Team Superfriends|Fighting the good fight

Mark Millar and Steve McNiven–the team behind last year’s hit Old Man Logan and the writer of Marvel’s Civil War, Wanted and Kick-Ass, bring you their newest story. Nemesis is going to be one of the hottest comic book events of the new year and a bunch of people have been talking about it on the interwebs since they announced the series.

What follows is an interview with Millar and McNiven about the series. Warning: The following interview contains adult language.
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The two of you have developed quite a history working together, first with “Civil War” and then with your follow up, “Old Man Logan,” both massive hits for Marvel. I guess teaming up for “Nemesis” was a no-brainer?

Millar: I just love Steve. He’s amazing. After working with somebody this brilliant, it would be heart-breaking to work with somebody shit. I’m just spoiled now. I can’t stand seeing the brilliant artists I’ve worked with work with other guys. I’m like a psycho ex-girlfriend. The minute I come to the end of one project with Steve or Hitchy [Bryan Hitch] or John Romita Jr. or somebody, I’m just thinking of the next thing for them.

So Steve and I really had to do a third project together. We get along well, even though he’s a prick and Canadian, and we work really well together too. We’ve only done two comics together before – “Civil War” and “Old Man Logan” – and both, like you said, were massive books. So the logical next step was a creator-owned project that shatters all records. We made Marvel a lot of money with these first two projects, and we feel we paid our dues and we had fun writing and drawing almost all of the characters that we’d ever want to do. But now we want to create something, and we want it to be bigger than “Kick-Ass.” “Kick-Ass” went through five printings each [issue] and has sold something like 115,000 [copies] an issue. But we want to beat that. “Nemesis,” we hope, is the next big thing. We’re very excited and think we have something quite unique here.

So when Mark called, Steve, you were ready to go?

McNiven: Yes, definitely. Mark is fun to work with. He writes stuff that’s fun to draw, and that’s great when you’re not pulling out your hair. And he makes me lots of money, too [laughs].

There’s nothing wrong with that.

Millar: What? I’m in it for the craft, baby. Jesus, you make me feel like Jodie Foster in “Taxi Driver.” I didn’t realize I’m just your wee cash cow [laughs]. Steve’s Harvey Keitel and I’m Jodie Foster. [Laughs] I thought he loved me, but now I see it’s just about the cash.

OK. Before, we jump into this, let’s put the rumors to rest. “Nemesis” is not an Avengers project, or an X-Men project, or a Marvelman project. It’s not even set in the Marvel Universe. It’s another world that you’ve created.

Millar: Absolutely. It’s a Marvel book, technically, in the sense that it’s published by Marvel, but like “Kick-Ass,” it comes out via Icon, and that means me and Steve own all the rights just like Johnny and I own the rights to “Kick-Ass.” It’s a sweet deal.

McNiven: It’s great for Marvel to have an imprint there for us. It’s really a great place to do this kind of thing. Just looking at how well “Kick-Ass” has done. It really gets your hope up.

When we first emailed back and forth about this project, Mark, you teased me with the tagline your friend suggested: “What if Batman was The Joker?’ I guess the answer to that is you’d have “Nemesis.” What was the genesis of this project?

Millar: Yeah, a lot of people who’ve read it have been coming up with hilarious tag-lines. “What if Batman was The Joker?” is the tame one. “What if Batman was a total cunt?” is maybe my favourite, although it’s hardly going to be an ad. Marvel President Dan Buckley sort of paid me a compliment, saying, “This is such a stupidly simple and obvious idea. I can’t believe nobody’s ever come up with it before. You are the master of the stupidly simple idea.” Which I suppose is kind of flattering because everyone said that about “Kick-Ass” too. It’s almost too simple.

But, yeah. “Nemesis” is a reversal of the Bruce Wayne or Tony Stark archetype. What if this genius billionaire was just this total shit, and the only thing that stood between him and a city was the cops? It’s Batman versus Commissioner Gordon, in a weird way. Or maybe a super-villain version of “Se7en.” A billionaire anarchist up against ordinary people. The Joker’s the best thing in the Batman movies, so this guy is a bit of an amalgamation of all the stuff we like.

McNiven: And we didn’t want to do a little creator-owned book. We wanted to do something that shoots for the Top 10 and competes with “X-Men” or “The Avengers.” We want this to be as big as it possibly can be. We’re aiming directly at the mainstream, too, and have already set up some corporate backing you’ve never seen in comics before, and international press. Mark has been working overtime on this one.

Millar: I’m a great believer in creator-owned books not being small. I think probably growing up in nineties’ comics did that, seeing things like “Spawn” and “WildCats” that did really well. I just love the idea of creator-owned books outselling Marvel and DC even.

So the idea that you do your Marvel and DC stuff with big sales and then you do your little creator-owned work on your own, I’ve never been a fan of that. I’ve been really lucky that “Wanted” and “Kick-Ass” have all sold hugely. So with this, I just wanted to do the biggest one of the lot. “Kick-Ass” beat “Wanted” as the biggest creator-owned of the decade, and we’re hoping this beats “Kick-Ass.”

McNiven: Aim high, buddy.

Millar: I don’t see why it shouldn’t. Steve is the biggest-selling artist in comics. If you add up all his sales and divide it by the number of books he’s done, he’s the biggest selling artist by a mile. At the moment, he’s the biggest and best of this generation.

Steve, you need to hire Mark as your agent.

McNiven: I know. That’s why I work with him.

Millar: It’s totally true. There are guys who sell well, and then there’s Steve. It’s just a different league. So the idea of getting Steve to go from “Civil War” to “Old Man Logan” to this big, new creator-owned thing to me feels just like Todd MacFarlane going from “Spider-Man” to “Spawn.” So I wasn’t going to give him a little slice of life thing about what it’s like to be a gay Muslim living in Arkansas or something like that [laughs]. It wasn’t going to be that kind of creator-owned. It had to be huge.

Nemesis is the world’s smartest man, and the bad news for us is that he’s the world’s only super-villain. That means he’s got freeze guns and jump-jets and all these James Bond gadgets and he’s using them against us. To entertain himself, he picks a different cop every year and makes his life a misery. The book opens with him fucking over Japan’s top cop, and then our story, the mini-series, takes place as he shifts his attention to Washington and his first American attacks. The visuals we’ve released here are just single panels from the Japanese segment. It’s the best stuff I’ve ever seen Steve do.

Do we get to see Nemesis in the Bruce Wayne role – the billionaire playboy, out and about town?

Millar: I wanted it to be a kind of mystery. I liked the idea of having “who is this guy?’ as a plot thread running through it. Why does he keep going after these cops and flying and training all around the world to end up in America to take on this one guy? So we find out a little more about him every issue.

McNiven: It’s a clever idea to switch it around so you don’t have the origin at the beginning, as opposed to Batman where you get it right at the beginning. I think this makes it a little more of a compelling story.

Millar: It’s the reverse superhero concept. A superhero story normally has a linear fashion. You see how he becomes that guy, and then you see him in action. But here, we’ve done the reverse. The origin comes at the end of the story. But he’s the Hannibal Lecter of supervillains in that sense. All the cops are needed to go up against a guy as formidable as this. He’s almost supernatural, he’s so good. But he happens to just be in a costume. Hopefully nobody’s ever seen anything like it before. We’re so used to supervillains fighting superheroes, I just thought, “Imagine if there was only one person on the planet like this, and he was actually a bad guy.” How would cops deal with him, even though he has no super-powers?

Let’s talk about the main cop, the Commissioner Gordon to Nemesis’ Batman/Joker. What can you tell us about him?

Millar: Very simply, I wanted to do a book about the world’s greatest villain up against America’s greatest cop. I just liked the high concept of that – the idea of a villain going around from country to country and having a battle of wits with the best guy that he can get his hands on. And he sends them a little funeral wreath with the date and time of when they’re going to die on it, every one dying at precisely that time. All these cops in the Pacific Rim are dead, and then we come in at the American side of the story and see the struggle of this guy in just trying to stop him.

McNiven: Tell him about the charity auction.

Millar: Ah, good point. Another thing that I should mention is the two lead characters – the secret identity of Nemesis and also the cop – haven’t been named yet. At the moment, I’ve written the scripts just with kind of placeholder names, but I wanted to do is what I did with “Kick Ass,” which was have a charity auction for the kids at a handicapped school where my brother Bobby works. Doctor Bob works at this amazing place and he’s trying to raise money to send the kids on another special trip. “Kick-Ass” raised a few grand for them, and now Dave Lizewski is a movie star name. There are two names up for grabs on “Nemesis,” and we’ll get details of this auction on CBR in the New Year.

Steve, can you speak about the look of Nemesis and the cop?

McNiven: Mark and I have been talking about it quite a bit. We want to make the guys good looking. They’re not ugly mugs. And they’re relatively young, as well. Even though Mark said this cop is Clint Eastwood-level good, it’s like young Clint Eastwood, not “Gran Torino” Clint Eastwood. Not that there is anything wrong with that. We get great mileage out of the old guys. The visual is to try and keep them very clean and very elegant and not go with giant belts and big shoulder pads and pouches everywhere and that sort of stuff. We’ve tried to streamline them and give them more of an iconic look. 

We’re just talking about the different outfits right now. But Nemesis, being the central figure, we really worked hard on his design.

I started with more of a Midnighter type of look, but we wanted to work with a white costume, something that really stands out in the shadows. Very much the antithesis of a Batman costume with the cape, as well. But in working out that initial design, we realized it was a little too bulky, too much armor. We wanted something smoother and simpler, and so we really distilled it down to something that’s almost the bare essence of a costume.

A lot of the impact of the costume is going to be more in the acting of the character, as opposed to some costumes where you have giant shoulder pads and huge guns and all that stuff, and it takes the place of any particular acting on the character. This one is stripped down, and we’re trying to let the character of Nemesis come through.

Millar: Almost the way Batman was a good guy dressed in black, we’ve reversed that to the bad guy dressed in white. It just seemed obvious to me. And there are so few characters out there wearing white, it’s actually an unusual look in comics. There are loads of red and loads of blue and loads of black. We wanted a guy that’s very, very visually distinctive. When Steve sent through the first drawings, I had never really seen anything like that before. He looked quite beautiful for a bad guy. It almost looked like a costume made of moonlight, just because it was this shining light material. It’s visually quite stark, but it also looks like something people could wear in the real world. Again, this is set in our world. It’s not a superhero universe.

Mark, you’re no stranger to having your projects being picked up as movie properties. Have you already had those talks about “Nemesis”?

Millar: We actually got a call a few weeks ago when the teaser poster went up on CBR. We were pretty crafty about this in terms of how we marketed this. We had a poster out that said, “‘Civil War,’ ‘Old Man Logan,’ ‘Nemesis,’” and teased it as a potential big event for Marvel. The number of people talking about it and guessing was just insane, which we loved.

And Marvel was very good about it, not contradicting us. But what was funny was that I got a call from my agent that night – and it was funny because all we did was release a date and a title and no information. And my agent called and said two producers had been in touch saying, “We’re really big fans of this book that Mark and Steve are doing. We really like it.” Are the rights available?” [laughs].

McNiven: That, my friend, is the definition of Hollywood insincere.

Millar: I know [laughs]. I couldn’t believe it. But it made me realize how lucky I was my first picture making $350 million and getting Angelina [Jolie] in it. It made me realize how lucky I was getting [Matthew] Vaughn on “Kick-Ass” and the buzz around town being through the roof and “American Jesus” and “War Heroes” and all that getting picked up so quickly. I remember what it was like, literally being unable to pay my bills nine years ago, so to have this level of interest when I couldn’t sell a book not very long ago is just amazing.

McNiven: Sniff. I’m so touched I think I’m going to cry.

Millar: So, yeah, if a movie happens, great. If a bed-spread and lunch-box happens, great. But we’re really just focusing on the comic. Anything else is gravy and shouldn’t be taken too seriously.

McNiven: Making comics is a real job.

Millar: Exactly. Movie guys are pussies.

Millar, McNiven, “Nemesis,” March 2010. Gentlemen, thanks so much for for your time.

McNiven: Can’t talk. I’m still finishing a page.
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It’s pretty clear that this is going to be one of the hottest new titles of the new year. To celebrate the debut of this exciting new book, we’re giving away 10 Free Subscriptions to Nemesis. Everyone who preorders Nemesis #1 before March 1st will be entered into our Nemesis Contest for each one they order.

*Be sure to come on back to TFAW.com in February to order Nemesis #2 for an additional entry!

Great news for Angel fans! We’ve got Angel: Only Human #5 up at TFAW.com! As Gunn faces down the last of The Scourge and makes a desperate last stand, Illyria faces off one last time with her old “pet,” Baticus. How do you defeat a demon who keeps growing back all his parts?

But it’s the gruesome discovery that Gunn makes that could change the entire game. Don’t miss the epic conclusion to this exciting story from team Lobdell/Messina.

Angel: Only Human #5 arrives tomorrow, and we couldn’t be more excited to see what happens. Due to a communication error with our supplier, Angel: Only Human #5 wasn’t offered as a pre-order at TFAW.com (or any other comic book shop) until today.

Normally, when comics arrive in our warehouse, the every day low pricing kicks in and the pre-order savings disappear. Not the case with tomorrow’s release of Angel: Only Human #5.

Order by 11:59PM (PST) December 27, 2009 and you’ll save 20% regardless of whether you place a pre-order or in-stock order.

Note to Subscribers: Even if you have a subscription to Angel: Only Human, you’ll want to manually order your copy of Angel: Only Human #5 because it was not picked up in the subscription process at the end of October. We apologize for the inconvenience.

ORDER ANGEL: ONLY HUMAN #5 TODAY–JUST $3.19 THROUGH 12/27!

PRE-ORDER THE ANGEL: ONLY HUMAN TPB

One of the most exciting new offerings this month is Logan’s Run: Last Day, a 24-issue limited series from the folks at Bluewater Studios.

Having discovered the Logan’s Run novel by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson back in high school, I was pretty psyched to hear about this adaptation. It looks like this adaptation will stay true to the novel, rather than the 1976 movie starring Michael York.

I had the chance to interview William F. Nolan about the new adaptation, his plans for other series with Bluewater, and the state of a new Logan’s Run movie:

TFAW.com: It is nice to (virtually) meet you, Mr. Nolan.

William F. Nolan: Thanks, glad to (virtually) be here!

TFAW.com: We were really excited to hear about Logan’s Run: Last Day, the new comic book adaptation of your novel. How did the comic come about?

Nolan: My good friend and author/filmmaker Jason V. Brock (Charles Beaumont: The Short Life of Twilight Zone’s Magic Man) and his wife Sunni saw an article about Bluewater in the local Vancouver, WA paper. Jason does some agenting on my behalf and contacted Darren G. Davis, the president of Bluewater.

We scheduled a meeting at their offices in Vancouver, and they were very excited about the Logan property. Jason (who is also an artist and the Art Director/Managing Editor of Dark Discoveries magazine) and I assisted in working on the designs and costumes for some of the characters, which they are using in the final comic. Also, Jason had come up with a great storyline for a new Logan book we are outlining that uses the original book and expands on the backstory, updating it significantly.

That’s where Paul J. Salamoff comes in: he was chosen to adapt the novels into comic format, but none of us really wanted a “straight” adaptation of the books–it’s been done by MGM, Marvel, Malibu Graphics, and so on. It was time for a fresh take on Logan. Paul was perfect for the job. Not to mention that the four of us–Darren, Paul, Jason, and myself–all work well together and have gotten to be friends.

TFAW.com: Logan’s Run isn’t a stranger to comics. Other publishers have done mini-series adaptations over the years. Is there something special in today’s world that prompted you to move forward with an adaptation?

Nolan: I was not happy with Marvel or Malibu’s versions. I very much disliked the art in the Malibu edition, though they were faithful to the books. As far as the Marvel version, it was just too “superhero”: Logan is a real character, not a superheroic one, and I was never that pleased with it. In addition, they were really adapting the MGM movie, which is flawed, not the book that I wrote with George Clayton Johnson.

Given the current trend of Hollywood getting interested in comic book works, I feel that this is the perfect time to get a really great version of Logan out there . . . and this is the one.

TFAW.com: To what degree are you involved with the Bluewater Productions adaptation of Logan’s Run?

Nolan: I have final creative say-so over the artwork and storyline, as well as writing for some of the other titles we have planned.

TFAW.com: Will Paul Salamoff be staying pretty close to the original story or have you given him some freedom to move about in the world you’ve created?

Nolan: Paul is working off the outline that we provided, but has added a couple of elements. He is actually being faithful to the first two books (Logan’s Run and Logan’s World) at the start of the series. All of us are excited about the directions that we could go after these first six or so issues.

TFAW.com: What has Daniel Gete brought to the table in terms of art for Last Day?

Nolan: His work is very good. Jason and I both like his rendering and layouts a lot. His vision is in concert with ours: strong and direct–perfect for Logan.

TFAW.com: For someone who might only be familiar with the 1976 film version of Logan’s Run, what differences can they expect to see in the comic?

Nolan: We wanted as many things as possible to be different from the film, for legal and artistic reasons. We went back to the source material as much as possible, and built on that. You’ll see very soon!

TFAW.com: Awhile back, I heard that the series was scheduled for 24 issues. Is that still the case?

Nolan: Yes, 24 issues is correct. We have a lot planned for the series.

TFAW.com: Are you planning on working with Bluewater Productions on any other series?

Nolan: Yes. I signed on to do have an adaptation done of Sam Space, my future-noir character, for a run of four to six issues, and Dark Universe, a run of six issues utilizing my horror stories as source material. I am slated to adapt at least two of these, and Jason Brock has been tapped to adapt three of my stories.

TFAW.com: There have been whispers of a remake of the Logan’s Run movie. Are there any plans to move forward on a film project?

Nolan: It’s more than a whisper–it’s been in “pre-production” for 13 years! Joel Silver is involved, as well as Bryan Singer, among others. They still plan on making it, but when . . . that is the question. We’re hoping that the direction that we plan on taking the comics will light a little fire under Hollywood, as well as give them a bit of direction for a possible way of doing justice to the spirit of the books. It is a great candidate for a remake, as the technology has improved dramatically since 1976 and they could really do a lot with it.

TFAW.com: One last question: At TFAW.com, we’re always looking for ways to go above and beyond for our customers . . .

Nolan: I think I know what you mean . . . would you like some signed copies of the comics? I’m sure Darren would be happy to supply some for you guys, and I love to sign for fans! How about 15 or so copies for you guys?

TFAW.com: Absolutely. I think our readers would like that very much. Thank you for taking the time to chat with us about Logan’s Run: Last Day, and thanks for signing some books for us!

Nolan: No problem: any time!

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You heard what the man said, we’re getting 15 signed books, and we’re offering them up to 15 random people who pre-order any Logan’s Run: Last Day issue by 1/24/10. Winners will be announced in the TFAW.com Newsletter on 1/28/10!

In the meantime, check out the four-page first look and whet your appetite. ;0)

Set in a suburb that is both nowhere and everywhere, King of the Flies is a glorious bastard, combining the intricacy and subtlety of the best European graphic novels with a hyperdetailed, controlled noir style derived from the finest American cartoonists.

Mezzo and Pirus, previously best known in Europe for a series of cynical, brutal gangster stories, have abandoned their guns and gals for this cycle of suburban stories. But in King of the Flies the violence has just (for the most part) been internalized.

King of the Flies first appears to be a series of unrelated short stories, each starring (and narrated by) a different protagonist, but it soon becomes obvious that these seemingly disparate episodes weave together to form a single complex narrative–with events that are only briefly seen (or even referred to), and then revisited from different perspectives–revolving around Eric, a ne’er-do-well, drug-taking teenager at war with his stepfather and, apparently, the whole world. (He is the titular King.)

King of the Flies is designed as a trilogy of albums, which will combine to form a single graphic novel of stunning intricacy and intensity. (Vol. 2, “The Beginning of All Things,” will be released by Fantagraphics in the Summer of 2010.)

I don’t know about you, but after seeing the five-page First Look, my interest is piqued. May have to add this to my winter reading list.

I’ve been waiting MONTHS for this. First Marvel and crew start off an amazing story, then the Wolverine movie and Dark Wolverine bump the dates for the final few issues of the arc for months. I’m excited to say that we’ve finally got the Wolverine Old Man Logan hardcovers now in stock!

Mark Millar and Steve McNiven bring us one of the most exciting Wolverine stories ever! The bad guys won. They banded together and the heroes fell and the villains have been calling the shots ever since. What happened to Wolverine is perhaps the biggest mystery of all.

For 50 years, no one has heard hide nor hair from him, and in his place stands an old man called Logan. A man concerned only about his family. A man pushed to the brink by the Hulk Gang. A man forced to help an old friend–the blind archer, Hawkeye–to drive 3,000 miles to secure his family’s safety.

Get ready for the ride of your life, Logan!

If you only pick up one Wolverine graphic novel this October/November, make it Old Man Logan.

Have you been reading the single issues as they’ve come out? Are you as stoked to sit down with this book and read it from start to finish as I am? Let us know below.

Marvel, in collaboration with Stephen King, is proud to announce a new chapter in the Dark Tower graphic fiction adaptation-DARK TOWER: THE GUNSLINGER. Beginning in 2010, The New York Times Best-Selling creative team of Peter David, Robin Furth and Richard Isanove return for a new arc exploring the life of Roland Deschain, revealing how and why he began his pursuit of the man in black across Mid-World’s Mohaine Desert!

Beginning another epic tale, told over multiple limited series, DARK TOWER: THE GUNSLINGER marks another milestone for the graphic fiction sensation that’s captivated fans worldwide. The Dark Tower collaboration between Marvel and Stephen King has drawn accolades from all corners, revolutionizing the comic book industry with previously unprecedented mainstream media coverage and the first worldwide midnight openings for a graphic fiction series.

“We are extremely excited to continue our epic journey into the DARK TOWER universe with THE GUNSLINGER,” says Ruwan Jayatilleke, Senior Vice President, Strategic Development-Acquisitions & Licensing. “And we are equally ecstatic to continue our collaboration with Stephen King as well as keeping comic book fans on their toes!”

Following the climactic Battle of Jericho Hill, Roland Deschain now begins the most important journey of his young life in DARK TOWER: THE GUNSLINGER.

The first 100 people to pre-order the first issue of the adaptation will save 30%! Make sure to log in to your account and sign up for the Product Announcements Newsletter. We’ll send an email out as soon as the first issue goes up for sale. Don’t miss out on the savings, sign up for Product Announcements today.

Alright, this one came out a few years ago, but it’s definitely worth mentioning, especially since it’s our deal of the day, which means you’ll save 40% off today only!

Bad things are brewing in the halls of The Ben Turpin School for K-8. When a science project goes wrong, only the prepubescent children are spared the fate of zombification – which is not to say that they’re immune from being eaten alive!

George Romero covered night, dawn, and day, but how about recess? With Recess Pieces, Bob Fingerman (Beg the Question, You Deserved It) dishes up a grisly combination of Hal Roach’s Our Gang and zombies, zombies and more zombies.

Like I said, this deal only lasts today, so hurry and check out the Four Page First Look and order your copy of the Recess Pieces HC now.

Check out other horror books here.

I know it’s a little early, but . . . today’s title comes shrink-wrapped with an explicit content parental advisory, so you know this one fits the bill to be featured during our Horror Month. MPD-Psycho is pretty much what dreams are made of. Well, dreams that psychotic killers have, anyway.

MPD-Psycho, the most-requested manga series in recently memory, found a fitting home at Dark Horse Manga a couple of years ago. It’s presented uncut and uncensored in all of its controversial and unflinchingly grotesque glory!

If Takashi Miike’s MPD-Psycho television series still has you confused and reeling, the original manga series that inspired the show is sure to take you on a longer, darker journey into madness. Enjoy the MPD-Psycho series for all of its absurd twists, sci-fi touches, and inventive torture scenes, but you’ll also be mesmerized by the plethora of odd conspiracies and case files found in Otsuka and Tajima’s uncontrollable, urban horrorshow.

In MPD-Psycho Volume One, police detective Kobayashi Yousuke’s life is changed forever after a serial killer notices something “special” about him. That same killer mutilates Kobayashi’s wife and kick-starts a “multiple personality battle” within Kobayashi that pushes him into a complex tempest of interconnected deviants and evil forces. Earning praise for its consistently shocking plotlines and Tajima’s clean, arresting art style, MPD-Psycho is the manga event of the decade!

The fun doesn’t stop there! We’ve got all nine volumes in-stock. They’re just waiting for you to come and get ‘em. Make sure you don’t pass on this one . . . if you’re over 18, that is.

Check out other horror books here.

Religion has been a taboo in the comic book industry for decades. But with so much rich material stemming from so many religions, it was only a matter of time before pioneering artists paved the way for books we’re seeing today.

For some, these books are an affront to their sensibilities. Seeing Jesus battle zombies (Jesus Hates Zombies Lincoln Hates Werewolves) or reading a story that chronicles Earth’s apocalypse at the hands of a man-made godlike superhero (Warren Ellis’ new Supergod series) might not agree with some people.

For others, a mutant messiah makes sense in the wake of “House of M” (Cable) and the story of God sending angels to cleanse the world after losing faith in humanity (Legion, which is a precursor to the upcoming film) or a story about a post apocalyptic world where every last superhero suddenly disappears (Rapture) are not only intriguing, they’re downright impossible to pass up!

Cable

Legion: Prophets 4 Issue Miniseries

Rapture

It’s okay if these titles offend you. Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion. I for one, am very much intrigued by these upcoming offerings and have been enjoying Cable recently and have dug Rapture thus far.

So are you excited about these titles or do you abhor them? Have another religion inspired title I didn’t talk about in the article? Feel free to voice your opinion or comment below!

Sometimes you happen upon a new title that at first makes you scoff at the premise. Then, after thinking about it, you just know you’ve got to check it out–if for nothing more than to satisfy your curiosity. That’s why I’m jazzed about Cowboy Ninja Viking, from Image Comics.

Here’s the lowdown: It started with Dr. Sebastian Ghislain: rogue psychotherapist/covert op/DJ. Tasked with creating a counter-intelligence unit, he turned to those long thought useless to society . . . patients with Multiple Personality Disorder.

These agents became known simply as Triplets. Misguided? Yeah. Impractical? Sure. But did it work? Absolutely not.

Now someone has located each Triplet and created a band of ridiculously disturbed, but highly effective, assassins. Our only hope? A Triplet known as Cowboy Ninja Viking!

I’m not sure about you, but they’ve definitely piqued my interest. This could be one of this year’s next big hits, so make sure you pre-order your copy of Cowboy Ninja Viking #1 soon!

What do you think about this book? Do you think it has promise too? Not digging it? Let us know below.