Jim McCann, Rodin Esquejo, and Sonia Oback’s Mind the Gap #1 is one of two titles debuting from Image Comics this week that feature mysterious female leads, with this being the more cerebral of the two. Initially envisioned as a television series, the story centers around the mystery of what happened to a wealthy young girl who is attacked and left comatose on a subway platform, though she is awake somewhere. The first issue introduces a solid helping of familial dysfunction, out of body experiences, and powerful forces pulling the strings.

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Raffaele Ienco’s Epic Kill #1 is one of two titles featuring mysterious females debuting from Image Comics this week, with this being the more action packed option. Ienco is not a creator I’m familiar with, and credited as the series’ creator, writer and artist this was an impressive introduction to his work. His art reminds of Clay Mann and Billy Tan and is easily the greatest strength of the issue. In contrast, Ienco’s story of the St. Thomas School for Troubled Girls’ amnesiac killing machine,”Song,” is less interesting, perhaps due to it’s initial similarities to Firefly‘s River Tam, Marvel’s X-23, and Echo from Dollhouse.

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New from writer Jonathan Hickman and artist Ryan Bodenheim is Secret, a series that aims to combine industrial espionage with political conspiracy.  Though I’m glad I read its first installment, the book left me somewhat underwhelmed.  Admittedly, Secret #1 was my first introduction to Hickman’s writing.  Given the high level of praise he receives on various comic book forums across the internet, my expectations were rather elevated.
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Image Comics’ Saga is the latest series from writer Brian K. Vaughan (Y: The Last Man) and artist Fiona Staples (Mystery Society).  The first issue, released on March 14, 2012, introduces the story of forbidden lovers, Marko and Alana, from two warring races. The issue witnesses the birth of their child and the family’s attempts to evade capture in order to live out their lives together peacefully.

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In The Manhattan Projects, writer Jonathan Hickman proposes that the historic Manhattan Project, which focused on the development of an atomic bomb, was instead a high profile cover for the true nature of the program. In this reality, Oppenheimer and company were working on a variety of conspiracy-inspiring super science projects to aid in the war effort and far beyond. The first issue of Hickman and artist Nick Pitarra’s new series from Image Comics introduces a wild alternate history and some terrifying characters.

Spoilers for The Manhattan Projects #1 will follow.

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