Blood Divine tells the story of the Magdalena, guardian of the Holy Roman Catholic Church, as her faith is tested. While investingating a mysterious murder, the Magdalena finds herself led into a confrontation with vampires. Written by newcomer Marcia Chen and lavishly illustrated by Joe Benitez.

Entering their lives is a tough social worker named Dierdre Sevens, who is drawn into trying to help an acquaintance who calls on her desperately when her husband has beaten her one too many times. Unsurprisingly, this friend backtracks on her story when Dierdre shows up and curses her when her husband arrives home. After a physical confrontation with him, Dierdre decides to hire Denning & Rainier to investigate the husband. What follows is a series of twists and turns involving emotional scars, hypocrisy, the bonds of friendship and the possibility of new hope, not to mention murder.

McGregor is a master wordsmith, delving deep into his characters' psyches, both hero and villain. While emotions run high, he's also able to inject a great deal of humor into the story with the easy rapport between the two detectives. Colan has long been respected as one of the greatest artists in the history of comics, and this black & white masterpiece is one of his finest works ever. His specialty is depicting mood & motion as well as being able to portray the subtleties of emotion on the human face.

This is a mature, introspective work that confronts and examines a number of issues without preaching or pretending to come up with all the answers. If you want to see a more human take on the detective genre, an interesting character study, or an example of what comics are capable of, check this graphic novel out.

Edward Via, THE COMICS JOURNAL
"One of the finest comic book stories to come out of 1977...damn fine entertainment."

COMIC WIRE, Beau Yarbrough
"(In SABRE), Don McGregor created a series like nothing else on the stands in the 1970s."

Sabre is the graphic novel that made comics history! Reviewed in Dec. 1998 by J.C. Vaughn, OVERSTREET's FAN Universe: "Sabre is not only important historically for its groundbreaking place in the early chronicles of the graphic novel, it is a gut-wrenching, provocative, free-thinking piece of fiction. Like his work on KILLRAVEN, BLACK PANTHER, and NATHANIEL DUSK, Don McGregor not only delivers, he delivers in spades. What's more, he challenges his readers! This anniversary edition gives us all a chance to take the thrill ride again. Take the plunge. SABRE rocks."
 

Sabre is an illustrated heroic fantasy, intense passionate love story, and in your face social commentary.

About the Author
Don McGregor is the writer/creator of Sabre, Detectives, Inc., Ragamuffins, Alexander Risk, Nathaniel Dusk, and Lady Rawhide, among others. He has authored the original Topp's comics Zorro series, and is currently writing the syndicated Zorro newspaper strip. According to Eclipse Publications Comic Creator Card series, he is one of the pioneers of creator's rights in comics. He has been an editor at Marvel Comics, and written the Black Panther in Jungle Action, Killraven in Amazing Adventures, Spider-man, Luke Cage, Powerman and Blade. He teaches a course in Writing for the Comics at the School of Visual Arts. He has written two prose novels, Dragonflame and The Variable Syndrome. He has written articles for Star Log, Western Attitude and other magazines. He has been the key-note speaker at London's Comicon.

From the Image Comics:
Christian Gossett is the artist that first designed the double-edged Lightsabre for George Lucas' character, Darth Maul, in Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace.
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THE RED STAR is one of the most ambitious comics published today. The story is an allegorical retelling of the fall of the Soviet Union, set in a science fiction/fantasy setting. This is a story of a noble people betrayed by a leadership that is unworthy of them, a story of love and hope and war and sadness; a story with grace and style, and subtle moments interspersed with scenes of savage devastation.

RED STAR would be notable for its story alone, but it blends traditional pencil illustration with the latest in 3D computer imagery to lend a whole new scope and grandeur to the project -- the huge skyfurnaces that dominate the skies convey raw power in every panel, for example. The book is as beautiful to look at as it is to read.

This trade paperback collects the first four issues of THE RED STAR, the story of the Battle of Kar Dathra's Gate. It is an oversized book, which makes the art look even better than originally published. There is also considerable supplementary material, including links to online resources, sketchbooks and production info, and interviews with the creators. (Full disclosure: I conducted one of those interviews -- but I was a fan of this book long before then.) This is one of those books that show what a special art form comics are -- you won't want to miss it.