR! As the fate of the world hangs in the balance, Cable faces both a devastating betrayal and an impossible decision! Will he be able to stem the tides of the Neocracy, or will he and the rest of the Marvel Universe be subsumed? Don’t miss out on this explosive series finale!
Having just launched in 2023, publisher Erasmus Fox (EFI) is pleased to announce a wide-ranging licensed publishing deal with Marvel featuring a variety of products including 3D-enhanced comic books, unique gallery-quality art portfolios, art books, and brand-new prose novels to be distributed to retailers through Lunar and Diamond via Pan Universal Galactic Worldwide (PUG) .
Starting this June, the first product will be a line of collectors-edition reprints of groundbreaking comic issues from the Marvel archives presented in PUG Worldwide”s spectacular Pan-Dimensional 3D. The first title in the line will be New Mutants #98Pan-Dimensional 3DEdition, reprinting and digitally enhancing the first appearance of Deadpool by the senses-shattering creative team of Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza. The book will be available in all its 3D glory in comic shops starting in June 2024.
Each Pan-Dimensional 3D Edition will include the complete full-color issue digitally enhanced in red/blue 3D and will be polybagged with custom Pan-Dimensional 3D Glasses that match each title.
The next Pan-Dimensional 3D Editions will be Deadpool (1997) #1 by the legendary team of Joe Kelly and Ed McGuinness reprinting Wade Wilson”s first ongoing series, followed by X-Men #1 by Jim Lee and Chris Claremont, reprinting the best-selling comic of all time in 3D for the first time ever—with the epoch-defining gatefold cover (plus the original second giant fold-out Jim Lee image on the other side of the cover too!).
Subsequent Pan-Dimensional 3D Editions will include Black Panther #1 by the King himself, Jack Kirby; Incredible Hulk #340 (the battle between Gray Hulk and Wolverine) by Todd McFarlane and Peter David, with more to come!
Future projects between Marvel and PUG Worldwide—including prose novels and art books—to be announced at a later date!
(W) Fabian Nicieza (A) Scot Eaton, Lan Medina (I) Cam Smith, Victor Nava (C) Java Tartaglia (L) Joe Sabino (CA) Whilce Portacio (VCA) Dan Panosian, Mark Brooks Rated T+ In Shops: Mar 27, 2024 SRP: $3.99
PROTECT THE FUTURE – NO MATTER THE COST! Cable and his younger counterpart, Nate, are closer than ever to uncovering the origins of the Neocracy and putting an end to a bloody future before it can come to pass – but each step closer also brings them further into the crosshairs of the mysterious Parvenu! With the walls closing in, there’s no one else they can trust…but with the weight of the world on their shoulders, will Cable and Nate be able to bear the burden together or will they crumble under the weight?
(W) Fabian Nicieza (A) Scot Eaton, Lan Medina (I) Cam Smith, Victor Nava (C) Java Tartaglia (L) Joe Sabino (CA) Whilce Portacio (VCA) Dan Panosian, Mark Brooks Rated T+ In Shops: Mar 27, 2024 SRP: $3.99
PROTECT THE FUTURE – NO MATTER THE COST! Cable and his younger counterpart, Nate, are closer than ever to uncovering the origins of the Neocracy and putting an end to a bloody future before it can come to pass – but each step closer also brings them further into the crosshairs of the mysterious Parvenu! With the walls closing in, there’s no one else they can trust…but with the weight of the world on their shoulders, will Cable and Nate be able to bear the burden together or will they crumble under the weight?
(W) Fabian Nicieza (A) Scot Eaton (CA) Whilce Portacio Rated T+ In Shops: Feb 28, 2024 SRP: $3.99
THE FUTURE MAY NOT BE SET IN STONE – BUT CABLE MIGHT BE! CABLE and his younger counterpart are racing to try to stop the rise of the Neocracy before it can take root and exterminate all life on Earth as they know it – But when their investigations sends them crashing into the Grey Gargoyle, Cable and young Nate will have to battle for their lives or risk being turned into stone!
(W) Fabian Nicieza (A) Creees Lee (CA) Bryan Hitch Rated T+ In Shops: Feb 28, 2024 SRP: $6.99
IMPERIUS REX! Namor is imprisoned, serving out his sentence as the disgraced King of Atlantis! So when a new yet ancient threat arises from the sea, who better to leap into the fray than Marvel’s First Family: the FANTASTIC FOUR! Writer FABIAN NICIEZA and artist CREEES LEE join forces for a GIANT-SIZE deep dive into some of Atlantis’ most dangerous history…and the present that can scarcely hope to contain it! PLUS: Includes a reprinting of FANTASTIC FOUR #33, a classic issue from Stan Lee and Jack Kirby featuring betrayal, action and high drama – in the Atlantean style!
