Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips are continuing Criminal with a new OGN, The Knives. Rob Liefeld is still done with Marvel. Absolute Batman once again tops the charts for January 2025 comic book sales.
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Episode Transcript:
New Criminal graphic novel hitting this year.
Rob Liefeld is still done with Marvel.
Absolute Batman tops January sales charts.
This is Comic Book Club News for February 10, 2025.
New Criminal Graphic Novel, The Knives, Hitting Stores This Year:
The first Criminal story from Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips in five years is hitting stores later this year.
As first reported by SKTCHD, the new book is timed to the release of the Prime Video series, and is titled The Knives. According to the listing from Image Comics, via Simon & Schuster, the standalone graphic novel is “the most ambitious tale Brubaker and Phillips have ever tackled. Three dark journeys wind around each other over a decade, like sharks hunting for a kill.”
And in fact, the book will mix together three characters who have previously appeared in Criminal books: Tracy Lawless, who is home from special forces but in bad shape; Angie, who is bent on vengeance on the city’s kingpin of crime; and in a meta twist, Jacob Kurtz, a cartoonist working on an adaptation of his comic strip. Naturally, the three stories collide by the end — though how, we’ll know more when the book hits stores on September 9, 2025.
Rob Liefeld Still Done With Marvel:
Rob Liefeld, who previously announced he was done with Marvel after this week’s Deadpool Team-Up #5, is still done with Marvel, according to multiple reports.
While previously Liefeld explained he was aiming to go out on a high note with his art before he starts to lose his abilities, and thus the issue would be his final one drawing Deadpool and working for Marvel while he turns his attention to more creator-owned projects, in his own podcast and in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, instead the creator explained he was done after feeling slighted by both the production and premiere of Deadpool & Wolverine.
Some incidents cited by Liefeld stem back to Marvel’s decision to give editor Roy Thomas co-creator on Wolverine, a sense of feeling unwelcome on the Deadpool & Wolverine set, and not receiving a special credit on the movie. He also says he was not invited to the afterparty for the premiere, and Kevin Feige, “does not treat comic book creators well.”
While it’s perhaps easy to read this all as big “you can’t fire me, I quit” energy, Marvel Studios has pretty famously been dismissive of creators, including Ed Brubaker on Captain America: Winter Soldier, who detailed similar experiences.
Coming up next, Liefeld is returning to Youngblood for Image Comics, so we’ll see how well that goes.
Absolute Batman Tops January Sales Charts:
Absolute Batman is once again the top of the sales charts for January, 2025. No surprise there as writer Scott Snyder has noted the Absolute line continues to sell more than 100,000 copies each month out.
Per ICv2, both DC’s Absolute line and Marvel’s Ultimate line continue to dominate the list, with, in descending order, after Absolute Batman #4, Ultimate Wolverine #1, Absolute Wonder Woman #4, and Ultimate Spider-Man #13 round out the top four — with Absolute Superman #3 coming in at number 10 on the list.
The X-Men line continues to be strong for Marvel, with Magik #1 hitting at number five, miniseries Rogue: The Savage Land #1 at number six, and Uncanny X-Men #8 at number seven.
Overall, DC Comics had 16 titles in the Top 50, while Marvel snagged 29 slots. For other publishers, Image Comics grabbed four slots for the latest issues of Transformers, GI Joe, Void Rivals, and Geiger. And the only other publisher on the list was IDW for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Naruto #2.
For Comic Book Club News, I’m Alex Zalben. And some breaking news here but Rob Liefeld has announced he is STILL done with Marvel. Breaking news, must credit.
Got tips or stories you’d like us to cover? Email us at comicbookclublive@gmail.com.
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