5. CAIRO
Written by G. Willow Wilson; art by M.K. Perker
DC Vertigo
160 pgs | $24.99

A new graphic novel makes its way from DC's Vertigo imprint featuring a couple of fairly new names to the graphic novel-making world. G. Willow Wilson is a journalist who has spent some time in Cairo writing for publications like Atlantic Monthly and the NY Times Magazine. M.K. Perker is a NY-based illustrator originally from Turkey who has had a successful career as a magazine illustrator and now has his first high-profile graphic novel. Not only is Vertigo showcasing fresh creative talent but they also seem to be embracing the graphic novel as a first-run format rather than publishing this as a pamphlet-sized mini-series first.

Cairo is a "magical-realism thriller" that weaves together contemporary action with old world middle east spiritualism. Genies, flying carpets and magic hookahs cross paths with drug runners, journalists and American expats.

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4. PALESTINE
By Joe Sacco
Fantagraphics
320 pgs | $29.95

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Middle East - comic-journalist Joe Sacco releases a deluxe hardcover printing of his fascinating exploration of life in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In addition to the original 288-page graphic novel is a set of 'DVD extras'-style background notes, photographic reference and sketches. Sacco has made a name for himself and won many awards for his unique approach to journalism which began here and moved on to such war torn countries as Bosnia and Iraq.

Sacco's Palestine is the most insightful reporting I've ever read on the Palestinian situation and he tells it from the most personal level possible - interviewing families, soldiers and various others caught up in the conflict and then illustrating their stories as well as himself capturing and reacting to the stories. I've always marveled myself at just how he manages to record the sights and character details that he does from his interviews so this edition should satisfy the curiosity of a lot of Sacco admirers.

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3. DARK TOWER: THE GUNSLINGER BORN
Written by Peter David and Robin Furth; art by Jae Lee and Richard Isanove
Marvel
$24.99

Stephen King fans probably are already well aware of this comic "prequel" to the Dark Tower saga but now the 7 issue comic series is being collected in a hardcover format that will allow you to stack it on your shelf right next to the "real" books. Those damn floppy comics just don't look right on a bookshelf, do they?

This book has been pretty well-received mostly because of the art by the great Jae Lee who, paired with colorist/painter Richard Isanove, turns in the richest work of his career. But I think fans of the Dark Tower book series have embraced this origin story and consider it canon.

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2. ACME NOVELTY LIBRARY NO. 18.5
By Chris Ware
Drawn & Quarterly
$32.00

Ok, is this one really a comic? I'm not sure. It's billed more as a "print portfolio" but it does contain a comic strip and it is by Chris Ware whose name alone will bump any item towards the top of my weekly list. Although the next issue of his Acme Novelty Library series is supposed to be no. 18 this is numbered 18.5 so I'm not sure if this is early or issue 18 is late but neither has anything to do with each other anyway as this is a completely stand alone item. It collects the four Thanksgiving covers that Ware did last year for the New Yorker plus there's a comic strip like I mentioned. Everything Ware does is packaged splendidly and this looks like no exception. Kind of pricey for some New Yorker covers but if you get it I don't imagine you'll feel gipped.

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1. HEROES
Written by Aron Eli Coleite, Chuck Kim, Joe Pokaski, Oliver Grigsby, Pierluigi Cothran, Andrew Chambliss, Harrison Wilcox, Jesse Alexander, Christopher Zatta, Mark Warshaw and others; Art by Phil Jimenez, Michael Turner, Koi Turnbull, Marcus To, Peter Steigerwald, David Moran, Micah Gunnell, Travis Kotzebue, Jordan Kotzebue, Jason Badower, Staz Johnson, Steve Lejeune, Adam Archer, Mark Roslan and others; Covers by Jim Lee and Alex Ross
DC
240 pgs | $29.99

Finally, here's the #1 of our list of pricey books for the week and this one collects a bunch of stuff that you could read for free online and is based on the TV show Heroes which you can watch for free on TV. But you get a choice of an Alex Ross cover (pictured here) or a somewhat less appealing Jim Lee cover which I chose not to show and an introduction by Masa Oka the actor who plays Hiro. Collected here are all the online comics that NBC released throughout season one which fill in some backstory of the Heroes universe.

While a lot of the artwork of some of those stories seem like generic comic book art there are some gems included here such as all of the artwork that Tim Sale (the real Isaac) produced for the series. It should all be enough to make you long for the happier times of season one when this show was surprising and fun.