Angel issues #24 and 25 were written by Juliet Landau and Brian Lynch with art by Franco Urru, and Drusilla's in rare form. She's also in an asylum, but they don't seem quite up to the task of containing her. Assuming that's the plan, anyway…

Reportedly Landau provided a great deal of input and reference material for the artwork, and it shows. Urru captured her graceful unearthy movements beautifully, which of course makes her all the more horrifying.

And now Juliet Landau is offering autographed versions of both comics, in any of the four variant covers done for each. $30 each, and you can even specify a personalized message (up to 200 characters). Click here to check 'em out.

(If you just want the comics, try TFAW.com)

OK, granted, Planetary creators Warren Ellis, John Cassaday and Laura Martin were interrupted several times by illness and other projects. And OK, out of 26 previous issues every one was a hit. And OK, they never promised a regular schedule and then went back on it, they were always upfront about delays and hiatuses. And OK, I can't exactly bitch since my own webcomic went on two hiatuses in a year…

The thing is, is it worth the wait? 3 years since the last one?

Haven't read it, beyond the preview pages at the Wildstorm blog. But I'll be buying it the day it comes out, and so should you. And if you haven't read the rest of them, go get them. I'll wait.

If you were living in a world full of superpowered people, how would you find out what they've been doing? Especially if they didn't want you to know? You build a group like Planetary; three archeologists uncovering 100 years of secret superhero activity.

The three have their own abilities — Jakita Wagner is strong, fast and tough, The Drummer can detect and manipulate information streams, new recruit Elijah Snow can extract heat from nearby substances at will — and there is a hidden Fourth Man running the show as they search for clues to what really happened in the last century. It's fast, subversive, thought-provoking, and often hilarious (the DC crossover special where they encounter every version of Batman that's been seen, from the original to the Dark Knight to the 70's hero to Adam West must not be missed) and features barely concealed and not-very-flattering references to almost every other iconic hero like Superman, Captain Marvel, Sherlock Holmes, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Nick Fury, Godzilla, the Justice League, the Fantastic Four and the Hulk.

The art by John Cassaday is breathtakingly believable, and Laura Martin's colors ground it even further into reality. Also, Warren Ellis is a sick, sick man.

With any luck the release of this will trigger a new edition of the whole series, but for now we'll make do with the collections. Planetary #27 will be an oversized issue, with a 3-piece wraparound gatefold cover drawn by Cassaday, coming out sometime in October.

Marvel bought the rights to "Miracleman."

Yadd.. wait, what?

Fans of the original "Marvelman" series by Alan Moore and its continuation by Neil Gaiman (known as "Miracleman" on this side of the pond) were stonkered by the announcement made at the San Diego Comic-Con's "Cup o' Joe" panel. This series,  a seminal work that takes the existence of superheroes to its extremes long before it became vogue (and frankly still stands head and shoulders above most subsequent attempts; it still has the most chilling images yet of what happens when someone with Superman-level powers goes on a rampage) has been in legal dispute for decades and fans assumed it would stay there. Apparently not:

(Marvel publisher Dan) Buckley stated that Marvel was talking with several creators who did Marvelman stories in the ’80s and ’90s. Both Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman are among those creators, but nothing has been announced beyond the acquisition.

So, no idea if the existing comics will be reprinted or remastered, or if previous characters will show up again, or if this means a movie deal is coming that Alan Moore will have to quickly distance himself from. But I'm excited to see what happens.

This doesn't mean there'll be one, of course. Movie deals are delicate, frail things that fall apart for all sorts of reasons. But I'm really hoping to see it (assuming it's done right) and I'm glad to see Moore,  getting the recognition (and the six-figure option amount).

Of course, I'd rather see a well-done "Strangers in Paradise" movie…

"Echo" tells the story of a photographer who is preoccupied with her personal problems until she gets doused by liquid metal from a military experiment gone awry. She discovers she can now harness the power of a nuclear bomb, and soon the military wants its walking weapon.

If you're not reading it, you really should be. Check out the first collection, "Moon Lake", at Amazon.

Better news: there's also a third book to the set, containing the artwork for all the covers.

Even better news: Moore has tweaked the stories so that everything runs in unbroken order, typos have been fixed, words have been uncensored, and the artwork has been checked page by page. This is the finest edition of these stories available.

Way cool news: The Omnibus is on sale now, although it will debut at the San Diego Comic-Con. You can pre-order it from the Strangers in Paradise site and pick it up at the con (in a cool Omnibus canvas bag to haul it around) or have it shipped afterward.

Limited edition news: Only 1250 of these will be printed; after that the 1st two books (but not the covers book) will come out in paperback. Copies are available through your local comic store, but don't dawdle to preorder, they're going fast.

Extremely limited edition news: a lettered edition, only 26 copies, has been created to benefit the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. This is the rarest Strangers in Paradise collectible imaginable and it comes with an original drawing by Terry Moore and a bottle of "Parker Lily," a fragrance based on Terry Moore's beloved epic created by Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, strictly limited to 26 bottles. And right now the CBLDF is offering the rarest SiP item of all on eBay — Letter A of this limited edition set, plus a bottle each of the two prototypes of Parker Lily, the same ones sent to Terry Moore for approval. Short of auctioning off Terry Moore himself, it doesn't get better than this.

From comicbookresources: “Strangers in Paradise” was able to appeal to a broader, non-comics reading audience in part because of its strong character-centered storytelling. It was, at times, a mafia crime drama, a soap opera, the story of multimillion-dollar heist, and more. At the heart of the story, though, is the complex relationship between close friends Francine Peters, Katina (“Katchoo”) Choovanski, and David Qin. Katchoo is in love with Francine, David is in love with Katchoo, and Francine struggles to make sense of her feelings throughout. Moore described his best-known creation as “a way to live with some characters that became very dear to me, and apparently to some other readers, as well.”

Freakin' Tank Girl's costume.

This is Tank Girl's Costume from the 1995 movie Tank Girl which was Based on the British cult comic-strip. Tank Girl (Lori Petty)our heroine fights a mega-corporation, which controls the world's water supply and this costume is featured in the final battle scenes. The outfit is comprised of two sock elbow pads, chaps, custom vest, bulls-eye t-shirt, choker, and red shorts. All of the items are tailored to fit the petite 5'8"(173cm) actress. The pieces are all in good condition.

Huge fan of this comic, the movie, and Lori Petty. The only thing better would be a costume with two big missle-head bra cones on it, but one must be prepared to settle for what's available.

Which is freakin' Tank Girl's costume. Tank (presumably) not included.

Tomorrow is Joss' birthday, and there's lots of ways to celebrate! Many of us will be gathering at various Can't Stop the Serenity events around the world (check here for the list and schedule), some of us will be holding quiet ceremonies in front of our home Joss shrines, and some of us can boost the economy in his name. Which is now easier, because TFAW.com is holding a Joss' Birthday Sale!

This means you'll save 30% off cool stuff like Buffy Season 8, Serenity apparel, Angel variants, and even Joss' runs on Astonishing X-Men and Runaways. This is the perfect time for you to proclaim your allegiance to all things Whedon and complete your collection. Feels more like your birthday, doesn't it?

Our Happy Birthday Joss Whedon Sale starts now and ends at 11:59 p.m. on June 23, 2009, so make sure to visit our Joss Whedon Theme Page now to take advantage of some excellent deals. But be quick–your fellow Whedon fans are already there!

Usually, avoiding spoilers works in my favor. I can be surprised, the dramatic and comedic beats hit as they're supposed to without any anticipation from me so their impact is all the harder. In this case, it was a loud "WTF?!?" followed by some frantic Googling to discover what, indeed, was the F.

Major spoilers coming. If you'd rather skip that, here's the short version: I was disappointed in every way imaginable, and I have to assume that Brian Michael Bendis had a gun held to his head.

Ten years ago, the Ultimate line from Marvel was supposed to do what the new Star Trek movie is doing now: reboot a beloved franchise and keep all the stuff people loved about it, while dumping decades of convoluted backstory that prevented new fans from sticking in a toe. And at first it worked beyond anyone's wildest dreams. Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Millar crafted a tied-together Marvel Universe that made sense, or at least made more sense than the previous one. And Bendis' Spider-Man rocked.

Unlike John Byrne's previous reboot attempt, Bendis found the core of the character and kept it while updating everything else to the 21st century. This Peter Parker was someone I might have known, and definitely someone I would like. His problems were the kind I could identify with (apart from the costumed super-villains). We both even worked on newspaper websites! His aunt and uncle – and this time we got to know Uncle Ben before he died – were great and supportive role models, his relationships with MJ and his schoolmates were believable. He was funny! He also got unmasked regularly, because keeping a secret identity really isn't that easy in this day and age. He didn't try to hide his second life from his girlfriend for 20 years with increasingly more painful explanations the way the regular Spider-Man did; this one told his girlfriend who he was in issue #13, still my favorite USM story.

The series had its high and low points but overall it quickly became my favorite comic, and one of the very few I still bought. Certainly the only Spider-Man book; I dropped the other one with the irritating "Brand New Day" storyline and haven't looked back. I stopped reading most of the other "Ultimate" books as one by one they were all infected with the same annoying crap that clogged up the regular books enough to need an Ultimate universe in the first place. Crossovers. Forced angst. Deaths for the sake of sales, instead of the story. More crossovers. And late books, musical-chair creative teams, and quality worse than the original books they were improving upon. But Bendis and artist Mark Bagley — who must be given full credit in making the book a success, his artwork made it work — hit the mark, told compelling stories, and did it so well and so dependably that for a while they were publishing more than once a month.

But in the last few issues of Ultimate Spider-Man, they've been tied into the Ultimatum storyline where Magneto floods New York City, killing millions of people. I haven't read the Ultimatum books because I hate crossovers, but they don't seem to have left Bendis much to do in his own book. Spidey sends four issues freaking out, rescuing people from the waves, fighting Ultimate Hulk, and then (apparently) dying in an explosion when U. Hulk hits the magically pulsing home of Ultimate Dr. Strange. In the last issue, the one I just read (or, rather, looked at, as there's no dialogue at all), all we saw were friends of Parker hunting for him as they saved other people, getting into a quick tussle with the now-really-pissed-off Hulk, and then taking Spidey's torn mask to Aunt May. And then a long interview with BMB, and a final "thanks for reading" page with the names of all the people who worked on the book in the last 10 years.

WTF?

They killed Ultimate Spidey? Off-panel? Non-heroically?

In my Googling, I found that there will be two "Requiem" books coming, and the book will be relaunched as Ultimate Comics Spider-Man, with the following ominous description:

Almost ten years ago, Ultimate Spider-Man launched the Ultimate line, a reinvention of the Marvel Universe that defied the odds and every expectation. Today, it happens again: This new chapter in the life of the teenaged webslinger picks up in the aftermath of Ultimatum and completely redefines the status quo of Spider-Man for the next generation! With a new supporting cast, new villians and maybe even a new Spider-Man, this new chapter will keep you guessing month after month. Join Eisner Award-winning writer BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS in introducing new ongoing artist DAVID LAFUENTE (ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL, PATSY WALKER: HELLCAT)! You have never seen a Spider-Man like this before! Be there! Rated T …$3.99

"Maybe even a new Spider-Man"? Another one?

I'm willing to trust Bendis, to a point. 10 years of mostly excellent USM books gets him that. He lost me in his team books because he seemed physically incapable of writing a team book, any team book, without Spider-Man, Wolverine, Luke Cage, and Daredevil getting involved somehow. It's possible the new incarnation ofUSM will be just as dependable and entertaining as the first one.

It's also possible the same voices that brought us "Brand New Day" and forced Sam Raimi to shove fan-favorite Venom into a perfectly good Spider-Man movie will screw this up as well, and charge us an extra buck to watch them do it. We'll see how it goes.

But my buying power is limited. USM, Ultimate Fantastic Four (sometimes), the Buffy and Angel comics (although Byrne's Angel isn't doing much for me and the Puppet comic just annoyed me; a retelling of the episode, without anything at all new? Why bother? And why should I bother paying for it?) and anything Warren Ellis writes, and that's about it. Marvel up the book with flashy crap that looks good in the blurb for Previews but cripples the story arc and I'll save myself the four bucks.

I'd go into more detail about how and where the Ultimate Universe crashed and burned but J. Caleb Mozzocco already did in his excellent "I've Got Your "Ultimate Spider-Man Requiem Right Here" article at newsarama.

Ultimately, it was fun while it lasted.

If the DVDs and  soundtrack isn't enough – and it isn't – go check out the free Dr. Horrible comics at Dark Horse Presents. First up is "Captain Hammer: Be Like Me," written by Zack Whedon, drawn by Eric Canete and colored by Dave Stewart. Excellent look at Captain Hammer's life before the events of the show, and hilarious all by itself. Read it here.

Then there's "Moist: Humidity Rising," Dr. Horrible's sidekick's awesome origin! Well, kind of awesome. Well, not really. I wasn't as impressed with this one, even though Zack penned it as well (art by Farel Dalrymple and Dan Jackson). It hits all the points – got his powers, met Billy, dreamed henchmen dreams – without any memorable lines or interesting twists or much plot at all. It's just… there. Which, come to think of it, also describes Moist, so maybe it works after all. Read it here.

And out this week, "Penny: Keep Your Head Up," by Zack Whedon and Jim Rugg, a sweet tale of her activist beginnings.