The second omnibus volume of Mitsuru Adachi’s Cross Game focuses largely on a scrimmage between the varsity team and the “portables”, which doesn’t go how anyone expects it to. Things are shifting subtly under the surface; we’re pretty sure what the series is leading up to (it’s a baseball manga, after all), but it’s fun to watch it develop. And of course, it never lets us forget vol. 1’s tragedy, even as Adachi hits us with goofy jokes. Tim and Kumar brush up on their baseball terms as they go through this volume.
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FLASHBACK! A then-recent R. Crumb compilation is reviewed by a Crumb connoisseur (Kumar) and a Crumb newbie (Tim). The book features Crumb at his sweetest and his most shocking. But can this (or any book) claim to be the perfect Crumb compilation? (Originally published June 30, 2008.)
FLASHBACK! While Alan Moore and J.H. Williams’ 
FLASHBACK! In 1998, under the “Marvel Knights” banner, Christopher Priest began the first ongoing Black Panther title in nearly two decades. Panther was a relatively unknown character to many Marvel readers at the time. With the aid of “Emperor of Useless White Boys” Everett K. Ross, and artists like Mark Texeira and Joe Jusko, Priest (a.k.a. Jim Owsley) made Panther a must-read and brought the nature of his character into sharper focus. Kumar and Tim discuss the first 17 issues (the ones included in