Graphic novel news

Read Grovel's latest graphic novel review - The Nightmarist.

When it comes to superhero threesomes, they don't get much more exciting than Birds of Prey, Gail Simone's ongoing adventures of Oracle, Black Canary and Huntress. If you've been thinking about sampling the series, the press release says that Between Dark and Dawn is a great jumping-on point, setting the team on an all-new mission and introducing a new heroine into the fold.

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If you like your superhero action on the darker side, The Authority is a good place to come. This second volume in Ed Brubaker's Revolution sees the former defenders of America fractured, while their country teters on the edge of tyranny. Can anyone pull The Authority back together for one last attempt to save the world?

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The next step of the Countdown to Infinite Crisis is upon us, in the form of Villains United. Having found out that the Justice League has been less than honest with their methods (see Identity Crisis), the criminal community decides to do the unthinkable and create their own super-team. But six of their number stand against them. Who are these six and what are their true motives? You'll have to read it to find out.

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Read Grovel's latest graphic novel review - The Lone and Level Sands.

Remember that bloke in the Cantina who pointed Obi-Wan in the direction of Chewbacca when the venerable Jedi asked for passage to Alderaan? Well, it turns out that he wasn't just another nameless extra with a nice pair of sideburns, he was BoShek, the galaxy's second greatest smuggler. He's also the hero of one of the three stories in Star Wars: Empire Volume 5 - Allies and Adversaries, alongside Luke Skywalker and Han Solo - good news for Star Wars fans.

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The latest Superman books to come out of Titan Books in the UK via DC Comics are on the shelves. The Journey comes from the pen of Mark Verheiden, one of the top writers on TV's Smallville, and follows Superman through a crisis of conscience as he very nearly destroys an ancient South American tribe. Can he pull himself together in time to save Lois and Jimmy from terrorists? Probably...

Few living Superman fans will have been around when he first debuted in Action Comics back in 1938. However, if you want to know how Superman started, The Superman Chronicles Volume 1 reprints the first nine comics in one book. With a promise to print every Superman story in chronological order, this looks set to be an epic collection for fans of the Man of Steel.

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Order from Amazon.com/Amazon.co.uk

We've been inundated with movies based on comics and graphic novels - now it seems it's the turn of the computer game. Gerry Finley-Day's classic future war series has been plucked out of the pages of 2000AD and turned into a first-person shooter you can play on your PlayStation 2, Xbox or PC.

Following the plot of the original story, Rogue Trooper is a GI - a Genetic Infantryman - designed to exist in the kind of harsh battle environments that no human could survive. But when his entire regiment is betrayed by his own side, he vows to track down the traitor general with the help of his fallen comrades, whose personalities are saved on special microchips and inserted into handy slots on Rogue's equipment.

Mixing stealth and frenetic action, this looks set to be a real treat for first-person perspective games fans with an appetite for future war.

Rogue Trooper is out now in Europe or available on May 23rd in the US.

Order from Amazon.com: PS2/Xbox/PC or Amazon.co.uk: PS2/Xbox/PC

Read Grovel's latest graphic novel review - Countdown to Infinite Crisis: Rann-Thanagar War.

If you've been waiting for Marjane Satrapi's Embroideries to come out in paperback, your wait is over. The book follows the conversation of a group of Iranian women as they discuss love and sex, in a story that's both enlightening and universal. Click on the book cover below to read our review.

Over 30 years after it was originally published in Japan, one of the all-time classic manga series is making its first appearance in a UK edition. The 8-volume Buddha, by Osamu Tezuka, is considered by some to be as important to manga as Tolkien's Lord of the Rings was to fantasy literature.

HarperCollins is publishing two volumes a month for £10 each. The first two volumes are out now. Click on the covers below to read our full reviews.

Although not a graphic novel, Wolf Boy has comics interspersed throughout its chapters. It tells the story of a family ripped apart by the tragic loss of their eldest son in a car crash. His surviving younger brother uses a comics alter-ego - Wolf Boy - to help explore some of his feelings and ease the grief, and the pages he puts together are included in the book.

While the comics only do a small proportion of the story-telling work, it's an interesting premise. Worth checking out if you like literary fiction as well as comics and fancy taking a punt on a new author.

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Read Grovel's latest graphic novel review - Y: The Last Man Volume 2 - Cycles.

Del Rey Books is adding a new manga series to its stable. Kagetora by Akira Segami is the story of a young ninja, given the honour of serving a famous family of martial artists. His first job is to teach Yuki some martial arts skills but, despite the fact that she's first in line to lead the family into future generations, she's clearly not been born with the skills that should come naturally to a great martial artist. As if things need to get any worse, Kagetora thinks that he might be falling in love with her, which would be a betrayal of his duty and is strictly forbidden.

Also out this month from Del Rey are Ghost Hunt Volume 3 (read our reviews of volumes 1 and 2 here), The Wallflower Volume 7 and Pastel Volume 2.



Order from Amazon.com/Amazon.co.uk

Order from Amazon.com/Amazon.co.uk

Order from Amazon.com/Amazon.co.uk

Order from Amazon.com/Amazon.co.uk

Read Grovel's latest graphic novel review - Star Wars: Empire Volume 2 - Darklighter by Paul Chadwick.