Scalped, Vol. 1: Indian Country


Jason Aaron - 2007
    Guera for an intense crime drama that mixes organized crime with current Native American culture. Fifteen years ago, Dashiell "Dash" Bad Horse ran away from a life of abject poverty and utter hopelessness on the Prairie Rose Indian Reservation in hopes of finding something better. Now he's come back home armed with nothing but a set of nunchucks, a hell-bent-for-leather attitude and one dark secret, to find nothing much has changed on "The Rez" -- short of a glimmering new casino, and a once-proud people overcome by drugs and organized crime. Is he here to set things right or just get a piece of the action?Cover by JockCollects Scalped #1–5

The Adventuress


Audrey Niffenegger - 2006
    The Adventuress follows the dreamlike journey of an alchemist’s daughter. After she is kidnapped by a lascivious baron, she turns herself into a moth and flees to the garden of a charming butterfly collector named Napoleon Bonaparte. The story of how the two become lovers, and how their affair ends in tragedy and transcendence, is told through Niffenegger’s spare prose and haunting aquatint etchings. With a stunning and distinctive visual style reminiscent of the work of Edward Gorey, this gothic romance packs the emotional heft of the world’s great fairy tales. It will delight fans of the author’s previous works and enchant an entirely new legion of readers.

The Manhattan Projects, Vol. 1: Science. Bad.


Jonathan Hickman - 2012
    What if the research and development department created to produce the first atomic bomb was a front for a series of other, more unusual, programs?A collection of the coolest new series of the year into one super science package.Collecting: The Manhattan Projects 1-5

Alex + Ada, Vol. 1


Jonathan Luna - 2014
    The last thing in the world Alex wanted was an X5, the latest in realistic androids. But after Ada is dropped into his life, he discovers she is more than just a robot.Collects ALEX + ADA #1-5.

The Complete Peanuts, 1963-1966


Charles M. Schulz - 2007
    It's the perfect gift book item of the season!In The Complete Peanuts 1963-64: this volume is particularly rich in never-before-reprinted strips: Over 150 (more than one fifth of the book!) have never seen the light of day since their original appearance over 40 years ago, so this will be a trove of undiscovered treasures even for avid Peanuts collectors. These "lost" strips include Linus making a near-successful run for class president that is ultimately derailed by his religious beliefs (two words: "great" and "pumpkin"), and Snoopy getting involved with a group of politically fanatical birds. One wonders: Was it the political edge in these stories that got them consigned to oblivion for so long? Also worthy of note is an extended, never-reprinted sequence in which Snoopy gets ill and heads to the veterinarian hospital...Also in this volume: Lucy's attempts at improving her friends branches out from her increasingly well-visited nickel psychiatry booth to an educational slideshow of Charlie Brown's faults (it's so long there's an intermission!). Also, Snoopy's doghouse begins its conceptual expansion, as Schulz reveals that the dog owns a Van Gogh, and that the ceiling is so huge that Linus can paint a vast (and as it turns out unappreciated) "history of civilization" mural on it. And baseball continues to be a mainstay: Charlie Brown suffers from pitcher's elbow and is replaced by Linus, who turns out to be a vast improvement; he also blows several more crucial matches through various screw-ups (one with the little red haired girl in attendance); and adding insult to injury, his favorite baseball player is demoted to the minor league. The Complete Peanuts 1963-64 features a new introduction by animator Bill Melendez, producer of over 75 Peanuts animated specials and movies, including the classic A Charlie Brown Christmas.In The Complete Peanuts 1965-66: We are now in the mid-1960s, one of Schulz's peak periods of creativity (and one third of the way through the strip's life!). Snoopy has become the strip's dominant personality, and this volume marks two milestones for the character: the first of many "dogfights" with the nefarious Red Baron, and the launch of his writing career ("It was a dark and stormy night..."). Two new characters—the first two from outside the strip's regular little neighborhood—make their bows. Roy (who befriends Charlie Brown and then Linus at summer camp) won't have a lasting impact, but upon his return from camp he regales a friend of his with tales of the strange kids he met, and she has to go check them out for herself. Her name? Peppermint Patty. The Complete Peanuts 1965-66 features a new introduction by Hal Hartley, writer/director of acclaimed independent films Trust, Henry Fool, Kimono, Simple Men, The Unbelievable Truth, and Fay Grim.

In the Line of Duty


Ed Brubaker - 2004
    with or without Batman's help.Meet Commissioner Akins and his Major Crimes Unit commander Maggie Sawter (fresh from Metropolis). Keeping the streets safe are detectives Renee Montoya, Crispis Allen and others newly introduced to readers. The race is on to stop Mister Freeze while solving a crime before the Caped Crusader intervenes.Collects issues #1-5.