WEPAAAA! THUNDERCATS, HOOOO!

Yo, mi gente, Dynamite just reached into the old-school Marvel ThunderCats vault and pulled out somebody a whole lot of fans probably don’t even know exists. Her name is Lynxana the Hunter. She used to be a ThunderCat. Now she hunts ThunderCats for a living. Fam, that’s the kind of family reunion where everybody better check the exits before sitting down for dinner!

We’re talking about a genuine comics deep cut here, not another cartoon regular getting recycled for nostalgia points. Lynxana made her debut in Marvel’s original ThunderCats comics, appearing in issues #4 through #6 under writer David Michelinie and artist Jim Mooney. The animated series never gave her a turn in the spotlight. The comics did, and they gave her a nasty little hook: an exiled member of the team who turned her skills against her own people. Forty years later, she’s finally getting another shot at making the ThunderCats miserable. COBRA-level grudges, fam. Wrong franchise, same villainous dedication!

Dynamite Entertainment and Warner Bros. Global Consumer Products are bringing her back through a pretty slick surprise. The premium mystery blind bag released for the November 4 launch of the new ThunderCats #1 includes two comics in every bag: the new flagship debut by Greg Pak and David Cousens, plus an exclusive ThunderCats: Lynxana #1 from writer Nate Cosby and artist Sebastián Píriz. This ain’t just a shiny alternate cover pretending to be a major event. It’s an extra story with a returning character and actual plans for the future. That’s a surprise worth opening the bag for.

Now check this out. Cosby and Píriz aren’t simply dropping Lynxana into a random fight and calling it a comeback. They’re sneaking a Western into the ThunderCats universe! A distress call comes from a shady planet packed with some of the galaxy’s roughest bounty hunters. SilverHawks favorite Bluegrass answers the call and gets shot down before he can investigate. Yeah, BLUEGRASS! If you grew up with both cartoons, you already know why that crossover has me grinning. One minute we’re talking about Third Earth, the next we’re out in space with a SilverHawk in trouble and a hunter who’s got serious history with the ‘Cats. Somebody get the popcorn!

Cosby, the Eisner-nominated writer and editor helping steer Dynamite’s ThunderCats comics, writes this special chapter. Sebastián Píriz handles both the artwork and colors, while also contributing the cover. Píriz has worked on titles including Johnny Quest, and the supplied preview pages give readers a look at the visual approach before diving into the issue. The creative team is playing with the franchise’s larger universe, and I appreciate that they’re giving a neglected comics-original character room to cause trouble rather than pretending the cartoon was the only history that counted.

Collectors get their own little adventure with this release. Alongside the guaranteed Lynxana #1, the blind bag includes Pak and Cousens’ ThunderCats #1, with a Greg Pak-drawn cover exclusive to the promotion. There are also alternate presentations of Píriz’s Lynxana artwork, including black-and-white and trade-dress variations. Blind bags can be a headache when publishers use them to make readers chase every possible wrapper, and you know I’m not gonna pretend otherwise. At least here, the publisher has put a genuine bonus comic inside every bag. Give the fans something to READ, not just another reason to buy plastic sleeves!

The best part? Lynxana isn’t disappearing right back into obscurity after this issue. Dynamite says a direct sequel is coming in February 2027, with the character then moving into the flagship ThunderCats series and the companion ThunderCats: Cheetara, written by Saladin Ahmed with art by Andrea Arcari. That’s a serious runway for somebody who spent decades sitting on the sidelines. If you want to see where her beef with the ThunderCats began, the original Michelinie and Mooney appearances are available through the ThunderCats Classic Years reprints.

Listen, fam, I grew up loving these franchises, and the stuff that excites me most isn’t always another appearance by the biggest name on the lunchbox. Sometimes it’s a forgotten character with a good backstory finally getting the respect and page space she deserves. Lynxana already has the attitude, the history, and one hell of a reason to come after our heroes. Now Cosby, Píriz, and the rest of Dynamite’s crew get to show us whether this bounty hunter can become a major player in the new era. ThunderCats, HOOOO! Just keep an eye on who’s coming up behind you.

Credits: ThunderCats: Lynxana #1 | Writer: Nate Cosby | Art & Colors: Sebastián Píriz | Cover Art: Sebastián Píriz | Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment / Warner Bros. Global Consumer Products.

Also in the blind bag: ThunderCats #1 | Writer: Greg Pak | Art: David Cousens | Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment.

More at Dynamite Entertainment.

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Fifty years of 2000 AD deserves more than a commemorative cover and a polite round of applause. Rebellion is taking over London’s Cartoon Museum, filling the place with the artists and ideas that have kept the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic kicking down doors for half a century. 50 Years of 2000 AD & Judge Dredd opens January 14, 2027, and runs through April 18, 2027. For the Crusaders who love seeing the actual work behind the printed page, this sounds like a hell of a birthday party.

Rebellion is curating and organizing the exhibition, drawing on its own archives alongside loans from artists and private collectors. The show covers both 2000 AD and the Judge Dredd Megazine, giving visitors a chance to get close to original artwork that usually lives far beyond a reader’s reach. Seeing a printed page is one experience. Standing in front of the marks somebody physically put down to create it? I could lose an afternoon right there, fam. And yes, Dredd himself is showing up. A brand-new, life-size Judge Dredd statue is being created from co-creator Carlos Ezquerra’s full-length painting of his most celebrated character. That gives the exhibition a centerpiece directly connected to the man whose visual imagination helped define the lawman. I’m already picturing the fans lining up for that photo.

The original-art lineup is ridiculous in the best possible way: Carlos Ezquerra, Simon Bisley, Brian Bolland, Steve Dillon, Kevin O’Neill, Glenn Fabry, Mick McMahon, Steve Yeowell, Chris Weston, Simon Davis, Ron Smith, Bryan Talbot, Henry Flint, Anna Readman, Cam Kennedy, John M Burns, Simon Fraser, Brett Ewins, Sean Phillips, Silvia Califano, Jock, Fraser Irving, Dave Kendall, Jim Murray, Cliff Robinson, Tom Foster, David Roach, John Higgins, Eric Bradbury, Alan Davis, José Casanovas, Simon Coleby, Trevor Hairsine and Arthur Ranson. Ian Gibson is on that list too, with more artists promised. That is an enormous amount of comic-book craft under one roof.

The exhibition will also examine how the comic gets made and how its influence travels beyond its pages. That part deserves space. Comics readers know these creators, but the wider audience often encounters the impact through films, games or music without ever following it back to the drawing board. A museum show can make those connections visible while giving the people who did the work their flowers.

Ben Smith, Rebellion’s Head of Film, TV & Publishing, said the company wanted an important show to mark the half-century. He pointed to the comic’s influence across generations of readers and creators, reaching into film, video games, comics, music and other corners of popular culture. His enthusiasm has some history behind it: the 40th-anniversary exhibition at the Cartoon Museum’s previous gallery space in 2017 drew tens of thousands of visitors, according to Rebellion.

Smith also described Rebellion as a longstanding supporter and collaborator of the museum in its current home. Reuniting for the 50th gives that relationship a much bigger canvas. The new show will fill all of the museum’s gallery spaces, while a selection from the permanent collection will remain available to view in the onsite Clore Learning Studio. If you’re planning a visit, that is useful to know before you walk in expecting the usual gallery arrangement.

Chris Weston supplies the announcement’s exhibition poster, with additional press artwork by Tom Foster and Eric Bradbury offering a taste of the visual history being celebrated. Those names alone should have art fans leaning forward. A milestone like this is a chance to appreciate the different hands, approaches and personalities that kept a weekly comic alive across generations.

50 Years of 2000 AD & Judge Dredd runs January 14 through April 18, 2027, at The Cartoon Museum in London. Visit the official exhibition page for visitor information and updates. Mi gente, if you’re going to celebrate the start of this comic’s second half-century, surrounding yourself with the actual art sounds like a damn good way to do it.

Copyright © 1977-2026 Rebellion. The Rebellion name and logo, the 2000 AD name, logo, associated characters, objects and locations, and the Judge Dredd name, logo and associated characters, objects and locations are trade marks of Rebellion and may be registered trade marks in certain countries. All rights reserved.

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Getting offered your dream comic sounds wonderful until it lands right after you promised yourself you would take less work. Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly found themselves in exactly that situation when Dark Horse called about launching a new ongoing Dungeons & Dragons series. Their answer came with some serious ambition: give them an elite party, a threat big enough to challenge it and the room to pull from the heavy hitters of D&D lore. Fam, nobody was coming to this table to spend four issues learning how to swing a rusty sword.

The writing duo breaks down that decision in Dark Horse’s November Horsepower, the publisher’s monthly behind-the-scenes column that appears in its printed comics. Horsepower gives creators room to discuss what inspires a book, how they work and what they want readers to find in the finished pages. This month, Lanzing and Kelly explain why a game that has been part of their friendship for years became a project they could not leave alone.

They had recently decided to reduce their workload after years of projects at Marvel and on Star Trek. That makes the creative conditions interesting. If they were going to break that promise, their D&D book needed to attempt something they had not seen before. Their pitch starts with a level 20 party operating at the height of its abilities, rather than a level 6 group hopelessly outmatched by everything around it. Put experienced heroes in a crisis that still scares them, and suddenly power does not guarantee anybody a comfortable evening.

The look had to carry the weight of that ambition too. Lanzing and Kelly wanted imagery that recalled the beautiful art in D&D sourcebooks, with a cast drawn from major figures in the lore. They are thinking about readers arriving from very different doors: Red Box veterans, Critical Role fans, people raised on Forgotten Realms books and players who have sunk more than 900 hours into Baldur’s Gate III. Dark Horse agreed to the approach, leaving the writers free to stop pretending they were remotely calm about getting the job.

Their attachment goes well beyond knowing character names. In the column, they describe D&D as a shared language in their daily lives, especially the Forgotten Realms. They play with friends, parents, loved ones and sometimes strangers at conventions. What they value is the freedom to explore different identities, solve problems with impossible tools and practice forms of bravery everyday life does not always make room for. I respect hearing creators explain the personal connection before asking us to invest in another licensed adventure.

The adventure itself puts Faerûn under the shadow of a draconic apocalypse. At its center is Mordenkainen, the archmage who began as the player character of D&D co-creator Gary Gygax. He needs to regain his magic and face an ancient threat, which means assembling a party capable of venturing into unfamiliar realms. Starting a story with an enormously powerful figure who needs help gives the team plenty of room for friction, even before the dragons start making everybody’s day worse.

Two early recruits are Volothamp Geddarm, better known as Volo, and Tasha, Witch Queen of Prismeer. Together with Mordenkainen, they represent only the beginning of the group. Lanzing and Kelly say readers will meet all eight party members by the end of issue #4. That gives the opening stretch a clear promise: this is an ensemble that grows as the danger comes into focus, with more personalities still waiting to pull up a chair.

The creative team brings Ibraim Roberson and Arabson Oliveira on illustrations, Daniel Brown on colors and Hayley Rose-Lyon on lettering. Esad Ribić supplies hand-painted covers, fitting the writers’ desire for a book with the visual richness of the sourcebooks. Those credits deserve to stay together, because an ambitious fantasy comic lives through the entire team putting that world on the page.

Collectors also have special dragon foil variants by Antonio José Manzanedo to look for. Dark Horse says those editions include the dragons’ in-game statistics and lore, which gives tabletop fans another reason to inspect the cover beyond its finish. You already know somebody is going to look at those numbers and start planning an encounter their players will complain about for months.

Lanzing and Kelly want readers who have never rolled dice to feel welcome alongside the weekly players. Their point is that these famous figures still leave room for stories people have not heard, making the comic an entrance into the world as well as a return visit for longtime fans. I like that invitation. A fantasy comic should make you want to explore its world, not make you feel like you forgot to finish your homework before opening issue #1.

Dungeons & Dragons #1 is available now wherever comics are sold. Check Dark Horse Comics for the series, publisher updates and more from Horsepower, and follow Dark Horse Comics on Instagram. The writers wanted a table big enough for different generations of fans, and they have eight seats to fill. Now let’s see what happens when all that experience meets a threat that refuses to care about anybody’s character sheet.

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Anime has long since outgrown the idea that it’s a niche hobby, and Japan is preparing a new national stage to recognize the medium.

For years, anime fans around the world have treated the medium like a major cultural force, because that’s exactly what it is. New awards can be exciting, but a fancy stage and a big name aren’t enough. I want to see recognition that respects the people making these shows, from animators and directors to writers, performers and everyone grinding behind the scenes. The Association of Japanese Animations has announced the Japan Anime Awards, with the inaugural ceremony scheduled for November 21, 2027, at SGC HALL ARIAKE in Tokyo.

The name and date were revealed during TOKYO ANIME NEXT, a live event at Tokyo Tatemono Brillia HALL in Ikebukuro. Its theme, ‘Moving frames. Moving hearts. Moving the world,’ captures how Japanese animation has connected with audiences well beyond its home country.

The announcement arrived after a program that mixed discussion with music. A talk about anime’s global appeal featured Toshiyuki Itakura, Shoko Nakagawa and Sally Amaki, while the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra and guest performers brought music and memorable moments from Demon Slayer, Attack on Titan and Case Closed to the stage.

Award categories, nominees and judging details have not yet been announced. For now, November 21, 2027, is the date to circle. With anime’s influence continuing to spread across film, television, gaming and comics, it’ll be interesting to see what this new ceremony chooses to celebrate and how it distinguishes itself from existing honors.

Official Website:
https://tokyoanimenext.jp/

Official X:
https://x.com/TOKYOANIMENEXT

Official Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/tokyoanimenext/

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