FUBAR #2, Empire of the Rising Dead
Stories by Jeff McComsey, Benjamin Truman, Shawn Aldridge, Rafer Roberts, Kevin Johnson, Steve Becker, Stephen Lindsay, Jennie Wood, Dominic Vivona, Mark Bertolini, Lonny Chant, Phil McClorey, Matt Kendzior, Kyle Kaczmarczyk, Michael Isenberg, Oliver Mertz, Michael McDermott, Jorge Vega, Timothy Zaprala, Jeff McClelland, Richard Meyers, Helaine Crawford, Eric Spohn, Ronald Montgomery, Mike Imboden

FUBAR Press and Alterna Comics
Release Date: January 11, 2012
Cover Price: $14.95

Oh FUBAR, you had me at “blarg.”

FUBAR #2, Empire of the Rising Dead is a 200+ page, World War II with zombies, short story extravaganza. Whereas the first issue took place in the European theater, this issue takes place solely in the Pacific theater. It’s all here: Pearl Harbor, Hiroshima, island hopping warfare, geishas, evil Japanese scientific experiments, shark attacks on stranded sailors, and Tuskegee. But, you know, with zombies.

Hello, Do YOU Work Here?
Compiled/Designed by Peter Simeti
Story by Various Submissions
Illustrations by Michael Oppenheimer, Kelly Williams, Michael nelson, John Shaver, John Bulmer, Tom Kelly, J. Rozen, Daniel Thollin, Brian Beardsley, John Bulmer, Jeff McComsey, Kelly Williams, Dave Arhar, Kevin Christensen, Bret M. Herholz, Chad Storhl, Steve Black, Michael S. Bracco, Oliver Kirby, Michael Czerniawski, Gary Goodrich, Dave Arhah, Jeremy Massie, Andi Papelitzky, Douglas Draper Jr.
Introduction by Alex Robinson
Alterna Comics
Cover Price: $7.99

I spent the summer of 2002 working alone at a local 24-hour convenient store doing the 4pm to midnight shift. On one particularly brutal night my manager got in to relieve me about 10 minutes early.

“Just give me a minute,” she informed me, as she took out her cellphone, “I’m going to check in on my daughter.”

Maggie, my manager’s daughter, was maybe 16, 17 years old and went by the name, I’m not kidding: Magical. This is the side of the conversation that I heard:

The Deadbeat
Story and Words by Jeremy Massie
Alterna Comics

After finishing The Deadbeat (Alterna Comics) a serious, graphically told story wrapped in the familiar guise of super-hero fiction, I’m left wanting more.

The story, written and illustrated by Jeremy Massie, follows an unnamed super-powered man who whose average day consists of going to the local pub to get drunk off of the chocolate-flavored beverage “YooHoo” served in a dirty glass — the only thing that’ll affect him due to his inherent invulnerability. His retirement, so to speak, came as a result of an epic battle with a mad scientist that killed hundreds of civilians, which included his wife. Distraught from this loss, he sends his infant daughter Vera to live with her aunt. Years later, he receives a letter informing him of Vera’s death, allowing him to further plunge into a shell of his former life.

When Vera, now fully grown with powers of her own, appears at the pub, our invulnerable man comes out of retirement with a new outlook on life.