Matthew K. Manning's Blog

I've opted to move my blog to my new website for the foreseeable future. For the latest updates on my new comics and books, please visit www.matthewkmanning.com.

Thanks for reading!

To be continued...

Today's mail call brought my copies of the newest edition of DK Publishing's DC Comics Encyclopedia. For this edition, I outlined all the characters to be included, wrote all the full-page and double page entries, and handled the introduction.

This new edition updates the history of DC's huge cast of characters and incorporates all the newest details from the Rebirth event to Death Metal. 

There were a few characters we had to leave on the cutting room floor, but we tried to included most everyone we could. There should be a little something for everyone in this volume.

You can snag your own copy at comic shops and bookstores on July 20th, or by clicking here. #ad

To be continued...

Exploring Gotham City is hitting book stores and comic shops soon, and some of the early reviews are starting to go live. In this book rendered by Studio Muti to amazing effect, every corner of Batman's home town is explored, with facts and tidbits about Gotham's history ranging from 1939 to the present day.

This is easily one of my favorites of the ninety-plus prose books I've written to date, so I hope you'll check it out when it hit stores next month.

Dark Knight News had some lovely things to say about us on their site, giving the book a thorough look.

Batman On Film discussed the all-ages feel of the book in their review.

Batman News complimented the book (as well as my Batman/TMNT series) on their site.

And even Green Arrow fans are getting in on the action, as the Emerald Archer site suggests.

Exploring Gotham is out March 16th, but you can order your copy from your local bookshop or pre-order online today.

To be continued...

Insight Editions has recently embarked on a series of book/model sets called IncrediBuilds. As part of that series are these new, posable wooden action figures that you build yourself. Each one is accompanied with a book that I wrote to help the builder learn a bit more about the hero they're assembling.

Spider-Man comes with a comic book adventure, a sort of Toy Story approach that explores what it would be like if the Bot was a living toy, going on adventures in the real world. DC opted for a different approach for their book, so Batman comes with a brief history of the character as he appears in the monthly comic books. Both were a blast to do, and I have another in the Marvel series that should be released in a few months.

The design of these little guys is great, so if you're looking for a good quarantine activity, they certainly fit the bill. The books even come with suggestions on how to paint your IncrediBot if you're feeling really adventurous. You can find these two at your local book shop, or by clicking here for Spidey and here for Batman.

To be continued...

The final volume in our Marvel Action: Avengers series is out now, collecting the last three issues of the comic series (#'s 10-12). This is our big blowout blockbuster, collecting "The Living Nightmare" storyline that spawned all that Yellow Hulk hubbub you might've heard about in a half-dozen internet articles.
You can find Book 4 at your local comic store, bookstore, or online here.
For more details, here's the official write-up from IDW/Marvel:
A new era of all-out Avengers action continues in these middle-grade-friendly graphic novels!
The first year of Marvel Action: Avengers comes to a thrilling conclusion! The Avengers begin their final attack against A.I.M. and the mastermind behind their woes reveals themselves.
These graphic novels are the perfect starting point for new fans looking for more stories of the adventures of Black Panther, Captain America, Thor, Captain Marvel, Iron Man, and Black Widow! Collects issues #10-12 of the Marvel Action: Avengers series.
And if you missed the other collections in the series, here's a handy set of links for you:
Volume 1: The New Danger
Volume 2: The Ruby Egress
Volume 3: The Fear Eaters
Thanks for reading. I have more Marvel projects to announce soon, but for now, I've got to finish writing them first. I should probably get back to doing that.
To be continued...

 

I'm extremely saddened to learn that Steve Lightle passed away today due to Covid complications. I never met Steve outside many pleasant facebook conversations and a handful of private messages, but in truth, I might never have become a comic book writer without him.

Early on in his career, Steve drew Batman and the Outsiders #10, a fill-in issue that didn't much reflect the distinct style that he would go on to develop later in his momentous work on Legion of Super-Heroes, Flash, Classic X-Men, and too many other comics to list. This particular issue of Batman and the Outsiders was a pretty standard tale, advanced by good storytelling and particularly dramatic character work. But for six or seven-year-old me, it was absolutely everything. This was the first comic I had ever read, and I read it over and over and over again. This comic sparked my interest in the medium, in reading in general, and in characters I would go on to embrace for my entire career. I'm not sure I would have done that if Steve's work hadn't drawn me in like it did.
I feel extremely lucky to own six pages of original art from this issue in my collection, and even more fortunate to have had the opportunity to tell Steve how much his work had met to me and still means to me every time I see it.
Over the years, I got to know Steve via his posts and other online interactions. I watched as he was generous with his fans, outspoken with his politics, and was always creating new art, evolving and reworking his style.
Steve was inspiring, kind, and on the right side of history. And I'll be reminded of that every time I flip through my very favorite comic book. All my best to his family and friends on this terrible, unexpected day.

On Wednesday, December 30th, our final issue of Marvel Action: Avengers hits comic shops, and with it the conclusion to the story we've (sort of) been building for our twelve issue run. I say "sort of" because the truth of the matter is, when I started working on the book, I wasn't sure if I was just writing a single three-issue arc or if I was going to be the ongoing writer. As is often the case in this business, things were in flux for pretty much my entire stint on the title.

We had a major artistic shift when my first co-storyteller, Jon Sommariva, departed after six-issues to work on his incredible-looking creator-owned book Neverlanders with Tom Taylor. I'm super excited to read it -- and you should be, too! We then ran into some snags along the way with delays that were only enhanced by the pandemic. I actually turned in the script for this particular issue in August of 2019...

What were originally supposed to be self-contained arcs became interconnected storylines when I discovered I'd be on the book for the full year of its run. After our second story, "The Ruby Egress,"  editor Bobby Curnow encouraged me to go bigger than I had originally planned. It was great advice, and I'm very happy with how my scripts turned out, especially for the climactic final three issues.

We got to play in a crazy dystopia with a few of Marvel's finest characters, as well as with a few of Marvel's more obscure villains. We made some comic book website headlines with the introduction of the Yellow Hulk, and had our Avengers tackle everything from fantasy realms to alien invasions to industrial espionage.

Writing these twelve issues was tumultuous, exciting, fun, and a wonderful opportunity. I'm extremely grateful to Bobby Curnow, IDW, and Marvel for giving me so much time on the book. Thanks also go to artists Jon Sommariva, Marcio Fiorito and Nuno Plati, colorist Protobunker, letterer Christa Miesner, and assistant editor Megan Brown.

I've been bad at updating this site lately, as I've been under a few crazy deadlines as of late, but I expect to post more soon. In the works are some DC projects (including a newly updated DC Encyclopedia and Exploring Gotham City), an Image-related book I can't talk about quite yet, a few children's books, and a big Marvel project that has me plunging into a corner of the Marvel Universe that I've rarely gotten the chance to explore.

For those of you who have stuck with our Marvel Action title for the last few years, my thanks to you. For those who discovered it in trade, and who are anxiously awaiting Book 4, don't worry, it'll be out soon(ish).

So long, and thanks for all the fish.

To be continued...

This week not only sees the long-awaited release of issue #11 of Marvel Action: Avengers, but it also sees a reprint of our previous issue.

In case you missed it, issue #10 of our series introduced the Yellow Hulk (as well as a dozen other new threats) in a world controlled by the evil organization known as A.I.M. The reaction was incredible, and the issue sold out across the board.
There was plenty of hubbub about it on the internet, too, including on Our issue even inspired an interesting rainbow history of the Hulk from cbr 

So to make sure this first chapter of our final arc on the book gets into the hands of every reader that wants a copy, issue #10 is getting a 2nd print this week. Issue #11 also hits shops this week, the second part of this big final three-issue swan song. I'm really happy with this story, as the entire series has been building to this climactic blow out.
Hope you pick up both chapters and get in on all the A.I.M. smashing!

Script: Matthew K. ManningArt: Marcio Fiorito and Nuno PlatiColors: ProtobunkerLetters: Christa MiesnerAssistant Edits: Megan BrownEdits: Bobby Curnow
Stay safe and mask-up like Spidey!
To be continued...

The saying goes that you should never meet your heroes. So when I first interned at DC Comics back in 1999 or so, I was outright terrified of Dennis O'Neil. To me, it was like walking past a movie star in the halls. This was the writer that redefined Batman in the 1970s. A writer whose work only got better with time. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Denny's scripts evolved to fit the tone of the 80s and 90s, his plots became more complex, his dialogue richer. This was the writer on the brilliant Question series, the editor who created the most consistent and unified Gotham City, the man who threw social and political issues at Green Lantern/Green Arrow, the author of the "From the Den" editorials that offered a wealth of insight into the comic book business. Denny retired from DC around the time I was there, and I don't think I said two words to him.

As I began to get work in the comic book business, I've since had the opportunity to correct that mistake. Denny and I spoke on a Batman panel at a comic con together. I interviewed him for a book I was writing. We chatted in an email or two. We've spoken at comic conventions. And every time, I left impressed. He was as old as Batman, born May of 1939 (the cover date of Batman's first comic appearance in Detective Comics #27), but he never missed a beat. The last time we spoke, we talked about Asheville and he mentioned our town's most famous writer, Thomas Wolfe. I had said that I'd just finished reading Wolfe's "Look Homeward, Angel," and immediately Denny started asking me about plot points in the novel, what I thought of Wolfe's style of prose. It's exactly what you'd expect him to be like. He never disappointed and always inspired.

Denny O'Neil was the single most influential writer and editor to me as both a kid and an adult. I'm gutted to hear that he died last night, but I'm extremely grateful that I had the opportunity to meet my hero. My thoughts go out to his friends and family.

In 1953, artist Dan DeCarlo (best known for his classic work on Archie) created a futuristic comedy comic book nearly a decade before The Jetsons debuted. Called Jetta, the series only lasted for three issues. The comics were numbered 5, 6, and 7 in an effort to generate an artificial longevity and entice newsstands to carry the comic. While #1 issues are big sellers in today's comic book market, back in the 50s, new titles with low numbers were viewed as unproven magazines that might fail.

A charming fun little comic sure to please any Archie fan, Jetta was gone before it found its audience. But now thanks to the wonders of crowd-funded comics, Jetta's back.

I was hired to write a story for this new anthology special, and I'm really proud of what I came up with. It's a futuristic, slightly absurdist slice of life adventure with a touch of romance. I'm excited to see how it turned out, and am looking forward to reading the rest of this 100-page plus comic with its impressive roster of creators:


You can contribute to the campaign to pre-order this all-ages comic, or even earn some of the other perks like original art and sketch cards by clicking here.

And for any fellow comic history buffs, read more about the classic Jetta here.

To be continued...