Comic Books

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/24745649

Indie comics tell some of the best stories by the best creative teams in comics, and recent years have truly been a golden age for the genre. Unlike the big two publishers, Marvel and DC, which mainly publish stories about superheroes, indie comics from publishers like Image Comics or BOOM! Studios cross every genre imaginable, from high fantasy to the darkest horror.

Most indie comics are owned by their creators, meaning that the comic book industry’s best creators have a chance to tell the stories they truly want to share, as opposed to being constrained by the limits of a more controlling publisher. The result is unrivaled creativity and some of the most innovative and compelling stories available in comic books today. With this high level of quality, there has never been a better time to check out some new indie comics.

They are:

1. The Many Deaths of Laila Starr
2. The Good Asian
3. The Department of Truth
4. Love Everlasting
5. The Cull
6. W0rldtr33
7. Black Cloak
8. Damn Them All
9. Somna
10. Eight Billion Genies

Welcome to the 941st installment of Comic Book Legends Revealed, a column where we examine three comic book myths, rumors and legends and confirm or debunk them. In the second legend of this installment, we look into why Marvel seemed to treat Conan the Barbarian like he was a Marvel property during the 1970s.

...

one of Marvel's most famous licensed characters was Conan the Barbarian, who became a hit comic book in the 1970s. However, reader Patrick Duke noted that it sure seemed like Marvel featured Conan on a lot of Marvel merchandise in the 1970s, right? He was on Marvel's calendars, he was on the Marvel Slurpee cups at 7-11, and he was in the Marvel Topps stickers collection...

And if you look on the Conan sticker, it even says that the trademark is MARVEL'S!

...

I asked Roy Thomas about it, and he noted that Conan Properties didn't even EXIST at the time the original deal was signed, so it wasn't like there was this strong presence to negotiate the rights with Marvel, and as a result, while Thomas doesn't know the PRECISE detail of the more than 50-year-old licensing deal, he knows that it included merchandise rights for Marvel. When Conan Properties WAS formed, the deal was renegotiated, and that's why you stopped seeing Conan appearing on all that Marvel merchandise around the late 1970s.

New list is up! Sorry I'm a day later than usual, I was "really sick" yesterday (totally not hungover if my boss is reading this!)

Let's see, decent list for me this week:

Animal Pound #5 - Last in this series, it's been great! A modern retelling of Animal Farm by George Orwell

Minor Arcana #1 - Jeff Lemire back at it after the conclusion of Fishflies. Flishflies rules, this sounds like it'll follow the trend. A woman who's mom is a psychic (but she never believed that much) has to move back home and take over the family business (or something like that). Turns out there may be something to it after all...

Dawnrunner #5 - End of the road for this too but I hope it gets picked up, eldritch kaiju vs mechs with consciousness and pilots.

Helen Of Wyndhorn #4 - This series has been great too. Helen's father, a writer, dies and she has to move back into her grandfather's palatial estate. Turns out the fae world her dad wrote "fiction" about is anything but, and she has been traveling through it with her grandfather doing stuff.

Plastic Man No More #1 - Idk much about Plastic Man but I've heard it's funny, I'll give it a shot.

Blood Brothers Mother #2 - Good western! I'm definitely going to finish this one out.

Cruel Universe #2 - The first one was great, hope that continues!

Well looks like that about wraps it up for me. Pretty excited about all of these! What're you pulling?

For decades, it was Dark Horse Comics who had the rights to both Alien and Predator in the realm of comic books, putting out several series and one-shots that were well worth our time. With Disney's takeover of Fox's empire and all its properties, the opportunity to move both franchises to Marvel (also owned by the House of Mouse) came, and things changed for the first time in forever. So far, Marvel Comics' take on both franchises has been interesting to say the least, and you definitely shouldn't overlook the comics they have put out so far.

They are:

1. Aliens: Nightmare Asylum
2. Aliens: Labyrinth
3. Aliens: Genocide
4. Aliens vs. Predator
5. Aliens: Salvation
6. Alien: Bloodlines, Revival & Icarus
7. Aliens: Music of the Spears
8. Aliens: Outbreak
9. Aliens: Dead Orbit
10. Aliens: Sacrifice

What I’m currently reading:

1. Hellboy: Weird Tales
2. Iron Man Masterworks - Vol. 2

Building on its strategy of delivering quality branded content to people around the world, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) has agreed to acquire Marvel Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:MVL) in a stock and cash transaction, the companies announced today.

[...]

"We believe that adding Marvel to Disney's unique portfolio of brands provides significant opportunities for long-term growth and value creation," Iger said.

"Disney is the perfect home for Marvel's fantastic library of characters given its proven ability to expand content creation and licensing businesses," said Ike Perlmutter, Marvel's Chief Executive Officer. "This is an unparalleled opportunity for Marvel to build upon its vibrant brand and character properties by accessing Disney's tremendous global organization and infrastructure around the world."

Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of Marvel including its more than 5,000 Marvel characters. Mr. Perlmutter will oversee the Marvel properties, and will work directly with Disney's global lines of business to build and further integrate Marvel’s properties.

Read more at https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/disney-to-acquire-marvel-entertainment/

Higher-res version of the attatched drawing.

2006’s Superman / Batman Annual #1 by Joe Kelly and Ed McGuinness presents a “reimagining” of the moment Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne discovered their secret identities on a cruise. In the opening scene, Deathstroke attempts to assassinate Bruce Wayne, but unbeknownst to Slade Wilson, he was getting mixed up in some multiversal shenanigans involving the Crime Syndicate of the Antimatter Universe.

Whereas Deathstroke was hired to take out Wayne, his Antimatter Universe counterpart arrives on the cruise to save the billionaire playboy. He never gets to say his name, but his snarky attitude and overall look strongly resemble a certain other mercenary-for-hire over at the other Big Two company: Deadpool.

...

While Deadpool co-creator Rob Liefeld has often stated that the character was more inspired by G.I. Joe’s Snake Eyes than Deathstroke, later comics have made the connection more apparent. Fellow Deadpool co-creator Fabian Nicieza gave the character the alter ego of “Wade Wilson,” a direct nod to Deathstroke’s real name, Slade Wilson. Of course, Deadpool went on to be further developed by several creators in the years since, creators such as Kelly and McGuinness, who worked on Superman / Batman Annual #1.

Kelly is the writer who truly gave fans the Deadpool they know and love today, and his run with McGuinness on Deadpool’s first ongoing series resulted in some of the very best Deadpool comics of all time. Both creators taking the opportunity to recreate some of that magic in the DC Universe was a nice nod to their previous work, and fans got to see what would happen if Deadpool were to interact with Superman and Batman. It’s even more hilarious to see the no-nonsense Deathstroke get increasingly annoyed with his Antimatter counterpart, at one point claiming he’d rather die than hear the assassin talk anymore.

New list is up! Good one for me this week!

Batman Off-World #5 - This is still running? Bout damn forgot about this one!

Convert #1 - "Science Officer Orrin Kutela finds himself stranded on a distant planet, starving and haunted by the ghosts of his dead crew. On the verge of death, he makes an astonishing discovery. Veteran writer John Arcudi (Rumble, B.P.R.D.) and illustrator Savanna Finley bring you a sci-fi/fantasy comic like no other." Sounds interesting enough!

Drawing Blood #5 - Drawing Blood! Raining Blood plays. Kevin Eastman rules.

Sacrificers #11 - Sacrificers! Pigeon has been fucking shit up, Soluna is having a rough time, can't wait to see what this issue brings!

Universal Monsters Frankenstein #1 - The Creature reboot was good, I'll try this one too.

What're you pulling?

DC has released an ad for its new Compact Comics line, a range of some of the company’s most popular titles, scaled to a portable 5.5″ x 8.5″ and going for just $9.99 each.

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Just one inch taller than the average manga volume, the new line eschews the unwieldiness of traditional graphic novels, which are typically printed around the size of a paper magazine you cannot fold. Better still, these small books contain the entirety of their story arcs, instead of the multi-volume format of trade paperbacks or even the average manga series. Also unlike most manga, each volume will remain in full color, but printed on a paper stock slightly less glossy than the average $20+ graphic novel.

...

These are the four titles currently available, followed by the line’s upcoming slate:

• Watchmen by Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons
• Batman: The Court of Owls by Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo
• All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely
• Far Sector by N.K. Jemisin, Jamal Campbell

Coming soon:

• Wonder Woman: Earth One by Grant Morrison, Yanick Paquette – August 6
• Batman: Hush by Jeph Loeb, Jim Lee – August 6
• Joker by Brian Azzarello, Lee Bermejo – September 3
• Harley Quinn & the Gotham City Sirens by Paul Dini, Peter Calloway, Tony Bedard, Guillem March, Andres Guinaldo – September 3
• American Vampire Book One by Scott Snyder, Stephen King, Rafael Albuquerque – October 1
• Catwoman: Trail of the Catwoman by Darwyn Cooke, Ed Brubaker – October 1
• Kingdom Come – by Mark Waid, Alex Ross – May 6, 2025
• Static: Season One – May 27, 2025
• DCeased – June 3, 2025
• Batwoman: Elegy – June 17, 2025
• Superman: Birthright – June 24, 2025
• Superman/Batman: Book One – July 15, 2025

Megalopolis, the new movie from Francis Ford Coppola, is getting dragged pretty heavily. There's lots of drama surrounding it and the trailer that dropped yesterday has been pulled because it uses some made up negative critic quotes about The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, and Dracula.

Archive of the trailer here:

https://youtu.be/KKP6y7FNOTw

What I find stunning is you could tell me it's an adaptation of the comic book "Mister X" and I would totally believe you!

Mister X is pretty obscure now, but it was a popular indie book back in the 80s, originally illustrated by Jaime Hernandez of Love and Rockets fame.

The basic premise is an architect was hired to design a city using the premise of "psychetecture". Architecture designed to promote mental health and well being. Sort of the polar opposite of Lovecraftian architecture.

Naturally, business interests interfered, altered his designs, and now the city is driving people mad. Mister X takes it on himself to correct the problems his city is causing.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mister_X_(Vortex)

"Mister X's influence can be seen and was acknowledged in films like Terry Gilliam's Brazil,[6] Tim Burton's Batman,[7] and Alex Proyas' Dark City.[8]"

The author, Dean Motter, followed Mister X with related books "Electropolis" from Image comics and "Terminal City" from Vertigo, all worth reading.

So if you catch the trailer for Megalopolis and go "Well that looks interesting..." or are a fan of Brazil, Batman or Dark City, here's some reading material for you:

Mister X - The Archives:
https://www.darkhorse.com/Books/3000-129/Mister-X-The-Archives-TPB

Electropolis:
https://www.darkhorse.com/Books/16-341/Electropolis-TPB

Terminal City:
https://www.dc.com/graphic-novels/terminal-city-1996/terminal-city

Terminal City: Aerial Graffiti
https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Terminal_City:_Aerial_Graffiti_Vol_1_1

There is a "Complete Terminal City" graphic novel, but it's hard to find.

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/40107300

The fifth standalone comic for Avatar: The Last Airbender arrives in stores today!

Focussing on fan-favourite Iroh and June, the synopsis reads:

When his tea supply suddenly and mysteriously dries up, Iroh goes in search of answers and finds himself captured by a familiar face—bounty hunter June! Iroh must confront a part of his past while June considers her future, but however things go…someone’s got to free the tea!

In mass market stores Aug 20, comic book shops Aug 21.

Amazon – Barnes and Noble – AbeBooks

Fresh list is up! Looks like a short one for me this week but that's ok!

My Bad Escape From Peculiar Island #4 - This one is stupid and weird and I've been digging it, Thomas Jefferson vs some guy lmao.

Epitaphs From The Abyss #2 - This one I was so excited for the first issue but instead of having good stories it felt like it was just preaching to me sponsored by the DNC. It doesn't matter if I agree with many of the "lessons" they were trying to "teach me" either, it felt very condescending in a "hello fellow kids" way like some kind of food pyramid comic from the 90s. And the icing on the cake is the goddamn "weird fantasy" reboot Cruel Universe had "scarier" stories than this "horror" reboot! I'm going to give it another issue or two but this might get dropped pretty fast.

Standstill #1 - Not gonna lie I'm only slightly interested in this but since there's not much else for me this week I may check it out. Guy steals a time stopping device and commits crimes, the inventor has to stop him. Could be good though, we'll see!

That's it for me, what's on your lists this week?

Almost 40 years after he first appeared in the pages of Swamp Thing, John Constantine's early years are getting reprinted in a deluxe hardcover compendium. This massive first volume collects Constantine's solo adventures, and it's currently priced at $139.50 (normally $150) on Amazon ahead of its October 15 release. At almost 1,600 pages in length, this is a gigantic tour across the seedy supernatural underbelly of London, and it comes with a ton of extra content as well.

This particular run was written by Jamie Delano, who helped establish Constantine and his world through dozens of comic book issues, creating a complex and captivating character. There are some terrific tales here, like The Fear Machine and The Family Man, and the art from John Ridgway, Richard Piers Rayner, Stephen R. Bissette, and other illustrators helped define a dark style of storytelling that became a trademark of Hellblazer comics. Here's the full list of what you're getting inside of this compendium:

• Hellblazer #1-22
• John Constantine: Hellblazer Annual #1
• Swamp Thing (Vol. 2) #65-77 *The Sandman #3

Additionally, there's a brand-new foreword by Garth Ennis--another famous Hellblazer writer--a brand-new introduction by Delano, the never-before-seen proposal for the Hellblazer series, the full script for issue #2, and more content around the production of the series that has never been seen before.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/16337581

The father of cosmic horror that gave readers such monsters as Cthulhu was writer H.P. Lovecraft, whose most famous tale "The Call of Cthulhu," is a short story written in 1926 published in Weird Tales, a pulp magazine in February 1928.

Inspired by his grandfather's Gothic stories and Edgar Allen Poe, among others, Lovecraft's stories tell stories of men unlocking forbidden and indescribable knowledge, fate, civilizations in decline, and other dark themes. Many comic creators have followed in Lovecraft's steps with their own takes on this genre, writing stories in the same vein, adding the visual component to the written word.

They are:

1. Ichabod Jones: Monster Hunter
2. Gideon Falls
3. Dynamite Comics' Re-Animator
4. Dr. Herbert West & Astounding Tales in Medical Malpractice
5. Revival
6. Nameless
7. Harrow County
8. The Courtyard/Neonomicon/ Providence
9. The Wake
10. Locke & Key