Books & Comics

Gemini Cell Is A Great Love Story That Deals With The True Cost Of War

Myke Cole’s “military fantasy” Shadow Ops series has been unpredictable all along. In Control Point, he told the origin story. In Fortress Frontier, he narrated a quest, while in Breach Zone, he zoomed in on a single battle. With his latest installment, Gemini Cell, he does something really unexpected: a romance. Some spoilers ahead… Granted,…

If Comic Heroes and Villains Had Business Cards, They’d Look Like This

Some of these make more sense (“Peter Parker, Photographer, The Daily Bugle”) than others (would Natasha Romanoff really have the need for business cards?), but The Vocations of Heroes & Villains is nonetheless an art print that’s quite fun to look at. Created by (and for sale at, in signed/numbered form) Pop Chart Lab, the…

Young Lois Lane Investigates A Teacher In This Prequel To Her YA Novel

Lois Lane heads from the pages of DC Comics to her very own Young Adult novel this May, but you can read a teaser of what’s to come with this new short story from Gwenda Bond detailing the young Lois’ first day at a new school — and she’s already getting herself primed for a…

Ted Chiang explains everything to you! If you’re in Washington State, you ought to make a beeline to the University of Puget Sound, where Ted Chiang will give a talk on “Technology and the Narrative of the Self” on Tuesday. Top image: Christian Pearce, Contact the author at [email protected]. Or follow her on Twitter.

io9 Newsstand: Best Stories from the Week of March 1 – 7

This week’s stories are all about the passage of time, traveling in time, and things that occur when time happens all at once. Quiet Hour by Peni Griffin | Crossed Genres Magazine Mama looked gray and small, her face covered by the oxygen mask: an echo of the day Papacito died, but Mama, at least,…

Sheriff Steve Rogers Will Lead 1872, Marvel’s New Wild West Comic

Secret Wars has already mashed up old Marvel stories, new tales and the return of a few favorites in its Battleworld saga— but now it’s heading to 19th century America with 1872, a new comic that re-imagines Marvel heroes as citizens of the Wild West. The new series, written by Gerry Duggan with art by…

Fantastic Redesigns Of Women Characters By Women Science Fiction Artists

What do women want in their women characters? Art director and Muddy Colors columnist Lauren Panepinto addresses sexism in art and what she wants creators to think about when developing female characters. Even better, she shares redesigns of popular female characters done by female science fiction and fantasy artists. Before we begin, I would like…

Ask All Your Questions About Those Rediscovered Lost Fairytales!

Maria Tatar is the translator of the newly discovered trove of fairytales, lost for over a century, but just recently uncovered. Ask her all your questions about The Turnip Princess, the history of fairytales and folklore, and anything else you want to know! In addition to her new book, The Turnip Princess and Other Newly…

In A Webcomic Where Hair Indicates Magical Ability, One Witch Hides Hers

In Witchy, you can tell a person’s magical ability by looking at their hair. Long-haired witches tend to be powerful — though if you’re too powerful, you’ll be burned by the state. That’s why this comic’s protagonist pretends her hair is short, although she also has the subpar magical ability to match. Ariel Ries’ webcomic…

This Week, Read The Comic That Sony Already Wants To Turn Into A Movie

Image Comic’s Descender hits this week — a comic about outlawed androids so intriguing,Sony already wants to turn it into a film. But that’s not all: Princess Leia begins her series, a new Boom! series sees regular convention guests turn convention robbers, and Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver’s MCU origins are revealed. Dark Horse Neverboy #1…

An Exclusive Glimpse Of Jim Butcher’s Next Book, Aeronaut’s Windlass!

For 15 years, Jim Butcher has been keeping us guessing with his twisty urban fantasy series, The Dresden Files. But now, he’s changing gears and launching a Horatio Hornblower-esque new series, The Cinder Spires. Check out the cover of the first book, The Aeronaut’s Windlass, and an excerpt, exclusively at io9! The Aeronaut’s Windlass comes…

The Science Fiction And Fantasy Books You Can’t Afford To Miss In March

What do March’s science fiction and fantasy books have in store for you? Mermaids! Winged women! Interplanetary politics! Plus Kazuo Ishiguro’s new novel, which is already garnering comparisons to Game of Thrones. Here are the March books you cannot afford to miss. Top image: A Quantum Mythology by Gavin Smith, cover artwork by Spyroteknik Note:…

This Solar Powered Groot Is Clever, But Also The Stuff Of Nightmares

It seems like perhaps the most obvious idea for a dancing Groot – just one of many that we’ve had since Guardians of the Galaxy came out. Watch the little twig that could wiggle about through the power of the Sun itself! But I don’t think anyone accounted for it looking so spectacularly scary too.…

A New J.K. Rowling Bibliography Unearths Harry Potter Secrets

It’s not a biography, it’s a bibliography, but a new book about J.K. Rowling is so detailed the author herself calls it “slavishly thorough and somewhat mind-boggling.” The reference volume aims to be the definitive publishing history of the Harry Potter series. J.K. Rowling: A Bibliography 1997-2013 is described by publisher Bloomsbury as “the definitive…

Read A Great Apocalyptic Story That’s Already Been Proved Wrong!

The Apocalypse Triptych covers a lot of apocalyptic scenarios in three books. But Jake Kerr has the unusual distinction of A) writing about a really cool asteroid impact scenario B) hinging his storyline on a future scenario that we already know won’t happen. Read Kerr’s essay about being wrong, and then read the story right…

Oh, Hey, Catwoman Is Officially Bisexual Now

Just an FYI! Catwoman comics writer (and frequent io9 contributor extraordinaire) Genevieve Valentine has pointed out on her blog that Selina Kyle is now “canon bisexual” in the DC universe. It’s always nice to see a comic company increase its diversity — especially with a character as prominent as Catwoman. Unsurprisingly, Valentine herself puts it…

Every Member Of The Avengers, Ranked

They’re called Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, but some of the are mightier than others. We’ve broken down all of the official Avengers — minus a few too recent to judge — to determine who should be assembled first when evil strikes. 1) Captain America Although Cap wasn’t a founding member of the Avengers — he wasn’t…

This Awesome Makeup Artist Transforms People Into Real Life Comic Art

Why cosplay when you could look like you’ve just stepped straight from the pages of a comic book? Lianne Moseley’s wonderful makeup creations transform people into superheroes that look more at home in comic pages than they do in the flesh. Header Image Credit: Neil Zeller Photography. All images credited as such unless otherwise stated.…

Kids Get Dropped Off At This Webcomic’s Camp—And Never Go Home Again

Camp Weedonwantcha is a nature camp for kids who have been ditched. In this darkly funny webcomic, kids get dropped off one day at a camp with absolutely no adult supervision. Left to their own devices, they must survive the limited supplies, wild animals, and each other. Katie Rice’s webcomic was a bit famous even…

This Dress Printed With The First Chapter of Harry Potter Is Pure Genius

We’ve seen all kinds of fandom clothing over the years, but they tend to focus very heavily on art and photos. This dress is all about the words. The very first words, in fact, that started the whole Harry Potter series. Not only is does this dress ($277.51 by Rooby Lane) have the first chapter…