By Nolan P. Smith

February brings lots of great books from one of my favorite publishers, Black Mask Studios. Check out the solicit info they sent, and make sure to preorder!

From next-big-thing writer Vita Ayala (BITCH PLANET: TRIPLE FEATURE, WONDER WOMAN ANNUAL), your next favorite artist Emily Pearson, rising star colorist Marissa Louise (SPELL ON WHEELS), and indie sensation cover artist Natasha Alterici (HEATHEN) comes an eerie, elegant new take on apocalypse:
THE WILDS #1.

And hot off their breakout book THE DREGS, writers Zac Thompson and Lonnie Nadler join with Piotr Kowalski (Image Comics’ SEX) for a twisted and chilling sci-fi body-horror that will leave readers squirming for more:
COME INTO ME #1.

Also in February, Black Mask is excited for the return of Holly Interlandi and Sally Cantirino’s soulful and evocative quarterly series LAST SONG, as well as the collected trade paperback of Ryan K. Lindsay, Sami Kivela, and Triona Farrell’s hitwoman-noire BEAUTIFUL CANVAS.

THE WILDS #1
After a cataclysmic plague sweeps across America, survivors come together to form citystate-like communities for safety.

Daisy Walker is a Runner for The Compound, a mix of post-apocalyptic postal service and black market salvaging operation. It is a Runner’s job to ferry items and people between settlements, and on occasion scavenge through the ruins of the old world. Daisy is the best there is at what she does.

Out beyond the settlement walls are innumerable dangers: feral animals, crumbling structures, and Abominations — those that were touched by the plague and became something other. After a decade of surviving, Daisy isn’t phased by any of it — until her lover, another Runner named Heather, goes missing on a job. Desperate to find her, Daisy begins to see that there may be little difference between the world inside the walls and the horrors beyond.

From writer Vita Ayala (Bitch Planet: Triple Feature, Wonder Woman Annual) and Emily Pearson (Cult Classic) with colors by Marissa Louise (Spell On Wheels) and covers by Natasha Alterici (Heathen), comes this bold tale of surviving in bleak times.COME INTO ME #1
From the critically acclaimed writers of The Dregs and the artist of Image Comics’ SEX comes a new horror series about body image, social media, and memory.

When an entrepreneur with a god complex creates a technology that allows two minds to share one body, he doesn’t anticipate the degenerative effects of long-term trials. Come Into Me is a contemporary comment on connected culture and our longing for approval in the digital age.

This is a world where technology and flesh become indistinguishable, begging the question, “How much sharing is too much sharing?”

Prepare yourself for the insane lovechild of The Fly and Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind.

LAST SONG #2
When do you know you’ve made it?
When your song first plays on the radio?
When a kid recognizes you at the laundromat?
When you start getting fan mail?
How about on your first tour, or the second; your first magazine cover feature, your first show played while high out of your mind, your first groupie hookup?
For Nicky, it might just be his first drunken confession in a hotel room that alters the path of his friendship forever.

From Holly Interlandi on scripts and Sally Cantirino on pencils and inks, Last Song returns with the second of its four oversized issues telling the heartbreaking story of two best friends who let music change them for better and for worse.

BEAUTIFUL CANVAS Vol 1 TP
Beautiful Canvas is 2017’s smash hit warped crime miniseries about Lon Eisley discovering the similarities and differences between her job as a hitwoman and her new role as a mother-to-be when she finds out her girlfriend is pregnant.

Going from destroyer to creator/protector is a major swerve, but parents still have plenty of violent and brutal moments to contend with, especially when the world is full of pyrokinetic sleeper agents, animal/hybrid muscle-squads, and one hell of a nasty boss pulling your strings.

“Visually stunning, with something interesting in every panel, and with a vibrancy in terms of art and colors that rockets it above most other books currently out.”
-Newsarama

From the creative team of Sami Kivela (Abbott) and Ryan K Lindsay (Negative Space, Eternal, DC Writers Workshop) comes this gonzo world of future noir, where the story aims to deliver a brutal blow to your heart and piss in your brainpan.