Books & Comics

How to Get into Reading Comics

With comic convention season well underway and superhero franchises lighting up screens big and small, there’s never been a better time to dive into the world of reading comics. Unsure of where to start? Here’s our advice for diving into the wild, wonderful world of comic books. Physical or Digital? The first, most important decision…

The Inhumans Comic is Adding Heroes From Both X-Men and Fantastic Four

Marvel has wrapped up a week of comic book announcements with the official unveiling of The Uncanny Inhumans comic. We knew the Inhumans would be getting a series—duh, there’s a movie coming out—but what we didn’t know was that Team Inhumans would be bolstered by some major X-Men and Fantastic Four members. Okay, so we…

io9 Book Club Reminder: Meet July 7 To Discuss Ken Liu’s Grace Of Kings!

This month, the io9 Book Club is reading The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu. We’ll meet on July 7 to discuss it. Join us! What is this io9 Book Club all about? We meet once a month to discuss a book we’ve all read together, and then we have an online chat with the…

Play Arts Kai’s Venom Isn’t Crazy-Looking, But It Is Awesome

There’s kind of a running theme going on with Play Arts Kai’s Marvel variant toys—they look great, but they lack the sort of delightful insanity the company’s DC output has. Venom continues that trend, but at least he looks kind of badass while doing so. This sort of quasi-armored look Venom is a bit of…

The Harry Potter Play Opening Next Year Won’t Be a Prequel

We’ve known that J.K. Rowling was working on a play, but now we know for certain that it will open next year. And that, contrary to earlier speculation, it’s not a sequel. Rowling revealed that the play was written with Jack Thorne and director John Tiffany, and it will bear the name Harry Potter and…

Margaret Atwood Is Drawing A Comic For A “Geek Girl” Anthology

Margaret Atwood is famously averse to having her work (accurately) described as science fiction. But she’s happy enough to be called a “geek girl,” and to draw a comic for a new book called The Secret Loves of Geek Girls. Secret Loves is being funded via Kickstarter, and it’s already pretty much reached its goal…

Which DC Comics Character Has The Most Ridiculous New Costume?

DC has refreshed its stable of comics once again, putting its characters in new situations— and most of them have gotten a new look to celebrate. But as usual with superhero makeovers, some are less successful than others. So we’re going to put on our fashion-hats and rate what’s hot and what’s not in the…

Which Future Are We Heading Towards: Mad Max Or Star Trek?

“As the 21st century unfolds, science fiction increasingly comes to seem like a realist rather than a speculative genre,” says one essay/book review in the L.A. Review of Books. It’s just one of a few great pieces up at the LARB site right now, about the choice of futures we face: Mad Max versus Star…

The All-Female Avengers Team Will Survive Secret Wars with a New Series

It seems like this is the week Marvel have decided to lift the lid on their “All-New” comics universe—and the latest new series announcement is indeed a welcome one. The A-Force, the first ever all-female Avengers group, will spin off of their Secret Wars miniseries and become a full part of the Marvel Universe. https://gizmodo.com/marvel-is-creating-the-first-ever-all-female-avengers-t-1684215923…

Spider-Gwen‘s New Comic Confirms Not Everything Is “All-New” For Marvel

Good news, everyone! Spider-Gwen — the alt-verse Gwen Stacey who becomes Spider-Woman — will get a new series after Marvel stops shaking up its current comics with Secret Wars. The weird news? It also confirms that the Marvel universe we’re getting later this year may not be as “All-New, All Different” as we thought. https://gizmodo.com/marvel-will-launch-an-all-new-all-different-universe-1708974973…

A Playful (And NSFW) Webcomic About the Sex Lives of Halfling Women

If you like a bit of drama in your porn comics (and like to watch very short women getting it on with taller men), check out InCase’s webcomic Alfie. When a caravan of humans and elves visits a remote halfling village, two village women — a mother and daughter — find they’re in for some…

Which of Your Favorite Books as a Kid Do You Still Love to Read?

We can cycle through a lot of different favorite books in our lifetime, but while some of them tend to stick around, there are just as many that you never think to pick up again. Today we want to know about the books that you loved to read then, and still love to read today.…

A Hilarious Comic Following A Day In The Life Of Admiral Ackbar

Yes, every time we see Star Wars’ Admiral Ackbar, we want to scream, “It’s a trap!” But what about the person behind the meme? Well, this comic by AC Stuart takes us inside Ackbar’s suburban life. Stuart made “A Day in the Life of Admiral Ackbar” for College Humor, but also be sure to check…

A Whole Army Of Robins Descends on Gotham in This Week’s Comics

It’s a slightly quiet week for comics—but that doesn’t stop both DC launching new series, as part of its ongoing lineup revamp, and Marvel from launching another wave of Secret Wars tie-ins. But that’s not all in this week’s newest comics: Future Mulans! Time-travel police! A sequel to Evil Dead 2! We have it all.…

An Unbelievably Beautiful Sneak Peek At Your Next Comics Obsession

Want a first look at the graphic novel that everybody’s going to be raving about soon? Here are a bunch of exclusive preview pages from The Divine, a new magical realist comic from the guys who brought you Waltz With Bashir, The Realist, and some gorgeous New Yorker covers. The Divine, from Asaf Hanuka, Tomer…

The Furiosa Comic Undoes Everything Great About Mad Max: Fury Road

Mad Max: Fury Road is a brilliant, miraculous action movie—and part of that is because it’s not really about Max, instead spotlighting Charlize Theron’s excellent Imperator Furiosa. So a brand new comic exploring the origins of this fascinating female character should be great, right? WRONG. https://gizmodo.com/mad-maxs-imperator-furiosa-is-getting-her-own-comic-1711508979 Warning: Suffice to say, there will be spoilers for…

The Agent Carter TV Showrunners Are Coming to the Captain Marvel Comic

Alas! The inestimable Kelly Sue DeConnick, who helped bring Captain Marvel back to the forefront of the Marvel universe, is finally leaving the series after several years. But Marvel may have found the best replacement possible — Tara Butters and Michele Fazekas, the showrunners of Agent Carter. The new comic, coming after the whole Secret…

Comics vending machine. Just put in three pounds, fill out the form, and wait 30 minutes. Boom! Brand new comic book. Spotted at the East London Comic Arts Festival in Hackney by Cory Doctorow/Flickr.

Which Book Have You Owned The Longest?

People have been sounding the death knell of paper-and-binding style books for awhile now, but the fact remains: you can’t beat them for longevity. So which book have you had in your own personal collection for the longest? Tell us what the book is, where you got it, if you still read it, and what…

Check Out The Evolution Of Iron Man In 30 Seconds 

Here’s your cool gif for the day: The evolution of the MCU Iron Man in 30 seconds, showing off the various iterations of Tony Stark’s armor. It’s interesting to see the sheer variety in armor styles (not to mention the colors) Stark has put together in the films. via M&M Tool Parts.