Titan Books, out 6 March

A handsome and heavy single volume collection of nearly 30 comic book stories set in The Matrix.

If you’re a Matrix fan and can’t wait for the upcoming fourth instalment you could do far worse than picking up (you’ll need both hands) this handsome coffee table book – give it legs and it could be a coffee table – that not only gathers the previously released print and online comics but includes four new stories, equating to over 80 pages of unseen text and artwork.

The Matrix comics were released even before the release of the original film, back in 1999. Essentially a who’s who of comics, there’s contributions from legends Neil Gaiman, Geof Darrow (concept artist on the movie), Dave ‘Watchmen’ Gibbons, Bill Seinkiewicz and many others. Each of the stories has its own visual style from cartoony to photo-realistic, yet each embraces the grim world of the Wachowskis’ movie trilogy.

Verdict: Even if you already have some of these Matrix comics in the previously released separate volumes, this is the definitive version, bolstered with a lot of new content. Take the red pill and disappear down the rabbit hole to enjoy 400 pages of sci-fi noir. 10/10

Nick Joy

Click here to order The Matrix Comics from Amazon.co.uk