books

"X-Men Origins: Wolverine," premiering May 1, seems a straightforward concept. The X-Men movies were popular, and Wolverine was the most popular character, so make a movie about him.
But there's really nothing straightforward about the history of the feral X-Man -- and the movie won't make it any simpler. Let me X-plain:

What, Mad worry?
Alfred E. Neuman and the Usual Gang of Idiots are keeping stiff upper lips as they mark a bittersweet occasion.
Mad magazine's landmark 500th issue hits newsstands Tuesday -- the same day the 57-year-old monthly publication goes quarterly.
The usual gang of suspects is the reason: bad economy, drop in advertising, changing demographics.

Show your children how to play with words -- read some poetry together!
To get you started, here's a look at some great new poetry books for kids:

Dark Horse has been finding and reprinting many overlooked and underestimated comics in its handsome, hardback Archives series. Three recent ones, while not the greatest of comics, are nevertheless rife with historical superlatives.
I am referring to the first volumes of "Roy Rogers," "Tarzan" and "Turok, Son of Stone" (Dark Horse, $49.95 each).

Celebrate Earth Day all year round with some of these great new children's books focused on the environment:

The most flattering thing anyone ever said to me -- although I didn't realize it at the time -- was, "You don't really need this, but it's good to have."
I was in my senior year at Robinson High School in Tampa, Fla., and the speaker was my inspiring, no-nonsense journalism teacher, Jack Overstreet.

It's the wrong time of year for Halloween, but the Teetering Tower of Review Stuff is full of scary stuff.
-- "The Raven and Other Poems" (NBM, $9.95) is a Classics Illustrated Deluxe hardback collecting various Edgar Allan Poe works, illustrated by famed cartoonist Gahan Wilson. From that description alone, you know it's worth the sawbuck.

"I've got the strangest feeling I'm being turned into a puppet."
Those are words from Barry Allen in 1962, who was The Flash for 30 years before being killed in 1986. We'll get to that quote in a minute, but first let's talk about Barry, who has returned from death and to a new ongoing title called "Flash: Rebirth."

As a high-school senior, John A. Stokes was a leader in the fight to desegregate the nation's schools.
Together with his twin sister, Carrie, and another student named Barbara Johns, Stokes led a 1951 student strike at their school, Robert Russa Moton High School in Prince Edward County, Va.

Lynne Hansen's home office is decorated with zombie bunnies, zombie hands and a plush face-sucker from the movie "Aliens" -- not exactly the typical room of a 41-year-old woman.
But she's not a typical woman. She's a teen-ager at heart who writes gory novels for teens and she's married to a man who writes gory novels for adults.