New Releases by Duane Swierczynski

Never tried a Valiant comic?! Start reading here ? with more than 100 pages of Valiant Comics greatness for just $5.99! Find out why VALIANT is the MUST READ superhero publisher in comics today with a greatest hits collection of can?t-miss moments from across the Valiant Universe! Re-presenting X-O MANOWAR #5, QUANTUM AND WOODY #1, HARBINGER #1, HARBINGER WARS #2, and SHADOWMAN #0, MUST READ VALIANT: GREATEST HITS #1 is the perfect place to find out why IGN is declaring: ?Nobody is making superhero books like this, which is exactly why you should be paying attention to Valiant Comics.?

Now on to the third volume in this hugely popular revival, Duane Swierczynski brings his formidable storytelling skills to the fore once again. A no-holds-barred action thriller, this is a swift return to the very best of the series'' issues from the classic era, given a huge boost by a new story and dozens of gory set-pieces. This is extreme anti-super-heroism like you''ve never seen before!

It all comes down to thisu0083 Godzilla vs. his mightiest enemy yet! The fate of the world hangs in the balance! What role will Boxer play? Will he be Godzilla''s salvation or destruction? It''s all been building to this, don''t miss it!

Boxer and his team are beyond working for moneyu0083 now they just want to save their planet! In order to do so, they must support and cover Godzilla and other monsters from Earth in their savage battle against Space Godzilla, Gigan and others! Prepare for the final, unthinkable battle!

Harbinger Wars is going out with a bang! A battle for the lives of Project Rising Spirit?s escaped psiot children is being waged between Toyo Harada, Peter Stancheck?s Renegades and the H.A.R.D. Corps ? and Bloodshot stands in the center of it all. But even if Bloodshot manages to win the day, will the tortured, traumatized, and ?ber-powerful kids he?s fought for choose to remain under the protection of the Harbinger hunter that once haunted their nightmares? Something?s in the air ? and a new era is unfolding for the weapon ? no, the soldier ? no, the man known as Bloodshot.

It all comes down to this! H.A.R.D. Corps vs. Bloodshot vs. Toyo Harada vs. Peter and the Renegades! Who will be left standing amidst the wreckage once called Las Vegas? The bone-crushing conclusion to Valiant?s first summer blockbuster is here ? and no hero in the Valiant Universe can escape its aftershocks.

The manipulative Lt. Setter has charged rookie Ruidoso and a team of other honest cops with capturing X, knowing that X''s code won''t let him fight back lethally. As X battles the Dogs of War in Arcadia''s toxic sewers, Ruidoso has to make a choice . . . * The last honest cops in Arcadia do the wrong thing for the right reason! * Join comics'' fiercest ongoing series! "If you''re in the mood for a dark crime series, _X_ marks the spot."Comic Book Resources 

Assault on Project Rising Spirit! Bloodshot is finally free of the memories that have haunted him since his awakening ? but now even greater mysteries remain. Who was he before he was transformed into a walking weapon of mass destruction? And does he have a real family out there somewhere? Unfortunately, the only man with the answers is the former mastermind of Project Rising Spirit, the quasi-governmental science division that created him ? and he?s just struck a devil?s bargain with Bloodshot. ?Destroy your creators and I?ll reveal everything.? Well, almost everything? Collecting BLOODSHOT #5-9 by acclaimed writer Duane Swierczynski (Birds of Prey) and artists Manuel Garcia (Black Widow), Arturo Lozzi (Immortal Weapons), and Matthew Clark (Avenging Spider-Man), Bloodshot?s brutal, bullet-riddled tour of duty through the Valiant Universe continues right here in the second shock-inducing volume of the series that Complex calls ?hard and heavy with each issue.?

HARBINGER WARS tie-in! It?s payback time! After Dr. Emanuel Kuretich freed Bloodshot from Project Rising Spirit, he promised Bloodshot that the answers to his identity would be found inside PRS? secret Nevada facility. He lied. Instead, Bloodshot discovered two dozen super-powered psiot children ? children that Kuretich then manipulated him into setting free. Now that the kids are out and have ignited a Harbinger War in the middle of the Vegas strip, Bloodshot is all that stands between them and the opposing forces of Toyo Harada and Peter Stanchek. But Bloodshot hasn?t forgotten about Kuretich. And he?s about to reap his revenge.

**A NEW VIGILANTE IN TOWN!** The city zone destroyed in the battle between the Archon and the Mark has become an insane asylum, as a new, highly addictive drug gains control of ordinary Arcadians. X goes on the hunt for the operation''s ringleader, but a rival vigilantea shadowy woman from X''s paststands in his way! I''ve come to enjoy seeing the man called X kill everything in sight in the name of his mission. I hope it doesn''t end anytime soon.�Bloody Disgusting

Betrayed by his friends and stripped of his mask, X will have to crawl from an iron prison to wrench his city from Tango''s stranglehold. But a new gang, unlike any Arcadia has seen before, may be more than even X can handle! A new episode in the Project Black Sky event begins here! * X confronts Deathwishwill he finally get what he wants? 

Fun & Games and Hell & Gone come full circle in the Hardie Series'' astonishing conclusion. Charlie Hardie finds himself in a steel box, tubes and wires attached to his body, trapped inside a satellite parked in orbit 500 miles above the Earth. He''s got a year''s supply of food, air, water, and no communication back to Earth, and must complete his 12 months'' duty or his wife and son will have an "accident." But when someone all-too-familiar docks on the satellite, informs Hardie he''s sitting in a veritable zero-G vault containing the world''s most dangerous secrets, and forces a crash-landing in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, Hardie must decide whether he''s come face-to-face with the partner he needs to save his family -- or with his nemesis. After years of exile, Hardie''s arming up....and heading home.

Black Canary, Starling, Poison Ivy and Batgirl. Together, as Gotham City''s covert ops team, they''re taking down the villains other heroes can''t touch. They are the Birds of Prey. The Birds face a multitude of threats from outside and in! A dangerous new villains threatens to expose Black Canary''s dark secret, and the Court of Owls sets its sight on everyone in Gotham for a ''Night of the Owls'' tie-in. Plus, the girls bring a gravely injured Poison Ivy to the Amazon hoping to help rejuvenate her, but they''re going to need her help more to stay alive!

Every mission is a suicide mission. Your name is Angelo Mortalli. Your brother is trapped behind enemy lines and on the verge of — no. That’s not right. Your name is Raymond Garrison. You’ve retired from the dangers of the field, but a desperate plea from your oldest friend plunges you into a vicious firefight that — no. That’s not right, either. You are Bloodshot. You are the shade of gray that freedom requires. The perfect confluence of military necessity and cutting-edge technology. A walking WikiLeaks. A reservoir of dirty secrets that could set the world on fire. And you’ve just been captured. Collecting BLOODSHOT #1-4 (2012) by best-selling writer Duane Swierczynski and acclaimed artists Manuel Garcia & Arturo Lozzi, find out why this is the series that has IGN proclaiming “Valiant is quickly becoming the publisher to beat.”

CHAINSAW EAT BLOODSHOT! Bloodshot may be the best, but he wasn?t the first. Bloodshot is taking his revenge on Project Rising Spirit?the secret quasi-government experimental division that created him ? one body at a time. But nothing could have prepared him for what?s waiting for him inside the Nursery. Deep underground, get ready to go to war with the band of misfit killers that Bloodshot used to call brothers-in-arms. Cleaner. Recon. Point. Gunner. Team: CHAINSAW is reporting for duty, sir!

Harbinger Wars, Valiant''s first crossover event, begins here! Two dozen undisciplined, untested and untrained superhuman children have just escaped from a top-secret research facility and into the world. When Bloodshot, Toyo Harada and Peter Stanchek join the chase, will the Valiant Universe be ready for its first all-out superhuman showdown? Collecting HARBINGER WARS #1-4 by acclaimed writers Joshua Dysart (Harbinger) & Duane Swierczynski (Bloodshot) and artist Clayton Henry (Archer & Armstrong), start reading here for a high-stakes tale that will put Valiant''s greatest heroes to the ultimate test!

Originally published in single magazine form in Batgirl annual 1, Birds of Prey, 13-17.

What dark secret connects Project Rising Spirit and Toyo Harada?s Harbinger Foundation? Bloodshot is the creation of Project Rising Spirit, and for years they?ve loaned him out to the U.S. government for the kinds of insane, blood-splattered missions that only a nanite-enhanced commando could possibly survive. But those will be nothing compared to the horrors that await him inside the heavily fortified walls of PRS itself, whose subterranean levels are populated by failed ?projects? that kill and maim for fun. And God help anyone who dares pry open the doors to the ?nursery??

Get a taste of Matt Kindt''s critically acclaimed series _MIND MGMT_, and see San Francisco under assault by giant monsters in Gabriel Hardman and Corrina Bechko''s _Station to Station_! * Return of _X_ by Duane Swierezynski (_Birds of Prey_, _Bloodshot_) and Eric Nguyen. * Eisner Award-winning anthology! "The new series of _Dark Horse Presents_ has demonstrated that quality with every issue, hosting an eclectic mix of veteran creators and new talent alike, with content ranging from brand new short stories and idiosyncratic serials to the return of cult favorite characters and properties."-ComicsAlliance

One is wanted for a murder she didn''t commit. The other is on the run because she knows too much. They are Dinah Laurel Lance and Ev Crawford - a.k.a. Black Canary and Starling - and joining them are the villainous Poison Ivy and the heroic Batgirl and together, as Gotham City''s covert ops team, they''re taking down the villains other heroes can''t touch. They are the Birds of Prey. Collects issues #1-7.

Heroes aren?t born. They?re built. You have no name, just a project designation. They call you Bloodshot, but the voices inside your head call you ?daddy, ?sir,? ?commander,? ?comrade? ? whatever it takes to motivate you to get the job done. But after so many missions and so many lives, you?re finally ready to confront your handlers at Project Rising Spirit and find out who you really are. You?d better move quickly though, because your former masters don?t like it when a billion-dollar weapons project decides to go rogue. Can you discover the truth before their next deadly mind wipe takes you off the board for good? Let?s hope so?because everyone inside you is counting on it.

In The Dark is a monstrous collection of all-new original terror tales from the darkest and most brilliant minds in comics and prose. Featuring an introduction by American Vampire, The Wake, and Severed writer Scott Snyder, and a frightful feature on the history of horror comics, through their rotten rise and dreadful decline by comic book historian Mike Howlett!

Q: I AM TERRIFYING AND FEAR INSPIRING, AND THE PHYSICAL WORLD CANNOT TOUCH ME. WHEN I’M FINISHED, YOU MAY NOT EVEN REMEMBER ME. WHAT AM I? A: A NIGHTMARE. It is well-known among law enforcement personnel that murderers can be categorized as belonging to one of twenty-five levels of evil—from the naive opportunists at Level 1 to the premeditated torture murderers of Level 25. What almost no one knows—except for the elite investigative group headed by Steve Dark—is that a new category of killer has emerged. Now a new Level 26 killer called Labyrinth is causing a worldwide media sensation by committing crimes so depraved, they’re creating a global panic. Only Dark can stop the killer—if he can solve Labyrinth’s most complex and terrifying riddle. THE REVELATIONS ARE HERE. ARE YOU READY TO PLAY?

Neil Gaiman (_Sandman_, _American Gods_) teams with Paul Chadwick (_Concrete_) for The Day the Saucers Came�! Plus, three new series debut this month, including work by Simon Roy (_Prophet_) Shannon Wheeler (_Too Much Coffee Man_), and _Arcade Boy_ by Denis Medri! * Caitl�_n R. Kiernan''s _Alabaster_ and Michael Avon Oeming''s _The_ _Victories_ continue! Comics'' best kept secret trove of great comics."Comic Book Resources **2012 Eisner and Harvey Award winner!**

Collects Deadpool #900 and Deadpool #1000. Thrill as the Merc with a Mouth squares off against probe-happy aliens, trigger-happy mimes, mimes from outer space, urban cannibals, underage hit men, one seriously unhappy fanman and Lady Luck herself!

The first of three explosive pulp thrillers arriving back-to-back from cult crime fiction sensation and Marvel Comics scribe Duane Swierczynski. Charlie Hardie, an ex-cop still reeling from the revenge killing of his former partner''s entire family, fears one thing above all else: that he''ll suffer the same fate. Languishing in self-imposed exile, Hardie has become a glorified house sitter. His latest gig comes replete with an illegally squatting B-movie actress who rants about hit men who specialize in making deaths look like accidents. Unfortunately, it''s the real deal. Hardie finds himself squared off against a small army of the most lethal men in the world: The Accident People. It''s nothing personal-the girl just happens to be the next name on their list. For Hardie, though, it''s intensely personal. He''s not about to let more innocent people die. Not on his watch.

Selene''s Inner Circle stands revealed and her master plan has been set into motion. Watch as the the resurrected dead lay siege to the X-Men''s headquarters, and the fight to survive the Black Queen''s vengeance begins. But while Warpath and Wolverine realize what''s happening, they may be too late to stop it. Because Selene is already well on her way to achieving ultimate power half a world away. Plus, the rest of the X-Men fight mutants back from the dead! Collects X-Force (2008) #21-25, X-Men: Legacy (2008) #231-234, X-Necrosha One-Shot, X-Necrosha: The Gathering One-Shot, New Mutants (2009) #6-8.

Some days, you could just kill your boss. Guess what? The feeling is mutual in the next thriller by the acclaimed author of The Wheelman and The Blonde. Jamie DeBroux''s boss has called a special meeting for all "key personnel" at 9:00 a.m. on a hot Saturday in August. When Jamie arrives, the conference room is stocked with cookies and champagne. His boss smiles and tells his employees, "We''re a cover for a branch of the intelligence community. And we''re being shut down." Jamie''s boss then tells everyone to drink some champagne, and in a few seconds they''ll fall asleep---for good. If they refuse, they''ll be shot in the head. Escape is not an option. Jamie''s boss has shut down the elevators and rigged the fire towers with chemical bombs. Panic sets in, chaos erupts, and no one is sure whom to trust. Jamie quickly realizes that there''s only one way he''s ever going to see his family again: the hard way. Severance Package shows author Duane Swierczynski at his thrilling best.

An out-of-work reporter travels back to the 1970s where he has a chance to stop a murder in this hard-boiled science fiction mystery. “Fashioning an unholy mash-up of Back to the Future, The Time Machine, and Twelve Monkeys, Swierczynski shows once again that when it comes to pulp velocity, pop culture savoir-faire, and storyteller bravado, he’s settling all the standards.” —Megan Abbott, author of The Song Is You and Bury Me Deep Winner, 2011 Anthony Award Mickey Wade is out of work, out of time, and quite possible out of his mind. Mickey Wade is a recently-unemployed journalist who lucked into a rent-free apartment—his sick grandfather’s place. The only problem: it’s in a lousy neighborhood—the one where Mickey grew up, in fact. The one he was so desperate to escape. But now he’s back. Dead broke. And just when he thinks he’s reached rock bottom, Mickey wakes up in the past. Literally. At first he thinks it’s a dream. All of the stores he remembered from his childhood, the cars, the rumble of the elevated train. But as he digs deeper into the past, searching for answers about the grandfather he hardly knows, Mickey meets the twelve-year-old kid who lives in the apartment below. The kid who will grow up to someday murder Mickey’s father . . . “Swierczynski cleverly melds the thriller and fantasy elements (especially the notion of nonlinear time), producing a thoroughly readable, suspenseful romp that evokes John D. MacDonald’s pulp classic The Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything.” —Booklist “Duane Swierczynski is one of the best thriller writers in America, and probably my favorite. I blazed through Expiration Date in one sitting and I loved it.” —James Frey, New York Times–bestselling author of Bright Shiny Morning and A Million Little Pieces

Steve Dark is in retirement. Two years ago, as a member of elite crime squad Special Circs, he came close to putting an end to a psychopath''s killing spree. But not close enough. In revenge, the killer destroyed Dark''s family. Dark quit, vowing that he''d never go back. He''d seen enough carnage and death. But now the killer''s back. The same psychopath who has shot, raped, maimed, poisoned, burned, strangled and tortured 50 people - the man who took away Dark''s family. And Special Circs are convinced that only Dark can stop him. Is Dark prepared to risk everything - his new life - to once more hunt a monster?