Mugshots, Torpedo 1972, Shepherdess Warriors, The Scale Trade & The Effects Of Pickled Herring
Mad Cave Studios, Ablaze, Magma Comix & Mango Press
News of Mugshots from Mad Cave Studios, Torpedo 1972 and the Shepherdess Warriors from Ablaze, The Scale Trade from Magma Comix and The Effects Of Pickled Herring from Mango Press.
From Jordan Thomas, Chris Matthews, Lucas Gattoni and Mad Cave Studios, the excellent Mugshots is coming soon. It’s an excellent series and worth checking out.
Past crimes haunt present lives.
Revenge, Redemption, and the ties that bind... History will repeat itself unless you do better than those that came before you.
Announcing the forthcoming Mad Cave Studios English crime series, MUGSHOTS, written by Jordan Thomas (Frank At Home On The Farm), with inks and colors by Berlin-based artist Chris Matthews, and letters by Lucas Gattoni.
Brighton, UK. 2008. The kidnapping of a young woman starts a chain of events that will set con artists, gangsters, killers, and corrupt police on a collision course of violence. Meet John Bannan, self-proclaimed bastard and loving uncle, in this tale of family trauma, betrayal, murder, and revenge that threatens to bring the city’s whole underworld down.
“Mugshots is an incredibly personal story for me. It's set around where I grew up, contains experiences I've had and features characters based on people I've known, and it's a collaboration with one of my best friends whom I've known since we were 11-years-old,” said Jordan Thomas. “Mainstream US comics are full of crime stories set in the States but not many set in England by English creators, so I'm excited to see the reaction to this series we've poured our hearts and souls into and so happy that Mad Cave are the publisher putting the book out as they never put any restraints on what we wanted to do. It's a tough, violent, complex, and sometimes funny 36-page per issue 4-parter - not many publishers out there would let you do that. It's gonna be wild.”
“Not only has Mugshots been a great opportunity to work with one of my oldest and best friends but also a chance to jump head first into a whole new medium,” said Chris Matthews. “The creative freedom comics allow has been incredibly refreshing and working with Mad Cave has been a pleasure as they really put the quality of the work first. The result is a series I believe crime and comics fans will enjoy. The series itself is gritty, compelling, shocking and different to most other books I’ve seen out there. I’m excited to see what people think.”
For fans of Criminal and 100 Bullets, Mugshots #1 drops in shops May 8th. Cover B by Fran Galán.
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In more crime story news, Ablaze has announced a new noir crime series - Torpedo 1972.
ABLAZE Targets Big Apple Mafia Action in Comic Book Launch of TORPEDO 1972
TORPEDO 1972 is the new series from writer Enrique Sánchez Abulí and artist Eduardo Risso, the co-creator of the Eisner award-winning series, 100 Bullets, that reimagines the classic 1940s crime noir series, Torpedo, and updates it for the bloodiest era of the NY mafia in the 1970s.
In the 1930s, Lucas Torelli, known as “Torpedo”, was a legend of the suburbs of New York. A tough, trigger-happy Sicilian who only knew how to make friends–anyone else is no longer here to say otherwise. Nearly forty years later, the Big Apple has changed quite a bit. Torpedo, not so much. As a persistent journalist prepares to write an article about the Caputo family, the demons of Torpedo's past resurface, along with his dirty old habits...
TORPEDO 1972, Issue 1, written by Enrique Sánchez Abulí, art by Eduardo Risso · SRP: $3.99 · Available March 6th
Ablaze also has a new adventure graphic novel series in April 2024 - Shepherdess Warriors. Check out the details below, plus a trailer for the animated series.
Comics and graphic novel publisher ABLAZE takes readers on a fantastically fun adventure with the launch of the new graphic novel series, SHEPHERDESS WARRIORS on April 9th.
SHEPHERDESS WARRIORS is the odyssey of a young heroine living great adventures in a medieval-fantasy universe inspired by Celtic legends. It’s akin to "How To Train Your Dragon" meets "Wolfwalkers.” An endearing tale, suitable for most all ages, it features warm, charming artwork throughout and a story rich in humor with lots of twists and turns, while giving pride of place to family and community ties.
Creator/writer Jonathan Garnier and artist Amélie Fléchais’ SHEPHERDESS WARRIORS will be published as a 2-volume series in-print and digitally, with Volume 1 coming April 2024. Volume 2 is set for release later this year. ABLAZE titles are distributed in-print worldwide by Diamond Comic and Diamond Book Distributors. Digital versions of ABLAZE titles are available via most major digital platforms.
On March 1st, from Magama Comix, you can check out The Scale Trade.
Steve Orlando and Megan Huang team up for one man’s crusade to save endangered dragons in this all-new series from Magma Comix
At the hand of poaching, dragons are facing extinction, and there’s only one man who can stop it…
Magma Comix is proud to announce THE SCALE TRADE, the forthcoming adventure series from Eisner nominated writer, Steve Orlando (Wonder Woman, Spider-Man 2099), and beloved artist Megan Huang (Star Wars, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) for a fantasy-meets-reality story that is sure to make your heart race and tug on its strings, too!
In a modern-day world one step removed from our own, dragons are a highly respected—and highly endangered—species, but poaching is an existential threat. When a young idealist joins the federal agency tasked with managing dragon populations, he quickly discovers that the entire system is corrupt. After seeing firsthand the cruelty of the system, our newly radicalized dragon savior takes matters into his own hands!
“The Scale Trade was absolutely influenced by the depravity of the illegal exotic meat trade, poaching, and specifically the street-level vigilance against the abuse of horses and sale of horse meat in a variety of parts of the country,” said Steve Orlando. “We wanted to talk about these things, but also thrill and excite on an elevated scale (no pun intended). So we built a world where dragons were part of the animal kingdom, where THEY, these creatures that awe us, were also some of the most valuable commodities in the world. It's a modern fantasy—not high fantasy or low sword and sorcery. At the end of the day it’s about the way we as a species interact with nature—concepts bigger and older than us—and how we tend to commodify life on this planet. At the core, The Scale Trade is about heroic animal rescue. A man and his dog… if his dog was a majestic flying lizard.”
“When Steve asked if I’d like to be a part of the project and said ‘Dragons’ I was in immediately,” said Megan Huang. “Anything to draw a dragon story… and not just any dragon story, one with a modern twist! I think the How to Train your Dragon films specifically influenced me on this one, because to me, The Scale Trade feels like a mature, modern version of that.”
For fans of Jurassic Park and Training Day, The Scale Trade #1 drops May 1st, with each issue featuring a variant cover by Max Dunbar (Dungeons & Dragons)! Issue #1 is available for preorder March 1st.
Mango Press has a new young adult graphic novel tackling some tough subjects in a humorous way: The Effects Of Pickled Herring.
Growing Up Can Be Stinky…
From the amazing indie comics writer and illustrator Alex Schumacher (The Unemployment Adventures of Aqualung, The World’s Crummiest Umbrella), comes a book that was 30 years in the making—the forthcoming YA graphic novel from Mango Press, THE EFFECTS OF PICKLED HERRING!
With engaging illustrations that vividly bring the narrative to life, this poignant coming-of-age graphic novel about sibling dynamics and the enduring bonds of family.
As he and his sister Alana prepare for their B’nai Mitzvah, twelve-year-old Micah Gadsky and his whole family feel the world shifting beneath their feet when they learn a heartbreaking truth about his grandmother. The stress of the season leads Micah’s introspective nature and Alana’s outgoing disposition to collide, creating division and discord at a time when the family needs each other most. Before Micah can become a man, he must brave the storms of grief, confront the complexities of growing up, and ultimately, learn to lean on love when life trips him up.
“While it's ultimately a love letter to my grandparents and my faith, the story became a personal reflection on the loss of innocence, the discovery and celebration of self, and the first bittersweet steps towards adulthood,” said Alex Schumacher. “My fondest hope is that any young reader who picks up The Effects of Pickled Herring will be inspired to dream and possibly find a friend in its insecure, confused, exuberant, hopeful young protagonist(s), Micah (or Alana!).”
A perfect blend of humor and heart, this book explores self-worth, identity, and the challenges of supporting someone living with Alzheimer’s disease.
Geared towards readers who enjoyed Liara Tamani’s Calling My Name or A First Time for Everything by Dan Santat, The Effects of Pickled Herring drops in bookstores March 26, and is now available for preorder.