Tara Marie

Mayhem is one of the coolest indie comics I've ever read. It's feminist, fierce and funny. The colors, the artwork, the characters and the villains --- all of it is so fresh and fun and new. It's the type of book you read and re-read and recommend to everyone. And chances are, you've never seen it before or even heard of it. But that's because you don't live in Austin, Texas (how dare you!?). See, that's where I was when I discovered this book, in among the indie comics. From the moment I saw the cover I was in.

Batman: The Animated Series is one of the most celebrated shows ever made. It had a huge impact on all of the DC Universe, and all the animated series that would follow. After a few seasons, the show was rebooted with a new look and a new dynamic as The New Batman Adventures, where it continued to be just as amazing as ever (although featuring a slightly less cool looking Joker). With a better budget and more experience, the team behind Batman: The Animated Series was ready to create some of the best episodes of --- not just the DCAU's Batman, but for the DCAU entirely.

Chelsea Cain, Kate Niemczyk and Rachelle Rosenberg's eight-issue series about the life and times of Mockingbird is one of the best Big Two comics I’ve ever read. It made me a fan of the character and everyone involved in the making of it, so much so that it inspired me to compile a mixtape in tribute to last year's cult-favorite. I like to imagine these are the songs Mockingbird AKA Bobbi Morse listens to when she’s in waiting rooms, on the way to missions, when she’s working out, or driving around.

While the CW’s live action shows are forming a huge DC Universe on TV, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe is ever-expanding, years before either there was an entire multi-layered, character-filled superhero universe in the form of the DC Animated Universe. The DCAU started with Batman: The Animated Series, and from there it grew until we finally got to Justice League Unlimited, which featured almost every DC hero teaming up to protect the Earth against every threat imaginable. The show ran for 39 episodes between 2004 and 2006, and we've picked the ten best episodes from that run.

GodSlave is a webcomic about a young woman who goes to a museum only to have her entire life change. And not in one of those hokey, “oh, she saw something inspirational” ways --- more in the, “she set free a God and now has his powers and also he’s a sardonic talking... dog, maybe?” It's Buffy meets... Egypt.

Menage a 3 is a webcomic about the lives of three roommates --- the nerdy, cute Gary; the punk rock Zii; and the beautiful, gorgeous DiDi --- and all of their relationship misadventures. Imagine a sitcom, but cuter and sexier than anything on TV.

The team behind one of the most interesting alt-magical girl visual novels ever, We Know the Devil, are coming back with a follow-up, Heaven Will Be Mine, and we're already excited for what should be one of the coolest games of the year. There's almost no information available about it yet, but we do know from the game's website that it will allow players to joyride a mecha, sext their enemies, and fight the pull of gravity. Of course, you may not share this joy if you've never played --- nay, perhaps never even heard of We Know the Devil.

What if all of your worst nightmares were real? What if your most paranoid fantasies were more optimistic than the real world would ever be? What if those who seem to lead us to damnation are our only hope? Welcome to the Clean Room.

With Hark, A Vagrant, cartoonist Kate Beaton offers a weird, wacky, once a week (sometimes) webcomic strip about all the awfulness, honestness, and awesomeness of history, from the beginning of time to, uh, like yesterday.

One day, all of the animals started talking. Started thinking. And they rose up. And made humanity bleed. That's the high concept that drives Animosity, an AfterShock Comic by Marguerite Bennett, Rafael de Latorre, and Rob Schwager.