Vertigo title about the modern day lives and battles of the countless fairy tales and fables from throughout history. The writing is great throughout the series and the reinvention of classic characters means you get new and interesting twists with characters most of us grew up with only have small one sided stories of. The art is also consistently good; if the inside art was as good as the covers this would be the greatest comic series ever made but it's still beautiful artwork. It's a fun read and and has some built in nastolgia and if there are some characters you didn't grow up with than it's a good reminder to go read through some of the Grimms Brother's folk tales again. Great well balanced fun reading. (.97)

- J Paige

Looking at the Darkhorse releases of Conan (not their rereleases of the old Marvel series). This is probably the best comic presentations of the Robert E Howard's Conan stories. They've done an insane amount of research and all the stories are pretty much the "expert's" view of how the stories should go. Tales are reordered, cleaned up, and missing holes are filled in with a sense of caretaking and guardianship of the mythos. The art is awesome and the coloring keeps an epic tone throughout the series. As with the earliest Conans, I'd give this more points if they kept more of the original sketches; these artists are amazing when you see their pencil work and even when the inking and coloring is awesome it still takes away from the original line drawings. Stories and art, if you want real Conan this is the way to go. (.90)

- J Paige

The Invisibles is a great series written by Grant Morrison and put out by DC through the 90's. Tons of random mythology and angsty rebellion are interwoven with every conspiracy theory you can get your hands on. It is heavily violent and sexual and has many disturbing/grotesque elements to it, all of which are needed. It's general premise is that everything the perverted homeless schizophrenic bum was ranting about on the street is actually true. There's a definite 90's feel to it and the "extreme" elements from s&m to ultraviolence and everyone trying to be a freak/individual are all relevent and heart felt but seem dated in way, similar to an elderly hippy giving the peace sign not being taken seriously. The art is well done but a little stiff for my tastes, there's a definite english vibe to it, and the various sexuality issues will distract some. A nice piece of work that is definitely not for children nor to be discussed at thanksgiving with the fam. Remember when you first heard that there were people who pierced their genitals? That's this comic book. (.90)

- J Paige

Lucifer, put out under the vertigo line by DC comics, and one of the best graphic novels I've come across. Born out of the Neil Gaiman Sandman universe, Lucifer is an epic story that covers the last days of Lucifer and the end of Yahweh/god. The series is over now and is available in trade paperback. Artists change throughout but the quality is high throughout. The story is great, if you have any interest in JudeoChristian mythology than this series takes advantage of that. Lilith leads armies against heaven, Norse gods fly on ships made of dead men's fingernails, Hell is overthrown, angels battle, new universes are created and destroyed. The balance of the whole story is excellent, huge epic theological issues are covered in an accessible way while tension and action are constant. I literally only have one real complaint about it which is that it ended; when dealing with world religions there is so much to cover that you wish they could have added even more. But, in the end, the story that was supposed to be told was told so wishing there was more isn't much of a negative at all. It's for mature readers and the more literate you are in the mythologies of the ancient world the more you'll find things to amaze you. Ninety percent of the time anything to do with Lucifer is handled by awful authors or awful musicians or awful film directors, this story stands along side Paradise Lost and the Divine Comedy as nouveau JudeoChristain mythology. (.98)