I’m a fan of Humberto Ramos and his very unique art style. It’s not for everyone but if you’re a fan then you probably pick up all his work. Which I thought I had until I read somewhere on the internet about Revelations, a six issue mini series from Dark Horse that had been collected into a trade paperback.
From Paul Jenkins and Humberto Ramos, the best-selling creative team behind Marvel’s Spectacular Spider-Man, comes an occult murder mystery set in the unlikeliest of places-The Vatican.

Making my way through my local comic shop’s discount shelf I came across The Authority: Relentless, the first volume of the award winning series. I hadn’t read this since the individual issues came out and it deserved a second look.

After witnessing the demise of most of her StormWatch teammates, Jenny Sparks wants to create a new super hero team dedicated to protecting Earth against threats of a global scale. Joined by former StormWatch members Jack Hawksmoor and Shen Li-Min, Jenny recruits four new members, the Doctor, the Engineer, Apollo, and the Midnighter forming the ultra-powerful Authority. Collected in this edition are their first two missions, battling a nation of super-powered terrorists and stopping an invasion from a parallel world.

Another lost (to me) treasure discovered on the used shelf of my local comic shop, Catwoman: Relentless. Always a fan of Brubaker at the time I didn’t care for Stewart or Pulido’s clean lines and simplified styles; now I can’t get enough.

Triumph and tragedy are the name of the game in this 192-page trade paperback reprinting CATWOMAN #12-19, plus the 6-page Black Mask story from CATWOMAN Secret Files #1! Catwoman has crossed the Black Mask — now he’s making her pay!

With a title that exciting The Hounds Of Hell was a must read for me this week after a visit to my local comic book shop. Here’s the publisher’s blurb:

A formidable group of mercenaries accept a secret mission for the Empress of the Byzantine Empire. Their skills, wills and courage are fully tested as they search for a legendary treasure hidden in the heart of the ancient underworld. Highly recommended for fans of CONAN THE BARBARIAN and RED SONJA.

It was October 1978 that Empire, the first graphic novel, appeared on bookstore shelves.  That’s the same month Eisner’s A Contract With God made its début, and Empire is one illustrated story while Eisner’s work is a collection of short stories.  One can argue either way but I’m going in support of Empire: it’s dust jacket states “a graphic novel” while the credits indicate “a visual novel”.  A Contract With God is black and white while Empire is fully painted in vibrant colour.
  
This project was put together by Byron …

Elias The Cursed by Corrado Mastantuono and Sylviane Corgiat. Here’s the publisher’s blurb:

Fallen king Elias is on a quest to reclaim the face that was stolen from him by the mighty sorcerer Melchior. With the help of an unlikely gang, of all fantastical shapes and sizes, and amidst magic both good and evil, Elias The Cursed will attempt to save his face, and perhaps his soul.

A look at Alexandro Jodorowsky’s Screaming Planet. Here’s the publisher’s blurb:

All that remains of a prosperous, warm planet destroyed by the madness of its inhabitants many years ago…A living piece of metal, adrift in the cosmos, howling in its infinite sorrow…Sometimes, crossing the sky of one of the countless inhabited planets, it shares its sorrow with a conscious being…

Today we’re looking at Legend Of the Scarlet Blades by Saverio Tenuta.  Here’s the publisher’s blurb:
Cartoonist Saverio Tenuta writes and paints a twisted tale of a masterless Samurai named Raido searching for clues to his bloody past in a feudal Japan ruled by spirits and beasts. Highly recommended for fans of Samura’s BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL, Koike/Kojima’s LONE WOLF & CUB, and HEAVY METAL magazine.
I don’t read a lot of manga so Humanoids recommendation had little effect on me.  Tenuta has crafted a wonderful Japanese samurai myth tale that keeps …

Today we’re looking at Day Of the Magicians by Michelangelo La Neve and Marco Nizzoli.  Here’s the publisher’s blurb:
Drazen has completed his training as a Magician and is determined to fulfill the mission given to him by his Caste: track down and defeat his own father, the renegade magician known as Lancaster. An epic tale of sorcery, love, and adventure similar to the HARRY POTTER books.
La Neve crafts a story that feels familiar but reads refreshingly new at the same time.  Within our “normal” world is one of magic, sitting …

This book came into my hands via a recommendation from my local comic book shop.  Liar’s Kiss is a quick black and white crime drama.  Here’s the publisher’s blurb:
THE WAY HE INVESTIGATES IS A CRIME IN ITSELF.
Nick Archer isn’t much of a detective, but he’s managed to get himself one pretty sweet surveillance gig: once a week he sends a jealous millionaire the photos that prove his wife is faithful, leaving Nick plenty of free nights to spend making a liar of both himself and the client’s wife. But when …

Another book I had never heard of that was on my local comic shop’s shelf of new releases; the cover grabbed my attention and I gave Winterworld a quick thumbing.  I quickly added it to my buy pile and headed to the cash.  Here’s the publisher’s blurb:
Dixon & Zaffino’s long out-of-print classic is finally collected! In a bleak and desolate future, when our world has been encased in ice from pole to pole, an amoral adventurer and an orphaned girl form an unlikely alliance-and together fight tooth and nail to …

I’m not a fan of horror books or themes but the story just grabbed me; never would have picked it up but I’m a fan of Allred’s art.  iZombie: Dead To The World is about a young girl and her group of friends trying to make it through the day, except she’s a zombie.  Here’s the publisher’s blurb:
Gwendolyn “Gwen” Dylan is a 20-something gravedigger in an eco-friendly cemetery. Once a month she must eat a human brain to keep from losing her own memories, but in the process she becomes …

This one came out of left field.  I was at my local comic book shop and spotted Taskmaster: Unthinkable on the rack.  I remember reading good things about the series but hadn’t given it any thought; being a light week I picked it up and am I glad I did.  Here’s the publisher’s blurb:
Taskmaster has trained henchmen for every terrorist organization and criminal cartel in the Marvel Universe. So when the rumor starts that he’s turned traitor and now works for Steve Rogers, a billion-dollar bounty is put on his …

Like most people who shop regularly at a comic store I have a pull list that I submit when a new Previews magazine comes out.  Items are picked two months in advance and occasionally you forget what’s coming.  Last week I found Thor: For Asgard waiting for me.  Here’s the publisher’s blurb:

Beginning an epic adventure showcasing the God of Thunder as you’ve never seen him before! The vassals of Asgard are in armed revolt…Odin is missing…Balder is dead…and the entire continent is battered by a years-long winter. How can Thor …

I wholeheartedly enjoy the Spirit: it’s a classic character in a crime-ridden city with a colourful supporting cast, mixing action, drama and comedy in equal measure.  DC Comics has recently launched their second iteration of a Spirit ongoing series and collected the first two story arcs in The Spirit: Angel Smerti.  Here’s the publisher’s blurb:

In this first collection of the new SPIRIT series, an international crime syndicate wants to help Central City’s villain, The Octopus, consolidate control over the underworld. They’ve offered The Octopus the services of one of their …

I’m going to provide some insight on Elektra Lives Again from Epic Comics and Graphitti Designs.

This was a huge book for 1990: Frank Miller had collaborated with Janson and Mazzuchelli to produce epic runs on Daredevil and Batman, but his solo work with his wife Lynn Varley on Ronin didn’t get the commercial success the rest did.  Now Miller was returning to his creation Elektra doing the writing, penciling and inking with Varley painting.  Elektra Lives Again received a huge amount of press at the time: I remember drooling over …

This is a book that has flown very low on the radar of North American readers; I became aware of it via the excellent Forbidden Planet UK blog, a great spot for European works in English.  The Hound Of The Baskervilles is a graphic novel adaptation of the Conan Doyle work by Ian Edginton and I.N.J. Culbard.  Here’s the publisher’s blurb:

Ian Edginton and I.N.J. Culbard have teamed up again to create a visually compelling graphic novel adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s masterpiece. And the superb writing and beautiful art takes …

This is the story of an accidental purchase of a signed and numbered book from the 1980s.  I was rummaging among the discount trade paperback section of my local comic shop when I came across Mechanics: A Love & Rockets Graphic Novel by Jaime Hernandez.  I had seen his art around for years but never go into it so this seemed like a good time to do it based on a cheap purchase.

This is the second Love & Rockets book but it’s published in 1988 by Titan Books in out …

Nothing about this book from the outside interested me in the least.  When this collection was published site after comics site sang it’s praises so I decided to pick up Daytripper from Vertigo.  Here’s the publisher’s blurb:

What are the most important days of your life? Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá answer that question in the critical and commercial hit series that took the industry by storm, winning praise from such comics veterans as Terry Moore, Craig Thompson and Jeff Smith. Follow aspiring writer Brás de Oliva Domingos as each chapter …

Fantagraphics keeps the hits rolling throughout 2011 and The Arctic Marauder is the latest in their Jacques Tardi translations line.  Here’s the publisher’s blurb:

In our ongoing quest to showcase the wide range of Jacques Tardi’s bibliography, Fantagraphics reaches all the way back to one of his earliest, and most distinctive graphic novels: A satirical, Jules Verne-esque “retro-sci-fi” yarn executed on scratchboard in a stunningly detailed faux-woodcut style perfectly chosen to render the Edwardian-era mechanical marvels on display. Created in 1972, The Arctic Marauder is a downright prescient example of proto-“steampunk” science fiction — …