Andy Belanger

Ever since Saga set a new standard for indie comics success in 2012, there's been an explosion of American sci-fi comics, many of them from Saga publisher Image Comics. Of these, one of the biggest standouts is Southern Cross, which has created a compelling, dense world with stunning visuals and gripping mysteries in just its first six issues.

This year we're celebrating fifty years of Star Trek, and as part of the celebrations there's not only a brand new film in cinemas now, but Bryan Fuller is also working on a new television series titled Star Trek: Discovery, due out next year. Star Trek's vision of the future can represent the very best of who we can be as a species, but often it shows how easily it is to become corrupt. We've selected five of the best independent sci-fi comics to check out after seeing Star Trek: Beyond in the cinema. Love that? Try this!

For the past few days the comics internet has been abuzz with the news out of the 2015 Image Expo, but there's something that was announced at last year's that I'm every bit as excited for as the new batch: Southern Cross, the new sci-fi horror comic from writer-artist Becky Cloonan, artist Andy Belanger, and colorist Shari Chankhamma. Originally announced at Image Expo 2014, Southern Cross is set for release in March, and to get people excited, Cloonan and Belanger have been posting designs from the series on a Tumblr dedicated to the comic -- and clearly, it's working, largely because they are awesome.

We make a regular practice at ComicsAlliance of spotlighting particular artists or specific bodies of work, as well as the special qualities of comic book storytelling, but because cartoonists, illustrators and their fans share countless numbers of great pinups, fan art and other illustrations on sites like Flickr, Tumblr, DeviantArt and seemingly infinite art blogs that we’ve created Best Art Ever (This Week), a weekly depository for just some of the pieces of especially compelling artwork that we come across in our regular travels across the Web. Some of it’s new, some of it’s old, some of it’s created by working professionals, some of it’s created by future stars, some of it’s created by talented fans, awnd some of it’s endearingly silly. All of it is awesome.

Among the colorful cosplay, massive booths, interactive displays and walls of merchandise at Comic-Con International in San Diego — colloquially known as SDCC — remains the most important component of the show: comic book creators. ComicsAlliance photographer and Loikiamania podcast host Pat Loika hit the show floor to catch the men and women who tell our favorite stories in sequential art and captured the enthusiasm that comes from fans getting to meet their favorite storytellers at one of the biggest conventions of the year. Check back with ComicsAlliance throughout the weekend for more of Pat's great photos from San Diego.

In the final few hours before San Diego Comic-Con opened its doors to the public for Preview Night on Wednesday, Image Comics Expo took place in an upstairs ballroom at the nearby San Diego Bayfront Hilton, where the publisher welcomed a group of press, creators, and fans to watch as the company announced, discussed and otherwise promote a great variety of upcoming Image titles.

  As much Shakespeare as I read in high school and college, I confess I kind of though Kill Shakespeare's plot putting a "wizard-god" version of The Bard and his magical quill into conflict with his creations in a shared universe was a neat but wild spin on the poet's usual beat. Then I thought about it for about ten seconds and went, "Oh yeah, he wrote a lot of ghosts. Oh yeah, he

There are a lot of reasons why comic book conventions are great. Boxes of cheap back issues and the chance to chat with your favorite creators (or, if your standards are a bit lower, your third-favorite comic book critic) are great, but some of the real highlights come from the stuff...