Weekly Treats! BPRD, Rasl & Super Dinosaur

It's one of those eerie fifth-week-of-the-month weeks where all the late-comers arrive on the scene to ensure the party doesn't die.  Speaking of which we have our first highlight: BPRD: Being Human (Dark Horse) which collects stories that delve into the origins of Abe Sapien, Roger, Liz Sherman & Jonathan Kraus including the three issue series The Dead Remembered. Mike Mignola, Skott Allie, John Arcudi are the writers and the art is supplied by Buffy's Karl Moline and Hellboy-world regulars Richard Corben, Guy Davis and Ben Stenbeck.

Anyone that's been reading the Jeff Smith series about an art thief travelling between alternate versions of earth and bringing himself to the attention of all sorts of creepy apparitions will know that there's as much genre-hopping as dimension-hopping.  File the oversized Rasl Book 3 (Cartoon Books) under creepy/sci-fi/mystery/romance.

 

And because Christmas isn't just for adults: Ninjago vol. 1 (Papercutz) is based on the toys from Lego about four ninjas who must learn to master the elemental arts in order to defeat the evil brother of their sensei.  And Super Dinosaur vol. 1 (Image) seems like an unlikely combination - not because its about a dinosaur with powers but that it's an all ages title written by Robert Kirkman (Walking Dead, Battle Pope, Invincible).  Can we expect slow burn big pay-offs as with his other titles?

This week the DC 52 take a well deserved break from energising the comic industry. There's Green Lantern Animated #0 to entice the new readers young and old plus after the (cheap) extra-sized (and cheap) first issue, Spaceman #2 finds opur genetically engineered protagonist the only potential saviour of a young kidnap victim. The essential Daredevil #6 sees horn-head up against contract fighter, The Bruiser and FF #12 begins a story to run parallel with the Fantastic Four and promises to reveal just how Doctor Doom and the FF will save us (yes, SAVE us - where have you been?). X-Men Legacy #259 Rogue, Gambit and Magneto on unfinished business and Uncanny X-Men #2 continues with the return of the new, dapper Mister Sinister.

 

Full list to be found under the features tab.

Books of the Year! Everything We Miss

When we all count down the clock on 2011, young Luke Pearson will surely be reflecting on a year of considerable creative achievement.  Firstly we have the reason for this post: Everything We Miss (Nobrow), a haunting and unflinchingly bleak piece of work that achieves brilliance through it's simplicity and insight (see here for my original post featuring further excerpts from the book).  

For those interested in further reading, brace yourselves for something entirely different as Hildafolk (Nobrow) is a beautifully imaginative all ages title, the second story of which is out immanently.

He also has a two page story in the newly arrived Nobrow #6:

Or you could always play the free, web-based, existentially-themed game The End (see here). It was commissioned by Channel 4 and is illustrated by the man himself.

If you need an extra incentive to take a look we still have signed copies of Everything We Miss thanks to Mr Pearson's generous nature when he visited the shop for a signing earlier in the year.