lee loughridge

Ever since Saga set a new standard for indie comics success in 2012, there's been an explosion of American sci-fi comics, many of them from Saga publisher Image Comics. Of these, one of the biggest standouts is Southern Cross, which has created a compelling, dense world with stunning visuals and gripping mysteries in just its first six issues.

This year we're celebrating fifty years of Star Trek, and as part of the celebrations there's not only a brand new film in cinemas now, but Bryan Fuller is also working on a new television series titled Star Trek: Discovery, due out next year. Star Trek's vision of the future can represent the very best of who we can be as a species, but often it shows how easily it is to become corrupt. We've selected five of the best independent sci-fi comics to check out after seeing Star Trek: Beyond in the cinema. Love that? Try this!

The X-Men has been one of the most popular superhero franchises in comics for more than a generation, and the big screen adaptations helped kick off the current wave of superhero films, including X-Men: Apocalypse, which arrives in North American theaters this weekend. The world of the X-Men is packed with relatable themes, from the simple school setting to more complex ideas about alienation and persecution. If you love the X-Men and what they stand for, here are five of the best independent comics that reflect the themes and message of Charles Xavier’s gifted students.

Ibrahim Moustafa burst onto the scene in 2013 with his collaboration with Christopher Sebela on High Crimes, a critically-acclaimed murder mystery that takes place atop Mount Everest. His covers for High Crimes were highlighted on ComicsAlliance as some of the best of 2013, and since then Moustafa has gone on to do cover work for a number of different series --- including the first three issues of Doctor Fate. Since working on those Fate covers, Moustafa was tapped for guest interiors for issue #8 of the series, which hit stores earlier this year, and he'll return to the book for issue #13 this summer. ComicsAlliance sat down with Moustafa to hear more about that experience, his process, and what we should expect from him next.

Batgirl has been firing on all cylinders since the creative team of Brenden Fletcher, Cameron Stewart and Babs Tarr came aboard just over a year ago, and has carved a niche as not only one of the most exciting books published by DC Comics, but as a book that's genuinely representative of the millennial experience. It might just be the amount of Lucha Underground that this particular millennial watches, but the most exciting moment in comics this week came from Batgirl #48, with the team joined by Rob Haynes, Serge LaPointe and Lee Loughridge.

Si Spurrier and Ryan Kelly return to Image in 2016 for a new ongoing series called Cry Havoc. Mixing modern-day warfare with mythological monsters, the series is primarily set in the Middle East, where it follows the story of a woman, Louise, who has a few... secrets. You see, Louise is a bit of a werewolf. There's also a further wrinkle to the comic, which plays a huge role in the story. With the series structured into three parts, colorists Lee Loughridge, Nick Filardi and Matt Wilson are each taking on one of the three segments --- making for a comic that properly demonstrates the range, differences and importance of colorists. ComicsAlliance spoke to Spurrier and Kelly about the structural conceit of the series, and the big idea that goes beyond "lesbian werewolf."

Wolf #1, written by Ales Kot with art by Matt Taylor and Lee Loughridge, opens with one of the most beautifully distinct images I've seen in a comic this year: a man on a hillside overlooking LA; the buzzy glow of the city's lights just visible in the distance; the man is singing a blues song, Robert Johnson's Hellhound on My Trail; also, he's on fire. It's a haunting image, all the more because of the complete lack of explanation. “How do you feel about myths?” reads the single caption, and there's something genuinely mythic about these opening pages. This image of a burning man, picked out in flames of unnaturally bright orange by colorist Loughridge, is eerie, primal and immediately iconic. These pages set the tone for the rest of the issue, and most likely the series to follow --- and even if the rest of the issue's sixty-something pages never quite match the highs of these first few images, it's a promising start.

Reading Black Canary wasn't just reading another comic book --- the character comes with a lot of baggage for me, so I felt bound to be more critical of it than I am of any other book. But by the time I finished issue #2, I felt like a character I'd loved for a long time had been given a new life. This is what we should want for our heroes.

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.

Earlier this month, Ghostface Killah announced the release of 36 Seasons, an ambitious new album on Salvation/Tommy Boy Records which is accompanied by an exclusive 20-page comic booklet that features work by top-tier artists. The disc's storyline and packaging are the brainchild of Matthew Rosenberg, a comic creator who worked with Ghostface on last year's 12 Reasons To Die limited series from Black Mask Studios. We recently got a few minutes to speak with Rosenberg about his work on the record, the artists he sought to contribute, and his experience straddling the line between the music and comic industries – and we're excited to premiere a trio of illustrations from the project by Michael Walsh, Palle Schmidt, and Chris Pyrate, as well as showcasing some roughs and behind-the scenes material.