Vogelein Volume 2: Old Ghosts by Jane Irwin. Old Ghosts is a sequel to the wonderfully whimsical Clockwork Fairy, and works equally well as a standalone. This volume continues to follow the day to day adventures of Vogelein, as she explores long-buried memories surrounding a past Guardian's death. The artwork is beautiful, and far more detailed than most black and white comics. Should appeal to fans of fantasy, slice-of-life, and relationship comic fans alike.

Poltergeist  by Kat Richardson.  Following up her PI paranormal Greywalker, Richardson's second novel is more a classic murder mystery with supernatural elements than most genreic entries. When Private Investigator Harper Blaine is called in to investigate the possible faking of results for a parapsychology experiment, she finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation that seems to be centered around a group-created ghost. "Ceilia" is less than friendly, and before long it emerges that one particular psychopath is pulling the strings. Richardson manages to craft a solid mystery without relying over-much on supernatural or magical crutches – while the creation of the 'ghost' and the method of it's capture pull the novel into the fantastic, the investigational method is pure Ellery Queen. It's a refreshing mix, and one I wouldn't mind seeing more often.

Hellblazer: Red Right Hand by Denise Mina and Leonardo Manco. I keep coming back to Constantine because he's such an endearing chain-smoking bastard. In this particular trade collection, the effects of a well-meaning scientist's empathy machine have turned Glasgow into a suicidal wasteland, set upon by demons that feed on the despair and self-loathing that result from everyone knowing the bad things their friends and neighbors have done. Constantine, his niece Gemma, and a cast of regulars team up to try to save England, with mixed results. The fate of the world ends up resting on the outcome of a soccer match, a twist that those familiar with rabid football hooliganism will find particularly amusing.

Wormwood Volume 1: Gentleman Corpse by Ben Templesmith. Comic readers probably know Templesmith's art from titles like 30 Days of Night and Warren Ellis' Fell. If you've enjoyed his subtly twisted layered art, you'll be pleased to know he also writes decently twisted comedy-horror. The title character is a centuries-old sentient maggot who hangs out in a demon strip club and plays the PI card now and then. This first title is full of eldritch horror, demonic infestation, and lots and lots of gross-out bits. That said, it's an awful lot of fun, and should appeal to those with like sensibilities.

Clubbing by Andi Watson. I started following Watson's work after reading titles like Skeleton Key, Dumped and Geisha . Clubbing fits in with Watson's introspective relationship oriented titles, telling in first person the tale of a British teenage scenester exiled to the family country club after an incident with a fake ID. There's a bit much of the self-absorbed interior monologue, but enough of the fish-out-of-water satanic ritualistic murder mystery to make this an enjoyable comic pastry.

Knitting Lingerie Style by Joan McGowan-Michael.  Fans of White Lies Designs will have already discovered this beautifully photographed pattern book. As the title suggests, all of the designs are either lingerie, or lingerie inspired. In the latter case this translates into some lovely shape emphasizing sweaters, vests, and corsets. There's a small selection of stockings as well, and I've already knit one of the Fishnet Knee Highs (following the publisher's errata) to great effect.

Catwoman : It's Only a Movie. In this filmic homage, Selena and Holly must both be the cat, as a serial killer commits crimes in the style of classic films. The high contrast art and ironic dialogue make this a fun, albiet fluffy, piece in the Catwoman canon

 

Flight, Volume Four If you're coming to this fourth volume of Flight, you should already know what to expect – another collection of beautiful shorts, very loosely connected to the idea of travel. Volume Four doesn't disappoint, with the majority of its pieces taking on the theme of sea travel. As also with prior volumes, the visual is given full dramatic impact through the inclusion of a number of completely textless comics, and more with only a few words, proving that images transcend language. Another gorgeous effort that's well worth your time.

Vox by Nicholson Baker.  Variously subtitled 'a novel about phone sex', Baker's Vox is more a literary experiment than a novel. Taking the form of a conversation between two anonymous strangers on a party line, the "plot" circles varying fantasies and sexual imagery in a playfully interrogative manner. I found it ultimately dissatisfying for it's failure to successfully inhabit a single genre. It fails to work as a novel because of it's digressive conversational notes. It fails to work as pornography because of it's analytic tone and over-abundance of plot, and it fails to work as social commentary because it doesn't say anything new about it's content. A masturbatory literary exercise with little lasting merit.

Parasyte 1 by Hitsoshi Iwaaki. In this fantastic horror manga reprint, an alien parasyte invades earth, causing the humans it possesses to cannibalize their fellow humans. A young boy accidentally halts the creature's growth before it reaches his brain, turning his hand into an otherworldly creature with a mind of its own. Though it's motives are always described as enlightened self-interest, the boy and creature develop a strangely touching symbiosis underscored by the splatter horror of the main plot. Continued in a second volume, it's a story fans of j-horror, Uzumaki, and teen slashers should appreciate.