When Shelf Life points out to Robert Kirkman that he is best known for writing comics about zombies, superheroes, and dinosaurs, the scribe guffaws. Why? “I’m laughing at the absurdity of my life,” says the man responsible for penning Invincible, Super Dinosaur, and, yes, a little post-apocalyptic zombie series called The Walking Dead.

Kirkman’s new project, Thief of Thieves, is an attempt to make his life a little less absurd. “It’s going to be very grounded in the real world,” he says of the comic, which hits shelves Feb. 8. “No zombies, no space aliens, no superheroes. It’s just going to be real human characters doing somewhat horrible things to each other.”

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: So what else can you tell us about Thief of Thieves?
ROBERT KIRKMAN: Well, it’s a fine comic book, if I do say so myself. It’s somewhat of a crime-caper comic about a professional thief named Conrad Paulson. He is one of the greatest thieves who’s ever lived, but he’s gotten to a point in his life where he realizes that he’s chosen his professional life over his family life and greatly regrets that. He’s got an adult son who is kind of following in his footsteps but doing a horrible job, and he has an estranged wife that he is still very much in love with. Our story picks up when he is trying to turn his back on his profession and rekindle his relationship with his wife and trying to fix his son’s horrible predicament. READ FULL STORY »