1. <p><a href="http://mapsofwar.com/">Maps of War</a> has a bunch of really clever short Flash movies involving some wars and a map. Their newest one is the History of Religion in 90 seconds. Awesome!</p>
    
    <p>They even provide the necessary html code to link to or even embed the flash movie right in your page. And there's a link to download the .swf straight away. Dope.</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>