Oni Press

Released last year through Oni Press, The Mighty Zodiac assembled not just one but two impressive team-ups. Not only did the series join up characters who represent the 12 signs of the Chinese Zodiac --- from tiger to rat to pig to cat --- but also brought us the creative team of writer J. Torres, artist Corin Howell, and colorist Maarta Laiho. Together, they channeled a shared interest in the classical Disney movie style into a series filled with charm and heart. With the trade collection of the series planned to release from Oni in March, ComicsAlliance reassembled the creative trio to ask about how they first came together as the team, how the story developed from a concept to the final comic, and the challenges of taking a concept like the zodiac and turning it into a story of its own. Along the way, they discuss the series' influences, why it was important for this to be an all-ages story which anybody can enjoy... and why bunnies are the bad guys.

Since its original run from 2002 to 2004, Colleen Coover's Small Favors has been one of the most highly regarded erotic comics of all time. It tells the fantastic story of Annie, a woman who uses up her lifetime supply of self-pleasure and is sentenced to be monitored by a manifestation of her conscience, Nibbil. Unfortunately for her prudish side, Annie and Nibbil quickly fall in love and spend eight issues having extremely imaginative sex with each other and a few new friends --- all within the context of a happy and charmingly romantic love story. Now, thirteen years since its final issue, a hardcover collection from Limerence Press is set to hit shelves in April, complete with a new story that Coover drew based on a script from the original run. ComicsAlliance spoke to Coover about the history of Small Favors, how the experience shaped her career, and the rules that governed the universe of her "girly porno comic" love story.

Ordinary blue-collar worker concerns may include low minimum wages or job automation. Repairman Logan Ibarra's concerns, however, aren't as ordinary; he just want to escape his night's last assignment without getting beheaded, assaulted by flowery parasites, or stabbed (any further). With nearly two years into its run, Tessa Stone's horror-comedy webcomic Not Drunk Enough is now set to be published as a trilogy by Oni Press. ComicsAlliance sat down with Stone to talk about Not Drunk Enough, claustrophobia, and the debatable merits of actually being drunk during a horror scenario.

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.

It's Music Week here at ComicsAlliance, and I wanted to take some time to dive into a very particular relationship between music and comics. Comics obviously are silent, so musical numbers are particularly tough to pull off. Getting the actual sound across, the lyricism, the melody - it's a challenge. I want to take a look at three examples of music in comics that all use a particular approach with notation. By using the staves of sheet music, and placing notes on the page, these three comics manage to provide an extra depth to their storytelling.

Kim is a part-time grim reaper, guiding souls to the afterlife while also going to college. Becka is a regular girl with a really big crush on Kim, whose job she knows nothing about. But when Becka finally gets up the nerve to make her move, she accidentally gets involved with Kim's life as a reaper, and that's when things get interesting. This is the premise of Kim Reaper, the new Oni Press comic by cartoonist Sarah Graley, known for the Rick and Morty spinoff comic Little Poopy Superstar.

Check out the best factual, historical, or biographical comics in 2016, including our critics' picks and the comics you voted the runner up and winner in this category!

Check out the best comedy comics in 2016, including our critics' picks and the comics you voted the runners up and winner in this category!

Check out the best sci-fi comics in 2016, including our critics' picks and the comics you voted the runners up and winner in this category!

Check out the best comics for kids in 2016, including our critics' picks, listed in alphabetical order, and the comics you voted the runner up and winner in this category!