So many trades, so little time so let’s jump right in! A friend of mine suggested I check out Tokyo Ghost, which didn’t take too much pushing because I love Sean Murphy’s artwork in books like The Wake, Punk Rock Jesus and Joe the Barbarian and I’ve always thought that Rick Remender’s stories work better in worlds that he fully creates and that’s exactly what you get with Ghost.

The book revolves around Debbie, one of the only people in the future who refuses to allow computer implants in her brain while everyone else gets plugged in and rarely comes up for reality including her boyfriend Led Dent. A kind of warped Judge Dredd super-cop, he’s pretty far gone, but she loves him and wants to try and help him. So, when a mission to head to Japan comes up, she takes it.

While there, he unplugs because of an always-on EMP and life becomes great for them until his past comes back to haunt him. At that point Debbie must choose between defending the people who have taken her in and the one person she’s loved more than anything else. This book collects the first five issues and sets up the story nicely while also offering a stellar tech-steeped world that makes me want to come back for more. Which I will, when the second trade comes out.

From there, I started, but haven’t yet finished the first Marshal Law story. Instead of talking about that, though, I’m going to praise Archie’s Sonic/Mega Man: Worlds Collide story which is collected in three different volumes. Written by Ian Flynn with Tracy Yardley pencils, this crossover brings together two of my all-time favorite video game characters to defeat the reality-warping plans of Dr. Wiley and Dr. Eggman.

These stories continue on from the ongoing series’ which have their own deep mythologies, but I didn’t have too much trouble following the story. There were definitely some “I’d like to learn more about those characters” moments, but they didn’t take me out of the experience or anything.

I have great memories of playing the first three Mega Man and Sonic games, so seeing these characters come together with so many great robot bad guys was pure fun. I’d definitely be interested in checking out some more of the earlier volumes to see if I get that same nostalgic feeling.

Finally, I read Big Thunder Mountain Railroad from Marvel’s Disney Kingdoms line. I came out this one from two different angles. First, I really enjoyed Dennis Hopeless’ Avengers Arena and second, Seekers Of The Weird was great. This one is based on a ride I’ve never been on, so I have no idea how many nods there are to the one I did just see at Disney World a month ago.

And yet, I still found it super enjoyable. With art by Tigh Walker, Felix Ruiz and Guillermo Mogorron, the five issue series introduces us to Abigail Bullion, the adventurous daughter of the man who owns the Big Thunder mine. She refuses to sit around and be the proper lady society demands of her and heads right down into the mine where she meets a bandit who seems to have it in for her dad.

While the story didn’t pack many surprises — it didn’t help that the plot was echoed in a Star Wars story I read for Marvel.com just last week — I still found Abigail to be a wildly enjoyable character. She’s young and idealistic and a little silly, but still brave as hell and ready to do what she thinks is right.

All in all this was a great crop of reading experiences all of which happened to come from the library. Do yourselves a favor and look into your local library system to see what kind of goodness you can request to your local branch!