How to use this Page

It has been a big week in news from Dynamite and here’s a big old round-up with lots of art! § A new original series by Ben Fisher and Adam Markiewicz, The Great Divide In The Great Divide, humanity awakens in the near future to the horrifying reality that the faintest touch from another’s skin results […]

If you’ve been reading the Beat regularly – and I know you have – you may have noticed that Dynamite is the King of Bundling – that is, the kind of pay-what-you-want services such as Humble Bundle that give consumer vast access to digital comics for a pretty low fee. Dynamite has two notable recent bundles, the  “Bundle […]

Garth Ennis is  having his moment with the debut of the AMC tv series based on Preacher coming on this Sunday, May 22 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on AMC. YOu can catch the man himself in converstion with producer Seth Rogen and the stars Dominic Cooper, Ruth Negga and Joseph Gilgun tonight at the 92nd Street Y […]

Miss Fury is a golden age heroine who was actually crated by a lady cartoonist, June Tarpe Mills. Originally published by Timely, Miss Fury was a rich socialite who donned a black panther costume to fight crime, as so many women of the era did, or at least women in comics books. She’s come back […]

One of the great female characters of the 90s is back in the Comics this April when Xena #1 debuts from Dynamite. Written by Genevieve Valentine with art by Ariel Medel, it's a rousing reintroduction of a seminal character, the warrior princess of a savage land, who accompanied by her very good friend Gabrielle had rousing adventures without apology.

Dynamite is staffing up! They recently hired Alan Payne and had just added Patrick O'Connell as sales manager; and I hear a few more hires re on the way, many of them the result of DC's west coast move freeing up a lot of talented people.

Completing today’s personnel merry go round, Alan Payne, formerly of IDW, has joined Dynamite as Vice President of Sales & Marketing. Payne perviously worked at ToykoPop, Malibu and Dream Haven Books, so suffice to say he’s one of comics most experienced execs in the book trade, and he should do a lot to grow Dynamite’s […]

A number of comics coming and goings of late: § Dark Horse has promoted Sarah Robertson to director of sales. Robertson will be responsible for business development, overseeing the in-house sales team, managing distributor and retailer relationships, sales forecasting, increasing department performance, and other functions key to leading Dark Horse’s in-house sales division. “Sarah has […]

Dynamite has launched a line-wide sale at Dark Horse Digital, allowing fans to finally try out the first few issues of coveted new series James Bond 007: Vargr for $.99. The entire line is discounted, including J. Michael Straczynski’s excellent Twilight Zone run, David Walker’s Shaft, Gail Simone’s Red Sonja, a couple of graphic novels from Neil […]

MOAR Grumpy Cat. This little kitty isn’t letting Deadpool get all the 12 Days of Christmas fun, but is appearing in her own series of comic strips at Nerdist. Because nothing says Christmas like an angry feline. The strips were produced by Dynamite Comics. Disclosure: This comic strip was written by my significant other.

Can people get enough of Grumpy Cat? I don’t think so. ICv2 recently reported that the first collection of the Dynamite comic featuring the cranky kitty has been sold in to Scholastic book fairs, and already has orders of more than 100,000 copies via various channels. The first four issue series has been a hit, […]

A new auction that runs until tomorrow features some tasty comics art and benefits both The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and the Saved Whiskers Rescue Organization. You get some great art and help free speech AND cats? How is this not the win of the year? Dynamic Forces has teamed with the auction house Comic Link for the auction.

Dynamite named Rachel Pinnelas as a new addition to the company’s editorial team. Pinnelas is joining the publisher as an Associate Editor. She will oversee Dynamite-owned, licensed and creator-owned projects. Pinnelas will be editing Red Sonja, Dejah Thoris, and Vampirella, and as of yet unannounced projects. She also edited the Swords of Sorrow crossover series. “I am very […]

While the announcement of a redesign for Red Sonja, Vampirella and Dejah Thoris sounds like just a big PR stunt, the move to cover them up and bring on new creators female creators shows that this whole “comics are for everyone” is not just a sounds bite. Artist Nicolea Scott designed the new costumes. All […]

Although the comics industry seems to be hitting a rough patch, one thing that I noticed at last week retailer summit is that a bunch of people have just been hired as staffers to actually work in the comics business! And interestingly, many of them are working directly with comics retailers. I think if you're going to invest money in your business at a time like this, investing in new employees who work directly with the people who buy your products is a pretty smart move. Here's the new faces:

Apparently the title Seduction of the Innocent is in the public domain now, as various projects are in the works from Darl horse and Kitchen sink...but here's the Dynamite version. And no, it's not about about a troubled psychiatrist and a rogue senator teaming up to put hundreds of people out of work. Instead the series, by writer Ande Parks and artist Esteve Polls (The Death of Zorro and The Lone Ranger), will be a gritty crime drama with EC-like flourishes.

    Lord of the Bundle, Dynamite, has a new one at Groupees, this one themed “Swords, Sandals and Sorcery!” and for a pay what you want model as low as $1 you’ll get a vast amount of reading material featuring people who wear loincloths, including but not limited to: Thunda, Athena, Dejah Thoris and […]

Most memes are like flavors of the week.  They create a stir, and then suddenly disappear, lost to the annals of the Wayback Machine.  Occasionally, however, a meme is so dank that it persists beyond its short expected lifespan.  Grumpy Cat may be the first meme to be so incredibly dank that it becomes immortal.

The puffy-faced, sullen-brow cat has multiplied like a rabbit, spawning a media empire that has escaped the digital matrix and proliferated reality.  Lifetime recently made a movie about her where she was voiced by Aubrey Plaza. Personalized Grumpy Cat plushies have even appeared in my alma mater’s bookstore.  Now, Grumpy Cat will appear in my local comic store (and yours!), too beginning this October.

Dynamite announced the creative team for the Grumpy Cat series today, and it features some fantastic talent.  See the full list below and enjoy the bevy of preview images that follow:

Rebekie Bennington, artist: “When I first got the message about doing some art for Grumpy Cat, I didn’t know if I could handle the pressure of being judged by the grumpiest cat on the internet… but then I realized that my own general grumpiness made me a perfect fit!”

Ken Haeser, artist: “I jumped at the chance to work on Grumpy Cat when Dynamite told me they were putting out a comic. How often do you get to work on something that is so universally known? Everyone knows Grumpy Cat! And hopefully it’ll bring in a lot of non-comic readers to check it out. All I know is that it is going to be a lot of fun!”

Tavis Maiden, artist: “This is literally the first thing I’ve worked on that my kids think is cool. When I was tasked with capturing Grumpy Cat’s likeness and personality for the covers, I was met with grueling deadlines, harsh criticism, and sweeping revisions… er, I mean, praise be to our Fluffy Overlord, may we never be good enough for her.”

Ben McCool, writer: “Like millions worldwide, I’ve had countless chuckles over the past few years thanks to Grumpy Cat. I was lucky enough to attend the miserable moggy’s official birthday party last year, and didn’t think I could possibly trump it in terms of cat-related coolness. Little did I know I’d find myself in a position to write stories about Grumpy (along with Pokey, her eternally optimistic, happy-go-lucky brother — shenanigans aplenty are an absolute guarantee)! I’m delighted to be part of such an exciting, fun-filled project, and can’t wait for you all to read the madcap misadventures of Grumpy Cat.”

When I was kid, my mom bought so much Betty Boop stuff.  Betty Boop mugs.  Betty Boop plates.  I couldn’t take a step without seeing the little red dress in my periphery.  Now, I had no idea who Betty Boop was, but I gathered she was important for some reason.

It looks like I’ll get to find out what that reason is now that Dynamite has partnered with Fleischer Studios and King Features Syndicate to bring Betty Boop to the comics page after twenty years of boop-less drudgery.

Cartoonist Max Fleischer first created the premiere female animated star in 1930 for Talkartoons, one of the first animated series to feature voice work.  Since her inception, she’s been featured in countless cartoons on TV and in film.

“Betty Boop is timeless, like Superman, Marilyn Monroe, Mickey Mouse, or Louis Armstrong. She’s a fixture of American culture, with such a wide appeal that her image can be found anywhere from a young child’s wardrobe to the toughest biker’s tattoos. Every generation over the past 85 years has embraced her charm and personality. Personally, I can recall her appearance in the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit as the defining moment in which I first fell in love with the character. We hope that Dynamite’s upcoming line of original Betty Boop comic books and graphic novels will serve as the defining moment for a whole new generation of ‘Boopers’.”

Ready your wallets, because Dynamite’s adding another statue to its Women of Dynamite collection.  Based on the art of Frank Cho, Jana the Jungle Girl will stand 12″ tall and mighty on a 6″ base, gazing off into the distance at some unseen danger.  It will be crafted by Jason Smith of The Brewing Factory using cold-cast porcelin and is scheduled to hit retailers this October.

Jana is the third entry in the Women of Dynamite collection, joining goth goddess Vampirella and Egyptian vampire goddess Purgatori.

Things are getting spoopy up in here.

This October, writer Chuck Dixon teams up with artist Andres Ponce to bring Frankenstein: Storm Surge to life.  The mini-series will act as a continuation of Frankenstein: Prodigal Son.

Dynamite Entertainment is proud to announce the October launch of Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein: Storm Surge, an all-new six-issue miniseries. From the celebrated imagination of the bestselling novelist comes a powerful reworking of one the most classic stories of all time, co-written by veteran comic book author Chuck Dixon (Batman, The Punisher) and illustrated by Andres Ponce (Doctor Who, Transformers Prime).

Frankenstein: Storm Surge #1 continues the fan-favorite reimagining of “The Modern Prometheus” seen in Koontz’s previous Dynamite series, focusing on cast members Victor and Erika. While healing from a beating she suffered at the hands of Victor Helios – once Dr. Frankenstein – and her own maker, Erika Five decides to leave the comfort of her glassed-in porch and bottle of cognac to go exploring into Victor’s secret home lab, which she believes is an antechamber to something more sinister. With the help of the bodiless head Karloff and his disembodied hand, Erika finds a secret lab and within sees experiments revealing Victor’s attempts to do more than create a race of super-immortals… and a mirror-like portal to another universe, one of infinite realities Victor is trying to bridge for his own terrifying reasons!

Regarding the new series, Dean Koontz says, “With Frankenstein: Storm Surge, Dynamite has wonderfully revitalized this series. Uber cool!”

Dean Koontz is a New York Times bestselling author whose books are published in 38 languages and have sold over 450 million copies to date. Fourteen of his novels have risen to the top of the NYT hardcover bestseller list (One Door Away From Heaven, From the Corner of His Eye, Midnight, Cold Fire, The Bad Place, Hideaway, Dragon Tears, Intensity, Sole Survivor, The Husband, Odd Hours, Relentless,What the Night Knows, and 77 Shadow Street), making him one of only a dozen writers ever to have achieved that milestone. Sixteen of his books have risen to the number one position in paperback. His books have also been major bestsellers in countries as diverse as Japan and Sweden. Rolling Stone has hailed him as “America’s most popular suspense novelist.”

Chuck Dixon is a veteran comic book writer with thousands of titles to his name including a record run on Batman at DC Comics (where he co-created the villain Bane) and seminal work on Marvel’s The Punisher. He adapted J.R.R. Tolkein’s The Hobbit into one of the most successful graphic novels in publication. He is also the author of the bestselling SEAL Team Six novels from Dynamite. Chuck currently writes the monthly Winterworld comic and Joe Frankenstein for IDW, while working on new entries in the Bad Times and Levon Cade series.

Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein: Storm Surge #1 will be solicited in Diamond Comic Distributors’ August Previews catalog, the premiere source of merchandise for the comic book specialty market, corresponding to items shipping in October 2015. Comic book fans are encouraged to reserve copies of Frankenstein: Storm Surge with their local comic book retailers. Frankenstein: Storm Surge will also be available for individual customer purchase through digital platforms courtesy of Comixology, Dynamite Digital, iVerse, and Dark Horse Digital.

Vampirella is a raven-haired heroine who remains, even after 45 years of publication, one of the comic industry’s leading ladies, due in no small part to Dynamite Entertainment’s stewardship of the character. Since Vampirella’s very healthy resurgence in 2010, Dynamite has published two volumes of a monthly series, several miniseries and one-shot specials, and crossovers with multimedia brands and comic book peers. The Vampirella franchise is a haven for writers and artists with a penchant for the macabre.Red Sonja, known also as “The She-Devil with a Sword,” is renowned as fantasy fiction’s most prominent female character, formerly a swashbuckling ally of the Robert E. Howard character, Conan. Her early adventures in the Marvel Feature comic book series led to a successful ongoing Red Sonja solo series, a celebrated run of comics from 1976 through 1979. Dynamite Entertainment acquired the Red Sonjalicense in 2005 as their second-ever published title, arriving on newsstands to critical acclaim and a very receptive audience. Dynamite has since published over one hundred Red Sonja comic books, including crossovers with popular characters including Conan, Dejah Thoris (of Warlord of Mars), Vampirella, Spider-Man, and more.

The Red Sonja and Vampirella themes for PS4 allow users to view amazing art each time they boot up their game systems, and are available for purchase here:

https://store.playstation.com/#!/en-us/games/themes/dynamite-entertainment-red-sonja-theme-1/cid=UP2176-CUSA01679_00-TPGDEREDSONJA401

https://store.playstation.com/#!/en-us/games/themes/dynamite-entertainment-vampirella-theme-1/cid=UP2176-CUSA01679_00-TPGDEVAMPIREL401

This November, Dynamite in conjunction with Surge Licensing Inc as well as MMA managers Ian Parker and Mark Mastrandrea, will bring MMA to comic book stores near you through Cage Hero, a four issue all-ages action-adventure series “that inspires health, fitness, skill, and teamwork to become a real hero.”

In the vein of media properties like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Karate Kid, Cage Hero will portray a hero’s journey with all the trimmings.  Main character Ryder Stone is a middle school kid in the suburbs with an incredible gift for MMA.  Under the tutelage of his Miyagi-esque grandfather, Stone trains to become a hero and soon finds himself the leader of a group of super-powered mixed martial artists, who are collectively known as The Cage Heroes.  Together, they will take on The Shadow Empire for control of the universe.

Kevin Eastman, co-creator of TMNT, worked closely with Ian to craft the characters of the series and ensure that they all had unique fighting styles and personality traits.

Why is the universe always left for kids to save?

Today, Dynamite announced that they’ve acquired the rights to Will Eisner’s Sheena, Queen of the Jungle and plan to team her up with her historical inspiration Tarzan for a jungle crossover that would make Phil Colins quiver.

Check out the full press release below:

Dynamite Entertainment is proud to announce their agreement with rights holders Galaxy Publishing and Valdoro Entertainment to publish original comic book and graphic novel content for Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, as well as reprints of the character’s classic jungle fantasy material. Described by co-creator Will Eisner as a female counterpart to Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan, Sheena will see her first adventure at Dynamite Entertainment teaming with the iconic “Lord of the Jungle” himself. Dynamite’s rights also include statues, trading cards, action figures, lithographs / fine art, and t-shirts.

“Sheena is one of the first-ever jungle heroines, a hypnotic character who has captured the hearts and imagination of fans throughout the decades,” says Nick Barrucci, CEO and Publisher of Dynamite. “Her long-running series in the 1940s and 1950s established her as a powerful and wild character, a welcome role reversal of traditional jungle action tropes who spent much of her time saving hapless men in distress. We’re thrilled to add Sheena to our line, and we are honored that we are able to make her first adventure a historic one which will bring her – for the first time ever – face-to-face with the archetypal jungle hero, Tarzan!”

Valdoro President Steven E. de Souza, whose many screen credits include Commando, Die Hard, and Tomb Raider, says, “I’ve been lucky enough to work on some immensely popular, action-packed series. Thanks to Dynamite, Sheena will join them – starting with this crossover that’s a fanboy’s dream. Hats (or is that pith helmets?) off to Nick and his team!”

Galaxy President Paul Aratow, who first brought Will Eisner’s other famous creation The Spirit to Hollywood’s attention, says, “When I signed onto this expedition with the Queen of the Jungle, I never could have imagined that the Lord of the Jungle himself would board our safari! Thanks to all who made it happen!”

“When you consider the depth of the legends of Sheena and Tarzan, you wonder why this hasn’t been done before,” says Jim Sullos, President of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. “We’re looking forward to the exciting adventure that Dynamite will create with this crossover. It will become a classic. I’ve already reserved my copy.”

Sheena, Queen of the Jungle was created by industry legends Will Eisner and S. M. “Jerry” Iger, and debuted in the UK publication Wags #1 in 1937 (reprinted a year later in the United States in the pages of Jumbo Comics #1). She was the first female comic book character to carry a dedicated series, preceding Wonder Woman #1 by four years, and her series spanned 167 issues and twenty years. Sheena began her fictional existence as an orphan raised by a shaman in the jungle, perfecting her survival skills and mastering the ability to communicate with animals. Her many adventures brought her into conflict with evil hunters, slave traders, and rampaging wildlife. The character has thrilled audiences in several television and film adaptations, including portrayals by actresses Irish McCalla (1955-1956), Tanya Roberts (1984), and Gena Lee Nolin (2000).

Dynamite Entertainment has a long history of publishing jungle fantasy and pulp adventure, making it the perfect home for Sheena, Queen of the Jungle. The iconic hero Tarzan appeared in the company’s Lord of the Jungle series, as well as the related title Lords of Mars. Dynamite has also published Frank Cho’s Jungle Girl, the Frank Frazetta-created Thun’Da, King Features Syndicate’s The Phantom and Jungle Jim, Alan Quatermain (of King Solomon’s Mines) as a supporting cast member in Prophecy and Savage Tales, and Turok: Dinosaur Hunter.

Recently, it seems as though Rick Remender can do no wrong.  Fresh off his announcement that he’s taking a break from Marvel Comics writing to focus on creator owned work, the writer of Low and Deadly Class is now working with The Authority artist Jonathan Wayshak and colorist Jordan Boyd to bring a new series called Devolution to Dynamite. Described as “a pulp / grindhouse science fiction epic that blends high-octane action, character drama, a world of strange mutations, and social commentary,” Devolution is shaping up to be an incredibly ambitious undertaking, even for Remender.  Just take a look at the art:

The obesity epidemic, religion, suburban dysphoria, genetic mutation, and military action all one page.  If there were a literal hot button, I think the creative team would be pressing it with maddening glee.  Wayshak describes the book as an opportunity for him to “get down-and-dirty and draw some really gnarly stuff.”

Remender is overjoyed to be working with Wayshak and Boyd.  He says:

Jon Wayshak and Jordan Boyd are two of the very best guys working and I’m excited to see them take this old story and give it new life. Jon spends much of his time outside of comic books so I feel very fortunate to have roped him into Devolution, and when you see the first issue, you’ll thank me. I wanted to work with Jon since I was first exposed to his madness in an anthology book with Jerome Opeña and Harper Jaten, two of my very favorite art-type people in the world, with whom he shares a stylistic approach. We need Jon. We need his powers to protect us from banal bulls**t that is always attempting to seep in. Jon is a great storyteller, marvelous illustrator, and world-class stylist. His inks and textures are unparalleled. With Jordan doing his usual masterful colors, we have the new superstar art teams in the galaxy of the universe of power and magic and love and d-e-v-o.”

It’s interesting to note that Devolution was originally announced in 2012 with Paul Renard on art.  The style has changed a lot since then, but it looks like the heart of the series remains the same.  I’m very excited.

Devolution is scheduled for release at the end of 2015.