Let's get the familiar names out of the way first, shall we? Marvel have the first issue of Ultimate Comics: Armor Wars, which places Planetary and Transmetropolitan writer Warren Ellis in charge of Iron Man again, freed of too many continuity woes and watches what happens. Also out of continuity, Spider-Man Noir reimagines Peter Parker in 1920s New York, while the in-continuity (and non-Sam Jackson-esque) Nick Fury realizes the futility of existence in Secret Warriors Volume 1: Nick Fury, Agent of Nothing. Less existential pondering and more ass-kicking can be found in Hulk: Planet Skaar and Hercules: Prince of Power, both of which explain the finer points of "smashing," I believe.

Smashing may help the political state of the Romulan empire, which is somewhat shaky in IDW's Star Trek Romulans: Schism, while Dynamite add their voice to the licensed choir with what may turn out to be the surprise of the week: The first issue of Galactica 1980, resurrecting (and promising to improve) Lorne Greene's far-from-finest hour as the original Battlestar Galactica finds Earth in the middle of disco.

DC Comics have a couple of interesting collections to consider this week: Showcase Presents Warlord Vol. 1 reprints the beginnings of DC's premiere sword and sorcery comic - with some great art by Mike Grell - while Tom Strong Deluxe Edition Vol. 1 does the same for the first year of Alan Moore's retro "science hero" series which lurches from semi-parody to sincere tribute to stories gone by, with amazing art by people like Chris Sprouse, Art Adams and Dave Gibbons.

If you're looking for more Gibbons, this is definitely your week; he pops up (again working with his Watchmen collaborator Moore) alongside many other creators in the enjoyable The Spirit Archives: The New Adventures hardcover collection of a short-lived 1990s attempt to revive Will Eisner's classic character, but the motherlode for Gibbons fans - or Frank Miller fans, for that matter - is the deluxe collection The Life and Times of Martha Washington In the 21st Century, which brings together all of Miller and Gibbons' alternate future political satire, from Give Me Liberty all the way to last year's The Death of Martha Washington. Individual, powerful and weirdly compelling, it'd be the book of the week, if it wasn't for two other Dark Horse releases.
Those would be Beasts of Burden, a new series by Space Ghost (and Milk & Cheese) writer Evan Dorkin and artist Jill Thompson about the pet protectors of a particularly supernatural neighborhood (Look here for a sample of what to expect and fall in love), and Super Spy creator Matt Kindt's new graphic novel, 3 Story: The Secret History of the Giant Man, which takes a serious and beautiful look at the old cliche of the man who was as tall as a building. Both are highly recommended.

Whether you're looking to buy all of Dark Horse's impressive slate this week or something else, the Diamond Shipping List can help you decide what you should be spending money on, and the Comic Shop Locator Service will make sure you know where to spend it. Just remember to pick up something new and unusual this week; it's a good week to go outside your norm.

Think Geek is selling prints of this painting of the First Cylon War, for a mere 14.99:

This painting was painstakingly scanned in archival resolution, and reproduced on 22" by 17" 100-pound art-quality paper. Any Battlestar Galactica fan, new and old, can appreciate this fine piece of sci-fi artwork!

Now the only thing left is to decide where to put it? Mine's going above the bed so every night I'm reminded of the past sacrifices fake humanity had to make in order to survive the machine uprising from the PAST.

Vader's fellow Sith Lord, Darth Mojo, has been posting about the process of developing these ancient Cylons at his blog It's fascinating that the designers' first stabs at a 2000-year-old Cylon centurion wound up looking so Vader-esque. Actually, I've been seeing ads around San Francisco for a Samurai art show recently, and the Samurai helmets really do look like Vader's, especially when glimpsed from the corner of your eye.

Drolet ended up losing the side flaps, so the helmet looked more Cylon and less Sith:

It's well worth reading the full article, which includes more pics of the ancient Cylons and some Samurai reference art, plus more insights into the designers' creative process. [Darth Mojo]

 
 
 
 
 
 
Leeloo from The 5th Element:

Milla Jovovich's character is the savior of the whole planet, and you can tell just from looking at her wrist. And of course, her dotted markings also match the markings on the movie's ever-important stones.

Tattoo From Elektra

Chris Ackerman's character's colorful belly buddies could come alive, off of his skin, and do a lot of damage. Obviously he's not the only tattoed man with powers. There's a Green Lantern villain, the Tattooed Man, who's a classic. We may actually be seeing Abel Tarrant the Tattooed Man in the Green Arrow's new flix Supermax

Fox from Wanted

Even though Angelina Jolie was pretty tatted up before playing the role of hottie assassin in Wanted, she added on even more wordy tattoos to her arms, hands and back. Guess which ones are real.

The vampire tat from Blade.

I think that if I ever saw someone with the familiar tattoo from the Blade movies we would become fast friends. While Wesley Snipes had some pretty serious shoulder markings around his upper half, nothing could beat the secret society "friends of the vampires" sign.

Enola from Waterworld

When the world is flooded and you spend your days on a boat drinking your own urine, look for the girl with the map on her back. The Japanese tattoo, that was NEVER explained, apparently held the key to dry land.

Scully from X Files

Scully gets a tattoo because she went through a thing, oh admit it Scully you're a bad girl at heart. Before finding out that her buddy's tattoo controlled his actions (photo above voiced by Jodie Foster no less) she got a Celtic Ouroboros slapped on her back. Here's video of Scully getting all inked up:

Lana Lang from Smallville

Lana's witchy tattoo connected her, not only to a bad lady with evil intentions, but to the Krypton Stones as well.

Jessica Sanders from Heroes

The symbol which plagues all the super humans is tattooed onto Jessica's back, and is half of the symbol of the evil company Pinehearst. Will the tattoo get its own plot line on Heroes?

Darth Maul from Star Wars : Episode I - The Phantom Menace

Before Darthy became an evil Sith he was just a red little fella, and then Sidious got his hands on him.

Chakotay from Star Trek Voyager

Noble Chakotay's face markings aren't explained until the "Tattoo" episode where you learn that others have the same style and design. Chakotay's tatts are to honor his father.

Rico Dizz And The Rest Of 'EmStarship Troopers

Because you're not really a bug killer unless you have a ridiculous tattoo, best part is during the futuristic laser branding scene they throw alcohol all over his freshly zapped skin, ha.

Denton Van Zan from Reign of Fire

Matthew McConaughey ridiculous dragon fighting attitudes were eclipsed only by his body armor of dragon tatts, he totally stole Clooney's look from Dusk Till Dawn.

Snake from Escape From New York

Fantastic character, terrible, horrible "snake in my pants" tattoo. How many times do you have to make the "do you want to see my trouser snake" joke, just for getting that tattoo?

Battlestar Galactica Love Tattoos

If I wasn't such a total wuss I would get Starbuck's and Anders' awesome "we're in love" tattoos tomorrow. Besides the fact that they are pretty beautiful, I love that they supposedly got them around the time of their wedding to represent love. The tattoo on the left however is from Gaeta! Who knew he had it in him.

The Doctor from Doctor Who

Jon Pertwee sported a cool tat in his first appearance as the Doctor — now do tattoos stay after you regenerate?

And no as much as I wanted to talk about Constantine, From Dusk Till Dawn and Harry Potter tattoos, they ain't scifi my friends. (Dusk Till Dawn's Clooney tattoo wins in that group btw). What's your favorite science fictional tattoo?

[Sky One]