MID-MARCH COMIC ROUNDUP – Something For Every Taste

A variety of news on the horizon, with not just continuation and collections, but a whole new platform for the digital comic market itself.

“PALOMINO” returning through Kickstarter with its 4th and 5th volumes.

Stephan Franck’s Ringo Award-nominated neo-noir graphic series set in the lost culture of Los Angeles’ country music clubs, is back for its fourth and fifth volumes, complete with a significant time jump from the neon-soaked 80s to the grimy 90s. Franck and his company, Dark Planet Comics, are returning to Kickstarter to crowdfund volumes 4 and 5 of the planned six-volume graphic novel series. The prelaunch page for “Palomino” Volumes 4 and 5 is now live on Kickstarter.

A captivating neo-noir crime mystery, “Palomino” begins in 1981 Los Angeles where we meet Eddie Lang, an old-school, hard-ass, hardboiled former Burbank PD detective juggling his 6-nights-a-week gig in the “Palomino” house band, his P.I. business, and Lisette Lang, his teenage daughter, who might be even more hard-ass and hard-boiled than her dad is. But tragedy looms large over their past, and a brand-new case that's hitting a little too close to home upends their lives, sending them each down very dangerous paths.

Told with action, suspense, humor, drama, and slice-of-life irony, Volumes 1-3 takes place at the club's high watermark, with Eddie leading the investigation in the Wilcox case. Volume 4-6 takes place in the twilight years of the club, with Liz leading the case and bringing the story to its epic conclusion. The Kickstarter will feature copies of all five available volumes, as well as “Palomino”, 1981 box sets and slipcases, signed book plates from the in-world fictional syndication catalogue of Lamaz Television, and other titles by Franck (including Silver, Rosalynd, and Romance in The Age of The Space God).

An intriguing story for those who like late-20th century detective dramas. With the previous volumes also available, this is a great chance to get into this series for both old and new fans.

“THE HORIZON EXPERIMENT” Series To Be Collected Into First Volume This April

The critically acclaimed “The Horizon Experiment” comic book series, led by Eisner and Harvey Award-winning Pornsak Pichetshote, will be collected into a first volume this April. The series features five unique one-shots by all-star creative teams from across entertainment, co-edited by Pichetshote and Eisner Award-winning editor Will Dennis (Somna: A Bedtime Story, Gideon Falls). It features stories with diverse protagonists inspired by pop culture icons and exploring popular genres with different perspectives.

The Horizon Experiment: The Manchurian - a scintillating thriller full of secrets and scandal, featuring a Chinese super spy inspired by James Bond.

The Horizon Experiment: The Sacred Damned - introducing the world to Inayah Jibril, Professor of Ethnography and the Occult. A love letter to classic horror from Dracula to John Constantine, the terrifying tale follows a Muslim exorcist, in a new interpretation of horror tropes.

The Horizon Experiment: Moon Dogs – A family of Black Lycanthropes of East African descent find themselves caught in a burgeoning war in Miami when the truth starts to come out that werewolves aren’t just a myth.

The Horizon Experiment: Motherf*ckin’ Monsters – A love letter to Sam Raimi and Edgar Wright set to a Wu-Tang soundtrack, in which a nerdy Black kid from Brooklyn and his friends stumble upon demon-worshipping frat assholes trying to take over the world.

The Horizon Experiment: Finders//Keepers - Written as a reverse Indiana Jones story that follows Puerto Rican archaeology grad student Ines Guarua, who plans to steal an important cultural artifact from a famous museum to bring it back home to where it belongs.

With a little something for everyone, and enough variety to introduce many to something new, this looks like a great anthology to pick up and then look forward to volume 2.

“The Horizon Experiment” volume 1 – on sale April 16.

“SWEET SHOP”: SET TO LAUNCH WITH IMAGE COMICS TITLES AMONG FIRST AVAILABLE.

The upcoming digital comic sale and reading platform, “Sweet Shop”, is set to release this Summer, with Image Comics working in partnership to bring nearly 400 of Image’s bestselling, creator-owned titles to the shelves of the app in time for its debut.

Fantastic new titles like James Tynion IV and Michael Walsh’s Exquisite Corpses and Matthew Rosenberg and Stefano Landini’s We’re Taking Everyone Down With Us will join the catalog alongside popular ongoing series offerings such as the Transformers, Spawn, Ghost Machine comics, Invincible, and The Walking Dead.

Lorelei Bunjes, VP of Digital Strategy at Image Comics, added: “We’re always looking for great ways to get our comics into readers’ hands, and “Sweet Shop” is shaping up to be an exciting new option. We’re thrilled to have so many incredible creator-owned titles available at launch.”

“Sweet Shop” users will be able to read their library of comics on both Apple and Android devices, and Manga and North American comics alike will be available on the app. They will be able to buy either in-app or in DRM-free download format, from a variety of Image titles, available globally. The app will also support vertical scrolling function, allowing greater versatility  for web comics, and right-to-left and left-to-right reading. Readers can sign up for the mailing list to receive updates and announcements on new features and a growing list of fantastic publishers coming later in 2025.

This will be a much welcome alternative to Comixology, which had once dominated the market as the only multi-publisher storefront and reader combined. That was until Amazon bought it out, integrated it into its Kindle catalogue, and then functionality and quality steeply declined. Hopefully “Sweet Shop” will bring much needed competition to this space.

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