I suppose it just goes to show the power of a really iconic superhero—Cap's basically a clean-shaven Uncle Sam with more defined abs, after all—and the media's love of an easy story. And let's face it—it doesn't get any easier than "Symbol of America Shot Dead."
The good news about this groundswell of interest in Cap's comic book is that it's currently better-written than it has been in a long time. Writer Ed Brubaker and artist Steve Epting have handled the last 25 issues of the series, and have turned it into a post-9/11 era espionage rollercoaster ride, like 24 with masks.
Their run has been collected into four trade paperbacks so far. Captain America: Winter Soldier Vols. 1 and 2 chronicle one of those superhero resurrections, that of Cap's dead-for-decades sidekick Bucky, while Captain America: Red Menace Vols. 1 and 2 have former Nazi the Red Skull circling Cap from afar. You don't have to have read them to understand the events of the much-trumpeted No. 25, but fans of superhero fiction can certainly do worse.
The New Adventures of Jesus: The Second Coming
Fantagraphics Books
What if Jesus had a second coming and nobody came? That's the question proto-underground cartoonist Frank Stack, whose work predated the boom that gave us the likes of R. Crumb, explored in his long-unavailable strips. Working under the pseudonym Foolbert Sturgeon, Stack first brought Jesus back in the '60s, where he kept accidentally getting killed (and coming back three days later), and having unfortunate run-ins with authorities. It seems no one would believe this long-haired, bearded, smelly guy in a robe was really Jesus.
Fantagraphics collects all of Stack's occasional Jesus strips, created over a period of 40-plus years. This allows us a chance to see Stack's work evolve from a rougher, cartoonier look to the more refined style that will be more familiar to those who read his collaborations with Harvey Pekar, and to relive the high points of counterculture concerns, from the Vietnam War to the Bush administration.
While I suppose there are those who might be offended by the book, Stack plays Jesus himself remarkably straight, putting into razor-sharp relief the difference between Jesus Christ and modern Christianity.
The Grave Robber's Daughter
Fantagraphics Books
Artist Richard Sala has two particular areas of exceptional expertise—cute girls and horror. Like his previous Peculia books, The Grave Robber's Daughter gives him ample opportunity to indulge in both.
Girl detective Judy Drood (introduced in Sala's 2005 Mad Night) is like a buxom Veronica Mars with Nancy Drew's fashion sense, the foul mouth of a sailor and the brawling skills of a prize-fighter.
Sala's slight, spooky adventure opens with Judy's car breaking down outside the secluded town of Obidiah's Glen, now populated entirely by asshole teenagers, scary clowns and a single little girl. Judy starts out simply looking for a phone, but soon has to fight her way through undead clowns and hard-partying teens to crack the case.
Those with acute clownaphobia may want to steer clear, but everyone else should enjoy this quirky gem, whether it's their first exposure to Sala's go-go gothic work, or they're longtime fans.