Peter Milligan pulls no punches in his latest series from Vertigo, Greek Street. The concept: classic stories based on Greek myths, reinterpreted and intertwining in modern-day London. DC/Vertigo’s decision to charge a mere dollar for the first issue essentially means “no harm, no foul” for anybody looking to take a chance on it. But Milligan’s proven throughout his career that his stories aren’t for everyone, and they must each be taken individually. Human Target, X-Statix, The Extremist, and Shade, for instance, all push completely different buttons and enjoy varying levels of success.

Really? It seems impossible that in more than seven decades of fighting crime, Superman and Batman haven’t fought vampires and werewolves. Nobody’s written this story yet? Surely this has already been done by now, right?

Madame Xanadu Vol. 1: Disenchanted collects the inaugural ten-issue run of Vertigo’s latest monthly series. Writer Matt Wagner (TRINITY, Grendel, Mage), artist Richard Friend (#3-10) and the meteoric Fool’s Gold creator/illustrator Amy Reeder Hadley (#1-2) helm the mesmeric and captivating trade.

Vertigo/DC‘s House of Mystery is the new ongoing series that reinvents the classic “Suggested For Matured Readers” franchise. This second volume, subtitled Love Stories For Dead People, collects issues #6-10. The romance-themed sequel to Room & Boredom has the same premise: a group of five strangers are trapped within a supernatural tavern where strange patrons pass the time regaling each other in outlandish yarns. The stories told across the bar stools this time pale in comparison to the five previous installments. The overarching plot, revolving around the secrets buried underneath a clandestine basement, fares much better.

Kevin Cannon’s Far Arden is an unassuming series of masterstrokes—an adventurous yarn that came into fruition from a bet between friends. Steven Stwalley, founder of the International Cartoonist Conspiracy and fellow local cartoonist, challenged Cannon to create one 24-hour comic every month for an entire year. You heard right. That’s a 24-page comic, created during the span of 24 hours.

Devotees of Batman: The Animated Series will no doubt recognize writer Paul Dini and artist Bruce Timm’s seminal Batman one-shot, Batman: Mad Love. Mad Love and Other Stories’ centerpiece recounts Harley Quinn’s dark origin. This tale of obsessed love was later adapted into an episode of the series and finds Quinn at her emotional nadir; trying to impress her “Puddin’” (The Joker) by offing ol’ Bats. Once a psychologist for Mr. J, her insanity reveals some surprisingly adult-oriented sexuality.

Image’s The Walking Dead: Compendium One is a hulking 1088-page softcover graphic novel that collects Robert Kirkman’s ongoing zombie masterpiece. The “compendium” series collects the first 48 issues in one shot and it’s a worthy edition to any discerning comic book enthusiast’s library. The astonishing fact that Kirkman’s post-apocalyptic comic can spawn yet another repackaging testifies to its hardcore fans, who will probably pick it up even if they picked up the smaller volumes along the way. This series is still salient. Another batch of potential fans could pick it up at their local shop and devour it like the rest of us did the first time.

Diane Obomsawin’s inaugural graphic novel in English is Kaspar, a sadly truncated volume that unveils the life of Kasper Hauser. The Canadian filmmaker and cartoonist’s envisage of this unbelievable narrative is told frankly in comparison to the more extravagant tones already lended to Hauser by the likes of Werner Herzog and Harlan Ellison. No mention of the controversy of whether Hauser is just a snappish fraud is discussed nor is even much revealed about his death. Obomsawin favors the part of the man-child’s life where he was introduced into bourgeoisie society. After all, the other side of erudite culture studies that as well.

Wedded superheroes live the kind of abnormal domestic lives you’d associate with Hollywood darlings, so when a resurrected Green Arrow (Oliver Queen) and Black (Dinah Lance) got hitched, fans of the resultant team-up DC series knew to expect tragedy to assail the duo. Writer Judd Winick and illustrators Mike Norton, and Wayne Faucher stir up enough internal calamities for the GA family.