Jody Houser

Earlier today, we broke the news that The Ray will be joining Steve Orlando and Ivan Reis' upcoming Justice League of America ongoing with a one-shot by Orlando and Stephen Byrne but Ray Terrill won't be alone. Throughout today at various outlets and on DC's own website, the publisher has announced the new Justice League of America line-up featuring some fan-favorite characters getting their moment in the sun!

For the past five years, XO Manowar has been Valiant's flagship title, but now the story of Aric of Dacia, a barbarian plucked from the fringes of the Roman empire and returned to Earth with an alien battle-suit that might be the single most powerful weapon in the galaxy, is coming to a close. And given that high concept, you can probably guess that it's not going to be a quiet ending. When the final issue hits shelves next week, it's coming with 64 pages of story and a truly overwhelming number of variant covers --- including a Ninjak story from Jody Houser and Javier Pulido that looks fantastic. Check it out with a preview below!

I'll admit that I don't know a whole lot about The X-Files. I mean, I know that there's a dude who really wants to believe in aliens, and I know that --- if the screen-shots I see every now and then on Tumblr are to be believed --- there's a lady who's just so done with his nonsense, but that's pretty much it. Despite being around for its original run, I never really watched the show. And I think that might be because we never really got to see their origin stories. I mean, yes, I've heard that the show begins with the two lead characters meeting for the first time, but what if we could go further back? What if we could see them investigating spooky mysteries... as teens?! Now, thanks to the miracle of modern comic books, we can. Next week, IDW is launching X-Files Origins, a new series aimed at young adult readers in which Faith writer Jody Houser and Doctor Who artist Matthew Dow Smith show Mulder and Scully's first investigations, long before they join the FBI.

DC's upcoming "pop-up" boutique Young Animal is one of the most anticipated projects of the year, and its debut is right around the corner. Curated by The Umbrella Academy's Gerard Way, it seeks to capture the spark of classic Vertigo while forging a bold new path of its own in the industry. Ahead of the November solicitations, DC has provided us with an exclusive first look at November's Young Animal releases, including the first issue of Jody Houser and Tommy Lee Edwards' Mother Panic.

If you missed the announcement a few weeks ago, Comixology's new Unlimited service is being touted as Netflix for indie comics. Subscribers pay a flat monthly fee, and they get access to a library of titles from publishers like Image, Valiant, Archie and more, including smaller self-publishers. And, like Netflix, new stuff is showing up on a monthly basis to keep readers hooked. This month, as we roll into August, Comixology has announced the addition of another 25 titles --- and if you're looking for a good place to start, I've got a couple of suggestions. Starting today, you can read the entirety of Jody Houser, Francis Portela, and Marguerite Sauvage's Faith miniseries from Valiant, and the first volume of Eric Jones and Landry Q. Walker's amazing Danger Club.

Valiant's Faith has been the superhero hit of 2016, so much so that the character was bumped up to an ongoing series before her mini had even finished. As the adventures of Faith continue, the real threats that come along with the life of a superhero start to pop up and we've got a preview of Faith's clash with her very first supervillain in next month's Faith #2 by Jody Houser, Pere Perez and Marguerite Sauvage.

San Diego Comic Con is without a doubt the biggest event on the industry’s calendar, and people will be flying from around the world to attend panels, watch trailers, meet creators, and make friends. This year’s event is bigger than ever, with so much going on every single day that it can be difficult to sift through all that information and decide how to spend your time. Yesterday we gave a rundown on what to expect on Thursday and Friday, but things heat up as the weekend kicks in and the major studios make their presence known. Expect big reveals from Marvel Studios, DC's TV offerings and more, plus great panels featuring your favorite creators in comics.

The Valiant Universe of 1,985 years in the future is an ever-more fascinating place. That's clearer than ever in 4001 A.D.: Shadowman #1, written by Jody Houser and Rafer Roberts, with art by Robert Gill and colors by Michael Spicer. It seems that there's a city on this future Earth occupied by the dead, a last outpost left behind from a war between the dead and the living. The city of the dead has been at peace with its human neighbors for centuries, but that piece is falling apart.

Listen, fighting crime is a huge pain. If it wasn't, everybody would have their own rocket car and a belt full of little metal boomerangs they could throw at thematic bank robbers. Sadly, the day that we achieve a perfect crimefighting utopia is far off, and in the meantime, bringing down the bad guys can be a pain even if you've got plenty of super-powers. And that, friends and neighbors, seems to be the lesson that Faith Herbert is learning as she breaks out into her own high-flying ongoing series. After debuting in the pages of Harbinger and making her way through a self-titled miniseries that saw her making her way in Los Angeles as a pop culture blogger and aspiring superhero, Faith is back, and she's about to learn that for some reason, the cops don't like it when you just basically throw a guy in a ski mask at them and tell them to send him to San Quentin. Check out a preview from Faith #1 by Jody Houser, Pere Pérez and Marguerite Sauvage below!

The second annual Valiant Summit just wrapped at the UCB Theatre in New York City, the Belle of the East Coast. Broadcast on livestream, the summit saw several writers and artists take to the stage to talk about a string of new books from the publisher that will fall under the banner “The Future of Valiant”, including Rafer Roberts, Jody Houser, and Matt Kindt. The event was Valiant's answer to Image Expo, with five new titles announced, including the long-rumbled Britannia, plus the previously announced Faith ongoing. Here's the full rundown.