The Auteur

Deadpool is already the first big blockbuster of 2016, and its combination of over-the-top violence and irreverent humor has proved a hit with audiences. The film hits you hard and fast with joke after joke, and has some of the best fight scene choreography in superhero films to date. If Deadpool left you wanting more, and you’re looking for comics in a similar vein beyond the big two and the rather obvious choice of more Deadpool, there’s a wealth of choices out there. Whether it be indie, self-published or webcomics, we’re living in a golden age for comedy-action comics and we’ve selected five of the very best to scratch that particular itch.

By the end of 2014, it might be tough to name a comics publisher that hasn't offered up a Humble Bundle deal. Oni Press is the latest publisher to join the ranks of the Humble Bundle crowd (others include Top Shelf, Valiant Comics, and Boom Studios), though it's put a bit of a spin on its offering of 24 titles and more than 2,500 pages of comics. Buyers can choose to donate the proceeds from their purchase to the charity Direct Relief, an organization helping to treat and contain the Ebola outbreak in Africa, among other humanitarian causes.

Each week, ComicsAlliance’s Chris Sims and Matt Wilson host the War Rocket Ajax podcast, their online audio venue for interviews with comics creators, reviews of the books of the week, and whatever else they want to talk about. ComicsAlliance is offering clips of the comics-specific segments of the show several days before the full podcast goes up at WarRocketAjax...

Growing up in Kansas, the hate-mongering picket practices of Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church were an almost omnipresent source of annoyance, so I was happy to discover that Oni Press had taken note of the group's noted interest in comic book culture by sending them an envelope full of reading material. What kind of reading material, you ask? Try half a dozen copies of The Auteur #1 by

James Callahan, who operates under the rather appropriate moniker Barf Comics, likes his puke. He also likes his blood, his exploded bits of brains and flesh, and zombie-like creatures. But his gory, neon-bright illustrations have a wicked sense of humor that makes them perfect for skateboard decks.

Today at San Diego Comic-Con, Oni Press announced its latest ongoing creator-owned book, The Auteur, which is slated to make Hollywood start feeling a burning sensation in the spring of 2014. So what's it all about? Having had the opportunity to check out an advance copy of the first issue by Rick Spears (Black Metal), artist James Callahan (Barf Comics) and colorist Luigi Anderson, I can say that