Chris Visions

Jason Latour, Robbi Rodriguez and Rico Renzi's Spider-Gwen has been one of Marvel Comics' most ceaselessly inventive and exciting properties since the character first debuted in what was meant to be a one-off starring role. Since then, we've been followed Gwen Stacy's ongoing adventures as Spider-Woman, and encountered her world's versions of Captain America, Daredevil and The Punisher --- but there's still a hankering to learn more about this universe. This week's Spider-Gwen Annual #1 scratches that itch as Latour explores the larger world of Earth-65 with stories featuring Koala Kommander, She-Hulk as a pro wrestler, and a terrifying alternate version of Donald Trump who is even more dangerous and has even tinier hands.

Boom Studios is heading to San Diego Comic Con next month with an impressive roster of exclusive variant covers for titles like Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Steven Universe --- with one of the best cover ideas I've seen all year --- and more. Check out the full roster below, including details on how much each cover is going to set you back!

A lot of people fell in love with Rocket Raccoon this summer thanks to the movie Guardians of the Galaxy, so this seems like a great time to pick up some art featuring the movie's angry anthropomorphic star -- and to help out his co-creator Bill Mantlo at the same time. Mantlo was severely injured when he was hit by a car in 1992, and has needed constant and costly care ever since. The prominence of Rocket Raccoon in Guardians brought welcome attention to Mantlo's condition, and comic artists have stepped up -- in conjunction with Multiversity Comics -- to help fund his care with online auctions of original art featuring Rocket and other Mantlo creations (yes, including ROM Spaceknight). All proceeds will go to the Mantlo family.

Like a good pop song, if a genre comic is going to keep you interested, it has to have a hook. It really doesn't matter if the art is exceptional, or it has an inventive structure or well-written characters. If it can't be distilled into one intriguing sentence of less than ten words, then it's not going to keep your attention. Blind guy fights crime; orphaned billionaire is world's greatest detective; six guns control the fate of the world; this Avenger is a freaking mess; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, etc. But you can't just have the hook -- a comic with bad art, poor writing, and a fantastic hook is still a mediocre comic. Dead Letters Vol. 1: The Existential Op by Christopher Sebela and Chris Visions, is far from mediocre, with strong writing, captivating and kinetic art, and a hook that will grab you from the get-go: amnesiac detective joins gang war in Purgatory.

  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.com on Mondays. This week, it’s

Following the haunting "Finn the Human" episode of Adventure Time, many fans may have thought they'd never see the bleak "Farmland" timeline again. Leave it to Ryan North, Shelli Paroline and Braden Lamb to not leave you hanging, though. A comparatively dour version of AT's last boy on Earth known as Finn Mertens a.k.a. "Farmland Finn" returned in the last issue of AT