Flight, Vol. 1, by basically all of my favorite indie artist/writers. I would say this is a perfect book to introduce someone to the graphic/text genre (ie, comics). While often passed over as the realm of superheroes and banal newspaper filler, comics are an interesting liason point between visual and verbal art, and when done right can augment itself with the best points in each. Hence, the goosebumps and stirred emotions that come about after reading many of the stories in this volume, whether they are one page of six panels or can hardly be recognized as 'standard' comics at all.

Tangentially, I'm reminded of a short story, sort of, that was the starter for one of White Wolf Publishing's old shared-setting compilations. The reason I hesitate to call it a short story (as the rest of the pieces in the book were) is because it was basically a fabricated diary - the authors handwrote and sketched out the diary of a man bitten and turned into a vampire, and while that sounds like it might tip into cheesy, it was actually almost heart-wrenching because of the extra pull of that strained handwriting and frenzied, dark drawings.

And to tangent off of vampires, I'll also note that as much as the Blade movies are esteemed at the dojo for being a perfect example of the ideal of the Shuri style of fighting (simplified, staccato power hits with grappling-by-opportunity), in Blade Trinity there's a wealth of different styles right in the end. Reynold's character adroitly shifts from crossbody armbar to omo-plata (hello, standard jujitsu), Biel's character throws in a little wing chun, and Snipes and Purcell's characters throw two completely distinct styles of European sword at each other (an interesting contrast to the European versus Japanese sword at the conclusion of the first movie).