was originally an off-Broadway stage play produced in 1980 written by Elaine Lee, Norfleet Lee and Dale Place before moving on to the medium of comics. First serialized in in 1982, Elaine Lee and Michael Kaluta's --actually a prequel to the events of the play--was then published in 1984 as before moving into its own short-lived six-issue series under Marvel's old Epic imprint. It was reprinted by Dark Horse in the early ’90s with the promise of more to come, but that fizzled out. Two publishers announced plans for various Starstruck material only to go out of business (Tundra Publishing and Marlowe & Co.). Well, the original stories are now back in print in a re-mastered thirteen-issue miniseries published by IDW, with backup stories featuring the that first appeared in the Epic run. But what is Starstruck? you may ask. Lee Moyer, the fantasy artist who has completely re-painted the series in a beautifully subtle, watercolor style, describes it as follows: "The world of Starstruck takes place in the Anarchic Era that follows the overthrow of the galaxy's Dread Dictator (a cross of Kim Jong Il, the Shah of Iran, and Elvis), and begins as a trio of wily guerrillas, led by Mary Medea, work to ensure the Bajar Dynasty will no longer menace the multiverse." That's just the surface, though.

John Byrne returns with the final chapter of his Romulan saga that started with and in , the first of a three-part telling of the breakdown of the Romulan-Klingon Alliance, from IDW Publishing. And since this is a story about Romulans and Klingons, the fun is in trying to untangle the web that Byrne weaves. Byrne has settled comfortably with his material and it shows, in both his story and his artwork. For this second issue, the Federation has sent the crew of the USS Yorktown to the Neutral Zone with a surprise additional technology to confront the Romulan fleet...

is a six-issue limited series from Image Comics, written by Mark Millar, with art by Tony Harris. Its first issue was published way back in June 2008. Set in an alternate timeline during the coalition wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the detonation of a nuclear bomb in Washington D.C. prompts the United States administration to expand the coalition War on Terror to include Iran, as well as institute martial law in the United States. As American casualties increase, morale and public support declines with the economy, reducing America's standing in the world. Sounds familiar? The story is based upon the heroic feats of Gunner "Q" who received an honorable discharge from the United States Army on May 21, 2007. Millar has said "War Heroes is everything I've been leading up to with , , , and " and "This is what my would have been if Bryan and I had stuck around." Reception and reviews were positive, even though issue #2 was released September 17, 2008, more than three months thereafter. And more than a year later (with almost monthly solicitations of release), we finally have issue #3, actually released October 7, 2009. I'm interested enough in this story to wait for issue #4, but I hope the periods between releases do not make an arithmetic progression...

Dynamite Entertainment serves up this reverent yet fresh, five-issue mini-series entitled, "The Trial of Sherlock Holmes," the latest comic book iteration of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's immortal fictional detective, .

It's not too often that movies get made into comics after the movie has been out there for a few years. Here is what MTV had to say about this official movie-to-comic adaptation: "Clint Eastwood’s iconic rides again in this brand new story by writer Chuck Dixon and artist Esteve Polls. I don’t care what you say about Dirty Harry, folks— and the rest of the “Man With No Name” films were Eastwood at his cigar-chompin’, squinty-eyed best. Well, you'll say right away it would be hard scripting a main character who hardly speaks. Issue #4 continues the art (Polls' gritty style), and the slow, deliberate development as with the previous three issues that makes you feel as if the story was lifted right from the movies and it definitely reads with a cinematic style (note the wide panel layouts) and pace clearly reminiscent of Sergio Leone. You can almost hear that haunting, taunting theme. Still great stuff.

is an eponymous Western comic book antihero created by writer John Albano and artist Tony DeZuniga and published by DC Comics. The right side of his face horribly scarred, he was an officer for the Confederacy during the American Civil War, fought at Gettysburg and is normally shown wearing a tattered Confederate States Army jacket. Hex is surly and cynical, but bound by a personal code of honor to protect and avenge the innocent and is in many ways similar to Clint Eastwood's (2 similar ongoing titles from Dynamite Entertainment are also posted here in Avaxhome by yours truly, complete). Jonah Hex had his first self-titled series that began in 1977 and lasted for 92 issues and which came to be known as . Aside from this, he also had a sci-fi-based eighteen-issue limited series that had scant recognition in the US but gained critical success and acclaim in the UK and elsewhere, plus three other miniseries under DC's Vertigo imprint. The current ongoing series, Volume 2, started in November 2005.

is an American creator-owned comic book series, written by Garth Ennis and illustrated by Darick Robertson, set in a contemporary world very much similar to the real one, with one notable exception: a number of people have some form of superpower. The series follows a superpowered CIA squad, known informally as "The Boys", whose job it is to keep watch on superheroes and, if necessary, intimidate or kill them. The first six issues were published by Wildstorm, starting in 2006. On January 24, 2007, the series was abruptly canceled with issue 6. DC (of which Wildstorm is an imprint) was allegedly uneasy with the anti-superhero tone of the work. In February 2007 the series was picked up by Dynamite Entertainment and it resumed in May of that year. Issue #35 deals with origins as it starts the first of the two-part "Nothing Like It In The World" story arc. Typical of Ennis' work, violent and explicit yet with subtexts of his opinions on just about anything, from comic books to fanboys' preoccupation with them. In other words, terrific. Mature Readers only.