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Pulitzer Prize-winning Spencer Ackerman Ushers in New Iron Man Series

New York, NY— July 17, 2024 — Marvel’s Armored Avenger takes off for new adventures this October in IRON MAN #1! The new hard-hitting run will be written by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Spencer Ackerman (Reign of Terror; DC’s Waller vs. Wildstorm) in his exciting Marvel debut. Ackerman will be joined by rising star Julius Ohta (Hellverine, Alien).

Following today’s conclusion of Gerry Duggan’s Invincible Iron Man, Tony Stark is back on top after regaining control of his company, armor, and confidence. He’s determined to never hit rock bottom again, so when familiar threats like Roxxon and A.I.M. resurface, they’ll be met by an Iron Man more than willing to fight back, play dirty, and unleash every bit of his intellect to bring them down! When the best of his own technology fails him, Tony will build a brand-new armor unlike any seen in his over 60-year history. Dubbed the “Improvised Iron Man,” fans will see it assembled throughout the series as Tony does what he does best—tinkering and upgrading it to counter anything the world throws at him. The series will also debut a new Iron Monger, complete with a mysteriously-powered new armor…

Roxxon and A.I.M. team up to take on Stark Unlimited! But they’re ready for the old Tony Stark. This one? He’s a lot angrier than he used to be. Iron Man is going to war! New armor, old enemies, and unbelievable twists abound in this fresh take on a fury-powered Iron Man!

“Winning a Pulitzer is cool and all, but it’s not writing for Marvel Comics,” Ackerman shared. “And to write IRON MAN is a very specific dream come true. A lot of comics’ best creators have used Iron Man to tell big stories about security and freedom – with a whole lot of super hero action, of course – and I can’t wait to build on their legacy.” 

On how his esteemed career in journalism prepared him to take on Tony Stark’s specific complexities, Ackerman added, “In my day job reporting on national security, I’ve covered the real-life equivalents of the Stark Expo, watched experimental weapons in action, seen their impact on human beings, and tracked the massive wealth they generate for a select few. Tony struggles with challenges – and is sure about to struggle with challenges – that I’ve covered for years. Only now I can write about them the way I’ve always wanted to: in a super hero universe!”

A Brand New Ultimate Hawkeye is Coming

New York, NY—The Maker, a deranged alternate version of Reed Richards, manipulated his way through the timestream to create a world without super heroes, but when he emerges from captivity in 16 months, he’s in for a rude awakening! In his absence, super heroes, nations, and young mutants are reclaiming their destiny in four hit titles: Jonathan Hickman and Marco Checchetto’s ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN, Bryan Hill and Stefano Caselli’s ULTIMATE BLACK PANTHER, Peach Momoko’s ULTIMATE X-MEN, and Deniz Camp and Juan Frigeri’s ULTIMATES. Today, fans can peek ahead at what’s to come in Marvel’s bold new Ultimate line this October.

The cover reveals and synopses for October’s issues tease the debut of the latest hero that the Ultimates seek to inspire—HAWKEYE; a team-up between the unexpected but instantly iconic best friend duo UNCLE BEN and J. JONAH JAMESO; BLACK PANTHER getting a mystical power-up thanks to the mysterious anti-vibranium; and ARMOR, MAYSTORM, and their fellow mutants banding together to discover the origin and extent of their powers. 

ULTIMATE BLACK PANTHER #9
Written by BRYAN HILL
Art by STEFANO CASELLI

THE ULTIMATE SORCERER SUPREME?

Magic, mysticism and metal clash! But the source of this magic is not what it appears to be, due to the Maker’s reshaping of the world… Black Panther wrestles with this new anti-vibranium – and deals with the devastating consequences! What is the price of such life-bringing power? And what is the price of trying to master it?

ULTIMATES #5
Written by DENIZ CAMP
Art by JUAN FRIGERI

ULTIMATE HAWKEYE TARGETS CAPTAIN AMERICA!

Hawkeye No More? Not for long! A new challenger approaches when an unknown civilian picks up a discarded bow and arrow – and refuses to let the Ultimates reclaim the stolen Stark Tech! Captain America tries to settle the dispute, leading to an action-packed brawl of arrows versus shields! Meanwhile, the Ultimate Hellfire Club is up to something…

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #10
Written by JONATHAN HICKMAN
Art by DAVID MESSINA

J. JONAH JAMESON, BEN PARKER AND THE GREEN GOBLIN COLLIDE!

Fan-favorite duo Ben Parker and J. Jonah Jameson take center stage in this investigative mystery issue! But in this world of shadows and secrets, every unturned rock leads to danger… And they’ll soon have to decide which is the greater challenge – uncovering secrets or keeping them! Featuring guest art by David Messina!

ULTIMATE X-MEN #8
Written and drawn by PEACH MOMOKO

WHO ARE THE CHILDREN OF THE ATOM?

What are mutants? Where do they come from? And how has the Maker’s Council been keeping them under control? All these dark questions and more start to unravel as our heroes investigate a murder that, for some reason, the authorities keep covering up! And Shadow King advances his sinister plots!

REVIEW: Young Hag and the Witches Quest

Young Hag and the Witches Quest
By Isabel Greenberg
272 pages/Amulet Books/$24.99

The Arthurian legends wax and wane through the years and 2024 is shaping up to be a year of revival. Specifically, on Tuesday, Lev Grossman’s new novel The Bright Sword, will tell of the days after Camelot fell. It follows the May release of this charming and witty graphic novel, also set in the years after Arthur.

The legend has morphed and changed and been retconned since the first stories were set in print. Some know the tales first from Disney’s 1963 Sword in the Stone and Theodore White’s Once and Future King. Others know it from the BBC young adult series Merlin or, more likely, Monty Python and the Holy Grail or its Broadway adaptation Spamalot. As a result, conflicting details have emerged giving contemporary writers license to be freewheeling with the various sources of material.

Here, Greenberg, a British creator who has been telling fanciful stories for years, tackles a generation after Arthur. Young Hag arrives to complete the required Mother, Maiden, and Crone triumvirate, and we discover that the Ancient Crone is an aged Morgan le Fay. As they journey across England, stories are told, cleverly filling readers in on what came before. Or at least the broad strokes. It’s interesting to see what was kept, what was ignored, and what was modified.

It’s a time when the magic, like Arthur, has gone, but the wicked remain. Babies have been stolen, and changelings have been left in their place. Young Hag is determined to help a few who have been victimized. This leads them to the Goblin Market, and from there, we are off and running.

I personally find Greenberg’s art very off-putting, spoiling my enjoyment of the clever writing and sharp dialogue. She does an excellent job with her characters and leavens the drama and action with wry humor.

The storytelling is wonderful, coupled with a fine limited color palette.

Greenberg nicely takes her time telling the story, letting it breathe and providing the scope an epic quest deserves. This will be a welcome book for young adults who know nothing about the Knights of the Round Table or are curious about what happens next.

The International Association of Media Tie-In Writers’ 2024 Scribe Award Nominees Announced

With the annual Scribe Awards, the IAMTW celebrates and honors excellence in the field of writing tie-in fiction for media franchises. These works include novels, short stories, audio dramas, and graphic novels tied to licenses of movies and TV shows, as well as video games, comics, songs, and even book series. The licenses run the gamut from James Bond to Jessica Fletcher, from Star Wars to Star Trek, to everything in the Marvel and DC universes, and much more.

We are thrilled and privileged to announce the nominees for the 2024 Scribe Awards. The winners will be named at San Diego Comic-Con on Friday July 26 during the Scribe Awards and Media Tie-In Panel in Room 32AB at 2pm Pacific time.

Adapted Novel – General or Speculative

Assassin’s Creed: Daughter of No One by Maria Lewis

Marvel’s Secret Invasion by Paul Cornell

Marvel’s Wastelanders: Star-Lord by Sarah Cawkwell

Ultraman by Pat Cadigan

Audio Drama

Doctor Who All’s Fair by Max Kashevsky

Doctor Who Face to Face by John Dorney

Doctor Who Pursuit of the Nightjar by Tim Foley

Doctor Who Sins of the Flesh by Alfie Shaw

Doctor Who Spirit of the Season by Georgia Cook

Graphic Novel

The Expanse Dragontooth by Andy Diggle

The Mighty Nine Origins: Critical Role by Jody Houser

Red Rising by Rik Hoskin

Skull and Bones The Savage Storm by John Jackson Miller and James Mishler

Star Wars – The Nameless Terror by George Mann

Original Novel – General

Legend of the Five Rings: Three Oaths by Josh Reynolds

Murder, She Wrote: Fit for Murder by Jessica Fletcher & Terrie Farley Moran

Watch Dogs Legion: Cold Reboot by Robbie MacNiven

Original Novel – Speculative

Assassin’s Creed: The Resurrection Plot by Kate Heartfield

Marvel Zombies: The Hunger by Marsheila Rockwell

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – The Autobiography of Benjamin Sisko by Derek Tyler Attico

Star Trek: Picard – Firewall by David Mack

Star Wars – The Eye of Darkness by George Mann

Short Story

Unioverse “Singing a Deeper Song” by Tim Waggoner

Warhammer 40,000 “A Forbidden Meal” by Carrie Harris

Star Trek Deep Space Nine “Lost and Founder” by David Mack

Valdemar “Needs Must When Evil Bides” by Jennifer Brozek

Diablo “The Toll of Darkness and Light” by Jonathan Maberry

Kolchak the Night Stalker “Touch of Silk” by Deborah Daughetee

Star Trek: Discovery “Work Worth Doing” by Keith R.A. DeCandido

Young Adult / Middle Grade

Disney Chills: Circle of Ter-ROAR by Vera Strange

Disney Twisted Tales: Set in Stone by Mari Mancusi

Minecraft: Return of the Piglins by Matt Forbeck

Shadowrun: Auditions: A Mosaic Run Collection by Jennifer Brozek

Coin-Op Comics Anthology: 1997-2017 by Maria Hoey and Peter Hoey

I should have realized they were commercial illustrators – their work has all of the hallmarks. The polish, the construction, the architecture of the comics panels. It all shows a deep insight into design and a deep concern for design, for telling stories precisely and sharply.

I didn’t quite realize that the first few times I read the work of siblings Maria Hoey and Peter Hoey – the full-length graphic novel The Bend of Luck  and the connected themed collection Animal Stories . I said that their work reminded me of other kinds of art – advertising, Flash games, informative pamphlets, and so on – but didn’t quite make the leap to say that’s because they do that other kind of work as well. They live in that world; they think in those terms.

Successful illustrators who make comics are rare, if only because comics are so vastly less remunerative than illustration. There’s a text appreciation in this book, by Monte Beauchamp, who “discovered” the Hoeys for comics as editor of Blab! in the ’90s, pointing that out, and doing a quick back-of-the-envelope calculation of just how much money they could have made with the same number of pictures for commercial clients.

Coin-Op Comics Anthology: 1997-2017  collects the first twenty years of their short comics work, in a quirky reverse order. So it starts with Coin-Op magazine itself, which they self-publish . Issue five comes first, then four, and so on. Before that – it’s unclear if it’s all structured in reverse-chronological order, or otherwise structured for a particular reading experience – are the earlier stories from Blab!

(This is no longer the complete Coin-Op. Issue 9 came out last year; they seem to have a new issue about every other year, plus the regular stream of longer works.)

There are a lot of stories here, and I’m not going to try to list them all. Some are straightforward narratives, but many are more dreamlike, or design-driven. There’s a series of illustrated “articles” about jazz musicians – all of them, I think, entirely fictional – and some pieces that seem to be mostly song lyrics (original, I think) turned into visual art. There’s another series about two sad-sack characters, anthropomorphic dogs or dog-headed men, named Saltz and Pepz who get into various scrapes during what seems to be the Great Depression. They also have a few stories in a twelve-panel grid, showing the same wide scene each page, as big events crash or break across multiple panels and characters.

Many of the stories are set in the vague past, what I think of as the ’30s or the ’50s – not during The War, not during anything major or notable – with boxy cars and people in constructed suits and all the furniture of a world that’s familiar and stable and entirely gone.

And even the pieces I call straightforward are very Hoey-esque: designed, often to the point of being schematic, telling stories as much in the ways the panels are laid out on the page as in the things that happen in those panels. None of it is obvious; none of their work is ever obvious, I’m coming to believe.

There’s a lot of depth and interest in Coin-Op: a lot of time and thought when into every panel here. Even the wordless, imagistic stories – which, as a Word Person, I had to admit I didn’t really “get” – are full of wonders and surprises. The Hoeys are as interested in how they tell stories, how they present moments visually , how those visually feel, as they are in the story being told.

They’re illustrators. It’s what they do. And they do it really well.

(I’ve hit the end here, and neglected to note that some pieces here – I think mostly older work, but not necessarily – were co-written by Charles Paul Freund. The song lyrics in particular seem to be mostly from Freund. It’s not really clear how the Hoeys work together – other than they both write and both draw, from opposite ends of the American continent, on what I assume are the same digital pages somewhat simultaneously – so Freund adds another layer of “how does this fit in” to the mix. That’s all unimportant, frankly: the work is the work, however it got made or whoever did what.)

Reposted from The Antick Musings of G.B.H. Hornswoggler, Gent.

X-Men #1 Launch Trailer Drops

New York, NY— July 10, 2024 — Today is a day that will go down in comic book history as Marvel’s merry mutants enter a new age in Jed MacKay and Ryan Stegman’s X-MEN #1! The first launch in the X-Men’s new From the Ashes era, X-MEN #1 is a thrilling entry into the mutant mythos that’s perfect for longtime X-Men readers as well as returning and new fans.

X-MEN #1 introduces a new team of X-Men operating out of a former sentinel factory in Alaska. Led by Cyclops, the lineup includes both classic mainstays, fan-favorite icons, and rising stars: Beast, Psylocke, Magik, Kid Omega, Temper, Juggernaut, and Magneto. In the wake of Krakoa’s fall, these X-Men raise a flag of defiance! Deadly times call for radical action, and as they battle for the destiny of the mutant species, Cyclops’ team will confront new forces, including the mysterious final remnant of the anti-mutant group Orchis!

“This is very much a series about rebuilding,” MacKay told IGN in a recent interview. “It’s a series about finding your place in a world that you thought you’d left behind, and essentially taking the wreckage of something and trying to build something new from it, which we see sort of thematically and also quite literally. I mean, the X-Men are flying around in the Marauder, too. They’re living in a Sentinel factory that they have salvaged – a former Orchis facility that they now live in. So this sort of scavenging and repurposing of what came before in order to construct a place for oneself in the world is very much a part of what our X-Men book is about.”

Run Lola Run gets 25th Anniversary 4K Edition

SYNOPSIS
A thrilling post-MTV roller-coaster ride, RUN LOLA RUN is the internationally acclaimed sensation
about two star-crossed lovers who have only minutes to change the course of their lives. Time is running out for Lola (Franka Potente). She’s just received a frantic phone call from her boyfriend Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu), who’s lost a small fortune belonging to his mobster boss. Manni will suffer severe consequences if Lola doesn’t replace the money in twenty minutes. Written and directed by Tom Tykwer.

DISC DETAILS AND BONUS MATERIALS
4K ULTRA HD DISC
• Feature presented in 4K resolution with Dolby Vision
• German 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
• Special Features:
o Audio Commentary with Director Tom Tykwer and Actor Franka Potente
o Audio Commentary with Director Tom Tykwer and Editor Mathilde Bonnefoy
o Making-Of Featurette
o Still Running Featurette
o “Believe” Music Video
o Theatrical Trailer

CAST AND CREW
Written and Directed By: Tom Tykwer
Produced By: Stefan Arndt
Cast: Franka Potente and Moritz Bleibtreu, Herbert Knaup, Nina Petri, Joachim Krol, Armin Rohde, Heino Ferch, Suzanne Von Borsody, Sebastian Schipper

SPECS
Run Time: Approx. 80 minutes
Rating: R for some violence and language.
4K UHD Feature Picture: 2160p Ultra High Definition, 1.85:1
4K UHD Feature Audio: German 5.1 DTS-HD MA

Shout! TV Unveils Aquatic Cult Classics Streaming Schedule

LOS ANGELES – Plunge into the ocean’s murky depths to find shark hybrids, deadly piranhas, fishmen, and more with Shout! TV’s Killer Fish Weekend, a binge-worthy marathon of cult classics streaming on Shout! TV and Scream Factory TV on July 12-14.

Sink your teeth into a delicious array of titles on Shout! TV and Scream Factory TV, including Piranha (1978 and 1995), Sharktopus Vs. Pteracuda (featuring a cameo from Conan O’Brien), Sharkansas Women’s Prison Massacre (have you ever seen a shark walk on land?), and Lords Of The Deep (co-produced by Roger Corman). See the full marathon schedule below.

The Killer Fish Weekend marathon can be viewed on Shout! TV and Scream Factory TV; as well as the Shout! TV app on Roku, Android, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire TV; and the following digital streaming platforms – Samsung TV Plus, Amazon Freevee, Local Now, Plex, Sling Freestream, LG Channels, available on LG Smart TVs, Fubo, XUMO and LiveTVx, available on Google devices. Scream Factory TV is available to stream on The CW.


SHOUT! TV & SCREAM FACTORY TV PROGRAMMING SCHEDULE:

  • Friday 7/12
    • 2:30 PM PT / 5:30 PM ET: Sharknado: Feeding Frenzy
    • 4 PM PT / 7 PM ET: MST3K: Devil Fish
    • 6 PM PT / 9 PM ET: Piranha (1978)
    • 8 PM PT / 11 PM ET: Killer Fish: Deadly Treasure Of The Piranha
    • 10 PM PT / 1 AM ET: Sharkansas: Women’s Prison Massacre
       
  • Saturday 7/13
    • 12 AM PT / 3 AM ET: Slithis 
    • 2 AM PT / 5 AM ET: Piranha
    • 4 AM PT / 7 AM ET: September Storm
    • 6 AM PT / 9 AM ET: MST3K: Blood Waters of Dr. Z
    • 8 AM PT / 11 AM ET: Piranhaconda
    • 9:30 AM PT / 12:30 PM ET: Sharktopus vs. Pteracuda
    • 11:30 PM PT / 2:30 PM ET: Sharktopus vs. Whalewolf
    • 1:30 PM PT / 4:30 PM ET: Elvira’s Movie Macabre: Monstroid
    • 3:30 PM PT / 6:30 PM ET: Piranha (1995)
    • 5 PM PT / 8 PM ET: Piranha (1978)
    • 7 PM PT / 10 PM PT: Sharkansas Women’s Prison Massacre
    • 9 PM PT / 12 AM ET: Sharknado: Feeding Frenzy
    • 10:30 PM / 1:30 AM ET: Lords of the Deep
       
  • Sunday 7/14
    • 12 AM PT / 3 AM ET: Piranhaconda
    • 1:30 AM PT / 4:30 AM ET: Piranha (1995)
    • 3 AM PT/ 6 AM ET: MST3K: Devil Fish 
    • 5 AM PT / 8 AM ET: Slithis
    • 7 AM PT / 10 AM ET: Elvira’s Movie Macabre: Monstroid
    • 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET: Demon Of Paradise
    • 11 AM PT / 2 PM ET: September Storm
    • 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET: Killer Fish: Deadly Treasure Of The Piranha
    • 3 PM PT / 6 PM ET: Sharktopus vs. Pteracuda
    • 5 PM PT / 8 PM ET: Sharktopus vs. Whalewolf 
    • 7 PM PT / 10 PM PT: Piranha (1978) 
    • 9 PM PT / 12 AM ET: Piranha (1995) 
    • 10:30 PM PT / 1:30 AM ET: Terror Beneath The Sea 

Hedra by Jesse Lonergan

My skills as a reviewer don’t line up well with this book’s strengths, so this may be a mess. I apologize up front.

Hedra  is an Eisner Award-winning short wordless graphic novel by Jesse Lonergan from 2020, and I’m mostly a words person. It uses grids in a really interesting way, breaking up pages – especially at the beginning – into escalating arrays of little boxes, and masterfully leading the eye through complex layouts throughout its length. I usually write about what comics mean, but I don’t think I can do that here – I’ll have to instead just say what I see.

We open with a limited nuclear apocalypse – I say “limited” because we immediately see things rebuilding afterward. Some government builds a starship, and picks an astronaut to fly it. That is our main character: I assume her name is Hedra. (The title could mean something else, I suppose: maybe the name of the ship, of the other major character who shows up later, of the planet they investigate, or something even less likely. But let’s assume it’s our main character.)

She explores various worlds, presumably sending data back home. She’s clearly diligent and good at her work. And then she sees a giant robot (this is my assumption – it’s huge and humanoid and made of metal) flying through space, and follows it or coincidentally lands on the same planet next.

We see her exploring this world in more detail, and the giant robot doing the same, somewhere not too far away. We also see the planet’s inhabitants, who are hostile to the giant robot. (I guess we’re supposed to think of them as evil or enemies, but if a giant robot landed and started stomping around my planet, I don’t think my response would be all that happy.) Hedra finds the robot, and helps him escape the locals. Both flee this planet.

Now, here’s something I might have gotten wrong, or misunderstood. I thought the giant robot was roughly the same size as Hedra’s ship – i.e., substantially larger than she is. But when they flee, they’re the same size. Did one or the other of them change size through some skiffy mechanism? Or did I just misunderstand their initial encounter? (Is it just the locals who were tiny?)

Anyway, they fly off together, without Hedra’s ship, off to the robot’s home planet, where Hedra has a minor transformation of her own, and a substantial change in her mission going forward. We end with a very science-fictional iris-out.

Hedra is interesting and eye-catching and full of things to think about, told brilliantly through pure comics. I haven’t seen Lonergan’s comics since the very different (but also very good) All-Star  a decade ago, but I’m glad to see he’s still out there working, making great (and, I should mention, very Moebius-inspired) works like this one.

Reposted from The Antick Musings of G.B.H. Hornswoggler, Gent.

Mystique gets First Solo Series

New York, NY— She’s the mutant murderess you never see coming! This October, Mystique headlines an all-new solo series set in the X-Men’s upcoming From the Ashes era! Written and drawn by award-winning creator Declan Shalvey (Moon Knight, Dead Man Logan), MYSTIQUE will sift through the dark underbelly of the Marvel Universe for an unpredictable tale of action and espionage starring the world’s most mysterious mutant.

On Krakoa, Mystique reunited with her wife Destiny and forged new relationships with her children Rogue and Nightcrawler. Now that the mutant nation has fallen, Mystique’s vicious methods are required once more to protect mutants everywhere! With a hit list as long as her rap sheet, Mystique’s actions catch the attention of Nick Fury, erupting in a deadly game of cat and mouse as the elusive shapeshifter infiltrates her way across the Marvel Universe. Complete with a new costume, Mystique’s new saga harkens back to her beloved early ‘00s spy series as she takes on a new and pivotal role in the current mutant landscape.

How do you track a subject with a history that contradicts itself? How do you stop a force whose motives change like quicksilver? How do you stop a target that can be anyone? That’s the question that confronts Nick Fury as he stumbles upon a web of lies and espionage leading back to Mystique. From the ashes of Krakoa, the shape-shifting mutant terrorist returns to remind the world exactly why it hates and fears her.

“Mystique is hands down one of the most compelling characters to come from the Marvel Universe,” Shalvey shared. “To have an opportunity to put my own stamp on such an iconic character and showcase her in a series of her own is a unique privilege.”

“As a rabid X-fan since childhood,  I’m having a blast channeling all my X-enthusiasm into writing and drawing this project,” he continued. “In this series, Mystique is reeling from the fall of Krakoa. She’s a rogue element with no accountability putting a mysterious plan into action, ruthlessly destroying anything and anyone in her way.”

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