Oni Press

Set in a prison for giant monsters, Zander Cannon's Kaijumax caught comics off guard when it debuted a few months back. Although the giant monsters really are held hostage on a prison complex, this was a story that took their plight surprisingly seriously, and yanked harshly at the heartstrings as readers followed --- and fell in love with --- a creature called Electrogor. Almost immediately after the first issue, Kaijumax seemed to become Oni's next big series. A huge part of this is the world created by Cannon in both art and script, as his Kaiju Complex is filled with a massive range of strange, interesting and feisty characters, living in a system which that them to form gangs, create rivalries, and seek empowerment. They're also robots, aliens, lizard people, and giant goats. After only three issues it seems set to hit "best of 2015" lists with a vengeance, so ComicsAlliance spoke to Cannon to find out more about his monstrous creation.

Looks like Charlize Theron wants to get in on some of that John Wick action. The Mad Max: Fury Road star has lined up another thrilling action project, this time with Chad Stahelski and David Leitch, the directing duo that delivered one of the best action films (if not the best) of 2014 with John Wick. And now they’re teaming up with Theron for a new spy thriller based on the graphic novel The Coldest City.

Oni Press is opening up for submissions as of May 1st, which is an excellent opportunity for up-and-coming creators. ComicsAlliance sat down with the entire Oni editorial team --- editor-in-chief James Lucas Jones, senior editor Charlie Chu, editor Robin Herrera, and associate editor Ari Yarwood --- to talk about what they're looking for and why they're doing open submissions. Here's a hint: it has a lot to do with getting diverse voices and diverse stories out into the world.

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.

Celebrating March Madness (which is some kind of seasonal daze inflicted on America by either baseball or basketball or one of those other strange sports you all seem to love so much), Oni Press filled the week leading up to this past weekend's Emerald City Comic-Con with a series of big announcements, including the previously-reported news that the publisher is opening up submissions to everyone, and no less than seven new projects from a host of impressive creative teams. To help you pick a few winners (that's what March Madness means, right?) we've rounded up all the announcements in one place.

Today, Oni Press announced that in May they will begin to accept submissions. This is a big deal in the comics world, as Marvel and DC don't accept unsolicited submissions and only some of the next tier of publishers ever do. Accepting submissions puts Oni in a better place to bring new talent into the industry, and to compete for that talent with the few publishers who do accept submissions, like Dark Horse.

To promote his new Oni Press book Hellbreak with writer Cullen Bunn, artist Brian Churilla has been putting together these great process gifs to show how he creates his art. As an artist that works entirely digitally, Churilla has gone to great pains to still give his work texture and depth. He does all the linework using an iMac and Manga Studio 5 before passing it off to colorist Dave Stewart and letterer Jared Fletcher. Check out an animated gif, exclusive to ComicsAlliance, plus the variant covers for Hellbreak #1 and an explanation of his process.

Unleash your OTPs! As lovers everywhere get ready for a Valentine's Day weekend full of romance and passion, and as everyone else updates their Netflix lists and wonders if they're finally desperate enough to check out Hemlock Grove, it's time to ask you, the big-hearted ComicsAlliance readers, to rate some of the greatest romances in comics history to determine which of these legendary pairings is comics' greatest love story! Over three days we'll present you with a selection of the most celebrated couples in comics. All you have to do is say if their love is built to last or doomed to fail. If you think a couple should be together forever, through all the reboots and break-ups that a cruel god can throw at them, vote 'True Love'. If you think that the couple aren't really right together and maybe ought to reconsider everything their relationship is built on, vote 'Bad Romance'. The couple with the highest 'True Love' score will be have bragging rights as the best couple, and isn't that what Valentine's Day is really all about?

In Letter 44, new President Stephen Blades steps into office after America has suffered eight years of a substandard Presidency. Picking up a letter left by his predecessor, however, he learns that much of what went wrong in America – money being pumped into the military rather than in services at home, pointless wars which killed thousands of troops – were actually part of a longer-term plan to deal with a far bigger problem. Specifically: aliens are out there, and they may or may not be planning to invade Earth in the near future. Writer Charles Soule and artist Alberto Alburquerque handle the fallout of that letter across a bulky first trade, collecting the first six issues together. What becomes apparent pretty quickly, though, is that this is a series which isn’t particularly interested in telling contained arcs, or telling stories for a trade. Instead, this is a proper ongoing series, in which the last issue of this trade feels like just another step towards a bigger picture, rather than a wrap up of everything that’s come before.

If you’re like some of the ComicsAlliance staff, you have a great affection for deluxe edition books that offer historical overviews of various pop culture topics, reprint the great works of the comics medium, and/or collect classic storylines (and supplement them with all kinds of bonus material)… And with the gift-giving season now in full swing, you're likely looking for the perfect gifts for your follow geeks (or possibly, wanting to give your relations some suggestions for things you'd like this year, in lieu of another ill-fitting sweater). So as a public service, we've compiled this list of some of the best expensive, large, and mind-blowingly ornate titles that you can find at your local comic shop or from online booksellers.