I don't even need to know that Angel has hollow bones,or some crazy musculature.  The dude has wings, so he can fly.  That's all I need to know.

If his name was the Emu, I would expect he'd have stubby flapper-like wings and he could run like a bastard and he'd have sharp talons on his feet. 

But by that logic Cable shoud shoot wires from his hands or give you HBO. And Bishop should have something to do with chess or the church.

Stray tired thoughts:

V for Vendetta was a serialized story in a british anthology magazine before DC collected it into a monthly.

I've always been under the impression that a "graphic novel" denoted a story with a set end, as opposed to a continuing story (like most mainstream comics.) The fact that it first appears as monthly comics doesn't change that. Novels were still called "novels" in the days when they were serialized in magazines before seeing print in book form. If I remember correctly, God Loves, Man Kills and Death of Captain Marvel were both marketed as graphic novels.

I've always had issues with the term "comic" because it inaccurate in every sense of the word. But we're stuck with it.

As for JB's list, it puts all the responsibility on the reader, and doesn't consider that maybe the genre has been plagued by big-publisher continuity-bloat, a dependance on ever-growing universes, and an adherence to the hero-fight-villain (on a regular basis) formula. The mainstream guys-in-tights scene resembles pro-wrestling or Power Rangers, two other things I consider myself too old for. 

>>As for JB's list, it puts all the responsibility on the reader, and doesn't consider that maybe the genre has been plagued by big-publisher continuity-bloat, a dependance on ever-growing universes, and an adherence to the hero-fight-villain (on a regular basis) formula. The mainstream guys-in-tights scene resembles pro-wrestling or Power Rangers, two other things I consider myself too old for. <<

Just a wild guess Jeff -- did you score at least a 7 on JB's list?

Charles Nago... The pic is funny.

And in term of age, I think I am now older than Peter Parker and closer to Clark Kent. Still, I come to the office with Superman T-Shirts ( I have 4 of them. I read comics and play PSP almost anywhere I want and when I want. Nobody bother me... excepted my wife ! She thinks I should let go my T-Shirt period and go for the shirt. But man, do you know how difficult it is to find a shirt like the one Mister B. wears?

So I guess I will stay with the T-Shirts for the moment!