Well so much for updating more frequently in the new year. (But I did decide to change the template.)

Books

21. Krazy & Ignatz 1933-1934: Necromancy by the Blue Bean Bush by George Herriman. This is the final collection of black & white Krazy Kat Sunday strips. The next volume in the series will be in color. Strange, wonderful comics.
    
22. John Constantine, Hellblazer: Rare Cuts by various. DC/Vertigo is capitalizing on the upcoming release of the Constantine movie by re-releasing several collections of the comic. This one is new in that the issues have not been previously collected. However, I don't think it's a very good introduction to the character, and so wouldn't be a good choice for somebody who has seen the movie & wants to know more about Constantine.
    
23. DC: The New Frontier, vol. 1 by Darwyn Cooke. Beautiful, stylized art used to reinvision DC's Silver Age heroes. My only complaint is that up until the end of this volume, it's more a series of vignettes than a story. I can't wait for volume 2.
    
24. Queen & Country, vol. 1: Operation Broken Ground by Greg Rucka & Steve Rolston. The story of Tara Chase, a British spy. But this story is realistic, not like James Bond at all. Good stuff. (Not that James Bond doesn't have his place.)
    
25. Queen & Country, vol. 2: Operation Morningstar by Greg Rucka & Brian Hurtt. This book deals with the consequences of the actions in the previous volume.
    
26. Ultimate Spider-Man Collection by Brian Michael Bendis & Mark Bagley. This book is exclusive to Barnes & Noble & is a collection of the first three Ultimate Spider-Man hardback collections and is priced cheaper than buying two of them individually. Bendis has a wonderful ear for dialogue. Great stuff.
    
27. Elektra Lives Again by Frank Miller. After seeing all the commercials for the Elektra movie, I reread this to see if it was a good book with which to introduce somebody to the comic book Elektra. It isn't.
    
28. Five Hundred Years After by Steven Brust. Another Musketeer pastiche from Brust. Lots of fun. (Borrowed from Teena.)
    
29. Star Wars Clone Wars, vol. 4: Light & Dark by John Ostrander & Jan Duursema. Ostrander is one of my favorite comic writers, and I wish he were getting more work. Fortunately, my favorite series written by him (GrimJack) is being resurrected soon. I just wish the publisher were a little less concerned about getting all the Clone Wars stories in correct chronological order. Volume one of this series consisted of several stories, most of which were written by Ostrander, so I bought it. Volumes two and three contain stories by Ostrander, but most of them were written by somebody else. So I didn't buy them.
    
30. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: Demon House by Max Allan Collins, Gabriel Rodriguez, & Ashley Wood. I don't watch this show, but I like Collins' writing. (Checked out of the library.)
    
31. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Ring of Fire by Doug Petrie & Ryan Sook. Petrie was one of the writers for the Buffy tv show, and it shows with the handling of the characters. The art is good, but it doesn't quite capture the looks of the actors. (Library.)
    
32. Hulk Visionaries: Peter David, vol. 1 by Peter David, Todd McFarlane, & John Ridgway. Finally! Marvel has started publishing collections of David's run on The Incredible Hulk. This isn't David's best writing, but it was pretty early in his career. I hope this sells well enough for Marvel to put out future volumes, because this series gets a whole lot better later on. (Part of my antipathy probably stems from the artwork. I don't hold McFarlane in much esteem, but I have to say that he has improved over his early work.)