Wednesday is New Comics Day

Every Wednesday, I'll be highlighting the five most exciting comic releases of the week. The list may include comic books, graphic novels, digital comics and webcomics. I'll even highlight some Kickstarter comics projects on occasion. There's more variety and availability in comics than there has ever been, and I hope to point out just some of the cool stuff that's out there. If there's a release you're excited about, let's talk about it in the comments.

1. Superman Unchained #1

Written by Scott Snyder, art by Jim Lee and Scott Williams
DC Comics

You may have heard there's a movie called Man of Steel hitting theaters this weekend. If you follow the ins and outs of the comics industry, you may also be aware of talk that the box office returns from this weekend's opening could either send DC Comics and its parent company, Time Warner, into an organizational tailspin (even more so than they already seem to be in) or launch their original superhero back into his rightful place at the top of the sales charts (although it's debatable whether successful comic book movies lead to noticeable increases in comic book sales, anyway). In anticipation, DC is moving some pieces into position this week to try to capitalize on a best case scenario.

That best case scenario involves having good, accessible Superman comics ready the minute moviegoers step out of the theaters, adjust their eyes to the sunlight, and seek out their nearest comic book shop. There haven't been a lot of those recently, but DC hopes Superman Unchained #1 will be that comic and they've put their most popular writer with their most popular artist on it to make it so.

Jim Lee has drawn Superman before. but writer Scott Snyder, who is currently in charge of the flagship Batman book, is getting his first chance at the character now. He has said that he's approached this comic as if he only has time to tell one Superman story—the best one he can possibly tell—before he "gets booted out of comics forever." 

So, if everything clicks into place, you may have the opportunity to experience two great Superman stories this week.

Preview the first couple of pages here.

2. The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys #1

Written by Gerard Way and Shaun Simon; art by Becky Cloonan
Dark Horse Comics

Yes, Gerard Way was the lead singer of the now defunct rock band, My Chemical Romance. And yes, Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys was the name of their last album. This is a comic book sequel of sorts to that album that will bring an end to that story. But what you need to understand is that Gerard Way once went to art school, and he wanted to make comics long before he got into the music business. In fact, this story started as an idea for a comic.

Way also wrote a comic back in 2007 called The Umbrella Academy that was one of the most unique and enjoyable superhero comics to come out in the last 10 years and has solidified his credibility as a comic book writer to watch for. Now that My Chemical Romance has broken up, Way is refocusing his attention on making comics.

This six-issue mini-series brings to an end Way's story about a war between the Killjoys and a "megacorporation" called Better Living Industries. Caught in between is The Girl, who is the only one that can stop them both.

Way is joined by superstar artist Becky Cloonan who is most recently known for her run on Conan and her exquisitely drawn fantasy comics "Wolves" and "The Mire." Being from a similar school of aesthetics as Way's Umbrella Academy collaborator Gabriel Bá, Cloonan is a perfect choice for this book, not to mention that at this point in her career, everything she does is worth checking out.

You can read a 6 page preview here.

3. The Sleep of Reason: An Anthology of Horror

Edited by C. Spike Trotman; various writers and artists
Kickstarter

The Sleep of Reason is a new horror comic anthology that has just launched a Kickstarter to raise funds for production. They're already more than halfway to their goal at the time of this writing and have plenty of time to go, but they have a number of stretch goals for backers and a nice bonus program for each contributing artist that increases by $50 for each extra $5000 that is raised.

The anthology is being edited and organized by cartoonist C. Spike Trotman, best known for her long-running webcomic Templar, Arizona. Trotman is a well-known figure in the webcomics community and is no stranger to Kickstarter (The Sleep of Reason is her third project). She's pulled together an impressive list of contributors including Evan Dahm, Gabby Schulz, KC Green, Meg Gandy, and Carla Speed McNeil. Not to mention a cover by Michael DeForge. The hook behind the anthology is that it will be a collection of horror stories that avoids the usual tropes of the genre: no vampires, no zombies, no "easy solutions," nothing that could possibly be considered familiar. 

You can watch the creepy video and read more about the project on its Kickstarter page.

4. Six-Gun Gorilla

Written by Simon Spurrier, art by Jeff Stokely
Boom! Entertainment 

Either this book has you at the title and cover image (by the amazing Ramon Perez) or it doesn't. If gun-toting gorillas are your thing, read on.

Six-Gun Gorilla is actually a long-lost pulp character from 1930s British magazine Wizard and is now in the public domain. In fact, no one even knows who originally wrote and came up with this character. Writer Si Spurrier pounced on the opportunity to take him and put his own spin on the concept. 

In its original incarnation, Six-Gun Gorilla was a weirdo western about a gorilla whose master is murdered by an outlaw gang, so he takes his master's Colt pistol and goes off seeking revenge. Spurrier, with artist Jeff Stokely, bring the gorilla into the future—the 22nd Century to be precise—and to another planet, colonized by humans and battered by civil war. Spurrier has gotten a lot of critical acclaim for his work on the recent X-men: Legacy book for Marvel. He excels at weird sci-fi concepts and this six-issue mini-series looks to be pretty out there.

There's an extensive preview here and you can read Spurrier's thoughts about the comic on his Tumblr here.

5. Tiny Tiny Stories

Written by Sloane Leong with various artists
Tumblr 

Sloane Leong is an illustrator, colorist and webcomic creator who recently started a Tumblr where she collaborates with various artists to produce these "tiny" short stories. Some are as short as one strip, others not much longer than three. They seem to often follow a theme of a journey being interrupted by conflict. Each reads like a little poem but the real attraction is the breathtaking way they are illustrated by the artists she is working with. Contributions by Ryan Andrews and Charles Huettner (both posted above) with their pointed use of otherworldly coloring just pop off the screen, not to mention other fantastic contributions from Brian Fukushima, Rosie Liao, Steve LeCouilliard, and Emily Carroll.

It's an interesting format that they are all working in and perfect for the Tumblr platform where beautiful, sharable images thrive and get reblogged forever and ever. There's only two pages of strips so far as they've only been going for about a month now. Go read them here.

MEANWHILE, IN COMICS NEWS THIS PAST WEEK: 

- Marvel announced a new Mighty Avengers comic title that shows one of the most diverse casts of characters we've probably seen in a major superhero team.

- Heidi MacDonald at The Beat addresses a few of the most recent gender issues that have come up in the comics industry with an article titled "The Week in Women: Do We Write About Gender Issues Too Much?"

- The case of comics writer Gary Friedrich vs. Marvel Comics over the right to claim ownership over the character of Ghost Rider took an unexpected turn when a Second Circuit Court judge ruled there is "a genuine dispute" over the ownership of that character, overruling a previous decision. 

- Voting for the Eisner Awards ends at midnight tonight. If you work in the comics industry, you can vote online here.