Vacation week! Or, more stuff that doesn't really fit in the scanner.

Yep, I'm on vacation this week, but we'll take a little time to run down some things that either don't need a full-on write-up, or are too awkward or bound wrong to fit in the scanner.

For starters, John Byrne's photo-novel from last year, Star Trek Annual (2013), "Strange New Worlds" Without going too nuts in the photo manipulation, Byrne delivers a sequel to the classic episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before." It's not bad at all, although I can see how it might not be for everyone: some people are going to think photo-comics look weird.

Chris Roberson's novel X-Men: the Return uses a trope I'm pretty sick of: that humanity was solidly useless without alien intervention. In this case, the alien Kh'thon return to earth, claiming they had been there thousands of years ago, and created the X-gene that gives mutants powers. Still, the bulk of this book is the X-Men versus super-powered aliens and their terrible masters, so that's a point in its favor. It's Psylocke heavy, if that's a plus for you; from her pre-ninja assassin days. I liked it--it was a bit of a throwback to when the X-Men occasionally had adventures and weren't completely overwrought: they're facing what could be the end of the world, but it's not heavy like oppression or racism or anything.

Finally today, I have two Vampire Batman action figures, so why not another Vampire Batman trade? Batman: Vampire collects the three books from Doug Moench, Kelley Jones, John Beatty, and Malcolm Jones III: Red Rain, Bloodstorm, and Crimson Mist. Really need to sit down again with it; since I'm not positive I have or have even read Bloodstorm. Probably maybe? Well, we have it now, so...