AIPT Comics

1. The Big Three
6–7 min
Cover the three most consequential stories of the week, ranking them and giving your personal reaction.
DC announces 'Year of Wonder' for 2027 with Louise Simonson and Stephanie Williams taking over 'Wonder Woman'
'Exquisite Corpses: Book of the Dead' reveals the killers' bloody origins in January 2027
Marvel reveals Bucky Barnes and Nick Fury Sr.'s next chapter in 'Immortal Soldiers' #1
2. Rapid-fire reactions to three or four additional announcements.
3–4 min
Dan Watters brings romance and impending doom to 'The Terminator' this January
DC turns humanity into the enemy in 'Green Lantern: Doomed Cosmos' #1 this January
'Gehenna: Lust for Conquest' brings more blood-soaked chaos to Image Comics in January 2027
3. What the Press Release Isn't Saying
3–4 min
Dig into one announcement and offer an editorial perspective that listeners won't necessarily get from reading the headline.
Mister Miracle becomes Highfather in 'DC All In Saga: The New Gods' #1 this January
OTHER NEWS
Dan Watters brings romance and impending doom to 'The Terminator' this January
Sean Gordon Murphy and Corin Howell team up for 'The Lost Bones of Lake Totem' at Image Comics
DC January 2027 solicitsDC celebrates 50 years of Black Lightning with anniversary special in January 2027
DC turns humanity into the enemy in 'Green Lantern: Doomed Cosmos' #1 this January
DC announces 'Year of Wonder' for 2027 with Louise Simonson and Stephanie Williams taking over 'Wonder Woman'

Marvel Comic solicitations January 2027‘X-Men ’92’ vs. ‘X-Men: Evolution’ gets new variant covers for Marvel’s ‘Incursions’ one-shot

Our Top Books of the Week:
Dave:
Doomquest #5 (Ryan North, Francesco Mobili)
Creepshow: Vol. 5 #2 (Various)
Standout KAPOW moment of the week:
Dave: Exquisite Corpses: Rascal Randy #4 (Tyler Boss, Dylan Burnett, Jordie Bellaire)
TOP BOOKS FOR NEXT WEEK
Dave: Absolute Batman #25 (Scott Snyder, Nick Dragotta)
JUDGING BY THE COVER JR.
Dave: Universal Monsters: The Bride of Frankenstein Lives #1 (Mattia De Iulis Cover)
Interview: Jordan Blum · Tim Seeley, Artist: Scott Koblish The Big Shakedown #1 - September 16
AIPT: The Big Shakedown takes the post-apocalypse and keeps it remarkably local. The rest of the world is still out there, but Los Angeles has essentially been abandoned. What made that more interesting to you than destroying civilization altogether?
AIPT: LA already has this mythology built around reinvention, wealth, entertainment, and people coming there chasing something. What happens to that identity when the city is physically destroyed, and much of the country decides it isn't worth saving?
AIPT: Avalon stepping into the vacuum left by the government feels like a very modern evolution of the company town, while gangs and cartels have essentially become neighborhood governments. How did you figure out who would actually hold power five years after the earthquake?
AIPT: Ester has been a cop, a private investigator, and even a consultant on a Hollywood police show. How much fun was it creating a noir detective who has actually watched Los Angeles turn its own version of her profession into entertainment?
AIPT: Ester desperately wants out of LA, yet she's also trying to excavate something buried beneath the old city. Without giving away what she's looking for, what does that contradiction tell us about her relationship with the life she had before the earthquake?
AIPT: In the first issue, the 2018 Lakers on VHS to make things feel "more like then, less like now" is such a specific detail. How important is nostalgia to this story, especially for people living among the literal remains of their old lives?
AIPT: You describe the series as being in the vein of Chinatown and The Long Goodbye, but by the end of #1 we've got cult-like language, conspiracy, and this ominous reference to the "twilight child." How far did you want to stretch the boundaries of noir once Ester starts pulling at this mystery?
AIPT: Scott Koblish has to sell recognizable Los Angeles, a city devastated by an earthquake, and this heightened pulp-noir world all at once. What did the three of you establish visually that made this still feel unmistakably like LA five years after "The Big One"?
AIPT: Finally, you've destroyed Los Angeles, abandoned it, divided it among corporations and gangs, and filled it with cults and conspiracies. So let's say the three of you are stuck there for a weekend. Who survives the longest, who immediately gets into trouble, and who's somehow still complaining about the traffic?

For our milestone 400th episode, Rick Remender joins the AIPT Comics Podcast for a candid conversation about his creator-owned comics, why he turned down opportunities to write Batman and the X-Men, and what drives his most ambitious work yet. From Escape and The Seasons to The Sacrificers and Hammerfist, Remender opens up about storytelling, artistic freedom, and the future of his career. Plus, we break down the biggest comics news of the week in our full weekly recap!
Visit our Patreon page to see the various tiers you can sign up for today to get in on the ground floor of AIPT Patreon. We hope to see you chatting with us on our Discord soon!
400 episodes: big moment picks:
Dave: 2019: Doomsday Clock finally concludes
Chris: The “resistance” against AI.
Alex: House of X/Powers of X and more!
NEWS
NYCC: What we missedBarbie gets a comic series
Dinobots return!

IDW announces ‘Godzilla vs Everything’ crossover event for March 2027
Daniel Warren Johnson's 'Chainkata' #1 scores a whopping 116 retailer exclusive covers
ICV2 Numbers are inDC continues to CRUSH each quarter
Somehow Batman still beats ASM 1000!

Our Top Books of the Week:
Dave:
Legion of Super-Heroes #2 (Joshua Williamson, Hayden Sherman)
The Nice House by the Sea #12 (James Tynion IV, Alvaro Martinez Bueno)
Chris:​​
The Karman Blade #2 (DVP, Ian Bertram)
Hammer Head #1 (Ed Brisson, Damian Couceiro)
Standout KAPOW moment of the week:
Chris: Regicide #3 (Patrick Kindlon, Ludovic Lalliat)
Dave: Wolverine: Paradise #1 (Dan Panosian)
TOP BOOKS FOR NEXT WEEK
Chris: The Twilight Zone #11 (Mark Russell, Victor Alpi)
Dave: Avengers: Armageddon #5 (Chip Zdarsky, Delio Diaz)
JUDGING BY THE COVER JR.
Dave: Exquisite Corpses: Rascal Randy #4 (Dylan Burnett Polybagged With Collectible Card) (and Tyler Boss’ is good too)
Chris: Amazing Spider-Man: Halloween Special #1 (Paco Medina Variant Cover)
Interview: Rick Remender Creator Spotlight
The Seasons #12 out October 14 (and artist Paul Azaceta)
Hammerfirst #3 is out October 28th (and artist Steve Epting)
Escape #10 is out November 3 (and artist Daniel Acuna)
Rick, this is our 400th episode, so I wanted to start a little bigger than usual. You’ve been making comics for decades now, from Marvel and DC to building Giant Generator and this huge library of creator-owned work. When you look at the comics you’re making right now, do you feel like you’re in a distinctly different creative era than you were five or ten years ago?
With Hammerfist, you spend a surprising amount of time convincing us we’re reading this grounded crime noir before you really let the superhero and supernatural elements loose. Was holding that back always essential to the concept, and how much did having Steve Epting drawing the book give you the confidence to wait?
Steve Epting is so associated with grounded espionage and superhero storytelling, and Hammerfist gives him room to do both. When you finally got the opportunity to build a creator-owned book together, what did you specifically want to write that would take advantage of what Steve does better than almost anyone?
Mike Denton is a killer, an addict and a pretty terrible father, but Hammerfist keeps dangling the possibility that he could become something better. Now you’re heading into “Black Noon,” and the solicitation is asking whether this “dirtbag killer” can take one final swing at redemption. Is Hammerfist ultimately a redemption story, or are you more interested in asking whether some people actually deserve one?
One thing that fascinates me about Escape is how differently Milton and Flynn process the same war. Milton has gradually learned to recognize humanity in the people he was taught were monsters, while Flynn seems to be moving in the opposite direction. How much of the series was built around seeing what war does to two people who begin from roughly the same side but emotionally end up somewhere very different?
The solicitation for Escape #10 puts Milton in this brutal position where survival, loyalty and protecting civilians may all require different choices. You've written plenty of characters who survive terrible things but don't necessarily come through them intact. With Escape, is getting home actually the victory, or has the question become what part of yourself you can still bring home with you?
Then you have The Seasons, which is operating in a completely different visual and emotional language. Issue #12 reunites the sisters in a world where people are consumed by these self-reflecting mirrors showing them only the world they want to see. That feels like an incredibly pointed idea for 2026. How much are you using this fantastical world to talk about the way people increasingly construct their own versions of reality?
Between Hammerfist, Escape, The Seasons and everything you're building through Giant Generator, you have a lot of very different books happening simultaneously. For our 400th episode, I want to end the main interview looking forward: What do you still want from comics? Is there a type of story, collaboration, or creative swing that you feel like you haven't taken yet?

The AIPT Comics Podcast returns with episode 399! This week, David Brooke sits down with cartoonist Leah Hayes to discuss her haunting new graphic novel, Identical, from Fantagraphics. Inspired by her experiences as an identical twin, Hayes explores family, identity, and the unsettling possibilities of artificial intelligence. We discuss the story's personal inspiration, her distinctive art style, and plans for a potential film adaptation.
Before the interview, David and co-host Alex Schlesinger break down the biggest news from NYCC 2026, including Grant Morrison's James Bond series, Marvel's Webtoon shakeup, and major announcements from Marvel and DC.
Visit our Patreon page to see the various tiers you can sign up for today to get in on the ground floor of AIPT Patreon. We hope to see you chatting with us on our Discord soon!
NEWS
NYCC news!Grant Morrison takes on James Bond in new IDW comic series ‘Sunbreaker’
WEBTOON and Marvel launch new Marvel Comics app November 16 as Marvel Unlimited shuts downExclusive: ‘Mighty Morphin Power Rangers’ is coming to WEBTOON

NYCC 2026: Marvel announces new ‘Captain Marvel’ series, ‘Daredevil’ #700, and more at Bullpen Bulletins panel
NYCC 2026: Marvel reveals terrifying new X-Men designs, Midnight Doctor Octopus, and more
Marvel teases mysterious June 2027 event with ‘Tomorrow Is One Day Away’ at NYCC 2026
IDW Goes Dark in 2027 with horror takes on TMNT, Sonic, Godzilla and more
Stan Sakai and Soo Lee team up for ‘TMNT: The First Ronin’ in March 2027
NYCC 2026: DC Black Label/Vertigo reminds fans there’s more to DC than Batman
NYCC 2026: DC announces ‘Absolute Justice,’ teases major Batman twists and more
NYCC 2026: DC Next Level reveals new Starfire, Swamp Thing, and Superboy-Prime comics, plus major Batman updates
EXCLUSIVE Ignition Press Series Announcement: ‘The Caretaker’ #1

Gates McFadden to write ‘Star Trek: Crusher’ comic for IDW
Oni Press resurrects ‘Dr. Syn’ for new series from Michael E. Uslan and Steven S. DeKnight
Our Top Books of the Week:
Dave:
Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Halloween Special #1 (Various)
Dinner Date #1 (Joanne Starer, Khary Randolph)
Alex:​​
The Demon #1 (James Harren, Dave Stewart)
Midnight X-Men #1 (Hickman, Matteo De La Fonte)
Standout KAPOW moment of the week:
Alex: Luther Strode #1 (yes, I know it’s an anniversary reprint, but still)
Dave: Midnight Spider-Man #1 (Phillip Kennedy Johnson, ScieTronc)
TOP BOOKS FOR NEXT WEEK
Alex: It Demands Sacrifice #1 (Phillip Gelatt, David Yarovesky)
Dave: DOOM All-On-One #1 (Al Ewing, Alessandro Cappuccio)
JUDGING BY THE COVER JR.
Dave: Black Cat #15 (Josemaria Casanovas)
Alex: Sicko #3 (Sebastian Fiumara)
Interview: Leah Hayes - Identical - September 15, 2026.
1. Identical’s main premise is about AI-assisted fertility, but very quickly becomes an intimate story about family and identity. Did the concept start with the speculative technology, or with your own experiences as an identical twin?
2. This is your most personal work to date. After years of illustrating other people's stories, what made this the right time to tell one so deeply connected to your own life?
3. One of the book's biggest mysteries is that readers aren't immediately sure which twin is artificial. How did you approach building that uncertainty without turning the story into a traditional mystery?
4. The graphic novel raises fascinating questions about what makes someone "real." Did your own relationship as an identical twin influence how you think about identity, individuality, and what separates one person from another?
5. The artwork is strikingly minimal. Many pages contain only one or two panels, and the limited blue-and-white palette, combined with the paper-like textures, creates an almost dreamlike atmosphere. What led you to such a restrained visual language, and how did you decide that less would ultimately say more?
6. The emotional connection between the sisters feels almost supernatural, even before the AI elements enter the story. How did you balance the science fiction with the emotional truth of what it's actually like to be an identical twin?
7. The mother makes a morally complicated decision out of love, and the bioengineer believes he's advancing humanity. The book rarely presents easy heroes or villains. Was it important to you that every character believe they're doing the right thing?
8. The sparse pacing gives readers a lot of space to sit with each moment, almost like poetry. Did you always envision Identical moving at this quiet rhythm, or did you discover that pacing through revisions?
9. The ending reframes the story in a hopeful way, with the narrator embracing who she is instead of fearing it. After exploring questions of identity, motherhood, technology, and sisterhood, what do you hope readers are still thinking about after they close the book?

Pornsak Pichetshote is having one hell of a year. He’s helping expand James Tynion IV and Michael Walsh’s Exquisite Corpses universe with Exquisite Corpses: Lone Gunman, while over at DC, Absolute Green Arrow has given him the chance to build a very different kind of mythology around one of comics’ most familiar mantles.
Today, the AIPT Comics Podcast brings you an unedited conversation with Pornsak. We dig into Lone Gunman, what happens to a final girl after she survives, the history behind that mysterious golden mask, the 13 Families, and how the series expands the world of Exquisite Corpses. Pornsak also talks about what working with James Tynion IV has taught him about writing comics and creating memorable new characters.
Then we get into spoiler territory for Absolute Green Arrow, including the Merlin reveal, why the original mystery was designed to resolve in six issues, and how the back half of the series operates almost like a sequel to that opening story. Pornsak also teases why Merlin was the right choice once we learn who makes up the other half of Green Arrow.
Plus, Dave and Alex recap the week in comics with reviews and news!
Visit our Patreon page to see the various tiers you can sign up for today to get in on the ground floor of AIPT Patreon. We hope to see you chatting with us on our Discord soon!
NEWS
IDW teases two major reveals for NYCC 2026 panel, reveals full signing schedule
Dark Horse Comics reveals NYCC 2026 signing schedule and booth plans
‘Something is Killing the Children’ #50 gets blind bags with mystery covers and trading cards
Zoe Thorogood and Joe Whiteford sink their teeth into ‘Vampire on Aisle 6’
Marvel reveals bloody new ‘Midnight’ art as universe tops 1 million orders
'AMAZING SPIDER-MAN' #1000 VARIANTS ALLOCATED
Joshua Williamson and Bruno Redondo announce ‘Batman: Justice Year’ at SDCC Málaga
Our Top Books of the Week:
Dave:
Tomb of Apocalypse #2 (Ashley Allen, Domenico Carbone)
Amazing Spider-Man #1000 (Various)
Alex:​​
Smart Division #2 (Zack Kaplan, John Pearson)
Aliens vs X-Men #1 (Gillen, Geraldo Borges)
Standout KAPOW moment of the week:
Alex: Uncanny X-Men #36 (Gail Simone, Luciano Vecchio)
Dave: Queen in Black #5 (Al Ewing, Iban Coello, Paco Medina)
TOP BOOKS FOR NEXT WEEK
Alex: All the Midnight #1s!
Dave: Demon #1 (James Harren Cover)
JUDGING BY THE COVER JR.
Dave: Batman: Bad Seeds - Streets of Gotham #1 (Javier Rodriguez Card Stock Cover)
Alex: Mike Mayhew Midnight X-Men #1
Interview: Pornsak Pichetshote - EXQUISITE CORPSES LONE GUNMAN #1 (OF 5) FOC Oct 12 - Release Date: Nov 4 - Day 2 Newsletter
Artist: Alberto Ponticelli; colors: Jordie Bellaire
You’ve described Lone Gunman as “Season 1.5” of Exquisite Corpses. What did you realize you needed to explore between the end of the first series and the beginning of Season 2 that made this story necessary?
Laura won the game, but surviving twelve killers doesn’t exactly mean she gets to live happily ever after. What interested you about treating the “Final Girl” as the beginning of a story rather than the end of one?
The golden mask was such a striking piece of the Lone Gunman mythology in Season 1. How much does digging into its history change what we thought we understood about the Lone Gunman and the game itself?
Two years have passed for Laura, Xavi, and Jason. They have money and seemingly escaped the Families, but they're still carrying what happened to them. How differently has each of them processed surviving that night?
You mentioned bringing lessons from Absolute Green Arrow into Lone Gunman. Those seem like very different books on the surface, so what have you learned writing Green Arrow that unexpectedly became useful when writing a horror story like this?
You’re working with Alberto Ponticelli again after Unknown Soldier, alongside Jordie Bellaire. Alberto has talked about bringing roughness, textures, and “dirty marks” to this world. What are those two bringing visually that makes this chapter of Exquisite Corpses feel distinct from Season 1?
For one fun one to wrap up: If surviving Exquisite Corpses earned Laura an actual two-year, all-expenses-paid vacation with absolutely zero killers, billionaires, or golden masks allowed, where would you send her, and what would she do with herself?

Ryan North has a knack for giving superheroes problems that their powers cannot easily solve. This week on the AIPT Comics Podcast, we’re running our full conversation with North as he catches us up on a busy year and a half that has included the end of One World Under Doom, the launch of Doomquest, his jump to DC with The Flash, and his continuing adventures with Marvel’s First Family.
North digs into the unlikely fever-fueled origin of Doomquest, why the series became a Doctor Doom character study, and the freedom that comes with dropping Victor into different moments in history. We also get into Wally West’s increasingly dangerous ability to prevent disasters before they happen, why joy remains essential to North’s take on the Flash, and how the Fantastic Four continue to open doors to wonderfully strange science-fiction stories.
The conversation goes even further into the challenges of writing ridiculously powerful heroes, North’s approach to continuity, superhero horror, his desire to make more creator-owned work, and the novel he’s been quietly working on. Plus, we somehow end up debating Doom, Reed Richards, and Wally West in an escape room, which sends North down a wonderfully bizarre escape-room rabbit hole.
Interview: Ryan North
Sep 23, 2026, The Flash #37
Releases Oct 21, 2026 Doomquest #5
Releases Sep 30, 2026 Fantastic Four #17
AIPT: The last time we had you on was back in February 2025, and quite a bit has happened since then. One World Under Doom has come and gone, Fantastic Four has kept rolling, and now you’ve added The Flash to your plate at DC. Looking back at everything that’s happened since we last talked, what’s the past year and a half been like for you creatively?
AIPT: Doomquest has almost felt like a series of tests for Doom, dropping him into different points in history and asking whether he can outthink everyone who came before him. But issue #4 does something crueler and gives Victor the chance to live a genuinely happy life with Valeria. Was confronting Doom with happiness always one of the destinations you wanted this series to reach?
AIPT: What I find fascinating about Doomquest is that Doom keeps getting opportunities to prove he's the smartest or most capable person in the room, but that doesn't necessarily mean he's becoming a better person. When you're writing him, where do you draw the line between Doom actually growing and Doom simply finding new evidence that he was right all along?
Why center your Star Trek story on the Pakled?
AIPT: Over in The Flash, Wally's "Flashes of Insight" have evolved to the point where he can glimpse what is about to happen and potentially prevent accidents and crimes before they occur. That sounds wonderful until you start thinking about the implications. Is the danger here less about whether Wally can save everyone and more about what happens to someone who starts believing he should?
AIPT: Your Wally is someone who genuinely loves being the Flash, which feels important because superhero comics can sometimes make being a hero seem completely miserable. How important is that joy to your version of Wally, especially as his ability to see and prevent disasters starts putting more responsibility on his shoulders?
AIPT: In Fantastic Four, you've been able to go from enormous cosmic and scientific problems to wonderfully strange ideas like the Future Foundation returning and Doom's technology leaking into the wider world. After writing these characters for this long, what still makes you stop and think, "I can't believe nobody has done this Fantastic Four story before"?
AIPT: You're currently writing Reed Richards, Doctor Doom, and Wally West, three characters who can approach impossible problems from very different directions. Do you find yourself thinking about them differently when constructing a story, or is there a common Ryan North rule for writing someone who can potentially break your plot if you give them five minutes to think?
Danger and Other Unknown Risks a fab creator owned title, do you have anything similar or in the creator owned realm in the works?
AIPT: Finally, something silly: Doom, Reed Richards, and Wally West are trapped in an escape room together. Who actually solves it, who insists they solved it first, and how quickly does the escape room regret letting these three people inside?