Since the late 1970s, on a weekly basis, I always have eagerly anticipated the day new comics were released. This week was faced with the greatest amount of anticipation, because of events in my personal life. In the early hours of this past Tuesday morning, a seizure of unknown origin rendered me temporarily unable to speak and unexpectedly hospitalized for a few days. One immediate change due to my hospitatlization, state law prohibits me from driving for the next six months. Fortunately, my wife was kind enough to drive me to the comic book store the day after my release from the hospital.

This week, due to my health scare, I was just a smidge more appreciative than normal to see the release of the first issue for Jimmie Robinson's new Image Comics creator-owned series, The Empty.

When Robinson teased the project for ROBOT 6 late last year, he could not contain his enthusiasm ("Create, write, pencil, ink, color, letter, covers, etc. It will be a real blast ... Big thanks to Shadowline Comics at Image for publishing this. Not many folks would, if any, would allow such control from cover to cover.") Jump forward then to this past week, as he discussed one of the series' main characters with CBR's George A. Tramountanas: "She can grow lush and vibrant things in a world that is basically brown and dead ... Some characters want to exploit her powers, while some characters see her as a threat and want her dead. It's like a nuclear arms race, but with farming as the power."

A quality about Robinson's art on this first issue that captured my attention is because in a sense, he reminds me of Stuart Immonen. What I mean by that is Robinson remains a veteran artist never satisfied at settling into one consistent style. Like Immonen, Robinson chooses to push himself and his work in new directions. Likening agriculture to munitions is a comparison that shouts out to me on so many levels. Narratives set in an apocalyptic landscape are nothing new or remarkable--in the hands of most storytellers. Robinson is not like most creators. He never has been, nor will he ever.

I am glad to be alive for numerous personal reasons, I hope that goes without saying. But I am also glad that once my health was stabilized this week, Robinson's The Empty was one of the first new comics to come my way.

[Editor’s note: Each Sunday, Robot 6 contributors discuss the best in comics from the last seven days — from news and announcements to a great comic that came out to something cool creators or fans have done.]