If you think the Diamond skip week means that you'll be missing out on new comics, think again.

As you may have already heard, the week isn't completely dead ... even if the one new mainstream comic you can buy features a bunch of guys who are. Blackest Night #6 shipped early, meaning your retailer should have a copy waiting for you. Marvel, meanwhile, is releasing a free comic book, Origins of Siege, along with a calendar and some Avengers ID cards. And Dark Horse doesn't have any new books out, but they are updating their MySpace Dark Horse Presents site a little early, with new stories by folks like Jill Thompson and Mark Crilley.

And, of course, there's Indy Comic Book Week. Indy comic creators saw the potential void left on retailer's racks this week, so they kicked off a movement to get their books onto shelves. Tim spoke to four of the planners behind the event about their endeavor, and we've been running previews from various creators for the past couple weeks. You can see even more of them at the Indy Comic Book Week blog.

So, for this very special edition of Can't Wait for Wednesday, Chris, Kevin and I thought we'd get into the spirit and pick out some of the indy releases that we thought looked kinda interesting. These, of course, are only a handful of books that'll be available, and they may not all be available at your local shop. So follow the links we've provided to see if you can buy them locally ... and if not, see if you can buy them online. You might also check out Indy Planet, Midtown Comics and Things from Another World, as many Indy Comic Book Week books can be found on those sites as well.



Carnivale DeRobotique by Tony Trov, Johnny Zito, Mark Fidona and Gabriel Bautista

JK: The writing duo of Tony and Johnny have tackled zombies, vampires and, in the upcoming Moon Girl, superheroes. This one's a little bit different than what you might expect from them -- the story of a nanny droid named Wendy, "who runs away to be a ballerina in the robot circus." Hey, we've all got dreams, right?

Ex Occultus: Badge of Langavat, by Robert James Russell, Sandra Lanz and Tim McDonley

Kevin: All I needed to know is that it's a Victorian supernatural detective-adventure. But if you require more, Ex Occultus is described as "a globetrotting, serialized epic combining elements of Indiana Jones, H.P. Lovecraft and The X-Files." If that doesn't sell you on it, nothing will. This one-shot finds occult hunters Franics Wakefield and Fergus Duff in Scotland searching for missing children and stumbling upon a castle belonging to a family of cursed werewolves. But they're not just any cursed werewolves; they're cursed undead werewolves. That's the worst kind.



God Of Rock A Seventy-Two-Hour Comic by Paul Milligan

JK: I was hoping to get Brutal Legend for Christmas, but that didn't happen ... so I think I'll check this graphic novel out instead. It stars The God of Rock, Pan, and his band ... the Gods of Rock. One of whom is a ninja. And they fight robots, according to the preview up at TFAW.

Green Monk, by Brandon Dayton

Kevin: The debut minicomic by animator and illustrator Brandon Dayton is, judging from these sample pages, a beautifully drawn tale about a monk who wanders the countryside of a mythical Russia wielding only an enchanted blade of grass.



Invisible Sam, The Unremarkable Man by Adam O. Pruett

Chris: This sort of "tale of lowly nobody" has been done enough times before to warrant its own genre, but I like the art style, which seems to have as much of an European sensibility as an American one. That in and of itself can be enough to spur my curiosity. Check out our preview here.

Life (With Friends) #1 by Adam Wilson and Mike Kay

JK: Wilson and Kay offer what looks to be a nice-looking slice of life story about a group of friends trying to find their way after graduating college. Check out some preview pages here.

One Night Stand by David Hopkins and friends

Chris: I like the basic concept behind this minicomic-- a collection of one-page strips about casual sexual encounters -- and the collection of artists like Ryan Dunlavey and Nate Bramble suggests a cartoony vibe I can get behind. Plus, comics about sex! Those are always funny, right? Find more info here and here.



Senryu, by Matthew Warlick

Kevin: Another debut, this time from Dallas-based artist Matthew Warlick, is a bit of a hybrid -- or is that a chimera? -- blending poetry, comics, prose and who knows what else. Warlick dubs it "an abstract journey into the mind, dreams and subconscious of the artst," so make of that what you will. The art looks nice, though.

So Buttons by Jonathan Bayliss

Chris: Yet another autobio comic, but the samples on Bayliss' page suggest a nice sense of self-deprecation, particularly when writer Bayliss works with artist T.J. Kirsch. I seem to recall the book popping up on my radar elsewhere -- perhaps at SPX -- so it's definitely something I'm at least curious to check out.