Al Milgrom

If you listed every comics publisher based on how much you associate them with superhero comics, Fantagraphics would be somewhere near the bottom. The prestigious indie publisher has been around since 1976, publishing underground comics as well as beautiful collections of classic comic strips. But in spring 2017, Fantagraphics is getting in the superhero game with All Time Comics, a line of shared-universe books spearheaded by brothers Josh and Samuel Bayer.

As much as they've been getting coverage for the bold new direction in stuff like the reboot of the core titles and the horror-themed imprint led by Afterlife With Archie, one of Archie Comics' greatest strengths has always been that it has so much content in its back catalog. It's one of the reasons that Archie has been able to put out so many of those massive 500-page Best Of collections in recent years, but one of the most interesting the publisher has done with all that content has been its approach to digital releases. You might have missed them if you don't keep an eye on Comixology, but the usual idea is that Archie puts out a bunch of reprints built around a particular theme, like when it collected all the stories about pro wrestling from over the years. This week, it's reprinting "Queen B," a pretty fantastic story about Betty and Veronica's most bitter rival, by some of Archie's best creators.

If our weekly Ask Chris column isn't enough of definitive comic book (and pro wrestling) opinions for you, good news: ComicsAlliance is proud to present Here's The Thing, a series of videos where you can join our own extremely opinionated senior writer, Chris Sims, as he dives into comics history to explain why you're wrong and he's right. This week, a few viewers write in to ask about the history of Firestorm, a relatively obscure DC Comics character who was most prominent in the 1980s. As you may already know, obscure DC characters from the '80s are Chris's entire jam, which sends him on a long explanation of who Firestorm is and how he came to be, from the DC Implosion to Brave and the Bold.