Five new release picks for October 12, 2010

With a billion different retailers and hundreds of different mediums to chose from, keeping up with the best and newest releases in any form is difficult. This week we've got a wide range of stuff you're not going to want to miss, including the release of a television show you probably forgot about, a beautiful book of woodcut novels, a collection of letters from a Nobel Peace Prize winner and more. 5. War Machine by Scott Benson and Len Kaminski Despite having the best name in all of comics, War Machine hasn't had much in the way of his own series. Instead, he's been stuck filling in for Tony Stark as Iron Man when Stark gets too drunk, or running around with the S.H.I.E.L.D. or the Avengers. This trade paperback collects the 1994 run of War Machine, as he's pitted against the African military, Deathtoll and Cold Warrior. It's not exactly groundbreaking, but Marvel-aficionados won't want to miss it. 4. Dollhouse: Season 2 (DVD) Clearly nobody watched Dollhouse while it was on TV, which is why Joss Whedon's series about a group of brainwashed people-for-hire was cancelled by Fox in its second season. While it's certainly not the best of Whedon's work, the series had its charm -- namely Eliza Dushku kicking ass in a variety of roles and outfits. Luckily for fans, Fox gave Whedon enough warning for him to finish the story arc, which comes to a head at the end of the season. 3. Dexter's Laboratory: Season 1 (DVD) When Cartoon Network first started, it had a slew of original kids shows running. Nowadays the channel is most often associated with its experimental short-form cartoon block, Adult Swim -- but the early cartoons are still worth watching. Amazingly, Dexter's Laboratory, a show about a child inventor and genius, has never been released on DVD until now. If you're interested in reliving the glory days of your youth, this is a great place to start. 2. Conversations with Myself by Nelson Mandela Conversations with Myself has two things going for it: It has a forward by Barack Obama, and it's a collection of letters and material written by Mandela himself over the course of 50 years. Included are not only excerpts from notebooks and diaries, but prison letters, recorded conversations and speeches. This collection should be an excellent accompaniment to his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom. 1. Six Novels in Woodcuts by Lynd Ward If you've never seen Lynd Ward's amazing wood engravings, you've missed out on some of the most interesting art to ever hit the printed page. Ward is best known for his wordless novels resembling something like an early graphic novel, all of which are collected together here. His novels are often associated with the Depression-era, partially because of their startling images and also because of their release period; all of his books were released between 1930 and 1937.