Let's start with Electropolis, the new Dark Horse collection of Dean Motter's Retrofuture Deco Noir story (Preview here). Filled with robot detectives, femme fatales and the power of electricity, it's just one of many off-beat genre books appearing at comic book stores this week.

And if Electropolis' pulp fiction is your thing, then maybe the Batman/Doc Savage Special (Dark Knight Detective versus Man of Bronze!) will also float your boat, after all. Or maybe Sky Doll: Doll Factory, a collection of unseen material from the awesome European strip Sky Doll, will provide your reading material for the next few days.

But if you prefer your heroines a little less suggestible than Sky Doll, the first issue of Tank Girl: Skidmarks is probably more your speed. Unsurprisingly, we'd also point you in the direction of the debut of Locke & Key: Crown of Shadows, but we're biased.

Maybe you're looking for something you've already seen in major motion pictures? That's okay; not only is there a preview issue of the new series of Wall-E, but there's also Star Wars Purge: Seconds To Die, which follows a young Darth Vader killing off as many Jedi as possible, post Revenge of The Sith. And that's not all! There's also a paperback collection of DC/Wildstorm's recent The X-Files series.

For those who can't get enough of those superheroes, then I'd recommend the first issue of Warren Ellis' Supergod, his latest "What if superheroes were bastards?" series. Or, on the opposite end of the superhero spectrum, the Absolute Justice hardcover, collecting Alex Ross' expansive love letter to the Super Friends (No, really).

In between those two extremes, there's Dynamite's Project Superpowers: The Black Terror Vol. 1 collection, DC's Green Lantern: Agent Orange collection, which leads into the current Blackest Night storyline, Supergirl: Who Is Superwoman? (in which Sterling Gates and Jamil Igle manage to undo years of abuse and make Supergirl a likable, working character again - good job, people) and the Authority: The Lost Year Reader (reprinting Grant Morrison and Gene Ha's two completed issues of their abandoned run, ahead of Keith Giffen and other artists aiming to complete the story in their absence).

There's also Marvel's PunisherMax (Yes, one word. It's the new "mature readers" title for the character, and maybe Marvel thinks pushing words together is more adult?), Green Hulk/Red Hulk collection (Heroes' writer Jeph Loeb writes a couple of gamma-irradiated monsters in a couple of adventures), the first issue of Strange (Mark Waid's reboot of the former Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme). And also, there's all manner of X-Men books: the Dark Avengers/X-Men: Utopia collection, as well as collections of Wolverine: Tales of Weapon X, Wolverine Weapon X: Adamantium Men and Wolverine/Gambit. All your Wolverine needs should definitely be met this week, let's face it.

If there are any other needs looking unserviced, I'd recommend checking out the complete list of books shipping from Diamond Distributors this week, and then remembering that your local comic book store can be found here. If this week seems overly expensive, don't worry; there's an entire skip week at the end of the year to get some of that money back. Look at it as a loan. Or something.

The Orgasmatron Booth
Maybe I should be more surprised that Woody Allen would come up with one of the most well known pieces of SF sextech in Sleeper, his one and only SF movie to date, but all I can think is that anything that demonstrates how easily people can be replaced by machinery is right up his 1970s comedy neuroses alley. Sure, science may have tried to create the real thing, but the fact remains: Is there a closet that I can walk into and experience multiple climaxes without the presence of another human being and risking repetitive strain injury? No. And that's the true tragedy here.

The Excessive Machine
Unlike the Orgasmatron, Barbarella's Excessive Machine is made for evil purposes, apparently (Unless you think that "Executioner" is some kind of porny euphemism), but you can't deny that with a little reworking, this organ-based organ-replacement could bring happiness to a great many people everywhere, while being more aesthetically-pleasing to look at than any of the inventions seen so far on popular internet destination Fucking Machines (Dear everyone: That link is very NSFW. Do not blame me when you click on it in your place of employment and get in trouble. The clue as to why may be in the name of the site).

Sex Rays Of Various Types
Whether it's Flesh Gordon's Sex Ray or Orgazmo's Orgazmorator, there's no denying that there's something primal about the idea of making that penis/gun substitution a little more literal than usual. The best variation of this idea belongs to 2000AD's satirical Big Dave strip from the 1990s, wherein Saddam Hussein unveiled his plan to defeat the West once and for all by using his Love Gun - built by aliens, of course - to turn opposing armies gay, and therefore - proving the reasoning behind the US military's ban on homosexuals - useless as soldiers.

Freaky Virtual Reality Sex
http://io9.com/5054503/the-dos-and-donts-of-cybersex
Lawnmower Man's face-melty sex scene may look somewhat cheesy now - and make you go "Hey, it's Frank off Lost! But young!" - but let's face it; Second Life really doesn't compare to the virtual reality insect fetish sex that this movie promised us. Science fiction loves to suggest that VR will open up all new worlds of sexual exploration (Even Star Trek: Deep Space Nine had Quark's holodeck suites, which you knew were dens of perversity and characters fantasizing about Dax and Kira getting it on with them), but the reality has proven to be somewhat lacking.

Sexbots In General
I know, I know. Sexbots; they're the android dream for all of us, whether they're Cherry 2000, Battlestar Galactica's Six or any of a large number of other possibilities, there's something amazingly alluring to many people about the idea of a lifelike play partner that only does what you tell it to do (or maybe not). But when I don't care how realistic they think robots are getting, that whole dead-eyed look just doesn't do it for me just yet. Give me a call when they've reached Tricia Helfer level - or maybe Sky-Doll.

Comic books are full of men and women with amazing superpowers and uncanny abilities, but what about those even more powerful? Take a look at some of our favorite cosmic entities, quasi-deities, and a couple who just ought to be:

1. Darkseid (DC Comics)
Okay, so maybe his debut appearance was in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen (not exactly the most impressive of origins), but he's come a long way since then. Once the second in line to rule dystopian torture-planet Apokolips, Darkseid is now pretty much officially the most powerful of the New Gods - and, in the recent Final Crisis, someone who managed to destroy reality as we know it. Not only ridiculously strong and annoyingly indestructible, he's also telekinetic, telepathic, and a pretty darned impressive military strategist. (He also no longer looks like Jack Palance, who was said to be the original inspiration for his appearance. This is only debatably an improvement.)

2. Apocalypse (Marvel Comics)
As if just being called Apocalypse isn't enough, this Egyptian science geek has a list of powers longer than he rightfully ought to (like shapeshifting, teleportation and invulnerability). Not to mention the immortality. And technology from onetime creators of humanity, the robotic Celestials. And the intelligence and wisdom that you can't help but gain from being over 5000 years old. Maybe you could try to claim that he isn't exactly a "cosmic entity," but I wouldn't say that to his face. (Besides, his name is Apocalypse. So. Hardcore.)

3. Lodovica (Sky Doll, Soliel Productions)
Lodovica is the leader of one of the two warring papacies in this very strange (yet strangely beautiful) comic, which has been released in English translation by Marvel. According to Wikipedia, she's:

The power-mad ruler who strives to keep the faith of the populace through any means possible, whether by creating the illusion of divine power or by distracting them with the erotica of the Sky Dolls.

Hey, when you're the pope (or papess) of your own religion whose main weapons are false divinity and distracting erotica, you're not doing too bad. And even if you aren't technically divine, if you can convince everyone you're a deity, you're close enough.

4. God (Battle Pope, Image Comics)
First off, there's no denying God his deity status; he's kind of the guy that invented it. Set in after the Final Judgement, life is literally Hell on Earth, and all God's really got to protect us from the demon hordes is the Pope, a cigar-smoking womanizer. God himself, however, is delightfully sardonic and has a seemingly endless flowing beard. He also isn't afraid to get into a cosmic smackdown with the Pope if he feels the need, and seriously? That's pretty awesome. Plus, God can pull out the whole deus ex machina act and get away with it. And he doesn't even need the machina. (Additionally, Jesus is an endearing slacker type to the point where you almost expect him to take up bowling and carry around some Creedence tapes.)

5. Mr. Mxyzptlk (DC Comics)
Sure, all these guys have nigh-unlimited power, but Mxyzptlk here is the only who seems to have so much fun with his. Call him what you will - jester, imp, trickster - but this derby-hatted fellow from the fifth dimension has a ball messing with our world here in the third dimension, especially at the expense of poor Superman. His power is essentially unlimited and basically (but not technically) magical, and the only way to (temporarily) send him back home is to trick him into saying his name backwards. Lucky for us, we're just his playground.

Runner-Up: Lobo (DC Comics)
Okay, Lobo's no deity or great cosmic entity, but he'd probably like to think he is. Besides, he'd fit pretty well into a bunch of Norse myths, what with the killing and the violence and the dismemberment and all. More than that, however, he became an Archbishop of First Celestial Church of the Triple-Fish God, where he wears an awesome get-up and hangs out with space dolphins. Of course, he killed the fish god, so he basically wins all around.

Sky Doll:
This French story about a sexbot who stows away with space truckers to find her true destiny reads like a more enjoyable The Fifth Element, mixing spirituality, sexuality and awkward humor to create a beautifully-illustrated not-so-guilty pleasure.
(Published by Marvel Comics, $24.99.)

Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus:
This four-volume series of hardcovers collects all of the various comics that made up X-Men and Fantastic Four co-creator Kirby's 1970s magnum opus about godlike aliens bringing their war to Earth. Ignored and cancelled due to low sales at the time, these have since taken their place as some of the all-time best American SF comics.
(Published by DC Comics, each volume $49.99.)

The Babysitter Collection:
You probably won't have heard of Andy Ristaino's mind-bending story of Setsuko Kagaku, the Japanese schoolgirl who happens to be the world's greatest babysitter, but once you've seen this amazing, mind-bending book that gleefully rewrites the rulebook on how comics work and questions the nature of reality, you'll never be able to forget it.
(Published by SLG, $29.95.)

Buffy, The Vampire Slayer Season 8:
Surely you need no explanation why the official comic continuation of the TV series - overseen and written in part by Joss Whedon, with the other writers including Cloverfield's Drew Goddard - makes this list. If you have to pick just one of the four collections to date, we'd suggest the Brian K. Vaughan-written "No Future For You", which brings back Faith and Giles for some ass-kicking in good ol' Blighty that doesn't rely too heavily on the uber-arc for the season.
(Published by Dark Horse, each volume $15.95.)

Laika:
Nick Abadzis' semi-fictional biography of the First Dog In Space is subtle, beautiful and enough to break the heart of even the most cynical bastard. If you're an animal lover, then you'll probably be in tears by the end.
(Published by First Second, $17.95.)

Scott Pilgrim:
Bryan Lee O'Malley's enjoyable series of graphic novels - Probably my favorite current series, not that that really matters to you - blends twenty-something ennui, surreal humor (Wait until you meet the vegan in the third volume), video game references, and some wonderful artwork to create something that's both timeless and effortless contemporary. Plus, where else do you get to read about a boy who has to fight his girlfriend's Seven Evil Ex-Boyfriends in order to win her heart?
(Published by Oni Press, each volume $11.95.)

All-Star Superman, Vol. 1:
Superhero comics may not get much better than this recently-completed series by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely; pulling the genre away from angst-ridden punchfests, ASS - yes, I know - instead offers a more contemplative and imaginative Superman who falls victim to Lex Luthor's ultimate masterplan and still tries to save the day, every day. This volume collects the first half of the series; a second is due next year, so you can give it to someone this time in 2009.
(Published by DC Comics, $12.99.)

100%:
Yes, I'm stretching the "recent" thing for this 2005 collection of Paul Pope's series about life in a future New York, full of love stories and artists and people in the wrong place at the wrong time, but it'll always be an amazing book, the closest we'll ever get to Robert Altman directing a science fiction Bukowski. Or something.
(Published by DC Comics/Vertigo, $24.99.)

The Doctor Who Storybook 2009:
Is this too non-comic-booky? Possibly, but each year in the UK, a Doctor Who Storybook is released for kids, featuring brand new stories written by the TV show's writers (The 2006 edition featured the first version of "Blink," by Steven Moffat; this year, Mark Gatiss, Gareth Roberts and James Moran are all contributing), as well as a "Letter from the Doctor" written by the showrunner (This year is Moffat's first; Russell T Davies has done the last couple). If it helps, there's a comic strip in there too, but I don't think you'll need much more convincing.
(Published by Panini Books, price depending on whatever you pay on import; £7.99 in the UK.)

Any Showcase or Essential Collection:
Help a friend or family member relive their misspent childhood with these black and white phonebook collections of comics from the 1960s and '70s. DC's brand is "DC Showcase Presents", Marvel's is "Marvel Essential," but both offer over 500 pages of reprinted goodness for $16.99; you can find a list of each line here (Showcase) and here (Essentials).
(Published by DC Comics and Marvel Comics, $16.99.)

Two Additional Stocking Stuffers That Aren't Really Comics, But Still:
Fables: Covers by James Jean:
All eleven volumes to date of Bill Willingham's wonderful Fables would make ideal stocking stuffers as well, but the pride of place has to go to this stunningly beautiful collection of illustrator James Jean's covers to the first 75 issues (and ten collections) of the series. Breathtakingly illustrated in paint, pencil and digitally, the work contained in this book is awe-inspiring.
(Published by DC Comics/Vertigo, $39.99.)

Thrill Power Overload:
Another import that's well worth tracking down, David Bishop's history of the first thirty years of British comic 2000AD is both salacious and educational, filled with gossip and stories about the creation of characters like Judge Dredd and Rogue Trooper and the early careers of creators like Alan Moore, Grant Morrison and even Neil Gaiman. Enjoyable even if you've never read an issue of the comic itself.
(Published by Rebellion Books, price depending on whatever you pay on import; £34.99 in the UK.)

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.

Science Fiction opens the mind to more than just fantastic concepts about technology and alien planets. At its best, it also makes you realize that there's more than you could be doing with your life than sitting at your desk and wasting time on the internet. That's where we come in, with the SF Alternative Career Guide. They say that travel broadens the mind, so it stands to reason that the further you travel, the broader your mind would be. In that case, why not become the broadest-minded mother you know, by becoming a Space Trucker?

Think of how perfect the job would be - The romance of the wild open road, multiplied by the infinite skies of outer space. How can you resist?

Many people first became aware of the role of the Space Trucker through Deep Purple's seminal ode to the career, Space Truckin from their 1972 album Machine Head (AKA "The one with Smoke On The Water on it"). The lyrics summed up the appeal of the lifestyle with subtlety and wit:

We had a lot of luck on Venus
We always had a ball on Mars
Meeting all the groovey people
We've rocked the Milky Way so far
We danced around with borealis
We're space truckin' round the the stars
Come on let's go Space Trucking

It's not all the peaceful transportation of goods around the galaxies in this lifestyle, however. If popular culture has taught us one thing, it's that every space trucker will, at least once in their career, find themselves carrying some kind of cargo that is both unexpectedly dangerous and important to the survival of the universe. Take, for example, the crew of the Nostromo in Alien (described by Ridley Scott as truck drivers on, of all places, The Force Is With Them, a documentary about Star Wars): They happen to find a multi-million dollar franchise just lying around in an abandoned spacecraft. Or the truckers from the European comic Sky Doll, who not only have a cosmic messiah sexdroid castaway, but are also running around doing secret missions for the bad guys.

If the idea of sexdroids, secret missions and life amongst the open skies sounds attractive, then you'd probably want to check out the 1996 infomercial for the career, Space Truckers:

No, wait. Maybe not.

I know what you're thinking: I'm sold! How do I get to be a space trucker? Well, that's the tough part. Sure, you could apply to Ace Trucking Co., but they're never hiring these days. Instead, I think you just have to rely on the same kind of dumb luck that led to Marvel Comics' Ulysses Solomon Archer to the career:

A group of aliens came to Earth, seeking to recruit people to become starship pilots. They chose truckers, because of their experience with the solitude of the open road, much like that of space... [The aliens] revealed the secret of their actions: "What the Universe really needs are truckers! Why sure! Men of courage and intelligence who are strong-willed and independent!"

While it's true that the pay will probably suck, and the hours, solitude and personal hygene resulting from the gig aren't great either, if you're the right man for the job, none of that will matter. Hell, if you're the right man for the job, you'll have made up your mind and be selling all your personal belongings in preparation for your new life already. Godspeed, my friends... or rather, 10-10, good buddies.

It really is an embarrassment of riches in this week's new releases. Take, for example, the vampire lover. Usually, they're stuck with some randomly generic goth-lite indie book to feed their fetishes, but this week, they can choose from the Brian K. Vaughan-written Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 8: No Future For You (It's the Faith-centric arc, and very good it is, too, first issue of a brand new sequel to The Lost Boys (no, really), The Lost Boys: Reign of Frogs, or Jessica Abel (and friends)'s slice-of-life take on the genre in the graphic novel Life Sucks. How often does that happen?

It's also time to catch up on a lot of books we've featured here in the past:

• Matt Fraction's Casanova finishes its current run with #14,
• Chris Claremont's "Children of the X-Men" series GeNext launches,
• you can fulfill your Tony Stark-isms with The All-New Iron Manual,
• Bruce Wayne meets his end (possibly) in Batman #676 (the first chapter of Grant Morrison's Batman R.I.P., and you can also pick up a hardcover slab of Bat-foreshadowing with Batman: The Resurrection of Ras Al Ghul, collecting an earlier Morrison storyline),
• Geoff Johns' Booster Gold has its first issues collected in the new 52 Pick-Up hardcover,
• and you can see whether Marvel Comics are afraid of nipples or not in the first issue of Euro-import Sky Doll.

For example, you could get your Ed Norton on in advance of next month's movie with the special edition Giant Size Incredible Hulk, which brings you up to speed on the recent history of the jade giant before everyone starts talking, once again, about how they just can't make a good movie out of his comic. If that doesn't satisfy your appetite for greens, then there are also collections of two recent mini-series, World War Hulk: Gamma Corps and World War Hulk: X-Men to show you big green men being scary. Or maybe the first issue of space-bound superheroes Guardians of The Galaxy would be your thing? Remember, they have a talking raccoon. With guns.

Best value for money this week, though, is probably Vertigo: First Cut, a $4.99 collection of the first issues of a number of series published by DC Comics' "mature" imprint, including Western Loveless, New York-dystopic love letter DMZ and M*A*S*H for the 21st Century, Army@Love. If that's not enough for you, then there's also a sneak preview of Air, an upcoming new series from the imprint, included. What more could you want for (slightly, just) less than $5, as long as you don't think about tax?

Just like every other week, you can find the full shipping list to stores here, and then find out where to find the damn stores to shop in here. Just remember that $5 can't barely buy you a Happy Meal these days, is all I'm saying.

Starting in May, Sky Doll will be the first comic to get reprinted for American audiences as part of Marvel's partnership with French publisher Soleil. The advertising copy for the first (of three) issue of the series reads as follows:

Meet Noa, a so-called Sky Doll; a life-like female android without rights, who exists only to serve the State's needs and desires. But when Noa meets two so-called "missionaries" who aid in her escape from her tyrannical master, all hell breaks loose for our cyborg siren as she uncovers clues that she may be much more than just a robotic toy.

Considering the traditionally conservative nature of Marvel's output, as well as the company's history of censoring controversial material (X-Statix's Princess Diana revival, for example, or the de-nudification of the mature-reader-labelled Shanna), will the comic make it to American stores uncensored? And even if it does, will American audiences be more receptive to this kind of European material than they were to DC's failed line of Humanoid reprints? [Newsarama.com]