DYA? One of the main reasons Great Britain has produced so many outstanding graphic novelists in the last two decades (Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman, to name but two) is the weekly comics anthology 2000 AD, where many of England's young comics writers and artists made their debuts and honed their talents. The publication, going strong since 1977, has showcased so many young bucks later picked up by the American market that, upon hearing of them for the first time today, your humble narrator dubbed them "The Motown Records of British comics."

To which the proprietor of the world's coolest comic book store nodded in agreement, making your humble narrotor (who knows as much about comics as others tell him) feel very smart on a rainy San Francisco afternoon.