Nick Filardi

When DC Comics announced its Young Animal imprint early this year, Cave Carson Has A Cybernetic Eye stood out for a number of reasons. The title alone is distinctive, and Cave Carson isn't exactly a fondly remembered concept like Doom Patrol and Shade, yet nor is he a wholly new creation like Mother Panic. Yet the final product by Gerard Way, Jon Rivera, Michael Avon Oeming and Nick Filardi has gone from strange curiosity to one of the standout books of the year, melding sci-fi action, mind-bending visuals and obscure DC Universe cameos. Ahead of the release of Cave Carson Has A Cybernetic Eye #3 this week, ComicsAlliance caught up with co-writer Jon Rivera to talk about Young Animal, collaboration, and breathing new life into obscure characters.

In the last few weeks, DC has seen the return of Extraño, the Subway Pirates, KGBeast, and Harold Allnut, and honestly? If you had asked me to pick four of the least likely returns, those would've definitely been on the list. Now, though, DC has another one in the pages of Gerard Way, Jon Rivera, Michael Avon Oeming, Nick Filardi, and Clem Robins' Cave Carson Has A Cybernetic Eye, on the offchance that Cave Carson himself returning to headline a high-profile title wasn't shocking enough. So in case you missed it... well, read on if you don't mind a spoiler for the issue's last page.

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."

Next year will see a new ongoing series over at Oni Press, with the creative team of Christopher Sebela, Robert Wilson IV and Nick Filardi combining for the off-kilter romance series Heartthrob. The story is about a terminally ill woman called Callie who is offered a last-chance heart transplant that saves her life --- but then turns out to have a few unexpected side-effects. After fully expecting her life to be over, Callie struggles to get used to her return to a normal working life... until she comes into contact with Mercer, an enigmatic (and handsome!) man who turns her newfound life upside down. Heartthrob is a strange, funny comic, one that forges a deep connection between the characters and readers --- and it's clearly is a personal work for Sebela in particular. To explore the story further, we spoke to him about how he first developed the concept, what motivates and drives Callie as she experiences the strangest romance imaginable, and what readers can expect from the story as it moves forward.

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.

Celebrating March Madness (which is some kind of seasonal daze inflicted on America by either baseball or basketball or one of those other strange sports you all seem to love so much), Oni Press filled the week leading up to this past weekend's Emerald City Comic-Con with a series of big announcements, including the previously-reported news that the publisher is opening up submissions to everyone, and no less than seven new projects from a host of impressive creative teams. To help you pick a few winners (that's what March Madness means, right?) we've rounded up all the announcements in one place.

Of all the titles in DC Comics' "Digital-First" initiative, Batman Beyond 2.0 has been possibly the biggest surprise. Kyle Higgins and artist Thony Silas launched a series that expands the beloved Batman Beyond animated series storyline from the 1990s in exciting and unexpected ways, without losing the elements that made the Warner Bros. Animation original so popular, and fans have noticed and responded. The story of young Batman Terry McGuinness and his mentor Bruce Wayne and their adventures in Neo-Gotham, DC recently upgraded the Batman Beyond 2.0 from bi-weekly to weekly, and as of Chapter #25, Higgins brought his C.O.W.L. collaborator Alec Siegel and venerable comics veterans Phil Hester and Craig Rousseau onboard the series for what the team has promised to be a particularly dramatic new movement in the young series, one that includes a return of the Phantasm, one of Batman: The Animated Series' most rarely scene yet fan-favorite foes. During a few spare minutes as San Diego Comic-Con, we stopped by the DC booth to chat with the Higgins and Siegel about their love for the Batman Beyond characters, their collaborative process, "Mark of the Phantasm", and their further plans for the book's future.

With the wrap-up of writer Joe Keatinge's multi-artist "Strange Visitor" epic in Adventures of Superman last week, the series is nearing a full year of weekly, digital Superman stories. It's easily been the best, most daring Superman title DC Comics has been publishing in 2013 and 2014 (and not just because Superman gets to wear his real costume in it). Edited by Alex Antone,  Adventures

The first six serialized issues of Helheim by writer Cullen Bunn, artist Joëlle Jones, colorist Nick Filardi and letterer Ed Brisson wrapped up in August, but Oni Press has good news for all you trade-waiters out there. Helheim Volume 1: The Witch War will collect the full series into a single trade paperback this March, wrapping it all in a brand new battle-worn cover. Oni's given us a first-look

When it comes to fictional witches, female spellcasters of all stripes usually fall into the "good" or "evil" camps. Hags, though? Universally bad, man. Take Cullen Bunn, Joelle Jones and Nick Filardi's undead viking revenge saga, Hellheim. It's got some of the worst hags you're ever likely to find in a comic book. This fact is crystalized the way superheroes squeeze goal into diamonds this Wednesday, July 10 in Hellheim #5. Oni's provided CA with a first-look at the issue showing just what kind of hags the heroic Rikard must contend with as the series approaches its sixth, story arc-wrapping issue.