Welcome back, diligent news readers! After an unexpected week off thanks to the hellbeast that is my anxiety disorder, I’m back to highlight the best and most interesting recent indie comic news. So soon after SDCC and Image Expo, I expect most fans are still engorged on all the new title announcements and comics news crammed into so short a time. So let’s highlight some news that may have got lost in the shuffle, shall we?
Locke & Key Coming to Full-Cast Audio Adaptation Starring Tatiana Maslany
In what sounds like an awesome adaptation, Audible Studios will be producing an audio production of the first volume of Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez’s Locke & Key with a full cast featuring recent Emmy nominee Tatiana Maslany, Haley Joel Osment, and Stephen King. I LOVE the idea of an audio drama adaptation of comics that will reach audiences who may be sight-impaired or just plain not into comics. The first volume of the series, Welcome to Lovecraft, is a great arc full of human drama and dark fantasy elements, which might even work better in audio than the TV and movie deals caught in development hell. Best of all, it’ll be up for free from October 5 through November 4, so those of us without an Audible subscription can enjoy.
Black Mask Studios Bring Hip-Hop Influence to Young Terrorists
There has been a ton of buzz about Black Mask Studios since the publisher was founded back in 2012, though the spotty availability of digital comics and comic shops’ relatively low stock have made them fly under the radar of most readers. Young Terrorists, a new sci-fi political thriller from Matt Pizzolo and Amancay Nahuelpan, has drawn fresh eyes to the company as its hip-hop variant covers came out just after Marvel’s were announced. Unlike Marvel, however, Young Terrorists with its ethnically diverse cast and focus on street politics, the hip hop influence shows through in the work. I’m definitely picking this one up when it drops in early August.
Tula Lotay Talks Upcoming Series Heartless, Process as Independent Artist
For my money, Tula Lotay is one of the most talented artists working today after seeing her stints on Supreme: Blue Rose, the final issue of Zero, and the rescent Vertigo miniseries Bodies. The comics industry seems to have noticed too, because she’s been all over variant covers and illustrations, including this glorious cover to Black Canary #1. In this interview she talks about the transition from illustration to comic work and the upcoming series Heartless where she’ll be teaming up with Warren Ellis again, except less with alien worlds and more with creepy Scottish stuff. Expect Heartless out in January and her guest issue on The Wicked + the Divine comes out the first week of August.