Jeff Lemire

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 recently launched Image title AD: After Death by Scott Snyder and Jeff Lemire is a beautiful, contemplative and experimental approach to comics that abstractly takes place in a world where science has overcome the curse of death and everyone lives forever. With only one issue out so far, Sony Pictures has picked up the film rights and plans to bring AD: After Death to the big screen.

This month in Marvel's February solicitations, there's a fight you never knew you wanted, answers you've been clamoring for for over a year, and an odd reunion of an odd superhero team, of a sorts.

Help me out here, folks: What's the better short and pithy way to say that Ninjak, Valiant's deadliest secret agent ninja assassin, has had his body taken over by the same nanites that power Bloodshot, Valiant's deadliest and most indestructible soldier? I mean "Ninjak just got Bloodshot" is more accurate, but it's vague and doesn't really work unless you change it to "Bloodshotted" or something. "Bloodshot just got Ninjak'd," on the other hand, is a much better phrase, but doesn't quite have the ring of what's actually going on. Ah, you know what? Forget it. Just read Bloodshot USA #2 when it comes out next week, or check out the preview below to see for yourself what happens when Bloodshot and Ninjak get Ninjak'd and Bloodshot!

Next week sees the release of AD: After Death #1, the latest collaboration between Scott Snyder and Jeff Lemire, which not only tells a poignant and emotional story, but mixes prose, illustrations and sequential art to redefine what a comic can be. Ahead of its release, ComicsAlliance spoke to Lemire about how the collaboration took shape, and the slow burn sci-fi mystery of its premise.

Over the past few weeks, HBO's new hit series Westworld has captivated a viewership with its complex tale morality play of gods, men and machines. As great as Westworld is, it's only on for one hour a week, and soon it'll reach the season finale. If you need more of that good machines-achieving-sentience action, we've selected five of the best robotic comics for you to sample next. Love that? Try this.

Ninjak finds himself lost in a world where the Soviet government maintains its control of the world by using super-soldiers that might seem pretty familiar in Divinity III. Now, one of those soldiers, Komandar Bloodshot, is stepping into the spotlight to reveal a world where Project Rising Spirit might actually be even more evil than they are in the regular Valiant universe, and we've got an exclusive preview to show you just how bad things can be. Especially if you're a rabbit.

Jeff Lemire’s current run on Moon Knight has been interesting, and it’s clear that he’s going all out to tell a unique version of that character and story. But what’s immediately catches your attention across both arcs of this new run is the art --- first with Greg Smallwood and now Francesco Francavilla and James Stokoe. Among a lot of superhero/”big two” books, it’s been consistently inventive visually, and the current run is no different. The thing I wanted to specifically talk about with the latest issue, Moon Knight #7, is the panel borders --- but bear with me. Both Stokoe and Francavilla are making really subtle modifications to how they outline their frames, and it all comes down to a way of controlling the reader’s pace and understanding.

Even before it was announced we all knew it was coming, and now the climactic battle between mutants and inhumans is about to erupt in Inhumans vs X-Men #1 by Charles Soule, Jeff Lemire, and Leinil Yu. Check out a preview.

There's a lot to love about Bloodshot USA. There's the fact that Jeff Lemire and Doug Braithwaite are following up Bloodshot Island, a story where the hook was that there were five Bloodshots, with a story where the hook is that there are millions of Bloodshots that have taken over the entire island of Manhattan and are not trying to kill everyone. Also, Ninjak's in it. But I think the best thing might be the page that gets new readers up to speed, where Bloodshot's former bosses at Project Rising Spirit talk about how he went rogue... and then went even more rogue. I always figured you could only go rogue once. Check it out, along with some of the other action, in a preview below!