Chew Vol 2: International Flavor TPB-If you enjoyed the first volume then you’ll love this one. Layman and Guillory deliver another fun chapter in the messed up life of Tony Chu. The more I see of Guillory’s art the more I love it and Layman keeps offering up more oddness and great humor. Well priced package and something everyone should be checking out. A

Madam Samurai Vol 1- The first in a promising new series of short graphic novels that follow a young female samurai seeking vengeance on her father, a man who brutally attacked and raped her mother and has fled to Victorian London.Gary Young offers up an interesting story and David Hitchcock’s art is clean, easy to follow, and uniquely engaging. It’s a little bit of a quick read for the $12.99 price tag, but the overall package is solid and I would recommend it to fans of Lone Wolf, Lady Snowblood, or samurai fiction in general. B+

Incredible Hulk: Son of Banner Vol 1- Greg Pak has managed to actually make me enjoy something with Skarr and Wolverine’s son Daken, which is great cause I really don’t give a flying crap about either character. The overall approach of the series from Pak’s great scripting and sense of humor to the overall concept that Bruce Banner himself is a truly unique hero/threat to the Marvel Universe outside of the Hulk’s influence all make this run a great read. It’s stuff like this that actually makes me want to check out Fall of the Hulks in the tpb form. B+

Irredeemable Vol 3- Waid keeps up the strength of the series with this volume, although I do have to wonder how much longer we can go without getting to the point of wanting to see it wrapped up. I think a shorter series might have nailed the concept a little better, which isn’t to say this volume or the series is weak in anyway. It’s just that now that we hit the point where other characters are being introduced that are supposed to look vaguely familiar to archetypes we are used to, and I think that works out better for a series like Astro City. I don’t really want a darker and edgier Astro City, which is something I think we’ve avoided so far thankfully. That all said Waid still offers up some disturbing moments in this volume and a few interesting turns, so I’ll still be tuning in for more. B