Indie Comics

Buffy held the top spot once again, while Joe Benitez’s Lady Mechanika was the biggest launch this month. Meanwhile Dark Horse launched new Star Wars, Hellboy, and Conan series, Avatar launched a new Lady Death series, and John Byrne’s Next Men returned from IDW.

By Jen Vaughn -- What do you do with a man with a wild mind of his own and a pair of drawing hands that just won't quit? You make him KING.

James Kochalka is the one of forerunners of autobiographical diary comics with his syndicated comic, American Elf, which is also available online and began way back in October, 1998. He is also the creator of other excellent comics like irreverent SuperF*ckers and children's books like the Johnny Boo series and most recently, Dragon Puncher. His comics are published by Portland-based comics publisher, Top Shelf.

A few months ago, we wrote about artist Tony Harris and his attempt to raise $60,000 via Kickstarter to fund his dream project, a graphic novel called ROUNDEYE: FOR LOVE. This raised a bit of discussion about whether $60k was too much for Kickstarter or whether this was an appropriate amount to attempt to raise. (Harris said it reflected his need to feed kids and pay the mortgage.) Since then a couple of things happened.

Paul Hornschemeier has just opened a web store which includes things like this creepy Lidsville cover. You will buy things. His Life with Mr. Dangerous is coming out from Villard in May.

Neill Cameron is best known online for his A-Z of Awesomeness and drawing a lot of weird Santa Clauses on his blog last month, but he also recently had his comic Mo-Bot High released...

(Sarah McIntyre (right) with Gillian Rogerson, the writer of You Can't Eat a Princess, at Thought Bubble last year.) Sarah McIntyre’s Vern and Lettuce was one of the most recent round of books released from...

While searching for various comics events, I discovered this over on the Image Comics website. Here, uncensored, is the PR from their website.  That's a very intense tour schedule, for any author!  Eight states, thirteen...

The art of Victor Kerlow has been featured in The New Yorker, the NY Times, and many other outlets. His website contains not only his lovely illos but many of his comics, which are also collected in Small Victories, a volume he was kind enough to send us a review copy of. While the art is immediately stunning, stories of danger in toilets, lumberjack exploits and other mysteries makes for a fine assemblage of comics.

Gabrielle Bell just gets better and better.

Do we have a new holiday classic on our hands? Just about. Tom Neely and some friends have made this 6-minute cartoon based on his Henry and Glenn characters -- any resemblance to rockers living or dead strictly coincidental, even when characters named John and Daryl show up. This will seriously make your spirits bright and metal at the same time.

Although my "official" news story about last weekend's Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival was published in PW Comics Week, I still had some pictures I wanted to put up. Over all it was an awesome day. Not much more to say. I thought last year, set in a dramatic blizzard, would be hard to top for that special something, but the cheerful, can-do spirit of this show equalled that. Everyone seemed to be finding like-minded souls to share their work. As I said several times, "Who knew so many people liked good comics?"

Buffy looks like it will hold on to its position as top “indie” book until its season 8 run finishes early next year. Meanwhile Dynamite's launch of a Warlord of Mars series did very...