5. MOME VOL. 9
By various
Fantagraphics
120 pgs | $14.95

This week's comic aimed at the comic book snob is the latest entry of the quarterly anthology, MOME. Joining the usual assortment of alt-comix all-stars like Sophie Crumb, Paul Hornschemeier and R. Kikuo Johnson is alt-comix veteran Jim Woodring. Known for his hallucinatory cartoon work like The Frank Book, Woodring begins a multi-part story involving demons and monsters and should have his usual mix of the very cute and the very weird. MOME is a quality showcase for both rising and established stars in the comics world and the addition of Woodring only gives it more street cred.

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4. METAMORPHO YEAR ONE #1 (of 6)
Written by Dan Jurgens
art by Dan Jurgens and Jesse Delperdang
DC
32 pgs | $2.99

A staple of DC Comics is the "Year One" mini-series - 4 part character origin books which began back in the '80's with a little Batman book by some guy named Frank Miller. No one has quite re-bottled the lightning from that series in all the successive minis it has spawned but it's still a useful device to re-introduce a character to a new audience. This time out we get the revised origin of somewhat of an oddball character named Metamorpho. Often times a member of the group, the Outsiders, Metamorpho has the ability to change shape into any element that can be found in the human body. It doesn't sound like much of a power but he makes due with it. Back in the '60's, Metamorpho's alter ego was originally an Indiana Jones-style adventurer named Rex Mason. Today in this revised origin, he's a reality TV star, if that gives you an idea of what kind of modern updates we're talking about.

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3. HOWARD THE DUCK #1 (of 4)
Written by Ty Templeton
Art by Juan Bobillo and Marcelo Sosa
Marvel
32 pgs | $2.99

If you're only exposure to Howard the Duck is the awful George Lucas movie from the '80's then you're probably not aware that the original comic by Steve Gerber in the '70's was a unique satirical voice in the world of comics at that time. The whole movie fiasco kind of took the wind out the duck's sails for the next 20 years or so. Can he make a comeback? Sporting a new creative team and a new look, Howard is going to give it a shot in this 4 issue mini-series in which he and his human girlfriend Beverly take on the internet, among other things.

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2. EMPOWERED VOL. 2
Written and drawn by Adam Warren
Dark Horse
208 pgs | $14.95

One of my personal favorite books of this year was the first volume of Adam Warren's Empowered – a self-aware cheesecake book featuring a hot but very lame super-heroine who can't seem to keep from ending up in S&M-like bondage with her costume shredded to tiny pieces. Straddling the line between prurient, fanboy wank material and laugh-out-loud satire, Warren has come up with truly funny read and a truly likable and sympathetic heroine.

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1. OMEGA: THE UNKNOWN #1 (of 10)
Written by Jonathan Lethem and Karl Rusnak
Art by Farel Dalrymple and Paul Hornschemeir
Marvel
32 pgs | $2.99

Another Steve Gerber creation from the '70's, Omega the Unknown is aptly named because, despite being a Marvel comic character, most people don't know him. The original comic was canceled after only 10 issues but retains a cult following for the unusual nature of its story which dealt with a 12 year old boy who shared a mysterious connection with the last surviving member of an alien race.

Now Omega returns, written by acclaimed novelist Jonathan Lethem and alt comics artists Farel Dalrymple and Paul Hornschemeir. Lethem's award-winning novel Fortress of Solitude about two kids growing up in Brooklyn in the '70's was chock full of adoring nods to 70's-era Marvel Comics.

Both Lethem fans and Omega fans have been waiting years for this book to hit. Expect Lethem's usual thought-provoking dialogue and characterization and... oh look, robots!