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[Tues, 8.Aug.06]
:. Comic Con 2006
Comic Con is like Mecca for pop culture geeks.

[Mon, 7.Aug.06]
:. Sojourn: The Legend of Drizzt Book 3
Much of Sojourn is spent impressing upon the reader the goodness of Drizzt and the evilness of his adversaries.

[Wed, 2.Aug.06]
:. Scott Pilgrim, Vols. 1-3
Scott Pilgrim is one of the most enjoyable comics out there today, blending western and eastern artistic influences, as well as infusing its plot with various video game, comic book, movie and other pop culture influences.

[Mon, 31.Jul.06]
:. Blackgas #1-3
A dirty secret of the privileged is locked away, here, like a skeleton in the closet with flesh still hanging from its bones.

[Thur, 27.Jul.06]
:. A Scanner Darkly
Hallucination is not a private matter; it is a a subjective reality, backed with the force of unyielding belief, and it can become consensus reality.

[Wed, 26.Jul.06]
:. Cthulhu Tales #1
Cthulhu: H.P. Lovecraft's ideas -- and his fears -- captured.

[Tues, 25.Jul.06]
:. Vampire Loves
It is as noteworthy for its good-natured enjoyment as it is for its ability to take ideas and plot elements which have been fodder for graphic novels for years and construct them into a wholly original tale.

[Fri, 21.Jul.06]
:. X-men: Deadly Genesis #1-6
I really am not interested in characters I grew up with being sullied.

[Wed, 19.Jul.06]
:. The Lost Colony, Book One: The Snodgrass Conspiracy
Like the island and the people at the center of this tale, The Lost Colony, while off the beaten path, is worth exploring.

[Mon, 17.Jul.06]
:. Eternals #1
Jack Kirby had a knack for creating heady, mind-bending concepts dressed in superhero clothing, and Neil Gaiman simply refines this already brilliant material with sharp dialogue and characterization, while weaving it into a modern context.

[Thur, 13.Jul.06]
:. Outsiders #34-37
Winick writes an original and multi-dimensioned comic that contributes to the richness of the superhero genre and adds fuel to the debate over its direction.

[Wed, 12.Jul.06]
:. Infinite Crisis #1-7
It is not your typical superhero book, owing more to the works of Raymond Chandler and film noir than Lee and Kirby.

[Mon, 10.Jul.06]
:. X-Factor #1-4
It is not your typical superhero book, owing more to the works of Raymond Chandler and film noir than Lee and Kirby.

[Fri, 7.Jul.06]
:. Ex Machina Special #1-2
If any current comic series is to become a film, Ex Machina should be it.

[Thur, 6.Jul.06]
:. The Wang: Who's Your Daddy?
Yan's protagonist, Eugene, is a wonderful cipher for the aloof, oft-misguided paranoia that characterizes so many twentysomethings carving out a life for themselves in the 21st century.

[Wed, 5.Jul.06]
:. Zombie Tales: The Dead
Six stories that are almost completely different from each other. Some good, some bad, but each illustrates the potential for diversity within the genre.

[Fri, 30.Jun.06]
:. Top 10: The Forty-Niners
What place is there for trained killers with haunted pasts and few useful skills in a peaceful society?

[Thur, 29.Jun.06]
:. Superman / Batman #26
It was then that it occurred to me that comics, more so then any other medium, form a community.

[Wed, 28.Jun.06]
:. Fell #3-5
Fell is defiantly avoiding falling into a formula, refusing to squeeze variations on the same story into every issue.

[Tues, 27.Jun.06]
:. What Were They Thinking? Some People Never Learn
This comic could force us to re-examine our categories and ideas of originality and creativity in the comics industry.

[Fri, 23.Jun.06]
:. Loveless, Vol. 1: A Kin of Homecoming
In terms of its dark content, the Western has been on the verge of arriving at this destination for the past 40 years.

[Thur, 22.Jun.06]
:. Zombie Sama: Special Edition
Tucci's attempt to give the story a political message and a metaphoric backbone is clunky, forced and jarringly awkward.

[Tues, 20.Jun.06]
:. Y: The Last Man Vol. 7: Paper Dolls
It is always interesting to see Vaughn, Guerra, et al.'s vision of an apocalyptic world and how it is a mirror to our own.

[Mon, 19.Jun.06]
:. Fury: Peacemaker
Forged in the battles of World War II he, like the American military, will learn from his mistakes and carry on all the way to a position of global power.

[Thur, 15.Jun.06]
:. War of the Worlds: Second Wave #2
The book is an improvement over the first issue, but still is lacking a lot of what would make it a good story.

[Tues, 13.Jun.06]
:. Batman: Year 100 #4 (of 4)
In Paul Pope's version of Batman, the state has become the super-villian.

[Mon, 12.Jun.06]
:. Killer7 #1
The game is a story that is designed from the ground-up to be a videogame, and a literal translation as I have in my hands is missing the point.

[Fri, 9.Jun.06]
:. Fantastic Four/Iron Man: Big in Japan #1-4
With monsters drooling and causing mass hysteria, Wells and Fisher seem to be trying to outdo one another, with the reader reaping all the benefits.

[Wed, 7.Jun.06]
:. Bite Club: Vampire Crime Unit #1
This kind of writing is frustrating for a reader who is looking for at least a little substance within their $2.99 purchase.

[Mon, 5.Jun.06]
:. Wolverine #36 - 40 / Wolverine Origins #1 - 2
For escapist entertainment, that's not a whole lot of escaping, and barely any entertainment.

[Thur, 1.Jun.06]
:. Super Bad James Dynomite #1
Who would think the minds behind White Chicks would be the ones to finally strike comedy gold, and in comic book form no less?

[Tues, 30.May.06]
:. Cobb: Off the Leash #1
The good guys are good, the bad guys are despicably evil, and the girls are buxom and gorgeous.

[Fri, 26.May.06]
:. Batman Annual #25
Continues the evolution of an iconic character without betraying the fans, creators, and continuity that was established before.

[Wed, 24.May.06]
:. Planetary Brigade #1-2
It's a not-so-serious story featuring costumed super-heroes, which in today's day and age is a welcome change from the norm.

[Mon, 22.May.06]
:. Detective Comics #817
Everything old is new again.
 

[Thur, 18.May.06]
:. War of the Worlds: Second Wave #1
Our hero does something incredibly stupid in order to get the plot --and the entire series -- underway.

[Wed, 17.May.06]
:. All Star Superman #2
Morrison and Quitely pay homage to the classic tales of Superman but at the same time show us that we are entering new territory.

[Thur, 11.May.06]
:. Ms. Marvel #1
Carol Danvers is motivated by an insecurity that will resonate with a lot of readers. And this makes her an interesting character.

[Tues, 9.May.06]
:. DMZ #1-3: On the Ground
Seeing such violence and destruction unfold in the streets of familiar cities rather than across an ocean is a poignant reminder no nation is invincible (even, gasp, America).

[Thur, 4.May.06]
:. Batman Year 100 #3 (of 4)
Given his track record thus far, it is a safe bet that Paul Pope will satisfy his audience with his final explanation behind the mystery of the "Bat-man of Gotham".

[Tues, 2.May.06]
:. Paul Moves Out
A quiet, unpretentious book.
:. Uzumaki Vol. 1-3
Junji Ito creates an innovative and bizarre horror series that has thus far proved to be his most creatively successful series to date.

[Fri, 28.Apr.06]
:. G.I. Joe: Sigma 6 #1
Dabb keeps the story simple, either because he thinks that kids wouldn't be smart enough to follow along or would be hopelessly lost if they had to devote a few seconds to thinking about the story.

[Wed, 26.Apr.06]
:. Monkeys & Midgets
Monkeys & Midgets is an easy, fast-paced throwback to silly childhoods that won't disappoint you as long as you don't go into it expecting anything more.

[Mon, 24.Apr.06]
:. Batman Year 100 #2 (of 4)
"The Bat-man of Gotham" is real and very human, but also very mysterious and in one sequence of this story, even mystical.

[Thur, 20.Apr.06]
:. The Flying Friar #1
The sign of good writing is that it raises questions and comparisons that even the writer hadn't originally intended.

[Tues, 18.Apr.06]
:. American Way #1
America loves conspiracies. Whether it is about who killed our leaders, the nasty truth about our natural disasters, or who ends up winning American Idol, we always try to construct the story behind the story.

[Mon, 17.Apr.06]
:. The Bart Dickon Omnibus
You can't merely wait for the man in the cape to swoop in and rescue the damsel, you have to be aware that drawings of capes and drawings of damsels are beyond swooping and saving, unless we find room for them in the stories we create for ourselves.

[Thur, 13.Apr.06]
:. Showcase Presents Superman
In a much simpler time, when bank robbers and crooked landlords were the ultimate evil, Superman protected the citizens of Metropolis as if everything depended on it.

[Wed, 12.Apr.06]
:. Apparat: The Singles Collection
Apparat reads like something of a doggie bag of Ellis' leftover ideas: characters, stories, and concepts that didn't quite fit elsewhere, but were still too good to throw away.

[Mon, 10.Apr.06]
:. Ghost Rider #1-6: Road to Damnation
Anyone familiar with Ennis's other comic projects knows that he doesn't readily tip-toe around issues possibly offensive to the church or the far right.

[Thur, 6.Apr.06]
:. Too Big for the Room: The First Annual New York Comic Con
Comic book conventions aren't, as some people in the mainstream media would have you believe, a "nerd prom" or a "gathering of the geeks".

[Tues, 4.Apr.06]
:. Homeland: The Legend of Drizzt Book I
Even fantasy can make you question your loyalty to your homeland and the unthinking tendency to follow orders and make you reevaluate what your eyes see versus the rhetoric fed to you in school, by your family, and by your leaders.

[Fri, 31.Mar.06]
:. Batman: Year 100 #1
The close-minded, oppressive atmosphere of this future Gotham pits the local law against the Federal law enforcement, playing on the now familiar idea that average Joes and Janes don't know what's going on in the big wide world.

[Wed, 29.Mar.06]
:. Year's Best Graphic Novels, Comics, and Manga
If you have little to no familiarity with any of the novels, comics or manga in the book, you're likely going to find more than a few pieces that catch your interest.

[Mon, 27.Mar.06]
:. The Defenders #1-#5
Few creators pull off comedy of the spandex set as well as this trio.

[Fri, 24.Mar.06]
:. V for Vendetta
In the midst of George W. Bush's second term as president... the themes and tenor of this dystopian graphic novel hit home.

[Wed, 22.Mar.06]
:. Zombie Tales: Death Valley #2
Their differences are played up in a subtle way, but they are still there and this adds to the drama.

[Mon, 20.Mar.06]
:. Captain America #8-9, 11-14: The Winter Soldier
The stigma around the character of Captain America is that of a sort of dopey Boy Scout who is doggedly loyal to country and flag.

[Thur, 16.Mar.06]
:. Nextwave #1
If the plot seems somewhat conventional, don't worry. Ellis more than makes up for it with a gonzo writing style that is seldom seen in comics.

[Tues, 14.Mar.06]
:. Desolation Jones #1-5
Jones leads us through a world of porn peddlers and the weird inhabitants of that world.

[Mon, 13.Mar.06]
:. Jeremiah Harm #1
Giffen and Grant have re-visited the bounty hunter character in comic book form.

[Tues, 7.Mar.06]
:. The Invincible Iron Man: Extremis #1-5
Is Marvel planning to revamp their other mainstay heroes? Was the Ultimate line of comics not created to make these characters more relevant to new readers and re-origin the characters?

[Fri, 3.Mar.06]
:. Kid Eternity
Targeting a more sophisticated audience and adopting more of a high-brow approach to both story and art, these comics tended to be cerebral, literate, and often employed fine art techniques, making them the antithesis of the run-of-the-mill superhero books of the day.

[Thur, 2.Mar.06]
:. Tales of Supernatural Law
Finally, the monsters are given the chance to speak.

[Tues, 28.Feb.06]
:. DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore
Moore's aim was never to make comic books grow up.

[Thur, 23.Feb.06]
:. Evil Ernie in Santa Fe #1-3
Why the hell would Evil Ernie be in Santa Fe? And who thought it was a good idea?

[Tues, 21.Feb.06]
:. Wimbledon Green: The Greatest Comic Book Collector in the World
Collecting is an intellectual quest, a school of philosophy dedicated to the advancement not just of the graphic art form, but of the whole human race.

[Fri, 17.Feb.06]
:. Styx Taxi: Pastrami for the Dead, A Little Twilight Music, As Above, So Below
See, there's a secret that we don't know about the afterlife.

[Wed, 15.Feb.06]
:. She-Hulk #3
She-Hulk is a character rumored to have been created as a means of protecting a copyright.

[Mon, 13.Feb.06]
:. Demo: The Collected Edition
Wood and Cloonan tell the stories of punk and emo kids, people living on the fringes of society and who aren't terribly worried about being let in.

[Fri, 10.Feb.06]
:. All-Star Batman & Robin #1-3
The pairing of the best artist in the business with the author of some of the best Batman stories ever had created what DC needed for its new line -- excitement.

[Wed, 8.Feb.06]
:. Fallen Angel #1
As a mainstream DC book, Fallen Angel seemed doomed from the start.

[Mon, 6.Feb.06]
:. Black Hole
It's hard to look at the disease as anything but an allegory for AIDS.
:. Ice Haven
In Clowes' hands, the image of a boy peeping through a hole in the wall to leer at a girl in the shower is turned into something sweet and affecting.

[Wed, 1.Feb.06]
:. Girls #1-8
The Luna brothers -- Jonathon and Josh -- are as talented at marketing themselves as they are at writing and artist chores.

[Tues, 31.Jan.06]
:. 7 Days to Fame #1
What if people wanted some real life in their Reality TV?

[Fri, 27.Jan.06]
:. The Quitter
This is the main crux of Pekar, at least as he depicts himself -- he's pissed because people don't recognize his talents, but he doesn't seem to believe he's that talented at anything.

[Wed, 25.Jan.06]
:. Living in Infamy #1
For a comic mystery to work, you need a skilled writer and skilled artist working together on the top of their game.
:. Failure, Incompetence: Aborted Jokes and Abandoned Stories - 1995-2005
Failure... assumes an air of smug, detached irony, as a lot indie comics are wont to do.

[Mon, 23.Jan.06]
:. Lost Squad #1
How does Lost Squad measure up to the popular movies it was compared to?

[Thur, 19.Jan.06]
:. Marvel Zombies #1
How do you make brain dead, only thinking of feasting on human flesh, zombies sympathetic enough to support a series?
:. Conan Vol. 1: The Frost Giant's Daughter and Other Stories
Busiek shows that he really understands what separates Conan from other men: the fact that he is never content with just being alive and safe.

[Tues, 17.Jan.06]
:. The Thing #1
Writer Dan Slott captures the pathos that makes the character of the Thing so interesting.

[Mon, 16.Jan.06]
:. Jonah Hex
Westerns: tricky subject matter these days in both the film and comic medium.

[Thur, 12.Jan.06]
:. Will You Still Love Me If I Wet the Bed?
It's a kind of warts-and-all approach that, unlike the magician revealing her secrets, brings the whole thing to life even more.

[Tues, 10.Jan.06]
:. House of M #1-8
The Marvel hype machine has been in high gear, stating that the series would "rip the internet in half".

[Fri, 6.Jan.06]
:. All Star Superman #1
Jeremy Estes and Neil Kenyon review Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely's new take on DC's most iconic character.

[Wed, 4.Jan.06]
:. Manhunter: Street Justice
If a man can be found not guilty by reason of insanity after he finds his wife sleeping with the mailman, surely he's got a free pass on acts he committed after turning into a giant lizard.

[Fri, 23.Dec.05]
:. Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas
The book also instructs the reader on how to follow the Japanese-style word balloons, something quite welcome as I learned how to navigate these unfamiliar reading seas.

[Wed, 21.Dec.05]
:. Spaghetti Western
In the introduction to this book, Scott Morse talks of a friend's theory that the western is a sub-genre of comedy, and that the spaghetti western is a form of screwball comedy.

[Mon, 19.Dec.05]
:. The Pushman & Other Stories
The infelicities of desire are only one of many impolite subjects dissected under Tatsumi's jaded pen.

[Thur, 15.Dec.05]
:. Fell #1-2
They do more with those 16 pages than other people do with a four issue mini-series.

[Tues, 13.Dec.05]
:. Identity Crisis
The first thing Metzler, an acclaimed novelist in his own right, and artist Rags Morales do is ground their tale in very human concerns.

[Wed, 7.Dec.05]
:. Sacrifice Parts 1-4
A vocal portion of comic readers have wished for a return to a simpler time.

[Mon, 5.Dec.05]
:. Loveless #1
William Gatevackes reviews Loveless, a new series spearheading the return of the Western comic.

[Thur, 1.Dec.05]
:. The Filth
Into the long-standing debate on how mental processes interact with the physical world jumps Grant Morrison, with The Filth, the story of middle-aged Greg Feely, who lives a gray life of TV dinners and tending to his sick cat.

[Tues, 29.Nov.05]
:. Infinite Crisis #1
Comic book publishers have had to walk the delicate balance of paying back loyal fans for their years of devotion by giving a nod to history while not alienating new readers with too much of a focus on years of continuity.

[Wed, 23.Nov.05]
:. Night Fisher
As a backdrop, Maui is not standard fare, and the setting raises intriguing questions about isolation and emigration.