Andy Kuhn

Jonathan Hickman described his upcoming Image series as "like Star Trek, but super depressing." Star Trek, of course, has historically been about a utopian future where humanity has solved Earth's problems and expanded outward into the cosmos, uniting with other advanced planets to spread civilization across the galaxy. In the future Hickman portrays in Frontier, that plan has apparently not gone so well.

The thing about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is that once you have, you know, teenage mutant ninja turtles, there's no real reason to not just go all out and start making mutants out of everything. This, at least, is the premise of Mutanimals, a team of animal-human hybrids made with the same mutagen that gave us Leo, Mikey, Donnie and Raph, just without the guidance of Splinter --- and listen, I'm as surprised as you are that that sentence actually makes perfect sense. The current version of the Mutanimals were gathered together by Old Hob, the gun-toting one-eyed cat seen above, to form an army to fight Shredder and the Foot Clan, and next week, they're taking the spotlight in their own limited series from Paul Allor and Andy Kuhn, and it all starts with Pigeon Pete having a pretty terrible day.

Like everyone else who had eyes, I was a big fan of Samurai Jack when it first showed up on TV. I loved that show, and the visual style and breathtaking animation that took the risk of sparse dialogue and radical shifts in tone were mind-blowing, and in a lot of ways paved the way for a lot of shows that followed. But while I loved the show while it was on, I wasn't so much of a fan that I was really excited about the announcement that it was going to be revived as a comic from IDW. Don't get me wrong, I'm as big a fan of Jim Zub and Andy Suriano as you're likely to find, but I wasn't quite sure how a show that had relied so much on striking, fluid motion for its visual design would make the transition to the relatively static world of comics. As it turns out, it took to it beautifully, and if you sit down and read the first fifteen issues of the ongoing series, you'll see how well they come together as one vast, epic story that takes Jack in every possible direction -- just like the show.

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.

Jack Kirby is very probably the single most influential figure in the history of American comics. He produced countless stories in a career that spanned seven decades, inventing and re-inventing genres and styles every step of the way. He inspired generations of artists and writers; created and co-created thousands of characters; defined the visual vocabulary of superheroes; and believed in the potential of comics to be both entertainment and art, long before most people imagined these stories would be remembered past the four weeks that they sat on newsstands. This week would have been Kirby’s 97th birthday, so to celebrate, we asked some of our favorite creators and other comic pros to contribute their impressions of his characters, life, and legacy – and the response has been overwhelming. Yesterday, we posted the first set of these all-star tributes, and here's the second, even more expansive selection!

A great comic book cover is an advertisement, a work of art, a statement, and an invitation. A great comic book cover is a glimpse of another world through a canvas no bigger than a window pane. In Best Comic Book Covers Ever (This Month), we look back over some of the most eye-catching, original and exceptional covers of the past month. July's comic book covers bring some gorgeous high contrast images and striking character portraits. There's a moment of grief; a moment of action; a moment of reflection; and a moment of revelation. Check out amazing work from Christian Ward, Eleanor Davis, Tommy Lee Edwards, and Lucy Knisley.

Two heroes are down as Shredder advances his plot to take New York City in next week's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #23. Writers Tom Waltz and Kevin Eastman's "City Fall" storyline kicked off last month, giving fans a taste of what kind of shocking transformation may be in store for one of the Green machines, and this month artist Mateus Santolouco (along with alternate cover artists Dan Duncan, Andy Kuhn, Ben Bates, Ross Campbell and Dave Wachter) turns up the tension as a team short on allies prepares to confront multiple foes.

Valentine's Day is here at last, and that means that it's time to celebrate the people we love. Admittedly, most of the people we love are fictional vigilantes, but still: Romance is in the air. And for those of us looking for the perfect way to express it, a few of our (real) favorite people have cooked up some amazing Valentines...

My undying affection for The Mighty Mutanimals is probably coloring my thinking here, but its fairly safe to say that when it comes to the snapping turtle known as Slash, the character has always been coolest in comics. Let's be real - in three appearances on the original TMNT animated series, Slash didn't do anything nearly as cool as he did in the pages of Archie's '90s comics (or your sandbox,

Utrom action is the name of the game in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #14. General Krang has finally shown his true, brainy-dude-piloting-a-humanoid-robot colors and is set to drop some serious extra-dimensional science on Baxter Stockman, much to the eventual chagrin of the TMNT...