Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman Bring Their Creator-Owned Series Vanish to Image Comics (Exclusive)

June 16, 2022, 10:00am

The all-star team of Donny Cates (God Country, Hulk, Thor) and Ryan Stegman (Absolute Carnage, King in Black) helped transform Venom into one of the hottest properties on comic book shelves, and are reuniting for a new creator-owned series titled Vanish, alongside JP Mayer (Absolute Carnage, Fantastic Four), Sonia Oback (Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows, Han Solo), and John J. Hill (Crossover, Harley Quinn). The duo originally announced Vanish on their KLC Press Substack newsletter in January, but soon fans will be able to physically get their hands on it. ComicBook.com can exclusively reveal Vanish will launch in print at Image Comics in September, and digitally by way of the KLC Press Substack newsletter.

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“Sick and tired of all these ‘young adult’ stories about magic, and wizards, and destiny and love and bla bla bla? Well, good news! We are too!” Cates said. “So we made VANISH to answer the one question we’ve all been asking; What if magic was….metal? This is a project that Ryan and I have been secretly building and working on quietly in the background for years now, and we cannot wait to unleash it on you. And the fun part for us is, well, pay attention closely….like the reveal of any great magic trick, you’ll never see this one coming…”

“VANISH is the most exciting thing I’ve drawn. Doing an Image comic has always been my ultimate goal as a creator and we’ve pulled out all the stops to make this special,” Stegman said. “Donny’s and my goal with this project is to create something that we could never do at Marvel and, well…We’ve succeeded at that I assure you.”

“Somehow Donny & Ryan have been able to meld 5 different genres into this vast VANISH world they’ve created and it works wonderfully,” Hill added. “There’s something in it for everyone… superheroics, fantasy elements, dark brooding aspects, beatdowns and gore. And most of all, it’s FUN. Fans of Venom, God Country, Thor, and Crossover will eat it up. The entire creative team is working magic on every page.”

Donny Cates, Ryan Stegman, and JP Mayer relaunched Venom back in 2018, staying on the title until Venom #200 in 2021 as they reshaped the symbiote mythos. During their time they collaborated on the Absolute Carnage and King in Black event series.

Vanish #1 arrives in September from Image Comics in print, and can be purchased digitally from KLC Press and digital storefronts such as Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Google Play. Check out the covers and a preview of the first issue below.

VANISH #1

COVER A: RYAN STEGMAN

COVER B: DANIEL WARREN JOHNSON

COVER C: BLANK SKETCH COVER

COVER D (1:10): ED McGUINNESS

COVER E (1:25): GREG CAPULLO

COVER F (1:50): RYAN STEGMAN VIRGIN VARIANT

COVER G (1:75): DANIEL WARREN JOHNSON RAW VARIANT

COVER H (1:100): ED McGUINNESS RAW VARIANT

COVER I (1:200): GREG CAPULLO RAW VARIANT

COVER J (1:500): RYAN STEGMAN RAW VARIANT

In Vanish, Oliver Harrison was a mythical hero who slayed the greatest threat to his realm before even hitting puberty. But that was then.

As an adult, Oliver leads an average cookie-cutter suburban life—aside from the fact that he’s mentally unstable, massively paranoid, smokes like a chimney, and gets blackout drunk every night to hide from his horrific nightmares. Will the arrival of a superhero team called the Prestige prove the madness isn’t all in Oliver’s head? And what about all the epic fantasy crap from his childhood?