Ryan Ottley

There are some --- probably most, if you think about it --- comic book readers who just don't read independent comics and ten years ago, I was one of them. However, while DC Comics was reeling from its Infinite Crisis and the heroes of the Marvel Universe were embroiled in a Civil War, Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker and Ryan Ottley's Invincible shone like a beacon from across a distant sea, beckoning me to for god's sake, read an indie comic.

Everyone loves trivia about their favorite animated features and series, but with over 100 years of animation history behind us right now, there’s always some new obscure fact to learn. That’s why ComicsAlliance is going deep into the minutiae of your favorite names in cartoons in this continuing video series. You think you know cartoons? Well, here’s a few things you might not know! 2017 marks the 25th anniversary of Image Comics, so this week we're taking a look at the history of cartoons based on comics from America's largest independent comics publisher!

February is an exciting month for DC Comics, with the launches of Justice League of America by Steve Orlando and Ivan Reis, Super Sons by Peter Tomasi and Jorge Jimenez, and Batwoman by Marguerite Bennett, James Tynion IV, and Steve Epting, and we have an exclusive first look at variant covers for all three first issues.

In the latest of our galleries celebrating the best covers of the year, we're looking at the best covers from IDW. IDW maintained its impressive and diverse line of licensed properties in 2016, from Ninja Turtles to Little Ponies, as well as ambitiously expanding and collating its Hasbro properties under the "Revolution" banner, and reviving and reinventing the Micronauts, M.A.S.K., and Rom.

On November 20th, 2002, Image Comics released the first issue of a new comic called Invincible by Robert Kirkman and Cory Walker, about a teenage superhero whose father was one of the most popular heroes on the planet. Over a decade later, Invincible himself became something of a phenomenon, as the series became one of the most popular creator-owned superheroes of all time in a run of comics that refused to settle for status quo.

Next year Image Comics is celebrating its 25th anniversary, and to celebrate the occasion, Robert Kirkman's Skybound imprint will release issues of its three cornerstone titles for only 25¢ each. Outcast, Invincible and The Walking Dead all start brand new stories in February, and fans will be able to check them out for a fraction of their usual cost.

Robert Kirkman, Ryan Ottley and Cory Walker's Invincible has been going strong for over thirteen years with relatively little disruption and almost no major creative team changes, a rarity in modern comics. However, today in a blog post Kirkman announced that Invincible will in fact be ending, and the creative team is set to bring the series to a close next year with Invincible #144.

Many of comics’ most popular characters have been around for decades, and in the case of the big names from the publisher now known as DC Comics, some have been around for a sizable chunk of a century. As these characters passed through the different historical eras known in comics as the Golden Age (the late 1930s through the early 1950s), the Silver Age (the mid 1950s through the late 1960s), the Bronze Age (the early 1970s through the mid 1980s) and on into modern times, they have experienced considerable changes in tone and portrayal that reflect the zeitgeist of the time. With this feature we’ll help you navigate the very best stories of DC Comics’ most significant characters decade by decade. This week, with the release of Zack Snyder's Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice just six months away, we’re taking a look at the best Superman/Batman team-up comics.

Image Comics held its now traditional pre-San Diego one-day show on Thursday at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, and unveiled an impressive roster of new titles for the coming year that includes new work by familiar names such as Warren Ellis, Jason Aaron and Gail Simone; plus an encouraging number of relative newcomers and unknowns. Check out our rundown of all the news and announcements.

If there's a Hall of Fame for comic book titles, then Giant-Size Kung Fu Bible Stories deserves its own wing. You put those words in that order on the cover of a comic book, and I'm going to buy it, no questions asked, and I'm pretty sure I'm not exactly alone in that way of thinking. To be honest, though, I will admit to being just a little bit disappointed that it's not an accurate description of the contents. I mean, is there anyone who wouldn't want to read a treasury-sized extravaganza about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego busting out forbidden martial arts techniques in order to fight their way out of the oven? I would. That said, what we actually have -- an extra-sized $20 tome edited by Bruce Timm and Erik Larsen -- is still pretty amazing; an anthology of stories from fantastic creators that accomplishes that rare feat of being an anthology book where every single story is highly entertaining, even if they're not about Esau mastering poison styles to take his ultimate revenge on Jacob.