DJ Kirkbride

Last year, Adam P. Knave, DJ Kirkbride and Nick Brokenshire said farewell to their thirty-issue run with Amelia Cole, but didn't say farewell to each other; they've reunited for The Once And Future Queen from Dark Horse. A modern day retelling of Arthurian legend, it follows Rani Arturus as she goes from chess prodigy to the wielder of Excalibur, all while trying to juggle parental pressure and her crush on the cute English girl who recently moved to town. Ahead of the release of The Once And Future Queen #1 this week, ComicsAlliance caught up with the trio to talk about Arthurian re-interpretations, transatlantic collaborations and tiddly-winks.

Adam P. Knave, D.J. Kirkbride, and Nickolas Brokenshire, the creators behind Amelia Cole, are launching a new book with another young female fantasy protagonist, but this time around, the young woman in question is King Arthur. Sort of. Maybe. In a sense.

Despite all the naysayers and negativity, the new Ghostbusters movie has received a rave reception from critics and audiences, thanks in large part to the chemistry and charisma of its four lead actors, Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, and Kate McKinnon. If you loved Ghostbusters and you're after comics in a similar vein, we've rounded up five of the best independent comics that capture the spirit (no pun intended) of the summer's biggest comedy.

The Bigger Bang was one of last year's most surprising comics; a soaring, cosmic space opera that pit a superhero born with the destruction of the previous universe against an intergalactic warlord and chicken sandwich magnate, it was equal parts satire, commentary, and pure adventure. Now DJ Kirkbride and Vassilis Gogtzilas are back with the sequel, which promises to be even bigger. The biggest, in fact. With The Biggest Bang hitting shelves today, ComicsAlliance spoke to Kirkbride about the process behind the book, the decision to give Wyan super-powers on par with Cosmos, and why a terrifying spider-monster's feelings are still valid.

When you look at the cover to DJ Kirkbride and Vasilis Gogtzilas's The Bigger Bang, it's easy to think that you know exactly what's going on in that book. Big guy, impossible muscles, cape, space; surely this is a cosmic superhero adventure. And it is, except that it's not long until you hit upon the formless tentacle monster who rose to power as galactic emperor through his fast-food chicken franchise, and the heavily accented space whale in trouble. That's when you realize that The Bigger Bang is a whole lot stranger, and more interesting, than you thought. With the fourth issue set for release on March 18, I spoke to writer DJ Kirkbride about the series, how it was built to be something unlike anything he'd ever done, and just what it was about a giant Cthulhu monster in a tiny little crown that made the book so good.

When it comes to a book like The Bigger Bang, there's a lot that you can say that'll make it sound interesting. You could take the route that the official press release from IDW takes and talk about how it's focused on a journey of atonement for an impossibly powerful superhero who finds himself alone in the universe, trying to solve the mystery of his own creation. Or, you can do what the actual opening pages of the book do, and show him punching out volcanoes.

Most likely - unless you've skipped the rest of the Internet for the last few days as well as the most recent War Rocket Ajax - you already know about the existence of Monkeybrain Comics, the new digital publisher founded by Chris Roberson and Allison Baker...