BERN

NBM Publishing put out at least 73 issues of a quarterly porn comics anthology and this torrent is 33 of those. It's a bit of a shame that it's less than half the collection because this is a "stable of artists" type of magazine where most of them are recurring (or rotating in and out) across the run, and they're free to extend continuing stories as long as it takes to tell them. This is porn though, so the tales are more top-heavy than plot-heavy. The artists are a mix of American and European, and all of them seem excellent. It's great mix of cartoony, realistic (sometimes photo-realistic), genre pastiche and real-life sexual situations. I'm also seeing that NBM put out some of the completed works in graphic albums, so if you get caught up in one of the sagas, you can always look for those. Gay material is (obviously) girl on girl. Of special note is one appearance by Milo Manara, a couple of stories by Brandon Graham and the serialization of the last volume of Omaha: The Cat Dancer twenty years after Kate Worley died of cancer (again though, it's not the entirety of that story - for that you'll have to download the complete volume). Anyway, lots of undressing, licking, inserting and gooey fluids.

Drug Investigation Detective, Jin Leerok, is struggling with the guilt of being unable to save his former friend. As he chases after a drug gang, he crosses paths with a strange man named Ahn Taehyuk. This is the story of their regrets over a past that cannot be changed as they race towards revenge. "If I see him again, I should fuck his brains out."

She is the Katipunera Warrior. In a re-imagined colonial Philippines haunted by demonic monsters, Katipuneros harness the powers of gods from the dead civilization of the moons to save villages from their attacks. A child from one such village joins them. She is first enlisted as a weapons messenger, but her true destiny is to succeed their legacy by becoming the Katipunera Warrior.

Canadian comics publisher Drawn & Quarterly has distinguished itself during its four years of publishing by releasing a wonderfully idiosyncratic series of comic book serials notable for an emphasis on autobiographical stories, loose expressive drawing styles and characters either stuck on or passing through the social margins. This beautifully produced trade paperback collects work from D&Q's equally quirky, eponymous quarterly anthology and presents shorter pieces by some of the best young comic artists of the moment. Michael Dougan ( I Can't Tell You Anything ) contributes ``Black Cherry,'' another of his ``dumb job'' stories that recreates the parade of oddballs and crazies that frequent an ice cream parlour where he used to work. Maurice Vellekoops (who contributed the richly colored, ``scandalously'' funny cover art) presents ``The 8 pillars of Gay Culture'' and ``Homoman,'' both of which happily exploit gay sterotypes (`` `did you hire a decorator?' `Of course not; I'm a homosexual.' '') with mischievous, politically incorrect wit. Also note Debbie Drechsler's disturbing (and nicely drawn) ``Visitors in the Night'' on child sexual exploitation; and Joe Matt, Mr. Peep Show himself, who would like to share his darkest secret with us--it's crude and very funny--whether we want to know it or not. Also includes Carol Tyler, Roberta Gregory, David Mazzucchelli, Mary Fleener and others.