IDW

Portland cartoonist Erin Nations, the Portland based cartoonist responsible for exciting releases such as Vision Quest and Stay Gold, has been a voice to pay attention to for several years now, but next week he releases his first mainstream work Gumballs, an anthology tackling different aspects of personal gender identity and transition. Ahead of the release of Gumballs' first issue, IDW has provided us a preview of a couple of the stories within.

The question most often asked of the ComicsAlliance staff is a variation of, “Which comic books should I be reading?” or, “I’m new to comics, what’s a good place to start?” The Wednesday deluge of new comic books, graphic novels and collected editions can be daunting even for the longtime reader, much less for those totally unfamiliar with creators, characters and publishers, and the dark mysteries of comic book shopping like variants, pre-ordering, and formats. It’s with these challenges in mind that we’ve created Best Comic Books Ever (This Week), an ongoing guide curated by the ComicsAlliance staff. This is where new comics readers and seasoned Wednesday shoppers alike can find our picks of the best books the medium has to offer.

I know we've all been waiting very patiently, but the day is finally upon us. Comics based on James Cameron's Avatar are finally coming next year on Free Comic Book Day! The comic book adaptation of the smash-hit blockbuster that everyone loves and remembers is just one of twelve Gold Titles as part of FCBD's 2017 celebration, which also includes Rick & Morty, Doctor Who and X-O Manowar. Announced today, Free Comic Book Day 2017 will be celebrated across the world on May 6th, and as usual the big name publishers, including Image, IDW, Boom, Oni and Titan, all have offerings as part of next year's crop of Gold Sponsor titles.

The weekend is here! Take a look back at what’s happened in the past seven days. New comics, new stories, new podcasts, new art being made — it’s all part of the ComicsAlliance Weekender!

A while back, I interviewed Matthew K. Manning and I spoke briefly about how he once wrote a young adult novel in the Tony Hawk's 900 Revolution series, which is about a group of radical teens searching for the pieces of Tony Hawk's skateboard, which was shattered with the mystical force of the world's most incredible skateboard trick. And honestly? I thought that was the most jealous that I could be of someone else's writing career. Now, though, Manning has managed to top himself as the writer of Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures, in which the animated versions of both franchises collide in a dimension-hopping adventure. And next week, when the second issue hits, the focus is on the villains as the Joker and Harley Quinn team up with Shredder, Bebop and Rocksteady --- and nothing good will come of this.

The question most often asked of the ComicsAlliance staff is a variation of, “Which comic books should I be reading?” or, “I’m new to comics, what’s a good place to start?” The Wednesday deluge of new comic books, graphic novels and collected editions can be daunting even for the longtime reader, much less for those totally unfamiliar with creators, characters and publishers, and the dark mysteries of comic book shopping like variants, pre-ordering, and formats. It’s with these challenges in mind that we’ve created Best Comic Books Ever (This Week), an ongoing guide curated by the ComicsAlliance staff. This is where new comics readers and seasoned Wednesday shoppers alike can find our picks of the best books the medium has to offer.

Friedrich Nietzsche once had a famous quote about gazing into the abyss and the abyss gazing unto you in return. I don't know Nietzsche, but I can only assume he actually meant that if you gaze into the abyss (space), the gays will gaze back at you — because space is filled with gays and they don't appreciate your rude staring. If you know someone who is all about gays in space (cue the Saturday Night Live theme song, though maybe not the rest of the skit) or cosmic queer folk, from #Stormpilot to Mass Effect, consider these holiday gifts. Retrograde Earthen ideas of love and gender most certainly not included.

Anyone who romanticizes the intersection of art and pain should meet the villain of The Electric Sublime, a comic by W. Maxwell Prince and Martin Morazzo. In this preview of the third issue, we find him at work, painting with the blood of a man he's holding prisoner and torturing. And he's doing it while wearing an Andy Warhol wig, no less. What he's painting is the winky-face icon we've been seeing since the first issue, and doing it human blood has to be a clue to how the magical stuff that's been going on has been accomplished.

If you know someone who has succumbed to the cult of Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye, whether they're a new convert or a long-time fan, we've put together a gift guide to some of the best of these toy robots, and other merchandise featuring them, so they can let the whole world know how they feel about Transformer.

The question most often asked of the ComicsAlliance staff is a variation of, “Which comic books should I be reading?” or, “I’m new to comics, what’s a good place to start?” The Wednesday deluge of new comic books, graphic novels and collected editions can be daunting even for the longtime reader, much less for those totally unfamiliar with creators, characters and publishers, and the dark mysteries of comic book shopping like variants, pre-ordering, and formats. It’s with these challenges in mind that we’ve created Best Comic Books Ever (This Week), an ongoing guide curated by the ComicsAlliance staff. This is where new comics readers and seasoned Wednesday shoppers alike can find our picks of the best books the medium has to offer.