The "Mighty Archie Art Players" return! In this special FCBD09 edition, the Mighty Archie Art Players have a rip-roaring good time in the Old West, put a modern-spin on the classic Snow White fairy tale, tell a "big fish" story — literally! — with Betty as a mermaid, and cater to the whims of Veronica, transformed into the ancient Egyptian queen, Cleopatra. Their curtain-raising performances will leave you laughing in the aisles!

Charon, God-Emperor of the Negation Empire, is the ultimate villain. He commands a universe of evil that poses a grave threat to every living soul in the CrossGen Universe. And when he decides to create his own version of the Sigil? the mysterious red and yellow mark that empowers many of CrossGen's greatest heroes? Charon sets into motion an epic adventure that will expose the secret origins of the Negation, and decide the future of the CrossGen Universe! Do not miss this landmark mini-series, featuring a surprise hero, a new team of evil Sigil-Bearers, and revelations that readers will be talking about for years to come.

Sam Whistler wakes up in an unfamiliar motel room, dressed in hospital scrubs and his arms wrapped in bandages. He remembers nothing-not how he got here, not where here is...not even his own name. But the goons knocking down his door sure do, and it's going to take every single move in Sam's forgotten repertoire to outrun and outsmart the gang war he's just stumbled into.

Before the Amazing Spider-Man and mysterious Dr. Strange, the legendary comic book artist Steve Ditko was conjuring all manners of horrors at his drawing table. In his first two years in the industry (1953 and1954), Ditko drew tales of macabre suspense that were not yet hobbled by the Comics Code Authority. These stories featured graphic bloodshed, dismemberment and blood-curdling acid baths as the ugly end to the lives of the dark and twisted inhabitants of Steve Ditko's imagination. Strange Suspense: The Steve Ditko Archives Vol. 1 features, for the first time, spectacular full-color reprints of every story from those first two years of his career. Beginning with Ditko's very first story to Ditko's short stint in the Joe Simon/Jack Kirby studio, to Ditko's eventual encampment at the Charlton Comics operation in 1954, readers will see the initial works of an artist already at a level of craftsmanship that exceeded most of his peers. The book also features editor Blake Bell's insightful introduction, providing historical background and speaking to Ditko's influence and his unique craft. "Fantastic... Raw and grotesque and beautifully drawn and presented." -- Dave Gibbons.

Joe Kubert sealed his reputation as one of the greatest American comicbook cartoonists of all time with the four-color adventures of Sgt. Rock of Easy Company, Enemy Ace, and Tarzan, all done for DC Comics during the 1960s and 1970s (themselves already the subject of archival editions)... but he had been working in comics since the 1940s. In fact, young Kubert produced an exciting, significant body of work as a freelance artist for a variety of comic book publishers in the postwar era, in a glorious variety of non-super hero genres: horror, crime, science fiction, western, romance, humor, and more. For the first time, 33 of the best of these stories have been collected in one full-color volume, with a special emphasis on horror and crime...