AfterShock

At the end of last year, publisher Joe Pruett and editor Mike Marts launched AfterShock Comics, a new publisher for a new line of creator-owned comics. The first titles to carry the AfterShock banner came from creative talent including Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner; Marguerite Bennett and Ariel Kristantina; and Garth Ennis and Simon Coleby. The publisher made an immediate impression on the comics marketplace, and it's fascinating to watch them grow. AfterShock has big plans for 2016. It's finding a home at a growing number of retailers, and made its catalogue available digitally on ComiXology, and a slate of new titles are on the horizon. The question is whether a new publisher can carve out an audience. ComicsAlliance spoke to Pruett and Marts to find out how AfterShock came together, and how it plans to move forward. They also revealed three of the new series they will be launching later this year.

The question most often asked of the ComicsAlliance staff is a variation of, “Which comic books should I be reading?” or, “I’m new to comics, what’s a good place to start?” The Wednesday deluge of new comic books, graphic novels and collected editions can be daunting even for the longtime reader, much less for those totally unfamiliar with creators, characters and publishers, and the dark mysteries of comic book shopping like variants, pre-ordering, and formats. It’s with these challenges in mind that we’ve created Best Comic Books Ever (This Week), an ongoing guide curated by the ComicsAlliance staff. This is where new comics readers and seasoned Wednesday shoppers alike can find our picks of the best books the medium has to offer.

The question most often asked of the ComicsAlliance staff is a variation of, “Which comic books should I be reading?” or, “I’m new to comics, what’s a good place to start?” The Wednesday deluge of new comic books, graphic novels and collected editions can be daunting even for the longtime reader, much less for those totally unfamiliar with creators, characters and publishers, and the dark mysteries of comic book shopping like variants, pre-ordering, and formats. It’s with these challenges in mind that we’ve created Best Comic Books Ever (This Week), an ongoing guide curated by the ComicsAlliance staff. This is where new comics readers and seasoned Wednesday shoppers alike can find our picks of the best books the medium has to offer.

The weekend is here! Put down your paperwork, throw your stationery out of the window, and do a victory spin in your office chair, because it’s time to catch up on that greatest of all media: comics! What’s been going on this week? There's so much comics that there's no way anybody can keep up with all of it --- so Weekender is here to catch you up on some of the stories you may have missed, and some of the best writing about comics from the past few days.

Ever since it was first announced last April as the brainchild of Mike Marts and Joe Pruett, AfterShock Comics has been talking a pretty big game. They've signed an impressive roster of talent, but there hasn't been much news about the actual projects --- until today, when AfterShock announced the titles, teams, and release dates for its first four titles. All four are set to hit shelves in December, with new titles from Paul Jenkins and Andy Clarke, and Marguerite Bennett and Ariela Kristantina, leading the way.

AfterShock Comics, the new publisher formed earlier this year by Joe Pruett, has announced a huge slate of writers who'll be penning creator-owned stories for their eventual launch line - including Justin Jordan, Garth Ennis, Marguerite Bennett and Amanda Conner.

X-Men and Guardians of the Galaxy editor and former Batman editor Mike Marts announced yesterday that he's leaving the Big Two to form a new venture: Aftershock Comics. He'll be working with former Cable and Wolverine writer Joe Pruett, and it seems they have some pretty big plans. The company's press release includes a mission statement that expresses aspirations to "explore building a shared universe of characters and stories" over time. That's a massive task.