I'm not going to lie to you. The crap has really hit the fan here. I've got a fair bit of work to do and not a fair bit of time to do it in. So this week is going to be another light, all preview less talk column. I'm stockpiling subjects to ramble about, though, so don't worry-- upcoming columns will be chock full of stuff you really don't care to hear about.

Since I've got the public forum here:

For the record, I dig the heck out of some Brian K. Vaughan, professionally, yeah, I like his books, but personally? Ever More So! That guy and I-- we totally share the same view on kittens. We like them. So yeah-- we'd participate in a three-legged race together without thinking twice. We would probably even put our arms around each other as to provide a more stable running position for both of us, almost assuredly resulting in a win. Were we to go to the movies together, we'd sit in adjacent seats. None of that homophobic extra seat between us bullshit. We're man enough to share an armrest... and maybe even a soda.

When I said I didn't like Brian personally in my Newsarama interview that went up this week-- I was joking. If I really didn't like Brian-- I'd never admit it.

Now that we've got that out of the way, the preview art I'm slipping your way this week are pages from "The Walking Dead" 22 (and yes, they do contain minor spoilers). They are untoned because I'm always really taken with how Charlie Adlard's pages look when they come in. The stark black and white pages have punch to them. Don't get me wrong, Cliff Rathburn's graytones add depth and detail and really make the book shine, but the untoned pages are a real treat to look at and I've always hated the fact that nobody gets to see them.

Until now that is.

Also, Charlie and Cliff just took over on covers, starting with issue 25. So I'm sharing the covers to issues 25 and 26. These guys work really well together. I mean, this stuff is just stunning. The cover to 26 has got to be my favorite cover so far.

If you're a little miffed at the lack of text in this weeks columns and you're anxious to find more stuff to read... BUY MY BOOKS.