The Podge Cast

The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite written by Gerard Way, art by Gabriel Ba, colors by Dave Stewart, letters by Nate Piekos of Blambot

The first volume of the Umbrella Academy opens with a professional wrestler dropping a flying atomic elbow on a cyclopean space squid from Rigel X-9 and quickly begins to get weird. What kept surprising everyone about this comic wasn’t that musician Gerard Way had some decidedly odd ideas for his story. What surprised everyone was just how damn good the whole thing turned out to be. Seriously, outside of My Chemical Romance’s legions of teen fans, who was expecting the guy to have these levels of creative chops. But he does. And when matched with Brazillian artist Gabriel Ba you get what is easily one of the top comics for 2008.

Time travel, little kids fighting the Eiffel Tower, bad parenting, talking chimps and a family reunion that probably isn’t that much more of a disaster than most peoples. I mean sure most reunions don’t lead to the end of the world, but the crying and fighting is probably pretty typical…

Vampire Loves by Joann Sfar, colors by Audre Jardel, translated by Alexis Siegel

Vampire Loves is centered mostly around the vampire Ferdinand. He’s just broken up with Lani, his plant-spirit girlfriend after he caught her cheating on him with one of his friends. He’s a bit of a depressive type who normally only feeds with one tooth so as to make people think they’ve been bitten by a mosquito. And he really doesn’t have a clue about dating. Vampire Loves follows Ferdinand, Lani and their collection of spirits, robots, humans, mystics and others in their attempt to find love.

Sfar’s work often has a level of sadness to it, even the humor. But its charming and thought-provoking and hopeful. Sfar’s world is one where the occult and the normal converge, mostly showing that people are people and thus mostly confused. Even when they’re dead. Or a tree…

Skin Horse vol. 1 by Shaenon K. Garrity & Jeffrey C. Wells

The first collection for the Skin Horse webcomic. A comic about the semi-secret Black Ops Social Services department for non-human intelligences. The ones who go in with government assistances for those poor Destroyer Robots, Transgenic Beasts and Stranger Things That Result From Playing God. When the Rampage Ends, Thats Where Project Skin Horse Begins…

Well they try anyway. But with a field team consisting of a talking ex-pat Canadian dog (Sweetheart), a patchwork zombie girl (Unity) and a transvestite psychologist (Dr. Tip Wilkin) its possible things might not go according to plan. But that doesn’t mean they won’t find a way to solve their clients’ problems. Whether they be genetically-modified lions, warring mutant societies in the sub-basements or foul-mouthed cyborg battle copters…

Super Hero Happy Hour written by Dan Taylor, art by Chris Fason

A very simple concept. Neighborhood bar where the city’s super-heroes hang out. This volume collects the original 4-issue mini-series. The art is a bit crude to start, but Fason hits his stride by the second issue (“Ladies’ Night”) putting down simple but effective black & white, cartoon-like art.

Also Psiren and Knightengale are TOTALLY female hero names I wish I’d thought up first…

Sparks: An urban fairy tale by Lawrence Marvit

Jo is a lonely auto mechanic. She lives at home with her drunken cop father and zoned out mother. And one day she builds..well not a robot. More the shell of one. And that night a lightning strike brings him to life. Jo eventually names him Galahad and he becomes her closest friend. Even as she struggles to fit in and make friends with other people. But even an artificial man can love.

Or its the story of a beautiful princess trapped by a wicked king and the brave knight who will do anything to save her.

Or maybe both…