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It’s been a hard year for the comic book industry, and DC Comics has certainly been no exception. Months after Co-Publisher Dan DiDio exited the company, DC is now laying off roughly a third of its staff, including editor-in-chief Bob Harras and various other senior-level editors and executives.

It goes without saying these layoffs will profoundly impact the company in the months and years ahead. But just how significantly will DC change? Is the company pulling out of the comic book publishing business altogether? Read on for a breakdown of what we know about the state of DC going into 2021 and how the company’s focus will shift.

Fewer Monthly Comics

The good news is that, contrary to certain rumors, DC isn’t abandoning the publishing game or planning to outsource books to rival publishers. Jim Lee (who remains in a prominent position at DC) was adamant about that fact in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

“It is still the cornerstone of everything that we do,” Lee told THR. “The need for storytelling, updating the mythology, is vital to what we do. The organization leans on us to share and establish the meaningful elements of the content that they need to use and incorporate for all their adaptations.”

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That said, DC likely won’t be publishing as many new comics in 2021 as they have in years past. Various outlets have reported that DC will soon consolidate and shrink its monthly publishing lineup. That’s pretty much a given, considering how many senior-level editors have been laid off (in what two of The Beat’s sources described as “a bloodbath”). DC probably no longer has the editorial manpower to coordinate as many ongoing books as it once did, and the company may look all the more to proven commodities like Batman and Superman over more risky, niche properties.

Lee himself confirmed as much to THR, indicating DC will trim many of its lower-performing titles and try to emphasize “more punch for the pound.”

Lee said, “We will be reducing the size of the slate. But it’s about looking at everything and looking at the bottom 20 percent, 25 percent of the line that wasn’t breaking even or was losing money. It’s about more punch for the pound, so to speak, and increasing the margins of the books that we are doing. It was about aligning the books to the franchise brand content we’ve developed and making sure that every book we put out, we put out for a reason.”

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That process looks to be starting sooner rather than later. DC’s newly released November 2020 solicitations indicate Teen Titans, Suicide Squad, Young Justice, Hawkman and John Constantine: Hellblazer are all ending, right on the heels of Batgirl, Batman and the Outsiders and Justice League Odyssey ending in October.

A Major Relaunch, But Not 5G

It’s important to keep in mind, however, that just because those books are ending doesn’t mean DC isn’t planning to relaunch at least some of them with new creative teams in December 2020 or early 2021. After all, books like Batgirl and Teen Titans have been more or less permanent fixtures at the company for many years, and it wouldn’t make much sense to put the Suicide Squad on mothballs just as hype is building for James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad movie and the Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League video game.

These cancellations could indicate DC is thinning the herd ahead of a larger relaunch in the vein of 2016’s DC Rebirth. We may see a widespread shuffling of creative teams and a new wave of #1 issues aimed at giving readers a clean starting point. It’s surely no coincidence these cancellations are coming at the same time DC is wrapping up two major crossover events – Dark Nights: Death Metal and Batman: Joker War. The former will likely reshape the very fabric of the DC Universe similar to past Crisis events, while the latter promises to fundamentally alter Batman’s relationship with Gotham City. Even The Flash writer Joshua Williamson, the last creator still standing from the launch of DC Rebirth, is about to wrap up his years-long run on the series. The fallout of all these stories will likely determine the new state of the DCU in 2021.

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However, don’t expect the long-rumored “5G” initiative to factor into DC’s 2021 plans. Before he left DC, DiDio repeatedly teased 5G as the publisher’s next great undertaking. Building on the fallout of stories like Doomsday Clock, 5G reportedly involved the creation of a cohesive DC timeline dating all the way back to Wonder Woman’s WWII-era debut. Whereas the New 52 sought to prune and streamline DC lore, 5G instead seemed aimed at unifying the company’s long history and establishing a four generation-long timeline. 5G itself is said to have marked the start of “Generation Five,” as classic icons like Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent aged out of their roles and a new generation of heroes stepped in.

We may never know DC’s exact plans for 5G, as that project has seemingly been abandoned in the wake of DiDio’s departure. DC’s Free Comic Book Day 2020 special Generation Zero was never actually released, instead being quietly included as bonus material in the Flash Forward trade paperback collection. The followup miniseries Generations has also vanished from DC’s release schedule. While elements of 5G may carry over into other upcoming books, the wider initiative appears to have been abandoned. All signs point to DC leaning more on established heroes like Batman and Superman, not less.

But for now, it’s anyone’s guess as to the direction of this relaunch or exactly how wide a scope the post-Death Metal DCU will have. Will DC’s new editorial direction be driven by Lee, who had a major hand in the New 52? Is it the brainchild of new editors-in-chief Marie Javins and Michele Wells? Or will it be dictated by DC’s yet-to-be-announced general manager, a figure who reportedly hails from the e-sports world rather than comics? At this stage, it’s unclear who is the true captain of the ship in the wake of these layoffs.

Digital Comics and the Fate of DC Universe

While we’re still learning the full scope of the DC layoffs, THR reports “the majority of staff” in the DC Universe division have been eliminated. HBO Max will likely become the permanent new home for streaming shows like Doom Patrol and Titans, and DC Universe as it currently exists will be no more.

That’s not to say DC Universe will be gone completely, however. In addition to the library of new and classic TV/movie content, the subscription service is also notable for offering access to more than 20,000 digital comics spanning DC’s entire 80-year history. That comic library will likely survive in some form or another. Lee hints that DC Universe could be relaunched under a new name, presumably at a lower price point and as a more direct competitor to the Marvel Unlimited subscription service.

“There is always going to be a need for that,” Lee told THR. “So we’re excited to transform it and we’ll have more news on what that will look like. It’s definitely not going away.”

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In general, we expect DC to focus more energy on digital comics as it builds on the success of digital-first projects like Injustice: Gods Among Us and Harley Quinn: Black + White + Red. It’s worth noting that Javins was previously in charge of the company’s digital comics strategy before her latest promotion. That would seem to indicate digital comics will be central to DC’s revamped publishing direction, as DC seeks to better take advantage of this new, growing market.

Even though Lee indicates to THR that DC’s surprise decision to end its relationship with Diamond Comic Distributors has quickly paid off, DC may look to digital comics as a source of stability in a time when publishers and comic stores alike are struggling with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Digital publishing also gives DC the opportunity to experiment with more niche properties without having to worry about recouping printing and shipping costs.

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No More Mature Readers Comics?

Despite the critical and commercial success of books like Batman: Damned and Harleen, DC’s mature readers-focused Black Label imprint looks to be one of the major casualties of the company’s corporate restructuring. As The Beat notes, the fact that both Mark Doyle and Andy Khouri are among the editors laid off suggests DC is significantly scaling back the Black Label line.

According to The Beat, DC may retain the Black Label name as branding for evergreen collected editions like Batman: The Killing Joke, but the company is pivoting away from mature readers comics as a whole. The site indicates this is at the behest of WarnerMedia’s President, Global Brands, Franchises, and Experiences Pam Lifford, while stressing that Lifford’s dislike of the Black Label line stems from more than just the infamous Bat-Penis incident.

Lee indicates as much to THR, revealing DC’s intention to consolidate its line around two main demographics – kids aged 6 to 11 and young adults/adults aged 12 to 45.

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The Black Label line won’t vanish overnight. DC only recently solicited several new Black Label projects like the Watchmen sequel Rorschach and the long-awaited The Other History of the DC Universe. But we may see fewer and fewer new Black Label books being announced in the months ahead. It’s also unclear if DC will continue the Sandman Universe imprint. Though again, despite Hellblazer’s cancellation, it’s hard to imagine DC completely phasing out its Sandman projects at the same time Netflix is gearing up for production on its live-action Sandman series.

This seems to be the end result of a gradual trend away from adult-oriented content at DC. The company shuttered the long-running Vertigo imprint in 2019, pivoting to Black Label and its more mainstream-friendly emphasis on characters like Batman and Wonder Woman. Now, even that approach seems to be too much for a company refocusing its energies on a more traditional, superhero-hungry audience.

The End of DC Direct

In addition to Black Label being phased out, these layoffs look to mark the end for DC Direct, the 22-year-old collectibles arm of DC. While DC has always turned to companies like Kenner and Mattel to handle mass market toys, DC Direct (also previously known as DC Collectibles) was conceived in the late ’90s as an outlet for pricier, more collector-oriented figures, statues and props.

Lee stopped short of confirming DC Direct has been shuttered in his THR interview, pointing to the fact that DC Direct’s creative director Jim Fletcher remains with the company. But Lee did indicate DC will be focusing less on producing its own collectibles and more on licensing properties out to other companies, building on current arrangements with the likes of Sideshow Collectibles, Diamond Select Toys and McFarlane Toys.

“It’s about evolving the model,” said Lee. “We want to produce those collectible and serve those fans, but we will probably shift to a higher price point collectible and more of a licensing model, working with manufacturers we already work with. From a consumer point of view, there will not be a change or drop off in the quality of the work they are seeing. Behind the scenes, how we create it and how we get it to them is going to change.”

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This could be another response to the economic impact of the coronavirus. While the collectibles market can be lucrative (compared to the thin profit margins on comics themselves), the logistics of manufacturing and shipping these large, delicate items across the globe are complicated. Even if DC stands to bring in less revenue by licensing out its characters rather than producing these collectibles in-house, higher-ups at WarnerMedia may see that as an acceptable trade-off.

We can only hope that this emphasis on licensing over in-house production won’t mark the end of long-running statue lines like Batman: Black & White and Cover Girls of the DC Universe. Will we see companies like Diamond or Sideshow pick up where DC Direct leaves off?

But whatever the future holds for DC Comics as a whole, we’re hoping to get a better sense of what lies ahead at DC FanDome. Check out the full DC FanDome schedule, and stay tuned to IGN for full coverage of that event.

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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.

Nintendo has rolled out a new patch for Splatoon 2. Update 5.3.0 arrives ahead of the game’s bonus Splatfest event later this week, and it makes some balance adjustments to a variety of weapons in the game.

In particular, a handful of guns have received nerfs of varying degrees. Rolling with the Dualie Squelchers and Custom Dualie Squelchers now eats up 8% of your ink tank (up from 5%), and the hit detection between their normal shots and players has been “very slightly decreased,” making it a little harder to hit opponents (although the guns’ hit detection after rolling remains unchanged).

All three variants of the Bamboozler have also gotten a nerf; their ink consumption has been increased by approximately 20%. Meanwhile, ink droplets from the Splat Brella, Sorella Brella, and Hero Brella Replica now deal 16.2 damage (down from 18.0); following this tweak, Nintendo says the maximum damage dealt by a single shot from these three weapons is now 81.0 (down from 90.0). You can see the full list of balance changes below.

“As a result of closely observing the changes in weapon choice after ver. 5.2.0 was released, we made adjustments to certain weapons that were still being used often or were often used by players of the highest rank, even after the changes in weapon choice evened out,” Nintendo explained in its patch notes for the update. “We’ve also made adjustments to improve those weapons that players started using a lot more often (and those with similar features) to give players more options. We plan to perform a long-term analysis after this update is applied and make adjustments based on that.”

Although Nintendo has stopped hosting regular Splatfests in Splatoon 2, the company will hold another bonus event this week, from August 21-23. The theme will be another repeat from a previous Splatfest, in this case the age-old philosophical question: which came first, the chicken or the egg? Nintendo plans to hold at least two more bonus Splatfests in Splatoon 2 by the end of March 2021.

Splatoon 2 Ver. 5.3.0 Patch Notes

Weapon	Changes
Splattershot, Tentatek Splattershot, Kensa Splattershot, Hero Shot Replica, Octo Shot Replica	Reduced the amount of time it takes for shot spread (which is the gradual distance shots spread away from the target when firing continuously) to return to normal. Most Shooter-type weapons will have increased shot spread if you continuously fire. When you stop firing, the shot spread gradually returns to normal, but with this fix, we’ve reduced the amount of time it takes to return.
.52 Gal, .52 Gal Deco, Kensa .52 Gal	Extended the amount of time when firing continuously until shot spread reaches its max. Reduced the amount of time it takes for shot spread to return to normal. Most Shooter-type weapons will have increased shot spread if you continuously fire. When you stop firing, the shot spread gradually returns to normal, but with this fix, we’ve reduced the amount of time it takes to return.
Bamboozler 14 Mk I, Bamboozler 14 Mk II, Bamboozler 14 Mk III	Increased ink consumption by roughly 20%.
Dualie Squelchers, Custom Dualie Squelchers	Increased the ink consumed by rolling from 5% to 8% of the Ink Tank. Very slightly decreased the size of hit detection between normal shots and players, making it harder to hit opponents. There are no changes to hit detection between players and shots after rolling.
Splat Brella, Sorella Brella, Hero Brella Replica	Decreased damage dealt by each ink droplet from 18.0 to 16.2. Due to this change, the maximum damage dealt by a single shot has gone down from 90.0 to 81.0.

Respawn has released the full patch notes for Apex Legends Season 6: Boosted, which starts soon. Season 6 doesn’t implement in-game changes as big as Season 4 and Season 5 did, but there are some nice balancing adjustments for characters–especially those in the recon class.

Starting in Season 6, all three recon characters (Pathfinder, Bloodhound, and Crypto) will be able to access survey beacons around the map to see where future circle closures will be. This ability was previously Pathfinder’s unique passive, but now every recon character can use it. If done through his drone, Crypto can get the information instantly without having to take the time to jack into the beacon.

“Giving all Recon legends access to survey beacons makes Pathfinder less unique, and obviously we don’t love that,” Respawn writes in the patch notes. “For now, we’re giving our friendly robot a small buff to his ultimate cooldown when he uses a survey beacon, but in the future we will take another look at Pathfinder to see what else we could do to make him feel more unique.”

For now, Pathfinder’s new passive ability is that he lowers his cooldown timer on his ultimate ability every time he uses a survey beacon, a passive he can use up to six times per match. Each time he uses a survey beacon, the cooldown on Pathfinder’s ultimate ability lowers by 10 seconds. So though it starts at 120 seconds, you can lower the cooldown on Pathfinder’s ultimate ability to just 60 seconds.

Bloodhound and Crypto have also gotten some nice buffs. Bloodhound’s ultimate ability is now extended by 15 seconds with every knockdown instead of only five, and their tactical ability can be used faster and more often while their ultimate is in effect. Crypto’s drone will now have 60 HP instead of 30 and Crypto can now use it to both pick up a teammate’s banner card from their death box and drop it off at a respawn beacon. Additionally, if Crypto respawns an ally through his drone as opposed to handing it in himself, they can hand in the banner card instantly instead of the process taking a few seconds to take effect.

Below, we’ve listed the big changes from the Apex Legends Season 6 patch notes.

Apex Legends Season 6: Boosted Update Patch Notes

Recon Class

• All Recon legends (Bloodhound, Crypto, and Pathfinder) can now use Survey Beacons to get the next ring location. Crypto can use his drone to instantly get this information.
• Pathfinder:
  • Context: Giving all Recon legends access to survey beacons makes Pathfinder less unique, and obviously we don’t love that. For now, we’re giving our friendly robot a small buff to his ultimate cooldown when he uses a survey beacon, but in the future we will take another look at Pathfinder to see what else we could do to make him feel more unique.
  • Passive: Each time Pathfinder scans a survey beacon, the total cooldown of Zipline Gun is reduced.
    • Numbers: Zipline Gun cooldown reduced by 10s each time Pathfinder scans a beacon. Up to 6 rings per game means the total cooldown of Zipline Gun can go from 120s to 60s.
• Bloodhound:
  • Context: Bloodhound fulfills a very clear role in Apex Legends: they’re the information gatherer and tracker, but currently their performance leaves a lot to be desired. In this patch, we wanted to double down on their ultimate being their big moment of becoming a god-like tracker. Bloodhound already gives up some information to the enemy when they scan or use the ultimate (it makes a noticeable sound), so we think there is room for a lot more power during the ultimate.
  • Beast of the Hunt: Now gains even more duration when Bloodhound scores a knockdown or kill with the ultimate about to run out.
  • Eye of the Allfather: During Beast of the Hunt, Eye of the Allfather now comes out twice as fast and has a much shorter cooldown.
    • Numbers:
      • Beast of the Hunt duration extension 5s → [5s – 15s] based on remaining duration
      • Eye of the Allfather CD during Beast of the Hunt: 25s → 6s
      • Eye of the Allfather total use time during Beast of the Hunt: 1.8s → 0.9s
• Crypto:
  • Context: Crypto is a particularly interesting recon character: the amount of information he can gather for his team with the drone is very high, but the fact that he has to switch over to his drone leaves him vulnerable and often at a great distance from his team. Because he has no abilities without his drone, we figure there’s room for even more power when he’s in his drone.
  • Surveillance drone:
    • Crypto can now activate respawn and survey beacons from his drone. Doing so is instant instead of requiring a prolonged use.
    • Made the surveillance drone slightly more consistent to hit but also doubled its hitpoints.
  • Drone EMP:
    • EMP will now slow teammates caught in the blast, even if they had no shields. This means that players who have used Revenant’s Death Totem will also be slowed.
      • Numbers:
        • Surveillance Drone 30HP → 60HP
        • Surveillance Drone hitbox size: cube of edge length 16 → cube of edge length 24

Other Legends

• Revenant:
  • Context: We’re happy to see that dropping the range restriction on Death Totem brought a lot more Revenants into play, but we’ve been watching a particularly frustrating combo play out in professional level play involving a squad of Revenant, Wraith, and Crypto, where using the three ultimates together resulted in two back to back runs at the enemy team that they could do very little about. We’ve attacked part of that in the Crypto EMP change, but here’s the other part aimed at making this play less overwhelming.
  • Death Totem:
    • For 2s after being recalled by the Death Totem, players cannot use Wraith’s Dimensional Rift.
• Octane:
  • Stim: Can now use Stim while healing, but stim will not remove the slow you incur from healing.
• Loba:
  • Context: While Loba was initially very popular, she’s been struggling to keep up more recently, so we’re tossing her a little buff. If you’re curious why we’ve chosen to buff her ultimate rather than her tactical: we’re seeing that she has decent combat success but that teams with her on them don’t win as much as, say, teams with Lifeline or Wattson. This suggests to us that her out of combat utility (that is to say, how she funnels loot to her team) isn’t doing enough.
  • Black Market:
    • Lowered cooldown from 3min to 90s
• Gibraltar:
  • Defensive Bombardment:
    • Increased cooldown from 3 minutes to 4.5 minutes
• Bangalore:
  • Rolling Thunder:
    • Decreased cooldown from 4.5 minutes to 3 minutes
• Wattson:
  • Interception Pylon
    • Trophy system will now shoot down Caustic barrels in flight if they would have landed inside the range of the trophy.

Loot

• Added:
  • Extended Energy Mags.
  • Turbocharger Hop-up
• Updated:
  • Precision Choke – Removed Precision Choke from loot pool, but it will now be integrated into the Triple Take and Peacekeeper by default. Fire select toggles on/off the choke
• In Supply Drop:
  • R99
    • Damage increased from 11 to 12
    • Increased magazine size to 32
    • Ammo Reserve: 160
• Out of Supply Drop- Into Ground Loot:
  • Devotion
    • Clip size reduced back to original values (36/40/44/48).
• Fully Kitted Weapon Swaps
  • Removed:
    • DMR
    • Hemlok
    • Spitfire
    • EVA-8
    • RE-45
  • Added:
    • Devotion
    • Mastiff
    • Triple Take
    • Flatline
    • Volt
• Updated Weapon
  • Sniper ammo
    • Increased pick up from 8 to 12
    • Increased Stack Size from 16 to 24
  • Energy Ammo
    • Reduce amount picked up from 30 to 20.

Weapon Updates

• Hemlok:
  • Reduced vertical recoil in burst mod
  • Slightly reducing recoil in pattern on 2nd and 3rd shot so first burst kicks less
  • Burst mode time between bursts .32 -> .28
• Charge Rifle
  • Will now use 2 ammo per shot.
  • Increased mag size from 4 to 8
• Triple Take Buff:
  • Increase fire rate 1.25 -> 1.4
  • Increased Mag size from (5/6/7/8) to (6/7/8/9)
  • Built the Choke hop up into the weapon by default. Toggle select-fire to enable/disable the Choke
  • PK
  • Built the Choke hop up into the weapon by default. Toggle select-fire to enable/disable the Choke
• Spitfire
  • Improve recoil controllability
• Havoc
  • Updated Havoc with a new recoil pattern
  • Designer Note: The Havoc’s existing recoil pattern had constant horizontal movement. This means it would either be too difficult to control if there was too much recoil, or far too easy to control if there was too little recoil. Updating to a new pattern which is more consistent in style with existing recoil patterns.
• Mozambique
  • Increased clip size from 3 to 4.
• P2020
  • Increased Damage from 13 to 15
  • Decreased Hammerpoint damage multiplier from 2.7 to 2.35. This will leave Hammerpoint P2020 damage unchanged in most scenarios..
  • Increased mag size from (10/13/15/18) to (12/14/16/18)
• Sentinel
  • Only requires one shield cell to charge if the player has the gold armor.
• Prowler
  • Slightly Reduce vertical recoil in burst mode
  • Increase horizontal recoil in Auto Mode

Quality of Life

• Supply Drop Weapons are now Heirloom Tier (red) to avoid confusion with fully kitted guns which will remain gold.
• World’s Edge received performance improvements, especially around The Tree, The Dome and Skyhook, looking towards the center of the map.
• Alterations were made to The Ring to prevent late zones from centering on unplayable terrain and reduce the predictability of the zone’s pull.

Bug Fixes

• Bangalore
  • Fixed an issue with the La Catrina and Killing Machine skins obscuring views when ADS with the holo, 2x, 2-4x or 3x scopes.
  • Fixed an exploit with being able to see through smoke when looking through a chain link fence.
• Bloodhound
  • Fixed an issue with bloodhound being able to get an additional Ult when using a wraith ultimate.
• Caustic
  • Fixed an issue with gas traps clipping into mobile Respawn beacons.
  • Fixed an issue with Revenant and Pathfinder taking less damage from Nox Gas
• Crypto
  • Fixed an issue VFX show false positive when hitting Crypto’s Drone.
  • Fixed an issue with Crypto being able to use his drone while using Loba’s Black Market.
  • Fixed an issue with EMP not destroying Loba’s Black Market.
  • Did a geo pass to help prevent Crypto’s drone from clipping into walls
• Gibraltar
  • Fixed an issue Gibraltar air strike markers sometimes appearing inside buildings.
• Loba
  • Fixed an issue with Loba’s Black market not being pingable.
  • Fixed an issue with enemies getting teleported with Loba when they melee her when she teleports.
• Mirage
  • Fixed an issue with decoy flying rapidly across the ground when player takes control of it before a jump tower or geyser.
  • Fixed an issue with decoys not looking natural when player uses a zipline
  • Fixed and issue with Decoys getting launched into air while player enters Wraith’s Portal.
  • Fixed bug where Mirage’s decoys would sometimes not deploy while skydiving
• Octane
  • Fixed an issue with jump pads disappearing when placed on ordinances
  • Fixed an issue with jump pads disappearing when placed under loot ticks.
• Pathfinder
  • Hi Friend!
• Revenant
  • Fixed an issue with enemies getting teleported with Revenant when they melee him before he teleports back to death totem.
• Wraith
  • Fixed an issue with wraith portals pushing players beneath geo when a death box is on the other end
  • Fixed an issue with Wraith’s tactical losing velocity when pressing the fire button during the tactical.
  • Fixed an issue for when a death totem and portal are too close to each other causing players to auto enter a portal upon death totem recall.
• General
  • Fixed an issue with evo armor doubling the effect of leveling up. This caused some brightness on screen.
  • Fixed an issue with the train killing players when coming out of a wraith portal on the train.
  • Fixed an issue with some vertical zip lines not correctly placing players once they get off the line.
  • Fixed an issue with spectator view pinging last pings when swapping through views (Private Match Issue).
  • Fixed an issue for knockdown state not eliminating the squad when no one had a gold shield.
  • Fixed an issue where death protection runs out with an active DOC medic nearby, DOC would not start healing you.

Marvel Comics has announced a new ongoing X-Men series called Wolverine: Black, White & Blood. As the name suggests, the series is marked by a distinctive art style rendered only in shades of black, white and red.

While Marvel’s current Wolverine comic is set firmly within the new Dawn of X status quo, Black, White & Blood is a standalone anthology series that explores various untold stories throughout Wolverine’s long life. The first issue will feature three short stories  – a Weapon X tale from writer Gerry Duggan and artist Adam Kubert, a Wolverine and Nick Fury-centric spy-ops story from Matthew Rosenberg and artist Joshua Cassara and a tale set in the era of Grant Morrison’s New X-Men from writer/artist Declan Shalvey.

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In terms of visual style, Wolverine: Black, White & Blood is similar to DC’s Harley Quinn: Black + White + Red series. Unlike that digital-first book, however, Black, White & Blood will ship monthly and be released simultaneously in print and digital formats. Future creators will include Vita Ayala, Chris Claremont, Saladin Ahmed, Donny Cates, Ed Brisson, Kelly Thompson, Greg Land, Salvador Larroca, Kev Walker, Chris Bachalo and Leonard Kirk.

“I can’t stress how exciting it is getting all of these pages from the absolutely killer level of talent assembled for this book,” series editor Mark Basso told Marvel.com. “It’s become a hype cliché, but you’ve really never seen anything quite like this from Marvel Comics. And you’ve only seen a fraction of the first issue…”

“This is a real career highlight for me,” said Shalvey. “I’ve written Old Man Logan, I’ve drawn RETURN OF WOLVERINE, but getting to write and draw Wolverine in a moody, stripped down story is a real jewel in my crown, as it were. Not only that, but to showcase my work in black and white with the added tool of a stylized red really opens up interesting storytelling possibilities. I get to take a stab (pun intended) at one of my absolute favorite characters and depict him in a more definitive way.”

Wolverine: Black, White & Blood #1 will be released in November 2020.

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In other recent comics news, Batman icons Scott Snyder and Tony Daniel are joining forces for a horror comic called Nocternal, while current Batman writer James Tynion IV is teaming with Dying Is easy’s Martin Simmonds for a conspiracy thriller called The Department of Truth.

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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.