Despite their popularity, the more well-known comic book markets are the places where stories are most often repeated. That’s not to say that they’re not unique and creative, but the restrictions are there more often than in indie publishing. When an indie creator is able to make something, it’s usually something more personal and less limited, because no one is telling them what to do. And, sometimes, that makes for some really weird and interesting stuff.

This is a weird book. This, the second volume of Death Sentence, starts off with a bang, a term that can be used in several different ways when it comes to this title. For those who didn’t check out the first volume (and if you did, stop reading this and go get it), Death Sentence takes the very familiar superhero genre, tells it to go to hell, then does something even more interesting. Superpowers are totally a thing, and they occur when a very special thing happens: some good, old-fashioned sex. People have become infected with a disease called G+, and it does two things: gives the infected host superpowers and also kills them in right around six months, in most cases.

Well, readers, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that another great issue of Dragon Age: Magekiller has arrived. The bad news? This is also the last issue of this great tie-in series. While that is a sad thing for us all, the final issue of the series keeps up the great work on this title and concludes a mini-series that has been a delight to read thus far.

Gail Simone and Jim Calafiore are back with another issue of one of the most delightfully insane books in comics. This is a weird and wildly entertaining series that focuses on the aftermath of one of superhero comics’ worst nightmares: the good guys go crazy and kill everyone. With that in mind, everything is awful, the world has gone to hell, and the only ones there to save it have basically no chance to actually do so.

Think Tank is back, and you have no idea how happy I am to say that sentence with accuracy. The Top Cow Productions hit has finally returned, and now it’s in gorgeous color, with even more sci-fi technology and realistic military action.

Jamie McKelvie and Keiron Gillen are back with their incredibly unique series, affectionately known as Wic/Div. The gods are back and there is some pretty intense stuff going on as we return into the third arc, being called “Rising Action.”  After the very heavy “Commercial  Suicide” arc, the team jumps right back into things, beginning this arc on an intense and action-packed issue of violence, back-stabbing, and enough stand-ins for legendary musicians to last a lifetime. (The latter is nothing new, but it’s still pretty awesome.)

Up until recently, the Image Comics (and OSSM Comics-produced) series Sons of the Devil was a series that I’d only heard about but hadn’t had a chance to read. For the review of this, the first book in the second arc, I went back and read the entire first trade, as well as Issue #6, all in one sitting. There’s something about this series that made me want to tear through it, get to the next part, and unravel another piece of this mysterious and unique story.

Conventions are a glorious place that allow people of all walks of life to celebrate the things they love. Unfortunately, over the years, things have been not so great for convention-goers around the globe, as harassment, elitism, and generally being a jerk have become more common occurrences.

If you read my last review, one of the few qualms I had with this otherwise fantastic book was the lack of recognizable faces from Dragon Age: Inquisition. If I didn’t know how comics were made, I’d be thinking that the creative team on the book was listening to me specifically, because four issues in and the one problem I had with the book has been solved in spades.

This book is hard. Hard to read, hard to look at, and hard to process. But, that’s what makes it so fantastic. Very few times has a book made me this uncomfortable but want to read more of it so much. The Violent is dark, grimy, and rough. But, it’s also a terrific story, one that hits every emotional beat that’s necessary to make for a quality book and many more.