Indie

Disney Pixar represents the pinnacle of what can be achieved within modern animation, and its heartwarming tales present often complex ideas in ways that children can embrace and understand. The studio's most recent release, Finding Dory, is a sequel to the smash-hit Finding Nemo, but also so much more than that. Like its predecessor, it's a fun adventure film for the family, but it also tackles the difficult subjects of mental health, disability, and being different. There’s a great number of children’s comics out there for fans of Finding Dory, and we’ve put together a list of five of the best independent comics for kids of a variety of ages to try out next.

Magnetic Press is one of the publishers to watch this year, and its efforts in scouring the world for the best comics and creators to bring to western audiences has resulted in the release of amazing comics that might never have seen the light of day otherwise. Today, ComicsAlliance can exclusively reveal the seven original graphic novels that form Magnetic Press's Fall/Winter line-up, including the first two titles from Ulises Fariñas and Storme Smith's imprint Buño

“A dragon, a faun and a young troll boy are on the run from the United States government.” That’s how Paul Allor describes the premise of Past the Last Mountain, the comic book he created with Imaginary Drugs artist Louie Joyce. After being initially published on Comixology this year by Comics Experience, Allor and Joyce are now funding a deluxe print edition via Kickstarter.

"Time on Ice" is a free short comic from Dead Canary Comics that will eventually feature in the publisher's upcoming sci-fi anthology. A tight, grim little story by writer C.S. Baker and artist Vincenzo Sansone, "Time on Ice" offers a Twilight Zone-worthy twist, and bodes well for the quality of the overall anthology when it happens.

Spider-Man is one of the most beloved characters in fiction, I think that's fair to say. However, take a second and think about how huge that is. Everyone loves Spider-Man, or near enough. Your five year old niece, and your dentist and the garbage man all probably love Spider-Man! But what is it about the character that is so universal that makes him so widely loved, outside of the fact that he beats up a dude dressed like a Keebler Elf on a hoverboard? I think it's his relatability and his personality, and that's something that's explored in new, fun and interesting ways in Hannah Blumenreich's twenty-page Spidey Zine, which you can get right now on Gumroad for free (or pay-what-you-want). Whether Spidey is watching television with Aunt May, hanging out in the street, or mourning the loss of his Uncle Ben, Blumenreich's slice of life comics cut to the core of why we all love Spider-Man.

Adam P. Knave, D.J. Kirkbride and Nick Brokenshire's magical adventure story Amelia Cole was on of the pioneering new series when digital-first publisher Monkeybrain Comics launched, and this week sees the end of everything as they release the final issue in the saga. Caught in a war with the fate of three worlds at stake, Amelia has to rely on her friends now more than ever, and this week's finale sends the cast off to their next adventure in the wake of a personal tragedy. ComicsAlliance caught up with the entire creative team to talk about how they feel saying goodbye to Amelia, how plans changed over the course of nearly half a decade, and how Comixology's shifting platform influenced the shape of the series.

Glastonbury Festival is known worldwide as one of the most expansive and ecclectic music festivals, with the best and most varied selection of music from superstar artists to emerging acts. This year saw Adele blow everyone away on the Pyramid Stage, LCD Soundsystem triumphantly return on the Other Stage, and a whole host of other amazing acts throughout the weekend. If you're a major audiophile and you want to bring a little crossover into you love of comics, we've assembled a list of some of the five best music or music inspired independent comics to check out while you run out the clock until the next Glastonbury.

We, as a culture, send a lot of mixed messages about making wishes. It's something that we're supposed to do basically all the time --- Blowing out your birthday candles? Make a wish! Lose an eyelash? Make a wish! Look at the clock at the right time? Make a wish! See a shooting star? Oh you best believe you better be asking the nebulous and unknowable forces of the universe for some money, because it's wishin' time. And yet, even with all of that, the world is full of stories where every time someone makes a wish, it goes horribly, horribly wrong. But maybe Lovern Kindzierski and John Bolton's Shame can change all that with its fairy tale style opening about a kindly old witch who makes a wish for a child of her own, and... oh wait, it says here that she awakens dark forces and ends up giving birth to the most evil woman in the world. Ah well. Check out a preview!

I've been writing about weird old comics on the Internet for well over a decade now, and there are two things that you really need to take away from that. First, I am old, and never have I felt the inexorable march of time grinding me to dust more acutely than when I think of it in terms of back issues. Second, I've learned a lot about all the different ways that a comic can be weird. Sometimes it's that they're tackling a bit of strange subject matter, or throwing together two (or three) genres that don't quite mesh together. Sometimes it's the approach, the bizarre swerves that drag a character out of their normal comfort zones. And sometimes, it's the fact that it's a comic that exists at all, in defiance of all logic. 2008's The Corps #0 is one of those last ones.

The polls are closed and it's official, the United Kingdom has decided --- by a narrow margin --- that it wants to leave the European Union. I mean, who could blame them? Aside from the worker's rights, trade agreements and the opportunity to travel between member states, what does the EU even do? I mean, aside from the funding provided to the areas of the UK that London often neglects, environmental legislation and education and research funding. So you've voted Leave, and you want to treat yourself to a nice comic to spend the weekend with. We've picked out five of our favorite independent comics to peruse while you wait for Article 50 to be enacted.