I wish Joss had been able to get the Fray series out without the long gaps between the latter issues (also caused by problems with Karl Moline's speed with the pencils), because the story is better without the breaks, but I still like the serial nature of the story, getting that "episodic" feel. I thought that issue #5 reached the level of some of the best TV episodes.

Of course, it was pointed out in the foreward that Joss was running 4 different TV productions (Buffy, Angel. Firefly, and the animated series) at the time he decided to write Fray, so it's a miracle that it was done at all.

One aspect that doesn't get mentioned much is discussing comics in general and Fray in particular is the coloring. The quality print job of the TPB highlights the outstanding work that Dave Stewart (and Michelle Madsen at the end) did.

And will need to pick up Tales of the Slayer at some point, since I guess there's another Fray story in there.

The Fray story in TotS is a short story (they all are short in Tales) but the rest of the stories are definitely worth your time. Besides the Fray story, there are 2 others by Joss, (one featuring the First Slayer and the other written completely in verse). Also, Jane Espenson, Doug Petrie, David Fury, Rebbeca Rand Kirshner, and Amber Benson contribute stories. Good stuff.

1602 and Tales of the Vampire were both released today.

I thought both issues were very good.

Got 1602. Didn't see Tales of the Vampires in my local comic shop, though I didn't realize it was out today. Had to really hunt for the remaining copy of 1602, though. Someone stuck it behind a big stack of X-Men comics.

Sorry about not leaving advance warning. Things are pretty busy this season. I picked up both comics, plus the final issue of Dark Days, and the continuing Gotham Central, so I thought it was a great haul today.

The intro to 1602 was hilarious. I wonder if Gaiman had that planned from the beginning of the series. The story itself is definitely picking up the pace, and I still have little idea where it's going. Too bad the fanboys are disappointed with the series.

Tales was very strong. The ending story, "Stacy", proves that Joss is King of the Geeks. The book was a bit more violent than I was expecting (not that I'm complaining), so maybe with Joss on board there will be less direction of the comics towards the younger audience.

My comic shop guy said that TotV sold out faster than any Buffy-related comic since Fray. Of the 20 copies he ordered, there were only 2 left when I got there close to closing. He said he would order more, so if your shop was sold out, you might want to check back.

I love love love the intro to 1602.

Damnit I have no money!!!!

This will probably have to wait 'til next week.

Where are we on 1602? And does anyone know if there's a comic book store locator on the internet somewhere?

And when does Tales of the Vampires drop?

I'm full of questions today.

SA, for a comic book store locator, try [link] .

1602 #5 just came out yesterday, as did Tales of the Vampires #1.

Where are we on 1602? And does anyone know if there's a comic book store locator on the internet somewhere?

www.the-master-list.com is an indy run comic book search service

[link] is run by Da Man, but is also a decent locator....