Look kids...comics. ( Not actually for kids)

Hinterkind #1

Hinterkind is the new ongoing Vertigo series from Ian Edginton and Francesco Trifogli. It's technically a post-apocalyptic story, but not one of endless wastelands or crazed infected zombies.

The end of the world in Hinterkind wiped out most of the population of earth, while simultaneously covering it in trees, plants, shrubs and other greenery. Skyscrapers are jungles and highways are gardens. The story focuses on a group of remaining humans as they live day-to-day, evading encounters with the feral wildlife that now populate earth.

Humans are not only an endangered species, but are also closer to the bottom of the food chain. There also seems to be more than just wild animals inhabiting the planet though, as trolls, ogres, giants, dwarfs, and other fairytale creatures are a part of this world. It's kind of reminiscent of Fables in a couple ways, so fans of that book might enjoy Hinterkind.

It's a good first issue, and it clocks in at 28 pages of story and art. Because the book is set in a lush green paradise (which is kind of nice for a post-apocalyptic book) the artwork is vibrant and strong. The writing is equally well done, and this first issue sets up the rest of the series pretty well. Hinterkind is a good value for the $2.99 price tag.

The Witching Hour #1

Perfect for October reading, The Witching Hour is an oversized issue containing nine short horror stories from various writers and artists. There's a lot of variety in this book, as it's not just stories about ghosts, goblins and witches.

The Witching Hour is definitely for mature readers, and not because it's too scary for the youngsters.

There are more than a few heavy mature subjects in some of these stories. Sexual orientation and sexual abuse are a couple of the themes in this compilation, and they can be laid on fairly heavily. Sometimes the scariest stories are rooted in reality, so a couple of the shorts in The Witching Hour aren't about monsters, but rather people. Relationships, abuse, and war are all present.

Sure enough, there's also the classic spirits/witches/demon stories, and the psychological thriller stories with twist endings. There's even an alternate reality story about Arthur Miller's famous play, The Crucible. It's a pretty contrasting glance at the parallels between the Salem witchcraft trials and Communism.

Kelly Sue Deconnick delivers a creepy monster story about a woman obsessed with spiders, and there's an interplanetary horror story focusing on astronauts stranded on Mars. It's a great compilation for fans of horror and Halloween, and definitely for mature readers