Weekly Treats! King City, Hellboy vol. 12, The Boys vol. 10

If you love the mad, punk spirit behind the likes of Scott Pilgrim, Wonton Soup and Tank Girl then you really should take a butchers at the new printing of Brandon Graham's King City (Image).  Don't concern yourself with questions such as 'what's it about?' as the answers are way too complicated to answer.  Just know that there's something to do with a magic cat that can be injected with a serum which turns it into ANYTHING, a water breathing alien, mob bosses, drug running and it's all set within a futuristic but grounded city setting.  Mixing the energy and inventiveness of Manga (it was originally published by Tokyopop) but with a noir wit and cool-ness that feels US underground it never takes its eye off the human story.  Fantastic. 

Graham has a really nice website (see here) that not only shows off his finished and sketched work but also plenty of other art and video clips that inspire him.  There's a chunky interview at BleedingCool (see here).

So It was all leading to this.  You thought all those prophecies and curses and warnings were thrown out to make all the gothic horror sound authentic; but here, at last, the final (kind of) chapter of the Hellboy saga written as usual by Mike Mignola and illustrated by the second best ever Hellboy artist Duncan Fegredo.  And it's set in England!  Hellboy vol. 12 The Storm and the Fury (Dark Horse) dovetails with BPRD without turning into a cross-over, just rewarding the complete Mignola universe reader.  Magnificent stuff.

Also working its way to an end - although not just yet - is Boys vol. 10 (Dynamite) which collects the Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker mini-series chronicling the origin of the leader of The Boys.  As ever, it's by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson.  And finally Flashpoint (DC) is one of those event stories that carries a weight of importance based on what came AFTER the story rather than what happens in it: the re-boot/launch/imagining of the entire DC universe.  Entertaining stuff from DC architect Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert and now in paperback.

Three number one's to look out for in the Weekly Treats! The Manhattan Projects #1 (Image) is one of those historical sci-fi conspiracy thrillers that Warren Ellis dips his toe into but this one is by the equally expert Jonathan Hickman and illustrated by his Red Wing partner Nick Pitarra.  This first issue asks what if the research and development department created to produce the first atomic bomb was a front for a series of other, more unusual, programs?  Fairest #1 (Vertigo) is another Fables spin-off focusing on the secret histories of the 'fairest of them all' characters (Rapunzel, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Rose Red, Snow Queen, Snow White).  The first story arc is by Bill Willingham and Phil Jimenez.  And finally Age of Apocolypse #1 (Marvel) place several years after the popular alternate timeline story Age of Apocolypse and now Apocolypse is out of the picture and it's Weapon X on an evil rampage.  By David Lapham and Roberto De La Torre.

Interested? Well for a LIMITED TIME we're selling all three of these titles for only £1.50 each! Drop by and have a look.

Full list of this week's releases under the tab at the top of the page.