<p>Our (Emily and I) new house just got our interwebs refilled. So I'll be rejoining the land of the living... wait no. The world of the... I'll be online more again. Natch.</p>

<p>Amazing. Just absolutely goddamn awesome. One of the best books I've ever read. I can't sing enough praises of this book. The premise: in 2002, all male mammals die except a young man named Yorick and his pet monkey named ampersand. (Yes, this '&amp;' ampersand.) They, along with two women, travel all over the country and the world through some harrowing adventures, tough spots and down right silly moments in order to figure out the the mystery behind the gendercide and why Yorick and Ampersand survived. Their lives and dialouge are full of pop culture and classic literature references alike. A truly smart tale with a subtle sarcastic humour and social commentary. The story delivers some serious long term payoff. Series ends at #60. Must Read! -sb</p>

<p>Published by Vertigo (DC).</p>

<p>See Also: Ex Machina, Runaways, Pride of Baghdad.</p>

<p>What if in the not too distant future the U.S. government had the U.S. military fighting major conflicts all over the globe and forgot to pay attention to the problems here and the growing domestic miltia movement? That's exactly what writer Brian Wood is setting out to explore. A world just like ours (eg. NOT sci-fi, NO super-heroes) except the Free States of America have claim to all of The States up to Manhattan. The U.S. still has the rest. Manhattan is a De-Milartarized Zone, which is another way of saying one of the most violent places for someone to be. Our story follows a young man who sort of fell into a photo-journalism internship which turns into this crazy gig of being, basically, the only reporter in a warzone. It reads like a great NPR piece. Top 5 current books.</p>

<p>Published by Vertigo (DC).</p>

<p>See Also: Channel Zero, Demo.</p>

<p>Just like Babe Ruth's career home-run record had to be broken by Hank Aaron, Jack Kirby and Stan Lee's longest consecutive run by an artist/writer would be broken by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley (#102). It only took four decades for someone to beat it. Not bad considering when Spiderman launched the Ultimate line in 2000, it had more nay-sayers than true-believers. This book captures everything that the spirit of Spiderman is; Peter Park is young, still in high school, has girlfriend and attendance problems, he has to lie to Aunt May constantly, his guilt complex is as big as his ensemble of villians (which are his responsibilty in his mind), Gwen Stacy is a great tragedy, Mary Jane Watson tells him in a classic homage moment "Face it tiger, you just hit the jackpot." Classic stuff without 40 years of backstory, a marriage and the Spider-mobile. This book is young, fun, full of heart-break and triumph; just like any good Spidey book should be. Oh... and there are clones, too.</p>

<p>Published by Marvel.</p>

<p>See Also: Powers, New Avengers</p>

<p>This is a story of homicide detectives whose cases relate to a super powered being (a 'power') in some way; a power killed someone, a power was killed, someone was killed while in a costume... At its core its two things: a super-hero story and a detective story. Across the board excellent character development with two lead homicide detectives and all the way through the reappearing cast of heroes and villains alike. The aesthetic absolutely nails noir detective movie with heavy shadows and great body language mixing in the brightness and boldness of spandex heroes. This is (and I'm not just saying this) The Best Dialouge I've ever read. Less of what is said and more of how it's said. Great banter full of the quirks, sentence fragments and dramatic / comedic pauses of real life. This is on my top 5 favourite current books.</p>

<p>Published by Image / Icon.</p>

<p>See Also: Ultimate Spiderman, New Avengers</p>