Will Salmon

DC's full June solicitations have finally arrived, and summer is heating up as the venerable publisher prepares to bring back one of its most classic imprints with the return of Elseworlds.

The Wicked + The Divine writer Kieron Gillen is re-teaming with his Die collaborator Stephanie Hans for a new one-off graphic novel from Image. Although details of the project are slim so far, We Called Them Giants is a post-apocalyptic story that follows a woman named Lori who wakes up in a world she doesn't understand and - according to Image's statement about the new book - must "scrape by in the ruins of civilization, nearly starving, hiding from gangs when… They arrive."

Gail Simone is returning to Superman for the the next arc of Action Comics. The writer is teaming up with artist Eddy Barrows for 'Superman and the Challenge from the Stars', the third part of DC's year-long Superman Superstars initiative, which pairs the biggest writers and artists up to create distinct three-issue arcs. 

A couple of years back, VIZ Media and Marvel Comics joined forces to put a fresh manga spin on some of the superhero giant's most popular characters. Now those stories have found a permanent home on the VIZ Manga digital service.

Skybound's Transformers starts a new arc this week with #7. It's another strong issue from one of our favorite ongoing comics, but it also marks a shake-up both in the status quo of the ongoing story and behind the scenes.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin was one of the biggest comics of the last few years and a huge hit for IDW. Sequel series The Last Ronin II - Re-Evolution started publishing in March and got off to a flying start - IDW has stated that 140,000 copies of the debut issue have been ordered to date, with a second printing on the way. 

BOOM! Studios debuted Man's Best recently. The sci-fi comic, from writer Pornsak Pichetshote and artist Jesse Lonergan, follows three animals on a starship full of human refugees and it's one of the most instantly gripping new comics I've read this year.

Manga creator Eiichiro Oda - who last week announced that One Piece would be taking a three week "scheduled maintenance" break - has commented once again on the recent passing of his friend, and fellow legendary mangaka, Akira Toriyama.

Who do you turn to when you're trapped in a world gone mad? For Superman the answer is obvious - and terrifying. Meet the world's sanest man: the Joker.

A new range of comics based on roguelike game Cult of the Lamb is on the way from Oni Press in association with publisher Devolver Digital and developer Massive Monster. The initial release, Cult of the Lamb: The First Verse, is a graphic novel designed to expand the mythology of the game. It's written by All Against All and Red Goblin's Alex Paknadel and drawn by Rick & Morty's Troy Little.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin was a blockbuster series with a gloriously simple premise. Years into the future - and in a continuity separate from the original TMNT - three of the original Turtles have been killed in battle leaving only one survivor, Michelangelo, to avenge his fallen family. It was tougher and darker than most Turtles comics and fans lapped it up.

Not so long ago the multiversal monsters known as the Ashen Combine launched a devastating attack on Earth. Luckily, the Avengers were on hand and able to defeat the villains, imprisoning them once again in the Impossible City (which, if you haven't been reading the book, is the weird new home of Earth's mightiest heroes). So everything is OK now, right? As Tony Stark glibly puts it in our preview of Avengers #11, which you can read in the gallery below, "the world is safe, bingo bango." 

Jamie McKelvie, the fan favorite artist who came up with the iconic designs for both Ms. Marvel and the 2012 revamp of Captain Marvel, is returning with new gothic mystery series One For Sorrow.

Set that dial to maximum Turtle Power! To celebrate 40 years of the Heroes in a Half Shell - and the renewal of IDW's contract to release comics based on them - the publisher has announced five brand new TMNT titles, including two ongoing series, a short story anthology, and a pair of one-shots.

The next phase of Dawn of DC has been announced and, if you've been paying attention to recent developments in the comics then it should come as no surprise who the main antagonist is: Amanda Waller.

The notorious horror comics imprint EC is back from the dead! The publisher behind titles like Tales from the Crypt, Weird Science, and The Vault of Horror, is being relaunched at Oni Press (who seem to be on a bit of a hot streak at the moment) later this year. Two books - Epitaphs from the Abyss and Cruel Universe - will mark the first new releases under the EC banner in almost seven decades. 

In comics they're known as the Big Two. The House of Ideas and its Distinguished Competition. But now DC and Marvel are joining forces to publish two massive omnibus editions of classic crossovers where characters from both publishers meet, interact, and do battle.

Gorillaz co-founder - and Tank Girl co-creator - Jamie Hewlett is returning to comics with a new cover for the third volume of Rafael Grampá's Batman: Gargoyle of Gotham.  The cover is available in two formats – the "portrait" variant is open to order, the wraparound is a 1:25 ratio variant. It renders Batman in the classic Hewlett art style, simultaneously moody and cartoony.

Terminal City, Mister X, and Batman: Black & White artist Dean Motter is teaming up with Dr. Rafael Medoff, the director of the David Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, for a new non-fiction graphic novel that tells the true story of four men who fought to reveal the existence of the Holocaust to the world.

Cinéaste darling and occasional nemesis of very online MCU fans, Martin Scorsese, is the latest director to have the story of his life transformed into a graphic novel. The new volume, simply titled Martin Scorsese, is the third and final instalment in writer/artist Amazing Améziane's trilogy of books for Titan Comics about the great filmmakers.

Todd McFarlane's Spawn reaches its landmark 350th issue in February and Image is promising big changes ahead for the record-breaking comic.

The Earth of the Energon Universe is in turmoil. The Transformers have crashed and the forces of the Autobots and Decepticons have immediately started waging war on each other. Meanwhile, Conrad "Duke" Hauser is trying to find out the truth about these strange machines, and the mysterious Cobra Commander is gathering his forces while studying an alien prisoner - Megatron! And now a new faction is about to enter the fray...

The Star Wars galaxy is vast and the cast of supporting characters that has emerged in the spinoff books and comics is surely in the thousands by now. But one stands out more than almost any other: Grand Admiral Thrawn.

Selina Kyle's life has taken a very different turn of late. Last year's Gotham War storyline saw Catwoman and Batman come to blows over her radical plan to reduce violent crime in the city by turning the city's goons into elite cat burglars who only stole from the rich. It didn't quite work out, especially when Vandal Savage used it as an opportunity to try and seize power.