Shipped May 7, 2008

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #14
Dark Horse Comics
(w) Drew Goddard
(a) Georges Jeanty & Andy Owens
FC, 32 pgs w/ ads $2.99

More than a year in and this is a ride I don't want to stop. I got to rave at the launch of the series about how good Georges Jeanty is with the art; it's still great. While Joss Whedon isn't writing this arc, Buffy TV scribe Drew Goddard is so at least there is still someone behind the keyboard who is familiar with the characters

Buffy and the group are in Japan, trying to stop a group of vampires who have a powerful witch, Buffy's "scythe", and a really great and nefarious plot underway. Assisting the slayers in all of this is Dracula, a bit miffed at having some of his coolest tricks (turning to mist; animal transformation) swiped by upstarts. He's also providing some of the biggest laughs in this story arc. In addition, as the cover implies, if you're the writer of Cloverfield and the story is in Japan and one of your cast members is a giant then you have to include some quality rampaging. (Jason D. Fedorchuk)

4.5 of 5

The Exterminators #29
DC Comics / Vertigo Comics
(w) Simon Oliver
(a) Tony Moore & John Lucas
FC, 32 pgs w/ ads $2.99

One issue to go, kids, and the battle heats up as the Bug-Bee-Gone ladies and gents partner with LAPD's finest and mount an offensive against the army of cockroaches. Meanwhile, King Anan sits around in ladies undergarments and plots the end of the world as we know it. He's only moments away from succeeding. Hurry, bug fighters, hurry!

The end is indeed nigh. I'll love it to the end. (Chad Boudreau)

3.5 of 5

House of Mystery #1
DC Comics / Vertigo Comics
(w) Matthew Sturges & Bill Willingham
(a) Luca Rossi & Ross Campbell
FC 32 pgs w/ ads $2.99

Back in the day, after The Sandman ended, The Dreaming came along and slowly evolved into one of my favorite series at the time, especially once Caitlin R. Kiernan took control of the book. It ended after sixty issues in 2001. After reading this first issue of The House of Mystery, it occurred to me this series would have made the perfect follow up to The Dreaming.

Matthew Sturges scripts and Luca Rossi draws the bulk of the story. Cain's House of Mystery has gone missing. In The Dreaming, Cain's house had been destroyed and then brought back, making House of Mystery feel a couple years too late. Regardless, the house has become a bar where some patrons drink and others are forced to stay and serve. Everybody pays with stories. One patron tells a tale that is scripted by Bill Willingham and brilliantly drawn by Ross Campbell of Wet Moon fame - this boy deserves more recognition. The drawing of a cute little pig-tailed girl getting it on with a giant fly isn't as permanently burned into my brain as to what happens next but I'll leave that discovery for those who dare.

Despite my wishing that this series had started sooner, it's a welcome addition to my ever growing pull file. This issue serves as an intro but I'm sure Sturges and Willingham have more up their sleeves than just what appears on the surface. It is, after all, a house of mystery. (Shane Hnetka)

4 of 5

The Man With No Name #1
Dynamite Entertainment
(w) Christos Gage
(a) Wellington Dias
FC, 32 pgs w/ ads $3.50

Dynamite Entertainment is amassing quite the collection of licensed properties. Many of these are good fits for the comics medium: Red Sonja offers up a buxom, scantily clad, sword wielding redhead; Army of Darkness cries out for comic geeks with its hero, Ash; Battlestar Galactica keeps the attention of the sci-fi nerds; and, The Lone Ranger channels the Old West and thus attracts new and old fans. The company's latest acquisition, however, leaves me bewildered. The Man With No Name #1 hit the shelves last week.

The Man With No Name was the anti-hero played by Clint Eastwood in three of Sergio Leone's spaghetti Westerns: A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. This character as executed by Eastwood is one of the most recognizable, influential and revered anti-heroes in film history. Eastwood is this character. There is no other. To attempt to re-create this character in any form is blasphemy. No novel, movie, or comic can hope to recapture all that made those films the landmarks they are. (Chad Boudreau)

1 of 5

The Mummy: The Rise and Fall of Xango's Ax #1
IDW Publishing
(w) Joshua Jabcuga
(w) Stephen Mooney
FC, 32 pgs w/ ads $3.99

The Mummy franchise returns this year with its third installment: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. The films jumps ahead to 1946 and transports the action to China. The date change means Alex O'Connell is now 21-years old, and is thus poised to take over the franchise reins from his movie father, Brendan Fraser, who has now completed his three picture deal. The setting change is another attempt to freshen up on the franchise, a move that also includes adding martial arts superstars Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh to the cast.

I would question the movie studios' judgment at trying to revive this franchise the same year the superior Indiana Jones returns for its fourth installment. Perhaps the studio hopes Indiana Jones will revitalize filmgoers' interest in adventure flicks not set in the present.

The Mummy has always been the poor man's Indiana Jones, with Brendan Fraser lacking the charisma and roguish, used looks of Harrison Ford, and the scripts and overall movies lacking that cadence of action, adventure, wit and charm that make Indiana Jones such a fantastic set of movies.

The Rise and Fall of Xango's Ax is a prequel to the upcoming movie, though at first glance I don't see a connection other than Rick and son Alex are in Asia, though not China at this point. It manages to capture the feel of the films in terms of pace, action and witty banter, and features attractive, darkly colored art. Your own enjoyment of this comic will depend on enjoyment of The Mummy films that preceded it. (Chad Boudreau)

2.5 of 5