I believe I said it best last month: “I have no idea what’s going to happen next–or who is behind these strange occurrences–but I’m committed hook line and sinker…” An intense mystery with a charming cast. So far, so good.

Witchfinder - In The Service of Angels #2

I’m an active Hellboy reader and back in November, I reviewed the Witchfinder story from MySpace Dark Horse Presents. So it was with great anticipation that I dove into this new mini-series…and it in no way disappointed. I have no idea what’s going to happen next–or who is behind these strange occurrences–but I’m committed hook line and sinker, which is a lot for a single issue to accomplish.

Witchfinder - In The Service of Angels #1

Holy crap is right, Hellboy! What a journey this is turning out to be. And what colors! Lord, The Wild Hunt is something special.

Hellboy - The Wild Hunt #4 of 8

There’s a serious storm a-brewin’. I picture Hellboy on a horse, painted up like William Wallace, headed into his biggest battle yet. Sweet!

Hellboy - The Wild Hunt #3

Whoa. One foe defeated, another clearly on the rise. Love is pain and invisibility is for sissies. This one keeps getting better!

Hellboy - The Wild Hunt #2

So the master list of Comic Book Resources’ 100 Best Comics of 2008 is here. Of the 100, we only reviewed nine this year…although we read a few others. Tells us we have a lot more reading to do, I suppose. The list needs a serious re-order (in my oh-so-humble opinion), but it’s long enough to include our favs.

Here’s my personal best (of the nine we reviewed) in order:

9 – The Amazing Spiderman

8 – Buffy Season 8

7 – Freakangels

6 – The Boys

5 – Batman

4 – Hellboy / B.P.R.D.

3 – Casanova

2 – Local

1 – The Umbrella Academy

Of course, this list is fatally flawed because in some cases (like Spiderman) I only checked out one issue or collection. And I read a couple other things (including The Walking Dead and Northlanders) that I would put high on this list but failed (thus far) to review, so I’ve left them off. But such is life. Lists are still fun.

CBR

A Wild Hunt, slaying giants sounds like harmless sport for a guy like Hellboy. A nice vacation. But wait… This 8-parter’s gonna be fun!

Hellboy - The Wild Hunt #1

In out of the danger. Six bodies, no heads. Six heads, one batter. One sun, one left standing.

Hellboy - Heads

(As found in Hellboy TPB vol. 4, The Right Hand of Doom. Originally appeared as a backup feature in the Abe Sapien one-shot, published in March 1998.)

A Portugese backdrop, a bleeding sculpture, the standard toe-to-toe fight scene, and Mignola’s art: stunning.

Hellboy In The Chapel of Moloch

Just came across a banner ad for Marvel’s subscription-based digital comics.

Is this really the future of the industry? Part of me really hopes not. Just today, I was wishing I had the first trade paperback (TPB) for Warren Ellis’ online comic Freakangels, so that I could read it over lunch without having to lug my laptop and risk a spill.

Of course, online comics are fun. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed catching up on Freakangels and absolutely love what Darkhorse has done with MySpace Dark Horse Presents, but at least for me I’ll never prefer the digital experience to that of a printed book. So when Dark Horse printed the TPB for MSDHP, I bought it…even though I could read it all for free online.

With this move, Marvel is offering some pretty sweet access to their catalog. They now have over 5,000 issues online, including the first 100 issues of Amazing Spider-Man and the first run of X-Men. There’s also plenty of free issues to get you comfortable with the format, and having clicked in to Daredevil #1, I have to say I like the reader…sizes the pages to fit the screen. What I can’t currently tell is if their entire collection of new, in-print comics is coming online each month or if this is basically a way to monetize their archives while still getting people to fork over cash for new issues. Will need to do more research.

Iron Man #1 on Marvel's Digital Reader

Either way, I like my storage problems and bags and boards. And still really love the experience of curling up on the couch or relaxing in a chair at a nearby coffee shop with the latest issue of Hellboy or No Hero. That experience is what I intend to continue writing about, but we’ll see how the digital play for publishers continues to grow and alter our expectations of the experience over time.

Note: In my research I came across this article on CBR. Some additional insight into Marvel’s plans for the digital collection.