2006 Blog'D Award - Best New Independent Comic

Cobb: Off The Leash was a three-issue mini-series released by IDW Publishing released in mid-2006 (which is going to enjoy a reprint as a magazine-format collection in 2007) telling the story of former Level One Secret Service Agent Frank Cobb, the Russian mafia, terrorists and a good, healthy dose of action. The characterizations are tight, the plot is brisk and the artwork - by Eduardo Barreto - guides the reader through Cobb's world of excitement and heroism.

Writer Beau Smith is no stranger to the Blog'D Awards, but he's also no stranger to creating compelling characters, and Cobb is one of his best (there is no clunky origin or back-story here - in a few economic pages, Mr. Smith gives us a scene from Cobb's childhood that perfectly sets the character up for the reader). In a medium dominated by characters in colorful costumes, Cobb's heroism defined by what he wears, but by what he does.