Braddy Reads The Amazing Screw-On Head

You know, I've often admired comics for their potential to tell serious stories in a way that's both easy to follow and easy to analyze. It's a potential that has been tapped for the purpose of telling many serious, powerful stories.

But, then again, sometimes you just want to read a story about Abraham Lincoln's secret robotic monster hunter.

For those times, I'd recommend The Amazing Screw-On Head.

Now, I'm a long-time fan of Mike Mignola. Hellboy is second only to Batman in my list of favorite comic-book characters, so I've come to appreciate the mild humor that permeates most of what Mr. Mignola produces. I mean, Hellboy's not laugh-out-loud hilarious, but his tough-guy attitude is usually enough to bring a grin to your face. You know, the kind of grin that causes you to purse your lips and stick out your lower jaw in a macho way.

What I didn't realize, though, is that Mike Mignola is capable of being completely HILARIOUS. Between the awkwardly narcissistic Emperor Zombie and the clairvoyant dog (named Mr. Dog), there's a lot of bizarre comedy to be found here. I actually laughed out loud, then glanced around nervously to see if anyone caught me nerding out over a comic book.

Whatever, man. I don't care what you saw. It was WORTH it.

On the other end of the spectrum, Mike Mignola is capable of tapping into real, almost tangible emotions, as he demonstrates in another story later in the same volume called "The Magician and the Snake."

Mignola actually takes a story written by his then seven-year-old daughter and turns it into a six page comic that... may be one of the cutest, saddest things you'll ever read. If you don't feel like dropping $25 on a hardcover comic book, I recommend at least checking out "The Magician and the Snake" on io9.

But then you won't have it on your bookshelf, and that could be tragic.