Invader Zim #1 (2015)

On February 20, 2015, Oni Press announced that they would be releasing an official Comic Book series based on Invader Zim, in collaboration with Jhonen Vasquez and Nickelodeon. Jhonen Vasquez said: “I’m always confused when people say how much they miss Invader Zim because the show never stopped running in my head, and then I remember everyone else isn’t in my head”. A pre-issue 0 was released on May 23, 2015 as a zine and foreshadow to the comic book series. The first issue was released on July 8, 2015, and since then most issues are released on a monthly basis.

Faust (1988)

Faust is the lead superhero character and title of a collective series of comic books by Tim Vigil (art) and playwright David Quinn, released by American publishers Northstar PublishingAvatar Press, and principally by Vigil and Quinn’s own Rebel Studios.

Alongside contemporaries WatchmenThe Crow, and The Dark Knight Returns, Faust was credited with popularizing the “deconstructed superheroes” genre and the notion that “comics aren’t just for kids.” One of the bestselling independent comics of the era, Faust issue 1 sold over 100,000 copies with later issues averaging 50,000 sales per issue, most of which sold through several printings and editions.

The series features strong graphic violence and sexual situations. The main series is known as Faust: Love of The Damned and debuted in 1988, with new issues published irregularly, roughly once a year, or sometimes every two years. David Quinn completed a script in 1996 (when writing the proposal to sell the film). The gap between issues grew wider with time. Issue 13 was published in 2005. It then took seven years for the authors to deliver the two last issues, 14 and 15, which concluded the story 25 years after the first episode.

Black Hole (1995)

Black Hole written and drawn by Charles Burns was published as a 12-issue comic book limited series between 1995 and 2005. The first four issues were released by Kitchen Sink Press, before the publisher went out of business. Fantagraphics republished the first four issues and the remaining eight.

Set in the suburbs of Seattle during the 1970s, the story follows a group of teenagers who contract a mysterious sexually transmitted disease referred to as “the Bug, which causes them to develop bizarre unique physical mutations and subsequently become social outcasts, many of them running away from home to live in the nearby woodland.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (2016)

“What were we doing out here…? What was the meaning of this trip? Did I actually have a big red convertible out there on the street? Was I just roaming around these Mint Hotel escalators in a drug frenzy of some kind, or had I really come out here to Las Vegas to work on a story?” — Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

 

Magnus Robot Fighter – Valiant

In 1991, Jim Shooter obtained rights to three Gold Key characters: Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom; Turok, Son of Stone; and Magnus, Robot Fighter. He intended to use those characters to launch his new comic book line, Valiant Comics. Several months later, the company launched Magnus, Robot Fighter.

The series began where the original one left off. The artists took great care to replicate the setting and trappings of the original stories. But as the new series progressed, it began to deviate from the original concept.The term “Freewills” appeared in the Valiant run, introducing the concept that the rogue robots seen previously were not simply the product of random malfunctions, but were the result of a common phenomenon which allowed robots to become sentient. While some of them are malevolent, others merely want to be free. It was also learned that 1A is a freewill. With Magnus’s help, a colony of benevolent Freewills is established called the “Steel Nation.” At the same time, Magnus becomes disgusted with North Am’s elite. He journeys to the lower levels of North Am and befriends a group of social outcasts known as Gophs.

Mega Man (2011)

Mega Man is a comic series based on the video game series of the same name by Capcom produced by Archie Comics which was announced at New York Comic Con 2010. The series began publication in April 2011 with Ian Flynn, who has written many stories for Archie’s Sonic the Hedgehog series, involved with the production. The series has proved highly successful, and in 2013 a crossover took place between the Mega Man and Sonic series, under the title “Worlds Collide“. The series does not follow the events of the games in exact order, including an adaptation of the Japanese exclusive game Super Adventure Rockman between those of Mega Man 2 and Mega Man 3. The series later included a few stories set in the time of the Mega Man X series. The popularity of Worlds Collide subsequently led to a second crossover with the Sonic series, Worlds Unite. The series was put into an “indefinite hiatus” after issue 55, concluding with setup for an adaptation of Mega Man 4.

Grim (2022)

Jessica Harrow is dead. But her journey has only just begun! Discover the world of the afterlife, where Jessica has been recruited as a Reaper, tasked with ferrying countless souls to their final destination. But unlike the rest of the Reapers, she has no memory of what killed her and put her into this predicament. In order to unravel the mystery of her own demise, she’ll have to solve an even bigger one – where is the actual GRIM REAPER?

Lone Wolf and Cub – First (1987)

When Lone Wolf and Cub was first released in Japan in 1970, it became wildly popular (some 8 million copies were sold in Japan) for its powerful, epic samurai story and its stark and gruesome depiction of violence during Tokugawa era Japan.

Lone Wolf and Cub is one of most highly regarded manga due to its epic scope, detailed historical accuracy, masterful artwork and nostalgic recollection of the bushido ethos. The story spans 28 volumes of manga, with over 300 pages each (totaling over 8,700 pages in all). Many of the frames of the series are hauntingly beautiful depictions of nature, historical locations in Japan and traditional activities done in the classical ukiyo-e style.

Lone Wolf and Cub was initially released in North America in a translated English edition by First Comics in 1987, as a series of monthly, comic-book-sized, square-bound prestige-format black-and-white comics containing between 64 and 128 pages, with covers by Frank Miller, and later by Bill Sienkiewicz, Matt Wagner, Mike Ploog, and Ray Lago. Sales were initially strong, but fell sharply as the company went into a general decline. First Comics shut down in 1991 without completing the series, publishing less than a third of the total series in 45 prestige-format issues.

Starting in September 2000, Dark Horse Comics began to release the full series in 28 smaller-sized trade paperback volumes, similar to the volumes published in Japan, completing the series with the 28th volume in December 2002. Dark Horse reused all of Miller’s covers from the First Comics edition, as well as several done by Sienkiewicz, and commissioned Wagner, Guy Davis, and Vince Locke to produce new covers for several volumes of the collections. In October 2012, Dark Horse completed the release of all 28 volumes in digital format, as part of their “Dark Horse Digital” online service.

Archer and Armstrong – Valiant (1992)

Murdered by his sadistic parents, Obadiah Archer returns from the dead with uncanny physical abilities and a mission: to punish all evil-doers like his parents; Learning martial arts in the Orient, Archer soon becomes the world’s greatest fighter!; He soon encounters Armstrong, a free-spirited immortal with the strength of ten men!; They have just met when they are attacked by Armstrong’s foes, the Sect.; Can they survive their crazy friendship?

Dragon Ball Z (1998)

The English language version of the Dragon Ball manga is licensed for North America by Viz Media. Viz originally published the first 194 chapters as Dragon Ball and chapters over 195 as Dragon Ball Z to mimic the names of the anime series, feeling it would reduce the potential for confusion by its readers. They initially released both series simultaneously, chapter by chapter in a monthly comic book format starting in 1998, before stopping in 2000 to switch to a graphic novel format similar to the Japanese tankōbon.