This week, Marvel tests the theory that any comic is made better by putting the main character in space. All I needed to hear: "Like Steven Seagal with robot legs." Also, fish porn and a Fritz Lang reference.

Yes, it's possible that Eric and Arnie have lost their minds, or they've reached a moment of true brilliance. Either way, this week, they cover Axe Cop, which you might now from the internet.

Unfortunately for me, X-O Manowar is not a combination tale about spicy fish sauce and a New York heavy metal band, but instead some sort of dumb Bronze Age super-hero. Still, Eric and Arnie make the comic sound pretty good.

Of course, as a regular reader of the The Range, you're familiar with Heroes & Villains, the current holder of the Best of Tucson title as Best Comic Book Store, via store employees Eric and Arnie's semi-regular video feature Talking Comics. Tomorrow would be a great day for you to stop by the store, whether you're a regular customer or a first-timer, as a bunch of Tucson artists will be there creating original Batman art to raise money for victims of the Aurora shooting:

This Wednesday (July 25th), fourteen artists are going to set up shop at Heroes and Villains and do $10 sketches of Batman for folks—the entirety of which will go to The New Venture Fund, a charitable organization dedicated to supporting the victims & the families of the victims of the Aurora tragedy.

Those artists are:

Ryan Huna Smith 12pm-2pm
Greg Mannino 12pm-2pm
Adam Rex 12pm-3pm
Jenn Corella 12pm-3pm
Dadicus 2pm-8pm
Ernie Najera 2pm-8pm
Brian Augustyn 2pm-8pm
Eric Schock - 3:30pm-7pm
Clay Lewis 3:30pm-8pm
Hannah Nance Partlow 4pm-6pm
Jason Pedersen 4:30pm-6pm
Liz Danforth 5pm-7pm
Ross Demma 5pm-7pm
Arnie Bermudez 6pm-8pm

In addition to the $10 sketches, there will be several Batman-related pieces up for auction, and $2 memorial ribbons (again, the entirety of which goes towards The New Venture Fund) created by Jason Pedersen.

To donate via telephone, please call 520-321-HERO with your credit card information.

Also, if you happen to go between 4:30-6:30, you can get a signed copy of Eric Esquivel's latest comic Thor: Unkillable Thunder Christ. Make a day of it...get an one-of-a-kind piece of comic art for a good cause and ensure your eternal damnation by picking up Eric's latest blasphemous work. What else are you doing on a Wednesday?

More info at the store's Facebook page.

I'm still bitter that I spent several hours of my life watching Tim Burton's Mars Attacks, so I'm a tough sell on this comic of the same name, but hey, maybe Eric and Arnie of Heroes and Villains can convince otherwise.

Wait, there are multiple Spider-Men? I guess that explains the new guy in the suit for this summer's movie. Life can be confusing as Eric and Arnie review a new crossover comic from Marvel.

Phoenix rapper Mega Ran used to be a middle school teacher before devoting himself full time to music, had a viral hit with a track about Jeremy Lin this February, and raps extensively about video games. Certainly not the sort of artist you see everyday, so why not check him out - for free, even! - at 5 pm tonight at Heroes and Villains?

If you'd like a preview, there are some clips of his last appearance at the store on YouTube.

Matt Groening's "Life in Hell," a comic that has appeared in the Tucson Weekly for a very long time, wrapped up its run of new strips last week, followed by four weeks of "greatest hits" starting with tomorrow's issue, before disappearing from our pages (and those of other papers):

The last “Life in Hell,” Groening’s 1,669th strip, was released on Friday, June 15. For the next four weeks, editors will have their choice of strips from Groening’s extensive archive before they close up shop in July on Friday the 13, which seems oddly appropriate.

“I’ve had great fun, in a Sisyphean kind of way, but the time has come to let Binky and Sheba and Bongo and Akbar and Jeff take some time off,” Groening, 58, said by email.

“It’s hard to imagine how the business model that sustained alternative social-commentary and political cartooning for two decades (and is now all but dead) would have evolved had papers not discovered the power of Groening’s strip and its ability to attract readers,” said syndicated cartoonist Ted Rall by phone.

The popularity of “Life in Hell” opened a path for a new breed of alternative cartoonists to appear in alt-weeklies across the country, cartoonists like Tom Tomorrow, Ruben Bolling, Ward Sutton, Keith Knight and Rall. It also showcased the power of sharp, biting cartoons to editors looking to attain and grow a new group of readers...

“Life in Hell”‘s newspaper count has dwindled over the years as cutbacks and consolidation forced out many features. Syndicated by Acme Features Syndicate, which Groening created, the strip hit a peak of nearly 380 papers in the early 1990s. In recent years, the strip appeared in less than 40.

This week, Eric and Arnie (with a guest appearance by talking Thor) discuss Grifter (and Hawkman, briefly) and his battle against racist aliens. There's also a spectacular Joe Arpaio reference.

Arnie and Eric discuss the 100th issue of The Tick, with a special appearance by Robert Kirkman's Invincible, as the two heroes team up to fight the cleverly named "Chairface Chippendale."