Mystic – Atlas (1951)

Titled simply Mystic and published by Marvel’s 1950s iteration, Atlas Comics, this was a 61-issue horror-suspense anthology (March 1951-Aug. 1957).

Mystic debuted shortly before Atlas’ Strange Tales, increasing the company’s science fiction/fantasy/horror line from four titles to six. Begun prior to the creation of the comic-book industry’s self-censorship board, the Comics Code Authority, Mystic softened its horror when it went under the auspices of the Comics Code beginning with issue #37 (May 1955). The series’ contributors included artists Bill Everett and John Severin.

Rai – V1 (1992)

Rai (pronounced “rye”) appeared in books published by Valiant Comics. Rai was the first original hero created by Valiant and had its beginning as a flipbook back-up feature in Magnus Robot Fighter issues #5-8. The popularity of the flipbook back-up story later led to an ongoing series. Valiant Entertainment is the current owner of Rai and the rest of the original Valiant Comics characters.

In his original incarnation, Rai is the spirit guardian that protects the nation of Japan in the 41st century. It is a mantle passed down from father to son through the generations. As such, the series chronicled a number of protagonists.

A new Rai ongoing series was launched in April 2014 by the creative team of writer Matt Kindt and artist Clayton Crain, selling out of its initial print run.

Mister X (1980’s)

Created by album and book cover designer Dean Motter, Mister X was developed for a year in close collaboration with comic artist and illustrator Paul Rivoche, whose series of poster illustrations stirred up great interest in the project. The series published early work by comic artists who would later emerge as important alternative cartoonists, including Jaime Hernandez, Gilbert Hernandez, Mario Hernandez, Seth, Shane Oakley and D’Israeli.

A highly successful promotional campaign with posters and ads followed for the next year, while Motter and Rivoche struggled to produce an actual issue of Mister X. When Rivoche quit, Vortex Comics president Bill Marks became more skeptical than ever that Motter would be able to produce the series on time, and decided to turn the work over to the Hernandez brothers. The first four issues were written and illustrated by Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez, with additional writing by Mario Hernandez. The Hernandez brothers quit over payment delays from Vortex. Issues 5 through 14 of the series were then written by Motter, with issues 6 through 13 illustrated by Seth.

Mister X’s influence can be seen and was acknowledged in films like Terry Gilliam‘s Brazil, Tim Burton‘s Batman, and Alex Proyas‘ Dark City.

Miracleman – Eclipse (1980’s)

In August 1985, Eclipse began reprinting the Marvelman stories from Warrior, colored, and re-sized. They were renamed and re-lettered throughout as Miracleman to avoid further problems with Marvel Comics. Issues 1-6 reprinted all the Warrior content, after which Eclipse began publishing new Miracleman stories from Alan Moore and new artist Chuck Beckum (now better known as Chuck Austen), soon replaced by Rick Veitch and then John Totleben. Eclipse split the rights to the character, with 2/3 going to Eclipse and 1/3 split between the current writer and artist of the series. Moore wrote the series until issue 16.

Writer Neil Gaiman picked up the series at #17 and developed it further in the 1990s, working with artist Mark Buckingham. He planned three books, consisting of six issues each; they would be titled “The Golden Age”, “The Silver Age” and “The Dark Age”.

Stray Bullets (1995)

Stray Bullets is an independent American comic book series published in black and white (with color covers) by El Capitan Books. It is written and drawn by David Lapham.

The story deals with the often criminal and sometimes tragic misadventures of a large cast of characters and takes place from the mid-1970s through the mid-1990s.

In March 2014, Image Comics ended the hiatus of Stray Bullets with the publication of the final issue of the HiJinks and Derring-Do arc, and the simultaneous launch of a new arc entitled Killers. A giant-sized softcover trade paperback edition (The Uber Alles Edition) collecting all forty-one issues of the original series was also released by Image Comics. Killers ran for 8 issues throughout 2014, then after a brief hiatus, Lapham returned in early 2015 with Stray Bullets: Sunshines & Roses. Lapham plans to continue publishing Stray Bullets in this fashion at Image, with each arc treated as a discrete miniseries.

The series has been nominated for numerous awards. Stray Bullets won the 1996 Eisner Award for Best Writer/Artist, Drama, and the trade paperback collection Stray Bullets: Innocence of Nihilism won the 1997 Eisner Award for “Best Graphic Album-Reprint” the Comic Book Awards Almanac and was a top votegetter for the Comics Buyer’s Guide Fan Award for Favorite Reprint Graphic Novel/Album for the same year.

Shaolin Cowboy (2004)

The book is about an unnamed former Shaolin monk who wanders the land with a talking mule named Lord Evelyn Dunkirk Winniferd Esq. the Third. Having been “asked” to leave the Shaolin temple, he has since had a bounty placed on his head, which many are eager to collect. Given the Shaolin Cowboy’s prowess in martial arts, however, this will be very difficult.

Taking place in an unspecified time setting (as the first issue notes, “the day after yesterday and a week before tomorrow”), the book features extremely detailed artwork and equally violent and absurd action scenes; in one, the main character battles a giant shark with a human head in its mouth using two chainsaws tied on the ends of a long stick – which all takes place in the canalization in the stomach of a lizard, on whose back a city is located.

World of Wood (1986)

Color anthology reprint series of Wally Wood stories that included the following and more:

The Curse: Originally published in Vampirella Magazine #9 (Harris, 1971)
Overworked: Originally published in Eerie Magazine #131 (Warren, 1966)
The Misfits: Originally published in Heroes, Inc. Presents Cannon #1 (self published, 1969)
ME – 262!: Originally published in Blazing Combat #4 (Warren, 1966)
Prelude To Armageddon: Originally presented in Creepy #41 (Warren, 1971)
The Battle Of Britain!: Originally presented in Blazing Combat #3 (Warren, 1966)
The Manhunters: Originally presented in Eerie #60 (Warren, 1974)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin (2020)

In a future NYC far different than the one we know today, a lone surviving Turtle goes on a seemingly hopeless mission to obtain justice for his fallen family and friends. Kinetic layouts from Eastman, moody inks from Andy Kuhn and a thrilling script full of surprises from longtime TMNT scribe Tom Waltz all combine to make this one of the most memorable TMNT stories you will ever read! This is a perennial TMNT tale that can’t be missed!

Castlevania – The Belmont Legacy (2005)

It is 1576, and the legend of the Belmont family’s vampire-hunting prowess still echoes through the Romanian countryside. While Christopher Belmont celebrates his nuptials, dark forces conspire to raise Count Dracula from his unholy slumber. With this ancient evil unleashed once more, young Belmont must to prove he is worthy of the Belmont legacy. Based on the smash-hit Konami videogame series.

Unity (1992)

Unity is a company-wide crossover published by Valiant Comics in 1992, featuring all of their ongoing superhero titles at the time. This includes the Renegades, Magnus, Robot Fighter, Rai, Shadowman, Solar, Man of the Atom, Turok, and X-O Manowar. The crossover also introduced new books for Archer & Armstrong and Eternal Warrior. The central antagonist is Mothergod, who attempts to rewrite reality and restore her original universe. This conflict leads to Valiant heroes of both the 21st Century and the 41st Century coming together for the first time.