we say: Geez, what can we say, uh, Hellboy is a weird, awesome hybrid comic book -- like if Jack Kirby made sweet love to H.P. Lovecraft and had a child named Mike Mignola. Hellboy is funny, frightening, and quirky -- and it's spawned two movies and two cartoons! Totally recommended.

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we say: Written by Amazing Spider-Man and Rising Stars scribe J. Michael Straczynski and illustrated by star artist Olivier Coipel, this is a really premier relaunch for Thor. He’s been resurrected along with the Norse pantheon, and in the first ten issues he’s stopped a war in Africa (metaphorically Darfur), threatened to KTFO Iron Man, rebuilt Asgard, and somewhat bitterly refused to resurrect his father Odin, who is trapped in the afterlife fighting Surtur. Basically it’s still got that delicate, almost impossible balance between the modern and ancient worlds; a Norse god fighting challenges like the Superhero Registration controversy juxtaposed with frost giants. Loki is exceptionally well written as a master manipulator, and even the Warriors Three are funny and cool looking!

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we say: DD has always been one of the most grounded Marvel heroes; his public persona and career is a huge part of what makes him so interesting. A great Daredevil story, which has been almost every issue for like the last six years (both Bendis and Brubaker runs, plus Kevin Smith), is like a great crime or courtroom drama, just that the main character lawyer also happens to put on a costume and roam the streets in search of justice. Michael Larkfs art is so perfect for DDfs street-level world; if only Gotham Central had attracted more attention during his run, but itfs Batmanfs loss and Daredevilfs gain!

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we say: Kung fu!

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we say: It's hard to say much about this book that hasn't already been said, but let me start by just adding that it really is as good as it's supposed to be! It's a really tightly-scripted, multilayered story with great character depth, and it asks deeper questions of "superheroes" and the cliches of the genre than we might have been prepared to answer. Many imitators, poor ones, have tried to duplicate this book, or have been derivative of it, but there's only one Watchmen!

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we say: (special guest reviewer Jack Sanders) The Walking Dead is an Image Comics book created and written by Robert Kirkman. Its a zombie story. Nothing special there, right? Wrong. I am a veteran comic book geek with over 20 years of reading funnies, all packed into a very small place (my head) and this story, The Walking Dead, is one of the most emotionally charged books I have ever read. The basis of the book is nothing new. Zombies just show up one day and no one knows why. Its just time to start surviving. But surviving an onslaught of shambling flesh-hungry undead is a cinch compared to dealing with the rest of the survivors and trying to get your brain fixed in a position that will allow it to handle what has become of life. Kirkman touches on the frailty of the human psyche and the delicate social balance we live in by showing us his interpretation of hell on Earth. It is a zombie story, yes. However, it is more a human story. Exploring, through the mind of Kirkman, just how well a group of strangers, family, friends, and coworkers cope with the end of days. He doesn't get bogged down with the how and why of the zombie situation. The attention is focused on the "What do we do?" and "How will I keep my sanity?" aspect of things. There is death behind every character. It looms in the pages of these books like a gallows waiting for a neck. There are moments of great humor punctured my moaning terror. There is the crushing boredom solitude upturned by maniacal savagery. Then just when you think the characters are getting to used to the viscera, ichor, and doom, something happens, usually horrible, that pulls them back to humanity in a brutal and violent way. If you are a zombie fan, pick this up. If you are a well written B&W comic book fan, check this title out. If you are a soap opera fan, drop whatever you are reading and go pick up volume one.

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we say: (special guest reviewer Jack Sanders) Frank Miller is to violence what DaVinci was to the Renaissance as well as bringing a Renaissance to the comic and movie industry. He wrenches gripping violence from his imagination, forces it onto paper or film and rams it down the throats of eager fans and horrified critics. It's not just the usual violence either. It's a visceral geyser of pain. It breaths down your neck and crawls back up your spine. It severs you from what you are seeing and makes you beg for more. If you are a fan. If not. Then it touches places that you fear in yourself. Seething primal crannies that you want to pretend do not exist. It will trigger anxiety because you just can't pry your attention away. Why can't you get up and walk away? Because, Frank Miller has also defined bad-assery. ANd every boy and girl loves a bad-ass. He hammers legendary resolve on a forge made of pure grit and mettle (pardon the pun). The kind of grim 'It's only a gut shot. I have hours to live.' determination that we all wish existed in real life. Real hero stuff. Then there are his villains. Nightmares in print. Soulless demons thankfully bound to 32 8x11s or frighteningly real in the celluloid dimension. Yet not so far out of the realm of reality as to let you detach yourself from their horror. Their sneers or total lack of emotion pick at your marrow and you fear them. You revel in their defeat because then you know you're safe. These aren't the kind of bad-guys and gals you identify with or feel for. You want them stopped dead, totally unable to leap from the medium and inflict their horrors on you. Then there are the Gals, Miller does the female form like I would. That is if I had more artistic talent than a lump of concrete. He obviously has girl issues that need addressing. But he transforms His issues to fill his books with flowing, carnal, voluptuous temptresses of raw sexual drive and desire. Hard case harlots, golden hearted whores and succubi, all summoned from the liquid black inside Miller. Each one a broad. Each one a dame to kill for. Where I given the choice of super-powers or a Miller broad, I'm not sure where my ultimate decision would fall. No, not everything borne of the torrential imagination barely contained within Mr. Miller is gold. But most of it is and with a resume as long and celebrated as his, the paltry few stinkers out there are drowned in an ocean art, literature and ballsy-ness. Thank you, Mr. Miller. Thank you.

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we say: At least one of our staff is an ultra Star Wars geek, and he happens to think that this is the best SW book ; ) Basically, it's set so long after the original trilogy that they can break new ground without messing up continuity or anything like that. Lots of cool new stuff, a few throwbacks for fans who need cameos (Luke's ghost!), and great monthly art from Jan Duursema!

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we say: Another complete must; one of the most artistic, literary, and heartfelt comics ever. A great introduction to non-superhero books for friends and loved ones!

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