What's hot, what's not in the comic store

After a mediocre career in comic books, Jim Valentino will now bore us to tears.

"Drawing from Life" is an assembly of true stories from Valentino, one of the founders of Image Comics and a minor player from the 1970s and '80s world of independent comics. Zeroing in on his wacky adventures coming up through the ranks, Valentino writes and inks stories about the trouble of being a parent, dropping acid and getting into Silly String fights.

Think Chicken Soup for the Stoners' Soul.

The problem is that, unlike readable auto-bio comics like Harvey Pekar's "American Splendor," Valentino just tells cute Readers Digest-y stories about his kids and hanging out with (no joke) grandmas. Not what (swear words, blood and guts) Image Comics is known for.

Come on, "Drawing from Life"? Reading the title alone is to drown in cotton candy and be stabbed with splintered Precious Moments figurines.

Paying $3.50 for a 54-year-old man's war stories from the Santa Monica pier in the doobie-rolling '70s is a pass in a big way.

Worth the money

The new Hellboy series from Dark Horse is a way better waste of green.

Before Ron Perlman slathered on red paint and became the on-screen version, Mike Mignola created the loner demon employed by the U.S. Government in the early 1990s.

"Hellboy: Darkness Calls," picks up from 2005's "The Island."

After leaving his government gig at the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, Hellboy finds himself in England, deep in a coven of medieval witch corpse zombies.

The six-issue series still manages to capture the moody nuances and mysterious air that marked the character in his late '90s hey-day. Mignola writes and Duncan Fegredo does the pencils.

The first two issues are out now. You should buy them.

Comic Smith

From D.C. Comics, Jeff Smith, creator of the cult hit "Bone," is close to completing the four part mini-series: "Shazam!: The Monster Society of Evil."

The final issue will be out in July, so catch up on the first three now.

Smith dials down the complexities of the D.C. universe and just pays attention to Captain Marvel and his alter ego Billy Batson and the origins of the character, lost to the winds of the 1940s and years of civil litigation.

Smith draws and writes the series with a whimsy that recalls the Bone books. Not gratuitously violent or profane, "The Monster Society" plays up nobility and strength of character. It does take a few potshots and homeland security hysteria. All told, treading this book is like chugging a glass of whole milk; it could be that good for you.

Speed Racer -- not

From wholesome to holy-mackerel-how-does-this-stuff-get-published, Image -- under its 12 Gauge Comics label -- released the latest series of "The Ride."

The series follows the adventures of a '68 SS Camaro convertible drawn to well-armed young women in revealing garments. Think the evil version of KITT from Knight Rider that can't talk. "The Ride: Die Valkyrie" picks up a trio of Atlanta teeny-boopers who have stolen a trunk full of mob guns and are on the run.

Empowered third-wave feminist icons or exploited gun-tooting fantasy objects? It's your call.

David Wagner and Brian Stelfreeze do the writing, Stelfreeze draws the pictures.