Z2 Comics

As a kid, there are few things more thrilling than the idea of actually being friends with your favorite comic book characters. I mean, let's be real here, I'm 33 years old and I'm still obsessed with being Batman's best friend, so I can only imagine how exciting it must be to actually have something like that come along. For one young fan, though, there's no imagination necessary. In the second issue of Ian McGinty's Welcome to Showside, there's a new member of the main characters' group of friends named Tolouse --- and he's based on a real-life fan of the book named Patrick, who's probably having a pretty cool week.

Koren Shadmi is an award-winning illustrator whose work has been seen in the likes of Wired and The New York Times, and whose comics are apparently known elsewhere in the world, but he's yet to have his big breakthrough in American comics. Hopefully that changes with his new book The Abaddon, from Z2 Comics, a haunting and exquisite trip into sex and death, memory and torment.

We're holding out high hopes for Z2 Comics, the new small-scale publisher launching this fall with a pleasingly eclectic line-up of books, including Ian McGinty's potentially charming Welcome to Showside (soon to be an animated series), Chris Hunt's noir crime adventure story Carver, and the risque fantasy comedy Allen: Son of Hellcock, co-written by one of the Last Week Tonight writers. Z2 Comics has given us an exclusive first look at some of the upcoming covers for all three titles, including Missy Pena's gorgeous Showside cover.

Being billed as the protege of Paul Pope is a pretty daunting promise to live up to, yet that's how boutique publisher Z2 Comics is positioning newcomer Chris Hunt for his upcoming graphic novel Carver: A Paris Story, a sinister noir tale of murders and vendettas in the city more usually associated with lovers.

City stories are part of the tradition of comics; the comics page offers unique opportunities to explore both the grids and blocks of the cityscape and the separate but intersecting lives of its inhabitants. From fictional metropolises like Terminal City, Astro City, Sin City and Francois Schuiten's Obscure Cities, to visions of real cities like Jason Lutes' Berlin, Seth Fisher's Tokyo, Eddie Campbell's London, Juanjo Guarnido's Paris, or Will Eisner's New York; comics thrive in cities. In fact, comics have a particular affinity for New York, where so many comics are made. Z2 Comics is adding another New York story to the library this fall with Pawn Shop, a tale of four lives criss-crossing at a Manhattan pawn shop. Writer Joey Esposito and artist Sean Von Gorman will pull at the threads that link New Yorkers together, with Von Gorman providing watercolors over his digital art. Check out a preview below:

Up-and-coming publisher Z2 Comics is hoping to set itself apart with a slate of truly intriguing titles in the coming year, including Ian McGinty's weirdly wonderful Welcome to Showside, and books from standout talents like Paul Pope, Dean Haspiel, and the late Harvey Pekar. The publisher also hopes to make names of some of its emerging talents, including Mario Candelaria and Karl Slominski, the creators behind Ashes: A Firefighter's Tale. Ashes is an intense tale focusing on a New York City firefighter named Matt who has to find his way back from a personal trauma. As our exclusive preview shows, Slominski brings a striking visual style to the story that captures the energy and claustrophobia of firefighters in action, matching it with a dramatic emotional charge.

If you know Ian McGinty's name, odds are you associate it with a comics adaptation of an animated series --- Adventure Time, or Bravest Warriors, just to name two --- or the Munchkin card games. But this fall, he's turning the tables; the first issue of his new, creator-owned Z2 Comics series Welcome to Showside comes out in late October, and it's already being developed as an animated pilot, with McGinty serving as showrunner and lead voice actor. McGinty will take the role of Kit, a kid who just happens to be the son of the evil Shadow King, the leader of a netherrealm full of monsters. We sat down with McGinty to discuss the pressure of writing and drawing a creator-owned book while overseeing an animated project, and to dig into the appeal of all-ages comics, pulling stories from real life, and snagging none other than Henry Rollins to do some voice acting.

A new production company formed by film director/producer Sridhar Reddy and Z2 Comics publisher Josh Frankel has announced plans to adapt comics by Ian McGinty and Paul Pope for the screen. Called Modern Prometheus, the company's plan is to bring the upcoming Welcome to Showside by McGinty to television as an animated series, with a film version of Pope's The One Trick Rip-Off to follow.

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.