Colleen Coover

Since its original run from 2002 to 2004, Colleen Coover's Small Favors has been one of the most highly regarded erotic comics of all time. It tells the fantastic story of Annie, a woman who uses up her lifetime supply of self-pleasure and is sentenced to be monitored by a manifestation of her conscience, Nibbil. Unfortunately for her prudish side, Annie and Nibbil quickly fall in love and spend eight issues having extremely imaginative sex with each other and a few new friends --- all within the context of a happy and charmingly romantic love story. Now, thirteen years since its final issue, a hardcover collection from Limerence Press is set to hit shelves in April, complete with a new story that Coover drew based on a script from the original run. ComicsAlliance spoke to Coover about the history of Small Favors, how the experience shaped her career, and the rules that governed the universe of her "girly porno comic" love story.

Before her Eisner-winning work on Bandette, cartoonist Colleen Coover was best known for a lighthearted queer erotica comic called Small Favors. For years now, Small Favors has been discussed as a classic of comics erotica, and a rare book about sex by a women, aimed at women, about women who love women (but of course people who aren't women can enjoy it too). And for years, it's been out of print. But Limerence Press, the recently established Oni Comics imprint that focuses on erotica and sex education, is changing that. Coming in April 2017, Small Favors will be available in a new hardback collection, which includes both volumes of the black and white comic, plus the color special.

There’s a strong strain of the collector in fandom, and buying for a comics fan can be a difficult endeavor, because so much of what they want is something they already know about. But even the most famous writers, artists, and characters have obscurer works that often go overlooked. This gift guide looks at deep cuts for the superfan in your life, and we've divided into three sections; favorite artists, favorite writers, and favorite characters. If you know someone who is passionate about Darwyn Cooke, devoted to Warren Ellis, or a big-time Superman fan, we may have the perfect gift suggestion.

The 28th annual Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards took place this Friday at San Diego Comic-Con, where the creators, editors and publishers of your favorite comics were honored for their accomplishments. While many will be nominated, only a select few will take home the top honors in one of comic's most respected awards. It was a particularly good night for publishers Drawn and Quaterly and Fantagraphics, with fan and critical favorites like Over the Garden Wall, Cliff Chiang and Bandette being recognized as well. Check out the complete list of winners and nominees below.

Ever since Valiant returned to comics in 2012, X-O Manowar has been the company's flagship title --- and for good reason. The idea of putting a visigoth from barbarian times into a suit of high-tech space armor and letting him just basically destroy everything that makes him angry with a sword made of lightning is pretty great. Now, though, the relaunched X-O is closing in on its 50th issue, and to celebrate the occasion, Valiant has hinted at a jam cover that will involve 50 artists doing 50 different takes on Aric of Dacia and his radical space armor. Today, we've got a close look at five of the artists participating: Colleen Coover, Dave Bullock, Ramon Villalobos, Michael Walsh, and Pere Perez.

It might seem hard to believe, but there was once a time when Archie Comics was the only publisher that didn't do variant covers. If memory serves --- and I might be wrong about this --- it took until 2010 for them to do their first one ever on Jughead #200. Now, though, with the high profile relaunches that we've seen over the past year, it looks like they're making up for lost time. When Betty & Veronica #1 hits shelves on July 20, it's coming with twenty-five different covers, including covers from Colleen Coover, Bilquis Evely, Chip Zdarsky, Veronica Fish and many more. Check out the entire roster!

CBS' Supergirl adaptation proved to be one of the highlights of the past year's season of television, packed with action, drama, excitement and a whole lot of heart. One of the best things about the show was that in a time where so many superhero adaptations are grim morality plays that pit friend against friend, Supergirl was a bright ray of sunshine that focused on the power of teamwork and the hidden strength in us all. Last night saw the final episode of Supergirl's first season, and if you're still reeling and can't for season two, we've assembled a list of five of the best independent comics for you to try next that are fun, strong and powerful, just like Supergirl.

Faith #2, the second installment of the critically acclaimed and much-discussed superhero comic by writer Jody Houser and artists Francis Portela and Marguerite Sauvage, arrives February 24th from Valiant Comics. This issue finds Faith blaming herself for an explosion caused by a mysterious adversary who appears to be hunting down psiots (which I think is basically just the Valiant version of mutants?). She then gets call from an ally named @x, who must have been on Twitter really early to snag that handle. The official synopsis promises an appearance by Torque, Faith's ex-boyfriend and former teammate, but we don't get to see him in the preview pages.

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.

One of the best things about digital comics is that you can read them online pretty much anywhere, but sometimes, every now and then, you want to read them in print. Whether it's the extra features that inevitably come with a printed collection, the texture of paper or just the comforting reminder that physical objects exist and you are therefore not alone and isolated in a formless void, printed webcomics have a lot to offer today's discerning reader, and Dark Horse is stepping up to give you three of the most exciting collections of the year. Set for release next spring, Eisner winning digital comic Bandette and the webcomic Polar: Eye For An Eye are returning to Dark Horse for the book trade customers, but the third, Murder Book is a newcomer, and it looks awesome.