Last year, we got the news that Archaia is reworking the late Shotaro Ishinomori's classic manga Cyborg 009 as a Western-style comic. This week, we get a first look at it as they post the first issue on comiXology. Cyborg 009: Chapter 000, priced at $2.99, is actually a package deal, with the first 17 pages of the new version (to be released as a graphic novel at Comic-Con International) and the first 61 pages of the manga. While the real intention is probably to whet readers' appetites, the release also coincides handily with Ishinomori's 75th birthday.

(For those who like to get back to roots, Shaenon Garrity has a loving explanation of the original, which is available on comiXology for $4.99 a volume).

Anyway, the coolest thing about this sampler is something you won't see on the hard copy: the "truly digital" variant cover. It's a cover that can only appear on the digital comic because the image builds up with a series of swipes. This type of reveal has been used before, in Mark Waid and Peter Krause's Insufferable and Marvel's Avengers vs. X-Men #1: Infinite (written by Waid and drawn by Stuart Immonen), but this is the first time I have seen it on a cover. And it will likely be unique, not just to digital but to comiXology, because it uses comiXology's Guided View to achieve the effect.

You can check out an animated GIF of the cover below.