God Hates Astronauts

Conceived during a 24-hour comic creating exercise before evolving into a Webcomic, which then spurred a successful Kickstarter campaign to produce a hardcover collection, this comic has now been repackaged with many bonuses. Only 89 of those pages are of the main webcomic itself, but with character origins and pin ups aplenty, not to mention the fairly low price, there will be few complaints. Browne has launched a tornado of surreal storytelling and imagery, both poking fun and showing genuine affection for the superhero and sci-fi comics of days gone by. The heroic team%E2%80%94known as The Power Persons Five%E2%80%94is hired by NASA for a mission, but often are anything but heroic as they confront all manner of strange enemies, from voodoo space bears to decapitated ghost cow heads. The style and layouts favor simplicity, both a nod to those older comics and a convenient help those trying to follow the goings on. With just a few absurd story twists in the first few pages, most who pick up this book will be immediately hooked. There is no deeper message to be found here, but it is good crazy fun all the same. (Oct.)