Weekly Treats! American Vampire & Batman: Gates of Gotham

There are two parties going on this Wednesday: The first is at Scott Snyder's house (probably) with the release of two collections of this rising stars work.  The first is a monster offering from the highly acclaimed Vertigo series American Vampire vol. 3 (DC).  Collecting #12-18 of the decades-spanning vampire-hunting saga illustrated by the excellent Rafael Albuquerque it also includes the five issue mini-series Survival Of The Fittest illustrated by the equally fabulous Sean Murphy (see below).  So that's twelve issues of WWII horror entertainment, along with the inclusion of a few pages of sketches at the back, making this hardcover book fantastic value at only £19.

Next is Batman: Gates of Gotham (DC) collecting the five issue mini-series written by Snyder and Kyle Higgins.  The story features a host of co-stars as Batman assembles a team to help crack a cold case that delves into Gotham's history.  Also included is Batman Annual #28 and Detective Comics Annual #12.

And if there's not enough violence in your day why not try Garth Ennis' Jennifer Blood vol 1 (Dynamite) - by day a mild mannered housewife...










And so to the weeklies.  Ahhh, look see: The proper Superman on the cover to Action Comics #6.  Grant Morrison starts mixing it up as the current Superman teams with the Legion of Superheroes to save the jeans (and tea towel) version from the past.  Animal Man #6 takes a break from the action to enjoy a low budget super hero movie starring ... guess who and take a look at Detective Comics #6 - that Tony Daniel is in danger of becoming the new defining Batman artist of the moment.  Avengers: X-Sanction #3 (of 4) sees Cable square up to Red Hulk and talking of men with metal arms, Winter Soldier #1 kicks off with Ed Brubaker (of course) and Butch Guice at the helm.  For anyone missing X-23, she joins Venom #13 for a new story arc and a new team-up.  The genre-defying Fatale #2 (Image) arrives from the Criminal team of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips and finally, a chance to get an exclusive game card for some but a tale of sorcery and fantasy adventure for others with Magic: The Gathering #1.

And the second party I referred to at the beginning of the post?  Well not so much a party as a informal gathering in the shop between 6-8pm to launch the Brighton graphic novel project run by QueenSpark.  If you fancy getting involved as a writer or artist, come along for more information (see here for my original post on the topic).