The short list:

100 BULLETS #37
POISON ELVES #70
RISING STARS #19
SPARKS: AN URBAN FAIRY TALE
THIEVES & KINGS #39

FLOPPIES/SINGLES/ISSUES
100 BULLETS #37 : I was taken with this series from the start, over three years ago. This is the first in a set of six self-contained issues, and it focuses on the character who looks like she'll be the focus of the whole story once everything's said and done -- Dizzy. The writer, Brian Azzarello, is fond of not telling the reader everything in the story. You're supposed to turn the story over in your head for a bit, read it through a second time. What exactly happened in that conversation between Graves and Shepherd? Who were they talking about? Why is Shepherd allowing Dizzy to try to visit her family, when they're long since gone? More happens behind the scenes in this issue than happens out in the open, and I'm looking forward to what happens when it's all dragged out into the light.

POISON ELVES #70 : I'm going to do a public reversal of opinion here, and I kinda expect to get some flack for it in the comments if people are of a mood to poke at me about it, but what the hell. So, say you're part of a company's PR division, group, or what have you. It's your job to flog your company's products, and get as many people to pony up cash for them as you can. If that's a given, and that it is the general public that you're targeting... why NOT have a web site? Especially if you're a COMIC BOOK PUBLISHER, and could use all the publicity and linky and make with the clicky that you could get? In any case, the folks at Sirius Entertainment, Inc. are dorks and don't have a website, so the link in the title goes to a mothballed POISON ELVES website, and not a shiny new site where you could read up on the comics they sell. POISON ELVES is this grouchy, irascible, fuck-you fantasy comic that I read. It stars an elven assassin named Lusiphur, who mouths off a lot and kills a lot of people. He has really long ears. This issue was supposed to be some sort of big fight between Luse and the current idjit (Papa McGorsky!) who'd decided to get in the elf's way. About half the issue is that, and the rest is a digression on the bizarre, painful, and life-threatening health complications the creator/writer/artist (Drew Hayes)went through that made the issue so late. So... um... it's different. Also would've been redundant if the company or Hayes had a fricking web presence. But I digress... Anyway, what there is of the story is pretty good, and I look forward to the next issue... whenever that is.

RISING STARS #19 : Okay. You got me. This is one of the few superhero books I get, primarily because it's written by J. Michael Straczynski, the guy who is to Babylon 5 like Roddenberry was to Star Trek (mostly. Kinda.) The concept is that in the late Sixties, a fireball struck the town of Pederson, Illinois, granting all of the children there who were in utero at the time superpowers. This sort-of limited series (it ends on #24) covers their lives, how their powers shape them, and how they shape the world. This issue amused me a bit, because it had a moment oddly reminiscent of my Superman dream from last week. Apart from that, it's still a good solid chapter in the story. The government has figured out how to temporarily damp down a Special's powers, and have killed one. This issue covers the consequences from that action, and next issue it looks like another one of the Specials (who's been comatose since most of a building fell on him) is going to be the next target. Can't wait! The letters page makes me want to donate to a literacy foundation, though. Eesh.

THIEVES & KINGS #39 : Ahhh.... the comic I liked so much, I made a set of web pages for it (which is what the link goes to since the creator/writer/artist's site seems to be down). I even was good about maintaining the pages... until the Hall fired up in reckless abandon. Erk. I have fantasies about sitting down one dead weekend, when it's nice and cool, and updating the site for all the issues that have come out since I last worked on it. It's a dream... Anyway, this issue is primarily two conversations, one between Rubel and Katara out in the wood, and one between Kangar and Lehanna in the castle. Rubel, possibly completely unintentionally, befuddles Katara and her meticulous plans, and Lehanna, acting as Locumire's representative throws Kangar's plans into disarray, ordering him to cancel all sorts of military maneuverings and expressing her displeasure at the manners of some of the members of his officer corps. I really like this title. It fools you into thinking it's a kid's story, with the young protagonists when actually it's got all the stakes and non-sacchrine nature of a standard adult fantasy adventure. And now that it's been restated from a several-hundred issue series to ending somewhere around #50, I'm savoring each installment even more. I have all 4 collections, should anyone I know within mailing distance care to sample the series... :-)

BOOKS WITH SPINES/TPB/OGN
SPARKS: AN URBAN FAIRY TALE : Shhhh.... Liz is reading this, over in her chair, right now. I don't want to type too loudly about it, and risk spoiling anything for her. SPARKS is about a princess (Josephine, but call her Jo) who works as a mechanic at the auto shop, and a knight (Galahad, or the man Jo put together out of spare auto parts who came to life after a storm one night). This is a massive slab of paper. Wow. The art is definitely heavily influenced by animation (no, not anime. Animation), with very simple faces and shapes, often with stylistic exaggerations in faces or body shapes for characterization. It's... Wow. Good. It's not quite all ages, but definitely clicks in the Young Adult slot fairly solidly (although I couldn't see a library shelving it there... drawings of a pair of breasts probably would cause more arguments than they'd rather have). There are whole passages I want to quote from the book, but I'm not taking it out of Liz's hands right now. Check back later, maybe I'll put something in the comments. It's about not always liking who you are, dealing with parents who don't parent, the nature of beauty, heartbreak, and a lot more. Aw, here. Have another link, with the first 8 pages or so... SPARKS Preview