Reviewing the Mail 2/11: Comics

And the third of today's "Reviewing the Mail" posts covers graphic novels and similar things that arrived in the last week or so.

(This is probably a good place to say: anyone out there publishing books or comics in in any of the areas I cover -- which are very wide -- should know that I'd be very happy to list even more books every week, if only I saw them. Many things also will get reviewed here, and comics and books related to comics also can get reviewed at ComicMix. E-mail me at acwheele (at) optonline (dot) net for full contact details; I'd love to see much more than I do, especially in the comics field.)

Path Of The Assassin Volume 8: Shinobi With Extending Fists sounds like the description of an action figure, but it's the latest in the historical epic by Lone Wolf & Cub's Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima about the young adulthood of the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. It's brand-new, from Dark Horse.

Also from Dark Horse is B.P.R.D. Volume 7: Garden of Souls, the latest in the tangled history of Hellboy and his world, from writers Mike Mignola and John Arcudi and artist Guy Davis. Davis is doing this pretty much full-time these days, isn't he? I don't think about his work much when I'm not looking right at it, but he's been doing great work -- quietly, in support of the stories he's helping to tell -- for a long time now, without any fanfare and very little recognition.

From the vaults comes DC's final collection of Grant Morrison's run on Doom Patrol -- Vol. 6: Planet Love, with art mostly by Richard Case and Stan Woch. If you didn't catch it back in 1992 -- 1992?! I'm too young to feel that old! -- here it is again, in all its reality-warping brilliance, for a new generation.

And last this week is Queen & Country Volume 8: Operation: Red Panda, from Greg Rucka and Chris Samnee and published by Oni Press. Queen & Country is a relatively realistic espionage comic, focused equally on bureaucracy and wetwork. And I haven't paid enough attention to be absolutely sure, but I think every story arc has been by a different artist.