writer: Fred Van Lente artist: Eman Casallos cardstock covers: Steve Ellis (A), Biagio d’Alessandro (B), Eman Casallos (C) FC | 32 pages | Fantasy | $4.99 | Teen+
New creative team! New party of Iconics! New lands of Golarion to explore! The tantalizing prospect of a rendezvous with a Geb defector in possession of priceless secrets from that undead nation brings a diverse group of adventurers to the Nexian metropolis of Ecanus. When they find themselves cornered by the city’s remorseless Deathsealers, can the Iconics band together for survival — and escape a city full of hostile wizards alive?
Featuring playable character stats for Seelah, the iconic paladin, and new character options for inhabitants of the magical military city of Ecanus; officially sanctioned by the Pathfinder Society!
Written by Fred Van Lente, with incredible art by Eman Casallos and covers by Eman Casallos, Steve Ellis and Biagio d’Alessandro (whose artwork will connect across all the issues of the series)!
writer: Fred Van Lente artist: Eman Casallos cardstock covers: Steve Ellis (A), Biagio d’Alessandro (B), Eman Casallos (C) FC | 32 pages | Fantasy | $4.99 | Teen+
New creative team! New party of Iconics! New lands of Golarion to explore! The tantalizing prospect of a rendezvous with a Geb defector in possession of priceless secrets from that undead nation brings a diverse group of adventurers to the Nexian metropolis of Ecanus. When they find themselves cornered by the city’s remorseless Deathsealers, can the Iconics band together for survival — and escape a city full of hostile wizards alive?
Featuring playable character stats for Seelah, the iconic paladin, and new character options for inhabitants of the magical military city of Ecanus; officially sanctioned by the Pathfinder Society!
Written by Fred Van Lente, with incredible art by Eman Casallos and covers by Eman Casallos, Steve Ellis and Biagio d’Alessandro (whose artwork will connect across all the issues of the series)!
Valiant Entertainment and Blackstone Publishing are proud to announce the inaugural titles in their trade publishing program. The newly created Valiant imprint will feature all new stories with some of Valiant’s most popular and beloved characters.
BLOODSHOT: AWAKENING
Fred Van Lente, an award-winning New York Times-bestseller who has previously worked on Valiant’s Archer & Armstrong, will be reimagining Valiant’s blockbuster character in this young adult novel as an eighteen-year-old who wakes up in a laboratory with no memory of who he is or why he has such incredible powers. Breaking out of his imprisonment with nanite-powered blood, Angelo finds himself on the run, trying to piece together his memories and fight back against the sinister forces chasing him.
SHADOWMAN: THE ABYSS STARES BACK
Debut novelist Shola Adedeji dives into the shadow world of New Orleans in this terrifying new take on Shadowman. Jack Boniface returns to New Orleans after being away for years because his father has died. Jack tries to reacclimate himself to his hometown, but things have changed so much. There seem to be dark forces at work. And then Jack finds out that his father was The Shadowman, a supernatural warrior. Jack now finds himself pulled into a much larger, terrifying world, and must assume his father’s mantle.
LIVEWIRE: CIRCUIT BREAKER
Author of the Effigies book series Sarah Raughley electrifies with a new story starring Livewire. This young adult novel is about a teen girl who has lived in foster care for most of her life. She becomes the ward of the incredibly wealthy Toyo Harada, only to discover that he has nefarious plans for her technopathic powers (and the world).
THE ETERNAL WARRIOR: SERVANTS OF THE DEAD
Ari Marmell, who has written for Star Wars, Dungeons & Dragons, and Magic: The Gathering, travels through the centuries with The Eternal Warrior. In this epic that spans hundreds of years, culminating with a battle in the streets of modern-day New York City, Gilad Anni-Padda finds that the mistakes made generations earlier continue to haunt him, and must battle to save his soul and the entire world itself.
Dynamite Entertainment has revealed the next Pathfindercomic book series! Tabletop connoisseur and fan-favorite writer Fred Van Lente is revving up an all-new party and campaign for Wake the Deadkicking off this May! Writer Fred Van Lente and artist Eman Casallos will be guiding the next adventure!
It’s a new creative team, a new party of Iconics, new lands of Golarion to explore, and unforgettable moments galore in the brand-new adventure. Paizo and Dynamite are teaming up once more to offer not only a thrilling tale but also extra features that players can bring right to their next game nights! It’s been nearly five years since the last major Pathfinder saga in comics, the critically acclaimed Spiral of Bones from writer Crystal Frasier. Since then, the world of Pathfinder in-game and in real-world popularity has exploded even more. With recent record-smashing sales of guidebooks and more, it’s the perfect time for fans of the game to explore this other avenue of carefully crafted content!
The tantalizing prospect of a rendezvous with a Geb defector in possession of priceless secrets from that undead nation is bringing together a diverse group of adventurers to the Nexian metropolis of Ecanus. Van Lente is assembling a mostly all-new grouping of heroes. Readers will get to hang out with Quinn the investigator, Sajan the monk, Lem the bard, and Seelah the champion. All have appeared before in various Pathfinder materials and even comics, but never met each other and partied up until now. Readers of the original hit series by writer Jim Zub and others will be reacquainted with Harsk the dwarf ranger too though! When they all find themselves cornered by the city’s remorseless Deathsealers, can the Iconics band together for survival and escape a city full of hostile wizards alive?
For this new series, Van Lente is joined by artist Eman Casallos, who will bring his dungeon master-esque storytelling to the page. Artists Steve Ellis and Biago d’Alessandro also contribute covers to issues, in addition to Casallos. d’Allesandro’s covers for each issue of the series will also connect to form a larger image when all are collected.
Each issue of Pathfinder: Wake the Dead features premium cardstock covers for a top-tier product for collectors and something durable that will survive the rigors of the gaming table. Issues will also come with bonus material useful for players of the game. These will include playable character stats for the iconic paladin Seelah, new character options for inhabitants of the magical military city of Ecanus, and more. All of these extra features are officially sanctioned by the Pathfinder Society!
Paizo and tabletop fans can stay tuned too, as the first ever Starfinder comics are right around the corner too! More information about that series will be revealed soon!
Writer: Fred Van Lente Artist: Joseph Cooper Covers: Lesley “Leirix” Li (A), Jonathan Lau (B), Vincenzo Federici (C), Sebastian Piriz (D) 32 pages | Action Adventure | $3.99 | Teen+
THE NINJETTES’ FIRST ASSIGNMENT MAY COST THEM THEIR VERY SOULS! In the finale of this origin arc, the Ninjettes get their first assignment: eliminate the very men who brought them to the Concrete Dojo. All it will cost them is their souls! And how much is that in dollars and cents, anyway?
This is a column that focuses on something or some things from the comic book sphere of influence that may not get the credit and recognition it deserves. Whether that’s a list of comic book movies, ongoing comics, or a set of stories featuring a certain character. The columns may take the form of a bullet pointed list, or a slightly longer thinkpiece – there’s really no formula for this other than whether the things being covered are Underrated in some way. This week: The Comic Book History Of Comics: Birth Of A Medium.
There are numerous books on the history of comics, some of which sit partially read on my shelf, but there are very few comics or graphic novels about the history of comics. Enter Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey’s Comic Book History Of Comics. It is exactly what it says; a history of comics told in comic book form. But it’s more than just a history of comics, it also attempts to show the evolution of art into the sequential art we know today as comics; to show the differentiation from cartoons to comics. Originally published by IDW as a six issue miniseries, I picked up the collected edition a few months ago
The legal jargon within the first few pages is all done in comic form. Because why not?
An early example of art as a story telling method, and one that shows how long humanity has been telling stories with art.
and only finally read it this week.
Frankly, I was astounded that it had taken me this long to read it, and little surprised that fewer people were talking about the project. After all, what better way to tell the early history of comics than in comic form? It almost makes you wonder why it hasn’t been done before.
The Comic Book History Of Comics: Birth Of A Medium packs a LOT of information into its 150 odd pages, but it isn’t a definitive history. How could it be with only 150 some pages of sequential art? But it is a fantastic introduction to some of the medium’s more architectural sons and, to a lesser extent daughters (but that’s an issue with the book and the industry itself – Van Lente and Dunlavey do include sections entitled The Comic Book Herstory… but one gets the sense that these are far less prominent than perhaps they should be). That being said, this is a fun way to learn about the history of comics if you’re unfamiliar, and even if you think you have a good handle on things, I’d put money on Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey having unearthed something that you were previously unfamiliar with.
There’s a ton of information packed within these pages, but never once does the delivery feel stagnant or anything less than thoroughly entertaining. There are visual puns amidst the art, examples of Dunlavey literally showing you what Van Lente is talking about in terms of panel usage, and some wonderful caricatures of historical figures. I paid $24 for this book (I’m in Canada), and it was worth every penny and then some. Ultimately, this is a brilliant addition to my bookshelf, and one I will revisit more often than not.
I can wait to get the next volume.
Join us next week when we look at something else that is, for whatever reason, Underrated.
Writer: Fred Van Lente Artist: Joseph Cooper Covers: Lesley “Leirix” Li (A), Jonathan Lau (B), Vincenzo Federici (C), Sebastian Piriz (D), Cosplay / Rachel Hollon (E) 32 pages | Action Adventure | $3.99 | Teen+
IN ORDER TO SURVIVE, THE NINJETTES MUST DEFEAT EACH OTHER! “Final Girls” continues! Which young lady will win (and by “win,” we mean “not be killed by the other young ladies”)? Find out in this rip-roaring, hyper-violent, senses-shattering penultimate issue!
Writer: Fred Van Lente Artist: Robert Carry Covers: Lesley “Leirix” Li (A), Drew Moss (B), Valentina Pinti (D) 40 pages | Action Adventure | $4.99 | Teen+
IT’S A BLOOD FEUD BETWEEN CRIMINAL BROTHERS – WITH GIULIETTA ROMEO CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE! Slamming her way out of the pages of the recent Jennifer Blood: Bloodlines series, Italian assassin Giulietta Romeo stars in “La Tempesta,” a noirish reimagining of the William Shakespeare play The Tempest. Giulietta is being extradited to Italy after the events of the “Bountiful” storyline when her plane is shot down over a remote island in the Atlantic, a former Nazi stronghold that is now the tiny kingdom of a man named Prospero, a former duke of the Naples mobs. His brother, the man who usurped his position, was being extradited on that same plane, and Giulietta finds herself in the middle of a gory blood feud and fighting for her life against Prospero’s monstrous servants, Caliban and Ariel.
Writer: Fred Van Lente Artist: Joseph Cooper Covers: Lesley “Leirix” Li (A), Jonathan Lau (B), Vincenzo Federici (C), Sebastian Piriz (D) 32 pages | Action Adventure | $3.99 | Teen+
Fun fact: Three things can happen to an Omega Ninjette…they can get banished, get killed, or (very rarely) kill an Alpha and take their place. This…is a rare story.
Writer: Fred Van Lente Artist: Vincenzo Federici Covers: Lucio Parrillo 136 pages | Action / Adventure | $19.99 | Teen+
Once upon a time, a suburban housewife spent her nights as a mobster-murdering assassin, named Jennifer Blood. Then she died…or did she? Because in the cozy cul-de-sacs of Bountiful, Utah, a noticeable number of normal people have gone missing. And by “normal,” we mean “mobsters under witness protection.” And by “missing,” we mean killed by someone that looks, sounds, and murders a lot like Jennifer Blood… Collects issues #1-5 plus a complete cover gallery!