1954-1956 (collected 1956) / Ecomics / 62 pages / Belgium****
Very much the For Your Eyes Only after they went all Moonraker (except a quarter of a century ahead of time), this merry cross-country kidnapping chase is one of the more realistic entries and one that would lend itself to filming without too much trouble, save a few expensive stunts. I don't think the art's been this detailed before either, the busier panels being like something out of Mœbius or Where's Wally.
Kees Boeke, Cosmic View: The Universe in 40 Jumps
1957 / Ebook / 48 pages / Netherlands***
Google Earth gone mental (they're probably working on it), this is a great idea that gets duller the further it gets from the familiar comfort zone (which is probably part of the point), then suddenly brightens up again before hitting the wall where knowledge ends. I would've got more out of it if the Hubble Deep Field hadn't already blown that part of my mind wide open.
2004 / Audiobook / 534 pages / UK
***
I enjoyed the epic cosmology and bestiary, shame we had to keep returning to the less interesting story and characters. I preferred it to most of the Culture books, but it might as well have been one, since they all talk exactly the same.
Michael Jan Friedman and Pablo Marcos, Star Trek: The Next Generation Comics Classics – The Hero Factor
1989-90 (collected 2005) / Ecomics / 160 pages / USA/Peru***
DC's TNG miniseries was hilariously premature, written by a bad writer who hadn't seen the non-existent episodes yet. The subsequent main run was handled by a prolific franchise writer a couple of years into the show, with the characters acting in-character and plots based on familiar themes, so it's inevitably less worthwhile. This first batch is mainly notable for inhabiting the comparatively rare second-season status quo and for catching the tail end of the '80s with planets populated by Thundercats rejects.
2010 / Ebook / 160 pages / USA
**
Treating the album more as a social statement than some music, which might have been the case, this aggressive origin story spends so much time drawing lines from the influences that it neglects to talk much about its subject.
