There’ve been so many new comics released lately that I haven’t had time to read them all. Now it’s time to play catch up. I’m always game for checking out brand new comic books, especially from creator-owned Image Comics since they are usually outside of the superhero genre and filled with unique stories. Burnouts #1 and Man-Eaters #1 are no exception.

• Burnouts #1 by Image Comics
• Written by Dennis Culver
• Art by Geoffo
• Rated M

Getting wasted is just the price you pay to save the world.

Part Superbad, part Pineapple Express, and part Neighborhood Watch, Burnouts #1 is high intrigue. (See what I did there?) Andy is a high school teenager who wants to step out of his shell and experience more than just playing video games. In fact, he wants a bit of trouble in his life. Unfortunately, he finds himself with way more than he was expecting.

When he sneaks out of the house to go to a house party, Andy encounters three things: weed, burnout pothead classmates, and aliens. Is he just having a really bad trip, or is he inadvertently tasked with a mission to save the world from mysterious invaders? The first issue doesn’t go into too much explanation but certainly makes me want to see where this is going.

Burnouts doesn’t seem thematically mature (yet) so the M rating must just be for the drug use, which turns out to be central to the story. If you’re not into stoner stories or high school drama, then you may want to stay away, but if you’re looking for a unique take on an alien invasion tale, this may be for you.

• Man-Eaters #1 by Image Comics
• Written by Chelsea Cain
• Art by Kate Niemczyk
• Rated T+

If you see a cat: do not approach, do not provoke, seek shelter immediately.

What can I say? I’m a dog guy. I hate cats. If I lived in the world depicted in Man-Eaters #1, I would certainly be in good company. The cats in this story are mean (like, worse than normal jerk cats), giant, and can eat your face off. Oh yeah, and they’re also teenage girls.

12-year old Maude lives with her homicide detective father. When a gruesome death in the neighborhood is determined to be a mauling by a giant cat, the reader is thrust into a world where the onset of menstruation in girls turns them into killers. Because of this, society has added period-suppressing hormones to the water supply and formed heavy-duty task forces to wipe out the dangerous threat.

I love this story, which can be attributed to the inimitable Chelsea Cain. Niemczyk’s artwork is fantastic, and there’s just enough action and intrigue to hook me on this story for a while. It’s described as part Handmaid’s Tale, but I also got a little bit of Y: The Last Man kinda vibe as well. I like most of Image’s stuff, but I have a feeling Man-Eaters will hit big. Jump on the bandwagon early, and pick this one up before the eventual TV show or movie.