9 Impressive Comics by Alex Cormack and David Pepose You Should Read

Comic book writer David Pepose and artist Alex Cormack join the Capes and Tights Podcast for Episode 129 on October 4, 2023. To prepare for the conversation, we have compiled nine comics by Cormack and Pepose you should read right now.

Pepose is a former crime reporter turned Ringo Award-winning comic book creator, he has written on hit titles such as Punisher, Moon Knight: City of the Dead, Savage Avengers, Fantastic Four, Hulk, Avengers Unlimited, and Darth Vader: Black, White & Red, as well as launched critically acclaimed original series including Spencer & Locke, Going to the Chapel, Grand Theft Astro, The O.Z., Scout’s Honor, and more.

Cormack is an illustrator and animator whose works include the critically acclaimed Sink from ComixTribe Publishing, Red Dog from 451 media, the official prequel to the motion picture Hardcore Henry, Hardcore Akan from STX Entertainment and Bliss on Tap Publishing, and Road of Bones and Breath of Shadows from IDW Publishing. He has also done work for Adult Swim, Oni Press, and KRS Comics.

Together David and Alex have co-created, along with letterer Justin Birch, The Devil That Wears My Face at Mad Cave Studios. The debut issue drops on October 4, 2023 in local comic shops.

Breath of Shadows (IDW) // Alex Cormack

It’s the mid-1960s, and Jimmy Meadows should be on top of the world. His band’s most recent album just went gold, and they’re riding a wave to international fame. But Jimmy is driven by only one thing: where to get his next fix. With his bandmates at the end of their ropes and his life falling apart, Jimmy thinks he may be finished, until a friend tells him about a controversial method deep in the jungles of South America that can help him kick his addiction for good. But is clean living actually in Jimmy’s future, or will he instead unleash horrors beyond his wildest nightmares?

Moon Knight: City of the Dead (Marvel) // David Pepose

When a young runaway is attacked by a gang of death cultists, he is left barely alive outside the Midnight Mission. But Marc Spector made a vow long ago to defend the travelers of the night…and as long as a spark of life remains, his mission isn’t over yet. Follow Moon Knight on his most harrowing adventure yet, as the Fist of Khonshu journeys far beyond the land of the living – and battles across the mind-bending underworld known as the City of the Dead!

Sea of Sorrows (IDW) // Alex Cormack

In the aftermath of the Great War, the North Atlantic is ripe for plunder by independent salvage crews. When a former naval officer hires the SS Vagabond, he leads the ship to a sunken U-boat, and a fortune in gold. Tensions mount as the crew prepares to double cross each other, but the darkness of the ocean floor holds deeper terrors than any of them have bargained for!

Spencer & Locke (Action Lab) // David Pepose

Spencer & Locke follows hard-boiled Detective Locke as he investigates a brutal murder with the strangest of partners ― his imaginary talking panther, Spencer. But when they face brutal gunfights, deadly car chases and memories of Locke’s traumatic upbringing, can this unlikely pair survive long enough to find the truth?

Road of Bones (IDW) // Alex Cormack

Horror, history, and Russian folklore collide in this brutal survival tale, where the worst prison in the world is merely the gateway to even darker terrors.

In 1953, the Siberian Gulag of Kolyma is hell on Earth-which is why Roman Morozov leaps at the chance to escape it. But even if they make it out, Roman and his fellow escapees still have hundreds of miles of frozen tundra between them and freedom. With the help of a mysterious being straight out of his childhood fairy tale stories, Roman just might make it-or is the being simply a manifestation of the brutal circumstances driving him insane?

Scouts Honor (AfterShock) // David Pepose

Years after a nuclear apocalypse, a new society has risen from the ashes…and their bible is an old Ranger Scout manual.

A young Ranger Scout named Kit has endured the harsh survivalist upbringing needed to conquer the irradiated Colorado Badlands. But after discovering a terrible secret once lost to history, Kit must risk everything on a dangerous quest to uncover the truth behind the Ranger Scouts’ doctrine.

The Crimson Cage (AWA) // Alex Cormack

Double double toil and rumble…Brace yourself for a No-Holds-Bard reimagining of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth from the critically-acclaimed creators of Sink. New Orleans, 1984. Chuck Frenzy is the main event star of the local Louisiana pro wrestling territory, but yearns for something greater. A fateful encounter with a trio of terrifying beings in the Bayou gives Chuck a glimpse of championship glory beyond his wildest dreams…if he is willing to do something terrible to achieve it.

Join writer John Lees and artist Alex Cormack for a thrilling new vision of the classic tale of ambition and madness,. World Champion Van Emerald is in Louisiana, and Chuck Frenzy is destined to be his successor. But is Chuck really willing to do what is necessary to make the prophecy a reality? Sometimes, to be the man, you gotta kill the man…

The O.Z. // David Pepose

The O.Z. is the Ringo Award-winning story of disillusioned Iraq war veteran Dorothy Gale, who is plucked from the fields of Kansas and dropped into the otherworldly battlefield of Oz. Navigating between bloody factions led by her fabled grandmother’s former friends, Dorothy will have to overcome her own doubts and fears if she hopes to bring peace to the Occupied Zone. For fans of Mad Max: Fury Road, Fables, and The Old Guard.

The Devil That Wears My Face (Mad Cave)

The year is 1740, and the Vatican is in turmoil. Grappling with a profound crisis of faith, outcast exorcist Father Franco Vieri is dispatched on a mission of grave importance — to rescue a Spanish nobleman from the clutches of the sadistic demon known as Legion. But when the exorcism goes tragically wrong, Vieri finds himself trapped in a stranger’s body… and learns what horrors lie ahead when the Devil wears his face. Equal parts Face/Off and The Exorcist.