The Secret Origin of Jeff Smith’s BONE Comes to Light! NYT Bestselling Author Smith Returns to his Roots with a New Collection of His THORN College Strips.

Cartoon Books announces THORN: The Complete Proto-BONE College Strips 1982 to 1986, and Other Early Drawings, reprinting the entire run of his earliest rendering of the world-famous BONE characters for the first time. The comic strips reveal an early version of BONE called THORN that was written for a college audience in the 1980s. THORN appeared five days a week in the pages of The Ohio State University’s student newspaper The Lantern. A few were reprinted in a self-published 1983 book called THORN: Tales from The Lantern. Another small selection was published in 2008’s limited edition fundraiser for OSU’s Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum called Before BONE. Both books are long out of print and sell at collector’s prices. There has never been an official, complete run published until now.

This beautiful edition includes plenty of bonus material such as recently discovered early drawings of the BONE characters, essays and interviews. These college strips are an essential element in Smith’s journey toward BONE. But they’re their own unique tale too!

After the fall of THE EMPIRE, AHSOKA TANO stalks the galaxy for GRAND ADMIRAL THRAWN!

A valuable prisoner escapes New Republic custody; a search for answers reunites two old friends. The villainous MORGAN ELSBETH returns along with two new mysterious Force users, BAYLAN SKOLL and his apprentice, SHIN HATI. Will the REBELS be able to track down their lost comrade, EZRA BRIDGER?

Throw yourself right into the wild world of RIFTERS, where Time Cop collides with Law & Order, filtered through the Stupid McSmartsalot-Einstein lens of Mr. Show. Fenton and Geller are a couple of part-time Wisenheimers, full-time vice time-cops who suck at rule-following but excel at busting time-travel crimes. Unfortunately, their daily grind involves tedious police work, like chasing down douchebag influencers hellbent on live-streaming illegal transtemporal trips to 1920s Chicago to steal primo bootleg hooch. However, in a twist of fate, our heroes find themselves thrust into the heart of an inter-time serial homicide mystery, but not before things change, forcing our pair into the crosshairs of potentially lethal consequences. The stakes are high, time is of the essence, and Fenton and Geller are about to discover that playing with the time-stream isn’t all flappers and jazz hands. Get ready for a high-octane, double-illegal adventure where the only sure thing is that RIFTERS is rewriting the rulebook on time-travel tales!

JOIN THE FIFTEENTH DOCTOR IN A NEW COMIC BOOK ADVENTURE! The FIFTEENTH DOCTOR and RUBY SUNDAY have followed a mysterious signal to a shopping mall in the last days of Earth. It’s sure to be a trap, but to find the source, The Doctor must face his greatest fears…

THE ULTIMATES RETURN TO GREATNESS!

Spinning out of Jonathan Hickman and Stefano Caselli’s ULTIMATE UNIVERSE #1, rising stars Deniz Camp (CHILDREN OF THE VAULT, 20th Century Men) and Juan Frigeri (INVINCIBLE IRON MAN) assemble an all-new team of ULTIMATES in a series that kicks off the next chapter of the new Ultimate line. Six months ago, Tony Stark sent Peter Parker a radioactive spider to set him back on the course to become Spider-Man. Since then, Iron Lad (Stark), Captain America, Doom, Thor and Sif have begun to do the same for other lost heroes, building a network of super-powered heroes hungry for change… Now they must band together to destroy the Maker’s Council and restore freedom and free will to a world ruled from the shadows!

This now-classic tale of the Dark Knight reimagines Batman in the Gotham City of 1889, where a murderer is on the loose preying on its citizens: Jack the Ripper. The story that helped usher in DC’s Elseworlds initiative is reprinted for the first time as a facsimile edition!

The new era of Elseworlds kicks off with the return of its crown jewel, the mysterious and gothic world originated by Brian Augustyn and Mike Mignola! When a mysterious meteor falls on the wide-open plains of the Midwest, it will unleash a chain of events that find Gotham’s bizarre Batman contending with not just the twin threats of the Catwoman and a mysterious international assassin but also the emergence of superhuman beings beyond all comprehension! This sequel series expands the 19th-century DC Universe beyond the confines of Gotham City, showcasing bold new visions of once-familiar heroes… Do not miss it!

Spinning directly out of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #49, Spidey’s role in BLOOD HUNT becomes clear and it involves, of course, MORBIUS! That’s right, the Web-Slinger’s main vampiric villain Michael Morbius is involved in the big vampire play and Peter has to figure out if he needs to take out his fanged foe or SAVE HIM?!

GARTH ENNIS RETURNS TO MARVEL – WITH NICK FURY AND FRANK CASTLE AS YOU’VE NEVER SEEN!

It’s 1971, there is a war raging in Vietnam, and Nick Fury has been captured by the Viet Cong. At this moment, they don’t quite understand that they have in their possession a man who knows enough secrets to damage the United States beyond comprehension. The C.I.A., however, DOES realize this and they can’t risk their enemy getting those secrets, so they dispatch the most deadly man in the U.S. Army – LT. FRANK CASTLE.

Thirty years ago, they were America’s premiere celebrity super-hero team. Seen on television, on tabloid magazine covers, scoring million-dollar endorsement deals… they were everywhere! Now, a new generation takes up the mantle-or perhaps, the poisoned chalice-fulfilling a promise made decades ago: to be the heroes that a fractured America needs!