Once again, we’re taking a look at some of the biggest news out of the Comics Industry this week. We have several title announcements, surprises from Netflix, and a few shake-ups in terms of the business sides of some of these companies for the week ending Friday, August 19th, 2022.
Archie Comics continues to embrace their current trend of spooky and creepy takes on the Archie Universe with Chilling Adventures Presents…Jinx: Grim Fairy Tales. From Magdalene Visaggio, James III, Joe Corallo, with art by Craig Cermak, Evan Stanley, Eva Cabrera, Matt Herms, and Jack Morelli, this single issue anthologizes a series of moralized fairy tales with a dark Riverdale twist. We’ve established that I love dark fairy tales, so it’s no surprise this Chilling Adventures issue caught my attention. Jinx: Grim Fairy Tales is available now.
Arriving in November, Boom! announced a new title from writer Jason Aaron, whose run of Thor with Jane Foster wielding the hammer served in part as inspiration for Thor: Love and Thunder. In Once Upon A Time At the End of the World, Aaron teams up with a series of artists spanning fifteen issues to tell the story of Maceo and Mezzy, who find each other on the wasted planet after an environmental disaster. The first five issues feature art from Alexandre Tefenkgi, in an arc called “Love in the Wasteland”, with Leila del Duca taking over art for “The Rise and Fall of Golonooza” in 2023, and Nick Dragotta rounding out the art for the final five-issue arc, “Not Even If You Were The Last Person On Earth” in 2024.
Dark Horse announced they’d be publishing a new Brian Micheal Bendis title called The Ones, starting in November. Bendis and artist Jacob Edgar, along with colorist K.J. Diaz, bring to life a team of heroes who have been told they were “The Chosen Ones” in an epic team-up to fight the actual “One”. Billing it as “Think Good Omens meets Ghostbusters meets The Adam Project meets The Goonies meets Everything Everywhere All at Once meets, um, anything else you’ve ever liked!”, Dark Horse seems confident that the four-issue limited run will be yet another title with Bendis’s magic touch. Personally, I’ve really enjoyed most of the Bendis runs I’ve read, and often recommend him to people just beginning to get into comics, so The Ones sounds like it’s going to be one to watch.
Playing off the classic comics of the 40’s and early 50’s comes DC’s The New Golden Age. The single issue by Geoff Johns drops in November and serves to kick off his two new titles with DC. One is an ongoing run that returns The Justice Society of America to the DC Universe, with Mikel Janín. The other is a limited six-issue series titled Stargirl: The Lost Children with Todd Nauck. With storylines spanning from the earliest moments of DC to the far-off future realities, Johns will explore how all of these stories tie together in ways unseen by readers before.
TV
DC and Netflix surprised everyone with a surprise new episode of The Sandman this week. This special episode features a live-action version of The Sandman story The Calliope (With Arthur Darvill in it!) and an animated version of House of A Thousand Cats featuring several of the Audible The Sandman voice cast in new roles including David Tennant, James McAvoy, and Micheal Sheen.
Film
As the Discovery/Warner Brothers merger effects are still rippling throughout the DC adaptation line, The Flash star Ezra Miller offered an apology for their recent behaviors, stating:
Having recently gone through a time of intense crisis, I now understand that I am suffering complex mental health issues and have begun ongoing treatment. I want to apologize to everyone that I have alarmed and upset with my past behavior. I am committed to doing the necessary work to get back to a healthy, safe and productive stage in my life.
Ezra Miller
Personally, I feel like this apology rings hollow in the wake of the major accusations of grooming and abuse allegedly at the hands of Miller. But I won’t deny that it is immensely clear that Miller is in desperate need of help, and if WB and DC’s rumored threats of scrapping the Flash film are what it took to get Miller to actually get the help they need, it’s worth it. But if all of it turns out to just be a media ploy to attempt to stabilize company stock, I won’t be surprised, just disappointed.
Image announced several new titles for their November releases this week. First up is Gospel, from Will Morris. Set in the time of Henry VIII’s reign, Gospel follows Matilde and Pitt as they travel to Cornwall and find themselves surrounded by magic, questions, and the devil. Having grown up in the renaissance faire circuit, I’ve got a massive soft spot for any kind of story set there, meaning this five issue mini-series has shot to the top of my pull list for November.
Next up is Plush, from Doug Wagner and Daniel Hillyard with colorist Rico Renzi. This neon-and-blood-splattered story gives me major Five Nights At Freddy’s vibes in the very best of ways, as protagonist Devin Fulcher goes to a furry convention and finds cannibals. The first of this six-issue miniseries drops November 30th.
Hell To Pay, a new series being described as “Hellboy meets Indiana Jones” from Charles Soule and Will Sliney, is a supernatural horror adventure series being released by Image this November. Maia and Sebastian Stone are still paying off their college loan debts (But that’s not the scary part). Instead of a new loan servicer, they’re paying their magic off with 666 cursed coins, and they’re almost done- they hope.
Finally, Image announced a new take on the Persephone myth from Genevieve Valentine, Annie Wu, and Ming Doyle. The description for Two Graves says “Emilia and the man with the veil of smoke have set out for the ocean in a stolen truck. There’s a bloody handprint on his neck. She’s beginning to worry it’s hers. Death and the Maiden go on a road trip. Nobody makes it home alive.”.
Once again, we’re acknowledging my love of twists on fairy tales, and a good myth is no exception. Plus, Two Graves has the most captivating of preview panels for this week. Emilia and Smoke-man are straight up committing murder to steal this truck, as revenge for a friend of Emilia’s. I’m into it.
Note: I am employed by the Walt Disney Company, but receive no compensation or exchange for this review. All thoughts are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Walt Disney Corporation.
Marvel teased a new project dropping in 2023 today on their socials, posting a cryptic “S.O.S” message on a flickering static screen, captioning it with a red X. Most likely, this is the next arc for the X-Men comics. However it’s interesting to note that Marvel had an episode of Agents of Shield titled S.O.S that featured the Inhumans, who just rejoined the MCU in Dr. Strange, alongside Professor X. This is likely not at all related, but Marvel theories are the only conspiracy theory rabbit holes I let myself fall down, so we’ll see.
Note: You can also see this teaser on the Pages and Panels Facebook page!
TV
She-Hulk made her Disney+ debut this week, with the first episode being released on Disney+. It’s great to see Tatiana Maslany flexing her comedy muscles. The CGI is alright, not my cup of tea, but it’s still a fun origin story episode that touches on family and misogyny hidden under gamma radiation. However, I was not ready for the Captain America discourse in the credits scene.
Valiant Entertainment is facing massive layoffs after the low-performing profits of 2020’s pandemic. They released a film version of Bloodshot, the 1992 comic, just days before the global pandemic shut down theaters across the country. Added to the closing of “non-essential” stores like comic shops and the massive disruptions to the manufacturing and distributors for comics, Popverse is reporting that Valiant is operating with only a few staffers left on the payroll.
Webtoons debuted their latest in the DC partnership this week, with the first three episodes of Red Hood and the Outlaws and the next three available to fast pass purchase. I’m already enjoying the series more than the New 52 version of the title, so it’s a good place holder until Wayne Family Adventures returns.
In another partnership, the Riot Games title Valorant and Webtoons are sponsoring a contest to tell the story of The Sting in Istanbul. Winners will be featured on brand socials and a grand prize winner will get to brainstorm with Riot Game’s creative team on Valorant for future game battle passes. Find more information here.
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