Jeph Loeb and friends are paying tribute to the late Tim Sale with Batman: The Last Halloween. A second Dog Man graphic novel is coming this December to bookstores. Oni Press has promised there will be no second printings for their new line of EC Comics. All on Comic Book Club News for June 3, 2024.
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Episode Transcript:
Jeph Loeb announces Batman: The Last Halloween.
Dog Man comes back for seconds.
No second printings for EC Comics.
This is Comic Book Club News for June 3, 2024.
Jeph Loeb To Write Batman: The Long Halloween – The Last Halloween For DC Comics:
Writer Jeph Loeb is headed back to Batman, DC Comics, and one of the greatest Batman stories ever told with Batman: The Long Halloween – The Last Halloween. According to Loeb, this is a story that was discussed with artist Tim Sale before his passing in 2022, and was meant to wrap up the trilogy started with The Long Halloween, and continued in Dark Victory.
In a statement from Loeb, which was reported by IGN, the writer said the following on the project: “Batman The Long Halloween: The Last Halloween is Tim Sale’s parting gift to me. Tim and I had already decided to tell this last chapter following Batman: The Long Halloween Special, which will serve as the prologue to this 10-part action-packed mystery. Tim’s unfortunate passing put our plans for this series on hold. About a year later, after speaking with Mark Chiarello and Richard Starkings, my partners on the previous Long Halloween titles, we decided the time was right to move this forward as a tribute to Tim, who continues to be with us in spirit.”
A piece of Sale’s art will be used for the cover to issue one of the 10-issue series, with the rest of the cover art and interiors by Eduardo Risso, Chiarello, and others.
In case you’re not familiar, The Long Halloween showed the fall of the gangs and the rise of the freaks in Gotham, alongside the Holiday Killer — who had their identity teased and tweaked in the sequel Dark Victory. And while DC is selling this as a trilogy, there are actually multiple parts to this tale. Initially, Loeb and Sale wrote three holiday stories in Legends of the Dark Knight, which are collected in the trade Haunted Knight. Then came The Long Halloween, followed by Dark Victory, and a spinoff series titled Catwoman: When in Rome. And as Loeb mentions, this was followed up by 2021’s Batman The Long Halloween Special, one of the last issues Sale completed before his passing.
Batman: The Long Halloween: The Last Halloween #1 will hit stores on September 28, 2024.
Dog Man: Big Jim Begins Will Hit Stores This December:
In a surprise announcement from Scholastic, we’re getting a second Dog Man book later this year. Probably the best-selling currently running graphic novel series, writer/artist Dav Pilkey will release Dog Man: Big Jim Begins in December, following up on the March release of The Scarlet Shedder.
Per a statement provided to ICv2: “With this new book, I wanted to share the origin story of my characters, as readers get to know more about Big Jim—a character who is playful, kind, overly optimistic and often misunderstood, and who sometimes gets into trouble despite having the best intentions.”
This isn’t the first time Dog Man has hit two releases in a year. In fact, that was the norm up until 2020, when Pilkey began releasing the spinoff series Cat Kid Comic Club, alternating with Dog Man releases. Now though, with a big-screen adaptation hitting in January, it makes sense to have a lot of Dog Man on the shelves. That’s also great news for bookstores and comic book shops, which can’t stock Dog Man fast enough.
Big Jim Begins hits stores everywhere on December 3.
Oni Press Promises No Second Printings For New EC Comics:
Speaking of things that won’t stay on shelves, Oni Press is promising that the first printing of their new line of EC Comics will be the only printing. Specifically, the first issues of the upcoming Epitaphs From The Abyss and Cruel Universe will have multiple covers — but no second or subsequent printings of the issues.
Said Oni Press President and Publisher Hunter Gorinson in a statement provided to Comic Book Club: “The full-blooded revival of EC Comics at Oni Press is already registering as one of the year’s biggest events for comic shops, and it’s our mission to bring as many fans and readers into stores for the launch of EPITAPHS FROM THE ABYSS #1 on July 24th as possible. To that end, we’ve been arming retailers with a battery of tools – double-sized first issues, wide-ranging returnability across our first three issues, and a raft of in-store promo materials – with even more yet to come.”
Oni does note that there will be a “sizable overprint” for both issues, to make sure the comics get in readers’ hands. And of course, there will be variant covers on the first three issues of each five-issue series, as well, to spur on sales. But this is the latest push from a publisher to actually get folks back in comic book stores. So in my book, EC stands for “extra cool.”
Epitaphs hits on July 24, Cruel Universe on August 7.
For Comic Book Club News, I’m Alex Zalben. It also stands for eat cheese!
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