Noelle Stevenson

Though the return of the original Runaways team remains high on a lot of comics fans' ultimate wishlist, the Secret Wars version --- featuring the rag-taggiest of teams of cross-universe teens --- is easily one of the most hotly anticipated titles to come out of Battleworld, thanks to the stellar creative team of Noelle Stevenson and Sanford Greene. Nimona writer/artist Stevenson is writing the book, with Greene on pencils, but that doesn't mean we don't get to see Stevenson's take on the motley crew, which includes versions of Molly Hayes, Jubilee, Amadeus Cho, and Cloak and Dagger. Stevenson has lined up some of the crew for this variant cover for the second issue, revealed exclusively here on ComicsAlliance.

Noelle Stevenson's Nimona is not your typical fantasy comic heroine. I say that not because of her style, which includes a partially shaved head, with dyed hair and piercings; and not because of the way she dresses, which is in practical chain mail and leather adventuring gear; and not because of her build, which is short and stocky, in sharp contrast to the tall willowy male characters. No, Nimona is not your typical fantasy comic heroine because Nimona is not a hero period. She's a villain. At least, that's what she keeps telling the reader, and herself, and anyone who will listen in Stevenson's Nimona, the Lumberjanes co-creator's webcomic, which has recently been collected and published as an extremely charming, remarkably cerebral graphic novel.

After four issues of fabulous guest art from Brittney Williams, Carolyn Nowak, Faith Erin Hicks and others, the original Lumberjanes creative team is reunited with the return of artist Brooke Allen for issue #13, and it's an apt issue to get the gang back together, as they tell the tale of... how the gang first got together. This standalone issue reveals the Lumberjanes' "origin story," as we discover how April, Jo, Ripley, Mal and Molly first met, and Boom Studios has given us an exclusive preview of the first five pages.

Sensation Comics Featuring Wonder Woman published one of the character’s greatest stories ever last month: “Wonder World,” written by James Tynion IV and illustrated by Noelle Stevenson, told over the course of digital chapters 23 and 24, and published in print this week in Sensation Comics #8.

Boom Studios has a reputation in the comics industry for publishing an increasingly diverse group of books and creators. This commitment to diversity in genre and people is reflected in an all-new initiative the publisher announced today in Previews with a letter from founder Ross Richie. While 2015 is the 10th anniversary of Boom, the publisher wants to talk about what's next rather than what's come before. They call this discussion of the future Push Comics Forward and they don't want it to be only about Boom. Push Comics Forward is Boom's way of focusing on the ongoing conversation about diversity and the future of the industry. To learn more about this initiative and what to expect from Boom for the next ten years and beyond, we spoke with Editor-in-Chief Matt Gagnon.

If you were paying attention back when it was originally solicited, you probably already know that the smash hit Lumberjanes started out as an eight-issue miniseries before it was (thankfully) upgraded to an ongoing on account of uncommon awesomeness. With the last issue, that original first story came to a close, and left us wondering what our favorite campers were going get into next. The answer comes next week, and it turns out that it's a collection of spoooooky stories. There will also presumably be s'mores. That's right, everybody! They're gathering around the campfire for a bunch of shorter tales, each told by a member of the Lumberjanes, written by series regulars Noelle Stevenson and Shannon Watters, and illustrated by an all-star cast of amazing artists that includes Faith Erin Hicks, Brittney Williams, Aimee Fleck and more!

Noelle Stevenson is the future. Nimona, her celebrated and fantastical webcomic about a villain's shapeshifting sidekick, will be published as a graphic novel by HarperCollins in 2015; Lumberjanes, the Boom Studios series about a group of girl adventurers that she co-writes with Grace Ellis, has been promoted from miniseries to ongoing; Marvel has just announced that she's writing a story for the upcoming Thor Annual #1; and she's a writer on Disney’s Wander Over Yonder cartoon. You're going to see a lot of Noelle Stevenson in the coming year. She's an outspoken, accomplished, and driven talent, and it's no surprise that everyone is suddenly taking notice. To better understand one of the industry’s most promising talents, ComicsAlliance sat down with Stevenson to talk about the indie scene, going legit, and the trials of a changing industry.

Some of you may remember that Lumberjanes, easily one of our favorite comics of the year, was originally slated to be an eight-issue miniseries. Fortunately for everyone, it was upgraded to an ongoing by virtue of being completely rad, but next week marks the release of the eighth issue of the series from Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis and Brooke Allen, closing out the first arc of friendship, merit badges, and creepy, creepy woods. And as you might expect for the start of a final chapter, things are not looking so good for our heroines.

We make a regular practice at ComicsAlliance of spotlighting particular artists or specific bodies of work, as well as the special qualities of comic book storytelling, but because cartoonists, illustrators and their fans share countless numbers of great pinups, fan art and other illustrations on sites like Flickr, Tumblr, DeviantArt and seemingly infinite art blogs that we’ve created Best Art Ever (This Week), a weekly depository for just some of the pieces of especially compelling artwork that we come across in our regular travels across the Web. Some of it’s new, some of it’s old, some of it’s created by working professionals, some of it’s created by future stars, some of it’s created by talented fans, awnd some of it’s endearingly silly. All of it is awesome.

You would think that after six months of adventures at a summer camp that is constantly being menaced by all manner of monsters and supernatural troublemakers, the Lumberjanes would have enough to worry about without the added stress of trying to pull off a heist. And yet, when Lumberjanes #7 hits shelves next week, from Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, and Brooke Allen, that's exactly what they're doing, going all Ocean's 11 (or in this case, Ripley's 6), with a log cabin standing in for a casino vault.