Books & Comics

DC Comic’s Hardest Rocking Superhero Is Putting Out an Actual Album

If you’ve not been following along with Annie Wu and Brenden Fletcher’s excellent Black Canary comic, you might have missed that Dinah Lance is balancing life as a superhero with also being a kick-ass rock star. Now, Black Canary will release an EP that you can actually listen to. Okay, so Black Canary and her…

Black Widow’s New Comic Begins With an Incredible Love Letter to Captain America: Winter Soldier

Imagine the elevator/escape from SHIELD sequence in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Now imagine it as if it was a) a comic book, b) featured no trace of Captain America at all, c) had Black Widow instead, and d) was somehow even better. Spoilers ahead for Black Widow #1, by Mark Waid, Chris Samnee, Matthew…

Ms. Marvel Is Going To Be Educating Your Kids About Bullying and Discrimination

Even though Kamala Khan has only been around for a few years, it feels like she’s been Ms. Marvel for ages—inspiring kids all over the world with her amazing comic book. So really, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Kamala will star in a new kids-focused reading book that tackles issues surrounding bullying and…

Loki Is Running for President in Marvel’s New Comic

Donald Trump, or the trickster god? You know what, actually, still not even a difficult choice. In the timeliest of moves, given that it’s “Super Tuesday” in the U.S. Presidential garbage fire election, Marvel has revealed an all new series called Vote Loki, in which Odin’s most belligerent child decides to visit Earth and run…

The ‘Harry Potter Effect’: Books for Young Readers Got 115 Percent Longer in the Past Decade

It’s not just your imagination—kids’ books are getting longer and longer. Booklist’s Briana Shemroske surveyed middle-grade books (aimed at grades three-eight) and found their average page length was 290 in January 2016, up 115 percent from 2006—and up a staggering 173 percent from 1976. Shemroske did this research in response to an equally staggering survey…

Let Gary Wolfe teach you “How Great Science Fiction Works.” Gary K. Wolfe is one of the most prolific and influential commentators on science fiction, including several books, plus criticism in Locus Magazine. And now, he has a 24-lecture audio class on the history of science fiction, “How Great Science Fiction Works.” The class, which…

Marvel Declares April 6th to Be ‘Poe Dameron Day’

Marvel is really looking forward to its Poe Dameron comic. I mean, it’s understandable—mainly because we’re also incredibly excited for Marvel’s new ongoing Star Wars series—but man, Marvel’s going all out. As in, they’re taking over an entire day to celebrate all things Poe. The launch of Marvel Comics’ Star Wars series had its own…

Oh My God Everything About Marvel’s Poe Dameron Comic Sounds Amazing

Fact: The X-Wing books were the best Star Wars books. Double fact: The Rogue Squadron comics from Dark Horse were awesome. Unassailable triple fact: Poe Dameron is the best. Bearing all this in mind, we’re just a touch excited about Marvel’s upcoming Poe Dameron comic, which seems to be a spiritual successor to the Rogue…

This Space Opera Book Is Pure Insane Fun

Star Wars is over for now. The Expanse is off the air, and we have months to wait until Star Trek comes back to the big screen. So where are we going to get our recommended dosage of crazy-ass space action? The Far Stars trilogy by Jay Allan is a fun, wacky ride. Spoilers ahead……

First Look Inside Japan’s Epic Scifi Book Series, Legend of the Galactic Heroes

Western fans of Japan’s epic scifi anime Legend of the Galactic Heroes have been waiting decades for an official English release. They’re finally getting one this year, but that’s not all! The original novels by Yoshiki Tanaka are coming too, and io9 has an exclusive preview. https://gizmodo.com/anime-epic-legend-of-the-galactic-heroes-is-getting-a-w-1716179101 Legend of the Galactic Heroes began as a…

Marvel Brings Back Timely Comics Along With a Shockingly Good Idea

Marvel likes to say it’s been around since 1939, but the truth is the company was known as Timely Comics back then (and Atlas Comics before the change to Marvel in 1961). This year, Timely Comics will return—as an imprint that sells the first three issues of a series in one collection for a mere…

Instead of Taking Your Kids to See Gods of Egypt, Give Them A Copy of The Egypt Game

Gods of Egypt is here! And Gods of Egypt is terrible. But not every Egypt-centric adventure is as horrifyingly head-scratching as Gerard Butler’s latest career move. One of my all-time favorite books as a kid was The Egypt Game, which is wonderfully written and makes ancient history exciting in a unique way. https://gizmodo.com/murder-is-legal-and-torture-is-mandatory-because-gods-1761496886 Author Zilpha…

Some Asshole Stole This Gorgeous Piece of Batman Art Before It Reached Its New Owner

Well, this sucks. A fan of the legendary artist Bill Sienkiewicz—known for his work on The New Mutants, Batman, Elektra: Assassin, and countless other comic books—commissioned the artist to paint an extraordinary picture of Batman and the Joker… only for it to be stolen en route. Naturally, Sienkiewicz is pissed. The artist posted a shot…

Can You Guess the Dead Game of Thrones Character Who’s Turning Winds of Winter Upside Down?

With its sixth season nearly here, Game of Thrones is ready to leapfrog where George R.R. Martin’s books left off, since Martin’s The Winds of Winter is yet to arrive. But when we feel the Winds at last, there will be at least one huge surprise to Thrones viewers. Should go without saying here, but…

Squirrel Girl’s Latest Encounter With Doctor Doom Is an Amazing Throwback

Squirrel Girl is famous for one thing: Squirrels. Okay, two things: squirrels and absolutely wrecking Doctor Doom in her very first appearance. Doreen Green has been tussling with Doom once more in the latest arc of Unbeatable Squirrel Girl which culminated this week with a timey-wimey throwback to that 24-year-old duel. https://gizmodo.com/squirrel-girls-latest-adventure-is-a-wonderful-time-tra-1744803978 Spoilers ahead for…

An Art Historian Ensured This Where’s Warhol? Book Was As Accurate As Possible

As satisfying as it is for kids to find its striped shirt protagonist, Where’s Waldo? books aren’t particularly educational. So for Where’s Warhol?, a parody that has kids hunting down Andy Warhol instead, art historian Catherine Ingram ensured its detailed illustrations were as accurate as possible. The $10 picture book features 12 illustrations from artist…

The Single Most Important Thing You Can Do To Make Your Writing More Awesome

There’s no magic bullet for being a decent writer, or making people bond with your characters or fall in love with your story. Writing is a million different skills and challenges, and each story is different. But the more I struggle to make this work, the more I think there’s one key thing that makes…

At Last, You Can Get All of Leigh Brackett’s Stark Stories in One Volume

Leigh Brackett was known as the Queen of Space Opera long before she co-wrote The Empire Strikes Back. And now, you can find out why. Haffner Press has collected all of the novels and stories she wrote about space adventurer Eric John Stark into one amazing volume. Featuring cover art from Raymond Swanland (see roughs…

It Was Worth Waiting Four Months to Get This Issue of Karnak

When the first issue of Warren Ellis and Gerardo Zaffino’s Karnak series came out, it instantly cemented itself as the most amazing of Marvel’s new Inhuman comics. That was four months ago, and the wait for the second issue has been almost unbearable… but Karnak #2 is so undeniably brilliant that it was worth the…

Margaret Atwood’s Next Book Is a Prison-Bound Take on The Tempest

This year marks 400 years since the death of William Shakespeare, and to commemorate the bard, acclaimed authors are taking some of the most popular plays and retelling them with weird and wonderful twists. Margaret Atwood has revealed her own entry in the project: a novel that turns the fantastical world of The Tempest into…