Back when I collected comic books in individual issue format, I shied away from large crossover events, even if they promised to be huge and monumentally unforgettable. More often than not they would span across multiple series I had no interest in reading, so I just never bothered with them. The bad part was these stories would often have a major impact on other books I was collecting, I would be clueless when they referenced the events and story arcs I wasn’t reading.

Thankfully, now that I’m exclusively buying trade paperbacks, most crossover stories can be found collected in self contained books. Marvel’s Annihilation storyline is one such set I’m happy to see available in trade format. The following is a summary taken from the official website:

A destructive force punctures through the edge of our universe, barreling into the moon-sized Kyln prisons there ... Seven days later, on Xandar, the entire Corps assembles for a debriefing on the Kyln destruction and get their marching orders. During the debriefing, the forces called the Annihilation Wave struck Xandar. The ensuing battle was monumental, disastrous, vicious, and totally consuming. The Nova Corps fell all too quickly. The question now is, with the Nova Corps gone, who can possiblly hold off the Annihilation Wave?

I’m a sucker for well written outer space-based comic books, and I like that this one is a bit lighter on the “sci” and focuses more on the “fi”. It also seems far too often with large crossover events, creators do not collaborate enough to make sure their stories intertwine properly. Thankfully, the cohesiveness of all the different sub-stories in Annihilation is well maintained throughout. With well used appearances by Silver Surfer, Drax the Destroyer, Moondragon, Galactus, Nova, and others, Annihilation is shaping up to be the best thing I’ve read so far this year.

- Joshua

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Roughly five years ago, as I was perusing the weekly releases of comic books one day at my local hobby shop, I realized I was spending way too much money per week on my collection. This revelation didn't mean I was ready to give up reading comic books altogether, but I had to find a cheaper alternative. I decided to start buying trade paperbacks (TPB), collected volumes of comic books that tend to have cheaper overall cover prices than individual issues purchased separately. The added bonus to this is I am able to read trades for much older titles that would take an act of Jeebus to track down in their original format.

I don't really have a preference for any particular publisher; I try to spread the love evenly between all of them. One thing I have noticed, though, is DC comics tend to be inaccessible to newer and unfamiliar readers. I've been reading comics for many years, so I wouldn't consider myself a newer reader, but the story arcs in DC comics tend to span multiple books and titles. Therefore, for anyone who isn't reading various DC publications it can be pretty difficult to understand everything that's happening in the individual books they are reading.

An example of this is the latest Teen Titans TPB. It does have its own story-line taking place, but constant references are made to other books in different series. Since I don't read those titles, it confuses the hell out of me and convolutes the story central to Teen Titans. I don't find this taking place too often with the Marvel books I read. Maybe I've just been lucky so far, but I would greatly prefer it if DC would follow suit. At this point I'd just be happy if DC would put some sort of warning on their books that says "unless you're reading x, y, and z titles, don't bother with this book" - it would make things so much easier.

- Joshua

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Fans of the popular television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer were distraught when Sarah Michelle Gellar announced she didn't want to reprise her leading role after season seven, which lead to the cancellation of the series. Though the creative team wrapped up the story quite nicely, Joss Whedon (the series creator) felt as though he had at least one more season's worth of stories to tell. How was he going to do this with the television show no longer in production? Why, comic books, of course. Collecting issues one through five of season eight, The Long Way Home picks up shortly after where the previous season left off. Leaving Sunnydale behind them, the Scooby Gang and the newly formed slayer posse spreads out to take on evil all over the world. Here's a detailed synopsis from the Dark Horse Comics website:

"Since the destruction of the Hellmouth, the Slayers-newly legion-have gotten organized and are kicking some serious undead butt. But not everything's fun and firearms, as an old enemy reappears and Dawn experiences some serious growing pains. Meanwhile, one of the "Buffy" decoy slayers is going through major pain of her own."

How does the series transfer to the new medium? Quite well, even if the pacing is a tad rushed. Overall, Buffy fans should not miss out on these, even if they would otherwise do without reading comic books.

NOTE: Anyone who is unfamiliar with the first seven seasons will be completely lost trying to read this. Whedon gives no backstory and uses only minor segue elements to transition into season eight. It would be nice if there was some way to bring new fans up to speed, but the history of the characters and their adventures is far too deep and complex to be able to do so.

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