TEN GRAND (2013)

"Joe Fitzgerald was a mob enforcer until the day he met Laura, who convinced him to leave that world behind. Before quitting, Joe agreed to one last job, little realizing that the man he'd been sent to kill was deeply involved in demonlogy. He survived Joe's attempt and came after him, fatally wounding Joe and killing Laura. As he lay dying, an angelic force (who may or may not be what she appears) pointed out that where she is going, he can't follow, and where he is going, he wouldn't want her to follow. But if he will agree to work for them as a different kind of enforcer, they will bring him to life and keep on bringing him to life every time he is killed in a righteous cause. The reward: for those five minutes of death, he will be with Laura again. Would you endure an eternity of pain and death, dying over and over, to be with the woman you love for just five minutes each time you died? Most people might say no. But Joe Fitzgerald isn't most people. A bold new era begins with the long-anticipated return of Joe's Comics, the imprint that brought you MIDNIGHT NATION and RISING STARS. All-new stories from J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI (Babylon 5, Jeremiah, Thor, Amazing Spider-Man, Superman: Earth One) return in 2013 with an action packed line up featuring everything from superhero action to supernatural thrillers. Watch this space as a new wave of exciting, challenging and experimental stories begins!"

"'ANGELS NEVER LIE' FDA (Federal Demon Association) Advisory. Contents contain: one cult church where incantations are encoded into the playlist; one flesh-dwelling, food-obsessed demon; one seer capable of perceiving the spirit world but blinded to this one; one missing woman; one murder; one angel with an agenda of his own; and one rendezvous between supernatural investigator Joe Fitzgerald and the woman he loves, now deceased, in what may or may not be heaven. Warning: do not operate heavy equipment while reading."

"story J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI art / cover BEN TEMPLESMITH Joe Fitzgerald's client is dead. The young woman he went searching for on her behalf is dead. And he's not happy about it. Worse still, someone's shaking the foundations of Heaven, in a move putting the spirit of his beloved Laura in jeopardy. Someone's going to pay for it...even if that means walking into Hell itself."

"Joe Fitzgerald has been to heaven many times...or at least someplace that looks a lot like heaven if you didn't know any better. But now he's going somewhere he's never been before: into Hell itself, in pursuit of the woman he loves. What he finds there will change his life forever."

"Joe Fitzgerald has crossed into Hell itself in an attempt to rescue Laura, the spirit of his murdered love who had been safely ensconced in Heaven (or someplace that looks a lot like it) before all the forces of Hell tore the veil to take her down into the depths of utter darkness. But why would they take her? Why would Heaven allow her to be taken? And what's Joe going to do when he finally learns the secret behind her situation? Be assured that someone's going down for this, and going down hard."

"Why has a wounded angel been chained and imprisoned on the outskirts of hell for a hundred thousand years? And why should Joe Fitzgerald care enough to help her, since it'll just slow him down in his search for Laura? Knowing that his actions could result in his permanent death, and with a civil war breaking out in heaven, Joe must make a fateful decision that will endanger not only his soul, but the soul of the woman he loves more than life itself."

"Joe Fitzgerald finds himself with a most unusual companion on his journey to Hell: an angel cast out by Heaven and unwanted in Hell. Soon they find themselves hunted by dark forces determined to stop their mission to rescue Laura...and only one of them may survive to see the journey to its conclusion."

"Joe Fitzgerald entered Hell to find out what happened to Laura, the greatest love he has ever known. At last, he has found her...only to be captured by the same man who killed both of them and seized Laura's spirit from deep inside Heaven. It's the beginning of the confrontation Joe has been fighting to make happen ever since the Angel put him on this mission, but nothing's going his way. If Joe dies this time, it's permanent, and he and Laura will be trapped in Hell forever."

"When Joe Fitzgerald was hired to find a runaway, he never imagined that pursuing that case would take him into the afterlife itself, pursuing the man who was also responsible for the death of the woman he loved more than life itself. Having crossed into Hell, Joe at last discovers that what seemed like a simple case is in fact a plot to tear down the walls of Heaven, overthrow God and reboot Creation itself...and Joe is the only man who can stop the destruction of everything."

"Joe has penetrated into the depths of Hell to save Laura, the woman he loves more than life itself, from a horrific fate beyond description. He's learned the Enemy's plans to bring down Heaven. They think he's cornered, trapped, neutralized. They're wrong, and by the end of this issue, the ultimate war between heaven and hell will begin...with Joe Fitzgerald right at the center of the biggest fight since the dawn of Creation."

"What began with a simple assignment has turned into a war for the very throne of Heaven itself, with Joe Fitzgerald caught between two massive armies of Light and Dark. It all comes down to one decision, one moment, and based on what he decides the universe itself may come apart at the seams. Will Joe go all the way for love? Or will he save the world but lose his soul?"

"Issue twelve signals the emotional conclusion of the first title from Joe's Comics: the latest war between Heaven and Hell is over, for now, with casualties as far as the stars themselves. But Laura's fate is still to be resolved. When Joe makes a life-or-death request of the Powers, a favor beyond anything he could have imagined, will they consent...and lift the veil between life and death one last time?"