Month: January 2021

The comic book industry had a pretty great year in 2020, despite the ongoing impact of the pandemic and major editorial shake-ups at DC. 2021 is looking even better, with major projects like Reign of X, Star Wars: The High Republic and Future State all vying for your hard-earned dollars.

As we look ahead to the new year, here are 21 comics, graphic novels and books that should definitely be on your radar in 2021.

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Reign of X

In 2020, most of Marvel’s X-Men comics were united under the Dawn of X banner, with each title exploring a different angle of the dramatic new status quo for mutantkind. Now that the X of Swords crossover has concluded, X-Men head honcho Jonathan Hickman and his team are beginning the next major phase – Reign of X.

With Krakoa having triumphed in Otherworld and gained thousands of new citizens in the process, things are looking up even more than ever for the mutant race. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t major challenges ahead, including both new and old enemies and growing divisions within the Quiet Council. If Marvel’s Reign of X teaser art is any indication, fans can look forward to big developments like the return of the Shadow King and Arcade and the birth of Nimrod. Along the way, we’ll see creative team shake-ups and entirely new series make their debuts in 2021.And we can only assume this is all building to another major crossover event in the latter half of the year. After the reign may well come the fall.

Future State

DC is kicking off 2021 with an ambitious, two-month crossover event wherein most of their ongoing books are temporarily replaced by limited series set ten years or more in the future. Future State sheds light on the DCU a decade after the events of Dark Nights: Death Metal, revealing a world full of new possibilities and a younger generation of heroes rising up to replace the old. Not only that, Future State promises to deliver some truly excellent creative pairings, whether it’s John Ridley and Nick Derington on Future State: The Next Batman or Jen Bartel writing and drawing Future State: Immortal Wonder Woman.

Nor is Future State a simple, hypothetical detour into a possible future timeline. While we don’t know exactly how these stories will intertwine with DC’s regular publishing lineup, it’s clear that at least some of these new characters will continue to appear after Future State itself has wrapped up.

Snow Angels

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Jeff Lemire and Jock are easily two of the biggest names in comics today, but they’ve never actually worked together on a project. That finally changes in February thanks to Snow Angels. This comiXology Originals series is set in a post-apocalyptic winter wasteland where a handful of survivors cling to life in a region known as The Trench. These survivors are forbidden from ever leaving, but what happens when that fundamental law is finally broken?

Eternals

Things have been pretty quiet on the Eternals front at Marvel Comics, particularly after these highly evolved beings were slaughtered in a 2018 issue of The Avengers. But as with most characters in the Marvel Universe, the Eternals never stay gone forever. They’re making their grand return in 2021, just in time for the franchise’s MCU debut.

The new Eternals series looks to provide a perfect entry point for this quirky franchise, and one that emphasizes the team’s connection to Thanos. Marvel has certainly picked the ideal creative team to relaunch Eternals, with The Wicked + The Divine writer Kieron Gillen joining forces with Secret Wars artist Esad Ribic.

Batman/Catwoman

Technically, Batman/Catwoman launched in December, but so far we’ve only gotten a brief, tantalizing taste of this long-awaited follow-up to Tom King’s Batman run. The series will continue to play out over the course of 2021, showing the evolution of the Bat/Cat romance in three separate timelines. We’ll also see The Phantasm worked into Batman’s comic book mythology for the first time and learn how the Joker ties into this sordid love triangle. Batman/Catwoman is shaping up to be a worthy conclusion to a modern classic, in no small part because artist Clay Mann is delivering what may well be the best work of his career.

Scott Snyder’s Best Jackett Press

Writer Scott Snyder kicked off the new year with the conclusion to his and artist Greg Capullo’s latest DC epic, Dark Nights: Death Metal. But having laid the groundwork for Future State and a revitalized DCU, Snyder’s next step is to shift focus to his creator-owned work. For Snyder fans, 2021 is all about Best Jackett Press, a new publishing imprint that allows Snyder to join forces with some of the biggest names in the business. First up is Nocterra, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi book featuring art from Batman’s Tony S. Daniel. Fans can look forward to several more announcements over the course of 2021.

Venom #200

Marvel is in the midst of the King in Black crossover as 2021 gets underway. The symbiote god Knull has come to Earth, and things are looking pretty bleak for Venom and his allies. But even though this is the climactic story writer Donny Cates and artist Ryan Stegman have been building toward since 2018, it doesn’t appear that King in Black marks the end of Cates’ Venom saga. Immediately following the conclusion of this crossover, the monthly Venom comic will celebrate a big milestone with Venom #200, an issue that promises to redefine Eddie Brock’s place in the Marvel Universe and set the stage for whatever is coming next. It sounds like the perfect way to get in the mood for Venom’s return to the big screen this summer.

Swamp Thing

DC will begin publishing a revamped and consolidated line of monthly comics in March once Future State has wrapped up. None of these books has us more excited than Swamp Thing. Not only is the new series the first ongoing Swamp Thing comic since the New 52 series wrapped in 2015, it features rising star Ram V as its writer. V was our pick for the best comic book writer of 2020 thanks to his work on Justice League Dark, Catwoman and Blue in Green, so the prospect of him taking over our favorite plant elemental is definitely exciting.

Ditko Shrugged: The Uncompromising Life of the Artist Behind Spider-Man

Steve Ditko was one of the most enigmatic creators in the comic book industry, right up until his tragic passing in 2018. He co-created one of the most iconic heroes in pop culture, yet he shunned publicity and lived his entire life by a strict moral code. Ditko Shrugged promises to shed more light on Ditko’s mysterious life and the forces that shaped him. Writer David Currie is uniquely qualified to tell that story, drawing on years of correspondence with Ditko and the artist’s own work to paint a better picture of a reclusive legend.

Star Wars: The High Republic

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To date, most Star Wars comics and novels in the Disney era have stayed very close to the events of the movies, fleshing out specific moments and bridging gaps. With the advent of The High Republic, creators now have a chance to paint on a much broader canvas. The High Republic isn’t a singular story, but rather a collection of interconnected tales (both novels and comics) that all spring from a single instigating event 200 years before the movie era. Those who still pine for the storytelling freedom of the Expanded Universe may find plenty to like here. And now we know this ambitious saga will spill over into live-action, as Leslye Headland’s Star Wars series The Acolyte is also set in the High Republic era.

Post-Death Metal Batman Books

DC may be consolidating its publishing lineup in 20021, but there will never be a shortage of promising Batman comics on the stands. James Tynion IV is continuing his ongoing Batman run after Future State, with Joker War artist Jorge Jimenez returning for a major Scarecrow storyline. Tynion is also launching the first ongoing Joker comic in 40 years alongside artist Guillem March, with the series showcasing the international manhunt for the Clown Prince of Crime.

We’re also very excited for the new creative teams announced for Detective Comics and Nightwing. Mariko Tamaki and Dan Mora will helm the former, and Injustice: Gods Among Us’ Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo are on board the latter. In short, the Batman line will be packed with creative firepower in 2021.

Millarworld

While we’re still waiting to see the first fruits of Netflix’s purchase of Mark MIllar’s Millarworld imprint, Millar himself is keeping very busy on the comic book side of things. Millar recently tweeted an image teasing a number of new books set to launch in 2021 and 2022. While he didn’t reveal the names of those books, the creative talent alone – including Frank Quitely, Olivier Coipel, Stuart Immonen and Travis Charest – is more than enough cause for excitement.

Marvel’s Alien & Predator

Marvel may not publish as many licensed comics as they did back in the ’80s, but both Star Wars and Conan have become major weapons in their arsenal in recent years. Now Marvel is adding Alien and Predator to that arsenal. In addition to publishing new omnibus collections of Dark Horse’s back catalog, Marvel will kick off brand new projects that expand on the movies. The first of these is Alien, from Marvel Zombies Resurrection writer Philip Kennedy Johnson and Star Wars artist Salvador Larroca. We assume a Predator series will also be announced for a 2021 debut, with even more spinoffs to follow.

Haha

Clowns are scary enough as it is, but now writer W. Maxwell Prince is tapping into the true horror behind the laughter. Haha takes the winning horror anthology formula of Prince’s Ice Cream Man (which was among our nominees for the best comic book series of 2020) and applies it to clowns. Even better, each issue will feature a different talented artist, including Vanesa Del Rey, Gabriel Hernandez Walta and Roger Langridge.

X-Men Legends & Demon Days: X-Men

As psyched as we are for Reign of X, we understand that Marvel’s current X-Men status quo isn’t for everyone. Fortunately, the publisher has two new X-books lined up for an early 2021 debut that promise to take a very different approach to the franchise. The first of these is X-Men Legends, where each issue brings back classic X-Men creators to tell new stories set during those classic eras. For example, Fabian Nicieza and Brett Booth are finally solving the mystery of the elusive third Summers brother, and Walt and Louise Simonson will tell a new tale set during their classic X-Factor run.

Elsewhere, Peach Momoko is completely reimagining the franchise in Demon Days: X-Men, which takes a samurai fantasy approach to characters like Psylocke and Wolverine. Momoko was among those inducted into Marvel’s Stormbreakers program last year, and Demon Days will show exactly why she deserves the honor.

Locke & Key/Sandman: Hell & Gone

Any new Locke & Key content is good news, but even more so when it involves a crossover with one of the most critically acclaimed fantasy comics of all time. Locke & Key/Sandman: Hell & Gone blends these two franchises together, as a member of the Locke family is dragged into the Sandman Universe’s version of Hell. Hell & Gone is anything but a simple detour for the Locke & Key franchise. Creators Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez are still steering the ship, and the book is designed as a lead-in to the long-awaited World War Key storyline.

Justice League

When Brian Michael Bendis announced he was leaving the Superman line to tackle an even bigger DC project, there was really only one place for him to go. Bendis is reuniting with The Defenders artist David Marquez in March to take over DC’s flagship Justice League comic. In the tradition of Bendis’ landmark New Avengers run, the new League roster will be an unusual mix of iconic favorites and unpredictable newcomers like Queen Hippolyta, Black Adam and Naomi. As an added bonus, Justice League Dark writer Ram V is continuing his run in the form of a recurring backup story.

Abbott: 1973

Writer Saladin Ahmed is spinning storytelling gold wherever he turns, but 2018’s Abbott is easily among his strongest works to date. That’s why we’re so happy to see Ahmed reuniting with artist Sami Kivelä for a sequel dubbed Abbott: 1973. This sequel is set against the backdrop of the election of Coleman Young, Detroit’s first black mayor, with Detective Elena Abbott drawn into another dark, supernatural conspiracy.

The New Daredevil

Daredevil #25 really threw us for a loop in December, as writer Chip Zdarsky and artist Marco Checchetto introduced the new heir to the mantle of Daredevil – Elektra. Needless to say, the series will undergo a dramatic shift in 2021 as Elektra settles into her new role and Matt Murdock continues fighting to stay alive in prison. The series was already among Marvel’s best monthly comics, and we don’t see that changing in 2021.

DC’s YA Graphic Novels

DC may be publishing fewer monthly comics in 2021, but the company is placing an ever greater emphasis on standalone graphic novels for the YA market. As the massive success of YA projects like Raina Telgemeier’s Guts shows, that’s clearly where the market is shifting in recent years. DC has several promising new books lined up for 2021. We can’t wait to read The Mystery of the Meanest Teacher: A Johnny Constantine Graphic Novel, a family-friendly Hellblazer revamp from Jughead’s Ryan North and Derek Charm. We’re also intrigued by I Am Not Starfire, which features Mariko Tamaki and Yoshi Yoshitani exploring the plight of Kory’s gloomy daughter Mandy.

Serial

Terry Moore has a real knack for creating deep, nuanced female protagonists. And then there’s Zoe, the underage, bloodthirsty killer who quickly became a fan-favorite character in Moore’s Rachel Rising. Zoe is getting the spotlight all to herself in Moore’s newest project, Serial. We’re looking forward to a gory, lighthearted alternative to apocalyptic drama of Five Years, though with the same impeccable character work we’ve come to expect from Moore.

For more on the year ahead, here’s what to expect from Marvel in 2021 and all the movies (probably) coming out this year.

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Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

The second season of Marvel’s Loki on Disney Plus is reportedly already in development, despite Season 1 having not aired yet.

According to a new report from Deadline though, that’s not the case as Season 2 of Loki is already in development. This news came alongside word that Loki executive producer, Michael Waldron, has been tapped to write Marvel head Kevin Feige’s Star Wars movie. Deadline’s report states that Waldron, having now penned Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness and having served as the head writer and executive producer for the first season of Loki, will remain involved with the second season of Loki in some capacity.

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It’s unclear if Waldon will return to write and executive produce the second season or if he’ll be attached to it in some smaller capacity. Regardless, it seems Marvel and their parent company, Disney, are big fans of Waldron.

With Wandavision set to release as a nine-episode series to Disney Plus soon and Falcon and the Winter Soldier debuting as a six-episode miniseries after it, Loki will follow next, and while there’s no word on when this second season of Loki that’s reportedly in development will debut, the first is set to air sometime this May.

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It will feature Tom Hiddleston back in the role of Loki, but not as the god of mischief we saw die at the beginning of Avengers: Infinity War, but as his earlier self from 2012’s The Avengers, who we saw secretly take off with the Tesseract during one of the time heists in Avengers: Endgame. The show will center around what that Loki is up to after being captured by the Time Variance Authority.

You can read more details about the first season in our story about the recently announced release window of May 2021. In the meantime, check out the first trailer for Loki and then check out the latest trailer for Wandavision, which debuts on Disney Plus this month. Be sure to watch the first trailer of Falcon and the Winter Soldier after that.

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Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes. 

Fortnite players are asking Epic Games to adjust the custom superhero skin after they’ve given some players an unfair advantage. The skin, with colors that can be changed to be all black, is nearly invisible when shrouded by in-game shadows.

“They should just give it a white outline or something simple like that,” said Redditor Bruvneh. The skin originally required players to display an emoji on both the front and back, but Epic Games added an option to display nothing, giving players the ability to hide in plain sight.

This isn’t the first time this has happened in Fortnite. A skin that looked like the green army men in Toy Story had a similar effect where it couldn’t be seen in some areas of the map. Epic adjusted that skin after players complained of a “pay-to-win” advantage that it provided.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Be sure to check out our reviews of other streaming services: Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Apple TV+, HBO Max, and Peacock.

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The Great Streaming Wars continue to rage on in 2021, with the January 4 launch of Discovery+ ushering in the newest contender vying for subscribers against the likes of Netflix, Amazon, and Disney+. Back in 2020, three new streaming services (HBO Max, Peacock, and Quibi) launched, which resulted in the wars’ first major casualty. Quibi’s $2 billion failure after just six months on the market proved that while streaming may be the future of how we watch, not all streaming services are created equal, and big budgets don’t always translate to big audiences. However, where Quibi never quite found its stride, Discovery+ appears to have a bright future in the streaming space by offering a completely different approach from its competitors’.

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While Discovery+ lacks blockbuster scripted franchises like Marvel, Star Wars, and Game of Thrones, it excels in the unscripted space when it comes to food, nature, and home renovation shows. The Discovery Inc. catalog includes popular cable channels like HGTV, Food Network, Discovery, BBC’s Natural History Collection, and many others. In fact, David Zaslav, President and CEO of Discovery, revealed that he wants Discovery+ to be “the definitive product for unscripted storytelling.” So instead of going for recognizable characters from comics, video games, and books, Zaslav and his company want to own the reality series space, and so far, they’re off to a great start.

At a reasonable $4.99 per month in the US ($6.99 for the ad-free version), you have access to an impressive library of over 55,000 episodes from Discovery’s iconic brands. Where Quibi tried to do something completely new with its “quick bites” of TV shows, movies, and documentaries, Discovery+ is sticking to what it does best and what it has successfully been able to do for years, only this time, all of its diverse unscripted content is neatly wrapped up in one easy-to-use streaming service. There are a few key features missing from the platform that we would have liked to see, but overall, Discovery+ makes a compelling debut in the Streaming Wars.

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Discovery Plus’s TV Shows and Movies

With over 55,000 episodes from Discovery’s vast catalog of unscripted series to binge at launch, the streamer isn’t lacking in the content department. Discovery+’s lineup is very diverse, offering engaging true-crime series like American Detective with Lt. Joe Kenda, who offers unique insights into disturbing real-life cases around the United States.

If you’re more into home repair and DYI projects, Chip and Joanna Gaines bring their bubbly personalities to the Magnolia network, which will be home to several new series like The Courage to Run, Restoration Road with Clint Harp, and The Lost Kitchen. Other popular HGTV hosts such as Tarek El Moussa and Christina Anstead of Flip or Flop fame are featured in new Discovery+ Originals that can only be seen on the streaming service.

And as a brand renowned for releasing jaw-dropping nature documentaries like BBC’s Planet Earth and The Blue Planet, it’s no surprise that Discovery is bringing even more nature docs to its new platform. At launch, David Attenborough’s A Perfect Planet and Judi Dench’s Wild Borneo Adventure offer breathtaking glimpses at some of our planet’s most fascinating features like volcanos and the oceans.

Looking ahead, the streamer is working on several more Discovery+ Originals, including an unscripted series called Route 66 starring comedian and actor Kevin Hart. Per Discovery, “Route 66 features Kevin Hart hitting the road, going along America’s famous Route 66 to see what’s going on with America. He will visit people and places and bring along friends in an exploration of the U.S. heartland from Chicago to L.A..”

Discovery+’s User Interface

While not groundbreaking when compared to other streaming services, Discovery+ does offer an attractive user interface that’s easy to navigate. The app and website layouts feature a colorful array of logos highlighting Discovery Inc.’s various networks, including TLC, Discovery+ Originals, History, and more. There’s also a “Top Genres” section conveniently located at the top of the page, which includes links to shows focused on lifestyle, home, food, true crime, adventure, relationships, and nature, to help you find the types of programming you love.

Streaming mainstays such as adding shows to a “favorites list” and features like “continue watching” are all easily accessible throughout the platform. Some 4K content is available at launch as well for no extra charge (4K content on Netflix costs extra), most notably seen on the Discovery+ Originals and some of the high-production nature series such as Planet Earth and A Perfect Planet. Overall, there is far less 4K content than Netflix or Amazon, but since many of the shows fall in the reality TV genre, I wasn’t expecting Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos sound while watching Joanna Gaines cook homemade comfort food. Sure, it would be nice to have more 4K content, but it’s not a deal-breaker for this type of programming.

The one noticeable omission at launch is the lack of a “download option” for offline viewing. While a source close to the service did inform IGN that offline viewing options are in the works for 2021, this oversight is difficult to ignore since streamers like Amazon and Netflix have made this feature commonplace over the past few years.

How and Where to Watch Discovery Plus:

Discovery+ is currently available in the U.S., and the U.K. via its partnership with Sky. The streamer also announced a multi-year deal with Vodaphone in Europe, which will bring the platform to several markets across Europe, including Germany, Turkey, Italy, Spain, Romania, Portugal, Greece, Czech Republic, Hungary, Ireland, and Iceland. No exact timetable has been revealed for the European rollout. In terms of accessibility, Discovery+ can be easily found on numerous streaming platforms and set-top-box devices:

Discovery+’s Price

In terms of pricing, Discovery+ falls in the lower-priced tier of streaming services at $4.99 per month with ads and a modest $6.99 for the ad-free version. For 55,000 episodes to binge at launch, we’d say that’s a pretty good deal considering streaming services like Apple TV+ launched with just a handful of shows for the same price. And while there is (at the time of writing) a 7-day free trial and even 12 months free for qualified Verizon Wireless customers, it would have been nice to see Discovery+ offer a limited “free tier” just like Peacock introduced back in August 2020.

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