I'm loving the reissued volumes of Gunsmith Cats by Dark Horse. As much as I LOVE Kenichi Sonoda's art it bothered me that, due to the mirror imaged approach of the previous Trade Paperbacks...all of the 'Cats hometown of Chicago was seen in reverse.Yes, its petty...but it was a bit disorienting seeing classic American muscle cars with the steering wheel incorrectly placed on the right side! It also helps that the new collections are super cheap, have gorgeous covers...and continue with the new Gunsmith Cats Burst series.Gunsmith Cats is every fanboy's dream. Muscle Cars. Gunfights. Hot Chicks. Sonoda is a total perv. The way he plays with his kiddy fetish in Minnie May is a little disturbing...but all is forgiven because his art is super slick and he has great taste in cars and (older) women.Sonoda's one of the few 80's manga artists that still feels fresh and exciting in the 21st century. There's a weird mix of excitement and scientific precision that Sonoda conveys in his linework and it's fun to see him regularly wield his encyclopedic knowledge on things like guns and cars.

Jonathan Ross' fascinating BBC Documentary, "In Search Of Steve Ditko", can now be seen on YouTube. All seven parts can be found HERE.Below is Stan Lee's candid yet controversial interview about who should take credit in the creation of Spider-Man.The Documentary also features interviews from a number of Ditko fans including Alan Moore (Watchmen, V For Vendetta), Neil Gaiman (Sandman, Stardust), and Mark Millar (Ultimates, Civil War).

I just got back of all my "Preacher" Graphic Novels from a family friend. The kid who borrowed them finished his Freshman year in college...which was right around the time I started reading "Preacher". I felt it was necessary to corrupt the kid's mind at just the right time! :-)Man, I loved Preacher...especially the first half or so of the story. The Saint of Killers, Jesse Custer's family, Starr, and the Grail...all of it was such morbidly fascinating stuff. I actually felt dirty when I started reading these comics! None of this would matter if Ennis and Dillon didn't do such an amazing job with the characterization and storytelling."Preacher" reads a bit differently than most comics. Ennis' work tends to be dialogue heavy...so the art takes a step back from the text. Fortunately, Dillon's art is expressive and efficient enough to complement Ennis' style.For me "Preacher" loses a bit of it's magic once Jesse Custer goes to Salvation...but I still regard the whole series as one of the best English comics of the 1990s.

I just started rereading Ellis' Stormwatch comics. For a guy that hates Superheroes, Warren Ellis writes one helluva superhero story! It seems like everyone talks about the brilliance of the original "The Authority" comic book series...but people forget about the comic that evolved into "The Authority", Warren Ellis' brilliant run on "Stormwatch".Before Ellis took over the writing reigns on "Stormwatch" it was the penultimate example of everything wrong with comics from the 1990s. There were tons of indecipherable characters in ridiculously designed costumes and constipated faces. Warren Ellis and artist Tom Raney changed all of that when they took over the book with issue #37.The result was a fascinating mix of the best elements from the sci-fi, spy thriller, and superhero genres. It's a great read and essential precursor to "The Authority".

I recently just finished reading Dark Horse's reprint collection of Koike & Kamimura's "Lady Snowblood" manga. The cover design is a very snappy homage to Tarantino's "Kill Bill" poster design...which is very fitting since the "Lady Snowblood" movie series were a huge inspiration for the "Kill Bill Vol. 1". In fact Lucy Liu's character is Tarantino's reinterpretation of Lady Snowblood.But enough about all those references. This is the series that started it all! Published in Japan from 1972-73, it's a rousing read that celebrates Koike's narrative mix of historical detail and violent fiction. With a deadly female protaganist, Koike explores the fascinating relationship between sexuality and violence. The stories and art are a bit scattered in the first 2 volumes but gets really good in volumes 3 & 4 as Lady Snowblood mission of revenge becomes the focal point of the story.I love Kamimura's interpretation of Lady Snowblood. From the very first page illustrated, he captured the perfect mix of vulnerability, beauty, lust and ferocity. With every panel of Lady Snowblood shown, you can understand how the people of Snowblood's world fall in love with her beauty...and yet there's still that glimmer of bloodlust in her eyes!One of my small quibbles with Kamimura's art is he doesn't render everything in the comics with the same affection and passion he obviously has for Lady Snowblood. Despite all that, it's a read I highly recommend.

On a whim, I decided to pick up all 9 issues of AUTOMATIC KAFKA by Joe Casey and Ashley Wood. I've been recently enjoying Joe Casey's work on G0DLAND and have always had a firm appreciation for Ashley Wood's kinetic style. I remember when Automatic Kafka originally came out in 2002, most of the critics regarded Automatic Kafka as a failure...but there was enough of a fervent following for the comic series that I decided it'd be worth picking up. I'm glad I finally did!Man, what a great series! Casey's dialogue is snappy. Wild ideas are thrown out and quickly forgotten with the introduction of other great concepts. Wood's art is iconic, visceral, and super sexy.I can see how this comic failed at DC comics since it's balls are far too big for them too handle. Even though Automatic Kafka regularly embraces itself as a "superhero" comic the sexuality is too explicit, the art is too abstract, and the story's structure is constantly challenging the limitations of sequential art.I love how the first issue starts with our robot hero complaining that he can't fuck because he's got bolts instead of a penis and gets high on drugs to get as close to cumming as a robot can. I love how Casey and Wood's answer to Captain America's Buffy is a hot teenaged girl in a patriotic cheerleader outfit called "Declaration of Independence" with the "Bill of Rights" written on the backside of her panties. I love how instead of using words like "Boom" and "Kapow" for sound effects, Ashley Wood writes "Fucking Bang" and "Muthafucka Kung Fu".I've ready 5 issues thus far. I can't wait to read the last four!