It’s been quite the year for the IDW imprint Black Crown. Editor Shelly Bond was joined by her husband Philip Bond (CUD: Rich and Strange) and special guest Gilbert Hernandez (Assassinistas) joined to spill spill secrets and share stories on Friday afternoon at WonderCon.

The pre-eminently cool Shelly Bond asked artist Gilbert Hernandez to walk the audience through the art and characters of Assassinistas. His response was self-deprecating in the way so many creatives tend to be, “My style is basically Archie comics for adults. Luckily I’m accepted for that as an artist. I draw them (Assassinistas) like I’m drawing an Archie comic but with guns and violence.”

ASSASSINISTAS #3 @TiniHoward,@BetomessGilbert @Robgog

Shelly Bond went on to talk about Kid Lobotomy next. The concept, for those unfamiliar, is about an ex-rock star named Kid, who is given a new job to help his family by taking over a hotel known as The Suites. It’s unlike any other hotel you’ve likely ever stayed in though, unless you’ve stayed in a hotel that performs lobotomies. I don’t know what you are into and I’m not here to judge you. Of the series, Shelly says it’s part King Lear, part Kafka and part Young Frankenstein.

Cover of Issue #6 for Kid Lobotomy

Shelly said she thought Kid needed a gun (pictured above) and Philip went ahead and designed it. Of the gun, Philip said, “It can apparently perform lobotomies and has a number of other settings.” (By the way, the butterscotch setting on the gun will be explained in the Black Crown Quarterly #3.)

Next on the docket was the series Punks Not Dead, which is about a young British kid named Fergie who gets bullied at school and who Shelly says you can’t help but like. He’s being raised by a single mother who works for the Department for Extra-Usual Affairs. Fergie is in need of a father figure and he finds one in a most unlikely place, Heathrow Airport. Sid is a ghost who looks like the lead singer of the Sex Pistols (Sid Vicious) but isn’t actually him. Sid used to be stuck in Heathrow Airport but since he’s met Fergie, he’s now stuck to him. And thus hilarity ensues. Punks Not Dead debuted in February 2018 and is written by David Barnett with art by Martin Simmonds.

Christopher Sebela (Hard Crimes) and Shawn McManus (The Sandman: Game of You), this 5-issue miniseries is equal parts bloody reality, dark conspiracy, and magical fantasy.

HOUSE AMOK is a story is about a family who goes off the rails, it’s a look at family madness. Written by Christopher Sebela and illustrated by Shawn McManus. It’s told through the point of view of a 10 year old girl named Dylan, “You can’t help but lover her and want her to make her through. Shelly Bond says it has some elements of the 90s film Natural Born Killers. HOUSE AMOK will debut in August.

The second Black Crown title from writer Tini Howard

Previously announced at Emerald City Comic Con this past March, Euthanauts will be written by Tini Howard (Assassinistas) with artwork from Nick Robles who has also worked on Kid Lobotomy. Shelly spoke emphatically of Howard and her talents, she’s going to be one of the next great writers.”

Euthanauts will be launching this summer and dives into philosophy and religion. It deals with what’s comes after. Here’s more information about the series from IDW:

Two women aim to find out in this series which combines classically intrepid explorers with our anxieties about death and the beyond — with psychonautic mindspaces to match. The first arc will kick off this July.

“Euthanauts is a book about death and dying as a universal concept,” said [writer Tini] Howard. “How do these ideas contribute to our relationship with a deathspace we haven’t yet discovered, and what’s behind the light at the end of the tunnel?”

“I keep telling friends that I feel like I found a creative home with EUTHANAUTS,” adds Nick Robles. “I’m inspired and excited to see where Tini takes us.”

Femme Magnifique. Originally a Kickstarter launched by Shelly Bond after the election of 2016 to help the comic community focus on creating something positive, IDW will be publishing the book as a soft-cover due out in September.

Femme Magnifique Softcover Cover Art Courtesy IDW Publishing

1 COMMENT

  1. There’s no comments on your idw book buzz rundown Andrea, so just commenting on both here. IDW is becoming a real publisher for me to watch now. Just found a lot of authors and books from these posts; the Gibrat and Zep, and I’ll finally get around to Hernandez. Really good stuff here by the looks

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