Image Comics

Need something new for your reading list? This week, we recommend checking out Of the Earth, a new Image Comics miniseries by writers Chris Condon (That Texas Blood, News from the Fallout) and Andrew Ehrich, and artist Charlie Adlard (The Walking Dead), with letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou and designer Mike Tivey.

Oh, this one's going to be good. The first issue of Of the Earth establishes the story's underlying folklore right away, opening with an excerpt from a book about a mythical monster in the west: the Wildcatter. This beast is said to have a human face, but an "amorphous" body that can be "both humanoid and animalistic, with long limbs and horns." And it's oily (gross!), with local legend tying it to the "wildcat" wells where people dug in search of oil. 

From there, Of the Earth jumps to Tabby, a girl we meet at a truck stop phone booth who is on the run from a bad domestic situation, with a box full of cash in tow. Per the description: "Tabitha 'Tabby' Black flees a sordid life for her quiet hometown of Solitude, Texas and the comfort of her Gramma's home where she was raised. Only home isn't what it once was... and neither is Gramma." The first issue sets a harsh, gritty tone for the story to come, hinting not so subtly at the violence and desolation that waits for Tabby in oil country. It has me absolutely hooked. The next issue comes out June 17.