Absolute Planetary Book One

writer: Warren Ellis
artist: John Cassaday
published by Wildstorm/DC Comics

Warren Ellis is a fuckin' super genius.
I've probably said it many times, but it's true. Deal with it. The man's brain works on levels most of us only dream of understanding. This is the man who brought us Druid and The Authority. And Planetary.
The first 12 issues of Ellis' secret history of the superhuman world, along with the Planetary Preview and the complete script are contained in this beautiful oversized slipcase edition (it looks great on the shelf with Absolute Authority books one and two, the JLA/Avengers slipcase and the super-deluxe League of Extrordinary Gentleman vol one slipcase set -- hope they release volume 2 that way). The book has real heft, and it's tempting to swing it around a couple times...or brain the cat with it. I advise you don't. You don't want to get blood on your comics.
Ellis takes familiar characters and situations from classic comics, pulp novels and movies and deconstruts them, finding new approaches and directions that haven't been explored before. His erzatz Superman alone is worth the price of a softcover trade, but the beautiful job that DC does on their hardcovers makes me come back each time they put out a new one (and they're EXPENSIVE). The inclusion of the preview story at the end of the book is icing on the cake.
I've waxed poetic enough on the art of John Cassaday. He's awesome. Nuff said.