Presuming on his Senses! That Was The Month That Was July

Who could deny that it's been a fantastic July in the world of sequential art? Things may be doom and gloom in the Marvel and DC universes what with the dead rising and villains in charge but the quality of output should be leaving a smile on the readers face.

Blackest Night has already been awarded recognition on our blog for drawing a dramatically dark curtain over the universe but it's worth mentioning again because it is shaping up to be a good event. Yes, it's a little Green Lantern-centric at the moment but it's proving to be a great jumping on point to the DC universe - as the past is literally brought back to life, old continuity clashes with the now.

Whilst DC set about setting up pins, Marvel is sowing the seeds of the fight back against the Norman Osborn reign. Nick Fury is mobilising a new Howling Commando unit in Secret Warriors, one of the stronger comics in the stable and the fugitive storyline in Invincible Iron Man has been doing so well it recently picked up the Eisner award for best ongoing series.

To top it all, both houses have gone all arty-farty with the release of Wednesday Comics and the immenant Marvel's Strange Tales. Fans of the likes of Paul Pope and Jason have an excuse to look at super-heroes and super-hero regulars get some exposure to the likes of Dash Shaw and Kyle Baker. Those familiar with both sides of the coin can get really excited. More happy faces.

In terms of graphic novels we've been graced by the release of an instant classic - that's Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli if you're new to this blog. Also worth mentioning is Parker, Darwyn Cooke's brilliant adaptation of an old-fashioned (i.e. non-PC, so brace yourself) crime/revenge thriller novel. And Tales Designed to Thrizzle by Michael Kuppeman expertly serves up abstract humour - often attempted but rarely a successfully as it is here.

So there you are: reasons to be cheerful. Invite a friend.

As for this week, our designated Exciting Release of the Week award goes to Gigantic Robot by Tom Gould, £13.