After a couple quiet weeks, we have a dense slate of news to get through, with some very interesting items that could take the top spot. But they didn’t, because I want to talk about a comic from a creative team I quite like. So, let’s do that and more in this week’s edition of Comics Disassembled.

Taylor and Di Nicuolo, Back Again

It sometimes feels like I’m one of the few folks who reps hard for it, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t: Seven Secrets rocked. This BOOM! Studios series from writer Tom Taylor and artist Daniele Di Nicuolo felt underrated to me as a reader, a slept on series that was the rare Western comic that evoked shōnen manga that in no way felt derivative and instead felt inspired. I truly enjoyed it, and after it ended, I always hoped to see Taylor and Di Nicuolo team up once again.

I got my wish this week, as DC announced a new six-issue, all-ages miniseries from the pair called C.O.R.T.: Children of the Round Table, one that is said to be about the following, per AiPT’s article: “The legend goes like this: For centuries, the mysterious Camelot Corps has stood guard, waiting for a time when ancient myths would be needed once again. That time is now.” And the “who” behind it are the aforementioned children of the round table, as a new set of characters take the spot of Arthur, Lancelot, and all the rest. How will it connect to the DC universe? Will it connect to the universe? I don’t know. I also don’t care. The point is Taylor and Di Nicuolo are reunited, and I trust them to take us somewhere interesting with this book. It launches in September and I am intrigued.

BOOM!, Expanding

I have to say, when BOOM! Studios was bought by Penguin Random House, I was feeling a bit uncertain about what the future held for the publisher. It had its pros and its cons in the previous era, but it produced comics that were good and interesting and sometimes moved the needle for the direct market in a meaningful way. Losing some of the braintrust that guided that seemed like it could be a problem. But then Andy Schmidt signed up as the publisher’s new Editor-in-Chief, and I was intrigued and hopeful but still TBD. This week’s news, though, brought something that reassured me in a major way.

The publisher hired five new people to their team, each of whom has a ton of experience across a variety of roles and different types of comics, and they’re the type of folks who could pave the way to a new and even more interesting era for BOOM! That quintet is comprised of Sebastian Girner (former TKO EIC and the person behind Goats Flying Press), Kiara Valdez (formerly an editor over at First Second), Tea Fougner (until recently an editor at King Features, and Sara Miller and Kwanza Osajyefo, two folks who used to have key roles at DC Comics, with the former aimed at young reader graphic novels and the latter while the latter was also one of the heads of Humanoids H1 line. That’s a lot of brainpower!

And they aren’t just doing typical things. Well, some of them are. Miller will be the Editorial Director for the whole enterprise, reporting directly to Schmidt, while Valdez will be a Special Projects Editor with an emphasis on the publisher’s Kickstarter projects, amongst other things. But the other three will be Executive Editors that guide two of the three imprints at the publisher, with Girner and Fougner heading BOOM! Studios (the largest imprint) while Osajyefo will lead Archaia, the former standalone publisher turned long-running graphic literature imprint at BOOM! (which is great and underrated). Those are all huge wins for the publisher, and for readers. The more talent the better, and I hope these folks are empowered to do what they do best: Make great comics. Because we know they can.