The Birth Caul

A new miniseries about the Golden Age Marvel Universe, revealing the birth of the original super-heroes and the dramatic effect it has on the current Marvel Universe as we know it, from the wondrous creative team of Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting. Brubaker brilliantly makes the people from the 1940's as real as if they do really exist and just there beside you, and Epting mastery of form and contrast has never been more pronounced as in this issue when the Torch meets Namor in mid-air; you can really see the Torch burn brighter than everything around him, and the searing intensity of his flames seem almost palpable. This is superb writing and and phenomenal artistry in perfect harmony. No wonder IGN gave this issue an "Outstanding" 9.0 rating and an Editor's Choice Award for the comics week of October 14, 2009. One of Marvel's best among its current titles.

The Wheel of Time (WoT to fans) is a series of epic fantasy novels written by the late American author James Oliver Rigney, Jr., under the pen name Robert Jordan. Originally planned as a six-book series, it now consists of eleven published novels, with one more book to come, which will be published in three volumes. is the prequel novel that originally appeared as a novella in the anthology edited by noted SF author Robert Silverberg. Jordan expanded it and it was published as a standalone novel in January 2004. was produced as a series of comic books planned for eight issues by Dabel Brothers (DB Pro) and published by Red Eagle Entertainment. The first issue was published in July 2005. However Red Eagle canceled the series in 2006 after 5 issues, citing delays and changes to the creative team on the DB Pro end as reasons. Dabel Brothers formed its own publishing company and continued with the publication of New Spring in 2009. The current run of New Spring is now at issue #7, released August 19, 2009. There seems to be no tentative date for the last and final issue in this series.

is a four-issue miniseries created by Shekhar Kapur and Zeb Wells and published by Virgin Studios in 2008. After the sacking of a sacred Snake Temple at the hands of 68 British soldiers, each generation sees the birth of a , the human vessel of a Goddess hungry for revenge; it is her destiny to hunt down and kill the souls of the 68 as they are reincarnated throughout the decades in different lives and locations. in a single generation, or be destroyed by one of their number. Only when all the 69 were killed in a single lifetime and the stolen sacred emerald returned to the Naga Temple will the mission of the Snake Woman end. If even one of the 68 survived, then she and the soldiers will be reborn, once again matched in a cosmic battle of man versus Goddess. This is the story of those hunted, as they struggle to survive the curse of the the Snake Woman. This is the .

is an award-winning graphic novel and comic series by Christian Gossett set in a sci-fi/fantasy world described by Gossett as "Mythic [Soviet] Russia". As a graphic novel it remains one of the most celebrated of the decade, an epic mythology inspired by the art, folklore and military history of the former Soviet Union. The series is thus an allegory of the former USSR--a post-World War II Soviet Russia mixing technology and sorcery. The 'United Republics of the Red Star', often simply called the 'State' in the comic, are shown to be coterminous with the historical Soviet Union in a map at the beginning of the first issue. The main enemy of the first novels, Al'Istaan, is a stand-in for historical Afghanistan and occupies a similar area on the map. Volume 1 consists of ten comics in a limited series, published by Image Comics from June, 2000 to June 2002. There are actually nine issues with an added Issue #7.5, plus an annual issue. Within the comics world, the books are a hit, and have already amassed an international cult following. For the world of popular art, they represent a very important progression in the way that comic books can be drawn, coloured and produced using a combination of traditional drawing, CG artwork and digital compositing, resulting in a unique, cinematic visual style that many have since tried to emulate but have never equalled. Superior story and incredible artwork.

Published by Archangel Studios/CG Entertainment Group (Cross Generation Entertainment, Inc.), this series picks up exactly where the Image comic leaves off, with the crew of the Konstantinov fighting off the crew of the R.S.S. Tartarov which has followed them through the gate into the "Storm of Souls". Volume 2 consists of five issues in a limited series, published from February 2003 to July 2004. The collected five issues of Volume 2 was published as the third Red Star TPB, "Prison of Souls." The art is fantastic. The use of 3D models is much more advanced than many others' attempts in other titles; consequently their 2D/3D integration is much better than anything seen so far. The printing is first class too. Reminiscent of the early Aria books. The story is likewise on a similar level--it totally immerses you in its world. Three thumbs up.

is the continuation of the comic series that brings readers back to the events in the previous Red Star Trade Paperback, 'Prison of Souls'. With unforgettable pencils by multiple Eisner nominee Christian Gossett and extraordinary digital painting by the world famous Weta Workshop Design Team of New Zealand (known for their film work on The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, King Kong, and The Chronicles of Narnia), this series and graphic novel not only continues the adventures of the Skyfurnace Konstantinov, it also takes readers back into the time of the Great Revolution, to the origin of The Red Star saga. This run is currently on issue #3. Issue #3 premiered at Comicon International San Diego 2008. Perhaps this tells you volumes about the quality of this title and series: nobody seems to mind the wait for issues #4 and #5. I do not mind, either.

is a 6-part limited series published by Marvel from September 2008 through March 2009. It delves into the history of the Sentry, a unique Marvel character who has the power of a million exploding suns but whose memory and his interactions with the other Marvel superheroes were removed from the collective consciousness of the entire world, and presents such history in a unique fashion: a “classic silver-age" tale at the birth of the Marvel Age. The Sentry was first introduced in his eponymous 2000 miniseries (Sep. 2000) and was created by Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee. In this latest iteration, created by Jeff Parker, Nick Dragotta and Paul Tobin, Marvel brings an old-style comics feel complete with covers with text bursts, two stories per issue (of equal length with the exception of issue #6) and old-style editorials and letters pages.