For four days we suffered through heat, long lines and a crowd of over 120,000 fans at this year’s Comic-Con International. With beer-bellied Spartan gladiators in leather Speedos and children attached to their leather-clad mothers by chain leashes, this annual convention was not for the queasy or faint of heart.

The daughter of a British professor and esteemed Egyptologist, Lillian Bowell has found ways of having her own sort of fun within the stifling properness of Victorian England.

“Runaways” No. 24
By Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona
Marvel Comics
4 Paws
Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona’s run on “Runaways” has finally come to an end.

X-Factor #15
By Peter David and Pablo Raimondi
MARVEL COMICS
Despite consisting only of still illustrations and dialogue
bubbles, Peter David’s “X-Factor” manages to
bring just the right amount of television sensibility to what could
have just been yet another Marvel comic starting with
“X.” A veteran writer of television, David finally
seems to be telling the cinematic stories he always wanted without
being crippled by an effects budget or the limited viewership of a
cult audience.

This Saturday, the heroes are coming to UCLA. Well, at least the
man who created them.
On Dec. 2, director Kevin Smith will host “Marvel: Then
& Now ““ a Night with Stan Lee and Joe Quesada.”
The event will benefit the Hero Initiative, a non-profit
organization which raises money for comic book veterans in need of
financial assistance.

Absolute DC: The New Frontier
By Darwyn Cooke
DC COMICS
Darwyn Cooke, an animator on the classic cartoon “Batman:
The Animated Series,” manages to bring back that sort of
nostalgia ““ finely aged and tuned to perfection ““ that
superhero comics today seem to be missing.

For students camped out in front of Ralph’s at 3 a.m. on
Thursday, the waiting has been the hardest part. Clad in UCLA
sweatshirts and swaddled in sleeping bags, the 30-odd group of
people, many of them UCLA students, has formed a line that cannot
be missed.

It’s 2 in the morning, and I’m hours past my
deadline. I had no excuse; I had all the materials for the story
““ the interviews, the research and finally, the game
that’s been taking over my life.

Ultimate Spider-Man #101
By Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley (artist)
MARVEL COMICS
I dread the day that Mark Bagley leaves “Ultimate
Spider-Man.” Bagley’s pencils along with Brian Michael
Bendis’ words have, for 101 issues, served up some of the
most consistent, exciting and unique storytelling on the racks
today.

Garth Ennis, Darick Robertson “The Boys” #1-3
WILDSTORM COMICS (Out of 5)
It wouldn’t be wrong to say that “The Boys” is
what Garth Ennis does best: grotesque set-pieces, needless violence
and human misery played for laughs.