Karate! Crows! Stoner wizard bears! Oni Press is offering quite the variety of concepts this August.
Oni produced a special preview of PUNCH UP! for Free Comic Book Day earlier this month. Soon you’ll get to read the full volume. This manga-inspired adventure (produced by an American) tells the story of Pitch, a young orphan who has entered the Wide Plains Fighting Tournament with dreams of winning the whole kaboodle. The odds are against the little shrimp, though, unless he can convince legendary fighter Sonny Chan to train him. PUNCH UP! is an all-ages one-shot story that will be released August 30.
On the opposite end of the spectrum lies DWELLINGS: a new horror comic that boasts “cute” art but stories that are far from cuddly. Elwich, Massachusetts lies host to a row of homes in which dark supernatural events are occurring….murder, possession, monsters, curses, and the like. Your hosts are the crows, who have seen everything. DWELLINGS was created, written and drawn by Tutenstein creator Jay Stephens in the style of old Harvey comics…if they ever got an edge. There will be three volumes of DWELLINGS; the first comes out August 16 at a price of $9.99.
It’s not easy to raise three kids in the American South — while trying to support an art career at the same time! Cartoonist and animator Derek M. Ballard took his tumultuous life and turned it into a series of comic strips now collected in CARTOON SHOW, a 144-page window into the life of one frazzled single parent. You’ll be able to check this one out August 2.
Finally, among other things, Rick and Morty will get into THE SCIENCE OF SUMMER when Morty’s self-absorbed older sister gets her own limited series. Summer dreams of a better future and seems to find it when she meets her future self — a successful influencer and the most popular figure on a distant planet. Of course nothing’s that simple, especially in the dark world of R&M. The first issue will be released August 16.
Oni’s full list of titles for August can be browsed below.
SHOCK! TERROR! FUN! SATURDAY MORNING MEETS THE STROKE OF MIDNIGHT IN AN ALL-NEW, BI-MONTHLY SERIES PRESENTED IN PRESTIGE FORMAT, 72-PAGE CHAPTERS WITH TWO COMPLETE TALES IN EACH ISSUE!
Welcome to Elwich, MA, an oasis of American perfection where the schools overflow with cheery-eyed children, lovingly adorned homes line the historic boulevards . . . and only the crows can see the deep, festering rot that lurks beneath the pristine surface. Murder. Demonology. Possession. Obsession. Elwich has them all on offer, and behind every DWELLING awaits a horrifying new story to be told!
From the sugar-addled brain of Emmy Award-winning, Eisner Award-nominated cartoonist and animator Jay Stephens (Tutenstein, Jetcat Clubhouse), prepare yourself for the inescapable curse of “They Know” and and the sinister purpose of “Second Tongue” as Dwellings unleashes its first two-fisted tales of occult terror! Fright has never looked like so much fun . . .
INCOMING: Oni’s subversive sci-fi delivery system, designate XINO #003! Justin Jordan (The Strange Talent of Luther Strode) and a surprise guest star wreak total havoc; Dan McDaid (DEGA) takes weaponized incompetence to the next level; David Hahn (Batman ’66) walks a robot into a bar; Andrew Carl (Once Upon a Time Machine) and Sophie Franz (The Experts) unpack a locked-room mystery; Connor Willumsen (Bradley Of Him) digs deep into our capacity for self-delusion, ALL THIS AND MORE IN XINO’S EXPLOSIVE FINALE!
AN ALL-NEW, GIANT-SIZED TALE FROM THE EDGE OF THE RICK AND MORTY OMNIVERSE STARRING . . . OH NO, IT’S SUMMER!
Summer is sick of being sidelined. She has opinions, she deserves attention, and in the absence of a loving family, she knows exactly where to get it: online. When her future self, the hottest influencer and social media maven of an alien planet, pulls her into what should be her dream life, she realizes that with great power comes very little responsibility.
At last, it’s Morty’s sister’s time to shine in an all-new, 40-page journey to the edge of time and space from Eisner Award-nominated writer Magdalene Visaggio (Eternity Girl) and Rick and Morty mega-talent Marc Ellerby (Doctor Who)!
Never fear because fear fears fear itself as the all-new descent into Rick’s HEART OF DARKNESS from writer Michael Moreci (Barbaric) and artist Priscilla Tramontano (Rise of TMNT)!
Rick and the kids escaped the death pit but disagree on their next move. Why run back to the comfort of civilization, cell phones, and TV when you can stay on the random barbarian planet and fight with an alternate version of yourself to prove who’s the biggest and baddest? On the spa planet, Beth and Jerry hunt for nachos but instead discover the seedy truth behind their relaxing vacation.
The smash-hit ongoing series doth battle the gods themselves!
After Goldenfold’s niece Noelle fooled the gods from Anti Hala, stole Nunzumel’s powers, and flew away with Morty, Nunzumel has called upon the Chosen One to destroy Rick. He is the one chosen by the prophets to bring an end to the Man-of-Science’s reign against God-kind. He is . . . Jerry? Meanwhile! The gods plan to resurrect someone with a can of dog food. Who can it be, you ask?! Guess you gotta read it!
From New York Times best-selling cartoonist Zachary Sterling (Adventure Time, Mabuhay) comes an all-ages, shonen manga-style adventure for fans of Naruto and Dragon Ball Z!
Young orphan Pitch has big dreams of traveling to the city and competing in the Wide Plains Fighting Tournament. He also harbors a secret wish, to be trained by aging competitor Sonny Chan. Can Pitch make it in a big city filled with unsavory types that want to do him harm? And is Emperor Jayson, host of the fighting tournament, one of those people? Will Sonny decide to act decent . . . for once? Find out in this exciting blast of battle energy from up-and-coming cartoonist Zachary Sterling!
Meet Cindy and Biscuit: a girl and her dog. People (even her mum!) keep telling Cindy she’s weird, that she’s got a morbid, overactive imagination, but if that was true, why would she keep encountering all these monsters, ghosts, and aliens in real life? Watch Cindy and her fearless four-legged best friend get into all kinds of trouble, as their little coastal town seems to have a preponderance of werewolves, undead mermaids, dimensional portals, alien invasions, and worse . . . it’s dark out in the woods! Luckily for all of us, Cindy is the action hero we needed, just in time to save the world a few times between now and detention.
Debut creator Austin Paramore and artist Sarah Bollinger strike a chord in this humorous and heartfelt story about love, loss, legacy, and the music that ties them all together.
What does the perfect song sound like? Normally, Malcolm Kid wouldn’t give this type of question the time of day. As a straight-B student with a heart of copper, he is far more concerned with overcoming mediocrity than he is with achieving perfection. But that all changes when he stumbles across the LK-2000, a strange keyboard cursed with the soul of an old jazz musician. Malcolm soon learns that the only way to free this musician’s soul is by performing the perfect song. With much hesitation, and the help of his lifelong friend January Young, Malcolm embarks on a musical journey across the city of New Bronzeville in the hopes of discovering the perfect song and finding himself as a musician along the way.
Cartoonist and animator Derek M. Ballard makes modern American family comics. It’s not his fault that being a single parent in America is kind of a nightmare.
Derek is a solo parent raising three kids in the American South, while trying to make art. Told in a series of free-flowing and often hilarious comic essays, Cartoonshow gets to the heart of the struggle to be a creative person in a society that doesn’t value anything other than how much it can grind out of you. Covid, poverty, the failing social safety net, predatory lenders, and literal acts of God can’t stop our hero!
“I laughed and cried, y’all these are the real $@#% journal comics. Drawings that could slay a dragon. Every punchline a funny knife in your eye.” – Pendleton Ward
SOGGY LANDING SC
Not very long ago, Soggy Landing was an island paradise. Now, it’s a brutal settler city. A group of wealthy, magical cultists rules from the top. A leafy plague afflicts all but the most privileged, and it never stops raining. Our hero, Otso, is a self-sufficient stoner wizard bear who comes to understand community and camaraderie when she arrives in Soggy Landing. A battle between the haves and the have-nots is coming to a head, and Otso and her friend Slipper join the revolutionary group the Broken Wheel in an uprising against colonial forces controlling the magical island.
All-star writer Stephanie Phillips (Grim, Harley Quinn) and fan-favorite artist Ryan Lee (Inhuman) come together to put Rick and Morty through a dimension-colliding CRISIS the likes of which the multiverse has never seen!
Can Rick and the Smith family band together to find the last shred of heroism left in our universe . . . or will they just let this one work itself out? When the universe’s great defenders, The Vindicators, are all but eradicated, the weight of every sinister, galactic threat falls on the narrow shoulders of the guy who wiped them out. Rick Sanchez and the Smith family pull together the remaining ragtag superheroes to respond to a familiar band of enemies. Kind of suspiciously familiar, actually. Seems pretty targeted, now that you mention it…
Featuring the galaxy-traversing standalone adventures of Rick and Morty Presents: Morty’s Run; Big, Dumb Summer Vacation; Rick and Morty #100; and Time Zoo! All here in one handy-dandy volume!
Morty is dropped on a planet ruled by thirteen-year-olds. The Smith family fights off the ultimate sunburn on their beach vacation. Rick is on the quest into the mind of a deranged Morty, seeking a fabled comic book that can unlock his future. Summer has to save the day when the family realizes why they’ve been stuck in a routine for suspiciously long.
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