New Releases by John Layman

'BASEBALL, HOT DOGS AND APPLE PIE,' Part One Mike Applebee's good day, Tony Chu's first day and John Colby's last day. An issue of beginning and endings, as we head into the fifth story arc of the multi-Eisner award nominated series about cops, crooks, cooks, cannibals, clairvoyants and--meter maids?

Welcome to Area 51, Tony Chu. Would you like some steak sauce with your dead extraterrestrial?

USDA Suicide mission! Boobs! Germ warfare! And a very, very special guest star!

Bullied nerd Peter Pilaf goes all 'food-Columbine' on the students of Francis Bacon High. Plus: fun with astronauts!

Mother Clucker's Homestyle Fried Chicken Palace is open for business! THIS YEAR'S EISNER AND HARVEY AWARD WINNERS FOR BEST NEW SERIES, BELIEVE IT OR NOT!

Collects Chew #11-15! Things are looking up for Tony Chu, the cibopathic federal agent with the ability to get psychic impressions from the things he eats. He's got a girlfriend. He's got a partner he trusts. He even seems to be getting along with his jerk boss. But his ruthless ex-partner is still out there, operating outside of the law, intending to make good on his threats against Tony and everybody Tony cares about. It's just a matter of time before their investigations collide, blood spills and-inevitably-body parts are eaten. Presenting the third storyline of CHEW, the follow-up to the New York Times Best Sellers 'Taster's Choice' and 'International Flavor.' Check out the strange and darkly comic series about cops, crooks, cooks, cannibals and clairvoyants. Winner of the Eisner Award for Best New Series and nominated for Eagle and Harvey awards to boot!

It's the final chapter of the 'Just Desserts' and the biggest story in CHEW history, figuratively and literally. As we reach the one-quarter mark of the CHEW run, the last remaining major characters are introduced and an event transpires that is so shocking and unexpected that it changes the book forever, fundamentally and irrevocably. And, as a special sloppy, wet kiss to everyone who has supported the book and helped it to succeed beyond our wildest expectations: CHEW #15 is bonus-sized, with more story pages and a special TRI-FOLD POSTER COVER at no extra cost!

Cibopath showdown! NOT SUITABLE FOR ALL AGES

The killer cock Poyo returns! Feathers will fly, and blood will spill! Plus: Tony Chu undercover!

A few months ago an intact mastodon was discovered encased in a glacier in Siberia. A few weeks ago the lab doing DNA sequencing on the prehistoric creature mysteriously burned to the ground. And a few days ago, Special Agent Tony Chu discovered an exclusive diner''s club of the very, very rich who commit crimes in order to procure the meat of the rare, exotic and extinct. Tonight is their annual dinner. Guess who''s coming to dinner to stop them?

Collects Chew #6-10! Tony Chu, the cibopathic federal agent with the ability to get psychic impressions from the things he eats, is on a bizarre new case. A newly discovered fruit takes Agent Chu to a remote island full of secrets, strangeness-and a shadowy killer with a particularly sinister appetite. Presenting the second storyline of IGN.com''s pick for Best Indie Series of 2009 and MTV Splash Page.com''s pick for Best New Series of 2009. Find out what the fuss is about in this latest a twisted and darkly funny comic about cops, crooks, cooks, cannibals and clairvoyants.

WTF, vampires?!?!?

Introducing Poyo! In the cockfighting ring, Poyo is almost impossible to defeat. This makes Poyo''s owners very, very rich. It also has a habit of making Poyo''s owners very, very dead. Guess who gets assigned to track down Poyo, and the murderers who have stolen him?

Meet Lin Sae Woo. She''s a covert operative for the United States Department of Agriculture, and one its most lethal assassins. She has the equivalent of black belts in four different disciplines of martial arts hand-to-hand combat and is equally deadly with swords, throwing knifes, sniper rifles and handguns. She''ll make a corpse out of anybody who tries to stand between her and completion of her current assignment-and that includes that nosy F.D.A. agent with the creepy cibopath power, Tony Chu!

Tony Chu''s jerk boss: Agent Chu, go eat that. Tony Chu: That''s the grossest thing ever. I''m not gonna eat that. Tony Chu''s new partner: I got an idea. We''re detectives, right? Lie to your boss, and let''s solve this old school - before your boss figures out you lied to him and makes you eat the grossest thing ever! Presenting the first chapter of ''International Flavor,'' the globe-trotting second story arc in the inexplicably well-received comic about cops, crooks, cooks, cannibals and clairvoyants!

TASTER''S CHOICE, Conclusion. FDA Agent Tony Chu just landed the biggest bust of his career, but while the bullets were flying and the bodies were falling, Tony''s partner Mason Savoy took a slug. Now, Tony''s on his own, and he just ate something that''s revealed the identity of a dangerous enemy-- the absolute last person Tony should be facing without backup. The stunningly violent conclusion to first story arc of the surprise hit of the season-- and just maybe the very best comic you will read all month about cops, crooks, cooks, cannibals & clairvoyants!

A senator with bloodstream full of drugs and a belly full of chicken is stone dead in the morgue, and the trail leads back all the way the Arctic, to a joint U.S./Russian space observatory that has been singularly focused on a single, distant, Earth-like planet. Tony Chu and his partner are about to discover whatever secret this planet holds does not compare to those being kept by the astronomers. Yeah, that weird stuff just got weirder, in a spacey story from Image''s deliciously twisted new series about cops, crooks, cooks, cannibals and clairvoyants!

Amelia Mintz is a food critic and a Saboscrivner. That means she can write about food so accurately, so vividly and with such precision, people get the actual sensation of taste when reading her restaurant reviews. Since the government prohibition of poultry, she''s lost her enthusiasm for the culinary world, and only reviews restaurants with a ''D'' rating or less from the Health Department. Her last review caused half the city to projectile vomit, and sent hundreds to the hospital with severe food poisoning. Agent Tony Chu has been assigned to arrest Amerlia Mintz, but there''s just one problem with that...he''s madly in love with her!

It''s Tony Chu''s first day on the job as a federal agent for the FDA, the most powerful law-enforcement agency on the planet. He''s got a new partner who thinks he knows everything, a boss who hates his guts for no good reason, and his first order of business is to eat a decomposing finger found in a fast food cheeseburger. By the end of the day, Tony will ingest rancid sushi, face Yakuza assassins and meet the girl of his dreams. It''s all in a day''s work for Tony Chu, in the latest chapter of ''Chew,'' a deliciously unsettling new comic about cops, crooks, cooks, cannibal and clairvoyants.

The cross-over no one asked for - or expected - is finally here! Too big for the movie or television screen, Dynamite presents the ultimate "Why Not?" tale as Ash and Army of Darkness meets Xena, the Warrior Princess! Written by John Layman and illustrated by Miguel Montenegro, the first volume of our most unnecessary adventure finds Ashley J. Williams transported to the world of Xena and Gabrielle - and, most importantly, Autolycus, who of course, bears more than a passing resemblance to our main man Ash. Throw in the Necronomicon and an evil little Ash taking charge of a group of fairies (the winged kind) and hey, you've got yourselves a story!

Writer John (Marvel Zombies Vs. The Army of Darkness) Layman returns to the world of Xena, and he's joined by artist Noah Salonga as they present the story of Dark Xena Taking place some time after the series finale of Xena: Warrior Princess and before the events of the "Contest of Pantheons," Dark Xena finds Gabriele making a request of the Gods and learning that you must be very, very careful what you wish for - and how you wish for it! Xena is Dead, Long Live Xena.. er.. Dark Xena, that is... and by Dark, we mean just plain Nasty...Mean... and Evil! Plus: The Xena Annual by writer Keith (Arena) Champagne and artist Noah Salonga.

Batman's final confrontation with the Wrath is here. Can Batman stop his evil counterpart from claiming any more victims as an epic battle bursts onto the city streets?

A "Death of the Family" tie-in issue! As the Joker continues to wreak havoc on The Dark Knight and his allies, Batman is forced to cut a deal with The Penguin...one that will come back to haunt both of them when a new villain interferes!

When Bruce Wayne's life is saved by the Penguin, what surprises are in store for The Dark Knight? And in the backup story, an intimate look at Gotham City's most dangerous foes provides a hint of the maelstrom to come.

All hail Emperor Penguin! The avian-themed antagonist has put a hit out on Bruce Wayne. Can Batman save himself from the menace of the Penguin?

In the stunning finale of ''Gothtopia,'' Batman discovers the terrifying secret behind this brave new world.