If you only read one hilarious political critique this year (or knowing a lot of you, this decade) this is the one to read. Know why the government, media, and corporate string-pullers are so awesomely screwed up, and intent on screwing you right up there with them.  Franken is fresh and funny, and his humility is... unique.

A graphic novel of immense proportions.  Yeah, this thing is as thick as your yellow pages.  It's the story of the hunt for Jack the Ripper, but told as only Alan Moore could tell it.  You may have seen the movie with Johnny Dep and think you've seen everything already, but no - that's only part of the story.  Amazing graphic style, compelling dialog and dialects, this is a satisfactory tome.  It's a huge comic book, but unlike anything you've seen before.

 

Joseph Michael Linsner is amazing.  His worlds of Good and Evil seem old and fresh at once.  Unknown archetypes battle as if they were the concepts themselves.  But all of this is almost overshadowed by one character of his; Dawn.  She is the subject of the lions share of his work, yet it never becomes boring or repetitive. Good girl art, bad girl art, can it be both?  Yes - and in Linsner's mythology it even seems necessary.

 

Yes, we could have written this, but we're lazy slobs and if someone wants to do our work for us...so much the better.  This is a fun little book, bound and produced with 1950's elementary school textbook sensibilities and artistic style. 

 

Take it from us.  This is going to be a couple of firsts for you.  First, you'll rarely read a book as fast - because it's paced and produced like a kids easy reader book with large pictures and simple stories.  Second, you'll be hard pressed to find something so quickly and directly disturbing.  Buy two, you're sure to know someone you want to give this to!  

 

OK, when did you last read a kids book where the hero was a pre-teen mastermind of crime.  Juvenile Moriarity? Young Blowfield? This is the first book in a series, and we recommend it highly.    

 

A poem that kills. A real estate agent who specializes in selling horribly haunted houses. A road trip like you've never seen before.  This is from the guy who wrote Fight Club, and it's very special.  From the dead bird on the cover, to the incredible twist (very much foreshadowed but a big surprise none the less) at the end, this is a great book for anyone who likes their entertainment "just a little bit out there!"

 

Are you a conspiracy fan. Not really unless you've already read this book.

 Ever wonder where FNORD really came from?  Want to know the connection between that pyramid on your money and... well, you aren't cleared for that yet are you?  This book is as relevant today as it was in the 60's when it shaped the political lobes of a generation on acid and weed. 

 

We have so much love for this intricate and disturbed book it's hard to simply write a few lines about it.  An amazing layered story, a review of an analysis of a film shot in a house where the inside dimensions are slightly larger than the outside measurements. To say ghost story is to miss the point.  To get distracted by the sexual antics is only natural, but you must stay on course.  Typographical madness unlike anything you've seen before. You think Wired gets some strange page layouts?  They're writing in crayon compared to Z's work.

 Read it and be forever changed.

 

Amazing.  The worlds most evil book, in paperback.  Mentioned in worried voices in H.P. Lovecraft stories, as well as many other literary venues, this is the one, true, book of the dead.  At the very least, you want this laying around open on your desk at work when your boss comes in to talk about your last review...

Read the on-line reviews on this one.  We'll say no more.

 

 

First of the Jerry Cornelius' odyssey of stories.  An assassin, drug addict, rocker, spy, jack of all... well, we gush. JC makes Bowie look like Pat Boone. Moorcock's stories are an amazing matrix of interconnected characters, worlds, themes, and cosmic jokes.  From Elric to Jerry, the man has created an amazing multiverse of ambivalent heroes and likeable villains. This book is the root. Shame about that out of print bit...

 

What their parents didn't know was that these were thin sword and sorcery plots painted over some of the best bondage and discipline tales that have ever hit paperback.  Oh, weren't those interesting times!

But someone is buying them.  The series is still going on today, with over two dozen titles in all!

 

 

Now you can, with Zen Speaks, a collection of one page Zen lessons, each in COMIC BOOK FORM!  This is all you need to know to make Zen statements, in context, without all that mucking about with deep understanding and mental discipline.  Black and white illustrations double as a coloring book if you are so inclined!  Check out the sample pages on this one - you'll be sounding like Shang-Chi in no time!

 

You've undoubtedly seen some of his work already - his work spans Bablyon Five, Twilight Zone, Star Trek, and many others.  But he really shines in his printed work, where his language and judgments come through like a hot switchblade through butter. From urban tales to science fiction masterpieces, he's an original who is never boring.

 

Titus Crow takes the Lovecraft world and puts a Sherlock Holmes/Dr Watson pair of investigators deep into it's many odd situations.  And if you like these, try Lumley's Necroscope series as well, they're a sweeping tale of vampires - like you've never seen vampires before...