JLA: The Greatest Stories Ever Told.

New York, DC Comics 2003, cm.17x26, pp.160, paperback. From Brian Azzarello, creator and writer of the multiple award-winning 100 Bullets, and Lee Bermejo, artist of Superman/Gen 13, comes a tense tale of espionage, double-dealing...and death! When Scott Floyd, a friend of Bruce Wayne's, is badly burned in a Gotham City restaurant, Batman investigates and soon finds himself drawn into a decade-old conspiracy. Who is the mysterious firestarter, Max Kai? Why are both the CIA and International Operations after him? And what is the connection between Scott Floyd and the mysterious assassin known as Deathblow? Batman's going to discover that in the shadow-world of international espionage, nothing is what it seems...and one man's relentless quest for justice is merely a part of a bigger picture.

New York, Vertigo 2004, cm.18x23,5, pp.160, hardcover. Dave Gibbons is one of the most recognised and highly regarded of comics creators. Best known for his artwork on the legendary Watchmen, he has now drawn on his love of Mod culture to create an all-new, semi-autobiographical graphic novel. The story chronicles the struggles of two friends, Lel and Bok, in a strangely-familiar future, Dealing in classic teenage themes such as alienation, gangs, girls, drugs and violence, the centre of the struggle is the urgent need of the boys to join the coolest of the cool: the ice-cold gang called The Originals. Slapping the Mod movement into the face of the Austin Powers generation, this graphic novel certainly lives up to its name and is destined to become a classic!