5. A LATE FREEZE
By Danica Novgorodoff
$6.50 | 48 pgs

I don't know a whole lot about this book except for what you see here and that it was originally a mini-comic that won The Isotope Award for Excellence in Mini-Comics put out by Isotope Comics in San Francisco. Creator Danica Novgorodoff is a talented artist and this is her first book so it looks like we could be seeing the start of a promising career here. It's a story about lost love involving a very Chris Ware-ish looking robot and a large bear. Who knows where that could possibly lead?

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4. King City VOL. 1 (Tokyopop)
By Brandon Graham
$9.99

This looks like a downright crazy book about a boy and his cat and a futuristic city and alien porn and who knows what else. Brandon Graham is another up and coming talent in the comics industry and this is the first volume of a 3 book series which will hopefully garner him a lot of attention. Brandon is a member of the Meathaus collective and you can see more of his work at that site.

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3. BPRD: GARDEN OF SOULS #1 (Dark Horse)
Written by Mike Mignola and John Arcudi; art by Guy Davis
$2.99 | 32 pgs

B.P.R.D. is a Hellboy spinoff that came into it's own a long time ago and is one of the most consistently entertaining horror comics out there. Technically an ongoing series, the creators choose to break the book up into five part books with their own numbering system which makes it easy for new readers to jump in. Plot threads from previous books follow through though and this one picks up on the mystery of Abe Sapien's past and sends us back to the 19th century to finally learn the truth.

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2. TOWN OF EVENING CALM, COUNTRY OF CHERRY BLOSSOMS (Last Gasp)
By Fumiyo Kouno
$9.99 | 104 pgs

Published in English for the first time this controversial 2004 manga tells the story of a young woman living in Hiroshima ten years after the bomb. Kouno explores how ordinary people were affected and continued to be affected by something as devastating as an atomic bomb. Emotional without being sentimental, this much loved book has won many awards and until now English readers could only get it in scanlation form. Unfortunately I could not find any previews of this online to showcase here but I it's supposed to be really beautiful.

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1. BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (SEASON 8) #1 (Dark Horse)
Written by Joss Whedon
Art by Georges Jeanty
$2.99 | 32 pgs

This is not a comics adaptation. This is the actual next season of the hit TV series only available in comic book form and written by series creator Joss Whedon. Picking up several months after the last episode of the TV show, Buffy now leads an army of Slayers and faces even bigger problems including the return of an old enemy. If you're a Buffy fan than you probably know more about this comic than I do and don't need to be told it's coming out today.