This new comics available at Joker’s Child this week feature men of metal—of all shapes and sizes. 

First, from Marvel Comics, comes “Invincible Iron Man” #500.1.

“Tony Stark takes his first stps into the future! The Armored Avenger soars to never before seen heights and he's not going alone. Learn what it means to be Iron Man in the 21st Century,” said Marvel Comics.

Len Katz, co-owner of Joker’s Child on River Road, said Marvel is attempting something new with this comic as by starting the “.1” series.

“This new ‘point one’ series Marvel reaching out to new readers with stories that are in continuity but do not have anything to do with the main storyline,” he said. “The ‘point one’ series is will feature stand-alone adventures of the characters.”

Katz said that sometimes the continuity of storylines can get confusing and new readers may be hesitant to try a new title. This new style allows for the more iconic aspects of a character, and a character’s story that fans are familiar with, to be featured.

“But at the same time, a series does have its devoted fans and the story line and continuity can continue forward,” said Katz.

Katz said it made sense to do this with Iron Man since he has been the vanguard of Marvel’s Movie Reboot.

“The two ‘Iron Man’ movies have been incredibly popular and it makes sense that Marvel is going in this direction,” said Katz.

Speaking of going in another direction, IDW Publishing is releasing the next title in its “Infestation” crossover series that features the Transformers, Ghostbusters, G.I. Joe and the crew of the Starship Enterprise from Star Trek fighting zombies. The new “Infestation” storyline was discussed in last week’s “Getting Graphic” column on Patch.

“The biggest event in IDW Publishing's history infects the TRANSFORMERS universe with this two-part, bi-weekly series written by Infestation architects [Dan] Abnett and [Andy] Lanning,” said IDW Publishing. “Boom! Bam! Smash! Buildings are falling, and the dead are rising! When Big-Bad Galvatron crash lands on Earth, something ain't right. It's up to our 'Bots-in-blue to run to the rescue or...well...everyone to fight off not just Galvatron, but the zombie horde spreading through Las Vegas!”

Katz said zombies are the rage this year.

“From the ‘Walking Dead’ to Marvel’s Zombie series, the animated and hungry corpses are as popular as they ever were and to see the Transformers facing them should be interesting,” said Katz. “They’re giant robots who do not have to worry about having their brains eaten, so let’s see how this plays out.”

Katz said that writers Abnett and Lanning, known as DNA to the fans, prove to be a good mix for this IDW Series.

“Abnett and Lanning were popular on Marvel’s cosmic-themed comic books and they should do well here,” said Katz.