Every now and again, you get a panel, such as the one above from Final Crisis #2, that makes you remember why you love comics.

Several of the DCU's top baadies have been assembled -- at a strip club, no less -- by Libra to discuss a new super-villain team-up scheme, and the panel above shows them dispersing after the meeting. Shadow Thief makes a sneaky exit across a girder, several unlikely pairs kibitz on their exit, and Dr. Sivana nonchalantly motors away in the most ridiculous looking assault vehicle imaginable. With a perfectly straight face.

I love how DC writers have played Lex Luthor against Dr. Sivana in recent months. Their clashes in Salvation Run were some o the few high points in that series.

It's as if Dr. Sivana is the ugly, red-headed (well, bald-headed) stepsister to the superstar Luthor. Yet, it's clear that Sivana is an amazingly gifted evil genius in his own right.

What makes you love Sivana is that he's an oddball nutjob evil genius -- and he embraces it. Sure, he could modify his approach to be more like the ubiquitous Lex. But he embraces the quirkiness that makes him Sivana.

And if that means driving a vehicle that looks like a reject from a straight-to-video, live-action Jetsons movie, then that's what he's gonna do.

I'll bet it even made the same bubbly sound when he guns the engine.

[NEWSARAMA] FINAL CRISIS #2 (of 7) Written by Grant Morrison; Art and Covers by J.G. Jones Meet Japan's number one pop culture heroes, the Super Young Team and their languid leader, Most Excellent Superbat! Join legendary wrestler Sonny Sumo and super escape artist Mister Miracle as they team to face the offspring of the Anti-Life Equation! See Earth's superheroes mourn one of their oldest allies! Witness costumed criminals sinking to new depths of cowardice and depravity as Libra takes things too far! Uncover the doomsday secrets of the poisoned city of Blüdhaven! Learn the shocking identity of the prime suspect in the murder of a god! And read on if you dare as Batman becomes the first of Earth's champions to face the Fallen of Apokolips. All this and a spectacular return from the dead... Grant Morrison and J.G. Jones' multiverse-spanning epic continues with bombshell after bombshell in FINAL CRISIS #2 — "Ticket to Blüdhaven"!

Check out the preview at Newsarama.

My comics have had a little good press recently that I wanted to pass along. First up is a very kind letter-to-the-editor that Eric from Silver Spring, Md., wrote to the Philadelphia Daily News. It was printed over the weekend in the Sat., June 21, edition. Unfortunately, it was not mirrored in the paper's Web site. Click on the image to the right to see an enlargement of how it appeared in print.

Thanks, Eric, for being an uber-fan. You're the best.

Next, is an awesome piece courtesy of James and Melissa Treacy, who work for Trend, a weekly newspaper circulated to more than 800,000 households throughout the suburban areas of Philadelphia.

The Trend write-up covers all the bases: "At left, Brad Guigar of Philadelphia is the creator of such comics as 'Evil Inc,' a 'comic about a corporation run for super-villains by super-villains,' 'Courting Disaster,' a single-panel comic about love and relationships, and 'Phables,' a 'weekly look at life in Philadelphia.' Phables was nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Digital Comic 2007. The comics are both Web-based comics, as well as comics printed in hard copy publications like the Daily News in Philadelphia...Guigar writes and draws his own comics, and is also a published author of books like 'How To Make Webcomics,' and 'The Everything Cartooning Book.' For more information on Guigar's comics, visit his Web sites at www.evil-comic.com, www.phables.com and www.courting-disaster.com."

My friends, that is press. Thanks so much, James and Melissa! You guys rock! The layout appears below:

Debby from Port Richmond was waiting for a bus in a bad neighborhood when she noticed a thug hiding in the shadows, eyeing her purse. She was close to panicking when along came her knight in shining armor..

Also, a programming note: Phables has been placed on a summer schedule by the Philadelphia Daily News. It will appear every other Monday until further notice.