I just devoured the entire Planetary series in a 2-day binge. Wow, that was amazing. Even the crossovers -- when are crossovers not terrible? Warren Ellis found ways to use the tool around wonderful stories that stay consistently within the rules of his multi-verse without feeling worn out under the abusive cliche comics are known for.

H.P. Lovecraft, for example, has a deliciously-clever cameo without ever crossing into cliche. The second his googly-eyed mug was visible, I was thinking "Great, more Lovecraftian literary comics. I wish one of these tales would characterize him as the dumb asshole he really was." By the next page, he was being slyly sexist towards his relative benefactors; by the page after that, he was screaming about a batch of slimy, blatantly-alien eggs being 'Negro babies' and that we must protect our country from becoming a 'Black America.'

Warren Ellis, you're alright. ( )