Weekly Treats! The Murder Mile, Tales From Beyond Science

You'll have to wait an extra day for book of the week, this week. Painted in warm watercolours Paul Collicutt's The Murder Mile (SelfMadeHero) has a gloriously old-fashioned feel, utterly appropriate for it's setting in 1950's America where a murder has taken place on eve of a race where, famously, the four minute mile was broken. Rather wonderfully, the book was reviewed in The Observer last week where it was named graphic novel of the month (see here). The reason for the extra days wait is that The Murder Mile actually receives its official launch in the shop on Thursday between 6:30pm & 9pm. Paul Collicutt will be here along with representatives of the publisher so do please pop along.

Lurking somewhere between Bulletproof Coffin and Tales Designed To Thrizzle you'll find Rian Hughes' Tales From Beyond Science (Image). It originally lived within the pages of 2000AD in the early 90's and has taken a while to see a reprint as Hughes had to wrestle with rights and ownership issues. It featuring your host Hilary Tremayne as the storyteller and was written by Alan McKenzie, John Smith and a certain Mark Millar all wrapped up in Hughes' delicious design work. This collection includes new work of fake adverts and spoof comic covers. You can investigate an interview with Rian Hughes on Newsarama here.

The strangely unsettling work of Camilla D'Errico is collected in a new volume entitled Helmet Girls (Dark Horse). And finally, started by Grant Morrison and collected in three volumes, Animal Man was continued by Peter Milligan (more on him in a moment) and Tom Veitch, illustrated by Chas Truog, Steve Dillon and Mark Farmer. It now gets it's first collected reprint in Animal Man vol. 4 Born To Be Wild (Vertigo).  

Two launches from Marvel this week. Nova #1 is by regular coupling Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness taking us the beginning of a new, younger Nova and first introduced last year in Amazing Spider-Man as a counterpoint to Parker's more cautious approach to the hero game, Alpha #1 of 5. DC aren't to be left out though as they release Justice League of America #1 and if you have any reservations about the absence of the big six then be aware this comic is by Geof Johns and David Finch. Plus, from the pages of JLA there's Vibe #1 which has Johns along as co-writer.  And lastly, I hate the fact that I have to write this but after 25 years Hellblazer #300 is the final issue of the Vertigo series. A younger John Constantine reappears soon in a newly spruced DC title but this issue marks the last part of regular continuity. Peter Milligan (there you go) is a safe pair of hands for this somewhat poisoned chalice with Giuseppe Camuncoli illustrating.

Full list of releases under the tab at the top...