During the New York Comic Con panel for Rick Remender’s Image Comics imprint Giant Generator, the writer revealed two new ongoing series launching early next year: “Napalm Lullaby,” and “Grommets.”
“Napalm Lullaby” is a post-apocalyptic superhero tale, that will reteam Remender with “Death or Glory” artist Bengal. The comic, launching March 2024, is set in a world ruled by the Magnificent Leader, a theocrat who’s cast the rest of the world into poverty.
That’s “when two of the messiah’s bastard children — each with powers that are strange and difficult to control — set out to escape the slums of their birth. Determined to infiltrate the Magnificent Leader’s domed fortress of adulation, they’ll stop at nothing to kill the man responsible for the nightmare they were raised in.”
“Grommets,” created with co-writer Brian Posehn, artist Brett Parson (“Tank Girl”), and colorist Moreno Dinisio (“Black Science”), is a coming-of-age story set in 1984. Launching in April, the book follows two boys from troubled homes in Sacramento, who become skateboarders. (The word “grommet” is a slang term referring to a young up-and-coming skater or surfer.)
Remender and Posehn describe “Grommets” as being autobiographical, with the former saying, “My skateboard was everything: it was how I got around, it was how I identified myself, it was how I spent all my free time before and after school, on every weekend, and most importantly… it was ours. The kids owned this sport.”
Furthermore, Remender announced several artists (many of whom he has worked with before) have signed exclusive deals with Giant Generator to pursue creator-owned projects there. They consist of Bengal and Parson, Daniel Acuña (“Uncanny Avengers”), André Lima Araújo (“A Righteous Thirst for Vengeance”), Paul Azaceta (“Outcast”), Roland Boschi (“The Scumbag”), Max Fiumara (“The Sacrificers”), Mike Hawthorne (“Deadpool”), JG Jones (“Wanted”), Francesco Mobili (“Spawn”), Yanick Paquette (“Wonder Woman: Earth One”), and Greg Tocchini (“Uncanny X-Force”).
For more information, check out the press releases — and the covers and interior artwork — below. “Napalm Lullaby” #1 will have variant covers by JG Jones, Yanick Paquette, Eric Powell, Jeff Dekal, Andrew Robinson, Davi Go, James Harren, and Daniel Warren Johnson, while “Grommets” #1 will have additional artwork by David Lapham, Andrew Robinson, Alex Riegel, Chuck BB, and Jon Wayshak.
POWER IS THREATENED IN REMENDER & BENGAL’S UPCOMING APOCALYPTIC SUPERHERO SERIES NAPALM LULLABY LAUNCHING MARCH 2024
NEW YORK 10/14/2023 — The bestselling creative duo behind fan-favorite series Death or Glory—Rick Remender and Bengal—reteam for an all-new dystopian epic in, Napalm Lullaby. This ongoing series is set to launch in March 2024 from the Giant Generator line at Image Comics.
Issue #1 will feature variant covers by superstar artists JG Jones, Yanick Paquette, Eric Powell, Jeff Dekal, Andrew Robinson, Davi Go, James Harren, and Daniel Warren Johnson.
What if a child with unimaginable power was discovered and raised to believe he was God by a cult built upon hatred and populated by zealots utterly confident in the purity and absolute moral authority of their religion? Enter a world ruled by The Magnificent Leader, where just such a cult imposed their will on an entire world to create the ultimate theocracy. Join up and buy in—or be cast out to suffer in the toxic slums with the masses of humanity.
The story of Napalm Lullaby begins 50 years after the cult’s subjugation of Earth, when two of the messiah’s bastard children—each with powers that are strange and difficult to control—set out to escape the slums of their birth. Determined to infiltrate the Magnificent Leader’s domed fortress of adulation, they’ll stop at nothing to kill the man responsible for the nightmare they were raised in.
“Napalm Lullaby and The Holy Roller are my first forays into superheroes since I left Marvel a decade ago,” said Remender. “At one point in time, I promised myself never to return to this genre—but when this idea [for Napalm Lullaby] hit, it was too exciting not to make it real. Fortunately, my longtime collaborator and friend Bengal agreed, and we set out to make an apocalyptic superhero story unlike anything you’ve seen or read. We’ve been developing this story for years and it couldn’t have more love dumped into it. Ben has made sure every single page is a work of art.”
Continued belowBengal added: “It was hard keeping Napalm Lullaby a secret for so many years. This is a dream project that I’ve been so eager to show off. I’m ecstatic that soon we’ll take readers into this world, part Road Warrior and part Superman. I love working on strange, superpowered beings and I took great care to create, with Rick, characters we REALLY care for.”
Napalm Lullaby #1 will be available at comic book shops in March 2024.
Napalm Lullaby will also be available across many digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Google Play.
DEADLY CLASS WRITER RICK REMENDER TEAMS WITH CELEB COMEDIAN BRIAN POSEHN & ARTIST BRETT PARSON TO LAUNCH ONGOING COMIC BOOK SERIES GROMMETS IN APRIL 2024
NEW YORK 10/14/2023 — Bestselling writer Rick Remender (Deadly Class, The Scumbag) teams with co-writer and Emmy Award winning comedian Brian Posehn (The Secret History of the War on Weed), artist Brett Parson (Tank Girl), and colorist Moreno Dinisio (Black Science), for an all-new, ongoing comic book series titled, Grommets. This ’80s-infused coming-of-age story is set to launch in April 2024 from Remender’s Giant Generator line at Image Comics.
Grommets will feature a slew of variant covers by such artists as: David Lapham (Stray Bullets), Andrew Robinson, Alex Riegel, Chuck BB, and Jon Wayshak.
In Grommets, two outcast best friends navigate the Sacramento suburbs of 1984, where they find a home in skateboard culture and punk rock. Grommets is both an authentic look at ’80s skate culture—a snapshot of the generation that turned skating into a worldwide phenomenon—as well as a heartfelt coming-of-age story following two friends from troubled homes navigating their damage in an era when no one cared.
The series’ title sprints from skater slang, a “grommet” is a commonly used term for a young up-and-coming skater or surfer. Since the ’60s it’s been used to describe the next generation of kids who, with youthful exuberance, love the sport but want to put their spin on it.
“I spent the first 11 years of my life being humiliated in competition team sports… but that all ended the day I rode skateboard. I spent the summer of 1984 skating from morning to night. Soon all my friends were there with me. Life became more fun than it had ever been before,” said Remender. “The fun wasn’t based on winning; the competition was healthy, you were always backed up by a pal giving you support, telling you to keep at it until you nailed the trick. My skateboard was everything: it was how I got around, it was how I identified myself, it was how I spent all my free time before and after school, on every weekend, and most importantly… it was ours. The kids owned this sport.”
Posehn added: “Like my old pal, Rick, I too sucked at mainstream sports and that led to my love of skateboarding, which I also sucked at. But that’s the beauty of the sport, it didn’t matter how good I was. It was the most fun I’d ever had and no one in my crew gave the slightest shit if I couldn’t ollie, it wasn’t about one-upmanship. Skater kids were different, funny, smart and they hated what I hated: Mainstream sports, mainstream music, Camaros, tough guys and misogyny. It was less of a sport and more of a lifestyle. We were misfits before it was cool.”
Grommets #1 will be available at comic book shops in April 2024.
Grommets will also be available across many digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Google Play.
RICK REMENDER’S RISING POWERHOUSE AT IMAGE COMICS—GIANT GENERATOR—INKS EXCLUSIVE DEALS WITH TOP INDUSTRY TALENT
Continued belowNEW YORK 10/14/2023 — Image Comics and Giant Generator Studios today announced that a massive lineup of talent are signing exclusive deals for upcoming projects with Rick Remender’s Giant Generator line.
Daniel Acuña (Uncanny Avengers, Captain America), André Lima Araújo (A RIGHTEOUS THIRST FOR VENGEANCE, Spider-Verse), Paul Azaceta (OUTCAST, Punisher), Bengal (Spider-Gwen, DEATH OR GLORY), Roland Boschi (THE SCUMBAG, Winter Soldier), Max Fiumara (THE SACRIFICERS, Amazing Spider-Man), Mike Hawthorne (Deadpool, Batman), JG Jones (WANTED, Marvel Boy), Francesco Mobili (Secret Wars, SPAWN), Brett Parson (Tank Girl), Yanick Paquette (Wonder Woman, Batman Incorporated), and Greg Tocchini (LOW, Uncanny X-Force), are all signing exclusive contracts with Giant Generator to focus on their own work, to bet on themselves, and to build their own worlds. This will all lead to a huge rollout of exciting creator-owned launches for the line.
Remender will collaborate with many of these artists on new projects, while some will be writing their own material, and others will be joined by writers yet-to-be-announced. All creators will retain full rights on books owned 100% by the creative teams.
“I’ve spent the last quarter century building creator-owned comic books and having Image give me the chance to take that knowledge to help other creators follow their bliss and do the same makes me incredibly happy,” said Remender. “Working with this murderer’s row on the second wave of Giant Generator books has me reinvigorated, I wake up every morning eager to see what these incredible monsters have been up to. As we’ve proven over the years, we make outstanding comics because we only work with top creators, each given the time and support to do the best work of their careers, work they own, work that lives on for years and years in premiere formats. We focus on the creation of new, wholly original, evergreen reads that stand out from the whirlwind of monthly comics and have proven to stand the test of time.”
The first launches out of this new wave of Giant Generator talent were unveiled during the Giant Generator New York Comic Con panel today and include: GROMMETS by Rick Remender, Brian Posehn, and Brett Parson, NAPALM LULLABY by Rick Remender and Bengal, and DUST TO DUST by JG Jones and Phil Bram.
Remender added: “When good art is the goal, the rest falls into place.”
