For those hoping for more stories set in the Blade Runneruniverse, today is your lucky day. Titan Publishing and Alcon Media Group have announced that they're collaborating on a new series of Blade Runnercomics and graphic novels.

We're not sure when these books might arrive, and it sounds like it's early days for this project. No creative teams have been announced or any titles. What we do know is that the titles will include "new, in canon comics and graphic novels that dive deeper into the Blade Runner world as well as a variety of publications focused on the visual and technical sides of the production process."

The projects will be overseen by Titan’s David Manley-Leach, and Alcon’s director of publishing, Jeff Conner.

“We are extremely excited to be publishing Blade Runner comics and illustrated books,” said Titan publishers Nick Landau and Vivian Cheung. “The Blade Runner universe has barely been explored; there is so much more there. It’s an honor to be bringing this world to life in new ways for a new audience – and to reveal tales from that universe that you’ve never seen before.”

It's nice to hear will get some new stories potentially starring Decker and some Replicants, especially since the future of the franchise fell into question after the release of Blade Runner 2049. While the long-awaited sequel was a critical darling, it wasn't the financial success Warner Bros. hoped for. While Ridley Scott says he has a plan for another sequel, it may be a while before we this universe on the big screen again. Luckily, we'll have the comics to keep us busy. 

Hullmetal Girls by Emily Skrutskiehas everything I might want in a book: friendships between angry female cyborgs, super soldiers with a persistent and creative body horror element, and a confined, high-stakes setting on a human fleet wandering between stars. Unfortunately, while these elements are emphasized and mixed in excellent and new ways, many other elements of the story are tired and left me struggling to get through the first half of the book.

There’s a quilt of homage or repetition here: the armor suits and augmentations from Old Man’s War, the spacefaring class system of An Unkindness of Ghosts, the military mind-meld of Ninefox Gambit, even a few phrases lifted directly and jarringly from Star Wars. Too full of horror to be a comfort read and not detailed enough to be transporting horror, Hullmetal Girls is stuck in a strange in-between place — while still being exactly the kind of book I’m glad to see enter the science fiction YA canon. 

The main push of the story starts with Aisha Un-Haad, the anxious and devout daughter of a low-District (read: lower class) starship in a fleet organized in social tiers. In order to earn enough money to treat her younger brother’s disease, she joins the Scela, super-soldiers augmented with hullmetal and artificial intelligence. She’s joined by Key Tanaka, a judgmental upper-tier girl who can’t remember why she decided to undergo the painful and dangerous modifications required to join the corps.

From the beginning, the pacing is a bit odd; the reader is thrown into the (fascinating and gruesome) augmentation process with hardly enough time to get to know Aisha or her family. The first half of the book is primarily concerned with Scela training, which I found to be surprisingly slow for how excellent the actual science fiction was. The augmentation is horrific and vividly described, but the recovery feels rushed. 

Skrutskie’s super soldiers are impossible to mistake for human; I love the descriptions of metal skeletons so bulky the characters can’t turn their heads. Ports along their jaws and the scar-tissue-bounded ridge of the AI connection make the Scela look alien, a fact that the main characters never fail to remember even if the cover illustration seems to have forgotten. The persistent discomfort and joy the characters get from their modifications was one of my favorite aspects of the book, explored on both an emotional and physical level in a way that felt like a cool and careful response to the super soldier genre.

The corps camaraderie comes across too, and I loved seeing characters enjoying their newfound strength. The AI called exos are almost characters in their own right in an interesting way, their alien impulses and toothy self-preservation providing some of the novels’ most interesting texture. I love the idea that young women reading science fiction will know it’s a place where angry, scarred girls can get super powers and navigate tough moral choices. 

However, those characters are exactly why reading this book was slow for me. Chapters switched back and forth between the two voices. Compounding the feeling that I didn’t have enough information about either of them, the two voices sound very similar despite their different reactions to things. Even with their names signposted at the beginning of the chapters, I found myself losing track of whose perspective I was reading. Their history lacks warmth and detail, and the resolution of Key’s memory loss looks extraordinarily similar to a different blockbuster YA protagonist. The worldbuiding in the starships is far less interesting than the exosystem between the characters’ ears. Instead of gradually showing the world-building, information is doled out in a way that feels a bit too polished, a bit artificial. 

Sometimes, the exosystem functions conveniently, with characters sometimes struggling to hide their thoughts and other times switching in and out of the mind-meld comfortably. More explanation of this might have been distracting, but combined with the prose — unexciting if technically varied — and the strangely muted pacing in the beginning, it took me out of the story even more without an explanation. A major plot point that I thought would connect to the rest of the narrative fizzled out, even though it was a key part of Aisha’s motivation in the first place. Even by the end there wasn’t enough detail about the world for Aisha’s family to feel real, and we never really meet Key’s. 

The writing style is clean and punchy, but the use of first person dilutes rather than enhances it, smoothing out strong verbs and emotional insights into a lulling train of thought. The voices drag instead of kicking the momentum into gear, even when the scenes themselves are dramatically satisfying. About halfway through, the stakes and drama rise and the story becomes more compelling. Action scenes are breathless, and both characters are allowed to fully feel and act on their justified anger. The lack of underlying detail means that Aisha and Key’s emotional resolution feels thin, even as it sits neatly within an action scene I’d love to see on screen. 

This novel is so very close to what I wanted it to be that to say otherwise is uncomfortable. I loved the characters as ideas rather than people and, to a degree, that’s fine — especially for someone unfamiliar with the super soldier subgenre, Hullmetal Girls could be an exciting and empowering story. But "empowering" does not make up for world-building that seems partially lifted from The Hunger Games. I respect it and hope it’s exactly the story someone else needs, but I’m not entirely sure I enjoyed it. 

Read Hull Metal Girls. For more science fiction books out in July 2018, check out our full list.

John Rauch is a clever guy. Rauch, Fernando Blanco's colorist on Batwoman, is a critical part of the atmosphere of Blanco's art. So much of the tension in the last issue was from his oranges, yellows and purples as the virus was being spread in Gotham. But that's not what made him jump out at me in this preview of Batwoman#17 that DC sent us. What was the most striking thing about it was the bottom middle panel on the last page of the preview. Rotating cameras happen all the time in comics - here, Kate, Julia and Kate's sister Beth, rescued by Batwoman last issue, are sitting having breakfast. Beth is still in posession of a personality graft from the Religion of Crime, so she's in some kind of chamber apart from Julia and Kate.

Normally, when the camera swings around, you don't see a color change based on the perspective. You don't even really think about the persective - in one panel, I'm looking at person A's face, in the next, Person B and there's no reason to ground the room with a sense of place. However, here the color changes and indicates that the camera is actually on the inside of the cell with Beth.

That really good, and something I only noticed because Rauch's color pallette was so effective and evocative in the last two issues that I started paying attention to it. In comics, adequate coloring is like good refereeing - you don't notice it. But good coloring can move good art to the next level, and that's clearly what's happening on Batwoman. Also, as the series wraps up over the next two issues, it looks like we get to spend some time with Kate and Renee Montoya, one of the fated couples in comics history. That's also very good. Here's what DC has to say about the issue.

BATWOMAN #17 written by MARGUERITE BENNETT
art by FERNANDO BLANCO
cover by DAN PANOSIAN
variant cover by MICHAEL CHO
Kate Kane's latest assignment is leaving her cold-it's a cold case that forces her to team up with GCPD Detective Renee Montoya, and which, as usual, has Gotham City running out of time. Is this the start of a beautiful crime-fighting partnership? No spoilers, but expect sparks and punches to fly!

For moreon why coloring is so important to good comics, read these preview pages and then stick with Den of Geek!

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On the surface, The Darkest Minds might look like just another franchise-hopeful YA adaptation (or an X-Menmovie), but this is not just another Hunger Games ripoff... though it does star Hunger Games' Amandla Stenberg in the lead role. 

Stenberg stars as Ruby, a 16-year-old in a world where 98 percent of the kids have been killed by a plague. The remaining children have developed supernatural powers, and have been labeled as threats by the government. Each child is designated a different color to distinguish their threat level—yes, just like our real-world color-coded terrorist threat level.

The not-so-subtle similarities between the world of The Darkest Minds and our own don't stop there. The movie based on the Alexandra Bracken novel sees the kids band together to create a collective, youth-of-color-led resistance movement similar to the ones we have begun to see from our own youth. From the looks of the first trailer, this movie might tap into something that's happening right now.

The Darkest Minds Trailer

A new trailer for The Darkest Minds has arrived! The new clip focuses on the arc of powers-discovering protagonist Ruby (Amandla Stenberg), who is depicted experiencing some non-Thanos-related dusting.

You can check out the first trailer below:

Here's the official synopsis:

When teens mysteriously develop powerful new abilities, they are declared a threat by the government and detained. Sixteen-year-old Ruby, one of the most powerful young people anyone has encountered, escapes her camp and joins a group of runaway teens seeking safe haven. Soon this newfound family realizes that, in a world in which the adults in power have betrayed them, running is not enough and they must wage a resistance, using their collective power to take back control of their future.

The Darkest Minds Release Date

The Darkest Minds is directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson (Kung Fu Panda 2). It opens in theaters on August 3rd.

The Darkest Minds Cast

In addition to Stenberg, The Darkest Minds also stars Mandy Moore, Gwendoline Christie, Harris Dickinson, Skylan Brooks, Miya Cech, Patrick Gibson, Golden Brooks, and Wallace Langham.

Just ahead of San Diego Comic Con, DC announced a new wave of their inexplicably successful Hanna Barbera/DC Universe crossovers.

The unquestionable highlight of the new batch is Green Lantern/Huckleberry Hound. This one-shot will be written by and I can't believe I'm typing this, long time Huckleberry Hound writer Mark Russell. Russell, who has won ongoing critical acclaim for his work on Prezand The Flintstones, has been most recently working on The Snagglepuss Chronicles, a startlingly accurate and interesting history of the American gay community that cast the titular large pink cat as a gay southern playwright in 50s New York City, while his best friend, Huckleberry Hound, carries on a relationship with a closeted police officer Quick Draw McGraw. I am continually amazed at the things that get published as part of this line. It's even crazier that they're so good. The new book resurrects Huckleberry Hound and places him in the middle of campus protests over Vietnam with John Stewart. Joining Russell on this book is Rick Leonardi (Uncanny X-Men,nearly everything else).

The other books included in this wave are:

SUPERMAN/TOP CAT SPECIAL #1

written by DAN DiDIO

art and cover by SHANE DAVIS

variant cover by EMANUELA LUPACCHINO

It’s Superman versus super food with Top Cat caught in the middle. While searching for his missing friend Bennie, TC uncovers a dietary danger that threatens the healthier portions of mankind, and it’s up to the Man of Steel to stop the probiotic menace of Kalien! In the salad bar, no one can hear you scream.

DEATHSTROKE/YOGI BEAR SPECIAL #1

Written by FRANK TIERI

Art by MARK TEXEIRA

cover by TYLER KIRKHAM

variant cover by PAOLO PANTALENA

In Yellowstone Park, legends speak of a spirit bear referred to as “the Yogi,” which few if any have actually encountered. Real or not, when a bear seems to have graduated from stealing picnic baskets to kidnapping actual campers, Ranger Smith decides it’s time to stop this menace—so he calls on the services of Slade Wilson—a.k.a. Deathstroke—to get the job done.

NIGHTWING/MAGILLA GORILLA SPECIAL #1

written by HEATH CORSON

art by TOM GRUMMETT

cover by MARCUS TO

variant cover by JONBOY MEYERS

When a famous Hollywood talent agent is found brutally murdered, suspicion and evidence seem to point to his most famous client, Oscar winning actor Magilla Gorilla. Dick Grayson, already in Tinseltown to meet with said agent, senses something suspicious. Donning his Nightwing costume and joining forces with the simian suspect, he’s got one night to prove that this monkey doesn’t belong in a cage.

The latest wave included Brian Hill writing and Denys Cowan and Bill Sienkiewicz drawing Hong Kong Phooey/Black Lightning, a note perfect 70s kung fu movie that starred a giant hound as the grizzled Vietnam vet martial artist. And prior to that, we got Batman/Elmer Fuddfrom Tom King and Lee Weeks, a comic that starred Batman and the cartoon hunter that is somehow up for two Eisners.

For more on inexplicably amazing crossovers or the latest news and updates from San Diego Comic Con 2018, stick with Den of Geek!

This post was sponsored by Penguin Random House. The views expressed in the article were not influenced by this sponsorship.

"The ultimate weapon. The ultimate prize. Winner takes all." So says the tagline for Nyxia, the first novel in a three-part young adult series by Scott Reintgen. With the second installment in the series, Nyxia Unleashed, about to hit bookshelves, we're taking the time to catch readers new and old up on what went down in The Nyxiad Triad's riveting debut.

In the world of The Nyxiad Triad, teenagers are gathered from around the world to compete for a chance to mine an incredible resource on an alien world. The corporation funding this operation, Babel Communications, dangles quite the tantalizing prize in front of them: For the cost of working for a short time and being away from home for a couple years, these kids and their families will be set financially—around $50 thousand a month for life. Of course, there are a few catches, and not all is as it seems aboard Babel’s ship Genesis 11.

Emmett is the lens through which this story is told. He’s a bright young man from Detroit who is tempted by the monetary compensation Babel offers. His mother is chronically ill. With the money, he can provide a better life for his family. Emmett also seeks to validate the family name. He carries with himself a token from their past: a key made to open the chains of a former slave ancestor. With this opportunity, he hopes to have a success story as his legacy.

Babel Communications brings together kids from many different walks of life: Emmett is from Detroit, Michigan. Bilal is from Palestine, Kaya and Katsu from Japan, Jasmin from Tennessee, Azima from Kenya, Jaime from Switzerland, Isadora from Brazil, Longwei from China, and Roathy from the Triarch Empire. Thanks to Babel’s nyxia-enabled technology, they can all easily converse with each other.

Emmett explained early in the book about the origin of the name Babel: "I don’t know much about the Bible, but I do remember the story of Babel. I always thought it was weird. God scatters the people and gives them different languages. Babel Communications has gathered the peoples of Earth and reversed it. There’s something sacred to our easy, borderless conversation. Either something sacred or something forbidden."

There’s definitely some Biblical allusions in the book. Babel Communications is the most obvious metaphor. They provide the international crew and contestants with devices so they can easily understand each other, completely antithesis to the Tower of Babel story. And of course, the end goal is to reach Eden, the planet which contains the only known source of nyxia.

Nyxia is a well composed novel, easily accessible to casual readers as it is quick-paced and packed with action, but also conscious of the classic science fiction lover. There’s not a lot of heavy descriptions here, and in fact sometimes I think we miss a line or two of needed description as I had to go back at least twice to re-read a paragraph and see whom I missed entering a room or joining a fight.

This is a large cast of characters, who we only meet more of during the journey to Eden, but Reintgen does an admirable job giving our characters easily identifiable character traits, so they were no longer just names on a page but people with complicated lives. As Emmett grows close to the ever-friendly Bilal and the adventurous Kaya, we also grow close to them.

At the center of this story is nyxia. Nyxia is without a specific form, resembling a black stone until someone forces their will to shape it. Nyxia is an impressive, powerful and dangerous tool. During the story, it is used to make translation gear, form deadly weapons, and shaped into any number of obstacles or whatever the situation requires. It’s almost too powerful, the Mary Sue of tools, and so it needs some boundaries to make it somewhat believable. For one, it can’t be transformed into water. And also, the nyxia is limited by the strength of its user. If someone is not ready to manipulate nyxia, they are in peril of being manipulated themselves.

Read Nyxia by Scott Reintgen

There’s a couple instances in which we see how dangerous the nyxia can be. In one quick scene, the kids are given the task to manipulate larger and larger pieces of the material until they collapse. Emmett prides himself on getting further along than a competitor until it’s his turn to feel the negative effects.

“Pride comes before the fall…” Emmett describes, echoing another Biblical sentiment. “Something outside me pushes its way in. Claws explore the deepest places, touch the parts of me I will never see. In that impossible dark, I see a face…”

Nyxia is described as having an inner pulse, an alluring temptation. In this instance, it is personified and we truly see it as more than a sculpting material to be used by a powerful will. Sometimes, it forces its will right back. It’s a bit nightmarish, and makes me wonder if we’ll be exploring the substance’s hidden personality in the next volume Nyxia Unleashed.

To me, nyxia represents temptation. It’s raw, unchecked power and the greed of Babel Communications (and the greed they in turn inspire in these teens) is what forces some truly awful consequences.

Three quarters of the way through the book, the stakes for the kids aboard Genesis 11 change drastically. It wouldn’t be fair to spoil that here. Just know that, around this point in the book, Emmett has every reason to be very suspicious of Babel’s motives and methods.

The story takes us through some significant twists. It goes from a simple competition to a dark world of corruption and mistrust. We see characters like Jaime and Roathy and Isadora change greatly over the course of the story, for better or worse. The antagonists are not always clear-cut. The only truth is that there is always something underneath it all, like the mysterious force that exists within the nyxia itself.

Read Nyxia: Unleashed by Scott Reintgen

Nyxia works for me because it doesn’t talk down to its readers. It is aware that teens live complicated lives, are insightful and aware of their surroundings, and can fall victim to the vices of greed and avarice just like adults. Best yet, our main guy Emmett is not always the best person. He tries to be, but he has some moments in which he describes himself as a destructive black hole. He knows he is capable of great harm if he lets loose, but he tries desperately to keep that in check.

Mistakes are made. Promises are broken. The pursuit of this seemingly magical nyxia is at the center of it all, but to what lengths is this group of teens willing to go in order to get the payday of their dreams? You’ll have to check out the book to find out. With the next installment about to drop, it's the perfect time to dive into The Nyxia Triad.

The second book in the Nyxia Triad series, Nyxia Unleashed, will be published July 17, 2018. 

Join the Den of Geek Book Club! Featuring book giveaways and exclusive author interviews, this is a place to recommend, discuss, and obsess over the best current and classic fantasy, science fiction, and horror books. 

Join us in discussing our latest pick...

July/August: Heroine's Journey by Sarah Kuhn

The third book in Sarah Kuhn's ridiculously fun Heroine Complex series, Heroine's Journey follows Bea Tanaka, the younger sister of Heroine Complex protagonist Evie Tanaka. An aspiring twenty-something superheroine who just wants to stop being treated like a kid and be allowed to help save the Bay Area alongside Evie and Evie's superhero partner-best friend Aveda Jupiter, Bea has the power to influence other's emotions—also, sometimes, when she screams, she blows things up. 

In the Heroine Complex world, Kuhn has created an alternate San Fran where a demon opened an Otherworld portal 13 years prior, setting into motion a series of events that led to the creation of other local portals through which demons can come into our world and the development of a human population with otherworldly powers of their own. Bea, Evie, and Aveda are three of those humans, and are part of a superhero team that would give the Scooby gang a run for its found family money.

You don't need to have read the previous two books in the series, centered around Evie and Aveda respectively, to enjoy this world. Kuhn has crafted a story filled with whip smart dialogue, complex female relationships, romance, silly yet dangerous demons, and Asian American superhero representation that works for the casual and more completist reader alike. Fair warning, though: If you go into this one blind, you will find yourself going back to read the other two installments. That's just the way the demon cupcake crumbles.

Come discuss Heroine's Journey and other speculative fiction picks over at the Den of Geek Book Club, and stay tuned for more Heroine's Journey-related treats in the coming month!

Read Heroine's Journey by Sarah Kuhn

June/July: Brief Cases by Jim Butcher

Brief Cases, a collection of several of Butcher's excellent short stories and novellas from within the universe of Harry Dresden, is a delight for new and old Dresden Files fans alike. Centered around the theme of parenting, the stories in the collection range from a prequel set in the Old West to a Rashomon-style tale of Harry discovering a warlock at the zoo.

You can read our full review of Brief Cases here, or head over to the Den of Geek Book Club to discuss the book. We're also giving away a complete set of the Dresden Files books, if you're looking to add to your own collection. Find out how to enter here.

Read Brief Cases by Jim Butcher

May/June Pick: Ship It by Britta Lundin

Riverdale is one of Den of Geek's favorite shows, so when we heard one of its writers was coming out with her debut novel, you better believe we put it on our must-read list.

Britta Lundin's Ship It is the story of a teen fanfiction writer, Claire, who is pulled into the behind-the-scenes world of her favorite TV show, and Forest, one of the show's male leads who understands absolutely nothing about fandom. Ship It is an exploration of fandom, queerness, TV creation, and love in its many forms. Read our full review here, then check out our podcast interview with Lundin.

Join the Ship It discussion over on the Den of Geek Book Club Goodreads page.

April/May Pick: The Power by Naomi Alderman

Imagine a world that completely flips the balance of power when it comes to gender. This is the setting for The Power, Naomi Alderman's 2016 science fiction novel set in a world in which women develop the ability to shoot electric jolts from their fingertips, leading to their dominance as a gender.

As Delia Harrington notes in a review for Den of Geek, The Power is a vital read for a time in which some falsely claim that women have stolen all of the power from men. President Obama named this one of this favorite books of 2017, and the book somehow feels even more relevant now than it did when it was published just two long years ago.

If you're into The Handmaid's Tale, then check out the novel that has been called "our era's Handmaid's Tale." Then head over to the Den of Geek Book Club Goodreads page to discuss.

March/April Pick: Children of Blood & Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Children of Blood and Bone is the first book in the West African-inspired fantasy series Legacy of Orisha. The debut from 24-year-old Tomi Adeyemi made waves when it was bought by Macmillan for a reported seven-figure sum.

The story follows Zelie, a girl who lost her mother in the purge of magic executed by Orisha's totalitarian ruler, Saran. In the first book, Zelie sets out to restore magic to the land and take down Saran, with a little help from her friends: a giant lionaire, her older brother Tzain, and Princess Amari. Prince Inan, another protagonist in the book, pursues Zelie as she undergoes her quest, torn between his family and, you know, doing the right thing.

Read our full review of Children of Blood and Bone.

Children of Blood and Bone is a promising start to a new young adult fantasy series that is set to take the world by storm. Head over to our Den of Geek Book Club page to join the discussion!

February/March Pick: All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai

All Our Wrong Todays is a time travel novel where the "wrong" timeline is our own. When protagonist Tom Barren travels back in time using his father's technology, he changes the world from a utopia where the problems of war, poverty, and under-ripe avocados have been solved, into, well, this one. By centering our timeline as the "wrong" one, author Elan Mastai subverts many of the classic time travel narrative trope, giving us a fresh science fiction novel for anyone who worries they're living in the darkest timeline.

You can read our full review of the book here, check out our interview with author Elan Mastai, then head over to our Den of Geek Book Club page to join the discussion!

January/February Pick: Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor is a Hugo Award-winning novella about a young African woman who leaves her home on Earth for the first time to attend an intergalactic university on another planet. On the voyage, something goes terribly wrong, forcing Binti to rely on her mathematic skills and her culture to survive.

Learn more about Binti and Nnedi Okorafor's other work.

The Afrofuturist space adventure novella is unlike anything I have ever read, coming from one of the most exciting authors working in science fiction right now. The story continues in two follow-up novellas already published.

Head over to our Den of Geek Book Club page to join in the discussion! 

The King of Atlantis is ready for his big moment! Den of Geek is proud to reveal Aquaman as the cover story of our 2018 San Diego Comic-Con special edition magazine, featuring an exclusive, first-look at previously unrevealed characters in the upcoming Warner Bros. film.

Our Aquaman cover was inspired by an illustration from DC Comics artists Ivan Reis, Joe Prado, and Marcelo Maiolo. “The inspiration behind this original work was those classic comic book covers that gave the reader a look at the characters involved in the story and also hints of, and a feel for, their worlds,” Aquaman producer Peter Safran says. “It was commissioned by James Wan in the very early R and D stages of pre-production, as he was beginning to define the worlds in which our film would live. It was not originally intended to be a one sheet, but we all loved it so much that we had the idea to transform it into a photorealistic version and use it as a poster.”

Sergio Grisanti of Little Giant Studios re-envisioned the art photorealistically to create the movie-accurate renditions of the characters you see here. Check it out...

The cover features Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Amber Heard as Mera, Patrick Wilson as Ocean Master, Willem Dafoe as Vulko, Yahya Abdul-Mateen in the iconic Black Manta helmet, and Nicole Kidman as Atlanna. It also gives fans their first look at Dolph Lundgren as Nereus, as well as several of the other mysterious kingdoms of Atlantis, including the first look at the terrifying undersea race, the Trench.

Check it out...

Our Aquaman cover story features interviews with star Jason Momoa, director James Wan, and producer Peter Safran, as they discuss the development of the movie, the challenges of bringing a character like Arthur Curry to life, and where it fits in the Warner Brothers' DC Universe movies.

The glossy, 68-page collector’s edition Den of Geek magazine will be distributed at San Diego Comic-Con from Wednesday, July 18 through Sunday, July 22. The magazine also features in-depth previews and interviews for Better Call Saul, The Predator, Castle Rock, Mission: Impossible - Fallout, and Equalizer 2. A digital version of the magazine will be available to read for free on DenofGeek.com beginning on July 18. Click here to view previous digital issues of Den of Geek magazine.

Den of Geek will have its largest presence ever at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con with a team of writers and video producers bringing fans up to the minute coverage of the show, a launch party celebrating the release of our latest print edition, and exclusive interview opportunities with talent at the Den of Geek Interview Suite at the OMNI Hotel.

Den of Geekand TOR Books will present a special invite-only happy hour on Thursday, July 19, at the Horton Grand Hotel.

You can find Den of Geek contributors moderating key panels during the show. Video reporter Bevin will moderate the Van Helsing panel on Thursday, July 19 at 4:00 p.m. in the Indigo Ballroom. Associate editor Kayti Burt will moderate the Wynonna Earp panel on Saturday, July 21 at 6:45 p.m. in Convention Center room 6DE, as well as Tor's #FearlessWomen panel on Thursday, July 19 at 3 p.m. in the Horton Grand Theatre. Culture reporter Alejandro Rojas will give a special presentation on MARS during Nerd Nite with National Geographic on Friday, July 20 at 8:00 p.m. at the Hotel Solamar.

Follow us on social media for all the breaking news coming out of SDCC! Facebook, Twitter, Instagram

When it comes to Mark Millar’s upcoming project, Empress, we could be seeing the next phase of the comic book movie renaissance. In what seemed like an unprecedented move, the comic movie adaptation went into development before the release of the comic title it adapts. However, a lot has changed since then, notably Netflix's acquisition of Millarworld.

Millar’s Empress project has been a heralded topic in the comic book world for the last few years, showcasing an embattled female lead amidst a Jack-Kirby, New Gods-esque dynamic of the political power struggles of intergalactic titans. Millar's comic title, illustrated by Stuart Immonen, launched in 2016 with the first of a six-issue miniseries trilogy.

In the latest news, the Empressmovie has officially landed on Netflix's first slate of Millarworld adaptation projects, capitalizing on the streaming giant's 2017 acquisition of Mark Millar's publishing brand. Writer Lindsey Beer, who worked on upcoming comedy Sierra Burgess is a Loser, as well as the 2019-scheduled Tom Holland/Daisy Ridley sci-fi film, Chaos Walking, will adapt Empress, joined by producers Joe Roth and Jeff Kirschenbaum (The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle, Maleficent).

Here's Netflix's official plot description:

Queen Emporia is married to (literally) the worst dictator in the galaxy, King Morax. After escaping his palace with her children, Emporia and her family, must hide from Morax and his army at all costs -- even if it takes teleporting from planet to planet to avoid them.

This is first substantive development on the Empress movie front since 2016, when Millar – before the Netflix acquisition – was teasing that he'd already cast the film's lead actress, supplemented by a photo of a scarf-covered woman. While Anne Hathaway seemed to be the dominant guess amongst the inquisitive fandom, other names like Krysten Ritter, Charlize Theron, Alicia Vikander (and, jokingly, Eddie Redmayne) were also in the pool. 

Of course, the mystery actress tease turned out to be a stunt and the woman in the photo wasn't even an actress.

Name the Hollywood actress starring in the Empress movie!#EmpressComic#MillarImmonen#April6thpic.twitter.com/c1sR1ukqmm

— Mark Millar (@mrmarkmillar) March 8, 2016

However, one aspect from the mystery actress debacle that still needs to be considered is that Millar had previously gone on record, touting how the role of Empress will distinguish itself by addressing a controversy in Hollywood when it comes to an unrepresented demographic in over-40 actresses. As Millar told ComicBoook.com, “There aren't really that many action roles for 40-year-old actresses when you think about it so I think that’s what’s caused a lot of the excitement among the various actresses hearing about this. It’s going to be a really fun part for a movie-star.”

With that idea in place, another sphere of speculation could still point to an actress such as Angelina Jolie. Such an idea would be supplemented by the poeticism behind Jolie (no stranger to action movies,) reuniting with Millar after their successful collaboration in 2008’s Wanted. Of course, opinions still vary on the identity of the woman in the photo.

Regardless, Empress will be an amalgamation of several dramatic tropes, evoking an aura of the court of Flash Gordon evil overlord, Ming the Merciless while grounding itself in the relatable drama in the struggle of its embattled title character. While on the surface, Empress is the wife and mother of three children to a powerful and cruel interplanetary tyrant named King Morax who appears complicit in his sadistic stewardship, she secretly plots an escape with her children.

With the help of a brave bodyguard, they risk everything in this elaborate estrangement plot. Of course, the mythology comes with an obligatory twist: The planet in question, is Earth… 65 million years ago! Of course, Empress is, by no means a dainty damsel in distress on an ancient Earth and will be showcasing some impressive powers and fighting skills of her own. In fact, she seems akin the archetype of Kirby’s Big Barda as a super-powered former intergalactic agent of tyranny to Darkseid who grows a conscience and breaks free.

Whichever high-profile actress (in or nearing her 40’s) has actually nabbed the role for Empress, it certainly sounds like a fascinating project. If anything, its shocking, cart-before-the-horse, preemptive movie rollout strategy highlights how far the comic book film genre has come. We shall see what develops on Apr. 6 with the big reveal!

Marvel’s What If series has been a regular and then semi-regular thing since debuting back in 1977. With over 200 issues, the alternate history take on Marvel’s heroes, villains, and stories have gone in all sorts of crazy directions. We’ve gotten such wacky concepts as Jane Foster as Thor, Spider-Man’s clone surviving his initial storyline, Bucky Barnes as Captain America, Deadpool wearing the Venom symbiote, Elektra not being dead, everyone knowing that Daredevil is blind, Hulk becoming a barbarian, Spider-Man not being married to Mary Jane, General Ross becoming the Hulk, and...

Huh.

Well, they were far-fetched back then.

What Ifwent from two lengthy on-goings to the occasional annual batch of releases. The last batch came at the end of 2015 with a handful of stories based on the events of Infinity. I’m happy to have two pieces of great news as not only are there new What Ifissues coming out this October, but they are character-based and not revolving around a specific event. Because Marvel’s recent events have been very not so good.

We start out on October 3 with Gerry Conway and Diego Olortegui giving us What If? Spider-Man #1. The idea is simple: What if the radioactive spider took a bite out of Flash Thompson instead of Peter Parker?

What If has actually tackled this topic on two separate occasions, albeit back before Flash was depicted as a heroic character on the reg. One issue showed him as a superhero who died due to his focus on physical prowess to the point that he never had any gadgets (ie. webbing) to back him up. The other issue had the power go to his head, leading to a situation where a powerless Peter Parker had to turn himself into a Doc Ock type to defeat him.

The same week gives us What If? X-Men #1, which is...um...a thing. Bryan Edward Hill, Neil Edwards, and Giannis Milonogiannis join together to give us a tale about a society living inside the internet where mutants can do it for free. I think? In this reality, Xavier leads the .EXE/Men and Domino looks all Ghost in a Shell.

Yeah, I don’t know. This will probably look really embarrassing in ten years.

On October 10, Carl Potts and Juanan Ramirez do What If? The Punisher #1. In this world, the death of Uncle Ben drives Peter Parker down a dark path that includes wearing a skull insignia on his shirt and killing bad guys.

The closest we got to something like this in the older What If comics were a comic about Spider-Man beating the burglar to death and feeling all guilty about it and a story about Spider-Man and Wolverine becoming heroic mercenaries. Though there was a comic about the Punisher wearing the Venom symbiote and rocking the similar wrist guns.

October 17 brings us a Sebastian Griner and Caspar Wijngaard collaboration with What If? Ghost Rider #1. I...have no idea what this is actually about. I think it’s some crossover with an actual yet-to-be-named Nordic metal band or something and it’s using the current version of the character. If anything, it’s supposed to play up how utterly metal the character is, so we’ll see how that pays off.

What If? Thor #1 will be brought to us on October 24, by Michele Bandini and Marco Checchetto. A rather novel idea that I’m surprised hasn’t been used yet: the Frost Giants defeated Odin and Asgard, only to adopt young Thor. Now Thor is the odd-god-out instead of Loki and we’ll see what all that entails.

Lastly, on October 31, we get What If? Magik #1by Leah Williams and Filipe Andrade. The idea is that in regular continuity, Magik has had a rough and ridiculous life as a magical mutant superhero, so in this reality, after escaping Limbo, she decides to nope her way out of anything to do with the X-Men and find a different path.

Not only that, but Marvel will be rereleasing a whole bunch of classic What If issues under the "True Believers" banner. All of these babies for a dollar:

• What If the Avengers Had Fought Evil During the 1950s?
• What If Jane Foster Had Found the Hammer of Thor?
• What If the Alien Costume Had Possessed Spider-Man?
• What If Spider-Man Had Rescued Gwen Stacy?
• What If the Fantastic Four Had Not Gained Their Powers?
• What If Dr. Doom Had Become a Hero?
• What If Kraven the Hunter Had Killed Spider-Man?
• What If the Silver Surfer Possessed the Infinity Gauntlet?
• What If Legion Had Killed Magneto?
• What If the Fantastic Four Had Different Super-Powers?

Outside of that one about the Fantastic Four not getting their powers, those are all solid stories.

In the meantime, feel free to read this big-ass list I wrote about the top 100 What If moments.

Gavin Jasper wants to read What If Rom: Spaceknight Remained a Marvel Property?Follow Gavin on Twitter!

Happy real Nerdprom, everyone! This year’s Eisner Awards will be a gathering of comic industry luminaries, and unlike the frauds at the White House Correspondents Association, these nerds are people you’ll actually want to hang out with. Last year’s big winner, Saga, is still going strong, but missed out on the nominations in 2018, so we’re looking forward to some new faces on at the podium. We took a look at a handful of headline categories to try and predict who we think will (or would like to see) win.

Best Continuing Series

• Black Hammer, by Jeff Lemire, Dean Ormston, and David Rubín (Dark Horse)
• Giant Days, by John Allison, Max Sarin, and Liz Fleming (BOOM! Box)
• Hawkeye, by Kelly Thompson, Leonardo Romero, and Mike Walsh (Marvel)
• Monstress, by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda (Image)
• The Wicked + The Divine, by Kieron Gillen & Jamie McKelvie (Image)

Black Hammeris incredible, and Giant Days is great all-ages fare, but we picked it last year and you know the old saying - “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me...you can’t fool me again.” Takeda and Liu have built a rich, beautiful fantasy world that’s is a great wonderful gateway into comics for people new to comics. Monstress is also a rich, rewarding read for long-time comics fans.

Best Limited Series

• Black Panther: World of Wakanda, by Roxane Gay, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Alitha E. Martinez (Marvel)
• Extremity, by Daniel Warren Johnson (Image/Skybound)
• The Flintstones, by Mark Russell, Steve Pugh, Rick Leonardi, and Scott Hanna (DC)
• Mister Miracle, by Tom King and Mitch Gerads (DC)
• X-Men: Grand Design, by Ed Piskor (Marvel)

This category is impossible. Every one of these comics is amazing and should win. Grand Design has all the charm and effective storytelling that Hip-Hop Family Tree had, but with all the garbage X-Men continuity that I love. World of Wakanda brought fresh new voices to the exceptional world that Ta-Nehisi Coates crafted. And while Mister Miracle is a mortal lock for our best comics of 2018, I’m going to skip it because its best issue so far (#7, the childbirth one) came out in March. Flintstones had absolutely no business being as good as it was, but it was the fastest, funniest satire in almost any medium in 2017.

Best New Series

• Black Bolt, by Saladin Ahmed and Christian Ward (Marvel)
• Grass Kings, by Matt Kindt and Tyler Jenkins (BOOM! Studios)
• Maestros, by Steve Skroce (Image)
• Redlands, by Jordie Belaire and Vanesa Del Rey (Image)
• Royal City, by Jeff Lemire (Image)

Nearly every Marvel comic nominated for an Eisner that isn’t a limited series has already been canceled, and Black Bolt is the best of the bunch. I bet the Eisners don’t miss a chance to send a message to Marvel about their publishing strategy.

Best Humor Publication

• Baking with Kafka, by Tom Gauld (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Batman/Elmer Fudd Special #1, by Tom King, Lee Weeks, and Byron Vaughn (DC)
• The Flintstones, by Mark Russell, Steve Pugh, Rick Leonardi, and Scott Hanna (DC)
• Rock Candy Mountain, by Kyle Starks (Image)
• Wallace the Brave, by Will Henry (Andrews McMeel)

Batman/Elmer Fudd is jet black film noir turned into a comic book that happens to feature a filthy Tweety Bird as a gangster, Bugs Bunny as a down-on-his-luck mob lowlife drinking carrot juice at a bar, and Elmer Fudd hunting Batman for stealing his girlfriend. It didn’t really strike me until I read the nominations that it was actually a humor publication, though.

Best Graphic Album—New

• Crawl Space, by Jesse Jacobs (Koyama Press)
• Eartha, by Cathy Malkasian (Fantagraphics)
• My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, by Emil Ferris (Fantagraphics)
• Stages of Rot, by Linnea Sterte (Peow)
• The Story of Jezebel, by Elijah Brubaker (Uncivilized Books)

Emil Ferris’ comic is the best comics debut I’ve ever read. The craft involved in its creation is incredible. If I had to pick a big winner for the Eisners, My Favorite Thing Is Monsters and Ferris nominated for best coloring, lettering and best writer/artist,seems poised to clean up.

Best Writer

• Tom King, Batman, Batman Annual #2, Batman/Elmer Fudd Special #1, Mister Miracle (DC)
• Matt Kindt, Grass Kings (BOOM! Studios); Ether (Dark Horse); Eternity, X-O Manowar (Valiant)
• Jeff Lemire, Black Hammer (Dark Horse); Descender (Image)
• Marjorie Liu, Monstress (Image)
• Mark Russell, The Flintstones (DC)

The body of King’s work over the last year should be what pushes him over the edge. Kindt is maybe the best writer at Valiant, and the Divinity/Eternity cycle is one of my favorite books they’ve put out, but King has been unbelievably good, and probably deserves to win on the strength of Mister Miracle alone..

Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team

• Isabelle Arsenault, Louis Undercover (Groundwood Books/House of Anansi)
• Mitch Gerads, Mister Miracle (DC)
• Gary Gianni, Hellboy: Into the Silent Sea (Dark Horse)
• Ramón K. Perez, Jane (Archaia)
• David Rubín, Black Hammer #9 & #12, Ether, Sherlock Frankenstein #1–3 (Dark Horse); Beowulf (Image)

Ramon Perez is on the verge of being a superstar. His Nova was an outstanding book full of energy and vibrant characters. Jane, giving him a full graphic novel’s worth of pages to tell an art house romance adaptation of Jane Eyre, is as close to Eisner-bait as you can get.

Best Cover Artist

• Jorge Corona, No. 1 with a Bullet (Image)
• Nick Derington, Mister Miracle (DC); Doom Patrol (DC Young Animal)
• Brian Stelfreeze, Black Panther (Marvel)
• Sana Takeda, Monstress (Image)
• Julian Totino Tedesco, Hawkeye (Marvel)

This is a tough category to handicap, but it feels like Tedesco will win here. No covers are as well matched to the books’ interiors as his Hawkeye covers about Kate Bishop’s adventures.

Read the Den of Geek SDCC 2018 Special Edition Magazine Here!

Brian Michael Bendis believes in Superman. Twenty-five years into a comics career that includes a massive 17-year stretch with Marvel Comics, the writer moved to DC Comics. And like Jack Kirby and John Byrne, two other former Marvel creators who built new legacies at DC, Bendis went to work on the Man of Steel.

“I wrote this seven-page Superman manifesto,” Bendis says. “I took a couple of months to really rediscover the character, not as a fan but as a co-author, as a steward. I dove in and found things that were truthful to me and things that surprised me about my connection to the character.”

That “manifesto” covered story ideas, new characters like the villainous Rogol Zaar, plans to give Metropolis a more pronounced identity, and more. But the key is always getting Superman right.

“The world has become so chaotic, and the news is sometimes so hateful and depressing that we're not hearing a lot of hopeful stuff,” Bendis says. “I've been handed the character whose job is to remind you to be hopeful, through his actions and presence. I get to live in his skin and write him and remind everyone that the world is a great place worth saving and worth helping.”

Bendis doesn’t buy the idea that a character as powerful as Superman isn’t relevant to modern audiences. “People feel that Superman is all powerful, so you can't relate to him. But he's all powerful and he's choosing to do the right thing with every breath he takes. That’s an almost impossible goal. As a member of society, isn't that what we're all trying to do? I'm writing a Superman reflecting hope in a world that desperately needs it.”

The writer needed to find some hope on a personal level as well. Shortly after signing with DC Comics, Bendis was diagnosed with an MRSA infection. It was severe enough that he was hospitalized for three weeks, unable to write, and unable to even see for a portion of it. He made a full recovery, but admits “there were some dark days” as he waited for the doctors to release him.

“Almost every day that I was there, Greg Rucka, who is a dear friend of mine and an underrated Superman writer, sat at the side of my bed and just talked about Superman with me in an almost quiet, meditative way,” Bendis recalls. “It was like he was Superman … It kept me hopeful and optimistic. When I got out of the hospital, I went flying right to my keyboard, because I was desperate to write the stories that you're reading right now.”   

After a pair of short stories, Bendis’ tenure on Superman officially kicked off with The Man of Steel, a limited series which paired him with a different artist for each issue. “My overall philosophy as a collaborator that I've learned over the years is to not write for myself but to write for the artist, their strengths, their goals, towards what they want,” he says. “Every artist comes at you with a different energy.”

The Man of Steel introduced a new villain, new supporting characters, and even a new status quo for Clark Kent’s home life. The next phase of the journey is this month’s relaunch of both Superman (with art by Ivan Reis and Joe Prado) and Action Comics (with art by Patrick Gleason). Each series will focus on different aspects of Superman lore.

“Action Comics is about Metropolis, The Daily Planet, stories where Clark needs to be Clark and not Superman,” Bendis says. In addition to teasing guest stars like the Question and the Guardian, and an upcoming look at the various secret organizations within the DCU, Action Comics will prominently feature Lois Lane, who was sidelined during The Man of Steel. “There's a mystery with Lois and it is something I'm very excited about,” Bendis says. “Ryan Sook is drawing Action Comics #1004. It's so far the best script I've written for DC and it’s all about Lois and Clark.”

Superman will take a slightly different approach. “Superman has the biggest adventures [and] the biggest villains,” Bendis says. “The first year of the book is a gigantic story that will land on a huge moment for the DC Universe. I'm very excited about introducing this.”

The writer is well aware of the legacy built by other creative teams, citing Richard Donner’s Superman movie, Geoff Johns’ work on the character, Alan Moore’s “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow” and others during our conversation. But he’s quick to note more recent contributions too. “Dan Jurgens, who kindly handed the baton to me after a 30-year run, has been so gracious and wonderful,” Bendis says. “And now I'm working with Patrick Gleason [on Action Comics]. His contributions to the Superman family are enormous so having him with me on this is brilliant and has made the transition so much fun. And, of course, Jim Lee was there to hold my hand on the first pages. He was a big deal, and it made it very special.”

Superman #1 is on sale now. Action Comics #1001 arrives on July 25. 

Read the Den of Geek SDCC 2018 Special Edition Magazine Here!

Summer is the perfect time to curl up with a good science fiction, fantasy, or horror read. There is a lot of speculative fiction to like this summer, but here are our top suggestions for what to dive into this sunny season. From horror in the woods to science fiction in the stars, check out one (or all) of these new classics!

The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay, OUT NOW — William Morrow

In The Cabin at the End of the World, Paul Tremblay pairs the home invasion subgenre with apocalyptic themes in this story that begins when a family’s vacation on a remote New Hampshire lake is interrupted by a group of dangerous men who are either trying to end the world or save it.

Read The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay

Ascendant by Jack Campbell, OUT NOW — Ace Press

The second book in Jack Campbell’s Genesis Fleet series picks up three years after former fleet officer Rob Geary and former Marine Mele Darcy first stood together to defend the newly-settled colony of Glenlyon. In that time, tensions in human-colonized space have only gotten worse. When Geary decides to take Glenlyon’s last destroyer to protect a diplomatic mission at nearby star Kosatka, they are again pulled into a fight to retain their freedom.

Read Ascendant by Jack Campbell 

The Calculating Stars & The Fated Sky by Mary Robinette Kowal, OUT NOW — Tor Books

The Calculating Stars and The Fated Sky are two prequels set in the world of The Lady Astronaut of Mars, explaining how a cataclysmic meteor strike accelerated the race to space in the 1950s and 1960s. These books follow pilot and mathematician Elma York in her efforts to become the first astronaut on the moon and, later, Mars.

Read The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal

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European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman by Theodora Goss, OUT NOW — Saga Press

In this sequel to Theodora Goss’ The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter, Mary Jekyll and the other daughters of literature’s mad scientists are off on an adventure to the Austro-Hungarian Empire in order to save Professor Van Helsing’s daughter, Lucinda, from the nefarious clutches of the Alchemical Society.

Read European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman by Theodora Goss

Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers, July 24 — Harper Voyager

Introducing us to a new part of the Wayfarers world, Record of a Spaceborn Few follows several humans living as part of the Exodan Fleet, a group of spaceships built when Earth became uninhabitable, on the search for a new long-term home. This book is not plot-driven, but rather an exploration of the society and culture that has built up within this homesteader fleet over many generations—thoughtful science fiction at its best.

Read Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers

Catwoman: Soulstealer by Sarah J. Maas, August 7 — Random House Books for Young Readers

The latest installment in the DC Icons Series, Catwoman: Soulstealer follows Selina Kyle two years after her escape from the Gotham City slums. In that time, she has transformed herself into the affluent Holly Vanderhees and, with Batman away on a mission, she is ready to take Gotham for herself. Luke Fox (aka Batwing), Poison Ivy, and Harley Quinn all feature in this tale of unexpected friendships within a Batman-less Gotham.

Read Catwoman: Soulstealer by Sarah J. Maas 

Mother of Invention, September — Twelfth Planet Press

Mother of Invention is an anthology of short stories that challenge conventions of gender and explore issues of artificial intelligence. Writers in this anthology include Jo Anderton, John Chu, Kameron Hurley, Rosaleen Love, Sandra McDonald, Seanan McGuire, E.C. Myers, Justina Robson, Nisi Shawl, Cat Sparks, Bogi Takács, and Kaaron Warren.

Read Mother of Invention by Twelfth Planet Press

Further Reading…

Thrawn: Alliances by Timothy Zahn, OUT NOW — Del Rey

Heroine’s Journey by Sarah Kuhn, OUT NOW — Daw

The Empire of Ashes by Anthony Ryan, OUT NOW — Ace

Luna: Moon Rising by Ian McDonald, July 31 — Tor Books

These Rebel Waves by Sara Raasch, Aug. 7 — Balzer + Bray

Ball Lightning by Cixin Liu, Aug. 14 — Tor Books

JOIN THE DEN OF GEEK BOOK CLUB!

Featuring book giveaways and exclusive author interviews. Find us on Goodreads!

Read the Den of Geek SDCC 2018 Special Edition Magazine Here!

During The Gifted’s first season, Matt Nix and company hit on many of the things X-Men fans love about the franchise: good guys fighting bigotry and oppression; soapy, complicated interpersonal relationships; and badass power combos. And, like a Blink/Thunderbird teleported Fastball Special, the show’s ability to combine traditions of the comic stories with cultural relevance made it one of the most faithful X-Men adaptations yet.

Showrunner Matt Nix told us about the core of his story and what to expect from The Gifted Season 2.

Read the Den of Geek SDCC 2018 Special Edition Magazine Here!

The Andy/Lauren relationship was the linchpin of season one. Is there going to be a similar hinge in season two’s story?

Matt Nix: There are a couple big ideas that we're exploring. One is the idea that there are a lot of different ways to fight for freedom, and they are not all necessarily compatible. We didn't want to go into next season doing a good-guys-versus-bad-guys kind of thing because that's not what it's about. We really wanted to explore the different philosophies and perspectives, with the idea that everybody believes in what they're doing and they're going about it in different ways, and they all see themselves as fighting for freedom.    

Then the other thing is what's more important, your fight or your family? Especially in the relationship between Polaris and Eclipse now that there's a baby in the picture.

The Morlocks are going to come in in a big way, and Blink's relationship to the Morlocks is going to be a big question. There's a lot of things going on, but we're still exploring the Struckers, especially with what Reed found out about himself last season.

The Morlocks were always the other side of the X-Men universe in that the X-Men were the good-looking mutant kids who could pass on the surface and for the Morlocks, like for the Resistance in The Gifted, life sucks because they're mutants. Are the Morlocks going to play an amplifying role when you bring them in or are they a separate angle on the mutant story?

One big question that we're exploring with the Morlocks is the idea of passing. Can you pass in the world above? Obviously if Thunderbird wanted to just go out and be a good-looking guy who happened to be kind of strong he could do that. He could just pretend and pass, but that's not an option for Blink.

One thing classically about the Morlocks is they're a group onto themselves. They've created this community for themselves and the idea is, hey, if you’re going to live with us, you're going to live by our rules. We’re not running around saving people above the ground, unless it's a pretty specific situation.

There’s a distinction between the Mutant Underground and the Morlocks that involves the obligation a group has to the wider world. Is a separate peace legit?

That's a big question that we're going to explore, and the idea that there is a difference between someone who is philosophically committed to your fight but can bail out at any point. Is that person somehow less committed by virtue of not having scales? Or bright green eyes and pointed ears? That's a divide that we're going to explore.

The mutant metaphor is probably as timely now as it has been in the last 25 years. Did you feel added pressure when you were creating the show because the world around it was creating a feedback loop on the X-Men metaphor?

Yes, is the short answer. After a big political event, I remember thinking, "Oh, wow. What we do with this show just got more important. How we treat these issues just got more important.”

In the first season when Thunderbird says we don't stop helping desperate people because one of them might be dangerous, it was not a coincidence. At the same time, though, I do think that one of the things that we've tried to do is we made some efforts to humanize Roderick Campbell and talk about where he was coming from. We don't want to turn it into sort of a straightforward political polemic.

At the Humanity First conference at the end of last season there's a political consultant who talks about how basically some gun rights advocates are with the mutant cause and some are not. It doesn't line up precisely with our current politics.

Gay rights has been a huge metaphor in X-Men, and rightly so, but we like the idea that maybe now maybe in our universe some gay rights people are totally down with the mutant cause, and others might be like, "Well, why are we identifying with this group that could be dangerous when we're just trying to live our lives?" So that we're not just saying that mutant rights fall onto a completely traditional left/right divide.

What are you most excited about for season two?

I love exploring why the so-called bad guys might be right. That is really exciting to me, so really digging in to some of the new characters that we're going to be exploring and these different philosophies, and really challenging the mutant underground who, in their own mind certainly they've always been the good guys.

In Grant Morrison’s X-Men run, one of the things that I was really struck by was how Magneto was struggling with what he was doing, and what was right about it and what his goals were and what he really wanted, and the compassion of the bad guys, the ways that bad guys can be motivated by love.

That's really fun for me, and that is reflected this year in how the Morlocks approach things. Also, we're going to see more of how the Purifiers approach things, and the idea of how essentially good-hearted people who feel they are helping, how can that lead to disaster?

The Gifted returns to Fox this fall.

Aquaman doesn't have the most distinguished rogues' gallery. The undersea world isn't exactly Gotham City in that regard. But the Aquaman movie is bringing the best of his enemies to the big screen. We'll meet Orm, the Ocean Master, Arthur's half-brother and rival (played by Patrick Wilson), and Black Manta (complete with iconic helmet), played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen.

But the Seven Kingdoms of Atlantis contain other forms of life, and not all of them are friendly. Comic book fans are familiar with The Trench, created by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis in the pages of DC Comics. The Trench are a lost race of Atlanteans who live in the darkest depths of the ocean, and who have evolved accordingly. They look like a cross between humanoid piranha and Stan Winston's Predator design, and their only concern is food. In this case, food can look an awful lot like you or me.

With James Wan directing the Aquaman movie, the Trench are a natural fit, given his background in horror movies. It wasn't necessarily a lock that characters so new (they first appeared in 2011) would appear in the movie, but you can catch their first official look at them on the cover of our Special Edition San Diego Comic-Con magazine. You can see them in the lower right hand corner...

“[The Trench] was a fun one for me, because it really lent itself to my horror movie background and it allowed me to bring a slice of what I’m known for into this world,” Aquaman director James Wan says. “I really wanted to capture that the ocean is majestic and magical on the one hand but on the other hand it's a terrifying experience."

That "terrifying experience" is part of the different elements of the seven kingdoms that make up Atlantis.

"When we get to see the world of Atlantis it's very magical and high-tech and advanced," Wan continues. "But when we go visit the other kingdoms [some have] devolved over the course of their evolution and they’re much more terrifying like the Trench."

Among the creatures who have "devolved," Wan also identifies the "hulking Crustacean race of people" visible on the lower left hand corner of our cover as "the Brine." 

Since the Trench have a classic horror movie look to them, it's good to know that we'll at least get a look at some practical versions of them, too.

"James always loved the Trench creatures... it was his nod or homage to horror within this world and it was something that absolutely captivated and excited him to do it,"Aquaman producer Peter Safran says. "They’re a combination of both practical and CG. We built the actual Trench creatures and we used them in some circumstances but as you’ll see because there are a multitude of them, there’s also a lot of CG that went into it."

Will we see a swarm of the Trench in the movie? What do you call a group of terrifying, carnivorous, humanoid fish creatures, anyway? A school? A shoal? 

We have more exclusive details on the Aquaman movie right here.

Read the Den of Geek SDCC 2018 Special Edition Magazine Here!

Aquaman opens on December 21. We should get a trailer at San Diego Comic-Con.

Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba's The Umbrella Academy is coming to Netflix as a live action series. The comic book series, which debuted in 2007, was first optioned as a movie before Dark Horse signed a deal with Universal Cable Productions to adapt the comic as a TV series. 

The live action series follows the estranged members of a dysfunctional family of superheroes -- The Monocle, Spaceboy, The Kraken, The Rumor, The Séance, Number Five, The Horror, and the seemingly powerless Vanya -- as they work together to solve their father’s mysterious death while coming apart at the seams due to their divergent personalities and abilities. 

Way began writing The Umbrella Academy just a year after the release of My Chemical Romance's magnum opus, The Black Parade. The series is 15 issues of Eisner Award-winning goodness that has continued to inform Way's career as a comic book writer, especially with his current run on Doom Patrol and his Young Animal line at DC. Artist Gabriel Ba has also done some of his best work on the series. (If you want something really great by Ba, check out Daytripper, which he created with his twin brother, artist Fabio Moon.)

The Umbrella Academy has been on a bit of a hiatus since 2009. Only two volumes, The Apocalypse Suite and Dallas, have been released thus far, although Way and Ba plan at least two more volumes. The third volume is called Hotel Oblivion, and it's been in the works since at least 2013 when Way tweeted out an update with some sketches of new characters. Way and Ba had agreed to begin work on Hotel Oblivion in 2014, but a lot's happened since then. Besides his music projects, Way has his own line of comics and two comic book series to write.

While it's not likely the Umbrella Academy will return on the page any time soon, fans will at least gave the show to look forward to. – Here's everything else we know:

The Umbrella Academy Photos

Netflix, via the verified (and relatively new) Twitter account @UmbrellaAcad, has revealed the very first look of the show's cast all in character. Sort of. They're faces are a bit obscured but the gang is definitely all here.

Here we have: #1 Luther Hargreeves a.k.a. Spaceboy (Tom Hooper), #2 Diego Hargreeves a.k.a. The Kraken (David Castañeda), #3 Allison Hargreeves a.k.a. The Rumor (Emmy Raver-Lampman), #4 Klaus Hargreeves a.k.a. The Séance (Robert Sheehan) #5 a.k.a. The Boy (Aidan Gallagher), and #7 Vanya Hargreeves a.k.a. The White Violin (Ellen Page).

This is the first look we've received of the actors in costume and hopefully more teaser-y goodness is on the way. 

The Umbrella Academy Release Date

Along with the teaser photo, The Umbrella Academy Twitter account confirmed that the show will arrive sometime in 2019. The series was initially targeting a 2018 date so it's fair to assume it may debut in early 2019. The first season will be 10 episodes. 

The Umbrella Academy News

Kate Walsh is the latest addition to The Umbrella Academy cast. She will play a recurring character called The Handler, officially described as “a composed and confident leader of a mysterious, bureaucratic company who is always ready to manage any situation — though it's best not to get on her bad side. Her charm is her greatest strength and she uses it to her advantage to complete the business of her organization.”

Walsh is currently fielding a run on the imminently-returning hit Netflix series, 13 Reasons Why. She’s best known from her run on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy, which was parlayed to the spinoff series, Private Practice. She also starred in shows such as Bad Judge, Fargo, The Drew Carey Show and films such as Girls Trip, The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Legion.

The Umbrella Academy Cast

Netflix has revealed the core cast of the show. Here are the actors who will portray the members of the Umbrella Academy:

Ellen Page (X-Men: Days of Future Past) will star as Vanya, who is estranged from the rest of the family because of her lack of powers. Vanya is a very important character in the first arc of the comics, as she goes through a bit of self-discovery that puts her at odds with the superheroes she once called a family.

Tom Hopper (Game of Thrones) plays Luther, aka Spaceboy. He has super-strength, and after a terrible accident during an expedition to Mars, his head had to be transplanted onto the body of a gorilla. Ehem...

Emmy Raver-Lampman (Hamilton) will play Allison, aka The Rumor, who can alter reality by lying. 

David Castaneda (El Chicano) is Diego, codenamed The Kraken. He is sort of a fuse between Aquaman and Batman. He can hold his breath indefinitely, which gives him an advantage when in water, and is an expert knife thrower.

Robert Sheehan (Misfits) is perfectly cast as Klaus aka The Seance, the most morbid character of the group. His powers, which manifest only when he's barefoot, include levitation, telekinesis, and the ability to contant the dead. In the comics, Klaus is killed at one point but rejected from both Heaven and Hell.

Aidan Gallagher (Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn) is Number Five, simply codenamed The Boy. He can effortlessly travel in time and does not age due to a temporal condition. 

Colm Feore (House of Cards) will play Sir Reginald Hargreeves, the leader of the Umbrella Academy. He is the billionaire who adopted all of the strange children that made up the superhero team. Hargreeves was known to be manipulative and cold towards the kids, something that has scarred the heroes later in life.

Adam Godley (Breaking Bad) will play Pogo, a genetically-engineered and talking chimpanzee. Pogo is a point of comfort for the Umbrella Academy, acting in much more of a fatherly and nurturing role than Hargreeves ever did. 

Ashley Madekwe (Revenge) plays Detective Patch, who is at odds with the vigilantes that protect her city. She prefers to play things by the book.

Mary J. Blige has joined the cast as well. She will play the role of Cha-Cha, the insane time-traveling assassin first introduced in the second arc of the comic, "Dallas," which reimagines the Kennedy assassination. Cha-Cha, along with her partner Hazel, believes in using the most violent method possible to dispatch her prey. 

Hazel will be played by Cameron Britton (Mindhunter). According to the official character description, Hazel will become at odds with Cha-Cha at some point after their time-traveling blood-soaked adventures begin to wear on him. 

John Magaro (The Big Short) will be a series regular, playing Leonard Peabody, described as “a sweet Average Joe,” who, while dismissed as being somewhat of a milquetoast, strikes up an unlikely romance with Vanya (Ellen Page) that plays out against the backdrop of the larger events of the series.

The Umbrella Academy Poster

Here's the first promo poster for The Umbrella Academy:

The Umbrella Academy Details

The Umbrella Academy will be produced by Universal Cable Productions. Steve Blackman (Fargo, Altered Carbon) will serve as executive producer and showrunner, with additional executive producers Bluegrass Television and Mike Richardson and Keith Goldberg from Dark Horse Entertainment. Gerard Way will serve as co-executive producer. The pilot script was adapted from the comic book series by Jeremy Slater (The Exorcist).

In 2016, Slater talked to Collider about his script:

I definitely wrote the pilot for The Umbrella Academy. I think it’s really exciting. I think it’s really surprising and funny. I took the job because I’m such an immense fan of what Gerard [Way] and Gabriel [Ba, the artist] did with that book. It’s one of those things where I would rather be the guy to screw it up than sit back and let someone else come in and do the bad adaptation. So, I was really adamant about taking the job, but the only way I was going to do it was if I could make it weird and make it true to the spirit of the book. There’s a lot of weird shit in The Umbrella Academy, and it would be very easy to sand down some of those weird edges and make it more familiar to American audiences. I’m fighting very hard to not let that happen. We’re shopping around the pilot, at the moment. We’re trying to find the right home for it and trying to find someone as excited as we are.

Rawson Marshal Thurber (Dodgeball) was originally tied to the project when it was still being considered for the big screen. He told CBR in 2016 that the series would be too difficult to adapt as a film, citing the weirdness of the book as something that could be lost in translation at a big studio. 

Slater echoed Thurber's thoughts in his interview with Collider:

I think the relationships and the dynamics are so rich in that book that, if you tried to distill it down to 90 minutes, everyone gets reduced to a cartoon and a caricature. It really is The Royal Tenenbaums with superpowers. In order to do justice to that premise, you need time to unpack those characters, and dig into what makes them tick and the different relationships that they have with each other. There is so much fertile material there to tell really interesting, really funny, really unique stories that to compress it all into an hour and a half and throw in a bunch of giant action sequences, you’re going to wind up with some total mish-mash. It’s going to be Mystery Men. It’s going to be yet another wacky comedic superhero movie that no one really wants to see. It has its own unique DNA, and I think people should respect that DNA, or they should not do the project.

Shuri, the breakout character star from Marvel Studios'Black Panther, Shuri, is poised to get her first solo series this October. Hugo- Nebula- and World Fantasy Award winning writer Nnedi Okorafor, author of Binti, Black Panther: Long Live the King and the Wakanda Forever comics spotlighting the Dora Milaje, is handling writing duties on the book.

“Shuri is an African young woman of genius level intelligence who is obsessed with technology and has traveled spiritually so far into the past that she's seen Wakanda before it was Wakanda,” said Okorafor in Bustle. “The Ancestors call her Ancient Future. And she's super ambitious. What do I love about her? Alllll that and more. She's a character in the Marvel Universe who really sings to me."

Her teammate on art is Leonardo Romero, most recently of Hawkeyeand Captain America. This book takes place firmly in the context of Ta-Nehisi Coates' Black Panther, with Shuri a technological genius who has traveled back to early Wakanda who takes the throne in T'Challa's absense while he foments revolution a half a galaxy away.

For more on Shuri's new book, Wakanda's new boss, Marvel's new wave of critically acclaimed non-comics writers, or Black Panther's new band of space rebels, stick with Den of Geek!

“Shuri is an African young woman of genius level intelligence who is obsessed with technology and has
traveled spiritually so far into the past that
she's seen Wakanda before it was Wakanda,” Okorafor told Bustle in an
interview. “The Ancestors call her Ancient Future. And she's super ambitious. What do I love about her? Alllll that and more. She's a character in the Marvel Universe who really sings
to me."

Green Lantern will be the next DC hero to get the Grant Morrison treatment. According to IGN, the company is relaunching Green Lantern with Morrison and artist Liam Sharp at the helm in November. In Morrison's words, the new series will take Hal Jordan, the leading Green Lantern in DC's long lineup of heroes to carry the name, "back to his classic roots."

"Instead of the big, epic, 12-part stories, we’re focusing down on the everyday life of a space cop. Basically, it’s no more apocalypse-ending storylines," Morrison told IGN. "The basic concept is that [Hal Jordan] is like a space cop that patrols a sector of the universe where anything can happen. We’ve made it more like a police procedural."

The initial story will see Hal hunting down three of the universe's greatest criminals after they crash land on Earth. It will be a remixed version of the character's origin story of sorts that will lead into other "space cop" adventures from the hero. 

Morrison and Sharp also revealed that their series will focus solely on Hal, foregoing the other human Lanterns and many of the familiar alien ones. Instead, the new Green Lantern book will reintroduce long forgotten alien Lanterns as well as new ones. As we've seen in his past DC work, Morrison is a big fan of bringing back characters, settings, and elements from the past. He did this during his Batman run by bringing back characters like Bat-Mite and the concept of Zur-en-Arrh. 

They also revealed the Guardians of the Universe will have a role in the book as "police chiefs who run the Corps from the station." Basically, Morrison and Sharp are really doubling down on the space cop tone of the book. 

"We’re doing Hal Jordan where, you know he’s a good cop, but is he really a good guy?" explained Morrison. "And we’re looking into his relationships and how he deals with people. And also the fact that, if you’ve got a job as a space cop, it’s hard to be stuck on the planet Earth. He has other lives on other planets. We’re gonna be looking into a lot of things that I don’t think we’ve seen a lot with Hal Jordan before."

IGN also revealed some art for the book. Here's an awesome piece from Sharp:

More news on the relaunch as we learn it!

Read the Den of Geek SDCC 2018 Special Edition Magazine Here!

DC announced a big wave of new young adult and middle-grade graphic novels from its new DC Ink and DC Zoom imprints. The books feature takes on the company's most famous characters from some of the industry's biggest writers and artists.

One of the big standouts is Superman Smashes the Klan, which is written by Gene Luen Yang, who's been writing the New Super-Man book since the Rebirth relaunch in 2016, and illustrated by Gurihiru Studios. This book is a callback to the Man of Steel's early radio adventures from the 1940s, an era during which he spent a lot of time punching white supremacists in the face. We sure miss these days:

Both publishing lines will launch in April 2019 with previously announced titles Mera: Tidebreaker (DC Ink), written by Danielle Paige and illustrated by Stephen Byrne; and Super Sons: The Polarshield Project (DC Zoom), written by Ridley Pearson with art by Ile Gonzalez.

The complete list of DC Ink and DC Zoom titles and creative teams announced to date include:

DC Ink:

MERA: TIDEBREAKER (April 2019)—written by Danielle Paige and illustrated by Stephen Byrne

UNDER THE MOON: A CATWOMAN TALE (May 2019)—written by Lauren Myracle and illustrated by Isaac Goodhart

HARLEY QUINN: BREAKING GLASS (June 2019)—written by Mariko Tamaki and illustrated by Steve Pugh

TEEN TITANS: RAVEN (July 2019)—written by Kami Garcia and illustrated by Gabriel Picolo

BATMAN: NIGHTWALKER (August 2019)—adapted by Stuart Moore from Marie Lu’s prose novel for the DC Icon series and illustrated by Chris Wildgoose

DICK GRAYSON: LOST CARNIVAL—written by Michael Moreci

GOTHAM HIGH—written by Melissa de la Cruz and illustrated by Thomas Pitilli

ORACLE RISING—written by Marieke Nijkamp

SHADOW OF THE BATGIRL—written by Sarah Kuhn

TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES: A JACK HYDE STORY—written by Alex Sanchez (working title)

WONDER WOMAN: TEMPEST TOSSED—written by Laurie Halse Anderson

WONDER WOMAN: WARBRINGER—adapted by Louise Simonson from Leigh Bardugo’s prose novel for the DC Icon series

DC Zoom:

SUPER SONS: THE POLARSHIELD PROJECT (April 2019)—written by Ridley Pearson and illustrated by Ile Gonzalez

DC SUPER HERO GIRLS: SPACED OUT (May 2019)—written by Shea Fontana and illustrated by Agnes Garbowska

SUPERMAN OF SMALLVILLE (June 2019)—written and illustrated by Art Baltazar & Franco

DEAR JUSTICE LEAGUE (July 2019)—written by Michael Northrop and illustrated by Gustavo Duarte

BATMAN: OVERDRIVE (August 2019)—written by Shea Fontana and illustrated by Marcelo Di Chiara

BLACK CANARY: IGNITE (October 2019)—written by Meg Cabot and illustrated by Cara McGee

BATMAN TALES: ONCE UPON A CRIME (November 2019)—written by Derek Fridolfs and illustrated by Dustin Nguyen

GREEN LANTERN: LEGACY (December 2019)—written by Minh Lê and illustrated by Andie Tong

DIANA, PRINCESS OF THE AMAZONS—written by Shannon and Dean Hale

SUPERMAN SMASHES THE KLAN—written by Gene Luen Yang and illustrated by Gurihiru Studios

Read the Den of Geek SDCC 2018 Special Edition Magazine Here!

Marc Silvestri is writing a new Batman book for DC. Batman/Joker: The Deadly Duo will team the Dark Knight with the Clown Prince of Crime for an unlikely adventure to recover something that's been stolen from the villain. Silvestri revealed during the DC Meet the Publishers panel at SDCC that the book will be about "seven and a half issues" long.

"The premise is that someone is screwing around with the Joker really hard and Joker can’t deal with it. He can’t handle it," Silvestri explained. "So Joker makes it so that Batman has to help him. Joker takes Jim Gordon and holds him hostage — not even Joker knows where he is — and uses that to make Batman help him. Little pieces of Gordon keep showing up and Joker says ‘look, we’re going to run out of pieces that aren’t important here soon.'"

While you might be wondering why we need another book about Batman and the Joker's relationship, Silvestri said he hoped his book would make fans surprise fans with how they feel about these characters. He didn't go into too much more detail than that, so we'll just have to wait to see if Batman and the Joker are brothers or something. Oh, and the story is out of continuity, so this won't affect the main line of Batman books. 

No release date has been set for the book, but DC co-publisher Dan DiDio said that the company won't announce a date until Silvestri is done drawing the book. 

This news shouldn't come as a surprise to fans who have followed the legendary artist's social media accounts in the last few years. He's posted tons of Batman art over the years (all of it INCREDIBLE). It was about time his old crony Jim Lee, a pal from the Marvel and early Image days, got Silvestri on the phone to write and draw a Batbook. 

Here's a piece of art from the book:

More on Batman/Joker: The Deadly Duo as we learn it!

Read the Den of Geek SDCC 2018 Special Edition Magazine Here!