The buzz from this year’s San Diego Comic-Con has mostly been about superhero movies and TV. Even with Marvel Studios staying away, we’ve seen new footage from Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad and more. But, as hard as it is to believe, they do still announce new comics at Comic-Con. Here are a few of the most interesting announcements from this year’s show.
Archie: You wouldn’t think that supermarket checkout mainstay Archie Comics would have a lot to say for itself, but you’d be wrong. The kiddie-comics kingpin has been reinventing itself with an inventive, diverse series of books, culminating in a re-launch of their flagship title in the hands of veteran comics writer Mark Waid and Fable‘s Fiona Staples. New releases teased at SDCC include Archie Meets Ramones for 2016. Still not as weird as Archie Meets the Punisher.
Dark Horse: Dark Horse will be welcoming Avengers director Joss Whedon back to comics with an upcoming six-issue series, Twist. The creator-owned project will feature — get this — a young woman gifted with supernatural powers. The project has been described as “Victorian female Batman.” Other Dark Horse news includes the departure of John Arcudi from BPRD and a new project, Mystery Girl, from Marvel veteran Paul Tobin and artist Alberto Albuquerque. Greg Rucka and Carmen Carnero will also be bringing out Dragon Age: Magekiller, a limited-run tie-in to the popular video game series.
DC: 2015 marks the 75th anniversary of the first appearance of Robin, greatest of the teen sidekicks and one of DC’s flagship characters. Look for “Robin War” to link together Robin, Son of Batman, We Are … Robin and Gotham Academy, as well as a new series, Batman & Robin Eternal, to focus on the Robins who wore the suit before Damian Wayne.
One welcome announcement from DC is the return of the Milestone titles to the DC Universe. Characters such as Static Shock, Hardware and Icon will occupy “Earth M” in the DC Multiverse, with projects created by original Milestone creators such as Denys Cowan and Reginald Hudlin as well as DC mainstays Geoff Johns and Jim Lee. We may also get some new work from Marvel writer and The Prestige writer Christopher Priest. Speaking of the Multiverse, look for a follow up to Multiversity, Multiversity Too, in 2016. Grant Morrison will stay on writing duties.
DC’s Vertigo imprint, which hasn’t had a huge hit since its boom of highly successful books in the 90s and early 2000s, is showing some life with 12 new titles or relaunches before the end of 2015. Creators involved in the project include Michael Allred, Gail Simone, Peter Milligan, Darwyn Cooke and Supernatural creator Eric Kripke.
IDW: Best-known for their licensed comics, IDW are leaving no retro hero unresurrected with their announcement of upcoming Micronauts and ROM: The Space Knight series. With US 1 still alive and well somewhere in the Marvel Universe, that only leaves … Shogun Warriors?! Other IDW announcements included Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in November and GI Joe X Street Fighter in 2016. But lest it be said that IDW is all about toy nostalgia, the published also announced a 2016 release for Archangel, a dystopian science-fiction story drawn by Butch Guice and written by Neuromancer author William Gibson. Not to be confused with New Romancer, which is one of those 12 Vertigo books I mentioned earlier.
Marvel: With the Marvel Universe still in the throes of Secret Wars, and the big All-New, All-Different project coming in October, there’s plenty of exciting Marvel News out there, but among the oddest has to be word of a new first issue for Ryan North and Erica Henderson’s fun-filled Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, a comic which had its first issue in … January 2015. Also in October will be a new title for Tomb of Dracula vampire-hunter Blade — lending credence to the rumors that a fourth film might be in the works? Please, universe; I don’t ask for much. Also in film-tie-in news, classic creative team Joe Kelly and Ed McGuinness will be picking up the reins on a new Deadpool title, Spider-Man/Deadpool.
