uclick, the interactive arm of Andrews McMeel Universal, aims to change this with a new program bringing downloadable comics to iPhones and iPod Touch via Itunes and the iPhone App Store. Each issue of a comic costs just $0.99, although eventually longer stories may have higher price points. The uclick store already carries titles from IDW (the just announced The Thief of by Always by Clive Barker), Image (Elephant Men and Godland), Papercutz and Mirage, as well as comic strips—Pibgorn—and self published titles—Jeff Smith's Bone. By next year uclick hope to have hundred of new comics available on iTunes, says CEO Douglas Edwards, and creating original content is not out of the question.

Any pairing of two masterminds can elicit murmurs of approval—or of apprehension. But all readers can rest assured that in this case, the pairing of seinen manga suspense master Urasawa and legendary cartoonist Tezuka is a very, very good thing. In Pluto, Urasawa takes Tezuka's Pinocchio-inspired Astroboy and reimagines it as a futuristic thriller. Touching on many of the themes in Tezuka's story of a robot boy—the overlap of man and machine, the capacity for artificial intelligence to feel emotion, the true meaning of humanity—Pluto offers adult graphic novel readers (and fans of Urasawa's Monster) classic, all-ages Tezuka themes in a mature package. Volume one opens with the death (or murder) of the beloved robot hero, Mont Blanc. Merging current-day life with futuristic projections, Urasawa and longtime editor/producer Nagasaki develop a world where robots live among humans, sometimes living as humans—marrying, having children, taking jobs. Hardworking Detective Gesicht is one of those robots. As he slowly unravels the mystery of the death of Mont Blanc—and subsequent, related murders—he uncovers the disturbing news that he will be next. The creators subtly and seamlessly set up Gesicht's world, while digging deep to reveal the strange dichotomy of life and living among artificial beings. For anyone who doesn't believe that there's any good mature manga in the U.S., Pluto is required reading. (Feb.)

Comic creator and animator Lilli Carré has been a talent to watch since Tales of Woodsman Pete hit the stands in 2006. Her first professionally published comic, Woodsman Pete was nominated for an Eisner award. Since then, her work has been featured on exclusive greeting cards, at galleries across the nation, on screen at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and in the anthology Best American Comics as both a contributor and cover artist. Her first graphic novel, The Lagoon, came out from Fantagraphics Books this October.

• Brave and the Bold Vol. 1: Lords of Luck (DC)
• American Freakshow (IDW Publishing)
• Captain America: The Chosen (Marvel)
• Nicolas (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Sulk Vol. 2: Deadly Awesome (Top Shelf Productions)
• One-Pound Gospel Vol. 4 (Viz Media)
• Blood Plus Vol. 4 (Dark Horse)
• Sea View (Digital Manga Publishing)
• Jyu-Oh-Sei Vol. 2 (Tokyopop)
• Black Lagoon Vol. 3 (Viz Media)

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