There's a reason why once a month we partner with the staff at 8th Dimension Comics to put together a review of the best comic book releases of the month. It's because they have an in-depth knowledge and amazing propensity for steering a reader to just the right book. The shop continues to amass patrons despite its somewhat distant location, and now they've even made it into the very comics they sell.

Co-owner Jeremy Bulloch received a cameo in the recently released Scarlet Spider #4 as an agent in the Houston FBI office. It's not a perfect likeness; for instance, Bulloch doesn't wear glasses and as far as we know doesn't own a suit, but combined with the Houston setting of the comic, it's pretty undeniable that it's him.

8th Dimension hosted Scarlet Spider creative team Christopher Yost and Ryan Stegman for a sold-out signing of the book back in January. The team remarked on the "amazing courtesy and rock-star treatment" they got at the hands of the 8th dimension staff.

Scarlet Spider is one of two currently running comics series set in Houston. The first is Gary Watson's dystopian theocracy book After Twilight, which follows a librarian fighting for freedom in a Texas that has seceded to become a Christian nation. Even though After Twilight predates Scarlet Spider as a book set in H-Town, Spider is the first full-time superhero we can claim.

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Once a month the amazing staff at 8th Dimension Comics selects a pile of the best new releases for us to peruse and judge.

I was initially unimpressed with the rebooted Justice League as it was basically a showcase on why almost every other member is a tool except for Batman. Picking it up over half a year later, the team is still kind of a whiny bitchfest, but appears to have become an actual effective fighting force. The latest storyline involves the attempts by Green Arrow to seek membership by basically stalking the team and getting involved in their fights. It's merely the centerpiece in a growing plotline that has an increasingly suspicious U.S. government wanting more control over what is essentially a vigilante group with enough power to wipe a country off the map. It's always fun watching comic books show what politics would be like in a world of supermen.

Rating: 6 of 10

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We're not including his chauvinism on this list, otherwise it would be the whole damned entry

Reed Richards is supposed to be the smartest man in all of the Marvel universe, and like most highly intelligent people he's an egotistical jerk. We're not even talking about the fact that he actually calls himself Mr. Fantastic without even a molecule of irony (We note that Sue Storm apparently isn't allowed to call herself Mrs. Fantastic), or even that he basically flew his family into space in an untested ship that totally ran into the exact danger he was warned about but was too smug to bother with.

Even going beyond all those things, Richards still has managed to behave in a manner that for all intents and purposes is exactly how a supervillain would. There have even been instances when his actions made Dr. Doom's look positively benevolent. Here are the ones that most irked us.

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Son Lam

Club slideshows don't normally run on Art Attack -- that's typically sister blog Rocks Off's territory, but we just couldn't help marvel (geddit) at these pics from Rich's over the weekend. The dance club hosts a monthly event called Freakshow, where partiers and employees are encouraged to dress up according to a theme. March's theme was comic book heroes.

The whole thing has got our mouth watering for Anime Matsuri, which will take place this coming weekend at the Woodlands Convention Center. Can't wait until then? Then check out our favorite costumes from Rich's Freakshow below, then check out the full slideshow from MarvelOUS at Rich's.

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Once a month the amazing staff at 8th Dimension Comics selects a pile of the best new releases for us to peruse and judge.

Confession time, we've always had a little crush on Valerie from Josie and the Pussycats. Don't judge, everybody gets one cartoon to ogle. We missed the big debacle over Riverdale's first gay (and interracial) marriage, but now Archie has ditched Betty and Veronica for our girl. It's one of the more readable Archie comics, and honestly we're digging the more comparatively modern vibe they've been bringing to the series lately. Think we'll skip the next issue though when we'll see the ginger gets hitched to our favorite bass player.

Rating: 6 of 10

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What happens when a Scottish immigrant, former Army Sergeant and Psychology Student at UHD walks into a bar? Well if the bar is Rudyards and the Scottish Psych major is Kevin Farren, then he invites a bunch of comics to showcase their acts for an evening of stand-up comedy. "A Couple of Stand-up Guys" will present their April Fools Eve Party on March 31, which will consist of eight of Houston's finest stand-up comedians doing what they do best: trying to make you laugh. To mix things up, two musical acts, St. Evie & Jenna Lynn and Poor Pilate, will also be performing. Farren added in the musical elements to "keep things versatile" and as a way to showcase more of what Houston has to offer by way of talent.

The comedians taking the stage are a mixed bunch including, host John Mills-McCoin, Cody Greenlee, Will Seagrim, Joe Bates, Dusti Rhodes, Tim Mathis, Thad Sweigart, Ku Egenti and Farren himself. Expect an anything goes type of show, as stand-up comedy never shies away from the blue side of the rainbow. The group is pulled from various other open mics around town, hand-picked by Farren and his team.

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Batman has the most awesome rogue's gallery in all of comic history. Only Spider-Man even comes close, and most of his enemies are borderline mentally handicapped. Batman has the Joker, Mister Freeze, Poison Ivy, dozens upon dozens of diverse, nuanced menaces that keep a reader deeply enthralled.

That being said, Batman has some serious problems. The world's greatest detective seems to have no trouble tracking down an enthusiastic psychopath dressed as a clown (Which can't be all that hard), but when it comes to seeking out certain devious masterminds he is not only unable to find them, he apparently doesn't even know they exist.

Bear in mind, Batman is kind of a dick. Rather than use his vast fortune to help fund the police or better security at Arkham Asylum or literally other idea that makes more sense, he dresses in a costume and throws sharp bits of metal at the victims of mental illness or unfortunate industrial accidents. Against anyone not making every night Halloween, he is bloody useless. That's why he'll never get...

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UPDATE: Princeless has been nominated for two Eisner awards, Best Publication for Kids (ages 8-12), and Best Single Issue (Or One-Shot) for issue #3. The results will be announced on July 13 at Comic-Con International. Here's hoping such an awesome book will get the recognition it deserves!

During our monthly round-up of the best comics to come out in February, we came across one of only two books that have thus far earned a perfect 10 out of 10 on our scale. It's Jeremy Whitley's Princeless from Action Lab, which just completed its initial four-issue debut and will be returning to continue the story this fall.

The book turns the classical fairy-tale story on its head...we really didn't want to type that sentence, you know? Every time someone says that sentence, they're either A) a heartless marketing department or B) have no idea what they're talking about. They said the same thing about Tangled, which is a great flick, don't get us wrong, but it's still a standard fairy tale in most senses of the term.

Princeless follows the adventures of Adrienne, a princess of color trapped in a tower waiting for rescue. This, we learn, is not so much from the machinations of an evil witch but rather the accepted courtship practices of the kingdom. Every time one of her sisters turned 16 years old, her parents would imprison her in a tower, set a dragon to guard the tower and wait until the least dead prince managed to rescue her to award her hand in marriage.

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Yesterday we brought you part 1 of our monthly series. We're back with six more comics from February you shouldn't miss!

Aside from his appearance in Batman: The Animated Series, we've just never been all that into Jonah Hex. We thought that having him teamed with Amadeus Arkham, who has basically become DC's version of Lovecraft's Randolph Carter to rescue children in what will one day become the Bat Cave, would be a great odd-couple adventure. Unfortunately, Hex remains an extremely unlikable character. We were much more into the secondary feature, Barbary Ghost, about a Chinese woman who becomes a vigilante in order to take down the gangster that murdered her family. She's short on character development, but her simple revenge drama plays much more like the westerns the comic is trying to imitate.

Rating: 5 of 10

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Once a month the amazing staff at 8th Dimension Comics selects a pile of the best new releases for us to peruse and judge. It's a big selection this month so we'll be splitting it into two parts. Tune in tomorrow for part two.

Though Ralph Wiggum is one of the greatest Simpsons characters of all time, we're not sure if an entire comic really was the best way to go. He's much better off in small doses uttering non sequiturs that baffle and delight. Maybe a weekly comic strip would be more his speed, though we'll admit we spent 15 happy minutes engrossed in his prison riot Where's Ralph? puzzle.

Rating: 5 of 10

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