Second 24Seven Anthology Goes International
 In a year when anthologies like Flight and Kramer's Ergot defined the alternative side of comics, last year's robot-themed 24Seven was a place for more mainstream creators to mingle. After a successful first outing, editor/writer Ivan Brandon is putting together a second 24Seven volume for August. The 200 page anthology includes science fiction-tinged tales by creators such as Ashley Wood, Gene Ha, Adam Hughes, Jason Aaron, Dave Johnson and Will Pfeiffer. The anthology will be published again by Image and has a cover by Wood. While the last anthology had an impressive creative line-up, Brandon has assembled an equally distinctive bunch this time out,
including artists from Brazil, Spain, England, and Canada.
The second anthology grew out of the first one, said Brandon, who compiled the book as editor and wrote a few stories for it. "It was sort of a haphazard thing. The contacts that I had hunted down the first time have expanded and beyond that a lot of people I look up to and respect have approached me."
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Grisly and surreal, this story of an alien invasion gives the phrase "talk to the hand" a whole new meaning. Alien spores roughly the size of tennis balls fall to earth one night; from within crawl sluglike creatures that burrow their way into the brains of humans, effectively killing them and taking over their bodies. Young Shinichi is wearing headphones when one tries to attack him, and it ends up taking over his hand instead. The hand talks to him—in time, he names it Migi ("right")—and begins devouring books to learn more about the new "host race." Meanwhile, other invaders are devouring people, touching off a worldwide string of horrid murders; the
invaders can sense one another, and a clue in a late chapter hints at some sort of purpose for their trip to Earth. Violence is graphic and often shocking, depicted in a style reminiscent of western comics and H.R. Giger. The ordinary nature of the rest of the illustration gives the whole book an unsettling edge, a sort of subliminal "it could happen anywhere" vibe. A cult favorite manga, this was originally released in the U.S. by Tokyopop in the '90s, but Del Rey is presenting a new translation and it should find an eager audience. (May) 
