written by Kieron Gillen; art by Jamie McKelvie The first storyline of The Wicked + The Divine concludes in this issue. And it’s terrific. Midway through, I found myself a little lost, but everything clears up nicely here. The various characters have sorted themselves out for me, or maybe I found them clearer when seeing how each acts when events all come to a head. I don’t want to say too much about the plot, since this is the ending, […]

As writer Jay Faerber starts off his editorial note, “I’m not the first person to think of this.” Many people have done space westerns, from Star Trek to Firefly and beyond. But what attracted me to this series was its sense of character and its unusual choice for the protagonist. Most Western leads are vigilantes, not the official voice of the law. Clara Bronson has come to the mining town of Copperhead as its new sheriff with her son Zeke. […]

by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips The best-known comic noir team returns with a new project, a series set in post-war Hollywood, full of the usual expectations: a beautiful dead blonde, cover-ups and secrets, and powerful bullies. Events are narrated by a writer who had too much to drink the night before, so he’s as confused as the reader to start. He doesn’t remember what happened, but as he gradually recalls — and reveals events to us — things turn […]

written by Jim Zub; art by Steve Cummings I’ve been turned off, a bit, from this series launch because of how hard they’re pushing it as “Buffy the Vampire Slayer for a new generation”. I feared that we’d be getting a watered-down version of someone else’s property — and there are better ways to say “monster-fighting girls”. Or just tell the story without having to catchphrase it. I was relieved to see that this wasn’t as much of a copy […]

We’re more than halfway through the seven-issue Madame Frankenstein series, and so the characters are beginning to show more depth in their twists. Henry, who at first struck the reader as a jealous, spoiled, frat-boy type, is investigating what really happened to ex-girlfriend Courtney, whom he killed in a car accident. His apparent desire to atone makes him more sympathetic (although I suppose it’s possible that it’s just from selfish reasons, such as to once again punish Vincent). Vincent, meanwhile, […]

Image Comics is putting out some of the most exciting comics out there, and their newest must-read series is The Wicked + The Divine by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie. The Wicked + The Divine postulates gods as pop stars, and it’s drawn in typically gorgeous fashion by McKelvie. Gillen portrays the absolute devotion of a dedicated fan in tangible fashion before sending us into the question of how our world would deal with these beings, plus a murder mystery […]

What sold me on The Fuse was hearing writer Antony Johnston describe it. “Sci-fi, detective stories, and murder mysteries are three of my favorite things, and The Fuse mashes them all up into something unique,” said writer Johnston. “We’ve been blown away by the response from our readers — especially women, who love Klem and her kick-ass attitude — and we hope this collection will encourage even more people to visit the claustrophobic, corrupt, and violent world of Midway City.” […]

Derek McCulloch, writer of Stagger Lee, returns with a mind-bending generational noir involving time travel and how terrible families can be to each other, illustrated by Anthony Peruzzo. The three main sections of Displaced Persons look at various generations inhabiting a San Francisco house across from a park. In 1939, a private eye struggling to keep his family together under economic pressure is asked to find a mogul’s missing daughter. She’s run away, perhaps for very good reason, as a […]