NEW GRAPHIC NOVELS THIS WEEK

THE ADVENTURES OF VENUS by GILBERT HERNANDES

A rare foray into all-ages work, “The Adventures of Venus” was Gilbert Hernandez’s contribution to the kids’ anthology Measles which he edited in 1999 and 2000. This super-affordable little hardcover collects all the previously uncollected “Venus” stories from Measles in which Luba’s niece creates and collects comic books, walks through a scary forest, plays soccer, schemes to get the cute boy she likes, laments the snowless-less of a California Christmas, catches measles, and travels to a distant planet (OK, the last one may be a dream). Plus a new story done just for this book! Black & white throughout.

THE BATTLE OF BLOOD AND INK, A FABLE OF THE FLYING CITY by JARED AXELROD AND STEVE WALKER

If you’re visiting the flying city of Amperstam without the latest printing of The Lurker’s Guide, you might as well be lost. This one-sheet is written, edited, and printed by Ashe, a girl raised on the streets of the flying city, and is dedicated to revealing its hidden treasures and deepest secrets—including many that the overcontrolling government doesn’t want anyone to know. The stakes are raised when Ashe accidentally uncovers the horror of exactly how Amperstam travels among the skies and garners the attention of those who would rather that secret be kept in the hands of the city’s powerful leaders.
Soon Ashe is on the run from thugs and assassins, faced with the choice of imperiling her life just to keep publishing, or giving in to the suggestion of a rich patron that she trade in her voice and identity for a quiet, comfortable life. It’s a war of confusion for Ashe, but one thing is very clear: just because you live in a flying city, you can’t always keep your head in the clouds.

AVENGERS, CELESTIAL QUEST by ENGLEHEART, STATON and SANTAMARIA

Journey with a select group of Earth's Mightiest Heroes as they embark on a quest of cosmic proportions! When the Celestial Madonna known as Mantis sends out a space-spanning SOS that's received by the Vision, the Avengers' resident android gathers an elite squad of heroes - including Thor, Scarlet Witch and Silverclaw - to come to her rescue. But what happens when the big bad gunning for Mantis turns out to be the nigh-omnipotent (and Death's main squeeze) Thanos of Titan? Get ready for a galactic-sized dose of stellar excitement, as only Marvel Comics can bring it!



THE HIVE by CHARLES BURNS

Much has happened since we last saw Doug, the Tintin-like hero from X'ed Out. Confessing his past to an unidentified woman, Doug struggles to recall the mysterious incident that left his life shattered, an incident that may have involved his disturbed and now-absent girlfriend, Sarah, and her menacing ex-boyfriend.

Doug warily seeks answers in a nightmarish alternate world that is a distorted mirror of our own, where he is a lowly employee that carts supplies around the Hive. The second part of Charles Burns's riveting trilogy, this graphic narrative will delight and surpass the expectations of his fans.



BATMAN & ROBIN, DARK KNIGHT VS. WHITE KNIGHT by CORNELL, MCDANIEL, TOMASI, GLEASON, WINICK and TOCCHINI

The Dark Knight and the Boy Wonder face multiple threats and villains new and old, including the mysterious White Knight, the villain Absence and the renegade Robin of the past, Jason Todd



GULIVER'S TRAVELS by MARTIN ROWSON

 On 5 November 1699, the Merchant Ship Antelope foundered on a rock at the Latitude of 30 degrees 2 minutes south. The only survivor of the crew was the ship's physician, Lemuel Gulliver, who some hours later awoke, bound by hundreds of tiny ropes, lying on a beach in the Empire of Lilliput.
On 31 August 1997, Gulliver's direct (although unwitting) descendent was being driven back from a conference in Paris when, travelling through an underpass, his vehicle was struck with great force from behind. Rendered unconscious, he was next aware of being thrown from a helicopter into a shallow sea. On awaking next morning, he found himself bound by hundreds of tiny ropes, lying on a beach and surrounded by tiny figures welcoming him to... a modern Lilliput.
This is only the beginning of his adventures, as he finds himself, quite by chance, visiting the same places as his famous forebear, only three centuries later. Thus the Modern Gulliver learns how history has unfolded for the Lilliputians, discovering the secrets of the 'New' Lilliput's economic boom and accidentally precipitating its crash. He finds out how the giants of Brobdingnag were inspired to transform their way of life by his ancestor's example, impressed by their encounter with one of 'the most pernicious Race of little odious vermin that Nature ever suffered to crawl upon the surface of the Earth'. Then, after witnessing the diplomatic initiatives of the floating island of Laputa, the immortal Struldbruggs and other medical miracles in Luggnagg, he's finally shown exactly what the Houyhnhnms now do with their surplus Yahoos...


SERENITY, THOSE LEFT BEHIND & THE SHEPHERD'S TALE by WHEDON, MATTHEWS and CONRAD

Penned by Whedon and Brett Matthews, who wrote several episodes of Firefly as well as Dark Horse''s final Angel comics series and the animated Chronicles of Riddick feature "Dark Fury," Serenity follows a ship full of mercenaries, fugitives and one law-abiding prostitute in their pursuit for fast cash and a little peace along the fringes of space. The ragtag crew of Serenity take on a scavanger mission with the hopes of earning enough dough to disappear for a while. Only too late do they realize the whole gig is orchestrated by an old enemy eager remake their aquanitance with the help of some covert-operatives known only as the Blue Gloves. Artist Will Conrad (Marvel''s Elektra and Witches) and colorist Laura Martin (Astonishing X-Men and The Ultimates) paint a rough and wild world of adventure across a strange and dangerous universe, in this not-to-be-missed tale straight from the brain of pop-culture mastermind Joss Whedon!

One of Serenity's greatest mysteries is finally revealed in The Shepherd's Tale, filling in the life of one of the show's most beloved characters - Shepherd Book! Who was Book before meeting Mal and the rest of the Serenity crew, how did he become one of their most trusted allies, and how did he find God in a bowl of soup? Answers to these and more questions about Book's past are uncovered in this original hardcover graphic novel by rising stars Zack Whedon (Dr. Horrible, Terminator, Fringe) and Chris Samnee (Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps, Daredevil) . A pivotal chapter in the ongoing Serenity saga, The Shepherd's Tale is also a rollicking, action-packed epic in its own right.