Reboot
Directed by Joe Kawasaki
Written by Joe Kawasaki
Starring Emily Somers, Travis Aaron Wade, Martin Copping, Sonalii Castillo, Janna Bossier
Jan-Ken-Po Pictures
Unrated | 40 Minutes
Release Date: 2012

What would happen if, all of a sudden, the global network went black? Economic chaos, societal collapse, cats and dogs living together. Mass hysteria! Reboot is a cyberthriller film that posits the idea that whoever controls the global network, controls the world.

Director Joe Kawasaki put together this 40 minute short film with the aid of a successful Kickstarter campaign that helped the team with their productions costs. Whereas movies like Hackers eschewed any basis in reality for cool points, Reboot revels in its geekdom without beating you over the head with technical details. The result is a much better interpretation of hacker culture that touches on relevant, hot-button issues such as online privacy and freedom.

Evil Ernie #1
Written by Jesse Blaze Snider
Art by Jason Craig
Colors by Marcio Menyz & Adriano Augusto
Letters by Troy Peteri
Covers by Tim Seeley, Adrian Syaf, Nick Bradshaw, Dan Brereton
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: October 10, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

In 2010, Dynamite Entertainment acquired the rights to Evil Ernie from Chaos! Comics. That acquisition finally bears fruit as writer Jesse Blaze Snider, a long-time fan of Evil Ernie, takes the helm on this character reboot. Dynamite could not, however, nab the rights to Lady Death, who held a significant role in Evil Ernie‘s original storyline. Her absence from Evil Ernie #1‘s story alters Evil Ernie’s origin and motivations, but the look, personality, and Smiley button of the undead psychopath remain.

Evil Ernie #1 briefly covers Ernest Fairchild’s traumatic childhood which directly leads into his demonic transformation. Ernest was born in 1993 during a bizarre car accident where his entire family was killed. His father, possessed by something, taunts his daughter and pregnant wife right before slamming the car into a light pole.

Oreimo, Volume 1
Written by Tsukasa Fushimi
Art by Hiro Kanzaki
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: September 5, 2012
Cover Price: $10.99

For over a decade I have held Sakura Diaries as the single most disturbing anime/manga that I have ever seen. That series followed a high school graduate who, while trying to get into college, falls in love with his underage cousin. Well, I’ll take your Sakura Diaries and raise you an Oreimo. This is not, by the way, a good thing.

Kyosuke is a 17-year-old high school student. His 14-year-old sister, Kirino, is the most popular girl in the most popular clique at her middle school. She’s also a magazine model, an “A” student, and a star track athlete. She barely acknowledges Kyosuke’s existence. He thinks that she’s too arrogant to talk to him anymore, but personally, I think she’s just creeped out because he gawks at his little sister all the time.

Eldritch! #6
Created by Aaron Alexovich and Drew Rausch
Written by Aaron Alexovich
Art by Drew Rausch
Heart Shaped Skull
Release Date: September 19, 2012
Digital Price: $0.99

“So what now, Owen? You’ve got a pool house full of monsters, two frozen policemen on your conscience, and a whole collection of world-changing devices in your bloodstream. What’s your next move?”

Eldritch! #6 is the exciting conclusion to writer Aaron Alexovich‘s crazy tale of science versus religion. The entire miniseries has built up to this climactic showdown as the logically-minded Anya Sobczek faces down her fanatical brother Owen in his pool house of worship. Owen revealed to Anya his little secret: he has freaking tentacles strewn throughout his body that give him all sorts of amazing abilities instantly healing wounds and sprouting huge spider legs.

The origin of these tentacles has remained a mystery. They could be magic. They could be aliens. They could be nanobots. They could even be a curse. Or something entirely different. Anya leans more towards the scientific and natural explanations whereas Owen has crafted an entire cult around his newfound capabilities. Owen says he can control the tentacle thingies through spells and incantations; Anya is quick to correct him with “codes.”

The Creep #2
Written by John Arcudi
Art by Jonathan Case
Cover By Ryan Sook
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: October 10, 2012
Cover Price: $3.50

Oxel Karnhus is a private investigator who’s looking into a teen suicide case that the cops brushed aside. His main reason for even taking the case is because the client, Stephanie, is an old flame from his younger days. Since they last saw each other, Oxel developed a case of acromegaly, a condition that causes body tissues to get larger over time. In Oxel’s case, his jaw grew crazy-huge like Rondo Hatton.

The Creep follows Oxel’s investigation into Curtis’ suicide which is apparently linked to his buddy, Mike’s suicide a few months earlier. The Creep #2 continues the investigation as Oxel visits Mike’s mom, Laura. Steph interrupts his visit with a timely phone call describing Curtis’ grizzly father’s visit to her house that morning where he debo’d her credit card and slipped out of town. This issue is a necessary cog four-issue mini-series that undoubtedly puts forward some vital clues “” we just don’t know how it all fits together yet.