Who said we don't do books about love and/or capes?

We've long been accused of deliberately avoiding superhero comics (which is fair, since we deliberately have avoided doing them). But that stance has been lightening a bit of late, through books like BADGER and FX.

And since we've also done so many horror books, I've heard from people who said many of our books could use more heart (never mind the fact that many of our horror books feature all kinds of heart-wrenching relationship stories amidst the more horrific elements).

So to both those camps, I'd like to point out a book that we're announcing in a press release today, Thom Zahler's LOVE AND CAPES. The comic has existed before--Tom has done seven issues now (counting the upcoming Free Comic Book Day edition)--but we're doing the trade paperback collection of the first six issues, anyway.

Harlan Ellison, of all people, called me up and encouraged me to give the book a look, raving (not ranting, but raving) about the sweetness and humor of the story. When a guy of Ellison's standing talks up a comic that he really likes, it definitely deserves a look. So I contacted Thom, we had a nice chat, he sent me the comics... and then began my usual near-impossible task of simply finding time to read them. But finally, with Thom patiently waiting, I gave one a look, and was hooked. It really is a great, charming story. In the press release, I mentioned that only Tom Beland's comics feel like they've got as much heart and good humor as these comics. But where Tom's are based on his life, Thom's are a full-on romantic comedy with superheroes. Not like that painful Uma Thurman movie, but more like THE INCREDIBLES.

So I'm happy to be able to put this book out, and hopeful that between this release and the FCBD issue, Thom's great comic will reach the wider audience it deserves. Check out Thom's LOVE AND CAPES site to see what I mean.

Dynamic DUOSTARS

Coming up next from Ashley Wood!

The 4th Doctor is IN

Being approved to print this week is the 7th issue of our DOCTOR WHO CLASSICS series. These are the reprints of the '80s series featuring WATCHMEN co-creator Dave Gibbons on art, with all-new colors done by Charlie Kirchoff. Something about the classic Gibbons style with modern colors from Charlie just makes for a stunning book, as you can see here. The added bonus in this issue? The Daleks!

IDW's new releases for the week of April 21

This week's new releases include second printings of the sold-out LOCKE & KEY #s 2 and 3, the third volume in the Eisner-nominated TERRY AND THE PIRATES series, the collection of our new SPEED RACER series, a TRANSFORMERS SPOTLIGHT issue featuring a character we waited years longer than most of you expected, and, well, I suppose I can just let you read for yourselves what else we've got on tap for this Wednesday:

Fallen Angel #26

Locke & Key #2 - 2nd printing

Locke & Key #3 - 2nd printing

Speed Racer: Chronicles of the Racer TPB

Star Trek: Intelligence Gathering #4

Star Trek: New Frontier #2

Terry & the Pirates. Vol. 3

Transformers Spotlight: Grimlock

Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse #4

Gene Simmons Zipper #5

Wheelie in the sky keeps on turning

Klaus Scherwinski has finished his "tour de force" today, turning in all of his TRANSFORMERS SPOTLIGHT: WHEELIE pages (plotted, penciled, inked and colored by him, with scripting by Simon Furman and coloring help from Josh Burcham), so here's a look at what he's doing. There will also be a 5-page sketch section and the second "retro" cover for the book, too. It'll be out in mid June.

Alex: After the Fall

A little bonus today: Alex Garner's cover for ANGEL: AFTER THE FALL #9, paying subtle homage to Jack Kirby's cover for THE INCREDIBLE HULK #1 from 1962 (which you should go check out on a Google Image search after you read this).

This issue, the big "return to the After the Fall storyline" after First Night concludes, will be shipping two weeks after issue 8 in June, and features the debut of new artist Nick Runge while Franco Urru continues his work on the upcoming SPIKE: AFTER THE FALL miniseries.

Ben Who?

It's my goal to get Ben Templesmith somehow involved with DOCTOR WHO. He loves the property (indeed, WORMWOOD was inspired by the show), and this unpublished image here shows how nicely he'd handle covers, too. So that's my latest mission, anyway. That and officially announcing the coming Tony Lee/Pia Guerra WHO series as well... soon, very soon.

Speaking of WORMWOOD, here's a just recently completed cover for WORMWOOD Art Book that Ben will be doing in August.

Hardheads and Doubledealers

To tie in with the big 25-question TRANSFORMERS Q&A I've been doing at our message boards today, I wanted to share some pencils from two upcoming TF SPOTLIGHTS here. Following EJ Su's CYCLONUS book, we'll be doing HARDHEAD (penciled by Nick Roche, and shown here), followed by DOUBLDEALER (pencils by Dan Khanna)...

VISIONS of Ash

Ashley Wood's painted wraparound cover for TANK GIRL: VISIONS OF BOOGA #2, being approved to print this week. Issue 1 will be in stores in late May.

Hope this helps make you realize that you missed (at least) one this year, Eisner judges...

IDW's new releases for April 16

Nothing better than picking up new comics the day after tax day--it's like flipping the bird to Uncle Sam and saying "you can tax me to the point of starvation, but you're still not gonna prevent me from reading new comics." Something like that.

To help you along the way and yet to also be understanding of this time of year, we've got only four releases this week, including the debut of Mack Bolan in THE EXECUTIONER, as well as D.C. Fontana's STAR TREK comic-writing debut, the finale of Mike Baron's new BADGER miniseries (with more great Alberto Dose artwork), and the middle issue of our first DOCTOR WHO miniseries. Accompanying these is the cover art for the concluding issue of THE ENTERPRISE EXPERIMENT, with pencils, inks, and colors by Joe & Rob Sharp.

Badger Saves the World #5

Doctor Who #3

Don Pendleton's The Executioner #1

Star Trek: Enterprises Experiment #1