5. GØDLAND #16 (Image)
Written by Joe Casey; Art TOM SCIOLI
24 pg - FC - $.60

If you've only got 60¢ to spare on comics usually you'd be out of luck, but this week you can buy issue #16 of the Jack Kirby-influenced GØDLAND. Specially priced and meant to be a jumping on point for new readers, this issue will fill you in on the story so far and introduce you to Commander Adam Archer, a NASA pilot who gains powers from an encounter with the Cosmic Fetus Collective during a failed mission to Mars.

This is a weird, weird book. Tom Scioli's art is heavily inspired by comic legend Jack Kirby's work from the 1960's and it is juxtaposed with ironic writing from Joe Casey that namedrops Condoleeza Rice and features a villain who is a skull floating in a bottle and is always searching for the ultimate high. The book reads kind of like if Mr. Show did a skit about the Kirby-era Fantastic Four. It's very fun, especially if you have an affinity for all things cosmic.

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4. BATMAN #663 (DC)
Written by Grant Morrison; Art by John Van Fleet; Cover by Andy Kubert
32pg. Color $2.99 US

Grant Morrison returns to Batman after a short break and picks up on a plot thread he introduced in the first couple of pages of his run when he had a Batman look-a-like shoot the Joker point blank in the face, supposedly killing him. Strangely, from the previews, it looks like this is not so much a comic as illustrated prose featuring some pretty creepy looking art from John Van Fleet. It's a done-in-one story but it should be a dense read due to it's prose nature.

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3. BEYOND! HC(MARVEL)
Written by Dwayne McDuffie; Art by Scott Kolins
144 PGS./$19.99

This new hardcover collects the 6 issue mini-series that flew under a lot of people's radar but the ones that picked it up have had nothing but good things to say about it. Comic fans from the '80's will remember Marvel's extremely popular Secret Wars series and it's extremely less popular sequel Secret Wars II. This is sort of like Secret Wars III because The Beyonder, the omnipotent, other-dimensional being that whisked away all of Marvel's top heroes and villains in the first series so that they could do battle for his amusement, has struck again. This time though instead of all of Marvel's A-list heroes getting snatched it's an odd assortment of B and C listers (and Spider-man because there has to be someone you recognize in this). So we get a series that's sort of like an otherworld Survivor featuring Spider-Man, Venom, Gravity, the Hood, Medusa, Hank Pym, the Wasp, Kraven, and Firebird. The charm of the series seems to be in the way these characters interact with each other and the general sense of fun it has about itself. Plus, when you're dealing with C-listers the chance for a death or two is a lot more likely. This is probably recommended more for people that have some familiarity with Marvel continuity and can appreciate when a character like Deathlok makes a surprise appearance.

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2. DRINK & DRAW VOL 1 HC (Image)
art DAVE JOHNSON, JEFF JOHNSON, JOSH MIDDLETON, DAN PANOSIAN & LESEAN THOMAS cover DAN PANOSIAN
112 pg - FC - $24.99

This isn't really a comic but an art book created by a bunch of drunk comic artists, apparently. The Drink & Draw Social club started out as a small group of artists getting together at a local pub to draw and has expanded into a bit of a myspace phenomenon with chapters springing up all over the world. Apparently they will also be featured in some sort of upcoming documentary about MySpace. Who knew?

Anyway, this book collects some rather nice pieces drawn under the influence from the likes of big names like Dave Johnson and Josh Middleton.

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1. NEXTWAVE: AGENTS OF H.A.T.E. Vol.1: THIS IS WHAT THEY WANT (Marvel)
Written by Warren Ellis; Art by Stuart Immonen
144 PGS./Parental Advisory …$14.99

"It’s an absolute distillation of the superhero genre. No plot lines, characters, emotions, nothing whatsoever. It’s people posing in the street for no good reason. It is people getting kicked, and then exploding. It is a pure comic book, and I will fight anyone who says otherwise. And afterwards, they will explode." - Warren Ellis

That's the writer in his own words so there's not much I can add to describe this except to say that this is the first 6 issues of the 12 issue series collected in an affordable trade paperback format. Ellis is famous for hating the superhero genre so here he is both reveling in and mercilessly satirizing it. One of the most unusual things that Marvel has put out in the past year.