IDW Publishing remains the most single-minded of American comic book publishers with a serious bent toward the horrific -- a predilection which will be on display once again in Karney, a four-issue mini-series by Bryan Johnson and Walt Flanagan.  Johnson and Flanagan are better known as 'Steve-Dave and Fanboy,' the comic geek characters they have portrayed in Mallrats, Chasing Amy, and Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back.  But acting is far from this duo's only gig -- Johnson has a screenwriting credit for Vulgar, while Flanagan runs Kevin Smith's Red Bank, New Jersey-based comic shop, Jay & Silent Bob's Secret Stash.

The story of a sinister low-rent carnival that heads from one small town to another fleecing the rubes of more than just their money, Karney mixes horror and pathos in a sideshow context the likes of which haven't been seen since Todd Browning's original Freaks (1932).