Both 1999's Heavy Liquid and 2002's 100% saw Pope move out of the comfort zone of his ongoing THB series, and into shorter, more complete works that were as much Beat-influenced as SF. (Liquid in particular has a particular Burroughs-esque quality in the creation of the drug of the title.)

As a result, both books manage to feel both classic and contemporary at the same time, simultaneously dated and ahead of their time. Both books also feel almost impossibly stylish; it's not just that Pope's art is beautifully lush in both books (assisted in Liquid with two-tone colors from Lee Loughridge), all brushwork and cityscapes.,But the stories are rich as well. Even though Pope is writing about people who should be lowlifes and schmucks, everyone you meet seems infinitely cooler than you, more creative, more fulfilled even in their fucked-upness; Pope's work is amazingly glamorous no matter what his subject is, and his international mix of influences works very well making you wish that both of the worlds in these two books were real, and yours.

(Out of nowhere, I've just realized that Pope's future in both of these books also feels classic in another sense; it's curiously reminiscent of a 1980s view of future cities, a la Blade Runner and Max Headroom. Has there been another wave of future city culture-building since then that's been as successful, I wonder?)

Of the two books, 100% is the more successful. Heavy Liquid is enjoyable enough, a science fiction mystery about the origins and uses of a substance that can be either a drug or an art project, and is worth getting killed for. But it's also ultimately unfulfilling. The story stops just where it should be starting, and only the lead character feels anywhere close to being fleshed out, beyond what the plot requires.

100%, on the other hand, is probably the most complete thing Pope has done, an ideal merging of his more abstract interests (the nature of creativity, the distance between people, the effects of violence on the people around it) with a warm humanism that makes you care about all of the characters in the book. Unlike Liquid, this is a more character-led piece that uses the more SF-trappings as window-dressing (which isn't to say that they're throwaway; the world-building Pope does in the book is impressive yet familiar) and much better as a result; Pope mentions in the book's afterword that his editor suggested the Robert Altman-esque structure of the story, and it's a creative shove that pays off, bringing a coherence and complexity that Liquid lacks.

100% is, to my mind, the best thing Pope's ever done, or at least, the best fiction (I have a not-so-quiet love for his coffee table book of sketches and essays, Pulp Hope); it's science fiction that's messy, honest and at times beautiful, a story for grown-ups that ditches astronauts for strippers, heroes for artists and makes everything into a world of possibility all over again. Highly recommended.

100% and Heavy Liquid are both available now.

Let's get the new stuff out of the way, first; Dark Horse and DC are both celebrating Hallowe'en a little bit early, with a new Hellboy novel (The All-Seeing Eye) and a new adaptation of The Evil Dead from the Oregon publisher, and a special DC Universe: Hallowe'en 08 oneshot from the Gotham City purveyor. DC's also putting out Final Crisis: Submit, a one-off tie-in to their ongoing Final Crisis series - which has a much-delayed fourth issue out this week, as well.

In terms of new material from Marvel, you're pretty much stuck with Wolverine: Manifest Destiny, which sees the short hairy one with the claws fight super-powered ninjas in San Francisco (and I only wish that I was joking about that), or Ghost Rider: Danny Ketch, a new series about the Ghost Rider that wasn't the one that Nicolas Cage played in that ill-fated movie.

But, really, this week is all about the reprints. Marvel have the most run-of-the-mill of the week, although for every X-Force: Angels And Demons, you also get an Elektra By Frank Miller Omnibus or Sky Doll hardcover. They're also putting out a hardcover of Longshot, the wonderfully neurotic miniseries about a fake boy in a fake decade by Ann Nocenti, who later found her niche as the editor of High Times. It's genuinely worth checking out. DC have two must-have collections this week: a new edition of Paul Pope's wonderful Heavy Liquid and a new collection of Will Eisner's The Spirit strips called Femme Fatales that will both tie in with, and embarrass in terms of quality, the Frank Miller movie at the end of the year. There's also the first in a series of six Y: The Last Man hardcover collections, for those who missed out on the series the first two times.

Weirdly enough, though, the most unexpected release to hit stores tomorrow is a blast from my past and enough of an oddity to make the curious and strong of stomach amongst you shell out the $30-odd necessary to try out The Complete Ace Trucking Co. Volume 1, a lengthy and entirely unusual collection of 2000AD's misguided attempt to try and jump on the CB radio craze of 1980s Britain by creating an unfunny sitcom about space truckers. Who talk in CB lingo. Really, there's no way to do it justice by trying to explain it. Just buy it and see for yourself.

The complete list of this week's new comic releases will give you even more ways for you to spend your money, but only the Comic Shop Locator Service will tell you where said money should be spent. Your humble narrator, of course, simply tells you which of the new releases you should be craving.