Vertigo

Kyle Baker is one of the most accomplished cartoonists in comics today, and he's been producing hugely acclaimed comics ever since he first started working in the industry in the early 1980s, with work ranging from madcap comedy to breathtakingly sharp biography. With eight Eisner awards to his name, along with a bevy of Harvey and Glyph awards, he's also one of the industry's most decorated talents. Steve Morris spoke to Baker about his career in comics through five milestones in his career, in a conversation that covers navigating a changing market, writing comedy versus writing drama, and why Baker chooses to self-publish.

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.

Everyone loves comic book trivia, but with decades of comics behind, there’s always some new obscure fact to learn. That’s why ComicsAlliance is going deep into the minutiae of your favorite names in comics in our continuing video series. You think you know comics? Well, here’s a few things you might not know! This week we're taking a look at Swamp Thing, DC's chlorophyll-laden agent of the Parliament of Trees!

Courtesy of DC Comics, ComicsAlliance brings you an advance look at new periodical comic books, collected editions, graphic novels and collectibles going on sale in January 2017 (and in some cases beyond) from the publisher’s superhero line and the mature readers Vertigo imprint.

Everyone loves comic book trivia, but with decades of comics behind, there’s always some new obscure fact to learn. That’s why ComicsAlliance is going deep into the minutiae of your favorite names in comics in our continuing video series. You think you know comics? Well, here’s a few things you might not know! This week we're taking a look at The Sandman, DC/Vertigo's best-selling literary fantasy series.

As someone who thought she was a dude in the late 1990s, Preacher was the comic I looked forward to every month more than any other. As someone who knows she isn’t a dude in the mid-2010s, I’m looking back on this series and examining what still works, what doesn’t work, and what its lasting legacy is. This week: it's all over. Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon --- with Pamela Rambo on colors, Clem Robbins doing the lettering, and Alex Alonso editing the whole deal --- set their pencils down with "Alamo," and their final word on the series asks us: who deserves salvation, who has earned damnation, and does it even make a difference in the end?

Ten years ago, screenwriter and novelist John Ridley teamed with artist Georges Jeanty for The American Way, a miniseries published through Wildstorm that presented an alternate history where a black superhero in the 1960s joined America's greatest superteam. In the time since, Ridley has won an Academy Award for 12 Years A Slave, among many other writing accomplishments --- but he is returning to comic books and reuniting with Jeanty for a sequel to The American Way set amid the political turmoil of the '70s.

If you don't already follow Clean Room, this exclusive five-page preview may not answer many questions, but there are plenty of hints at the threads that tie this sprawling story together, courtesy of writer Gail Simone, and the art by Jon Davis-Hunt is a particular standout!

Today sees the debut of Joshua Williamson and Jason Shawn Alexander's brand new Vertigo series Frostbite. Set in the near future after the dawn of a New Ice Age, humanity strives to carry on and make the best of it despite a deadly contagious disease that turns people into living statues made of ice. ComicsAlliance spoke to Alexander about his process and world building, and we have exclusive design pages from the artist, complete with notes on how he works and reworks pages to find the structure he's looking for.

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.