Books & Comics

RIP Wolfgang Jeschke (1936-2015). The prolific German science fiction author’s books included The Others, Midas, The Last Day of Creation, and recently The Cusanus Game. As an editor with Heyne Verlag, he brought unedited overseas science fiction to German readers. Top image: Cover of Meamones Auge by Wolfgang Jeschke, via SF-Fan.De.

The Doctor Fights Monsters At Comic-Con In This Special Doctor Who Comic

The Doctor fights monsters all the time on Doctor Who — but in Titan’s San Diego Comic-Con 2015 special, he’s monster hunting at the biggest nerd event of the year. io9 has the exclusive first details, as well as some gorgeous covers and a few Who toys making their debut at the con! The special…

The New Constantine Comic Is Way More Comfortable With His Bisexuality

This week saw the launch of Constantine: Hellblazer, a new DC ongoing series for everyone’s favorite British Occult Detective. And while its first issue is enjoyable in and of itself, it has one notable little element to it: The comic is portraying John Constantine’s bisexuality more openly than ever before. Minor spoilers ahead for Constantine:…

First Exclusive Look At The Mortification In My Brother Is A Superhero!

Imagine if your older brother was a superhero. Sounds cool, right? But not if said older brother was a total dork, who had no notion that with great power comes great style. Check out an exclusive excerpt from the new book My Brother is a Superhero by David Solomons! Here’s the official synopsis for My…

The New Batman Has Another, More Batman-y Costume

The identity of DC’s new Batman, making his official debut in today’s Batman #41, isn’t his most controversial aspect: It’s the hulking new “BatMech” outfit, which is a little less Dark Knight, and a little more Iron Avenger. But it turns out he has an alternate costume out of the suit that’s much more like…

Repairmen Show Up At A Mad Science Lab The Night The Experiments Escape

Tessa Stone’s violently funny webcomic really does have the perfect title: Not Drunk Enough. Because that’s certainly how repairman Logan feels when he and a coworker show up to a corporate lab for what should be a simple job — and find the place overrun by nightmarish monsters. In fairness, Logan’s night wasn’t going well…

The Sinister Force Who Will Destroy The Valiant Comics Universe Revealed

It’s going to be a bad summer for the heroes of the Valiant universe. In the publisher’s new event Book of Death, a mysterious villain wants to destroy the world — and according to the future, he’s already won. We have the exclusive reveal of the mastermind, an interview with the creators, and a special…

Why Franklin Richards Is The Most Ridiculous Character In All Of Comics

Franklin Richards, the son of the Fantastic four’s Reed Richards and Sue Storm, isn’t just a young hero-in-training, but one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel universe. And chief among those powers is being completely insane, as these facts will prove. Franklin is 47 years old. Not in actual years, of course. But…

The Boy Who Built A 500 Million-Degree Nuclear Fusion Reactor

The following excerpt is from The Boy Who Played with Fusion by Tom Clynes. The book, released today, tells the story of science prodigy Taylor Wilson, who by age 14 had built a 500-million-degree nuclear fusion reactor. Taylor toggles another switch, energizing the vacuum pumps. He and Brinsmead and Phaneuf watch the gauge as the…

Which Book Would You Have Loved, If It Had Just Been 100 Pages Shorter?

There’s something kind of awesome about a big book that you can sink your teeth into… but some books just overstay their welcome a bit. Sometimes, an author just needs an editor to come in and slash ‘n’ burn a bit. Which book would you have loved 100 percent if it was just 100 pages…

The Future Is Here! First Look At Tor.com’s Brand New Novellas!

Tor.com has been publishing short fiction on its website for years, but now Tor’s online publisher is moving into books in a big way, with short novels. And we’ve got the first look at their four launch titles. Nnedi Okorafor goes into space! Paul Cornell writes witches! And more! Check out the covers and synopses…

Marvel Comics Reboot Includes Two Wolverines

Marvel Comics has been getting ready for a massive reboot of their comics universe, and in the last couple of days, they’ve released some teaser images that reveal just how different their world is going to get. Just days after our first group shot, Marvel has released a second. In the latest teaser image, we’re…

The Original Star Wars Saga Is Getting “Re-Imagined” In Three New Novels

Now, now, put down your space-pitchforks and stop having flashbacks back to the special editions; it’s not that bad. Three writers are returning to the original Star Wars trilogy to retell those well-worn stories through the eyes of the characters that experienced them — and it sounds like it could be a cool idea. Disney…

The Science Fiction And Fantasy Books Everyone’s Talking About In June

Looking for some awesome beach reads? Science fiction and fantasy have you covered. There’s a new Shannara book, a brand new Laurell K. Hamilton, and an Alistair Reynolds novella. Plus Scalzi’s next Old Man’s War book, and Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter’s Long Utopia. Here are all the books you can’t miss in June! The…

ROM: Spaceknight Might Be The Best Science Fiction Comic Of All Time

ROM: Spaceknight was designed as a toy, and Marvel’s comic about it was supposed to be a throwaway marketing gimmick. But writer Bill Mantlo created a space opera about duty and sacrifice, made ROM fall in love with a human, took him on fantastic pulp adventures — and made something that far outlasted the crappy…

Marvel Will Launch An “All-New, All-Different” Universe This September

We’ve already had some teasers about what’s to come for Marvel Comics after its Secret Wars event, but now we have the full details: The Marvel Comics Universe is getting a major shakeup this September, with new characters, new series, and big changes for some long-running heroes. The announcement, unveiled through Mashable and USA Today,…

A Beautifully Melancholy Webcomic About The Young Daughter Of Two Demons

Chloé C.’s webcomic Headless Bliss reveals what happens to the stories we make up after we forget about them. It starts when a figure born of the human realm encounters a curious young princess, the child of two cruel and monstrous demons. The comic is by turns funny and sad, but it’s also just plain…

The New, In-Canon Star Wars Comic Just Did Something Completely Insane

Oh my god. Today’s issue of Star Wars #6, written by Jason Aaron, contains a surprise that changes one of the series’ main characters completely — a change that, thanks to the new Disney mandate that everything is 100% official, is now Star Wars canon. Get ready to have your mind blown. **** **** Ready?…

The Biggest Question About “Diverse Books”: Diverse To Whom?

The #WeNeedDiverseBooks hashtag and campaign have sparked some amazing conversations recently. There was a panel at BookCon (which Tor.com summarizes), aroundtable discussion at Book Smugglers, and a BEA Panel (which Cecilia Tan summarizes.) And one participant brings up an excellent question: Diverse from whose point of view? Talking to Book Smugglers, M. Sereno says: I…

If you’re in San Diego tomorrow evening, you should stop by this evening of “strange collisions and alien transmission,” featuring a talk by Jeff VanderMeer!