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Old news to most people, but it was a pleasant surprise to me: Wikihistory by Desmond Warzel.
What I got done this weekend:
This series would be a guilty pleasure except that I don't have enough of a conscience to feel guilty enough to conceal it. I guess that makes it a meta-guilty pleasure.
Shirayuki, the 5,000 year old schoolgirl to be, bids a tender farewell to Prince before he heads off to a long shift as the king of hell, and then in a spasm of irrelevance she accidentally gets turned into a cat. This leaves the way clear for the interposition of a story about stone-hearted lady-killer Blue, and how he got to be one of Prince's aides in hell.
Then there's a science fiction parody, involving a planet of shapechanging octopuses, all women for some reason. After a torrent of cross-dressing and other diversions, they make it back to Earth in time for the festival of the dead, when Prince's grandfather reappears for a one-time visit, somewhat concerned that the king of hell has fallen for a human, and apparently not for the first time.
An incident with a friend prompts Amelia to inquire into some family history, leading to a series of flashbacks in a half-dozen styles from the times in question, filling a lot of background for Amelia's late aunt Sarah, whose former house they've moved into.
Part 2 of "Song of the Siren" opens with a sort of inversion of Hokusai's "Dream of the Fisherman's Wife" — 18th century Japanese artists explicate bizarre fantasies so I don't have to! There's another interesting inversion with the carnival people, siamese twins, midget, bearded lady, etc. having buried their dead, setting up in a new town, "until all the freaks come pouring in." Then head bastard in charge Lucas acts on some impulse or other and the bad stuff really gets rolling just in time for the end of the issue.
Betrayal and intrigue swirl in Lockhaven while the divided party of guard mice work their way back. One pair bivouacs under the snow with the remaining intact bottle of elixir, and the experience of the others was best summarized a long time ago: "We can't stop here; this is bat country!"
One curious thing I've belatedly noticed in this series is that the characters' eyes are actually drawn smaller than life size, I suppose to render them more in keeping the fairly grim story.
Relationship drama blends seamlessly into borderline absurdity as Jane and three friends are stranded on an (almost) uncharted island in the Florida Keys. Much silliness ensues, ending when they discover that it's not really an island after all, and then it blends right back into relationship drama again.
Cover by Roz Gibson featuring Jack Salem. Woo! No story by Roz Gibson inside. Dammit.
Apparently the creator of Bear felt hemmed-in by that comic's ostensible setting in the real world, as this one mostly takes place in some alternate, sticky dimension, allowing scope for grandiose silliness involving axe-wielding girls, squids, cyborg monkeys, and cyborg poop.
It's an unfinished Appleseed story that's not full of mind-numbing combat and ludicrous cheesecake; it's only half-full of mind-numbing combat and ludicrous cheesecake! In between there's a long chase scene, a little insight into Deunan and Briareos's relationship, and goofiness with Artemis's kids, who continue to eat everything in sight. To round out the volume there are some sketches of mecha and guns for something I've never heard of, a short comedic story, and an interview with the artist.
