Author: matthewephotography@yahoo.com
Strangers Publishing, known for celebrating overlooked artists and pushing the cutting edge of genre comics, is breaking new ground with Hostile Planet. This environmental science fiction anthology is a two-year passion project from publisher Eddie Raymond and longtime collaborator Tom Kneeshaw, who want to pay homage to the creators who shaped their friendship. Influences like Mad Max, the Armored Core series, and Tsutomu Nihei’s gritty techno landscapes are still reflected in its DNA, but the project has evolved far beyond its initial spark. Reimagined, expanded, and finally ready for readers, Hostile Planet brings together 13 creators from around the world…
Written by Mark Tweedle For the uninitiated, Mike Mignola’s Hellboy Universe can be intimidating. This is a shared universe that has been running since 1994 and has never been restarted. There are over 100 collections, about 12 different series, and just as many independent miniseries. So… where do you start? Don’t overthink it. If you want to read Hellboy, pick up a trade, omnibus, or paperback version of Hellboy with #1 on the spine. If you don’t have a number, that’s okay too, because it works independently without having to read it beforehand. If you want to read Lobster Johnson,…
French graphic novelist Christophe Chaboutet has won the 2025 Prix Landerneau for his latest work, “Plus loin qu’ailleurs” (“Further than any other place”). He will receive 6,000 euros (approximately $7,000) and his book will be heavily promoted in 233 E. Leclerc Espace Culturale retail stores across France. The Landerneau Prize is a literary award created by French entrepreneur and businessman Michel-Edouard Leclerc. Launched in 2008, it is currently divided into four categories: novels, children’s books, crime/thrillers (Polars), and comics (Bande Dessinée, BD). This manga award was introduced in 2012. Last year’s winner was Ulysse and Cyrano, written by Antoine Christeau…
Earlier this year, Titan Manga announced that it would be publishing the sci-fi adventure Geniearth by Rensuke Oshikiri, the author of High Score Girl, in English. Volume 1 will be available in bookstores, comic shops, and digital platforms on April 14, 2026, and is available for pre-order now for $12.99. Oshikiri, known for his dark and action-packed storytelling in Kurozuka and Tokyo Zombie, launched Genius in Akita Shoten’s Weekly Shonen Champion magazine in September 2021, and the series ran until July 2022. The series combines action and social theory to explore humanity’s power struggles. The first volume of the series…
Welcome to this week’s Beat’s Comic Crowdfunding Roundup! Take a look at the TTRPG Icebreaker, a cyberpunk epic with giant gods, Who Met Roger Rabbit and the Son of Lucifer, and two more of our favorite projects. The Wilder #1 Creator: Running Grand StudioGoal: $$5,965End date: December 11, 2025Bonus: Get a digital copy for $11, a physical copy for $16, a John J. Pearson Variant Limited Edition for $19, or at a higher level, the Othering Collector Bundle for $34, and more. The dimension-hopping, genre-bending epic fantasy/cyberpunk comic series you’ve been waiting for. For fans of Metal Harant and Saga.…
Nights is one of the most powerful creator-owned books published today. A funny, reckless adventure centered around a found family in a strange and often dark world, it’s a total joy. Writer Wyatt Kennedy and artist Luigi Formisano have combined a wide range of influences to create something wonderful and completely unique. This proves how fun and interesting indie comics can be. We at The Beat sat down with Formisano at Thought Bubble Comics Art Festival 2025 to discuss his experience working on the book, his artistic aspirations and inspirations, and the creation of unique, modern comics. This interview has…
Next week’s Avengers #34 marks the title’s milestone 800th issue since its release in the 1960s. It’s being made in a big way by bringing back legendary Avengers screenwriter Brian Michael Bendis and his longtime collaborator Mark Bagley in backup roles. Ahead of Wednesday’s release, Marvel released The Beat!, a first look inside Bendis and Bagley’s return issue. We asked Bendis about his return to the Marvel Universe. There Bendis became one of the greatest writers of his generation, but it was a place he hadn’t visited in a while. And we heard about the importance of stepping back into…
It’s that time of year! Have you finished your holiday shopping? If you’ve been procrastinating, fear not: Comics Beat has the 2025 Comics Lover Gift Guide! What are you most excited about giving (or receiving) this holiday season? ARPAD OKAY: Demon Summoner Gash Gash by Connor McCann. Nothing says “happy holidays” like psychedelic mutilation splatter-house apocalypse comics. There’s a great, OG outlaw comic intensity to this one, black humor and bloody guts. Very industrial culture concert poster. So Man’s Ruin fans take note as well as SLG heads. Super messed up, but with heart. Even vaguely (super) heroic? Very small…
9e Art+, organizers of the beleaguered Angoulême festival, have officially announced that production on the 2026 event is on hold indefinitely. The news was announced this afternoon (French local time) in an email circulated to publishers. While not an official cancellation, it is a further sign that the event, scheduled for January 29 to February 1, 2026, will not take place. In an email shared with most French media outlets, 9e Art+ Sales Director Noémie de La Soujeole said (translated by DeepL): “Hello, we would like to inform you that production for the 2026 edition of Angoulême Festival has been…
The French Association of Cartoon Critics and Journalists (ACBD) has announced the wordless 3D graphic novel Jean Jambe and the Mysteries by Matthias Picard, winner of the annual Prix Jeunesse Kids Prize. ACBD has also narrowed down the candidates for its signature award, the Grand Criticism Award. Roughly translated as “Jean Jambu and the Mysteries of the Depths”, the book is a wordless graphic novel that uses 3D (glasses included) to immerse the reader in the story of a character who follows a mysterious thread underground. This book was published by Éditions 2042’s children’s imprint 4048. You can check out…