Marley Zarcone

When there are four launch titles as bold, inventive and unique as Young Animal's line-up, it's hard to pick a stand-out, but Cecil Castellucci, Marley Zarcone and Kelly Fitzpatrick's Shade, The Changing Girl has established itself as a weird mix of deeply personal and super sci-fi high-concept, with one of the strongest collaborative voices in mainstream comics today This week, DC and Young Animal release the climax of Shade's first story, as Megan Boyer returns and wants her body back from the weird alien bird that stole it. ComicsAlliance caught up with Castellucci and Zarcone to talk about high school anxiety, Pinterest collaboration, and Shade's future in the larger DC Universe.

Shade The Changing Girl --- part of DC's Young Animal imprint --- tells the story of Loma, a rebellious alien who steals a magic coat of madness, runs away to Earth, and possesses the body of a comatose teenage Earth girl. Along with Cecil Castellucci's trippy script, the space-bending, psychedelic visuals from artists Marley Zarcone and Kelly Fitzpatrick are a core part of what makes Shade the Changing Girl so fantastic. When planning the playlist, I wanted to find weird, intense tech/pop songs, less focused on the lyrics and more on the mood of each song.

Gerard Way's pop-up imprint Young Animal has only been alive for a couple of months but it's already proved to be one of the most exciting and innovative platforms in superhero comics in recent memory. Way as a creator has always been one to wear his influences on his sleeves, so it's not too surprising that as part of Young Animal's presence at November's NC Comicon, the imprint will host a film festival with picks curated by its creators.

Shade the Changing Girl is a sight to behold. From the creative team of writer Cecil Castelluci, line artist Marley Zarcone, and color artist Kelly Fitzpatrick, the title is part of DC's Young Animal line, overseen by Gerard Way. Though it spins out of the classic Peter Milligan Vertigo series Shade the Changing Man, and protagonist Lorna is an admirer of the earlier Shade, this series looks set to stand on its own, judging from this first look.

DC's upcoming "pop-up" boutique Young Animal is one of the most anticipated projects of the year, and its debut is right around the corner. Curated by The Umbrella Academy's Gerard Way, it seeks to capture the spark of classic Vertigo while forging a bold new path of its own in the industry. Ahead of the November solicitations, DC has provided us with an exclusive first look at November's Young Animal releases, including the first issue of Jody Houser and Tommy Lee Edwards' Mother Panic.

Since it was announced at Emerald City Comic Convention, details have been relatively scarce surrounding Gerard Way's so-called "pop-up imprint" at DC, Young Animal. We know the four comics that will make up the line, the creators involved, and tidbits of individual synopses, but not much else. Last night, Way took to his blog to give fans the first of what will seemingly be a weekly sneak peek behind the curtain of Young Animal, discussing the creative and collaborative processes that went into the genesis of each title. He also unveiled brand new art for each series by the likes of Tommy Lee Edwards, Nick Derington and Michael Avon Oeming.

This week sees the debut of Effigy, a new Vertigo title from Grayson/Revival scribe Tim Seeley and Madame Xanadu artist Marley Zarcone. The series follows Chondra Jackson, a woman who, as a child, starred in a beloved kids' sci-fi/mystery TV show, and now lives a quiet life as a police officer in small-town Ohio – until she gets pulled into a mystery involving ritual sacrifices, a shadowy celebrity-worshipping cult, and pieces of her past coming back to haunt her. To mark the launch of the book, we spoke with Seeley about his work process, his inspirations, and how the world of celebrities and comics intersect.

As Vertigo's two currently longest-running series head to a close -- Bill Willingham's Fables and Mike Carey and Peter Gross's The Unwritten -- the DC imprint is doubtless looking for new series with long-term potential to run alongside FBP, Astro City, and American Vampire. At New York Comic-Con on Friday the publisher announced two titles that might fit the bill, both from DC writers making their Vertigo debut. Grayson writer Tim Seeley will team with former Madame Xanadu artist Marley Zarcone on Effigy, while once and future Secret Six author Gail Simone and former 2000 AD artist Jonathan Davis-Hunt are the team behind Clean Room.

April O'Neil has had a few careers across various Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles continuities, but in IDW's new comicverse helmed by co-creator Kevin Eastman and Tom Waltz, the redhead is a college student studying biology and interning at Baxter Stockman's Stockgen Laboratories...

Marley Zarcone has collaborated with the likes of Matt Wagner on Madame Xanadu at Vertigo and talent percolator of 2010 Nick Spencer on his indie book Forgetless. That's no accident, either, because she's got a spunky look about her artwork that resembles the clean, slightly manga-ish approach of Brandon Graham and gently uses that cleanliness to sneak in dump-trucks full of detail...