The movie inspired one-shot presents new and previously published stories by Jamie L. Rotante, Holly G!, Frank Doyle, and Craig Boldman. The superhero story opens the issue with good energy, then The Devil Wears Prada homage tale gives it quick wit. The stories that follow incorporate movie tropes and pokes a little fun at fandoms before wrapping up with slapstick humor.

The Rocketeer first appeared on an ad on the back of Pacific Comics’ Starslayer #1. The feature itself ran in Starslayer #2 and #3, and Pacific Presents #1 and #2 before Pacific went under. The Rocketeer Special Edition #1, which had been intended to be Pacific Presents #5, was published by Eclipse, as was an album-format collected edition of those installments.

It was neither the most likely of pairings nor would it last long, but the original outings of Secret Agent X-9, which premiered in January 1934, teamed one of the great practitioners of mystery fiction, Dashiell Hammett, with one of the most significant comic strip artists to ever ply his craft, Alex Raymond.

Issue two tells Ronnie’s updated origin story. It shows how his father was always working too much, and how often Ronnie spent on his own or trying to prove himself through his athletic abilities. He met Professor Stein at the University of Pittsburgh where Ronnie takes a job working with the brilliant scientist and their fate became intertwined.

Matt Murdock has taken on the new role of law professor at Empire State University, but it isn’t going to be a smooth transition since a new villain has entered the scene. The police are investigating a nasty murder on the subway and have found ties to similar killings, pointing to a sadistic new serial killer in the Big Apple. The first issue ended with a masked man sneaking up on Matt in his own apartment and warning him that Matt Murdock was going to die.

Inside the Muppet Theatre, the Muppets are worried about Kermit the Frog after he got conked on the head by a brick and has been out cold since. What they don’t know is that unconsciousness has transported Kermit to a black and white noir world where he is private detective Flip Minnow.

I’ve been doing a lot of reading of and research on Milestone Media’s revolutionary 1990s comics line. That, in turn, led me to remember one of my favorite almost-unknowns from that time, Nemesis Comics’ Frank. In terms of tone and approach, this modern take on Frankenstein actually would have fit in nicely with most of Milestone’s output.

A lot has happened in Foundation City. The Human League terrorist group set off a bomb that seemingly killed rookie Harbinger Team member Cici. In the aftermath, team leader Obadiah Archer started questioning Foundation City leader Peter Stancheck, who is also one of the most powerful psiots

In Battlestar Galactica #16, Captain Apollo faces off against an independent, high-functioning, different kind of Cylon, pretty much alone on a dangerous alien world. The story and art had a World War I, Red Barron kind of feel to it, and it stands out as one of the best of the 23-issue run.

In Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 10 magic has returned, the Scoobies are back together, and vampires are more dangerous than ever before. With the reintroduction of magic, vampires have gained the ability to transform into animals and walk around in daylight. Curiously, this power does not extend to all vampires as Spike is still bound to the night.

hen the comics collected in this omnibus were running as individual issues, I wrote “Writer Daryl Gregory and artist Carlos Magno could put us on their payroll and we still couldn’t like this comic any more than we already do. Tightly plotted, relentlessly paced, brilliantly illustrated, accessible to new readers, and a balm for longtime POTA fans to the extent that while reading it one forgets there was ever a Tim Burton movie.

Writer Mark Evanier and Steve Rude bookended 1987 by teaming up twice. The first, cover-dated January of that year, was a Mister Miracle one-shot for DC Comics. Evanier, a longtime Jack Kirby associate, and Rude, channeled the King and produced a fantastic, Kirbyesque thrill ride. In December, they once again teamed up, this time for a Space Ghost one-shot at Comico.