New Releases

Z2 Comics, a publisher known as a boutique publisher of graphic novels from names including Paul Pope, Harvey Pekar and Dean Haspiel, announced today that it's expanding into the world of old-fashioned floppy comics. The line will debut this fall with an all-ages comic from Bravest Warriors artist Ian McGinty; a historical fiction book from Chris Hunt --- a protege of Paul Pope; and a farcical fantasy comic from Last Week Tonight writer Will Tracy with collaborators Gabe Koplowitz and artist Miguel Porto.

Giant Days #4 comes out this week, and it looks to be another hilarious issue of the entertaining series about college friends. One of the gang turns 18, and that means it's time for a party... but with less drinking than you would think, given that they live in England. Plus, hilarity over zine bootlegs! Writer/creator John Allison and artist Lissa Treiman look like they've really hit their stride together. Check out ComicsAlliance's exclusive preview!

Jonathan Fetter-Vorm and Ari Kelman's Battle Lines: A Graphic History of the Civil War is a fascinating look at one of the biggest events in United States history, with particular focus on the war's impact on individuals. The book is released today, May 5, on the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War, and it's an interesting comic in which the creators tell a compelling story. The vignette format the creators chose can be a difficult one to get readers invested in characters, but they pull it off. They also pull off some great commentary on the treatment of African-Americans before, during, and after the war, which of course affects our society even to this day.

Considering that she's soon to be the lead character in an ABC TV series, it only makes sense for Agent Peggy Carter to get a chance to shine in comics, too. She'll be front-and-center, along with TV co-star Howard Stark, fighting Hydra in Marvel's new Operation S.I.N. miniseries, which launches in January. Just like the Agent Carter TV show, the series is set in the 1950s and depict the Marvel Universe's version of the Cold War. Kathryn Immonen (Runaways) writes the series, and Rich Ellis (Memorial) takes on art duties.

A more appropriate name for DC Comics' Convergence event, at least the miniseries that will accompany the main series for two months next spring, may be "Nostalgia Trip." DC has been rolling out titles and creative teams for the 40 planned series week by week. The first batch focused on the publisher's pre-New 52 continuity. The second focused on the 1990s (including WildStorm), and the third seemed to center on the 1980s. The fourth and final group of miniseries, which DC announced Tuesday, covers a much wider time period: All of DC's pre-Crisis On Infinite Earths continuity. And there's another twist: They all take place on defined and listed alternate Earths which existed before the company's last line-wide reboot in the 1980s.

That sound you just heard is the sound of one million Tumblrs updating. On Tuesday morning DC announced titles, teams, and plot outlines for ten of its forty planned two-issue Convergence mini-series, which will coincide with the publisher's big event comic next spring and take the place of its regular monthly output. From the looks of it, there's plenty of fan-service involved for people who loved pre-New 52 DC continuity. Not only is Renee Montoya getting her own two issues as The Question, written by Greg Rucka -- who initially put Montoya in that role -- and drawn by Cully Hamner; but there's a Stephanie Brown Batgirl series, a Nightwing/Oracle wedding story, a Wally West story, a Superman/Lois Lane marriage series, a Bruce/Damian Batman & Robin series, and so on.

Three years ago, DC Comics hit the continuity reset button with the launch of The New 52, seemingly wiping away the past 26 years of stories since Crisis on Infinite Earths. But like superheroes, no story stays dead forever. Next April, DC launches Convergence, a nine-part event series that brings the publisher's regular publishing schedule to a halt while bringing characters, places and concepts from DC's past into its current universe. It's also the culmination of the weekly series The New 52: Futures End and Earth 2: World's End, both of which wrap up just before Convergence launches.

The powerhouse creative team of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips have been publishing all their recent work -- Fatale and The Fade Out, namely -- with Image Comics, so it seemed pretty clear that it'd only be a matter of time before what's arguably the duo's most recognizable creator-owned noir title, the hugely acclaimed and award-winning Criminal, currently published by Marvel's Icon imprint. In January, the series will make the big move with a new one-shot, a magazine-sized bonus edition of that one-shot, and a trade paperback of the first Criminal mini-series, "Coward." Colorist Elizabeth Breitweiser will stay with the book at its new home.

Maybe Marvel is trying to do something about climate change. That's one possible explanation for why the publisher is recycling the titles of half a dozen, and probably more, of its events from over the years. In the past week, Marvel has announced events titled Planet Hulk and Armor Wars, and before that we found out about Civil War, Age of Ultron vs. Marvel Zombies, Secret Wars, and the slightly retitled Years of Future Past.

The Adult Swim animated series Rick And Morty is about as well-suited for a comics adaptation as anything on TV. It's got a psychopathic mad scientist, inter-dimensional adventures, and lots of teenage growing pains. That's likely why the Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon-created series will be coming to Oni Press next year in a new comic written by Costume Quest: Invasion of the Candy Snatchers scribe Zac Gorman.