Weekly Treats! Seth, Arkham City & Victorian Undead II

Wimbledon Green (D&Q)

In 2005 Seth released a graphic novel entitled Wimbledon Green; a beautifully pitched tale about the serious business of collecting vintage funny comics. Seth's new book, The Great Northern Brotherhood of Canadian Cartoonists (Drawn & Quarterly) focuses on the fictional creators of those much-loved and sought after comics. The book apparently arose from a few pages Seth's sketchbook and from the look of the previews, The GNB Double C (as it is also to be known) features the same matter-of-fact but affectionate tone that made Wimbledon Green such a joy to read.

Furthering the book round-up Batman: Arkham City (DC) will be of huge interest not only to Batman fans but fans of the hugely popular Arkham Asylum game as this story bridges the gap between that game and the new one. It also includes the digitally released short stories that focused on the supporting characters. Victorian Undead II: Sherlock Holmes vs Dracula (DC) continues the series that always gets browsers smiling in store (the previous volume was titled Sherlock Holmes vs Zombies) and takes place a year after Holmes' battle with Moriarty and the undead. And finally 100 Bullets Book 1 (DC) begins a hardcover reprint of the excellent crime series by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso. This volume collects the first three volumes of the paperback books.

And what of the weekly treats? Well there's the DC #2's including a new villain in Batwoman #2 and Sinestro continues as the renegade GL in Green Lantern #2. And two of my favourites from last month continue: Frankenstein: Agent of Shade #2 features the Creature Commandos suiting up to become the Necronauts (travelling across distant worlds and dead space of course), plus Demon Knights #2 featuring olde English sword and sorcery as Demon Knight and Madame Xanadu collect five warriors to face The Horde. Also worth noting is the start of a twelve issue series of The Shade #1 which sees writer James Robinson return to his critically acclaimed Starman universe to focus on the anti-hero Shade. Over the year, the series will feature an impressive list of guest artists including Cully Hamner, Darwyn Cooke, Javier Pulido, Jill Thompson, Frazier Irving and Gene Ha.

 Highlights of the non-DC releases include X-Men: Regenesis #1 (Marvel) as rising star Keiron Gillen and Billy Tan explore the acrimonious division that sees two teams emerge; one led by Wolverine, the other by Cyclops. Spider-Island part 5 continues in Spider-Man #671 (Marvel) as MJ spiders-up. And finally in Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 #2 (Dark Horse - too many long titles this week!) Buffy investigates the case of mysteriously marked bodies, unaware that she is bringing close attention to herself from official quarters.

For a complete list, look to the Features tab above.