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Image Expo is kicking off with a stirring speech by Eric Stephenson. We’ll social media it along for you   Image Expo is 10 minutes from starting, and the venue certainly has some swagger to it. #imageexpo pic.twitter.com/ML7zoPbNWd — Christopher Butcher (@Comics212) April 6, 2016 "Whatever you imagine, it can happen." Starting the keynote at […]

The Skeletons Outside The Closet Can Be The Most Dangerous

By David Nieves

Steve Niles has made a hell of a living in the horror genre. Having critical and commercial success can be a curse on any creator, but he’s constantly found new ways of invigorating humanizing takes on demons and monsters. His latest creation, IDW’s The October Faction, may be his weirdest story to date, and that’s far from a bad thing.

October Faction is the story of the Allan family. A faction falling apart at the seems from events in their past that are beginning to come full circle.  Frederick (a retired monster hunter) has been more focused on teaching his lessons and lectures about things that go bump in the night rather than being a father. His wife Deloris is sneaking around doing something sketchy behind his back that could have serious consequences for all involved. His son and daughter; both of whom have interesting abilities when it comes to specters, are figuring out a way to get long overdue attention from their father. While there’s teases of witchcraft, demons, and everything black magic has to offer; the real story is the family itself. We see this nuclear family has nuclear sized issues. In a way it feels comparable to if the Adams family became a dysfunctional mess, it wouldn’t just be their problem it would be all of ours.

The majority of debut issues in the market limp on a similar crutch of over exposition. Writers try to convey an exorbitant amount of information that steals the mystery from the narrative and consequently from the enjoyment of the readers. Niles crafts this opening chapter in the polar opposite. We get these gripping teases of who the Allan family was without overburdening the audience. A good story knows the necessary moment to peel back the information and October Faction is shaping up to go in that direction. That’s not to say the book doesn’t suffer from some minor opening flaws. The issue could have focused on Fredrick and his wife without having to introduce the daughter until future chapters and it ends a bit abruptly. However, none of that drastically hindered the enjoyment found within these pages.

IDW’s non-licensed properties all have a somewhat uniform aesthetic feel. October Faction fits right in with co-creator Damien Worm on art duties. Each page is one impressionist gothic painting after another. It’s a risky style for general comics’ audiences, but one that’s right at home in this specific genre. With Worm’s art you either really love the Kelly Jones and Sam Keith influences or you really hate them, personally I found myself enjoying the art. Although one of the challenges of the series going forward will be balancing details of the action with heavy darkness the illustration needs in order to thrive. It seems as though the creators are up to the task.

The October Faction is not for everyone, but horror comic fans will find a new interesting world where monsters and legends will be presented in unique ways. Issue one had a few stumbles but its got enough hook for the audience to stick around see what the next few issues will bring.  This is shaping up to be Steve Niles doing what he does best; figuring out his own demons and desires through storytelling which makes October Faction worthy of being on your radar.

By David Nieves

We’re all still recovering from copious amounts of walking around taking pictures with people and wishing the people in front of us taking pictures would just move. Yes another San Diego Comic-Con has come and gone. By now all the news is out and we’re still reeling from the Batman V Superman and Avengers: Age of Ultron footage. Every Comic-Con comes with two things, a ridiculous hotel bill and for a lot of us the empty promise of this being my final one. For me the one take away from this show is that, now more than ever, Comic-Con has the power to be a boom for every industry if affects but it doesn’t always accolade with the full potential of its crown.

I’ve been going to SDCC since 1994, back then I was a snot nosed adolescent who knew nothing about panels or even that comic books had writers. In those days all I would do is walk laps around the exhibit hall. There were no Petco Park events, or Indigo Ballrooms. Hall H was a gleam in the eye of some up and coming PR person. You might not believe it but I managed to have fun simply by trying to get as many of those door sized Knightfall Batman posters from the DC booth that year as my grubby pin seeking hands could carry.

Fueled by studio funds and rabid fandom, SDCC has turned into a monster. A hydra mated with Cousin It, if you get that reference then you’re old enough to appreciate what SDCC once was. Now Comic-Con is the cradle of fandom, and it’s divided everyone. There those who feel that the show is no longer something they want to be a part of, and there are also lots who live for the spectacle it currently encapsulates. Understand that fandom is never a bad thing; it fuels economies and brings people together who would otherwise never leave the comforts of their basement. You might as well get use to it because the extravaganza isn’t going away.

(It isn’t all bad sometimes you can catch up with old elfish classmates)

This year was no exception. From the moment I arrived in the Whale’s Vagina on Wednesday; my senses were overloaded with promotions for Guardians of The Galaxy, Blacklist, Gotham plastered everywhere from busses, trains, to hotel elevator doors. Pedicabs were already huffing people over to different parts of the Gaslamp for meager tips. Comic-Con had already been in full “on” mode days before I even arrived.

Preview night was just as bad in overcrowding as any regular day of SDCC. Five years ago it was still hard to get that exclusive collectible you wanted but still within the realm of possibility. Five seconds into the exhibit hall opening this year and almost every line from Peanuts, Tokidoki, to Hasbro was either capped or full beyond reasonable time to wait for a tote bag. After, I walked to the Gaslamp to try and meet some friends for late dinner, to no one’s surprise there were already convention goers with bags and bags full of T-shirts, toys, and I can only assume remnants of the first borns they sacrificed to get their loot. I even witnessed an elderly woman who was barely 5’0 tall hoist two Comic-Con souvenir bags filled with –who knows what– above her shoulders like they were bags of dog kibble.

My preview night finished with old “good one big G” when I got back to my hotel room to upload photos; this wallet draining douche status symbol macbook of mine decides it’s time to die. Forcing me at 2am to smoke signal Heidi and figure out just how I’m going to handle the next four days of news and rabid fandom. Like any good sibling would my sister back home came through with a old tablet that was the size of a Speak and Spell. Which in retrospect would have been better to type on than this HP monstrosity. The next three days would be characterized by a lack of italicization, which kids never let anyone tell you isn’t important.

To open the first hour of the con, I foolishly tried to procure my wish list. Anyone who attends Comic-Con knows that list mostly comes from those people who tell you “hey can you pick me up a..” At least we can say SDCC disappoints people around the world even if they don’t attend. It creates lots of those disappointments that turn youngsters towards a life of stripping. After the first hour I’d given up that hope and simply abandoned my home address and phone in a feeble attempt to hide from crushed loved ones, but carried on to the convention floor where I had my first interview of the show. This was also by far my most nerve racking interview.

I got to speak with none other than the amazing Becky Cloonan, who I’m not afraid to say I totally swoon over. Yes, I’m one of those stereotypical comic book readers who’s confused and terrified by women. In fact there’s one doing that to me as I write this. But let’s talk about Becky. Though I was more nervous than a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs; she was nothing short of a delight who has so much insight on how to live life to the fullest. You can listen to that entire thing here. Feel free to throw your grade school taunts at me you smug socially well adept bastards. Sorry, Comic-Con will do that to people. We cool? Yeah. Okay.

(Becky Cloonan is amazing at being amazing)

My first panel of the show was the DC Collectibles panel. Originally I had a spotlight and a Batman panel scheduled but with my productivity situation in question, I wanted a panel that I could easily go back to and dig up info on later. After that panel it was time to see if my laptop workaround was going to prove fruitful. Nope. Can’t bold type, can’t upload images, looks like this is all going to be eyewitness accounting and Lochness monster reports.

(Bombshell girls invade the DC Collectibles Panel)

Thursday closed out with another interview I’ve been looking forward to for weeks. Ever since I saw Karloff’s Frankenstein and read the IDW published 30 Days of Night, I’ve always wanted to talk about monsters with Steve Niles. I can proudly attest, we did that sh**! Not only did I find Steve to be every bit the punk rock scholar I imagined him to be, but he also made me feel like I belonged in my comics fandom. Just as anyone in life does, you gravitate towards like minded people (Booze/Drug Free hell yeah!). When you feel like you’ve been accepted because of who you are or what you love there’s no feeling like it. Thanks to Pam for letting me conduct this interview in her place.

(Steve Niles is the legend that lives up to the legend)

Naturally the kickoff of Comic-Con sees tons of parties and people in the streets that look like a World War Z scene come to life. Some of you who are reading this can vouch for the pain in the a** that train –which just stopped in front of the convention center for what felt like hours– was. It got so out of hand at one point that the hundreds of people waiting to cross the street into Gaslamp would brave oncoming traffic and hop the guard fence over the train tracks. Stay classy San Diego.

Thursday night I was invited by my main man Gaz from Rocksteady (developers of the Arkham game franchise) to the Batman: Cape Cowl Create exhibit party at the Hard Rock across the street from the convention center.

Since I showed up at about 11:30pm most of the party had moved on and there was nothing left but a few odd dancers and the remanence of a once open bar. Curious because I’d never stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel, I wandered into the elevator and hit the button for the secured 4th floor pool area. Miraculously the box moved and when the doors opened I found myself in the midst of the IGN/Sin City party. Yep I crashed a party. Even got to run into IGN’s Greg Miller who was kind enough not to have me tossed out for crashing.

(Gameovergreggy oreo dude extraordinaire)

Celebrities, a seemingly drunk Joe Quesada, everything any SDCC party could want. It was a fun time mingling with those I had no business talking to. A pro tip, if you ever find yourself at an industry party you weren’t invited to: act like you belong. You’d be surprised how people will welcome you by just peacocking a bit.  I had a few cokes, told Amanda Conner where she and Jimmy should go eat after the party and then I called it a night.

(Somewhere in that blurry mess is Amanda Conner and friends)

The next few days are a bit of a blur between overpriced pretzels, someone yelling out the Hall H news, talking to people on the floor and mistaking Geoff Johns for my long lost cousin at the DC booth. Friday was the convention grind in full force. Like I do at just about every show I’ve ever covered, I attended the Aspen Comics panel. If you’ve never checked out their books, I highly recommend that you do. They’re comic books made by people who care about comic books. Last year my 10th anniversary submission was picked for the souvenir book and I’d met editor Vince Hernandez. This year we talked again before the panel and during their presentation he acknowledged my contribution to their celebration in 2013. It was one of those surreal con moments you hear about. The house that Michael Turner built will always hold a special place for me.

Later in the day, I was involved in a BKV moment. First of all, if you ever see Brian K Vaughan’s name for anything immediately go to it. You’re guaranteed a memorable encounter. You can read all about his self hosted spotlight panel here. During the panel I thought to myself “I need a picture with this guy,” with SDCC eliminating all common sense I thought to myself what better time than in the middle of his panel. Voilâ.

One of the things that should stand out about BKV’s words is his passion for the comic book industry. This is a guy who has written and spearheaded successful television. If he really wanted to he could have left comics behind, but he came back. Not only did Vaughan come back, but still continues to champion the industry. He’s a comic book guy’s comic book guy.

My Friday would end with an eye opening interview with Naughty Dog’s Creative Director, Neil Druckmann. He’s the American success story come to life. A kid from Israel, who came to America at a young age and found comics. A medium which would inspire him to tell the incredible stories he does today. Listen to our full interview and hear how Sin City actually inspires part of The Last of Us.

Saturday had memories of its own, but what I can really recall is going over to an Age of Ultron preview showing and putting the whole shindig into perspective while talking with my friend and frequent collaborator Kevin Johnson. Fandom is never a bad thing, but SDCC has so many things working against it that the fact they are able to pull of this logistical nightmare every year is a little bit of a miracle. Bravo to Comic-Con International for it all.

First let’s get an observation out of the way. Most of you probably already see this but it dawned on me this year. Comic-Con has the same problem that social security does in the United States. Just like we don’t always retire at 65 and live longer than in previous years, so does this problem affect SDCC. I’m not saying the reason people can’t go to Comic-Con is because no one’s dying, it’s because we don’t outgrow this in our fandom anymore. Not only do we turn 30 and still go to SDCC, we make little versions of ourselves to add to our counts as another group of kids becomes of age to attend the coolest show on earth. This year I saw fewer solo attendees than ever before. It’s a very encouraging sign on a social level, especially when we live in the age of not talking to each other (right Robin!).

Where I take issue with San Diego Comic-Con isn’t with the overcrowding, the glitz and glamour, or masses of people who prevented me from picking up my Jim Lee T-Shirt. No I fault the people who should be influencing convention goers to try comics every chance they get. The Zack Snyders’, the Evans’, even the Samuel L Jacksons’. There’s so many celebrities, directors, and multi-media personalities that go to SDCC and say they love the medium but have never once said in their Hall H spectacles, “I’m here cause I love comics and everyone should be reading them!” So many publishers like Marvel say the books are what drive everything but Hall H has nothing to do with comics. I want to hear Sam Jackson talk about the first time he read Nick Fury for research or have Andrew Garfield tell me what issues of Spider-Man I should pick up. The passioned speeches and the gimmicks are fun to see but I can hear about their lives and movies on the news or TMZ. Talk to me about comics.

Obviously the Entertainment Weekly shoot and whatever story comes out of it is a step in the right direction. It definitely signals the beginning of comics getting their time in the limelight. There are tons of great creators and characters out there who should be talked about everywhere. We shouldn’t have to wait for a 75th anniversary or a movie announcement for them to make Hall H size news during the biggest comic book convention in the world. Comics need to survive and Comic-Con has the potential now more than ever to be the biggest part of that.

(Random Dan Slott picture I don’t remember taking)

Like most people who’ve been doing the con since before 2000, I’ve come to peace with the big show, but I just wish Comic-Con did everything it could to get people talking about comic books. But we don’t have to wait for SDCC to push the industry. Comics are for everybody, we can talk about them anywhere/ anytime; on the internet, at Portillo’s Hot Dogs, while we’re on dates, waiting in line to see Guardians of The Galaxy for the seventh time. Comics aren’t just for everybody, they’re for everywhere. No other medium can spawn such new and innovative ideas. It’s my big take away from the show, realizing how much I missed writing and talking about comics.

(Obligatory Rocket Pic)

Will I ever attend another SDCC? Who knows, my body recovers slower at my age; but I was an LA Kings fan long before 2012 and a Dodgers fan through the 80′s till now. I’m a glutton for punishment so you just might see me there, after all Becky Cloonan promised to take another picture with me.

By David Nieves
At SDCC I had the privilege to sit and talk with the master purveyor of words Steve Niles himself. It was a brief chat about what went into one of the best books to come out of Dark Horse’s stable, Breath of Bones: A tale of the Golem. Along the way we managed to get into the philosophies of true punk rock.

CB: How are you enjoying Comic-Con?
” I’m enjoying this one [laughs]. It’s become such a commercial machine and so different from the hang out with your friends good time it use to be for me.”

**CB: Agreed, so with WW II stories the best seem to have a personal connection with the writer and this was a great one. What was your personal connection to Breath of Bones, if any?**
“Probably the relationship. I mean I have no connection to WWII, I was born in 1965. But what I do have is I never knew my grandparents, I knew one of my grandfathers for about ten minutes, never had a relationship with my father that whole thing. It’s sort of writing in absence, writers do that to. Everybody’s always write what you know well I spend a lot of time writing what I don’t know. I don’t know functional
relationships, families. I don’t know about these things where families pass down traditions that’s amazing to me. I was writing about wish full thinking and what I see in other people. A grandfather passing down a thing to his grandson to protect this town.

**CB: It’s gorgeous that you can do this story looking in from the outside in a way.**
“We all feel the same things, all have the same feelings. Even though I didn’t grow up with a functional family I have my own version of a family now. My wife and I, Monica, have nine animals. My life is ruled by animals. I think Gil has a bigger audience than I do [laughs].

**CB: Were you working on Eyes of Frankenstein at the same time as this story because they both feel similar in tone?**
It has that element because of the sympathy for the Frankenstein monster. [His] eyes are giving out after hundreds of years and his one enjoyment is reading, its a nightmare. There’s always something about a big giant guy that has the heart of a child.

**CB: if you could pick between Karloff and Lugosi to appear at Comic-Con should would you choose?**
I just love Karloff, there’s something about him that makes me feel comforted. I watch Thriller every night… not that I dislike Bella, I have different feelings for him there’s something very tragic and sad about Bella and part of that is the drug thing. He had this great career and then it was down. Borris Karloff started Frankenstein when he was in his 50s or 40s, he was already an older guy. He seems more modest kind of guy I’d like to talk to.

**CB: When do we get your punk rock story?**
I don’t know that I could ever do it. If I did it I’d leave the music out of it. I don’t want to see panels of a band playing. Nothing embarrasses me more that seeing musical notes with lyrics behind as they do the play thing. Somethings just don’t translate to other mediums. If I could tap into it… I’d wish I’d kept a journal through all those things. To me it’s more about the little moments than the big ones. First time I got to talk to Ian McKay or go to his house. There’s all these things that happen in a punk rock existence that moment you realize you don’t have to wait for anybody. You can do anything in this world on your own, to me that’s what it was always about.

**CB: To go back to BoB for a second, at the end of the book was the Golem the spirit of his grandfather?**
” A lot of people think that because of the timing but no. Here’s my reasoning, if it was it would have been a different departure. That’s also his wife sitting there, I feel like he would try and communicate that… my idea was just supernatural force.

**CB: Are there any monsters left you want to tackle?**
“Werewolves! I want to figure out a way to do werewolves.”

**CB: What draws you to that?”**
” Cause I hate every f***king one[laughs]. There’s always apart that makes me go ugh. I love the original Wolf man although I hope my dad would wait a little longer before beating me. I love the Howling but not the overall concept, the idea of a twelve step program for werewolves was a little silly to me.

**CB: Do you think it would be hard to do in a modern era?**
“It’s like the Golem, I thought about it for years till I found the right one.”

Needless to say Steve Niles is an eye opening creator to talk to and we’ll have full the audio from our interview later on.
Breath of Bones is available now in trade both in stores and digitally through Dark Horse. Visit their website for more details.

While the party is going on here at HeroesCon, a few faces are missing, among them writer Steve Niles, who had to cancel due to deadlines, and also the fact that he is caring for two young rescue kittens. Niles has been plastering his Facebook page with pictures of the young cats and after one look, you can tell why he wanted to stay home. As delightful as HeroesCon is, watching kittens romp and play might just be even more delightful.

Here’s more kitten porn from the Niles Files.

Niles actually has a 9-critter menagerie including his giant turtle Gil, seen above with Yob. Could you leave the house with this floor show?



Niles also has an art collection featuring Gil. This is a piece by Bill Sienkiewicz which is a great reminder that Bill Sienkiewicz can draw nearly anything and make it amazing. 

And luckily for fans, Bill Sienkiewicz IS at HeroesCon!

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Earlier this week, Jimmy Palmiotti announced that the noble experiment CREATOR OWNED HEROES would conclude after its 8^th issue. Over the course of the magazine’s publication, outreach on social media emphasized the need to raise awareness and increase solicitation from comic shops to keep the multi-contributor series in motion. Consistently strong reviews appeared on media, fan, and blog sites with each issue, and as COH developed, it continued to raise the bar on high-quality content. The ascent has been dizzying, and exhilarating for readers and comics creators alike in an era of increasing awareness about the ups and downs of self-publication. It has been like watching crucial surgery in a live operating theatre in the hands of celebrated practitioners where the audience has come to play an integral role. The life of the patient has depended on their rapt attention in increasing numbers. Depending on your perspective, issue #8 will represent the final bow of an effort exploratory and unique, or perhaps somber flat-lining during a risky procedure that practitioners will attempt to learn from for some time to come. But either way, COH won’t be concluding in obscurity. Ironically, there will be more people in the operating theatre than ever before to witness its final moments and draw their own conclusions.

CREATOR OWNED HEROES #7 represents a particular crescendo in the magazine’s development, a point at which even those who have been following the series closely lean forward, aware that something unprecedented is unfolding before their eyes. It expresses a remarkable energy and a confluence of its methods and its goals due, in part, to the team of contributors it brings together. As Justin Gray says introducing his Brandon Seifert interview, “When we started Creator Owned Heroes, it wasn’t just a desire to self-publish; it was a multilevel dedication to comics that were being produced outside the work for hire landscape”. Gray also cites “ a fundamental desire to tell stories” as a common feature among the creators chosen as contributors. Issue #7 is a tour de force illustration of those criteria.

The powerhouse comic in the anthology is clearly Darwyn Cooke’s irreverent, rapidly paced and verbally exuberant “The Deadly Book”. Cooke hits high notes across the board of comic storytelling elements, from a lush, contrasty color palette in sky-blue, blood-red, and ink-black, to unexpected vantage points, compressed action, and even a very indie take on relating past events in short form via substantial narrative blocks. The comic displays the best possible outcomes for a skilled creator taken off the leash to tell the kind of story that they want to tell in the way that they see fit to tell it.

Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray, Jerry Lando, and Paul Mountis follow Cooke with “Killswitch” in its 3^rd installment of 4. They put the action back in indie in a big way and display a particular virtuosity in reversing a typical paradigm in espionage/hitman themed comics. Rather than telling the story with several panels, if not pages, of heavy exposition followed by the action sequences readers have been waiting for, they manage to reveal a wealth of exposition during an installment that, arguably, is one big action arc. They keep it interesting by demanding the reader put the pieces of information together for themselves, from Kill Switch’s complicated pseudo family life to the developing role of a nemesis. Rather than just telling a story well, which is a quite an achievement in itself, they manage to tell a story differently, once again illustrating the surprising results when creators have sufficient room for experimentation.

Steve Niles and Scott Morse bring an even greater variation in style and content to COH #7, pushing the boundaries of typical narrative structures while giving a nod to still-rich veins of comics tradition. They break down confined panel layout, and do away with textboxes and speech balloons to tell a noirish private-eye tale with disturbing gusto. “Meatbag’s” full page-feel conjures up Eisner’s SPIRIT while the first-person narrator places the storytelling firmly in Raymond Chandler territory. Add to these elements the use of limited color palette, heavy brush-stroke illustration and moody lettering, and you’ve got a finely balanced combination of old and new, making this a 21^st century comic with a lot of room for innovation.

Then we have zombies. The subject-matter is in danger of being done into the ground in the TV, film, and comics medium, but in keeping with the challenges set by COH #7, Dean Haspiel and Jeffrey Burandt deliver something readers have simply never seen before, imploding any expectation of the familiar. Haspiel’s zombie artwork avoids the basic emphasis on blood and gore flooding zombie media these days and emphasizes, in a visceral way, the disjointedness of decomposition through trailing limbs and chunks of missing anatomy. This makes Haspiel and Burandt’s heroine seem all that much more solid, active, and vital as she spikes a zombie noggin and blasts through zombie brains. This is zombie-storytelling streamlined to basic psychological elements: loneliness, companionship, and, finally, the pulse-poundingly unexpected that makes the genre so popular. “Blood and Brains” retools zombie narrative by removing excess accretion and celebrating its potential in creator-owned style.

Photo-comic COMPLEX: “Luv_Underscore’s_U” by Seth Kushner, Chris Miskiewicz, and Dean Haspiel reminds us that the comics medium is expansive, varied, and should never feel too comfortable. Katelan Foisy and Miskiewicz star in this futuristic psychological landscape where the solid realities of the photo images help readers keep a grip on the otherwise shifting definitions of reality in the narrative. There’s a subtle ambiguity in the nature and future of technology, it’s use and misuse to contribute to human experience, and on the whole the photo-comic not only tells the reader but shows the reader the spell-like suspension of disbelief comics, in the right hands, are still capable of creating.

The prose content of COH #7 also contributes greatly to the purpose of the series, present from issue #1, of taking readers inside the world of creator-owned projects, an on the ground approach that not only educates but instructs. Justin Gray’s interview with Brandon Seifert allows the reader to hear straight from the horse’s mouth, “Want to be a writer? Start writing. It’s that simple, and that hard”. A “social media press conference” included in the issue also brings together advice and insight from creators and Steve Bunche concludes a full-on bootcamp for aspiring comics writers with plenty of solid advice that may seem counter-intuitive like “avoid topical subjects”. It’s clear that the meta-text of COH #7 is not there simply to sell books but to actually aid aspiring creators in avoiding the pitfalls that contributors have faced.

From issue #1, COH has given a strong impression of community among indie creators, and #7 continues to follow through in inclusiveness. A major profile of legendary tide-fighter Evan Dorkin, written by Christopher Irving, and photographed by Seth Kushner, only further illustrates the point. Creator-owned projects may seem like a new thing, maybe even a fad, but they aren’t. They’ve been breaking new ground for some time, and there’s plenty to be learned from observing the struggles of greats like Dorkin. Dorkin’s legacy in brief could be summed up in his statement: “I’ve come to hate when people say ‘Don’t get into comics’. I learned to say ‘Fuck that. If you want to get into comics, get into comics’”. But Dorkin, like many other creators, is also prepared to try to inform readers about what exactly they are getting into because a few tips a long the way can make all the difference.

The combined tone and attitude of the comics and prose in CREATOR OWNED HEROES #7 avoids even the faintest whiff of defeatism. The series’ message is still going strong, and the works it presents don’t even aspire to meet the professionalism of company-owned comics, they aspire to go beyond company-owned projects in terms of high-quality story-telling, artwork and design. After all, what’s the point in trying to keep up with the Joneses when you really want to set a new standard all your own? As an experiment, the COH series is winding down, but the data is being collected, the procedure is nearly complete, and no one doubts the skill of the team involved. The increasing momentum generated in the pages of COH #7 has, certainly, guaranteed that no one will stop reading until the experiment is complete.

Hannah Means-Shannon writes and blogs about comics for TRIP CITY and Sequart.org and is currently working on books about Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore for Sequart. She is @hannahmenzies on Twitter and hannahmenziesblog on WordPress.