Joseph Schmalke‘s newest creation is heading to CEX Publishing for release in 2023. The series, Seven Years In Darkness, was written, illustrated and colored by Schmalke.

Seventy-two children are conscripted to the Academy of Black Magic for seven years where they’ll study the dark arts in a setting devoid of the sun. Only seven will survive to see daylight again.

“After an initial meeting with CEX I knew that they were not only going to help me grow as a creator but that they in fact really love and understand the comic book medium,” said Schmalke. “It didn’t hurt that they were immediately taken with Seven Years In Darkness and I knew I found a home for my most ambitious project yet.”

Schmalke originally released the debut issue via a select few local comic book shops and his online store in June while searching for a home to publish the entire series. Around 10 stores jumped on board for store exclusive covers, including Galactic Comics and Collectibles with Capes and Tights, The One Stop Shop, and the Australian shop Dee’s Comics. CEX will now release the originally self-publish comic in March 2023 with four issues expected through the end of the year, released bi-monthly.

“When Joe pitched me on Seven Years in Darkness, as an evil version of Harry Potter meets Battle Royale, where 72 kids begin the program, but only 7 survive, I was in.” said Andy Schmidt, Publisher CEX Publishing. “This series kept me on my feet, with all the twists and turns, as the series progressed. I can’t wait for audiences to read it for themselves.”

Ashcans of the first CEX issue will be available at the New York Comic Con from October 6-9, 2022.

Schmalke is also the creator of titles Murder Hobo, We Don’t Kill Spiders, The Electric Black, and Cherry Blackbird. He has also contributed to Phantom Starkiller, Count Draco Knuckleduster and other titles. The Maine artist has illustrated a number of variant covers over the past few years which are available at his comic convention booths or during his monthly online store openings.

Keep an eye out for the first issue of Seven Years In Darkness from CEX coming in 2023 as part of Diamond and Lunar Distribution’s December catalogs. The story and artwork is well worth the purchase. To make sure you get your copy, be sure to inform your local comic book shop you are interested to make sure they order the book!

Want to be the first to know? Join Schmalke’s Patreon!

Who is CEX Publishing?

CEX is driven to support comics creators, retailers, and fans. We believe that comics are more than just a reading experience—they’re a community. They’re enthusiastic and original and they’re authentic. And we are, too.

Our sister company, Comics Experience, has been the industry’s leading comic school for more than a decade—churning out popular creators, both writers and artists, as well as talented editors, publishers, and comics marketers. This publishing company is no different.

The focus of CEX, is on you—the fan, the creator, the retailer. We want to be successful and we need to be in order to bring more great content to market, but our goal is promoting the importance of great storytelling, diverse content, and fostering an engaged and positive community.

The success of the first season of Loki and Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness, Marvel Studios has called upon writer Michael Waldron to write Avengers: Secret Wars.

Waldron, known for his Primetime Emmy Award winning writing on Rick and Morty, was called upon to create Loki for Disney+ in 2021 which according to Kevin Feige was the most-watched Marvel Studios Disney+ as of May 2022. That success lead to Feige brining Waldron on Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness to rewrite the film’s script.

Avengers: Secret Wars will be the second of two Avengers films releasing in 2025. The film has yet to name a director, but is set to release on November 7, 2025 and close out the sixth phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The first of the two Avengers films will see Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings‘ Destin Daniel Cretton directing with recently announced Jeff Loveness onboard to write the script.

Secret Wars will loosely be based on the story arcs with the same name from Marvel Comics released in 1984 and 2015. The name will likely be the only real connection to the comics, but as of right now no plot details are officially known.

Waldron will have a busy next few years, as he is not only writing the screenplay for Secret Wars, but has been called upon to write the untitled Feige produced Star Wars film. However, this information is more of a rumor than fact as Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy denied that the film was in active development.

More and more news still to come about the future of the MCU with only four projects announced for phase six.

HBO has released the first teaser trailer for its upcoming video-game adaptation The Last of Us, and it definitely sets the tone for the series.

The bleak trailer portrays a similar feel to the cult-classic 2013 video game giving fans hope the series will pay homage and respect the original source material. Adapting video games to television or film has never really been a super successful endeavor in the past with few exceptions. The trailer used the song “Alone and Forsaken” by Hank Williams.

The post-apocalyptic drama tv series set to air on HBO in 2023. The Last of Us was developed by Naughty Dog, the series will follow Joel played by Pedro Pascal (Game of Thrones, The Mandalorian), a smuggler tasked with escorting the teenage Ellie portrayed by Bella Ramsey (Game of Thrones, Becoming Elizabeth) across a post-apocalyptic United States. It will also feature Gabriel Luna (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., True Detective) as Joel’s younger brother Tommy, Merle Dandridge (Station 19, Greenleaf) as resistance leader Marlene, and Anna Torv (Mindhunter, Fringe) as Joel’s smuggler partner Tess.

The first season will consist of ten episodes written by Craig Mazin (Borderlands, The Huntsman: Winter’s War) and Neil Druckmann; the latter wrote and directed the game.

The Last of Us will debut in 2023, in the meantime take the opportunity to play the game to prepare yourself for what looks to be an outstanding HBO series.

The Last of Us Teaser Trailer