nick barber

Professional wrestling has a lot in common with comic books. Up front, both feature spandex-clad larger-than-life heroes fighting despicable baddies, sometimes for an ultimate prize that declares them the most powerful. Behind the scenes, both businesses have a tendency to chew people up and spit them out, without much care for what they become. Image Comics's Ringside follows the darker side of professional wrestling, and ComicsAlliance chatted to writer Joe Keatinge and artist Nick Barber about Ringside's universal themes of unrelenting passion, their exploration of the underbelly of professional wrestling, and the series' focus on LGBT characters.

WrestleMania was this past weekend, and outside of perhaps the infamous "Attitude Era" of the late-'90s, it's never been more socially acceptable to proudly admit that you love the King of Sports, professional wrestling. The Rock is the biggest star in Hollywood, the Total Divas are taking over E, and John Cena is viral meme superstar; wrestling has officially broken through to the mainstream again. It's also never been a better time for comics about professional wrestling, a far cry from the days of the old WCW comic or the weird one where Chyna is a bodyguard in her spare time. We've assembled a list of five of the best independent comics about wrestling, if you're still in the mood for some pro-graps after watching The Granddaddy of Them All.

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.