Every month, we get small glimpses of what books are on their way to store shelves.
Here are some of the spotlight books I’m looking forward to from the Independent and Smaller Publishers in no particular order.
I’ve mentioned this one already as I got an advanced preview copy and it’s a great read. Can’t wait for issue #2 now. That book is Unearth from Bunn and Strahm. This one has media deal written all over it for me. Just reading issue #1 gave me the feeling it would make a great TV show.
SERIES PREMIERE! When a flesh-warping disease ravages a remote village in Mexico, a scientific task force travels to the inhospitable area to investigate the contamination. Tracing the source of the disease to a nearby cave system, 
the team discovers a bizarre, hostile ecosystem and a supernatural revelation from which they may never escape. This new subterranean nightmare is brought to you by writers CULLEN BUNN (REGRESSION) and KYLE STRAHM (SPREAD), and rising-star artist BALDEMAR RIVAS!
This next book is a new Justin Jordan book.
Bring a Spread fan, his books are always on the list of musts to check out.
SERIES PREMIERE! The continent of Madaras once promised a new start for settlers, but 200 years after its discovery, the war rages on. Deep within this savage and untamed land, a darkness builds at that must be stopped at all costs. To do so, the Imperials assemble six of its most despicable prisoners-a turncoat, a skin eater, a sorcerer and his bodyguard, a serial killer, and the Devil’s Son-the only ones who can stop the end of the new world. They are Hell’s Half-Dozen. Join JUSTIN JORDAN (LUTHER STRODE) and REBEKAH ISAACS (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) for REAVER-a dark, grim fantasy for a post-Game of Thrones world.
Another Cullen Bunn book is next on the list. Yes, I’m still guessing he’s a robot with the amount of books he puts out.
This time he teams up again with Tyler Crook, the due behind Sixth Gun and Harrow County which were both hit series, so this one could follow in the same success. There’s also a pretty sweet looking Dan Brereton variant cover as well.
Cullen Bunn! Brian Hurtt! Tyler Crook! From the creators of Harrow County and The Sixth Gun comes this gothic horror fantasy about a family of sorcerers in crisis. 
Roman Black is the moribund patriarch of a family of powerful sorcerers. As his wicked and corrupt children fight over who will take the reins of Manor Black and become representative of the black arts, Roman adopts a young mage whom he gifts his powers to with the hope that someone good will take his place against the evil forces out to bring down his family and legacy. For fans of Dark Shadows, The Sixth Gun, Harrow County and Locke & Key.
Scratched off by DC for being too controversial, I wasn’t even going to bother with this next book but now I’m interested in checking this book out.
That book is Second Coming which is now being published by Ahoy Comics. The publicity of this book being canceled likely made this more popular than it should be, so it’ll be interesting how it fairs upon it’s debut now.
Second Coming #1 (Cover A – Conner)
AHOY is proud to present-for the first time anywhere-the series everyone’s talking about, by award-winning writer 
Mark Russell (Snagglepuss, The Flintstones) and artist Richard Pace (Pitt, New Warriors)! God commands Earth’s mightiest super-hero, Sunstar, to accept Jesus as his roommate and teach him how to use power in more powerful way. Jesus, shocked at the way humans have twisted his message over two millennia, vows to straighten them out. This deluxe first issue features 30 pages of story!
Spending my teenage years in the 90’s myself, this next book has my attention as I can hopefully relate to the times it’s set in, except these kids friend get’s murdered, which I cannot relate to. But I love a good murder mystery. I’m a junkie for Forensic Files late at night when there’s nothing else on TV.
It’s 1999. Ben, Murphy, Tank, and Amanda are four screwed-up kids from broken homes… but they have had each other. When Ben is murdered, Murphy and his friends set out to find who killed him and find themselves in the cross-hairs! Dead End Kids is a dark coming-of-age murder mystery set in the ’90s, from the creative team behind 2018’s critically acclaimed Grief.
It’s only a one-shot but since Chuck Brown is listed as a writer, I’m interested. Not sure who Chuck Brown is, he’s the writer behind Bitter Root, which has been a great book so far and recently got optioned.
A child suddenly imbued with the powers of ancient gods is visited by a band of similarly gifted children. Will young Solomon hone his skills with the others, or will he risk unraveling existence and use his raw control over reality just to get revenge on some bullies? Writer Chuck Brown ( Bitter Root ) tells two tales of power, revenge, and empathy–with a main story illustrated by Jeremy Treece ( Mandrake the Magician ) and a bonus story illustrated by Kelly Williams ( Creepy Comics ). A new universe of creatures and heroes, written by Bitter Root’ s Chuck Brown!
The last book on this short list is a new book by Jason Aaron. I love Jason Aaron’s writing. It’s usually top notch and he’s a reason I read his Marvel books. His indie books are great as they allow him to be his creative self. I wish Southern Bastards went longer as I felt it was cut short.
Anyways, his new book has my attention just because it’s Jason Aaron.
Sea of Stars #1 (Cover A – Green)
‘LOST IN THE WILDS OF HEAVEN,’ Part One: Being a space trucker sounds like a cool job, but in reality, it can be boring as hell. So when recently widowed Gil gets a long-haul gig across the universe, he figures it’s safe enough to bring his young son 
Kadyn along for the ride-that is, until their ‘big rig’ gets bitten in half by a gigantic Space Leviathan! Now separated from his son-with a breached suit that’s venting oxygen at an alarming rate-Gil must defy the odds and stay alive long enough to rescue Kadyn. But meanwhile, Kadyn seems to be getting all the help he needs from a talking Space Monkey riding a Space Dolphin or maybe it’s the strange powers he’s suddenly manifesting?! From the writing duo of JASON AARON (SOUTHERN BASTARDS, Thor) and DENNIS HALLUM (Cloak & Dagger, Vader: Dark Visions), with dazzling art by STEPHEN GREEN (Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.) and cosmic colors by RICO RENZI (Spider-Gwen), comes a brand-new science fiction series with all the……
I already pre-ordered Dead End Kids. It sounds good.
Dead End Kids was also a groiup of kids from 1935, from New York that were moved to Hollywood to make movies. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_End_Kids
I thought it sounded familiar, had to google it.
Interesting..