Beasts of Burden HC- Collecting the four issue series plus all the short original stories from various Dark Horse anthologies, this is a great package for on $19.99. This oversized trim with luscious paintings by Jill Thompson is a great series and one of the few titles in the industry today that can perfectly balance dark humor, carefully somber storytelling, morbid mystery, and a supernatural flair tinted with funny animals. Evil toads, zombie dogs, an army of rats, and a human warlock are just a few of the threats sprinkled throughout the series as Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson build a fantastic world and fill it with interesting cats and dogs. A+

Secret Warriors Vol 2: God of Fear, God of War TPB- While I love Hickman’s work, I waited for the softcover because paying more than $14.99 for a normal trim book of only 5 issues is kinda crazy. That being said, the story was well worth the wait and Hickman continues to build his layers of espionage, mistrust, and superhuman intrigue like crazy. The introduction of the Leviathan sub-plot is a great hint of things to come, and the Dark Reign List issue in this collection featuring McGuinness art is nearly worth the entire book alone. The Vitti art fits the Ares/Alex main story throughout the book, and while I did like that section I look forward to focusing more on the main Hydra/Fury/Leviathan plot instead of all the Dark Reign stuff. B+

The Life and Times of Martha Washington in the Twenty-First Century TPB- Proving again that Dark Horse knows how to make a great package, we have here a 600-page collection gathering every single publication of Martha Washington for only $29.99. That includes every main series, every short story, and every one-shot. Regardless of if you liked them all or not, that’s a deal that can’t be ignored. My favorite is still the first main story followed by the Insubordination story, and while I find some of the later stories a little weaker I still enjoy them. They do start to falter from that Frank Miller flair of having a character repeat the same damn line again and again, but that can be overlooked for the Dave Gibbons art. There was even some material in here I though I had read only to find out I must have never picked up the actual issues, so great to get all in one sitting. Again, an incredibly dense package of great material for virtually nothing. A