I tend to like a lot of Image’s recent output. Grim Leaper, Planetoid, Prophet, Dancer, Saga, Secret, Hell Yeah, Hoax Hunters, Fatale… plus there’s stuff that while I’m not crazy about it, our commenters love, such as The Manhattan Projects.
Point is, Image has a lot of good stuff out right now.
Wondering where to start with it?
Comixology wants to save you some time: All recent Image #1’s are free.
OK, so they’re not all hits. Included up in that link is the first issue of Alpha Girl, which reads like a parody of every annoying indie zombie comic ever written except it’s not funny. But there’s a lot of good stuff.
So why is Image doing this? Well, I’ve got a guess.
The Walking Dead has been huge for Image. While they probably don’t see Kirkman’s fat stacks of cash since the series is creator owned, Walking Dead books push thousands of copies and the graphic novels are consistent best sellers every month.
Otherwise, though, Image has largely been left in the cold when it comes to Hollywood. As far as I’m aware none of the books they’ve published are close to seeing celluloid.
Presumably they’d like to see that happen, and also to sell more comic books, but first people have to start reading the books in large enough quantities. Hence, the issue #1 sales.
I will say that among these twenty books, there are very few genuine stinkers. Alpha Girl is awful, and Danger Club and No Place Like Home are kinda meh. But a good chunk of these I stuck with them for at least issue #2 and a few of them are truly great.
In short, check ’em out. Hey, they’re free, and what else do you have to do at work?