This week in Super Folk, the superhero hangout of Publishers Weekly, Marvel’s flurry of creator rumors, Batman and a fan favorite arrive in Smallville Season 11, familiar heroes return at Dynamite, Valiant and Image, upcoming series from around the industry, big sales projected for The Walking Dead #100 and more.
Marvel’s New Creative Team Rumors
For the last few months there have a been rumors of creator changes coming this fall to some of Marvel’s most popular franchises following the conclusion of the Avengers Vs. X-Men. The fates of creators like Brian Michael Bendis (Avengers), Matt Fraction (Iron Man), Jonathan Hickman (Fantastic Four) and Kieron Gillen (Uncanny X-Men) have been the subject of a great deal of speculation, kept alive by a trickle of hearsay through the grapevine that seems to have turned into a downpour last week as news of a grand reshuffling of these creators hit the web. Industry rumor mill Bleeding Cool broke the news, presenting the rumored new creative teams come September.
Brian Michael Bendis seems to be headed toward the X-Men, writing Uncanny X-Men and a reboot of X-Men, and still may or may not be associated with Marvel relaunch of its Cosmic Line. As for accompanying artists, nothing solid is known but names like Mike Deodato (New Avengers), Leinil Yu (Supercrooks, Secret Invasion) and even Walt Simonson (Avengers, with Bendis) have been tossed around. The rest of the rumors are as followed: writer Matt Fraction and artist Salvador Larocca, current Invincible Iron Man team, are to take over Fantastic Four, writer Jonathan Hickman and artist Esad Ribic (Ultimates, with Hickman) to Avengers, Keiron Gillen and Uncanny X-Men artist Greg Land to take over Iron Man, and Uncanny X-Force writer Rick Remender and artist Jerome Opena are going to a new title, Astonishing Avengers. Marvel has not confirmed any of these rumors, but it’s likely to happen soon now that the news is out. One change that is definite is artist Matteo Scalera (Deadpool) is joining Rick Remender on July’s Secret Avengers #29 for a new storyline entitled “Masters of Evil.”
Cirque du Soleil and Marvel, Thanos and Alpha?
Marvel announced it is partnering with Cirque du Soleil for the release of a special edition comic of Kà, the theatre group’s latest stage show currently playing at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The comic, written by Bryan J.L. Glass (The Mice Templar) and illustrated by Wellinton Alves (Marvel’s The Avengers: Black Widow Strikes) will be available digitally as well as in a limited print quantity at this year’s San Diego Comic Con.
After his appearance in Marvel’s The Avengers and Avengers Assemble, Thanos is back in a big way at Marvel. He’s making his presence known on the sales charts as well, with books like Infinity Gauntlet (in which Thanos is the main villain) spiked in sales, and copies of the issue featuring the character’s first appearance, Iron Man #55 from 1968, are selling at higher prices than ever before. Marvel is harnessing Thanos’ newfound popularity by releasing new editions of two classic Thanos stories: The Thanos Quest and Thanos: The Final Threat. Both were written by Jim Starlin and illustrated by Ron Lim, and are scheduled to arrive in September.
Finally, last week, Marvel released a teaser for The Amazing Spider-Man #692, written by Dan Slott and illustrated by Humberto Ramos, asking “Who is Alpha?” Find out in August when the issue hits shelves.
Image Comics: What’s Ahead
Last week Image revealed details for its upcoming four-issue miniseries, Think Tank, from Top Cow’s Minotaur Press. Beginning in August, Think Tank, written by Matt Hawkins (Lady Pendragon) and illustrated by Rahsan Ekedal (Echoes), follows Dr. David Loren, a brilliant science prodigy who becomes sick of working for the government creating weapons. But in order to escape from the system, he’ll have to out maneuver his former superiros both physically and, more importantly, mentally.
Image also released the first details for Howard Chaykin’s Black Kiss II, the sequel to the writer/artist’s controversial series from the 1980s, out this August. The new miniseries goes back before the original Black Kiss, but shifts the locations fro LA to New York City. Chaykin promises many of the same themes of change, fantasy and lust that made the original so memorable, and admitted a song from Stephen Sondheim’s Follies was the inspiration for returning to the series.
The first images and details have emerged for Grant Morrison and Darick Robertson’s new miniseries, Happy. The story focuses on a hitman named Nick Sax who, after a job gone wrong on Christmas, finds himself running from both the law and the mob when he comes across “a tin blue horse called Happy” that changes his life.
Finally, this October, Image is publishing MacGyver, a new miniseries based on the hit TV show, written by original series creator Lee David Zlotoff and Tony Lee (Doctor Who) and illustrated by Will Sliney (Pigs).
Walking Dead #100 Projected to Sell 300,000
The Walking Dead hits its one-hundredth issue next month, and publisher Image comics is celebrating the milestone with a series of variant covers by a number of high profile artists including Marc Silvestri, Bryan Hitch, Frank Quitely, Todd McFarlane, Ryan Ottley and Sean Phillips. Even more impressive are the projected sales of the issue, with current preorders supposedly at 300,000, which would make it the best-selling comic of July and 2012.
Batman arrives in Smallville
DC Comics revealed that Batman will appear in the pages of Smallville Season 11 #5, out in September. The digital-first series has continued where the television show left off and is written by Bryan Q. Miller (Batgirl) and illustrated by Crisscross. And coming along with the Dark Knight will be Stephanie Brown, the fan favorite character who was once the hero Spoiler as well as Robin, and starred in her own Batgirl series (written by Miller), although this time Brown is taking on the role of Nightwing.
Artist Darick Roberson (The Boys, 52) revealed that he was working on a new creator-owned series for DC Comics with writer Christos Gage (Avengers Academy). No other details were provided.
Last week, Vertigo canceled Dominique Laveau: Voodoo Child following the release of issue #7 in September. The series was written by author Selwyn Seyfu Hids and illustrated by Denys Cowan (The Question), but suffered poor sales since its debut earlier this year.
Coming Soon from IDW, Dynamite and Valiant
IDW announced it is adapting fantasy author Peter S. Beagle’s 1960 novel A Fine & Private Place. Beginning in September, the series will be written by Peter Gillis (The Last Unicorn, another adaptation of Beagle’s work) and illustrated by Jenny Frison (I, Vampire). The publisher also announced a new Star Trek: The Next Generation series, written by Star Trek writers Brannon Braga and Terry Matalas. The new story, simply titled “Hive,” revisits the Borg Saga from the TV series and features much of its cast including Captain Jean-Luc Picard. In somewhat related news, writer Tony Lee had left the crossover series Star Trek/ Doctor Who after issue #4, citing creative differences as well as a new Doctor Who project for IDW.
Dynamite Entertainment announced a new series for the classic Charlton Comics character Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt. Cannon served as the inspiration for the character of Ozymandias from Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. The new series will be written by Alex Ross and frequent collaborator Steve Darnell, illustrated by Jonathan Lau (Green Hornet), and feature covers by Ross, Jae Lee, Dave Gibbons and more. Dynamite also announced Damsels, a new series that takes the damsel in distress and turn it on its head. Beginning in September, Damsels, written by Leah Moore and John Reppion and illustrated by Aneke, stars Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and the Little Mermaid amidst a political conflict on the brink of war.
Last week, Ninjak, one of Valiant’s most popular characters, will finally made his relaunch debut within the pages of September’s X-O Manowar #5 in a two-part arc that pits the two warriors against each other. There’s been no talkyet of Ninjak starring in his own series, but considering the new Valiant’s publishing strategy so far, it seems more than likely.
New Crusaders Hit Print, Monkey Brain Comics and Fashion Beast
Archie Comics announced the first print editions of the newly launched Red Circle line of comics will make its debut at this years San Diego Comic Con. Led by New Crusaders, the new line is currently only available digitally through Archie Comics app. The series is written by Ian Flynn and features art by Ben Bates, Gary Martin, Matt herms and John Workman,
On Monday, writer Chris Roberson (Memorial, iZombie) teased the launch of a new comics imprint as part of his and wife Allison Baker’s Monkey Brain Books, which offered creator-owned and independent science fiction and fantasy novels. Little else is known about the new line, but Roberson will hold a press conference on July 4 (“Independents Day,” as he puts it) and released a series of teaser images by a number of artists featuring the line’s lobotomized chimpanzee logo.
Beginning in September, Avatar Press will publish Alan Moore’s Fashion Beast, a comic the legendary comics writer worked on back in the 1985 but was never published. Moore was originally commissioned by Malcolm McLaren (of Sex Pistol’s fame) as a screenplay that was later adapted into a 10-issue comic book by writer Antony Johnston and artist Facundo Percio.
