Gangland
Some of DC's best writers and artists (Brian Azzarello, Tim Bradstreet, et al.) get downright freaky in this trade paperback compiling Vertigo'sGanglandseries, issues one through four. Presuming (correctly) that we're fascinated by the surreal and often ugly side of crime--"we" being "mature readers"--Ganglanddrags us through toilet stalls, shallow graves, coke-whore hotel rooms, and even suburban, '70s Orange County for a bloody, postmodern crime spree. With 14 stories in all, the collection delivers all sorts of worthwhile weirdness, including a tongue-in-cheek Mafia wedding, an every-dog-has-its-day K9 tale, and one sketchy transient's perceived(?) struggle against the Worldwide Gangster Robot Radio Brains.--Paul Hughes