The Anchor #2 ("Five Furies Part Two: Bark and Hide, Bone and Root") by Phil Hester (writer), Brian Churilla (artist), Matthew Wilson (colorist), and Johnny Lowe (letterer). $3.99, 22 pgs, FC, Boom! Studios.

We continue the first arc, as we get a bit of backstory about "Clem" on the first two pages, hearkening back to when the Vikings roamed the seas and men lugging anchors crawled out of the ocean. Then we're back to the present, and our hero and his new pal, Hofi, head to Scotland to battle a half-man, half-elk, who, unfortunately, can't keep his mouth shut. Oh, and the ghost of a teenager joins the cast. And some mean United States government people show up, because the United States government just can't keep its grubby little paws out of things, can it? It's mostly plot-building, although Hester does a nice job with it, and Churilla does a great job with the fight between Clem and the Elkman. Churilla makes the Elkman really frightening and majestic - he's a formidable challenge for Clem. And Churilla has fun with the brief scene in Hell, too.

As always, I'll give this series an arc and see where we stand. It's still an intriguing idea, and Hester has a good idea of where he's going with it (or so it seems), even though I wish the United States government wasn't quite so sinister. But both the writing and art are strong in this book, and Hester has a lot going on here.

Batman and Robin #6 ("Revenge of the Red Hood Part Three: Flamingo is Here") by Grant "All right, you bastards, next issue you get Cameron Stewart - are you happy now?" Morrison (writer), Philip Tan (penciller), Jonathan Glapion (inker), Alex Sinclair (colorist), and Patrick Brosseau (letterer). $2.99, 24 pgs, FC, DC.

I've been defending Tan on this book, and I still don't think he's awful, but he screws up the Flamingo, and it's a shame. It doesn't help that Quitely draws him on the cover and Tan draws the interiors, because we can compare a good version with a not-so-good version. Quitely's Flamingo is suave and dangerous, while Tan's is just nutty. He's just another somewhat dull Batman villain, and it's too bad. Batman's villains are often as well-defined by their look as by their characterization, and Tan's Flamingo lacks the flair that makes him a truly great Batman villain (I guess technically he's a Red Hood villain, but you get my drift). He's just a wacko. Robin's line, "I was expecting scary, not gay," doesn't work too well, because Tan's Flamingo isn't as "gay" as Quitely's. Tan does a few things well - his Scarlet lying on the ground, beaten to a pulp, is a tragic panel - but his biggest problem when teamed with Morrison on Batman is that he lacks the slight cartoony edge that Morrison's scripts seem to demand. Quitely has that, and so does Stewart, while his collaborators on his earlier run are more like Tan (with the exception of the ever-changeable Williams III). If this issue weren't quite as "brutal" in the way Tan draws it, Flamingo's abilities might feel more brutal, if that makes sense.

Because, for a fight issue, it's pretty effective. Flamingo's lack of speaking makes him more creepy, and Damian's slow journey to non-bastardness reaches an important signpost in this issue. Morrison also does a nice job at the end, when Jason confronts Dick about his feelings toward Bruce, because it's accurate. The entire epilogue of the issue is well done, from that confrontation to the fate of Scarlet to the scene with Oberon Sexton. I'm sure smarter people than I am can delve into the "W" on the back of El Penitente (I'm going to assume that's El Penitente), but I am unsure why the final page is supposed to be dramatic. Can anyone help?

Anyway, everyone who couldn't stand Tan's art can relax now. It's certainly not great, but for the most part, it did its job. And Morrison continues to have his moments of brilliance in a solid story. I'm glad he's doing something with Damian, because I'm still annoyed that Bruce is "dead." It's frustrating reading his take on Dick and Damian, because we know Bruce is coming back, so Morrison can't do too much with establishing them as the true Batman and Robin. This doesn't bug me as much as it does Jog, but it's definitely hindering the God of All Comics, it seems. When Morrison focuses on the good guys versus the bad guys, he does a good job, but the world-building isn't as strong.

The Black Coat: ... Or Give Me Death #1 and 2 by Ben Lichius (writer/colorist), Adam Cogan (story), Francesco Francavilla (artist, part one), Dean Kotz (artist, part two), and Chris Studabaker (letterer). $4.50, 44 pgs, FC (mostly), Ape Entertainment.

Man, I've been waiting for The Black Coat to return, and here it is! Life is good! Now, if only the next two issues could come out in a timely fashion, I'll be a happy camper!

For those of you who don't know, The Black Coat tells the tale of a mysterious vigilante in 1775 New York who fights the "tyranny" of the British (who weren't all that tyrannical, after all) as the colonies gear up for war. The Black Coat fights weird supernatural beings in league with the British and an evil organization called the League, and at the end of the first series, he battled a scientist who had created an immortality serum. They both ended up in the harbor, seemingly dead, but they both had ingested the serum, so of course they're still alive! At the beginning of this comic, the Black Coat's lady friend, Ursula, finds his body in the harbor (she's wearing a diving suit and traveling in a submarine, don't you know) and manages to get him home, where he eventually revives. Of course, he needs to keep taking the serum or he'll go nutty, and there's very little serum left. So he has a problem - he needs to create more serum, or all will be lost!!!!!

Lichius and Cogan not only give us a story about the Black Coat's quest for the scientist's brother, who may be able to synthesize more serum, but also a larger story about the beginnings of the war and what the colonists are doing to rebel. Lichius places it in a larger framework of supernatural evil, which doesn't work perfectly (it always bugs me when writers attribute war to grand machinations of the few when men are perfectly willing to kill each other without any nudging in that direction), but I don't mind in the context of the story. It's a terrifically exciting comic, with a giant gargoyle menacing our hero, back alley dealings, a creepy bandaged dude, and the Black Coat going slowly insane, which adds nice tension to the proceedings.

Francavilla started on art, but the delays in the book meant he moved on, which is a shame (although I'm certainly glad to see him on Zorro; it just would have been nice if he could have finished this). However, Kotz is quite good (I don't like him as much as Francavilla, but he's still good), and he's a good fit to finish the series, because he has a similar style to Francavilla. He draws a mean-looking gargoyle, too.

I know this is going to sell about 200 copies, which really stinks. It's an exciting, interesting, nicely-drawn comic that remains grounded in historical reality (sort of) even though Lichius and Cogan take it into supernatural territory. They don't go overboard, however, which is nice. The build-up to the war is as interesting as the supernatural stuff. If you've missed The Black Coat until now, it's time to rectify that oversight!

Comic Book Comics #4 ("Leagelese!") by Fred van Lente (writer) and Ryan Dunlavey (artist). $3.99, 40 pgs, BW, Evil Twin Comics.

Speaking of long-delayed comics, it's the fourth issue of Comic Book Comics!!!! Yay!!!!

I have no problem with this taking so long, because of a few reasons. First, it's 40 pages for 4 dollars. Second, Dunlavey packs the issue with detailed panels full of wacky sight gags, so if takes him a while to draw it, that's cool. Third, van Lente has to, presumably, do a ton of meticulous detail for these (I imagine he doesn't know all this stuff off the top of his head), which takes a while but makes each issue a blast-and-a-half to read. Fourth, given the fickle comics-buying public, I'm sure van Lente and Dunlavey make no frickin' money at all on this, so they have to earn a living somewhere and fit this in when they can (like, one of those nights when you've eaten too many Doritos to sleep and your subscription to Skinemax has been cancelled and you figure it's time to work on an issue!). Van Lente and Dunlavey can take as long as they want with this, in my opinion.

This might be the best issue of the series yet, probably because the Fifties through Seventies are a bit more documented than the early days of comics, and several people involved are still alive, so it feels like van Lente gets deeper into the dirt behind the creators, which makes it more interesting. It's funnier, too, presumably for the same reason. Dunlavey is also able to cut loose a bit, which again might have to do with my familiarity with the material, so I get more of the jokes. Maybe. But the subject matter, from crime comics of the 1950s to the Marvel explosion of the 1960s to underground comix of the late '60s and 1970s, lends itself to satirizing and weirdness a bit more than the earlier stuff. This certainly feels the most joyous of the series so far. Plus, it features Metaa, The Thing That Walked Like a Man That Walked Like a Thing That Walked Like a Man! Of course it did!

If you haven't been buying Comic Book Comics, there's no reason to find the first three issues, because each issue is pretty much self-contained. Seek this one out, because it's a wildly fun comic. And I do hope van Lente and Dunlavey can finish this (buy the new Action Philosophers! trade when it shows up soon, so you can give them some funds!), but they can take as long as they need to. I'll be here when issue #5 comes out!

Fables #90 ("Witches Chapter Four: Ozma") by Bill Willingham (writer), Mark Buckingham (penciller), Steve Leialoha (inker), Andrew Pepoy (inker), Lee Loughridge (colorist), and Todd Klein (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC/Vertigo.

It's always so difficult to review an issue of Fables, especially when it's in the middle of a story arc. Willingham sets them up extremely well, often doesn't end them too strongly, but in between, he just lets the plot carry the characters along, and it's a pleasure to read. We get Bufkin figuring out how to defeat Baba Yaga, and it's quite nifty. We get the witches deciding that Ozma should take the leadership of the group because Totenkinder has disappeared, and for some reason, I don't trust Ozma. We get Geppetto plotting with an oak tree (come on, it's Fables - of course he can do that!). We get Totenkinder still helping the Fables even though she's ... elsewhere. We get the return of Dunster Happ! Yay! And it's all wonderfully drawn by Buckingham.

See? Willingham just turns the characters loose, and they do their thing. I love reading each issue. They make me happy.

Plus, there's a preview of Gabriel Bá's and Fábio Moon's Daytripper. Goddamn, it looks awesome.

Rapture #5 (of 6) by Taki Soma (writer/layouter), Michael Avon Oeming (writer/artist), Val Staples (colorist), and Thomas Mauer (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, Dark Horse.

I'm fearing the final issue of Rapture, because the way Soma and Oeming set it up, it feels like it's going to be a superhero fight, and I'm really hoping it's not. The early part of this issue is actually quite good, because Evelyn finds Gil under the absolute worst circumstances, and their reunion is definitely not what she was hoping it would be. Of course, she did tell Gil that she needed "space," so she has only herself to blame, but the pages on which they argue, with a young boy who has turned evil insensate at their feet, are gripping to read. The art shows Evelyn's isolation nicely, too, from one panel that has her in a long shot to another where her eyes are black holes of despair. Even Gil's decision about what to do with the boy is handled well. Then the weird dude who gave Evelyn the spear shows up, and it goes sideways a bit. The art still looks great, but the set-up to the final issue indicates that Evelyn and Gil are going to fight it out, and that would be disappointing.

I will, of course, read it, and hope that Soma and Oeming have something up their sleeve. That would be nice.

Starstruck #3 (of 13) ("Mirage à Troi" and "Buy, Buy, Birdy!") by Elaine Lee (writer), Michael Wm. Kaluta (artist), Charles Vess (inker, "Buy, Buy Birdy!"), Lee Moyer (painter), Todd Klein (letterer, "Mirage à Troi"), and John Workman (letterer, "Buy, Buy, Birdy!"). $3.99, 27 pgs, FC, IDW.

There's a nice post about the history of Starstruck here, in case you're interested. The author wonders why this latest incarnation isn't getting the love he feels it deserves. Well, I'm trying, man! I'm trying!

I think the problem with Starstruck is that it's so extremely dense that it's very hard to judge it based on the individual issues. I can rave about Kaluta's art all I want (and I will continue to do so, because it's amazing), but as interesting as Lee's story is, it's obvious that each issue is a tiny part of a much, MUCH bigger whole, and she's not really interesting in telling a shorter story in each issue that leads into a bigger story, she's just interested in telling the large story and the issue ends when IDW doesn't want to put any more pages in it. (I should point out that because of the ways this was originally released, I doubt if Lee had any intention of making it fit into a 22-page format, so I don't blame her in the least.) I'm not even sure if this is how the book was originally released - a few things I've read about it (including the link above) seem to indicate that some of the Epic Illustrated stuff is not here. So there's that.

I'm not going to go as far as the writer of that post, who compares this to Watchmen - at least not yet. It is refreshing reading something like this, however, because Lee is throwing all sorts of interesting stuff in here, from sexual politics to space opera to a fairly standard rebels-vs-establishment kind of fight, yet with plenty of twists, to a critique of objectification. Plus, both the main story and the Galactic Girl Guides are really funny. Lee has created this entire insane universe from scratch, and it shows on the page, because she confidently writes about this made-up world as if she's lived there her entire life.

I still like reading it, but I have a feeling I'll appreciate it a lot more when it's all done. Until then, I'll just revel in the artwork. It's so damned gorgeous!

And in the back of the book, there's an advertisement for J. Scott Campbell's "Fairytale Fantasies" calendar. You know, I don't know if I can watch my daughters' Disney DVDs ever again without thinking of stuff like this:

I know that Zenescope has been doing this for years, but Campbell is a bit higher-profile than they are, so this will get more pub, I expect. Sigh. The IDW link has Ariel, by the way. Sigh.

S.W.O.R.D. #1 ("No Time to Breathe" and "Not Yet") by Kieron Gillen (writer), Steven Sanders (penciler, "No Time to Breathe"), Jamie McKelvie (artist, "Not Yet"), Craig Yeung (inker, "No Time to Breathe"), Matt Wilson (colorist, "Not Yet"), and Dave Lanphear (letterer). $3.99, 30 pgs, FC, Marvel.

Let's consider S.W.O.R.D. #1. I have been on the Kieron Gillen bandwagon since Phonogram #1 came out, over three years ago. I told you to buy it. I ordered you to buy it. I begged you to buy it. I bribed you to buy it. I blackmailed you to buy it. I offered sex, booze, and video games if you bought it. And none of it worked. You didn't believe me when I told you that Gillen (and McKelvie, of course, but he's a different subject) was awesome. Then he started writing for Marvel, and far hipper people than I like Chris Sims told you to read his Beta Ray Bill stuff (to be fair to Sims, he also recognizes the awesomeness that is Phonogram). I've accepted that you're not going to listen to me, because I'm, you know, square. But if you don't believe Sims, then I just don't know what to tell you. There's just no hope.

Which is a roundabout way of saying that S.W.O.R.D. is pretty frickin' keen. I've been skipping Gillen's Marvel stuff, not because I don't think it would be good, but because I really don't have a lot of interest in Thor and Thor-related stories unless Walt Simonson is writing and drawing them. But I was jazzed about S.W.O.R.D., not because I have a fondness for Joss Whedon's run on Astonishing X-Men, but because it sounds like the kind of series that Gillen can just go nuts on, probably because (as I mentioned when it showed up in Previews), no one will read it and the PTB will ignore what he does until the sales figures come back. You know, kind of like The Order. I certainly hope that it smashes sales records and Gillen gets to write it for the next decade (even though, as I pointed out at his blog, that would mean he'd be too big a star to talk to me next year at San Diego), but it's always a tough go with new series that don't star one of Marvel's big guns, and when your biggest gun in this issue is Henry McCoy ... well, I think that speaks for itself. But hey! it's a Marvel book, and maybe someone who avoids indies like the plague will pick it up and think, "I wonder what else that Gillen bloke has written ... Phonogram, you say? The next issue of which comes out next week? I'll give that a whirl!" That happens all the time, right?

Of course, I should probably write a bit about the actual issue, shouldn't I? Well, it's mostly set-up, but a very entertaining set-up, as we get the internal tension between Henry Gyrich and Abigail Brand, co-commanders of S.W.O.R.D. (Sentient World Observation and Response Department). Gyrich wants Abigail out, obviously, and Gillen sets up a nifty sub-plot in which Gyrich wants to kick all aliens - all of them - off the Earth so that something like "Secret Invasion" doesn't happen again. Of course, that was secret, so how would it stop that? But we'll run with it. We get a quick look at the inner workings of S.W.O.R.D. - some aliens want tribute or they'll steal North Carolina - before Abigail learns that her half-brother is running from a bounty hunter and has requested sanctuary. When she gives it to him, the bounty hunter simply takes him and skedaddles, leaving Abigail, Henry McCoy, and Lockheed - who's drinking himself into a stupor because Kitty Pryde is "lost" (not dead, as we learn in the second story) - to go fetch him. Oh, yes, the bounty hunter is Death's Head. Oh, those wacky British writers and their love of Marvel UK characters! Death's Head is, of course, goddamned awesome. And he has a big motherfucking gun.

In the second story, Abigail explains to Lockheed how they're trying to save Kitty. Lockheed doesn't think she's doing a good enough job, so he visits the robot in the basement. This is the same robot who helped Abigail in the first story, and Gillen is trying (and, to be fair, succeeding) in making him kind of creepy. I can't wait to see what he does when he (inevitably) gets out.

It's been some years since I read Five Fists of Science, which is the only place I've seen Sanders' art, but it's quite good - his Abigail looks slightly less repressed than McKelvie's, with hair out of place and stylin' sunglasses on. His Death's Head is quite menacing, and he draws some other keen aliens, too. The only problem I have with the art is Henry McCoy. Frankly, he looks like a goat. It's not a good look. The second story is not necessarily built to show off McKelvie's strengths - he does a fine job with the Kitty Bullet and what it's doing out there in the universe, but that doesn't give him much opportunity to show off - but the final page, where Lockheed speaks to the robot, is a nice page, on which the robot looks even creepier thanks to the way McKelvie draws him (that is, cheery as hell). I'm always happy to see McKelvie's art, but I'll be much happier to see it when the next issue of Phonogram comes out, which ought to be (if that lying Brit Gillen can be believed) next week.

So S.W.O.R.D. is pretty cool. Gillen doesn't go for the one-and-done big crazy issue, deciding instead on a longer arc, but with established characters, that's not necessarily a bad way to go. And it features Death's Head, for crying out loud! Can Motormouth be far behind?????

Vengeance of the Moon Knight #3 ("The Bushman Cometh") by Gregg Hurwitz (writer), Jerome Opeña (penciler), Paul Mounts (colorist), and Joe Caramagna (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, Marvel.

Man, Opeña is really good. I mean, I've known that for a while, but it's worth noting again. I just love his casual tiny Khonshu thing (whatever that thing is haunting MK these days) checking out the museum after our hero takes out the punks. On the same page, I love the panel showing enough of Marlene's face to let us know that Moonie's getting lucky tonight! This is just a beautiful issue, and the fact that Opeña switches easily from the big gaudy superheroics in issue #1 to the extremely dark invasion of Ravencroft Asylum in this issue is very cool.

As you might have heard, this is the beginning of "Knightfall," in which Bane breaks all of the inmates out of Arkham to soften up Batman before the coup de grace. Oh, wait a minute, no, this is where Bushman breaks all of the inmates out of Ravencroft to soften up Moon Knight before the coup de grace. You can see where I'd get things confused a bit! Seriously, Marvel and Gregg Hurwitz - you guys thought this would be a good idea? I realize "Knightfall" was almost two decades ago, but comics fans these days have really, really long memories, and when commentators for years have called your character a Batman rip-off (I've never been one of those people), it's probably not a good idea to mimic one of Batman's most famous stories from the past 30-40 years or so. I mean, it's just ... well, it's silly, even by the standards of comics, where stories get recycled all the time. It gets back to the tone of this series so far, where I'm not terribly sure if Hurwitz is satirizing superheroes in general. I mean, this reads perfectly straight, but I can't decide if Hurwitz is pointing out the idiocy of "Knightfall" and the revolving door policy of prisons and asylums in the Marvel and DCU or if he's not that subtle. I mean, this hews so closely to "Knightfall" that I can't believe Hurwitz isn't making some kind of comment on it. Bushman could easily get an army from any number of sources, but he deliberately breaks inmates out of an insane asylum. His freakin' face is tattooed like a luchador (despite the fact that he's an African mercenary), much like Bane's was, for crying out loud (yes, I know Bushman predates Bane, but work with me, people!). The Scarecrow is even in this issue! It's just ... odd. Hurwitz writes is fairly effectively, but it's still weird.

But damn, it's nice to look at. And it's an exciting issue, for all the ripping off of old Batman stories. So I'll stick with it and see what Hurwitz is doing with it, but that's just very strange, the way they've set up this story.

So there it is: the week in comics. Any thoughts?

And look! totally random lyrics!

"I'm gnawing on the knowledge
That I have been burned
And I'm learning things that I
Should've already learned
Everyone I ever knew
Was so kind and coy
I was with a girl
But it felt like I was with a boy"

Sing it loud! Sing it proud!

40 Comments

• At November 12, 2009, Wraith wrote:

  Re: "J. Scott Campbell's "Fairytale Fantasies" calendar"

  Yeah, someone's going to Hell. And, since I clicked on the link, I suppose ...

• At November 12, 2009, sgt pepper wrote:

  Yay! Comic Book Comics is my favorite comic.

  And yes, everything Kieron Gellen has done is pretty much gold. ...

• At November 12, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  I don't know what the last page was supposed to signify either, but the password to open that case-- " ...

• At November 12, 2009, Matt K wrote:

  Good to hear about S.W.O.R.D. (and the last time I'll be using the acronym). I just got the Beta ...

• At November 12, 2009, bongoes wrote:

  I think the last page was Bruce's body. Zur Enh Arrh was just the password.

• At November 12, 2009, JP wrote:

  What, no The Unwritten #7? It was such an awesome issue!

• At November 12, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Yeah, I read somewhere that it's Bruce's body. I thought it might be, but then what the heck is ...

• At November 12, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  JP: I saw that The Unwritten was coming out, but I didn't see it at my comics shoppe. I ...

• At November 12, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Anyway, everyone who couldn't stand Tan's art can relax now. It's certainly not great, but for the most part, it ...

• At November 12, 2009, Capper wrote:

  Nice "Heathers" reference. "How would he have felt about a limp wrist with a pulse?"

• At November 12, 2009, Reno wrote:

  Wasn't the Flamingo a Joker pastiche in the Big Bang universe? In fact, he's the arch-enemy of the Knight Watchman, ...

• At November 12, 2009, StrongWall wrote:

  Batman & Robin = dead in the water. All momentum for this book was killed the minute Phillip Tan's name ...

• At November 12, 2009, s1rude wrote:

  The Violent Femmes are A W E S O M E. My s.o. was recently commenting on how freakin' ...

• At November 12, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  not sure how that jives with what we saw in Final Crisis

  Well, as Dick is acting on words from Jason ...

• At November 12, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Death's Head!? Why didn't anyone tell meeeeeee

• At November 12, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  I've only been reading Marvel lately. That's not on any weird principle or anything, it's just that my funds ...

• At November 12, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  " Yeah, I read somewhere that it's Bruce's body. I thought it might be, but then what the heck is ...

• At November 12, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Best case scenario; Zombie Batman. :)

  Which would make sense as #7 has to be held off until the next ...

• At November 13, 2009, Chris Jones wrote:

  Wait, is that story ACTUALLY called "The Bushman Cometh?"

  ACTUALLY?

• At November 13, 2009, Michael wrote:

  God dammit, J. Scott Campbell.

• At November 13, 2009, Dan Bailey wrote:

  >>even though I wish the United States government wasn't quite so sinister.

  Same here, though at least it's not nearly as ...

• At November 13, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  s1rude: According to Gillen, some issue of Phonogram got out even though Diamond requested that they be pulped because ...

• At November 13, 2009, Rebis wrote:

  I agree, you're going easy on Tan. He's not a great artist to begin with, but his output has been ...

• At November 13, 2009, Neal K wrote:

  Violent Femmes!!! Yes!! Excellent to see one of my faves in that lyrics box every once in a while. ...

• At November 13, 2009, Tekende wrote:

  I really, really wish Tan hadn't been drawing B&R #6, because story-wise it's probably my favorite issue so far.

  I've ...

• At November 14, 2009, Anonymous wrote:

  Damn you J. Scott Campbell. Only Alan Moore is allowed to sexualize children books characters!

  Though I have to admit he's ...

• At November 14, 2009, Bright-Raven wrote:

  Burgas:

  I don't know which is sillier. The notion that you think Chris Sims is "hip", or that you're using him ...

• At November 14, 2009, Bright-Raven wrote:

  I should say it undermines the credibility of his blog to my mind's eye, not in general context.

• At November 14, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Bright-Raven: I was joking, for the most part. :) I just figure if I can't get people to ...

• At November 14, 2009, Pedro Bouça wrote:

  "If you haven't been buying Comic Book Comics, there's no reason to find the first three issues, because each issue ...

• At November 14, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Well, yeah, that goes without saying. But the first three might be hard to find!

• At November 14, 2009, Ed Buskirk wrote:

  I don't think you're succeeding in spreading the Starstruck gospel, Greg, as not one comment so much as mentions it. ...

• At November 14, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  I bought SWORD today, because you told me to. I hope you can deal with that sort of responsibility.

  Is ...

• At November 15, 2009, Kieron Gillen wrote:

  Mary: It's an ongoing, but we're using a pretty firm arc based format. In other words, you can totally treat ...

• At November 15, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  Wow. I've never had an actual author respond to my comments directly. (Except for two occasions with Peter David ...

• At November 15, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Mary: If you like Gillen, you should DEFINITELY check out Phonogram. It's his Image series, and it's great (don't ...

• At November 16, 2009, Dan Bailey wrote:

  >>It features Jamie McKelvie on art (he drew the back-up story in SWORD)

  Damn. I wish you hadn't mentioned that, because ...

• At November 17, 2009, Kieron Gillen’s Workblog » S.W.O.R.D. 1 Out For Nearly A Week wrote:

  [...] O’Brien, House To Astonish: “The dialogue is great.” Greg Comics Should Be Good: “I certainly hope that it smashes ...

• At November 21, 2009, Drew wrote:

  Greg: Hey, thanks for your great review of S.W.O.R.D. #1—I'm glad I'm not the only one who loved the issue ...

• At November 21, 2009, Oeming wrote:

  Thanks for the review Greg- hope you also check out Powers next week!

  M!

Batman and Robin #5 ("Revenge of the Red Hood Part Two: Scarlet") by Grant "What other mild-mannered animal can I turn into a scary character name?" Morrison (writer), Philip Tan (penciller), Jonathan Glapion (inker), Alex Sinclair (colorist), and Patrick Brosseau (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC.

Well, all the slack I gave Philip Tan last issue dissipates a bit in this issue, as we get a panel that is supposed to show the Penguin bouncing off the roof of a car but is almost incomprehensible, a two-panel shot of the Red Hood grabbing Robin and smashing his face down that makes me pine for a Quitely rendition of the exact same scene, as I still can't figure out the choreography in the scene, and some other really odd perspectives. On the whole, however, it's still not as painful to look at as something like Haunt, so I guess that's something.

I'm still not willing to let the God of All Comics off the hook, however. G-Mozz, I assume, wrote that Penguin gets chucked out the window. How, pray tell, is Oswald supposed to get to the ground? Did Morrison figure that out? Did he write, "Chuck Cobblepot out of the window and make sure he doesn't die" or was he more specific? The Penguin falls a tremendous distance and has no visible problems with broken bones or head injuries, after all. Do we blame Tan for that? Similarly, I understand that this is part of the greater Bat-universe and that the Mozzer doesn't necessarily have to clue us in on what's happening, but I do wish he would make it more clear that someone is impersonating Bruce Wayne (right? isn't that Hush guy pretending to be Bruce right now? gee, that's dumb). And even though Morrison rejects the grand retcon that is "Crisis on Infinite Earths," as far as I know, the Jason Todd who dyed his hair never existed. Right? Or did I miss something? Finally, as cool as the Flamingo is, I still can't get over the fact that this plot - "heroes" killing villains because the real heroes won't - is tired. It's interesting reading Morrison's dialogue, because he thinks of neat things (like Jason getting zits because of the helmet), but this is a boring comic redeemed by two things: Morrison's skill with making the characters interesting, and the fact that we know it ties into a bigger plot, which we pray will be better than this minor one. The way this book ends, it appears the final issue of Tan's arc might be something pretty cool, but let's not dump on Tan completely if you don't like this issue. Some of the blame must go to the Messiah, you know. As I usually do, I will trust Morrison to make sense of it all, but that doesn't change the fact that these two issues haven't been his greatest.

Batman: Unseen #1 (of 5) (Part One: Meat-Man") by Doug Moench (writer), Kelley Jones (artist), Michelle Madsen (colorist), and Pat Brosseau (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC.

Now, I'm sure people will call me crazy (go ahead, I can handle it), but Batman: Unseen, even with Moench returning once again to his favorite villain, Black Mask, is a superior comic than Batman and Robin #5. Moench tells a story of a disgraced scientist who ends up working (without knowing it) for Black Mask, and his formula gradually turns him invisible and, well, insane. Batman gets involved because at one point, the semi-invisible man heads out for grub and things turn lethal. So while the first issue is mostly set-up, it still hums with energy, and Moench and Jones have such a wonderful synergy which makes this just zip along. It's totally ridiculous and pulpy, and Moench makes the scientist say such things as "I am the almighty face of biological shock and awe!", but what's great about a Moench/Jones Batman book is that a statement like that doesn't sound stupid, just bombastic. Moench's Batman villains talk like that because Moench understands that they're not supposed to be realistic, they're supposed to be larger-than-life bad guys, and they are. In the same way, Jones is close to the perfect Batman artist (I would say Breyfogle is, but others are in the running, of course), in that he understands that a man dressed up as a bat is a bit silly, so he makes him almost inhuman (this is why his and Moench's VampBats books are so neat) and puts him in a wildly Gothic city, the kind of place that looks kind of neat to live in when you're not scared out of your wits. Jones's Batman is a terrifying creature, well suited for dealing with the freaks who live in his city.

I do have an inordinate fondness for the Moench/Jones Batman of the mid-1990s, so I'm always glad when they hook up to give us another story, but that doesn't change the fact that this is a gloriously pulpy comic in the best sense of the word. If you're not a fan of Moench and his pseudo-scientific rambling or Jones and his ever-growing Bat ears, this comic won't change your mind a bit. But if you are a fan, this will just make you smile. Now, if only DC would let Moench and Jones tell us what was up with that puppeteer dude!

(Kelley Jones drew that cover in 2007, as you can see by his signature. That's strange. Has this been on the shelf a long time, or did it take them a while to get their schedules together? Inquiring minds want to know!)

Criminal: The Sinners #1 by Ed Brubaker (writer), Sean Phillips (artist), and Val Staples (colorist). $3.50, 29 pgs, FC, Marvel/Icon.

Criminal returns, and because this world makes no sense, a better comic than Incognito by the exact same creative team will automatically lose readers. Up next: goats with two heads will be born! Planetary will conclude! Glenn Beck will be a conservative voice of reason! It's topsy-turvy!

Not surprisingly, it's a very good issue. Tracy Lawless, who has become the nominal star of Criminal, returns, this time fulfilling his "contract" with Sebastian Hyde. He's knocking people off, but he's a lousy enforcer, as he always makes sure the guy really deserves it, which makes Hyde grumpy. Hyde, however, has a new job for Tracy - someone is killing "connected" people in his town, and Hyde wants Tracy to find out who it is. Off he goes!

We find out soon who the killers are (yes, plural), but not why they're doing what they're doing (although we can make some educated guesses). Tracy, meanwhile, is not exactly screwing Hyde's wife, just spending time with her, which will still probably get him killed if Hyde finds out about it. And, because Tracy's life isn't crappy enough, some dude rolls into town looking for a "deserter" - yes, Tracy. Oh dear.

As always, Brubaker doesn't re-invent the wheel in this book, but he and Phillips have done such a wonderful job creating this world that whenever they return to it, we just slip into it easily and go along for the ride. Tracy just moves through the plot, learning information, doing the best that he can, trying to get through another day. It's not surprising that Brubillips keeps coming back to him - he's a good character, and the situations he gets into challenge him to remain a decent guy. It's always fun to watch Tracy try to navigate this morally murky world in which he lives.

I don't know if you're one of those people who bought Incognito but won't buy Criminal, but don't be that person. That person probably thinks that Modern Family is much, much better than Arrested Development. You don't want to be that person, do you?

Days Missing #2 (of 5) ("September 12th, 1815") by David Hine (writer), Chris Burnham (artist), Imaginary Friends Studio (colorist), and Troy Peteri (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, Archaia/Roddenberry Productions.

This unusual series, in which different creative teams are featured in every issue but the theme is the same - a weird dude erases days from human history that would have completely changed humanity for the worse - continues with the weird dude intervening to stop a scientist from re-animating the dead. He does so, but his experiment remains in the dreams of Mary Godwin (who witnesses the resurrection) and she comes up with her famous monster story. It's a decent issue, and David Hine is the kind of writer who can craft a good horror story. Burnham, who is usually quite good, suffers a bit from the poor coloring, which softens his pencils a bit too much. When John Galton resurrects a dead guy, we can see that Burnham is a good artist, because those scenes are full of power and terror. But the coloring job washes the sharpness out of his lines and makes it less distinctive than it might be otherwise.

I am a bit puzzled by the idea of the series, a problem I hope will be cleared up as we move along. The weird dude (who is known only as the Steward) can fold days away so that they never existed. Is this a last resort? Because it seems like that would be easy to do, but he tries to stop the resurrection by more conventional methods before he "folds" the day and erases it. I don't think it was addressed in issue #1 (although I could be wrong), and it's not addressed here. I know that he doesn't erase the days at the beginning of the issue because, well, then, the issue would be over, but is this a case of what Chad was ranting about a few days ago, where it's simply to heighten the drama? Beats me.

If we can get past that little annoyance, this is a pretty good comic. It's not great, but it's interesting. And the creative teams are pretty keen (next month: Ian Edginton and Lee Moder!). We'll see how they continue to explore the Steward's intervention in human affairs.

Fallen Angel: Reborn #4 (of 4) by Peter David (writer), J. K. Woodward (artist/colorist), and Neil Uyetake (letterer). $3.99, 22 pgs, FC, IDW.

I thought this was a five-issue mini-series, but I guess it's not. IDW never lists how long a series lasts or even, at the end of this issue, gives us a "the end" or a "to be continued," but nothing past this issue has been solicited, so I guess it's over. I write this because it ends ambiguously. The main story appears to wrap up, but then, in true Peter David fashion, there's one of those endings that sets up a sequel. I wasn't clear why David ended the regular series, but I guess he's going for a "series of mini-series" kind of thing that all the kids dig these days. That's fine. Unless he's doing something different. Who knows what lurks in the mind of Peter David????

Anyway, it's a typically keen issue of Fallen Angel, as Illyria is confronted with what she's become, Lee effects her typical obnoxious attitude, and there's a tough ethical dilemma to be solved. I don't mean to belittle it, because, much like Brubaker and Phillips on Criminal, David knows exactly what he's doing, and it's always a pleasure to see him write a nifty 22-page comic. And Illyria's real form? Icky.

I don't know what's next for Fallen Angel, but I'll be there!

Greek Street #4 (Book One: Blood Calls For Blood Part Four: The Monster and the Labyrinth") by Peter Milligan (writer), Davide Gianfelice (artist), Patricia Mulvihill (colorist), and Clem Robins (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC/Vertigo.

More of the same with this series, which I just can't get a handle on. Milligan gives us some creepy scenes (scary naked lady leaping out of the bushes? gold!) and moves things forward, but it's still very scattershot, and it's becoming increasingly clear that, even if I want to read the series, it would be better in trade format. Milligan seems to be ignoring the 22-page format, which is fine, because I do appreciate the grand scale of this comic, but it makes each discrete chapter a bit of a mess. It's the dilemma faced by every comic writer who wants to work with a large, unknown cast: Do you do what Milligan is doing, juggling several characters and their arcs and hope that people can keep up, or do you focus on one character for a few issues, then go back and focus on another character, and then another, until you return to the first character and hope people remember what the hell happened? I think the way Milligan is going is a better one, but it's not perfect, and it's nice that he seems to be bringing the plot threads together a bit more and also that we've gotten a little bit of a handle on the characters so we can keep up with them. Of course, I might just be an idiot, and had to go four issues before I started figuring out who was who.

The first arc comes to a close next issue, and one nice thing about this series is that I have absolutely no idea where Milligan is going with it. I mean, Eddie is back in a similar situation that he was in the first issue, and I wouldn't be surprised if Milligan twists it back to his feelings about what happened with his mother, but I have no idea. It's vexing, because I also have no idea if I'm going to keep buying this. We'll see.

GrimJack: The Manx Cat #3 (of 6) by John Ostrander (writer), Timothy Truman (artist), Lovern Kindzierski (colorist), and John Workman (letterer). $3.99, 28 pgs, FC, IDW.

Here's another series about which I just don't have a lot to say, because it's so enjoyable. It's Ostrander and Truman doing GrimJack, after all. They give us action, bloodshed, some answers about the Manx Cat, a horribly creepy strip club, and a promise that we will find out the whole truth about the cat. It's exciting, adventurous, and looks great. If you're waiting for the trade, I can't blame you, but it's so much darned fun reading the installments that I'm not switching. And Mike Gold plugs Comix4Sight, the web site at which you can bid for things to raise money for Ostrander, who's dealing with glaucoma. If you're interested.

Kill Audio #1 (of 6) by Claudio Sanchez (writer), Chondra Echert (writer), and Mr. Sheldon (artist/letterer - link probably NSFW). $3.99, 34 pgs, FC, Boom! Studios.

Chip Mosher, grand poobah of marketing at Boom!, sends us .pdf files of pretty much everything the company releases. Occasionally Other Greg reviews them, occasionally Brad reviews them, and occasionally I review them. I usually don't because everything I'm really interested in that Boom! publishes I just get in the real world. But it's swell of Mr. Mosher to fire these off to us, because Boom! is doing a good job, I think, of getting their name out there and trying to make a dent in the market. I was going to skip this because it didn't seem like something I'd be interested in, but Chip is really pushing it, so I figured I'd give it a look.

It's not the greatest comic in the world, but it does have a lot going for it. First of all, the art is phenomenal. Sheldon has a wonderfully surreal take on the world, with a lot of very bizarre characters and "camera angles," for lack of a better term. He challenges you to really look at each panel - that's not to say that it's difficult to figure out what's going on in them, but because his point of view is so twisted, you often have to re-orient yourself when you're looking at the art. Some people might find this annoying, but for me, at least, it really wasn't. Once you're looking at each panel differently, everything becomes clear (unlike, say, Tan's art in the latest issue of Batman and Robin, where you can look and look and still not figure out exactly what's going on ... and I don't mean to pick on Tan, but they both came out this week, so his art was on the brain). His characters are detailed and insane, from the drugged-out rooster to the clockwork wizard. Visually, this issue is a treat.

Story-wise, the comic doesn't work quite as well, although there's a lot of potential. Kill Audio, a rather short immortal being, is pursued by a weird creature who attempts to kill him. After one such attempt, the creature tells him he might need to find his purpose in life. So he heads off to see the wizard, literally, collecting three other characters along the way. If this sounds vaguely familiar, it should, as Sanchez and Echert even make a reference to a "yellow brick road." It's also reminiscent of innumerable heroes' journeys into the underworld, from Orpheus to Dante. That's perfectly fine, especially because the series, as a whole, is about what happens after Kill Audio finds the wizard and learns his purpose, but it's odd that they would make it so obvious. Once Kill Audio finds the wizard, he learns his purpose - something about saving music. Again, this is fine, but because Sanchez and Echert have been dropping musical references into the text, it makes me think that this is going to be something about how cool some people are because they listen to obscure music and how lame others are because they listen to Celine Dion (to be fair, the characters enjoy some old-school Whitney Houston at one point, so there's that). I'm certainly willing to be proven wrong in that regard, but it's nagging me, especially because the characters all talk like they're in a movie and everyone's acting too cool for school. Overall, the story only gets going a little bit in this issue, and the characters remain ciphers, but the issue itself is packed with energy (both in the writing and the art), which goes a long way.

I'm kind of on the fence about Kill Audio. It's wonderful to look at and has a somewhat intriguing premise, but I worry that the writers will be unable to pull it off without being snarky, based on the way they write the characters in this issue. It's a delicate balance, and as I have no idea how good (or bad) Sanchez and Echert are as writers, I can't say with confidence they'll be able to. But it's certainly an unusual book, and in a comics world of sameness, that goes a long way.

Planetary #27 (of 27) by Warren Ellis (writer), John Cassaday (artist), Laura Martin (colorist), and Comicraft (letterer). $3.99, 28 pgs, FC, DC/Wildstorm.

Hmmm. Is this some kind of book I should be interested in or something? I just don't get it.

Okay, I'm kidding. Planetary was my favorite comic of the week whenever it happened to come out, so of course I'm totally jazzed that Ellis and Cassaday finally bring it to a close. From the preview, I wasn't expecting the dazzling stories of the first few issues or the conspiracy of the later issues, mainly because Ellis wrapped all that up. What we get, instead, is a nifty rescue mission to get Ambrose Chase, who Elijah thinks is still alive. Of course, Ellis uses this to indulge in some of his wacky pseudo-science that he enjoys (this time it's time travel), bringing up a point that, interestingly enough, I read in the Penn State alumni magazine this summer. It seems that there's a professor at my alma mater who is trying to build a time machine. He wants to go back in time and save his father, who died of, I believe, heart failure 40 years ago. Of course, it's been pointed out to him that you can't travel back further in time than when the time machine was first built, which kind of bummed him out. But he's undaunted! Anyway, Ellis uses this to great effect, as The Drummer points out that if they build a time machine, all their future selves will show up at that moment in time, because why the hell not? Because I am dull, I don't know why this is such a big deal, but whatever. The point is that Cassaday draws the hell out of this, and Ellis makes it clear that even though the series is ending and the Four have been defeated, it's still a weird world, and the Planetary bunch will continue to explore it. And strangely enough for fictional characters who don't actually exist, that's comforting. Ellis and Cassaday have done such a great job with this series that I like to imagine Elijah, Jakita, and The Drummer out there doing their thing, discovering all the weirdness in the world that losers like me, sitting on my couch watching the Phillies blow home-field advantage and eating potato chips, will never even conceive of.

Dang, I love Planetary. I can't wait to re-read it.

Sherlock Holmes #5 (of 5) ("The Trial of Sherlock Holmes Part Five: Endgame") by Leah Moore and John Reppion (writers), Aaron Campbell (artist), Tony Aviña (colorist), and Simon Bowland (letterer). $3.50, 22 pgs, FC, Dynamite Entertainment.

You know what's annoying about Sherlock Holmes? It's almost exactly like an Arthur Conan Doyle story. Why is that annoying? Well, Conan Doyle often wrote stories in which the real mystery was not what we thought, and it kind of comes out of nowhere. That's what happens in this issue, although Moore and Reppion have been leading us down that path too, so it doesn't come completely out of nowhere. The resolution to the murder of Sir Samuel Henry is clever enough, but it leads to new revelations that, because I don't want to spoil anything, I can't discuss. Suffice it to say that this is a nifty enough puzzle of a comic, but the ending kind of subverts everything by showing what's really going on. And what's really going on in kind of annoying, even if it's certainly in the spirit of Conan Doyle's stories.

Man, I hate not being more specific. If you're thinking about getting this trade, I'll just warn you: It's well written, nicely illustrated, somewhat nifty in the way Moore and Reppion build this mystery up and the way they explain it, and kind of frustrating at the end. How's that?

Starstruck #2 (of 13) by Elaine Lee (writer), Michael Wm. Kaluta (artist), Charles Vess (inker), Lee Moyer (painter), Todd Klein (letterer), and John Workman (letterer). $3.99, 25 pgs, FC, IDW.

Yet another book that's kind of difficult to review, because it's an old comic that's getting a new look, so if you really want to know what's going on, you can probably Google it and find out. It's another one of these things where it's so obvious a large-scale story that it's hard to really get a sense of whether the story is any good or not. I don't want to just do a plot summary, either. I will say that Lee does a better job this issue than the first with giving us an idea of who these characters are - the first issue did a little bit, but in this issue, we not only get more about the weird relationship between Phillipe Cesare Kalif Alexander Bajar (who I guess is called "Kalif," but it seems to be used as a title, even though it's part of his name) and his sister Indira Lucrezia Ronnie Lee Ellis Bajar, as well as the relationship between Mary Medea and her mother. It helps, when you're dealing with rather odd interstellar politics, to have something the audience can relate to, and Lee does this well. I'm still buying it for Kaluta's art, because it's absolutely gorgeous. It's a magnificent blend of the fantastic and the mundane, and his delicate line work is wonderfully highlighted by Moyer's colors. I don't know what this looked like it its original incarnation, but Moyer, who is recoloring it, is doing a great job.

Man, Kaluta is good. And we get more next issue!

Strange Tales #2 (of 3). "To Catch a Watcher!!" by Nick Bertozzi (writer/artist) and Chris Sinderson (colorist); "The Invincible Iron Man" by Tony Millionaire (writer/artist) and Jim Campbell (colorist); "Anything but Retail!" by R. Kikuo Johnson; "Brother Voodoo in Death Rides a Five-Dollar Bag!" by Jim Rugg (co-writer/artist) and Brian Maruca (co-writer); "M.O.D.O.K. 'n' Me" by Jhonen Vasquez; "The Unfortunate Three!" by Max Cannon; "Lookin' Good, Mr. Grimm!" by Jacob Chabot; "The Incorrigible Hulk" by Peter Bagge; "Untitled Galactus and his heralds 'story' " by Jonathan Hickman; and "The Black Widow" by Matt Kindt. $4.99, 45 pgs, FC, Marvel.

In terms of quality, this is a big step down from issue #1, which had only one story that was not terribly good. This time, the poorer stories outweigh the good ones by a bit. The genius of turning Matt Kindt loose on the Black Widow, which should lead to Matt Kindt doing a Black Widow ongoing (which would sell about seven copies, but how frickin' awesome would it be?) or giving Ben Grimm a Chia-pet moustache can't overcome the lousiness of some of the stories. Tony Millionaire's story of Iron Man battling Baloney Head, Liverwurst Face (mmmmm ... liverwurst), and the deranged head of Dwight Eisenhower is nice to look at and marginally clever. Jacob Chabot's story of Ben Grimm's moustache is a clever little FF story. Jonathan Hickman's few pages, which feature pin-ups of Galactus and his heralds offering us a job, selling products, and explaining why human flesh is good to eat, are funny, and Kindt's story is, unsurprisingly, excellent. R. Kikuo Johnson's tale about Alicia Masters makes way too many unfunny blind jokes (I'd be a bit put out by it even if they were funny, but they're not even that), Jim Rugg and Brian Maruca's story looks great as it's made to resemble a 1970s comic but is kind of dull, Jhonen Vasquez goes the same route as Johnson and tries to wring laughs out of the decapitation of a child and fails (again, being funny mitigates the offensiveness a little, but it's not even funny), Max Cannon's obvious parody of the Fantastic Four's origin is, well, obvious, and even Bagge's Hulk story drags a bit. There's still nothing in it that I can see that would keep it from being published, but maybe I'm missing something.

The difference between this issue and the first one, I think, is that the stories in this volume that don't work seem a bit more mean-spirited than the ones in issue #1. Even Bertozzi's M.O.D.O.K. story (in issue #1), in which M.O.D.O.K. does horrible things much like the horrible things he does in Vasquez's M.O.D.O.K. story, had a different tone than Vasquez's. Again, this could be just me, but the creators in issue #1 seemed to revel in the ridiculousness of Marvel's characters, while some of the creators in this issue seem to reject it and point out how stupid they really are. Wait, a giant floating head with tiny appendages is stupid? Really? Thanks for that information. In this issue, some of the creators seem to want to pick on superheroes. If you want to do that, go write The Boys. There's a place for that, certainly, but it seems like when you're working with goofy Marvel characters, it's a hell of a lot more fun to wallow in the goofiness. It's certainly a hell of a lot more fun to read. But I could be in the minority in that regard.

Sweet Tooth #2 ("Out of the Deep Woods Part Two") by Jeff Lemire (writer/artist), José Villarrubia (colorist), and Pat Brosseau (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC/Vertigo.

Lemire continues to flesh out the plot and the characters, as the new guy - Jepperd - finds Gus in his cabin (after Gus wisely absconded from the scene of the bloody murders that bridge the first and this issue) and tells him about the Preserve, which is where hybrid children can live without fear of getting killed. He also clues us into a few things: Gus claims to be nine, but Jepperd says the plague only appeared seven years ago, and the hybrids began showing up then, which means Gus is somehow special (not surprisingly); and the reason the two dudes wanted to kill Gus was because all the "normal" people believe the hybrids hold the key to a cure because they don't get sick. Fairly important information there. Then more people attack, Jepperd gets wounded, and that's where we leave things.

Lemire is still feeling things out, but he does a good job doling out the information, giving us some action, and establishing that Jepperd is a tough SOB who, for some reason, doesn't want to kill or otherwise experiment on Gus. Why, we don't know. There's still not much to distinguish this (well, except for Lemire's art, which is good as usual), but it's also only two issues in. As usual, I'll give it a little bit to see what happens. Right now, it's not bad, but it's not a must-buy, either.

Vengeance of the Moon Knight #2 ("Shock and Awe: Chapter Two") by Gregg Hurwitz (writer), Jerome Opeña (artist), Paul Mounts (colorist), and Joe Caramagna (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, Marvel.

I usually like Leinil Francis Yu, but that's an ugly cover. It looks like the Sentry is not only wearing a diaper, but that he's about to have a bowel movement. Which would make the diaper appropriate, I know, but it's probably not what you want for a cover.

Anyway, after the giddy and oddly gleeful first issue, in which Hurwitz let Opeña go a bit nuts, we calm down a bit to re-establish Moonie's bonafides in New York. I'm still not sure why this needed to be a new ongoing series, as Hurwitz continues to build on what Huston and Benson did in the previous series, even bringing back the Profile from that series (who really ought to get a, you know, real name). But that's neither here nor there. I'm also still not buying that the return of a low-level superhero would be so newsworthy in jaded New York - I know that Moon Knight made a splash (both a positive and negative one, really) in the last series, and I appreciate that Hurwitz is pointing out that these heroes don't operate in a vacuum and that others besides Spider-Man can make the papers, but it's still a bit weird.

However, I'm still intrigued by what Hurwitz is doing. MK and the Sentry have an interesting conversation about insanity and the reality on the ground in the Marvel U., and then "Jake" visits Marlene and Frenchie before taking out the Slug. That allows Opeña to flex his muscles a bit (although he's good at the quiet moments, too, like when Marlene looks up after the helicopter's ladder hits her car), and then we get the Profile telling Osborn and the Hood how to get into Moonie's head. Why, by bringing back Bushman, of course! While that's kind of annoying, I'll reserve judgment on how they're going to do this (and why Bushman's grave is apparently in or near New York in some kind of Gothic cemetary and not in Africa) until next issue.

Right now, I'm glad to see Moon Knight back and in (seemingly) capable hands. I'm a bit tired of Osborn and the Hood and wish they would just go away, but I guess I can deal with it. It's more interesting than most superhero comics, and it continues to look fantastic.

X-Babies #1 (of 4) by Gregg Schigiel (writer), Jacob Chabot (artist), Emily Warren (colorist), and Rob Steen (letterer). $3.99, 22 pgs (plus 14-pg reprint), FC, Marvel.

I tried to resist buying this, but I just couldn't. The X-Babies were kind of a minor joke back in Claremont's heyday, and when I last saw them (I want to say it was when Dazzler, no longer pregnant, accompanied them to Mojoworld back in the early Nineties, but I seem to recall them popping up again more recently), they had become a bit annoying. Claremont's initial foray with them (with Art Adams art!) is reprinted here, and I can see why Marvel and the X-writers milked them to the point of oversaturation, because it's a charming little story. I'm glad they've been sidelined for a while, but it's kind of cool to see them back.

Chabot is perfect for this kind of light-hearted romp, as he does a nice job with the wee characters but also draws a nifty fight scene. Schigiel gives us a story in which the X-Babies have been replaced in Mojo's programming by boring educational fare, a gentle knock on current kids' programming. It seems Mojo has been overthrown and replaced by his major-domo (who gets a name in this book, even though I don't think he ever had one before), who yanks "violent" shows like the X-Babies off the air and replaces them with "The Adorable X-Babies," in which Storm shows them how to grow plants (I love Farmer Cyclops) and even Wolverine decides vegetables are groovy. When the X-Babies try to interfere, Spiral is tasked to send them to a station where rebellious characters go, where they meet the characters from Marvel's 1980s Star Comics (I'm just assuming this, as it's in the solicits; I don't recognize the characters as I never read Star Comics). Presumably they will lead a rebellion to return good, wholesome entertainment to the airwaves!

For the most part, this is just a way for Schigiel and Chabot to riff on familiar X-tropes, like Wolverine hating Cyclops (the only thing the new show got right, according to Wolverine, is that Cyclops is a "dink"). Storm references fighting "Apocalisp" and Cyclops speaks of the "Cradle Will Fall of the Mutants," which would probably be a better character and a better story than the ones to which they refer, and it's always nice to see a "classic" X-team, even in little kid form. There's nothing tremendously new about this issue, but it's a lot of fun. And don't we need a little fun every now and then?

X-Men vs. Agents of Atlas #1 (of 2) ("The X-Heist" and "Atomic Age Heroes") by Jeff Parker (writer), Carlo Pagulayan (artist, "The X-Heist"), Jason Paz (inker, "The X-Heist"), Wil Quintana (colorist, "The X-Heist"), Chris Samnee (artist, "Atomic Age Heroes"), Veronica Gandini (colorist, "Atomic Age Heroes"), and Joe Caramagna (letterer). $3.99, 30 pgs, FC, Marvel.

I was trying to ignore the inanity of the X-Men setting up shop on the downed remains of Asteroid M, which is as dumb an idea as putting a costumed psychopath in charge of the nation's security without, you know, vetting him in front of Congress, but I couldn't, because Parker is writing an Agents of Atlas crossover, and I must be there! I figured Parker wouldn't dwell too much on "Utopia," and he doesn't, which is nice. This is basically a nifty little first part of a story in which Atlas wants to steal Cerebra to look for Venus (who has been kidnapped by members of the Greek pantheon, which leads into the next Atlas story, which will cross over with The Incredible Hercules - phew!) and the X-Men don't want them to. The fact that everyone thinks Atlas is an eeeevvvvilllll organization helps the inevitable "two groups of heroes fighting" go down a bit more easily, although I always wonder why these groups punch first and ask questions later. I mean, Cyclops could have just yelled at them and given them a chance to explain, but instead he starts blasting away. That's okay, though - it's just a fun bash-up, so I can forgive it. The second story features an earlier fight between Jimmy Woo's bunch and the original X-Men, which is fine except that the original X-Men, based on Marvel's sliding time scale, didn't get together in the 1960s anymore, and it's clear that Chris Samnee (whose art is quite good) is going for that vibe. Plus, this story can't end with the groups coming to an accord or Cyclops would have remembered that Jimmy was an okay bloke. I work myself up too much about this stuff, don't I? I can be Kontinuity Kop as much as the next guy, man!

Pagulayan's art continues to puzzle me. It's good in this issue, but it changes in style once, and it's odd. If you're following along at home, look at the two pages with Venus and the centaur. Doesn't it look rougher, with darker lines and more definition in, say, Venus's hair? According to the credits, it's the same penciler, inker, and colorist throughout the book, yet those two pages look markedly different. I know things like this shouldn't bother me, but it's kind of strange. Did the three artists change deliberately or was someone else working on those two pages? These things keep me up at night.

I hope slapping an "X-Men" on the cover of an Agents of Atlas book will goose sales a little. This isn't as good as the regular title, mainly because Parker needs to somehow get two teams of heroes fighting each other, but it's still a good read.

Zodiac #3 (of 3) ("Death's Finest Addiction") by Joe Casey (writer), Nathan Fox (artist), José Villarrubia (colorist), and Albert Deschesne (letterer). $3.99, 22 pgs, FC, Marvel.

Casey and Fox complete their journey through the dark heart of Marvel villainy, and come out with one of the better mini-series of the year, and definitely one of the best from the Big Two. There's so little you can do with Marvel and DC's characters that feels consequential, so although Casey isn't allowed to mess with too many big guns (like the Torch, who's fully recovered in this issue), he still does a fantastic job making Zodiac a completely evil guy and setting up more stories in the future that I hope he and Fox will be able to tell. I would love to read a mini-series a year about these characters, doing horrible things and basically being unpleasant. Fox draws the battle with Red Ronin unusually, in that he rarely focuses on the entire robot, making it much more intimidating than we might think, because we keep seeing parts of the big guy instead all of him, which is a bit freaky. Meanwhile, Zodiac reveals his big plan to the one person we might care about in the book, which is never a good thing (for that person, that is). Ultimately, this story is just to reveal the end, which some might see as cheating, but because it's only three issues and because Casey is so good at characterization - Reed's cameo is quite good, and Osborn is sufficiently arrogant and short-sighted even as he figures almost everything out - and Fox is so good at plunging us into this world that the ending feels earned. Yes, it's just a set-up, but it's been a wild ride to get there. I very much doubt if this sold anywhere near what it would need to justify more stories about Zodiac (at least from this creative team), but it would be nice if it did. Then we can see what Zodiac is up to next! Either way, you should definitely check out the trade when it arrives. It will probably have a reprint from the 1970s - maybe the one where Zodiac drinks a lot of Schlitz!

And so we reach the end of another week of comics. See? I can review books instead of giving you pointless minutiae! You're just lucky I didn't review these ... in sonnet form! Man, that would have been hard. Have you ever tried to write a sonnet? It's no fun.

Let's fire up some totally random lyrics!

"I wanna smash the faces
Of those beautiful boys
Those Christian boys
So you can make me cum
That doesn't make you Jesus"

Those last lines might be the greatest lyrics ever written. But who wrote them?????

35 Comments

• At October 9, 2009, Olly McPherson wrote:

  Sounds like it could be Patti Smith?

• At October 9, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  Coming soon from Ellis, PLANETARY: book 2 (another 27 issues that comes out once a year) ;-)

  Sorry, couldn't resist.

  But ...

• At October 9, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Olly: Sorry, not her. Not a bad guess, though.

  Tom: I'd only be in my early sixties when that series ...

• At October 9, 2009, Michael Rawdon wrote:

  For what it's worth, Incognito turned me on to both Criminal and Sleeper. I think Sleeper is the best ...

• At October 9, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  What separates the new Red Hood from other murderous-antihero-villains ( quite the mouthful ), including the new Red Hood when ...

• At October 9, 2009, Greg Hatcher wrote:

  The trap in writing a Sherlock Holmes story is that if you get TOO far away from Conan Doyle, it ...

• At October 9, 2009, Dan Bailey wrote:

  Yay! Greg buys more comics that I won't see for another week & a half from HeavyInk because I'm a ...

• At October 9, 2009, Wraith wrote:

  "...a reprint from the 1970s - maybe the one where Zodiac drinks a lot of Schlitz!"

  Aaaah Greg, you crack me ...

• At October 9, 2009, s1rude wrote:

  Ms Amos, from back when being an angry female wasn't a marketing tactic. Precious Things off of Little Earthquakes, ...

• At October 9, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:

  Reposted from that Brian vs. Greg comments thread below:

  There's a fairly weird subtext to this issue, at least from my ...

• At October 9, 2009, agent_torpor wrote:

  LOL @ "Batman Unseen" being better than "BR#5"

  Dude, best laugh i've had all day.

• At October 9, 2009, Dan Lokhorst wrote:

  Nifty, I've been waiting for a team-up between Sentry and Moon Night. World's Craziest! The only crime fighting duo that ...

• At October 9, 2009, Punchy wrote:

  I'm pretty sure those pages with Venus and the Centaur in X-Men Vs. Agents Of Atlas were actually by Gabriel ...

• At October 9, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Nitz: That's probably the only thing that redeems this plot, in that Jason is being so self-conscious about it. ...

• At October 9, 2009, Oz the Malefic wrote:

  Finally some lyrics I know.

  It would be Tori Amos of course.

• At October 9, 2009, s1rude wrote:

  I had missed that "that Brian vs. Greg comments thread", so I didn't see Dread Lord's explanation of Jason's violence ...

• At October 9, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  " Nitz: That's probably the only thing that redeems this plot, in that Jason is being so self-conscious about it. ...

• At October 9, 2009, Wraith wrote:

  Greg,

  Quite so; that's really the kicker: the historic legacy. I ask hypothetically "was there a reason to wait for Cassaday," ...

• At October 9, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:

  I don't know that they're being downplayed, exactly, but I do think they have the least interesting roles so far. ...

• At October 9, 2009, fit2print wrote:

  Money well spent this week. Top job, Burgas. P.S. Tori Amos

• At October 9, 2009, Michael Mayket wrote:

  I find it slightly funny that your fear with regards to Kill Audio is that it's going to be about ...

• At October 9, 2009, Julian wrote:

  I dunno Greg, I think your issues towards Strange Tales speak more to your own insecurities with the wackiness than ...

• At October 9, 2009, T. wrote:

  As problematic as Philip Tan's art can be, it's 1000 times better to look at than Kelly Jones' steroid disfigurement ...

• At October 9, 2009, Stefan Wenger wrote:

  A lot of disappointments this week honestly. Doctor Voodoo #1 was probably book of the week.

• At October 10, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Michael: Well, I don't know how obscure the books I read are, and I think I read a pretty good ...

• At October 10, 2009, JKWoodward wrote:

  Hey Greg, I'm glad you liked this miniseries. There will be another one coming in about 6 months or so.

  I ...

• At October 10, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Thanks for the info, J. K., and for clearing up what was going on with the art. It's always ...

• At October 11, 2009, The Cosh wrote:

  Penguin was trying to escape on a helicopter umbrella. Robin broke the shaft with a batarang. I assumed it was ...

• At October 11, 2009, Michael Mayket wrote:

  Greg: I was out of town for the weekend so I just read your response... I know you're being tongue ...

• At October 11, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Sonnets are really hard, man. I hate sonnets.

• At October 11, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  As problematic as Philip Tan's art can be, it's 1000 times better to look at than Kelly Jones' steroid disfigurement ...

• At October 12, 2009, Ted wrote:

  Have you ever tried to write a sonnet? It's no fun.

  What great nonsense spouted by Greg, our friend,

  to disparage that ...

• At October 12, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Michael: No worries, sir. I kind of hoped you were being tongue in cheek, and I'm glad you were. ...

• At October 15, 2009, What I bought – 7 October 2009 | Nationwide Drug Interventions wrote:

  [...] More info…“I’m not a hero! I’m not a savior! Forget what you know!” All right, no shenangians this week. ...

• At October 19, 2009, Hatter Entertainment News » X-BABIES #1 Reviews: “This is not a serious comic…” wrote:

  [...] review, despite reading into things incorrectly, in the end is [...]

Agents of Atlas #11 ("Terror of the Jade Claw Part III and the Final Issue for the Foreseeable Future Because it Didn't Star Wolverine and God I Hate Consumers Sometimes") by Jeff Parker (writer), Dan Panosian (artist), Gabriel Hardman (artist), Elizabeth Dismang (colorist), and Tom Orzechowski (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, Marvel.

Okay, so maybe the title of the story isn't quite as listed. I don't know.

Agents of Atlas will be back, of course, as they fight the X-Men for two issues and then back up the Incredible Hercules for a time, and maybe that's good enough for now. I don't know if these back-up stories (in both DC and Marvel) will help the lesser-tier characters get more leeway, but it would be nice. I'm not sure why Marvel and DC are so eager to rush into an ongoing series anyway - the sales on the original Agents of Atlas mini-series apparently didn't burn up the charts, so why not produce a couple more to see if the buzz grows? It would have helped to keep a regular artist around - this book had at least four artists draw this, from what I can recall.

I certainly don't mind too much that the regular series bit this dust, even though this issue feels a bit rushed. I'm always happy to get 10-15 issues of a really good mainstream comic even though they bite the dust with stunning regularity. At least DC and Marvel try these things. I wish they gave them more time to build an audience, but at least they're giving them some life. I mean, if the Big Two wanted things to sell like they did in comics' heyday, EVERYTHING would be cancelled, so I guess the fact that they let some of these titles tell a nice story or two is okay. I guess. But what do I know? I'm still bitter that Major Bummer died an untimely death.

Does something explode in a fairly gross manner? Something explodes, but it's not really gross. But that's our theme this week!

Atomic Robo: Shadow from Beyond Time #5 (of 5) ("From Beyond") by Brian Clevinger (writer), Scott Wegener (artist), Ronda Pattison (colorist), and Jeff Powell (letterer). $3.50, 22 pgs, FC, Red 5 Comics.

The great thing about Atomic Robo, the comic, is that Clevinger is always pointing out the silliness of comic books while still wallowing gloriously in the silliness. Whether it's pointing out that those giant ants couldn't exist or that dinosaur shouldn't be able to talk, Clevinger does a nice job deflating standard comic book clichés but still managing to make this a wonderful, pulpy comic book. Like this issue: How many times have we seen someone build a machine like those guys on the cover build (the dude on the left is named Louis; the dude on the right, sadly, doesn't get a name) and no one thinks twice about it? Robo shows up and points out, logically, that it's an evil computer. "Computers that are evil have all kinds of unnecessary ornamentation," he says. "This thing's venting steam!" Of course it's evil! It's funny because it's true, as Homer Simpson might say. And Clevinger, of course, shows that it is, indeed, evil. Why won't they listen to Robo?

This is the big finale to the big fight against the thing from outside the universe, so we find out what was going on at the end of last issue. It's a twisty time-travel sort of thing, which means it makes my head hurt, but Clevinger, showing how good he is, makes it at least funny and somewhat plausible. And Tesla's reaction is pretty awesome.

I don't know if I can express how joyfully kooky this comic is. Clevinger and Wegener knock it out of the park every time, and it's just one of those books where each issue is a slice of greatness. Long may Atomic Robo reign!

Does something explode in a fairly gross manner? Robo fights that thing from beyond space and time. He likes bombs and guns. You do the math! (Yes, math! In a comics post! You should never have skipped algebra to hang out in the smoking alley trying to get into that goth girl's pants! Just because you listened to the Cure and had a Robert Smith haircut doesn't mean she really liked you, you know! Sorry to burst your bubble. She was really into preppies. Man, those goth girls - always teasing you with those ripped fishnet stockings and that black lipstick!)

Batman and Robin #4 ("Revenge of the Red Hood Part One: Red Right Hand") by Grant "Come on, this guy isn't bad, right?" Morrison (writer), Philip Tan (penciller), Jonathan Glapion (inker), Pete Pantazis (colorist), and Patrick Brosseau (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC.

Now, I know Tim Callahan a little bit. Not a lot, mind you, but I have met him face-to-face on two separate occasions, which is a bit of an anomaly out here in the wilds of the comics blogaxy in Internetland, and he's a pretty cool guy who has a lot of interesting thoughts about comics. I do wish he would blog more often and turn his face away from the seductive wiles of Twitter, but if he's comfortable with the Dark Side, so be it. I mention this because this year at San Diego, he told me that Philip Tan would be a drop-off from Frank Quitely on this title, an opinion shared by many around the comics blogosphere. Now that the product is here, I wonder if Tim is changing his mind. I'm not saying he needs to change his mind, but if he liked the art, would he step up and admit it? Because although I wasn't as scared of Tan taking over as most, I will admit I thought the art wouldn't be nearly as good as it is in this issue. It's not quite as good as Quitely, but it's very close. Yes, I just typed that. I'm totally serious.

Where Quitely shines is in his inventive page design, something that Tan apes a bit and, while he's not quite on par with Quitely, he does a nice job mixing things up with regard to the design. The second and third pages, where Lightning Bug runs from the Red Hood and leaps between buildings, is laid out very well, with the gap between the buildings bisecting the splash page and the smaller panels scattered along the edges. Similarly, when the Red Hood crashes the hoods' meeting and slaughters them is nicely done. The biggest problem with the art layouts is on the credits page and on the final page, where the position and the way the Red Hood and Scarlet are drawn are very weird and awkward. But Tan does a good job with the art, and on some pages there's a bit of a Tom Mandrake vibe, and I like Tom Mandrake. So there. I'm not as concerned with the art now, even if I'd rather see Quitely or Cameron Stewart doing it. But that's not Tan's fault. Those dudes are seriously good.

As for the actual story, it's a testament to the God of All Comics that he can make a dull plot like someone taking Batman's schtick up a notch (killing bad guys instead of incarcerating them) and giving it some zazz. Of course, he came up with the plot, so maybe we shouldn't let him off the hook too much. As usual in superhero comics, it's all about the details, and the creepy author and the Red Hood's conversation with Scarlett, for instance, make this a decent read, even if it feels stale. Whenever you put plot in superhero comics above everything else, you're going to hit some dull spots. Witness a couple of Marvel books below this, one of which hinges on the depiction of a character and overcomes a (deliberately) goofy plot, while the other hinges on a plot and therefore feels a wee bit stale (even though I still like it). Whenever Morrison puts words that don't have much to do with the overall plot in his characters' mouths, we get neat stuff. But acknowledging that the plot is a bit shopworn ("But mostly ... I guess this is about the revenge of one crazy man in a mask ... on another crazy man in a mask") doesn't make it less shopworn.

Still, it's a good, solid superhero comic. And Tan is better than I expected, which is neat. (Not surprisingly, I've been reading negative reactions to Tan's art across the Wide World of the Web. Only one I've read so far as done any kind of analysis of why it's bad, preferring instead to wax nostalgic about Quitely. I certainly don't mind people preferring Quitely to Tan, but it would be nice if they gave some reasons. End rant. I promise.)

Does something explode in a fairly gross manner? Why, yes! Lightning Bug's neck counts, right?

Beasts of Burden #1 ("The Gathering Storm") by Evan Dorkin (writer), Jill Thompson (artist), and Jason Arthur (letterer). $2.99, 23 pgs, FC, Dark Horse.

I'm fairly certain I've never read anything by Evan Dorkin before. I know I have to turn in my "Indy Comics Nerd" card for admitting that, but that's the way it is. But now I have! Can I have my card back?

I mentioned that I saw Thompson's pages for this entire issue at San Diego, and I was totally jazzed to check out the first issue, because her paintings were, typically, fan-freakin'-tastic. She does an amazing job with the animals, making them real animals even as they're speaking to each other. The frogs that fall from the sky, for instance, are really keen-looking, but of course they remain frogs, who are slightly icky, setting up the crisis that develops later in the issue. Thompson does a wonderful job with the battle in the forest, showing how, well, animalistic these animals really are. It's an unsettling comic visually for two reasons: the darkness of the subject matter is contrasted nicely with the gorgeous surroundings; and Thompson makes the animals so real (and often cute) that when they turn vicious, as they must, it's disturbing. You could get this book based on the art alone and not be disappointed.

I missed the first few appearances of these characters, but Dorkin does a nice job introducing them all and alluding to the previous stories without making it necessary to go back and check them. This is a nifty one-and-done issue, so if you want to give it a try without committing to the entire mini-series, you can. Dorkin does set up the rest of the series nicely, but it's still a complete story in its own right. It's a terrifically weird and creepy story, too, with a nice touch of tragedy and a good climax in which ... well, the characters win, but do they really? Maybe something weirder is going on around Burden Hill ...

This is a very good first issue, because it introduces the characters well, introduces their situation well, has a disturbing plot that resolves in this issue but also sets up the rest of the mini-series, and features Jill Thompson's art. If you had any brains at all, you would have seen the listing of Jill Thompson as artist and immediately shut off your computer and run out and bought this! And you have brains, right? I know you do!

Does something explode in a fairly gross manner? Most assuredly! And it's strangely beautiful. Such is the power of Ms. Thompson! (Who, by the way, gave the best acceptance speech at the Eisners. She's talented and hilarious!)

Ex Machina #45 ("Pro-Life Part One") by Brian K. Vaughan (writer), Tony Harris (artist), JD Mettler (colorist), Jared K. Fletcher (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC/Wildstorm.

The wheels are in motion. The BIG! PLOT! is dull (yeah, I'm harping on that this week), but that's not the point, of course. The point is that Mitch will, presumably, find out what exactly is going on with this alien thing. Vaughan does some nice things in this issue - he shows, once again, how difficult politics are to navigate, even when, like Mitch, you're not worried about re-election; and he starts tying earlier story arcs into the main arc more than usual, which is neat. Other than that, it's business as usual on Ex Machina, which means it's a good story and it shore looks purty!

There's a bit of a preview for the last issue of Planetary in the back, and as it involves time travel, it made my head hurt a little bit. I'll probably address this more when the actual issue comes out, but Ellis brings up a problem with time travel that, weirdly enough, was recently discussed in the Penn State alumni magazine (which my parents get, so I was reading it at their house in June). It's the zeitgeist, man! Oh, and I CANNOT FREAKING WAIT FOR THE LAST ISSUE OF PLANETARY!!!!! I just thought I should point that out.

Does something explode in a fairly gross manner? Surprisingly, no. There's some blood and violence, but nothing going BOOM! and spraying guts everywhere.

Fables #88 ("Witches Chapter Two: Totenkinder") by Bill Willingham (writer), Mark Buckingham (penciller), Steve Leialoha (inker), Andrew Pepoy (inker), Lee Loughridge (colorist), and Todd Klein (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC/Vertigo.

I really like that cover. I think it's the word balloons that aren't actually on the page. I don't know why I like that. But I do. Don't judge me with your dead eyes!

Frau Totenkinder finishes her knitting, and if that doesn't scare you, it should. As usual with this book, something as innocuous as an old woman (who is, after all, a witch) finishing her knitting is loaded with portent, both for the other Fables and for her herself. Basically, this issue is her transforming from the old woman sitting around into ... something else. Something not quite as grandmotherly. It's one of those issues of Fables that is extremely fun to read, mainly because threads from earlier in the book are still weaving their way through it and because there's a sense of great evil lurking around every corner. Willingham's track record on this book with regard to resolving his arcs is decent if not spectacular, but the way he builds to those resolutions is usually very good, and this is just one example. Buckingham, as usual, is wonderful - Totenkinder's look as she disappears is haunting. And Baba Yaga is still hanging around being a nuisance.

Very cool issue, as most of them are.

Does something explode in a fairly gross manner? Not really, although Baba Yaga's weapon explodes, sort of, and slices and dices some demon things. I guess we'll count that!

The Lone Ranger #18 ("Resolve Part Two") by Brett Matthews (writer), Sergio Cariello (artist), Marcelo Pinto (colorist), and Simon Bowland (letterer). $3.50, 22 pgs, FC, Dynamite Entertainment.

As usual with this title, it's difficult to review an individual issue. Matthews has done such a nice job with getting the slow rhythm of a Western down that this is "decompressed" to the extreme, but only in the sense that The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is decompressed (to use a movie I saw recently) - that is, the violence on the frontier was often short and brutal and somewhat out-of-nowhere, and in between, there was a lot of riding. So in individual issues of this title, very often not a lot happens, but Matthews is often more concerned about one scene illuminating the moral fiber of the characters, or allowing Cariello to draw bleak scenes of the American West. In this issue, the plot moves along slowly (the Lone Ranger framed for murder!) but three scenes in particular are what Matthews is trying to get across: the sheriff wants to arrest our heroes but shows that he's a decent man because he gives them a chance to view the victim and explain what happened; there's love in the air between John and, well, his sister-in-law (Linda?); and Cavendish buys weapons and makes an unusual statement when he tests a Gatling gun. It's small moments like this that Matthews is going for, and he just allows the plot to take care of itself. I imagine that makes it read better in trade format, but I do like buying those singles, don't I? Still, Matthews and Cariello are doing their typical good job, and even though this takes its time coming out (another example of decompression?), it's a marvelous comic book.

Does something explode in a fairly gross manner? Cavendish doesn't test the Gatling gun on animals or humans, so no.

M.O.D.O.K. Reign Delay by Ryan Dunlavey (writer/artist/colorist/letterer). $3.99, 20 pgs, FC, Marvel.

When this appeared in Previews, I smiled a big fanboy smile and waited eagerly for this week. I mean, come on - Dunlavey, famed for Action Philosophers!, doing a M.O.D.O.K. story in which he moves back in with his parents in Erie, PA? How can that not be awesome?

Well, it can't. Not be awesome, that is, as this is quite awesome. The only thing that gets my goat slightly is that Marvel is charging 4 dollars for this, and the story is only 20 pages. There are two text pages about how awesome M.O.D.O.K. is, but let's face it - we've just read 20 pages with glorious Dunlavey art (in full color!) about how awesome M.O.D.O.K. is, so do we really need someone writing about it? Marvel should have lowered the price on this (especially as it showed up first on-line) or added more material to justify the cover price. This is one of those "fool-me-once" things - I willingly plunked down 4 bucks for this, but next time Marvel does something like this, I really will have to consider my purchase more carefully. The nice thing is that Dunlavey really packs this story with very funny scenes, and it actually feels meatier than your standard Marvel/DC fare, so I didn't feel ripped off. But it's a slippery slope, Marvel!

Anyway, in terms of funny, this is. M.O.D.O.K. wants to get into Norman Osborn's Cabal, so Osborn sends him to Erie to clean things up. Hilarity ensues when M.O.D.O.K. (aka "George") is invited to his high school reunion. Before you can say "Grosse Pointe Blank," M.O.D.O.K. is getting bullied by the same guys who did it in high school, fighting Box of Alpha Flight, and yelling at people at the mall. It's, you know, funny. I don't really know how to explain how funny it is without ruining the jokes, but it is. In the first panel, Osborn's answering machine message tells people to make it quick because he has "28 cameo appearances this month." Box (the Madison Jeffries version, that is) is "Kitchener, Ontario's greatest super hero!" and his wife gets him to fight M.O.D.O.K. by claiming he said that the Maple Leafs suck. For example. Despite Jeffries' rather sad state (hiring himself out to make ends meet) that doesn't jive with his current appearances in Hank McCoy's little X-club, Dunlavey even makes this "in-continuity" by referencing Fred van Lente's M.O.D.O.K.'s 11 mini-series. If you care about things like that. Oh, and Erie is not "the mistake on the lake." Everyone knows that's Cleveland. Erie's rather nice, actually.

It's funny, is what I'm saying. And Dunlavey is a really good artist. And I'm disturbingly turned on by Jeffries' hot wife. Oh, did I type that last part? Never mind that bit.

Does something explode in a fairly gross manner? No, but there's a lot of brain blasting.

Poe #3 (of 4) by J. Barton Mitchell (writer), Dean Kotz (artist), Digikore Studios (colorist), James Dashiell (letterer). $3.99, 22 pgs, FC, Boom! Studios.

Mitchell moves everything along, bringing in more and more tropes from Poe's fictional work, which isn't as annoying as you might expect. It's kind of clever, actually. We've moved past the "Poe tries to figure things out" portion of the book and on to the "Poe tries to stop the bad guy" portion, which is fine but less moody than the first issue-and-a-half. Kotz's art is good, but this book is really, really dark, and it's pretty annoying. I mean, sure, it takes place at night in a pit with no good lighting, but just because the scene is dark to the participants doesn't mean we shouldn't be able to see everything. Or maybe my eyesight is really horrible. I'm old, remember. And those years in the monastery copying ancient texts didn't help. Plus I think I got diphtheria there. No wonder I'm always cranky.

Does something explode in a fairly gross manner? Sadly, no. Or maybe it did and I didn't see it!

Unthinkable #5 (of 5) by Mark Sable (writer), Julian Totino Tedesco (artist), Juan Manuel Tumburús (colorist), Ed Dukeshire (letterer). $3.99, 22 pgs, FC, Boom! Studios.

I've said it all along, this is a really weird mini-series. It seemed to zoom along, slow down very briefly in issue #3, and then suddenly speed up again to finish. Sable really tried to pack a lot into this series, and I wonder if it might have been better served by six issues, but then I think there really wasn't enough for six issues and maybe he could have cut some of the stuff and still had enough to get into five (or even four) issues. It's very weird. I mean, Alan Ripley thwarts the bad guys in this issue, but Sable leaves some things hanging in case he gets a sequel, so he pulls everything together nicely, but it still feels weird. Things speed to the climax, and then speed through the climax, and in between panels the entire group, at one point, changes into hazmat suits without, apparently, any significant time passing, and it's all very rushed. It bugs me, because Sable seems to have this issue with his writing - his last mini-series, Fearless, suffered from the same problem with pacing. He does some things very well - the ideas in this series are marvelous, and he obviously keeps a lot of balls in the air competently - but then he doesn't seem to be able to make things fit in the space allotted. I'd really like to see him get better, because he writes some interesting things.

The big find on this series is Tedesco on art. Like Minck Oosterveer on The Unknown, he's quite the find. Good job, Boom!

Does something explode in a fairly gross manner? I'm going to count the immune systems of a few people as a "yes."

The Veil #3 ("Evil") by El Torres (writer) and Gabriel Hernandez (artist). $3.99, 24 pgs, FC, IDW.

Dang, I love that cover. Cool use of negative space.

Anyway, Chris Luna discovers what's really going on in Crooksville, and while it's somewhat a standard horror plot, the way Torres and Hernandez present it is really well done. I've mentioned this with regard to the other issues of this series, but it's hard in comics to get the "shock value" of horror movies, which don't scare as much as they surprise you with things leaping into the frame from out of the frame. Hernandez instead works hard to make the images he puts on the page, which never move, really creepy, and therefore this stays with us longer. And he does a nice job building the sense of dread that Chris feels as she gradually figures out what's going on. Torres doesn't do anything too surprising with the story, but we do get an interesting twist at the end that takes our expectations and subverts them just a bit. We think we know what happened to certain characters, but it's possible something completely different and far more disturbing is happening. It's also neat that Torres hasn't been afraid to show Chris as someone who really doesn't have her shit together, even though she's the heroine. We'd expect her not to have her shit together, but if this were a crappy horror movie, her weaknesses would be briefly mentioned and then ignored. Here, it's part of her life, and she struggles with it all the time.

This continues to be a really cool comic. Check it out if you see it on the shelves!

Does something explode in a fairly gross manner? I don't know if "explode" is the right word, but there's quite a bit of blood on a few pages.

Vengeance of the Moon Knight #1 ("Shock and Awe Chapter 1") by Gregg Hurwitz (writer), Jerome Opeña (penciler), Dan Brown (colorist), Joe Caramagna (letterer). $3.99, 24 pgs (plus a 24-pg reprint of Moon Knight #1 from 1980), FC, Marvel.

So this is technically the FIFTH volume of an ongoing series starring Moon Knight, plus the two mini-series that Doug Moench wrote in the late Nineties. Someone at Marvel reeeeeaaaaaallllllllly likes the character, I suppose. I swear, I'm not the person who keeps greenlighting these! I'm not entirely sure why the previous series got cancelled - it just ended earlier this year, and this story simply follows that one rather logically, so I guess the lure of a new number one was too much for Marvel to resist!!!!!

And I hate to stir up a shitstorm surrounding an Alex Ross cover, but I do enjoy where your eye is drawn in that cover. I asked my wife about it, and she went right to it, too, so it's not just me being scared I'm suddenly going to like Neil Patrick Harris and Right Said Fred all of a sudden if I stare too long at that cover! I just wonder if the people who pose for Ross know they're going to be ... featured ... so prominently when they show up on a cover.

So we get a continuation of the theme of the previous series - namely, that Moon Knight is a bit bonkers. Except that didn't work commercially (even if I thought it worked very well artistically), so Hurwitz pulls back on it a bit while still teasing it. But it's hard to suss out what Hurwitz is doing otherwise with this particular issue. If I'm hopeful, he's satirizing the notion of superheroes quite subtly, playing this as straight-as-he-can superheroing while mocking the entire notion of both Osborn's corporate superheroes and really, the entire notion of pervert-suits as something healthy. While we've seen that before, ad infinitum, Hurwitz does it rather well, and it's never a theme that gets too old. That is, if I'm hopeful and that's what Hurwitz is doing. I've never actually read anything by Hurwitz (prose or comicky), so I don't know anything about his take on superheroes. Because if he's playing it straight, it's kind of odd. Moon Knight narrates as if he's a whiny teenager, desperate to be taken seriously and thinking the only way he can be is by making a big splash in New York. There's something charmingly smug about Moonie's New York-centric narration as he wings his way through Times Square, which is why I'm somewhat hopeful. And the idea that talk radio would debate Moon Knight so vigorously, despite what he did in the last series, is kind of goofy as well ... unless it's deliberate. You see the conundrum? The fact that Mr. Knight is still certifiable (even though he claims not to be) is what makes me hopeful. But we'll see.

Meanwhile, like Jill Thompson above, Opeña's art is almost worth the price of admission. I guess we'll never know how the Big Two shift creative teams, but Opeña was apparently taken off of Punisher to work on this, even though I have to assume Castle is a bit higher on the Marvel pecking order than Spector (or Lockley, as he's apparently still calling himself). So did Opeña lobby for it because he loves the character so much? Or did Marvel decide that he's a big enough artist now that they really want to give this book a push? I'm not sure, but he blows the doors off on this, in what is really two extended action scenes, one in broad daylight and one at night. The one that opens the book, where MK thwarts a robbery, is a ballet of violence and verve, with the highlight being Moon Knight surfing on a van (which gets back to Hurwitz's intentions, as it's almost too giddy to be taken seriously). Opeña gives us one beautiful panel after another, culminating in two splash pages summing up the first issue: Moon Knight destroying property to announce his presence with authority and the appearance of the Sentry at the end to challenge him. He's having a grand time drawing this, you can tell, and even though Marvel breaks up his symphony with advert pages (how annoying!), it's still a wonderful-looking comic. Who knows how long Opeña will last on the title; who knows how long the title itself will last?

As long-time readers know, I'm a big fan of the character, and I want his series to sell. However, I want them to be good, too, which is often mutually exclusive to a book's position on the sales chart. I thought the last Moon Knight series was excellent, and although I'm uncertain about Hurwitz's ultimate intentions (if he turns MK into just another superhero, this will get boring), I'm happy that he's back. We shall see, won't we?

(Oh, and the cover price is almost worth it for the reprint of Moon Knight #1 from 30 years ago in the back. That particular issue isn't the best of the series, but it's neat seeing Sienkiewicz's art before he became, you know, BILL SIENKIEWICZ - he's obviously ripping off Neal Adams, but he's also channeling Frank Miller's early Daredevil stuff. It's interesting to consider how different and unique Miller and Sienkiewicz became when you consider how much they both were patterning themselves after Adams.)

Does something explode in a fairly gross manner? No. This is in marked contrast to the previous Moon Knight series, where things seemed to get gross quite often!

Wednesday Comics #11 (of 12). $3.99, 15 pgs, FC, DC.

I ought to have more thoughts about this, but I'll save them for next week, when the grand experiment comes to an end. I will say that Fletcher's page design on the Flash strip is just amazing, and as neat as Baker's computerized art was early on, it's looking sloppier and sloppier as we go along. What's up with that?

X-Factor #48 ("The Cortex Equation") by Peter David (writer), Valentine de Landro (penciler), Pat Davidson (inker), Jeromy Cox (colorist), and Cory Petit (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, Marvel.

I don't know if you guys have heard this, but David recently confirmed that the book is being relaunched with issue #200. Meh. I don't really care, but the book did go on hiatus for some years, plus there was that four-issue (underrated, in my mind) X-Factor mini-series that came out back in the Jemas days that had those non-mutant government agents doing their thing which won't count in the numbering. Whatever.

David continues to tie everything together in anticipation of issue #50, with a revelation about the big, bad villain behind everything and a funny Doctor Doom moment and Shatterstar showing up at an opportune moment. There's a bunch going on, naturally, and it's fine and dandy. And it's kind of interesting to see De Landro pencil an entire issue. Wait? An artist doing the entire issue of an issue of X-Factor? Holy crap!

Oh, and David wants to forget the 2009 Mets season. Even if my beloved Phillies don't win the World Series again this year, they've still had a better season than the Mets. Suck it, Mets!!!!!

Does something explode in a fairly gross manner? Surprisingly, yes. It's not too gross, but it's still fairly gross for a mainstream Marvel comic, even if it is rated "T+."

So that's the week. Wegener, Thompson, Harris, Buckingham, Cariello, Dunlavey, Tedesco, Hernandez, Opeña, Risso, Sook, Bullock, Allred, Pope, Conner, Garcia-Lopez, Kubert, Fletcher - dang, some good art this week! Let's hit the totally random lyrics!

"That thunder in your heart
At night when you're kneeling in the dark
It says you're never gonna leave her
But there's this angel in her eyes
That tells such desperate lies
And all you want to do is believe her"

Let's bring it home where we began:

"This is a Pershing missile, Chip!"
"Chet. My name is Chet. And I didn't think it was a whale's dick, honey!"

Classic. CLASSIC!!!!!

33 Comments

• At September 18, 2009, Joe wrote:

  As soon as I saw "...where Tan really shines is his inventive page-layout" I had to skip the rest of ...

• At September 18, 2009, dmor173 wrote:

  'shes the one' bruce springsteen.

  track 6 off born to run(which by the way is way is the greatest album ever ...

• At September 18, 2009, Wraith wrote:

  "This is one of those "fool-me-once" things - I willingly plunked down 4 bucks for this, but next time Marvel ...

• At September 18, 2009, TimCallahan wrote:

  Because of work and illness I haven't even picked up my comics this week. But I AM reviewing Batman and ...

• At September 18, 2009, Matt D wrote:

  Yeah, I'm bummed that ATLAS is going on hiatus, but on the other hand, ATLAS as a back up in ...

• At September 18, 2009, Matt K wrote:

  I actually got MODOCK for I believe $0.99 from DCBS. I had no idea the cover price was so ...

• At September 18, 2009, Michael P. wrote:

  You have nothing to worry about. It is biologically impossible for any human being to like Right Said Fred.

• At September 18, 2009, Dan Bailey wrote:

  Geezola .... 8 count 'em 8 comics on your list that I should be receiving no later than Monday & ...

• At September 18, 2009, BDaly wrote:

  Since we're talking about Dunleavey, does anyone know if there'll every be more Comic Book Comics?

  And, on a kind of ...

• At September 18, 2009, Ted wrote:

  You have nothing to worry about. It is biologically impossible for any human being to like Right Said Fred.

  And similarly ...

• At September 18, 2009, BDaly wrote:

  Sorry, Dunlavey.

• At September 18, 2009, BDaly wrote:

  Actually, I think I may go download some Right Said Fred.

• At September 18, 2009, Manglr wrote:

  I highly recommend the earlier Beasts of Burden appearances in the "Dark Horse Book of..." anthology series. Each story ...

• At September 18, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Joe: Yeah, I knew that would be a controversial statement. I thought the pages 2-3 spread was nicely done; ...

• At September 18, 2009, jccalhoun wrote:

  I had never heard of Beasts of Burden before so I looked on Dark Horse comics for something about them ...

• At September 18, 2009, Tekende wrote:

  I disagree about Tan's art. His page layouts are awful. There were quite a few pages I found really confusing ...

• At September 18, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Gotta remember to pick up the Veil trade.

• At September 18, 2009, Derick wrote:

  Agents of Atlas, Cable, Guardians of the Galaxy... a lot of Marvel books are having rotating art teams. That´s really ...

• At September 18, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  "Why are you such a wanker, Chet?"

  "Because I get off on it!"

• At September 18, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  Unthinkable was pretty damn good. I loved the art especially. I still think the final issue suffered by not giving ...

• At September 18, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Thanks, Tekende! That's all I ask for!

  Chad: Yeah, that's part of why the book feels rushed. I just ...

• At September 18, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  Well, another issue or tighter pacing up to this point could have helped. Even just devoting a little bit of ...

• At September 18, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Good stuff, sir! I disagree with your comment about the first page, ignored the bird (no, it doesn't say ...

• At September 18, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  Like I said, I think this issue relied on subtle nuane between characters at times... which is a flaw in ...

• At September 18, 2009, jccalhoun wrote:

  Darkhorse.com is back up. Here's a link to the ecomic of the older Beasts of Burden stories http://www.darkhorse.com/Features/eComics/1090/Beasts-of-Burden

• At September 18, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Very cool, sir. Thanks!

• At September 18, 2009, Duff McWhalen wrote:

  While nothing makes me happier than thinking "Opena on Moon Knight" I really wonder what the hell is going on. ...

• At September 19, 2009, Dan Bailey wrote:

  Y'know, I own a Right Said Fred single with something like 7 mixes of "I'm Too Sexy." Also their (only?) ...

• At September 19, 2009, TimCallahan wrote:

  Luckily, the "Batman and Robin" #4 Philip Tan is not the Philip Tan of the mid-to-late "Final Crisis: Revelations," but, ...

• At September 19, 2009, Ian A. wrote:

  I will say that Fletcher's page design on the Flash strip is just amazing

  ...Fletcher - dang, some good art ...

• At September 19, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Whoops, my bad. I could have sworn Fletcher was drawing it. Sorry, Misters Kerschl and Fletcher!

• At September 19, 2009, TimCallahan wrote:

  You can tell them apart in this simple way: Kerschl draws the hell out of anything. Fletcher doesn't draw.

• At September 19, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Ah, I see. That's a good way to do it!

  No Moon Knight hate, Tim? You're slipping!

Amazing Spider-Man #605- This is probably my favorite issue of Brand New Day so far. Not just my favorite not written by Dan Slott or Mark Waid or drawn by Marcos Martin or John Romita Jr.. My favorite period. It was that good. Where else are you going to get all of the cool things that happened in this issue that I don't want to spoil? Like when that one person laid out Peter? Or his online dating adventures? Or MJ: Action Hero? Those were all awesome things I'm trying to subtly allude to, and I had a blast reading them. If I were Zoidberg, I'd take eight! That's my highest recommendation possible. Go get it!

Batman and Robin #4, not 3- I didn't miss Quitely all that much in this one. I'm as surprised as you are, fellow members of the Morrison Hive Mind. I mean, I'd prefer it if he, Cameron Stewart, or JH Williams III drew it (which isn't saying much, because I'd prefer every Morrison comic if it were drawn by one of those three. Hell, every comic by most writers, really), but if ifs and buts were candies and nuts, fruit cakes would still suck, so I really lost my point a couple minutes back. Good issue, looking forward to the next one, move along, nothing else to see here.

Love And Rockets: New Stories #2- I kind of forgot I had this one, actually. I'd better go and read it so I can enjoy Jaime's stories and respect Gilbert's* even if they don't do a lot for me.

Uncanny X-Men: First Class #3- I'm boycotting this until Banshee's dialogue becomes less annoying! Or, I'll just not buy another issue that's a solo Banshee story. Boycotting just sounds better than "I will make better purchase decisions based on my personal taste", don't you think?

Wolverine Omnibus- I started reading this ridiculously huge Wolverine book I bought on Free Comic Day. I think lifting it so many times may be the most exercise I've had in like 10 years. My favorite part has been the Wolverine And Kitty Pryde mini-series (holy crap, Al Milgrom was kind of awesome there!) and the Claremont/Buscema Wolvie serial that kicked off Marvel Comics Presents and led in to his first solo comic. Holy shit, remember when Wolverine having a solo comic was a novelty and not a blight on the industry and the world at large?

*My favorite Gilbert story is probably Sloth. So yeah, I haven't read much Palomar. And I dropped Citizen Rex. May get the trade.

14 Comments

• At September 17, 2009, CF wrote:

  You mean Batman and Robin #4 (not 3).

  Oh, and the Grant Morrison Hive Mind says hi.

• At September 17, 2009, Brad Curran wrote:

  Don't speak for me. You don't know what I mean! And when I edit it, you'll look dumb! Oh, and ...

• At September 17, 2009, Dan Felty wrote:

  I didn't put enough into Sloth to get anything out of it. Same deal with Chance in Hell. ...

• At September 17, 2009, Julian wrote:

  Sloth? Really? No love for Citizen Rex? Did you ever read Mister X?

• At September 17, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  You've got Spider-Man #605 already? I have a subscription (yes, they still exist!) and I still haven't received #604 ...

• At September 17, 2009, Rebis wrote:

  I'm looking forward to Cam Stewart on B&R too, but is anybody else disappointed that Frazer Irving apparently is not ...

• At September 17, 2009, JackKing wrote:

  Frazer is doing 10-12. Looks like Quitely ain't coming back, unless the series continues after 12.

• At September 18, 2009, Rusty Priske wrote:

  Am I the only person who doesn't really like Quitely art?

  If so, I can live with that.

  It isn't that I ...

• At September 18, 2009, Rebis wrote:

  Ahhh, thanks JackKing. I'm relieved. I dunno if this is heresy around here, but I'll actually take Irving over ...

• At September 19, 2009, Brad Curran wrote:

  "Am I the only person who doesn't really like Quitely art?"

  Yes!

  "If so, I can live with that."

  If you call that ...

• At September 19, 2009, Brad Curran wrote:

  "Sloth? Really?"

  Yes.

  "No love for Citizen Rex?"

  Dropped it.

  "Did you ever read Mister X?"

  It's in my comics Q. Somewhere.

• At September 19, 2009, Brad Curran wrote:

  "You know, a subscription used to mean getting your issues before they arrived in the stores. I don't know what's ...

• At September 19, 2009, Brad Curran wrote:

  And that wasn't meant as sarcasm, Mary, I swear to Odin's beard.

• At September 19, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  You can find subscriptions on their website. At least they were there last year. I just renewed my ...

Inside: The most awesome comic ever printed! The strangest Bat-villain of them all! The biggest letdown of the month! The latest Apparat novella from Internet Jesus himself! And an overlooked new launch from a young upstart publisher! (See anything you like? Buy it at HeavyInk, and/or pre-order the next one at DCBS!)

Atomic Robo and the Shadow from Beyond Time #4 by Brian Clevinger, Scott Wegener, Ronda Pattison, and Jeff Powell (back-up drawn by Rick Woodall and Lawrence Basso) (Red 5)

Burgas reviewed this last month and found there to be "2.73 awesome things per page" over the course of the 26 story pages, which is a pretty high ratio of awesome-to-paper, in an era where you're lucky to get 2.73 awesome things per issue. Greg's review method was entirely quantitative, however; me, I'm more of a qualitative kind of guy. I need to know how and why something is awesome. Let's roll.

The Chris Sims School of Comics Criticism (from which Brad Curran graduated, class of '07) dictates that, to truly convey how awesome this comic is, I simply have to explain the plot to you in one sentence, with the occasional use of italics to indicate proper face-wrecking, so here goes: This is a comic in which Dr. Atomic Robo Tesla teams up with Carl Sagan in 1971 Peru to capture a Lovecraftian elder beast from beyond the universe using the fifth cardinal direction, Zorth. And look, I haven't even mentioned the lightning guns, or the fantastic cliffhanger.

Clevinger's script positively sings, grounding the ludicrous plot situations with some marvel dialogue conveyed in the back-and-forth between Robo and Sagan. The famed astronomer gets a great little character arc that takes him from sarcastic skeptic to-- well, more of the same, but with some added badasstitude as he begins to comprehend the madness of Robo's world. I don't want to downplay Scott Wegener's art, of course, because the man draws comics better than porn stars have sex (put that metaphor in your pipe and smoke it). Clev and Weg deserve to be seen in the same light as Morrison and Quitely, Ennis and Dillon, Brubaker and Phillips, Captain and Tennille-- a match made in heaven.

Whereas Hellboy would ignore the exposition in order to punch the monster in the face, Atomic Robo is more likely to deliver the exposition while punching the monster in the face! He's the science hero for the new millennium, making sci-fi fun again, deriving a sense of wonder from that curious beast named science.

I was going to switch to trades on this book, but with the exponential increase in awesome (atomic number: 1 jillion) per issue, I can't possibly give up the singles. Also, they're adding a letters page. A letters page! This is my favorite comic, and I rather suspect this particular episode will land my "issue of the year" nod. Then again, there's still one more issue to go!

Batman and Robin #3 by G-Mo, F-Qui, A-Sin, and P-Bro (DC)

Remember your SAT analogies? BATMAN AND ROBIN : SUPERHERO COMICS ::

A.) Marvel : Disney
B.)  Red Sox : Baseball
C.) Filet Mignon : Steak
D.) Tom Selleck : Mustaches

You can probably make your case for any of the above, but for the purposes of this review, the metaphor I choose will be C. Batman and Robin is the finest cut of superhero meat you're going to find. Morrison and Quitely have sliced off all the fat, leaving behind only tender beef, from cows raised on Guinness and Britpop. Quitely's art appears perfectly sculpted, drawn with the hand of a surgeon, or maybe that guy who slices out all the deadly parts of the blowfish. The Batman mythos can hold a lot of air, after all, but Grant and Frank-- Grank Morriley would be their name, if they were joined together in some terrifying science experiment-- cut right down to the good part.

Morrison described this series going in as "Adam West meets David Lynch," and this issue encapsulates that perfectly. We've got the standard structure of 60s Batman-- Robin's captured, Batman's on the way, and it's all going to end in a fight scene-- but there's a blatant layer of mindbending horror on top of that, as we discover the true lunacy of Professor Pyg. He's easily the scariest and most interesting new Bat-baddie in a dog's age; instead of standing around revealing his master plot to his captive, he jerks around like he's sorted out for E's and Wizz ("Sexy disco hot," he explains), and rants about mothers (he's built his own wire mother) and art. He really is the villainous equivalent of Vulva from that performance art episode of Spaced.  I hope he catches on, like no villain has since Zsasz or the Ventriloquist-- but, like most Morrison creations, I fear he's destined to be shied away from.

Morrison also writes the only Dick Grayson I've ever liked, one who has manned up and accepted his role as Batman's successor ("Who the hell are you?" demands Gordon; "I'm Batman," replies Dick, and means it at last). It's going to suck when Dick has to regress back to Nightwing in a year or so. Morrison's also the only writer at DC who seems to have a proper handle on Damian; he might have surpassed early Tim Drake as my favorite Robin already-- I want to write a "Robin the Boy Bastard" series. He's the world's deadliest ten year old, sure, but he's also trying to learn what being a hero means, and how to connect emotionally to others. It's good character work.

Buy this comic! It's cheaper than good steak, and twice as filling!

Doom Patrol #1 by Keith Giffen, Matthew Clark, Livesay, Pat Brosseau, Guy Major, J.M. DeMatteis, Kevin Maguire, and Nick J. Napolitano (DC)

This issue marks the, what, fifth volume of Doom Patrol? And the third one this decade? Law of diminishing returns indicates that the eighth volume, which will be on the stands in three years, will only last four issues before being mercilessly canceled from on high. At least, it will if this issue is any indication. The panel above? It contains multitudes.

I have great love for the Doom Patrol, and great admiration for Keith Giffen, so it pains me to tell you that this Just Isn't Very Good. The new series falls into the same traps as the rest of DC's subpar output: it's got awkward characterization, violence for shock's sake, bad dialogue, and unidentified characters (I inferred that the fellow above is Rocky from the Challengers of the Unknown; apparently, he is now a priest and self-appointed team psychologist). The new Doom Patrol status quo seems to be "self-pitying super-team suicide squad," the wrist-slitting emo version of your favorite Saturday morning cartoon show. Elasti-Woman is brittle. Robotman is kind of a jerk. Negative Man cracks jokes even as the team members Giffen doesn't want to bother with get turned into red mist. The team wantonly kills their enemies. This ain't your daddy's Doom Patrol!

Both Giffen and Clark really, really wanted this series, but that's not inherent in the work itself. Clark's got the scratchy, overly detailed DC house style down pat. Giffen's painting by the numbers; yeah, his voice comes through, but it's the voice of an older, gruffer, less funny Keith Giffen.

The 10-page Metal Men "co-feature" is good, though, once again reuniting the all-star JLI team of Giffen, DeMatteis, and Maguire. Each one of them plays to stereotype, doomed to live in that role forever, destroyed and rebuilt over and over again: Gold's a narcissistic ass, Iron's the normal guy, Lead's a little slow, Tin has self-esteem issues, Mercury's neurotic, Platinum's in love with Doc Magnus, and nobody can remember Copper exists. They fight a weird menace and go home to the suburbs. It's light and fun, but a bit "fourteenth verse, same as the first," willfully playing on our nostalgia for the old JLI. I'll take that over what the lead feature gives us, but I'm not paying four dollars a month for a back-up strip.

Frankenstein's Womb by Warren Ellis and Marek Oleksicki (Avatar)

The cover to this 44-odd page graphic novella features an infant, perhaps a fetus, floating in a mad scientist's liquid, stitched together, stuck with tubes. This image provides a sense of expectation to the work. Chances are, however, those expectations will be subverted once one reads it. The cover shows us a metaphor for the content within; the titular womb is not that of Frankenstein, but rather the one Frankenstein was birthed from-- that of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. Ellis wollstonecrafts a fictive work cobbled together from history and apocrypha, giving us the true origin of the Modern Prometheus. Mary Shelley visits Castle Frankenstein, meets a monster, and then learns of the past and the future, corpses and lightning.

I don't want to spoil the whole thing. Let's just say that this is not a work with dynamite plotting and breakneck pace; rather, it's a considered work, a conversation between two unique characters, an alchemical philosophy. It's a love letter to Mary Shelley, composed by a writer and an artist who breathe life into paper, who give a voice to the blank page. It is, as many Warren Ellis works are, about the future, and the people that craft it. Technology, machines, electricity-- the stuff of magic and mystery. Oleksicki's art looks exquisite, richly detailed and hauntingly realistic. More importantly, it keeps the reader engaged throughout, remaining visually stimulating despite pages of, let's face it, talking heads. It's good talk, though.

Frankenstein's Womb is seven bucks, cheaper than two issues of Dark Avengers. It's a work of alchemy, a chameleon at home on the comic store shelf or at your local Barnes and Noble. It's got a spine, and it smells of the past and the future, simultaneously.

Robot 13: Colossus! #1 by Thomas Hall and Daniel Bradford (Blacklist Studios)

Here's a book that doesn't just wear its influences on its sleeve; it tattoos those influences to its chest and struts around shirtless. From the panel above, you can tell this one's another comic in the Hellboy vein. Without your reading glasses on, you'd think Mike Mignola drew it! Heck, you'd think that with your reading glasses on. Throw Hellboy, Amazing Screw-On Head, and Atomic Robo in a blender, and you might get a Robot 13 milkshake. I hope a unique flavor emerges as the series goes on, however.

Hall and Bradford's story is a bit sparse in this first issue-- we're introduced to the titular Robot 13 as he's pulled out of the drink by some fishermen. Naturally, a sea monster follows a few panels later and we get a cool fight. Toss in some amnesia, a flashback, and Bob's your uncle. Not too much forward momentum comes out of this one, but you get your cool looking robot with a skull for a head stabbing the Kraken in the eye, so what else do you want? The art's pretty polished, with a cartoony-yet-gothic grace, like Ryan Yount of Scurvy Dogs if Mignola inked him. The script's less burnished, but this is an early effort that shows plenty of room left to improve.

The duo has another book on the horizon, King!, about a Mexican wrestler who looks like Elvis and fights vampires and zombies and stuff, which sounds like someone starting picking "awesome things" out of a hat (or watched Bubba Ho-Tep too many times). Go ahead and give this title a try, though. I want to see a second issue!

11 Comments

• At September 7, 2009, Argo Plummer wrote:

  I recently switched to DCBS for my monthly books as well, so I understand the delay in not only reviewing ...

• At September 7, 2009, Michael P. wrote:

  Doom Patrol: Yet another book DC is determined to publish, regardless of if they know what to do with it ...

• At September 7, 2009, secret i.d. wrote:

  "Not a work with dynamite plotting" indeed. I thought Frankenstein's Womb read like an illustrated wikipedia article.

• At September 7, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  Three questions about your Doom Patrol review...

  1.) When were the Doom Patrol ever NOT self-pitying? The whole point of the ...

• At September 7, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  1.) Yes, the Doom Patrol are mopey, and that is why we love them. However, they were never unlikeable. They ...

• At September 7, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Is this Doom Patrol in the same vein as Waid's take on them in Brave And The Bold?

  They weren't the ...

• At September 8, 2009, John Cage wrote:

  I didn't really care for Nudge either, but I'd have rathered Giffen at least try to do something with the ...

• At September 8, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  If DC wants DOOM PATROL to be done right, then all they have to do is assign Morrison and Case ...

• At September 8, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  You seem to have misinterpreted the intent of Giffen's Doom Patrol, because while he is writing it dark ( which, ...

• At September 12, 2009, Anonymous wrote:

  Frankenstein's Womb sounds like it could be a real winner. Ellis sure writes a lot of stuff.

  I forgot about ...

• At September 14, 2009, Dan Felty wrote:

  Above was me, two days ago. Wouldn't want to confuse anybody!

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: So if Disney and Marvel produce a crossover between their respective "universes," what match-up are you most itching to see? Me, I'm partial to "Beauty & the Beast and the Beast," myself.

NEWS FLASH! Disney buys Marvel for four billi-- oh, you heard? From everyone? Did your stock go up, at least? Anyway, the sale gives me the excuse to post this drawing by Chris Samnee, so I'm going to do it:

No matter how the merger thing eventually goes, this sole drawing makes it all worth it.

And if it doesn't do it for you, there's always MOSCROOGE, by Ryan Dunleavy:

The internets are probably overloaded with great mash-ups by now. For instance, there's also Adam Koford's Gooflactus:

And don't forget Khary Randolph's Mickey/Wolverine amalgam:

A boatload more can be found here, at SuperPunch!

ITEM! At The Vault, Scott Harris interviews Jim Salicrup, former Marvel editor and current honcho of Papercutz, publisher of Tales from the Crypt, Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and Classics Illustrated:

The reason my Papercutz publishing partner, Terry Nantier, and I decided to produce graphic novels for all ages, is that we both felt that the comics industry wasn't paying enough attention to kids, especially girls, and we wanted to see if we could produce great comics would reach that audience. Terry and I both grew up reading some of the best comics in the world-- Terry loved the great European graphic novels, I loved 60s Marvel Comics, and we both are crazy about Tintin -- so we both know that kids can appreciate great writing and great artwork in comics, and we both hate the idea that comics should in any way be dumbed down for kids. We remember how smart kids really are.

ITEM! The Vancouver Sun writes a letter to Betty Cooper with advice on how to get over Archie:

Oh, Betty. So smart, so capable, so generous. I hate to break it to you, but for 67 years, you've actually been a lousy role model for the world's young women. He was the plausible user and abuser. But you were the enabler. You came crawling back, time and time again, to perpetuate one of pop culture's most dysfunctional codependent relationships.

ITEM! The Mindless Ones converge again for annocommentations on the latest issue of Batman & Robin:

Why has it taken so long for a Batman comic to emerge that recognizes tehdarquenight’s true pallette, that incorporates the colour schemes of streetlight, strip joint, ad hoarding and nightclub and the internal lightshow of psychotic states and hallucinogenics?

NEW ABHAY! New Abhay is always reason to celebrate. Over at the Savage Critic, he reviews the Nocenti/Aja back-up from the recent Daredevil #500, a story apparently worth all five dollars of the cover price by its lonesome:

The three photos turn out to be meaningful to Daredevil—to the reader, too, if they knows their Daredevil “lore.” If they can put images into context.

Which: I mean, that’s kind of writing comics right there, isn’t it? You pick out still images, little bits of the past frozen in time, and you throw them into another person, hope they stick…? If Ann Nocenti is a character in this story, she’s not the old yelling-guy or the praying girl or the distant steel God; she’s Bullseye. She can’t kill Daredevil—all she can do is hurt him as much as she can.

And then he reviews the rest of the issue. He is less enthused about that, but that's when the review gets much funnier.

ITEM! Sean T. Collin's essay on Cable/Soldier X over at Robot 6 is a great read. So go, read.

ITEM! Johnny Bacardi wishes Walt Simonson a happy birthday with a look back at the short-lived Pasko/Simonson run on Metal Men.

THINGS I ACCIDENTALLY DISCOVERED ON AMAZON: Steve Ditko Creeper hardcover! Steve Ditko Creeper Showcase! Simon/Kirby Newsboy Legion hardcover!

COVERED! Let's check up again on the Covered! blog, where snazzy artists homage some of their favorite comic covers. Among my favorites are David King's Jimmy Olsen, Mark Grambau's Green Lantern/Green Arrow, and James Powell's Tom and Jerry:

HARK! A VAGRANT! Kate Beaton's got a new one up, with Holmes and the dueling Watsons. Quality hilarity!

And since I started this post she's got another new one up! Hurray:

REMAKE/REMODEL RETURNS! And it's a doozy this week, what with the fantastic Flamingo! And right from the starting gate, Andre Navarro comes in and wins all the internets:

I also dug Annie Wu's version:

DO TWO HALF-SHELLS MAKE A WHOLE? This can't be true, can it? Are they really doing an animated special teaming the animated 80's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with the animated 00's Turtles? Can such a thing exist outside of my wildest dreams? Did somebody slip me peyote?:

REALLY NOT COMICS DEPT: Shit My Dad Says is the best reason I've seen yet for the existence of Twitter. To wit:

"You need to flush the toilet more than once...No, YOU, YOU specifically need to. You know what, use a different toilet. This is my toilet."

"Your brother brought his baby over this morning. He told me it could stand. It couldn't stand for shit. Just sat there. Big let down."

"The dog don't like you planting stuff there. It's his backyard. If you're the only one who shits in something, you own it. Remember that."

Quality Tweets.

14 Comments

• At September 6, 2009, "O" the Humanatee! wrote:

  Pretty sure someone else must have already made this joke, but: "Mutant School Musical."

• At September 6, 2009, Mr. JR wrote:

  A couple had come to mind like "Dr. Strange... lost in the Magic Kingdom he never made!" or "Kraven ...

• At September 6, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:

  -- WebSpin

  -- House of M(ouse)

  -- That Darn Black Cat

  -- Pym Possible

  -- ...

• At September 6, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:

  Oh, and Typhoid Mary Poppins

• At September 6, 2009, Mr. JR wrote:

  The Sorcerer's Apprentice Supreme?

• At September 6, 2009, chad wrote:

  the only team ups from marvel and Disney i want to see is donald and howard the duck though ...

• At September 6, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Peter and the Werewolf by Night?

• At September 6, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:

  Snow White and Luke Cage in a re-make of Bendis's Alias.

  One (ALL?) of the Seven Dwarfs replacing Hank Pym in ...

• At September 6, 2009, Jim McClain wrote:

  Steamboat Willie Lumpkin. 'Nuff said.

• At September 6, 2009, bob wrote:

  Toy Story: Invasion of the Micronauts

  The fox and the hound and the wolverine

  Black Panther/Lion King 1shot

  Pocahontas and the Rawhide Kid

  70's ...

• At September 6, 2009, Sijo wrote:

  Spider-Man meets The Gargoyles!

  The Incredibles vs The Fantastic Four.

  The X-Men Escape to Witch Mountain.

  Micronauts Toy Story.

  And many, many more...

• At September 6, 2009, ChrisDonaghy wrote:

  Deadpool -- the St. Canard Chronicles:

  "I am the terror who...

  "You can see the little yellow boxes, too, can't you?"

  "Of course ...

• At September 8, 2009, Kirayoshi wrote:

  Mary Jane Watson visits the Hundred-Acre Woods.

  "Face it, Tigger. You just hit the jackpot!"

• At September 8, 2009, Sam Kess wrote:

  Great stuff, everyone. Here are mine:

  Wong as The Sorcerer's Apprentice!

  Beauty and the Beast with Storm and, um, the Beast. ...

There's a lot to like about this three-issue arc of the bigger Grant Morrison story in Batman and Robin, and it's interesting that the God of All Comics is treating this like a longer series, setting up the next arc at the end of this tale and linking it to Professor Pyg's reign of terror. It makes the main story here feel a bit rushed, as Pyg ends up not being a very tough villain at all (of course, he's only locked up at the end, so I'm sure G-Mozz has plans for him), but it also helps make this feel more like an ongoing and not a collection of short arcs. He's helped, of course, by Quitely, who designs dazzling fight scenes and, no matter what you say about his figures, does a wonderful job with making each panel a snapshot of the action. He does a nice job making the characters move, even if his art isn't slick and suggestive of movement and he doesn't use motion lines and other tricks a lot of artists use. I'm interested to see how much of a drop-off we'll get with Tan taking over next arc. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's not too much of one.

Morrison, as usual, has some interesting ideas that he doesn't do enough with. It's nice that we get little about Pyg and who he is, but at the same time, it's frustrating that he's so underdeveloped. Plus, if we're not going to get much about the villain, his scheme should be a bit more menacing, and although the idea of his scheme is neat, the GoAC doesn't really do enough with it. Again, Pyg is not dead at the end of the story, and he seems ready for a comeback, but that means that this three-issue arc is just set-up, and in a world where writers are slowly moving away from decompression (with, ironically, Morrison at the forefront), this smacks of padding.

I'm certainly excited about the series, even with a lesser artist taking over, but Morrison occasionally has difficulties balancing the reality of a single-issue story with his vision of a grander arc. That's in evidence here. But Morrison, as always, is more interesting even when he's not perfect than most writers, so this series continues to be a fine read.

Buck Rogers #3 ("Future Shock Part Three: Ghosts of Mars") by Scott Beatty (writer), Carlos Rafael (artist), Carlos Lopez (colorist), and Simon Bowland (letterer). $3.50, 22 pgs, FC, Dynamite Entertainment.

There's nothing crazily awesome in this issue of Buck Rogers, but Beatty continues to tell a good, solid science fiction story with a nice modern edge but plenty of 1930s vibe to it, like the suits Buck and Wilma are wearing while they're floating in space and the saucer they use to escape the big space ship. There's even some ray gun usage, which is nice. It's cool that Beatty is tying Buck's arrival in the future in with those he left behind in the past, and the ending is a nice little cliffhanger, and the series is a fine read, but there's nothing in this particular issue that makes you shout "Fuck Yeah!" That's okay, though - it's turning into a nifty series, and there's no reason for you to skip it!

Detective Comics #856 ("Elegy Part 3: Affettuoso"/"Pipeline Chapter One Part Three") by Greg Rucka (writer), J. H. Williams III (artist, "Elegy"), Cully Hamner (artist, "Pipeline"), Dave Stewart (colorist, "Elegy"), Laura Martin (colorist, "Pipeline"), Todd Klein (letterer, "Elegy"), and Jared K. Fletcher (letterer, "Pipeline"). $3.99, 30 pgs, FC, DC.

You know, I keep waiting for Rucka's story to get better, and it's just not. It's really frustrating, because Williams is so good, and I love the attention to detail, like how Maggie doesn't have her hand on Kate's ass but the placement of the musical note makes it look like she does, but the story is just dull. "Alice" finally does something evil, which is nice, I guess, but the supernatural elements of the book don't work terribly well. It turns this into too much of a superhero book, but it's obvious that Rucka doesn't really want to write a superhero book, and he can't reconcile this. I hate to compare it to that other Batman book above, but consider Professor Pyg, a creepy villain who does horrible things. Morrison keeps everything in the realm of possibility, so although Pyg and his minions are bizarre, they're not supernatural, and it helps, ironically, make the story more believable. Alice is in the same vein, but then Rucka brings in the werewolves and stuff, and it makes it strangely unbelievable. I know, complaining about unbelievability in a comic starring Batwoman is a silly thing to say, but that's the way it is. Rucka has balanced costumed heroes with his natural inclination toward crime fiction in the past, but in this story so far, it's tilting the wrong way, and the crime fiction aspect is getting overwhelmed. And he's not doing anything different with The Question story, either. At least there aren't any werewolves, but it's just Renee punching people. Yawn.

This arc has one more issue, I think, even though Williams is supposed to be on 'Tec for a while after that. I honestly don't know if I'm going to continue after the resolution of this story, even if Williams makes it purty. I really liked Rucka's work on Detective back in the day, but this just isn't working too well. It's a shame.

Dynamo 5 #24 by Jay Faerber (writer), Mahmud A. Asrar (artist), Ron Riley (colorist), and Charles Pritchett (letterer). $3.50, 21 pgs, FC, Image.

So next issue is Asrar's last issue on Dynamo 5. That's depressing but not terribly surprising, as he's getting more and more work for companies that actually pay money to artists. Plus, the book is going on hiatus after next issue, which is more depressing news. I'm sure Faerber will bring it back, but it's still vexing. This is one of the best superhero comics out there right now, and I hope that it can come back strong. But will a new artist be as interested in drawing pin-ups of Bridget? That's all that matters!!!!!

By the way, this issue rocks. Duh. Synergy takes out the team, we learn more about Father Gideon and his revelation from last issue, and Gage and Spencer have an uncomfortable (at least to Gage) conversation. Faerber does his usual excellent job moving everything along, giving us plenty of action, some nice character development (not only with Gage and Spencer, but Bridget as well), and Asrar draws the hell out of it. I don't know which Marvel book he's going off to work on, but I hope it's something I want to buy!

Check out the trades of this series if you haven't yet. Then you can be caught up when it returns!

Fantastic Four #570 ("Solve Everything Part One") by Jonathan Hickman (writer), Dale Eaglesham (artist), Paul Mounts (colorist), and Rus Wooton (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, Marvel.

I have not bought an issue of Fantastic Four since 1990, when I bought issues #347-349, the famous Simonson/Adams Spider-Man/Wolverine/Hulk/Ghost Rider FF, and I only bought those because I was a sucker for Art Adams's art. Those remain the only Fantastic Four single issues I've ever bought, even though I went back and got some of the Lee/Kirby Essential volumes (and I really ought to get more of those) and the John Byrne trades. Even Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo starting on FF didn't make me go get an issue, even though I later bought those in trade, as well. I didn't even buy it when Sue went all slutty! And yet, here I am, buying an issue of Fantastic Four. That's just how damned good The Nightly News was.

Yes, Hickman's run begins here, and based on his non-Marvel work, I'm giving it a try. It doesn't hurt that Eaglesham is finally working with a writer I want to read (okay, so I like Simone, but when he worked with her, it was in the middle of that Infinite Crisis mess, and did I really want to dive into that?), and he does strong work here. Of all the superhero books out there, Fantastic Four seems to demand a "classic" feel to it, and Eaglesham does that here, even keeping the look consistent with Hitch's recent work (at least from what I saw of Hitch's work on the book; I'm assuming it's because of Mounts, because didn't he color Hitch's work?). It's just strong, solid superhero storytelling, and it's good to see.

Hickman resists beginning his run with "Everything you ever knew is wrong!" histrionics, which is fine with me. I might not love Nu-World (in fact, from what I read of it, it's one of the most bone-headed ideas in a long time), but at least Hickman acknowledges it (and, if solicitations are to be believed, he's using it quite a bit). I'm not entirely sold on how Valeria speaks (even if she's a genius at three years old, it would be nice if she didn't speak exactly like a smart adult, but like a genius three-year-old), but it's apparently not something that Hickman came up with. And the central idea, that of the Bridge that allows Reed to view alternate timelines to witness outcomes when he made different decisions, is also not Hickman's (at least I assume so). So that's kind of neat. Hickman, of course, uses this as a springboard to his own story, in which Reed decides to, well, solve everything. The idea of a cross-dimensional society of Reeds is pretty neat, especially because, I'm sorry, Reed always strikes me as so arrogant that the only company he'd want to keep is his own (I'm very aware that that's not how many, many writers have written him, but it always seems to me an essential part of his character; he and Doom are so similar, and only a few circumstances have prevented Reed from becoming a despot like Doom is). And it's neat that the Wizard's appearance is obviously not a throwaway battle just to get us into the story but will (most likely) have serious consequences down the road. That's pretty keen.

I will say that Marvel does something annoying in this comic, and it's easily fixable. There's a recap page, then two pages of flashback to Reed's childhood. Then we arrive in the present, with the FF fighting one of the Wizard's machines. It's very weird, because you turn the page from the flashback (the two pages of which face each other) and then we get the left side of the book showing the entire team attacking the robot while the right side of the page has an advertisement for what I can only assume are Marvel jammies. Because one side of the page shows the actual comic and it's a big old messy fight scene and the other side of the page shows a bunch of Marvel heroes and villains glaring at the reader (even the heroes are glaring, because Marvel jammies are deadly freakin' serious!), it feels almost like the advert is part of the book. If ever a scene screamed "double-page spread," it's the first time we see the team in action in a comic with a new writer and artist, and long-time comic book readers who read the recap and then the first two flashback pages would expect to turn the page and see a big ol' double-page spread (well, I expected it, and I'm a long-time comic book reader, but your mileage may vary). So the fact that the fight is crammed onto one page (granted, it spills over onto the next few pages, but still) is jarring, especially because you don't immediately recognize the next page as an ad. The advertisement could easily appear elsewhere in the book (I wouldn't dare suggest Marvel give us one more page of story and one less advertisement, because that would be insane!), so I'm not sure why it appears here. It doesn't ruin the book, of course, but it certainly messes up the grandeur of the opening battle of the book, which is supposed to set the tone for the issue. I'll shut up now.

Hickman/Eaglesham on Fantastic Four = good stuff. It's not quite as subversive as Hickman's Image work, but that's okay. It's still a cool issue that promises some cool issues to come!

Gotham City Sirens #3 ("Riddle Me This!") by Scott Lobdell (writer), Guillem March (artist/colorist), and Travis Lanham (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC.

I wasn't going to get this, because I haven't been getting the series, despite March's nice cheesecakey art and my general enjoyment of Dini's writing, but I did get this one. Why? Well, Scott Lobdell wrote it (which is odd given that it's only the third issue and there's already a guest writer), and I have a soft spot in my heart for Lobdell because of his early Uncanny X-Men work (even though it's really not that good, but I dug it back in the day), and I read over on Caleb's blog that it was a weird, standalone issue starring the Riddler, and that the "Sirens" appear in a grand total of four panels in this comic (on page 4) and the rest of the issue is devoted to a murder mystery in which Edward Nigma jousts with Dick Grayson to find the killer. As Dini's shift of the Riddler from bad guy to consulting detective is one of the best ideas to come out of DC this decade and when I write for DC - give me a call, Danny D! - I'm going to write a mini-series starring Mr. Nigma pursuing a murderer, I knew I had to get it. So I did.

It's quite a good issue. Lobdell certainly doesn't "play fair" with the mystery, but I didn't really expect him to. It's a nice look at how Nigma feels about his new life and whether he can make it work and how he can't escape his past. We also get to see him match wits with Dick, who he knows isn't Batman, and even get out ahead of the new hero a bit. Dick even admits that he's not as smart as Edward, which is kind of keen. A lot of the exposition doesn't make a whole lot of sense, unless I'm just that stupid (I've gone over it more than once and still can't figure it out), but it's less about the mystery (which, don't get me wrong, is kind of clever, but the clues just don't fit together completely) and more about the Riddler and how he wants to make his change of career work. I really, really hope DC never makes him a villain again. He's infinitely more interesting as a detective.

Oh, and March can draw really well. I mean, the women are hot, of course, but he has a nice bold style that grabs you and pulls you into the book. He also does a good job laying the book out (speaking of "laying," Nigma uses it when he means "lying," which bugged me) that packs a lot into the panels but never confuses the reader. I'm sure March will quickly reach a status where he only does covers, so it's nice to see his interior work before that happens.

This is a pretty good standalone issue. If you've been avoiding the book, give it a look. You have no obligation to get the next one if you don't want to!

I Am Legion #5 (of 6) ("The Three Monkeys") by Fabien Nury (writer), John Cassaday (artist), Laura Martin (colorist), Justin Kelly (translator), and Crank! (letterer). $3.50, 30 pgs, FC, Devil's Due/Humanoids.

You know, I honestly have no idea what's going on anymore in this series. I'm buying it for the Cassaday art, of course, and the concept remains cool, but what with all the body-switching and possessing and Nazis changing sides and Nazis fighting amongst themselves and commandos going undercover as Nazis, I'm completely lost. I'm still going to get the sixth issue, of course, and maybe when I sit down and read it in a more leisurely fashion (and with a notepad handy), I'll be able to figure it out. I might not be very bright, or Nury might not be a very good writer, or the translation might stink. As usual, I'll go with option A.

But damn, this book sure looks beautiful.

The Incredible Hercules #133 ("Road of Trials") by Fred van Lente (writer), Greg Pak (writer), Rodney Buchemi (artist), Emily Warren (colorist), and Simon Bowland (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, Marvel.

Okay, first of all, I love that cover design. It looks old-school without actually being old-school. Well done!

Second, van Lente and Pak do a nice job recapping their run so far on the book, incorporating it into Amadeus's journey to find his sister without beating us over the head with it. Considering that this title's recap pages are often more entertaining than your average DC superhero book, that's not surprising.

Finally, of course, we get the usual excellent story about these characters, even if Hercules doesn't appear (except in flashback and in one typically hilarious fantasy panel). Amadeus goes to Excello, where he won the quiz that led to his family's death, and Agent Sexton shows up to exposit that something is creepy about the town and the company that built the town. Amadeus spouts some pseudo-science in the Mighty Marvel Manner (using, naturally, a real-life physicist as his inspiration) and it all leads to a nifty cliffhanger ending. There's plenty of humor, there's some good action, there's a little bit of creepiness ... as usual, it all adds up to a fantastic comic book! Plus, soon it will have an Agents of Atlas back-up feature (and yes, I'm extremely grumpy that that book is being cancelled, but if it must be a back-up, at least it's a back-up in this book), so there will be even more concentrated awesome in this title!

Buchemi is a decent artist, and the flashbacks in this book are very nice. His "present" work is a bit slicker and less impressive, but he gets the job done. He gets a bit stronger as the issue goes along, finishing with a nice flourish in the brief action scene and then giving us a very nice final splash page. I still wish cover artist Rafael Albuquerque would do the interiors (has Albuquerque already become so exclusive that he's joined the ranks of those artists who no longer need to do interiors?), but that's the way it is. That's a keen cover, though, isn't it?

And hey! even that soulless husk Chad Nevett thought this was a pretty good issue! He's buying his soul back one issue of The Incredible Hercules at a time! His girlfriend will be so happy.

Madame Xanadu #14 ("Exodus Noir Part Four: Sins of the Fathers") by Matt Wagner (writer), Michael Wm. Kaluta (artist), Dave Stewart (colorist), and Jared K. Fletcher (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC/Vertigo.

One thing I never get used to in popular entertainment is how writers write their characters as they believe the world should be, and not the way the world is. Even good writers, like Matt Wagner, fall into this trap, and it's kind of annoying. I've been harping on this with regard to Madame Xanadu and her idiocy of openly living with and screwing another woman in 1493 Spain, perhaps the most intolerant regime ever to grace God's green Earth, and yet whining that those mean old Inquisitors just can't see how lovely their love is! Really, Madame Xanadu? You've been alive for a thousand years and you don't realize that maybe, just maybe, you need to be careful about doing stuff that narrow-minded people in power don't like? It's annoying because these characters are filtered through a modern sensibility, and so we're supposed to be on Madame Xanadu's side (why can't those jerky priests just let them live in love?), and there's no drama if Madame Xanadu uses her brain and tries to keep her relationship with Marisol a secret, like she would do (and, interestingly enough, like the other characters who hide their religion if not their sexual orientation do in this very issue). Actually, it might be more dramatic if they had tried to hide their relationship and the Inquisition still found out, because then the reader (well, this reader) wouldn't think stuff like, "Well, of COURSE they found out, ya ignoramus! You might as well have sashayed into the church french-kissing! Sheesh!" Instead of caring about Marisol at the end of this issue, when the Inquisition catches up to her, I keep thinking, "Marisol, sweetie, you should have ditched that crazy immortal chick when you had the chance!" But that's just me.

Oh, and Wesley Dodds shows up in this issue. Wagner writes him pretty well. I think DC should give him a series starring the Golden Age Sandman. I bet that would sell like gangbusters!

Rex Mundi #19 ("Exodus/Daughters of the Grail") by Arvid Nelson (writer/letterer) and Juan Ferreyra (artist/colorist). $2.99, 28 pgs, FC, Dark Horse.

One of the finest comic series this decade comes to an end (did I just write that? yes I fucking did!), and it's bittersweet, of course. I'll miss it, but it's so cool that Nelson was able to tell his entire epic and complete it. I'll also miss Ferreyra's art - I don't know what he's doing next, but I'll be checking it out.

Of course, it couldn't possibly match my expectations, could it? Nelson has been building to this issue the entire time, of course, but really for about two years, so there's no way it could be as awesome as what I've built up in my mind, right? Well, it comes close. It's a better ending than 100 Bullets, for instance. It's the final showdown between Julien and Lorraine, and it ends about as you would expect, but Ferreyra is absolutely dynamite on this issue - the fight is really enthralling, and the secondary action, in which the Muslims slaves rescue their women from Lorraine's castle, is very cool and adds another nifty layer of the supernatural to the story, one which works in the context of what has come before. It's a breathtaking issue, and Nelson is wise enough to give us just enough narration without going too far. Throughout the series, his biggest strength has been making sure he doesn't overwrite, which sounds like an insult but really isn't. In comics, a good writer knows how to blend the prose with the art, and Nelson has always done that well, and he does so here.

The only weird thing about the issue is that it ends oddly, as if Nelson had maybe another page or two but didn't include it. We get a wrap-up, true, and it ends in an interesting way, but the reason it's weird is because there's not a sense of complete closure. This is the end of a 38-issue epic, and it's as if a giant epic movie ended in the middle of a conversation. There aren't really any loose ends (well, there are, but they're deliberately left hanging just for fun), so I don't have a problem with the fact of the ending, just the way in which Nelson writes the final two pages. It's very weird.

Despite that, this is still a wonderful ending to a wonderful series. It started as a creepy murder mystery that quickly turned into a historical epic about fascism, religious freedom, and what it means to have faith. As much as I liked EricJ on art, Ferreyra really took it to a new level, and if you have a chance to look at any of his work on this title, you should, because it will blow you away. Like Asrar, I really hope Ferreyra does a high-profile gig and knocks it out of the park, because then others will see how astonishing his work is. Of course, if he just keeps doing smaller stuff, that's cool too, because then I won't have to deal with him doing some crappy Titans book!

Let's hope the Rex Mundi movie does huge box office and Dark Horse releases a GIANT-SIZED OMNIBUS. I would snap that up in a heartbeat! In the meantime, if you haven't been following this series, get the trades! You don't hate good comics, do you? DO YOU?????

Scalped #31 ("The Gnawing Part Two of Five") by Jason Aaron (writer), R. M. Guéra (artist), Giulia Brusco (colorist), Trish Mulvihill (colorist), and Steve Wands (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC/Vertigo.

After the symphony of swearing last issue, Aaron dials it down just a tad, but there's still plenty of blue language, if you like that sort of thing. As usual with arcs, the first issue gets things off to a bang, and in this second issue, everyone is reacting to what just happened, i.e., Red Crow killing someone in front of a bunch of witnesses, which is what Agent Nitz wants, of course. Dashiell wants it too, but that doesn't mean figuring out how to prosecute Red Crow is going to be easy, especially as Bad Horse's heroin habit is an open secret. And, of course, there's still Catcher running around, and Diesel is getting out of prison, and he figures it's time to pay a visit to Carol, who appears incapable of putting on clothes. Just the usual insanity on the rez!

This is a less compelling single issue of Scalped, but Aaron has to ease up on the throttle occasionally, and we get a lot of angles that will, of course, lead to a gigantic clusterfuck down the road. By now, Aaron has figured out how to twist the screws on these characters, and he's doing it with relish. Who will live? Who will die? Will Carol ever put on clothes? We don't know, but it's certainly fun finding out!

By the way, I love Bearded Dude Who Cleans Up Blood. He's just doing his thing, cleaning up blood. Nitz shouldn't yell at him, man! I have a feeling BDWCUB will be very important down the line. Or maybe not. He's still awesome.

Secret Warriors #7 by Jonathan Hickman (writer), Alessandro Vitti (artist), Sunny Gho (colorist), and Dave Lanphear (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, Marvel.

Just when I was ready to embrace Hickman's Nick Fury series with annoying new superheroes who only detract a bit from the awesomeness that is Nick Fury, he (Hickman, that is, not Nick Fury, because Nick Fury is, you know, fictional) does something that might be unbelievably stupid or might be unbelievably awesome. When I first beheld it, I almost yelled "NOOOOOOOOO!!!!" (and when a comic book makes me want to yell, it's doing something right, because at least that means I'm emotionally invested), but then, when I thought about it, might work in a "so-idiotic-it-might-fuckin'-rock" kind of way. You know, like Geoff Johns's comics!*

Anyway, the rest of the issue is pretty decent, even if it stars too much of the "Secret Warriors" of the title and not enough of the "Nick Fury: Agent of Nothing" part of the title (which is gone on this cover; I guess each arc will get its name on the cover, although I have a feeling Marvel took "Agent of Nothing" off the cover because they knew it was a much awesomer title than "Secret Warriors" and didn't want readers to keep being reminded that a much better title was sharing the cover with a weaker title ... but that's just me) - Nick sends his little minions to get supplies for Dum Dum and all the agents he recruited last issue, and Natasha Romanov and Songbird "accidentally" (or not?) lure Nick into a trap. Baron von Strucker asks Norman Osborn for help with killing Fury, which leads to a nice exchange between the two evil, evil men (I will point out that I'm sad that Fenris is dead; when I write Uncanny X-Men - give me a call, Joey Q! - I'll have to resurrect them). Vitti does a pretty good job on the art - it's the Marvel house style, but I kind of like Marvel house style, so I don't mind - although, ironically, his Natasha most certainly does not look "too hot not to help," as Slade puts it. She kind of looks like the lead singer of a boy band. Maybe that's what Slade is into?

I only made up my mind to keep reading this after last issue, and this issue rewards that a bit. It's a nice way to jump off from the first six issues, but it also stands on its own as the beginning of a new arc. Still, that scene under the auto shop ... Discuss the pros and cons below! Without spoiling it at all! You can do that, right?

* Sorry. That was low.

Sherlock Holmes #4 ("The Trial of Sherlock Holmes Part Four: Brought to Justice") by Leah Moore and John Reppion (writers), Aaron Campbell (artist), Tony Aviña (colorist), and Simon Bowland (letterer). $3.50, 22 pgs, FC, Dynamite Entertainment.

This series is coming together nicely, with Holmes apparently several steps ahead of everyone else, like he always is, and the rest of us wondering what he's up to. Everything is pointing toward a Moriarty appearance (I can't recall if we've already had a Moriarty reference in the series), which would be a bit disappointing, as everyone who writes their own Holmes fanfiction seems to use Moriarty when Conan Doyle didn't use him all that much (in much the same way he didn't use Irene Adler all that much, but that didn't stop Guy Ritchie from casting Rachel McAdams to play her). But I can live with it, I guess. As usual, there's not much to say about this - it's moving along, it looks pretty good, and Moore and Reppion are doing a good job giving us plenty of clues without giving too much away. We'll see how they pull it together in the final issue!

(I will say that the pull quotes on the back of this issue make me sad. The first one is by a "former CBS and CNN correspondent and investigative reporter" who is also a writer, yet it features "it's" instead of "its" and "hardcore" is spelled wrong. That means either a reporter and writer got it wrong, or Dynamite's editors got it wrong. I fear for written English. I really do.)

The Unknown #4 (of 4) by Mark Waid (writer), Minck Oosterveer (artist), Fellipe Martins (colorist), Renato Faccini (colorist), Andres Lozano (colorist), and Marshall Dillon (letterer). $3.99, 22 pgs, FC, Boom! Studios.

Things I really like about The Unknown:
1. Oosterveer's art is fantastic. His women are cheesecakey without being too obnoxiously slutty, and he has a nice sense of the creepy.
2. Waid's characterization. Catherine and James have nice chemistry together.
3. The idea of Catherine being the world's greatest detective. As with this story, it opens up a lot of interesting plots, mainly because it's not surprising she'd be bored with regular cases.

Things that are kind of off about The Unknown:
1. Man, that's a weird way to end the arc. I'll 'splain.

This series is "continuing" next month with a new case in a new mini-series, even though there's no reason for it to be classified as a completely separate mini-series. That doesn't bother me. Waid, however, seemed to lose interest in this case midway through last issue, and this issue just wraps it up almost off-panel. This issue is much more concerned with Catherine's state of mind regarding her attitude toward the afterlife, which gets shaken a bit here, and Waid doing a nice job to get her back on her game. It's as if the case was an afterthought to Catherine's brain tumor, which needs to be dealt with, and the relationship between Catherine and James, which deepens in this issue but leaves room for more growth. It's nice to see Waid developing the characters, but it feels like he completely abandons the case (oh, sure, the bad guy gets his comeuppance, but it still feels a bit tacked on), which was kind of neat. He sets up the next case in this issue (which, without checking, I believe starts in the same place as The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service did), and I'm looking forward to it, but I hope he balances the nice character work with, you know, some mysteries that get solved. And I hope Oosterveer is in this for the long haul!

Unknown Soldier #11 ("Easy Kill Chapter Four") by Joshua Dysart (writer), Alberto Ponticelli (artist), Oscar Celestini (colorist), and Clem Robins (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC/Vertigo.

Dysart is getting some global press about Unknown Soldier, which is kind of neat. There's also at least one Ugandan blogger who digs the book, which is neat as well. I'm not saying that just because the people about whom the book is written like it, so should you, but it's kind of cool that Dysart has put so much effort into getting at least the misc-en-scene correct.

This continues to be a gripping read, as Moses heads to Kampala to save Margaret Wells, the actress he was going to kill until he changed his mind but who's still in danger from the people who wanted Moses to kill her in the first place. So that's the plot. However, this issue focuses on Sera, Moses's wife, who's putting together the benefit dinner which Margaret Wells will attend. She learns that Moses had a white fiancée who is coming to Uganda for the benefit, and she doesn't quite know how to process that. It's very interesting that as Moses begins to know more about himself, he becomes more "unknown" to his wife, and not in the way we expect (the fact that he hears voices telling him how to kill, for instance, which might surprise Sera). Dysart does some very nice writing in this, showing again that as he continues to ease off on the obvious politics of the first arc, the book gets stronger because the political reality of the country comes more into focus. Dysart, for instance, introduces a character who may or may not show up again. He's an older white man who obviously does business in Uganda, and in just a few panels, and without doing anything about the character's politics, we get a sense of this man and his relationship to the country. We have met Moses's ex-fiancée before, and we know she's posing a bit in this book, but even without knowing that, we get a sense of it from the way Dysart presents her (which is, to be fair, largely positive). It's more subtle than it was earlier in the book, but it makes the experience of reading the comic much better.

As usual, Ponticelli does a nice job with the art. There's one absolutely terrifying panel, but it's not what you expect: it's of Jack Howl, post-vomiting, and he looks like he could kill everyone in the world, and it's freaky. There's also a wonderful sad panel of Moses, in pain and lost, not knowing if he can atone for his sins. Ponticelli continues to create this world with Dysart, and it's nice to see that they have good synergy together.

Unknown Soldier keeps getting better. Maybe its higher profile will mean better sales. That would be nice!

Wednesday Comics #8 (of 12) by people more talented than you are! $3.99, 15 pgs, DC.

Hey, Hal Jordan! Can you suggest an unusual spice that one wouldn't necessarily think of to garnish this giant lobster creature I just caught off the coast of Maine?

Thanks, Hal!

So many questions about issue #8 ...

Why is Gotham Today being sold in the Gotham Examiner box?
Does Gotham City have littering laws, and does Commissioner Gordon feel he is above them? (Maybe this explains why Gotham is such a hole - if the commissioner doesn't follow the laws, why should the Joker?)
Didn't Kamandi live in New York, and if so, what's he doing in Mississippi?
Why is Superman still whining even while he's thinking?
Who knew ghosts wore panties?
Why doesn't Deadman see that those women are totally evil, as it's fairly obvious?
So Dillon didn't turn into that thing, but was encased by it? Icky.
How cool is Gaiman for referencing Strontium Dog?
Is Java too awesome to be contained within the confines of the strip?
I'm sorry, I just can't stand the Titans strip. I'm sure Berganza and Galloway are wonderful people, but it's just no good at all.
How neat is Pope's use of narration to obscure what Alanna says to Zotar?
Don't you just want to hug Zotar and tell him it will be all right?
How cool is the inside of Doctor Mid-Nite's refrigerator?
Did you notice that Gray and Palmiotti make a reference to The Last Resort, their IDW mini-series?
Why do metas need their own cookbook?
Can I have Amanda Conner's babies?
How many times has Chemo been cracked? Shouldn't someone come up with a better containment unit for him?
Why does Fenris the wolf look like a giant rat?
Did you think, when you started reading this post, that I would reference two different beings named Fenris?
Why hasn't Rock fucking killed anyone yet??????
Flash: What the hell?
Are those Morgaine's natural eyebrows, or does she spend hours in front of the mirror penciling them on?
Doesn't striking with the spellsword of lust usually get teenaged boys and girls into hot water?
Why doesn't Aquaman do something with the water inside the bodies of the Justice Leaguers to fuck them up? Doesn't he get tired of getting dissed?

I have no answers for you, fellow travelers. I have no answers!!!!!!!

Zero Killer #4 (of 6) ("L'il Rascals") by Arvid Nelson (writer), Matt Camp (artist), and Dave Stewart (colorist). $2.99, 24 pgs, FC, Dark Horse.

I sort of already reviewed this, even though it wasn't specifically for the third issue, but the mini-series as a whole. I will say that, according to the backmatter, Matt Camp is the bald dude on the cover with the word "tested" written on his severed head. That's pretty awesome.

Okay, that's all for this week. My mother, who is visiting this week (my daughter's seventh birthday is Sunday, so my mom came for the party), was surprised by the sheer number of comics I bought. I didn't have the heart to tell her that this is a fairly normal week for me.

I bought a certain trade paperback this week, one that features what might be the greatest pull quote in the history of pull quotes:

You don't get anything if you know what trade this is, but I will be fairly impressed.

I was a bit proud that no one got last week's totally random lyrics, although I suspect everyone knew that they were from Kelly Clarkson's tune "I Do Not Hook Up" but were too ashamed to admit they knew. Come on, people, rock out with Ms. Clarkson! You know you want to! Let's check out some new totally random lyrics. Fret not, manly men can admit to knowing these!

"In your single-roomed flat in a courtyard building
You sit alone just like a broken toy
Where's your mother, where's your lover
and where are the children
Are you a man or still a boy?
Who left you behind, or did you run
From the crush of so many options?
Now you know the special despair of the man
Discussed, debated and offered for adoption"

Finally, Cronin should totally buy this house. I'm sure he has the money lying around somewhere!

35 Comments

• At August 27, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  You bought twice as many comics in one week as I do in your average month, these days.

  But when I ...

• At August 27, 2009, Kevin wrote:

  God bless you, you Buckaroo Banzai-quoting nerd.

• At August 27, 2009, Michael P. wrote:

  Have you not been reading the words in the Kamandi strip? He's been on a road trip almost the whole ...

• At August 27, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Hickman came up with the alternate timelines idea in his lead-in mini-series to his FF run, Dark Reign: FF, which ...

• At August 27, 2009, Stefan wrote:

  Hickman did actually create The Bridge, during FF: Dark Reign, and at the end of that we saw just silhouettes ...

• At August 27, 2009, acespot wrote:

  i NEED to know which title featured that pull quote.

  i.

  must.

  have.

  it.

• At August 27, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  When did Sue go slutty in FF?

  I think I had one once where Reed was dead and she was doing ...

• At August 28, 2009, Matt k wrote:

  I had no idea AoA was canceled. The up shot is now I have a better reason to pick ...

• At August 28, 2009, alastair wrote:

  I though i had seen a council of alternate reed's before maybe in waids run.

• At August 28, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Michael: I know Kamandi's been moving around, but I haven't been getting the sense that he was ranging so far ...

• At August 28, 2009, Matt K wrote:

  ah, Killer of Demons. I should actually be getting that trade in on Monday. That is an awesome ...

• At August 28, 2009, Brian wrote:

  was that the outfit with the see-through 4 where a 2 should have been?

  BTW, excellent review of Madame Xanadu. ...

• At August 28, 2009, ticknart wrote:

  Hey, lets be fair, The Incredible Hercules's recap page is also more entertaining than your average Marvel superhero book, too.

• At August 28, 2009, Greg Manuel wrote:

  "Come on, people, rock out with Ms. Clarkson! You know you want to!"

  Oh absolutely - I'm a big fan of ...

• At August 28, 2009, DS wrote:

  Reed's Bridge WAS Hickman's idea but, rather ironically, the wish to "solve everything" wasn't and, I believe, first appeared during ...

• At August 28, 2009, Ian A. wrote:

  acespot: All right, it's Killer of Demons by Chris Yost and Scott Wegener. Looks groovy.

  Aha! I figured it was Scott ...

• At August 28, 2009, Stefan wrote:

  DS - I think the phrase "Solve Everything" is Hickman's indeed. He's following up a tendency in recent years ...

• At August 28, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Reed's Bridge WAS Hickman's idea but, rather ironically, the wish to "solve everything" wasn't and, I believe, first appeared during ...

• At August 28, 2009, Stefan wrote:

  Matt K - I heard in some panel interview somewhere that Jeff Parker was busy "writing back-ups for AoA before ...

• At August 28, 2009, Matt D wrote:

  Hickman's SI: FF is absolutely worth reading, if only for Pirate Johnny and Sheriff Sue.

• At August 28, 2009, jazzbo wrote:

  Agents of Atlas is cancelled? Dammit! At least it will be a back-up in a comic I'm already getting. It ...

• At August 28, 2009, Timothy Burke wrote:

  I thought Idea #101 was from Dwayne McDuffie's short but really good run on FF before they flushed it through ...

• At August 28, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Killer of Demons is out in trade already? Huh. That was a good series.

• At August 28, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Timothy: Yeah, good point, as I haven't read a lot about what did and did not constitute a horrible, horrible ...

• At August 28, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Greg Manuel: That was funny.

• At August 28, 2009, s1rude wrote:

  Idea #101 is from McDuffie's excellent run - I'm pretty sure it was his fix for JMS & Bendis' weird ...

• At August 28, 2009, Timothy Burke wrote:

  Yeah, that's was it--McDuffie was basically trying to fix the damage done to Reed Richards as a character, and did ...

• At August 28, 2009, Greg Manuel wrote:

  From one Greg to another: Thanks dude. I quote you a lot from here, you know.

  Also...the notion of Reed ...

• At August 28, 2009, Stefan wrote:

  {{{{Hickman's FF:DR clearly went straight off from that, though I'm not entirely wild about where Hickman led Reed. It seems ...

• At August 28, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:

  I think Wagner wanted to show that Madama Xanadu had suffered because of the Inquisitions as a counterpoint to the ...

• At August 28, 2009, Alf Tupper wrote:

  Everything is pointing toward a Moriarty appearance (I can't recall if we've already had a Moriarty reference in the series), ...

• At August 29, 2009, Chris Warren wrote:

  Under the auto shop: unbelievably awesome. I'm almost willing to bet money on it.

• At August 30, 2009, Fascination Place » This Week’s Haul wrote:

  [...] the effusive praise heaped on writer Grant Morrison by folks like Greg Burgas (who calls him the “God of ...

• At August 30, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  I had no idea AoA was canceled.

  Yeah, my fault, sorry.

  Picked up the trade of the mini the other week and ...

• At August 30, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  So McDuffie's FF is pretty good?

  I stayed away as it looked ripe for what happened to his JLA run - ...

Once again, thanks to the Discount Comic Book Service for being such nice chaps.

Amazing Spider-Man #600 by Dan Slott, John Romita Jr, Stan Lee, Marcos Martin, and about 100 other people (Marvel)

I haven't bought a Spider-Man comic, since, I dunno, Ultimate Spidey started. And if we're talking the "in-continuity" stuff, since Mackie and Byrne were dealing in the single digits. Now we're back in the triple digits, and here I am purchasing a Spider-Man comic. Why? Well, I just can't pass up a deal. What we have here is over 100 pages of brand-new material, with no ads, for a cover price of five bucks. And DCBS was selling it at half price. How could I refuse? It's a lovely, thick wad of comics-- this baby took me about an hour to read (I had to stop twice for snack breaks)!

Slott, Romita, et al. have produced the best Spider-Man comic I've read since I was eight years old or so, and they've done so by creating a comic that eight-year-old me would unabashedly love. It also evokes all the feelings of a classic Stan-Lee-and-company Annual from days gone by. Look at what we get for our paltry dollars: A 60+ page main story with fight scenes and guest stars galore, a wedding, classic villains, and a cast of dozens. The spirit of Spidey's 60s heyday still lives, vibrantly bursting forth from every page. And let's face it-- at this point, Spider-Man flows so mightily through John Romita Jr's veins that he doesn't have to draw anymore, only bleed all over the page; when it dries, it looks like this-- which is to say, amazing. Or perhaps spectacular. Or maybe "Web of." Okay, not that last one.

I was truly surprised-- and pleasantly so-- at how good this comic was. It's Spidey as you like him: In college! In trouble! In action! action! action! Okay, maybe not that first one, but everything else. We've got Spidey cracking jokes (I quite appreciated the reference to Family Guy's "everybody gets one" and the someone-else-remembers crack about Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place), we've got the umpteenth Doctor Octopus story (with a twist), we've got J. Jonah Jameson officiating his father's wedding to Aunt May-- it's like Stan-Lee-a-palooza all up in here. Then The Man himself stops by to pen a quick ditty (with Marcos Martin art!) about a Stan Lee stand-in chatting with Spidey about all his freakish transformations and continuity mishaps, until he's driven mad by it all and seeks out a shadowy Steve Ditko for guidance. And then the rest of the Spidey-writing crew stops by for back-up strips, and those go about how you'd expect: Waid and Doran do an obvious but still moving Uncle Ben story; Gale and Alberti deliver a pretty but empty story about how Spidey's life sucks; Guggenheim and the Breitweisers do the same Aunt May story that everybody does every 100 issues or so; Wells and Donovan poke some fun at the Spider-Mobile's expense; and Kelly and Fiumara get to be all portentous and stuff with a Madame Web flash-forward. Throw in some one-page gags and even a letters page (gasp!), and you've got yourself an epic comics package that makes everything 1965 all over again. Or 1976. Or 1987. Or 1994.

Will it get me to follow Spider-Man on a regular basis? Well, no-- but it was nice to stop by and see what some old friends were up to. Eight-year-old Bill(y) gives it his highest recommendation.

Atomic Robo: Shadow from Beyond Time #3 by Brian Clevinger, Scott Wegener, Ronda Pattison, and Jeff Powell (Red 5)

I believe I've figured out why I enjoy Brian Clevinger's writing on this book so much. Oh, you may think it's for the face-rocking action or the hilarious banter-- and well, it is-- but it's also for his unwavering commitment to verisimilitude. Recently, he's spent some time on the Atomic Robo site explaining why giant robots and aliens aren't gonna show up in the Roboverse anytime soon-- because, naturally, a world with giant robots and aliens wouldn't be a world exactly like our own. You may find this a bit hypocritical, considering the comic is about a talking robot that fights giant bugs, Lovecraftian beasts from beyond this dimension, and Nazi war machines, but I enjoy seeing everything fit into an uber-context, rather than a patchwork universe like DC or Marvel, where God is a known quantity, space travel's a piece of piss, and extinction events occur every two weeks without daily life being affected at all. That's why the back-and-forth dialogue between Robo and the supposedly time-traveling super-smart raptor Dr. Dinosaur in the Free Comic Book Day special was so awesome. But that's me.

Anyway, the comic. This issue jumps the story ahead by a few decades, as 1950s Robo reencounters the aforementioned Lovecraftian beast from beyond this dimension in a cross between an Atomic Age B-movie and the Left 4 Dead video game. It's as funny, cool, and exciting as every other issue of Atomic Robo, which just goes to show that this is probably the most consistently enjoyable comic on the stands. And you should buy it.

Also, Scott Wegener's art is as lovely and fluid as your favorite lager. The overlooked team of Pattison and Powell does an excellent job, too; every aspect of this comic is just damn pretty. Now buy the damned thing or I'm going to come to your house, use your bathroom, and leave the toilet seat up.

Batman & Robin #2 by Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, and let's be honest, you're not reading these credits, are you? (DC)

Can a comic be too good? Is such a thing possible? I'm afraid Morrison and Quitely may have discovered the alchemical formula to such a thing. Seriously, everything in this comic is so perfectly tuned: every word so considered, you can literally taste each line of dialogue; every panel so meticulously laid out, every image so precise, that the pages exist as modern architecture more than drawings on a page. Morrison and Quitely bring out the best in each other, of that there's no doubt, but their collaboration is such a well-oiled machine that the work almost feels rote and mechanical-- lifeless, by being too lively, or somesuch paradox. The rich art and seemingly minimalist scripting techniques that I've enjoyed so completely since I first saw them in concert on New X-Men in 2001 have perhaps oversaturated me; they hold less impact. Perhaps I'm just insane.

Anyway, the comic. It's a fast-paced sucker, this one, with a gorgeously laid-out fight scene taking up the bulk of the plot, though G-Mo and F-Qui crisscross these sequences with trademark after-the-fact Dick Grayson despair, though Alfred, of course, saves the day, as he always does. My biggest problem comes from Alex Sinclair's coloring, actually; the backgrounds shimmer like a pool of oil left floating in a parking lot. I'm not sure if it's a fluke of the printing process or a stylistic choice, but it is slightly off-putting to my eyes, at least. But that's a good thing. If this comic was any better it would probably suck-- going so far up one end of the scale that it appears at the other end, like a mighty Ouroboros.

Captain Britain and MI13 #15 by Paul Cornell, Leonard Kirk, Jay Leisten, Brian Reber, and Joe Caramagna (Marvel)

I have awfully heavy hackles, let me tell you, but several things still manage to raise them. Take the cancellation of this series, for example. I'm used to comics I like being canceled, as it's something that happens to me often. The unfortunate demise of this series could've been prevented, however, if someone in editorial took the unwieldy title-- and the fact that the good Captain is probably the least interesting character in his own book-- and changed it to Avengers U.K., or something similar. Avengers: England, BBC Avengers, The British Avengers, Wait, No, Not the Steed and Peel Ones. Whatever. That's what this comic's all about, after all-- England's Mightiest Heroes, defending queen and country. Those Avengers comics are pretty hot, these days. Maybe a different title and an occasional cameo from a sneering Norman Osborn would've given us another ten thousand readers or so. Who knows? The praise of the blogosphere clearly doesn't seem to have an effect on sales, otherwise the Top Ten would have stuff like Seaguy, Young Liars, Scalped, and this.

Anyway, the comic. This is the grand finale of my favorite Marvel series of the past, oh, 15 or so months. It gives us everything we could expect, in a Joss-Whedon-y "season finale that could totally be a series finale, and oops, it is" way. Tables turned, lost loves reunited, vampire torpedoes from space, a gratuitous Death's Head appearance, swordfights with Dracula, and probably the coolest final page from anything in a while. Paul Cornell writes the hell out of it, Leonard Kirk draws the hell out of it-- it's good comics. It's British comics.

Love 'em and leave 'em-- that's the British way. At least, that's what I've learned from James Bond and short-but-satisfying British television seasons. The nigh-paltry sum of 15 issues and an annual is certainly less than Cornell intended for this series, but I'm glad we got that much, at least.

(I would love Cornell to write a Blade series. He is the only one to ever make me care about Blade.)

Dethklok versus the Goon by Eric Powell and Dave Stewart, with some help from Brendon Small, and hey, they didn't credit a letterer, did they? (Dark Horse)

I've tried Eric Powell's Goon before, and it wasn't to my taste. I initially thought the same thing about Metalocaylpse, however, but giving it a few tries on Adult Swim eventually won me over completely. So when I saw that my favorite fictional animated heavy metal band, Dethklok, was crossing over with the Goon, I knew I had to give it a try. And so I did. And I didn't like it.

This reads like bad Metalocalypse fanfiction, which is weird, because creator Brendon Small was brought in to script doctor. Lines that might work in a late-night cartoon, however, fall completely flat on the page, but most of the dialogue just doesn't ring true as what the Dethklok characters would say, or perhaps how they'd say it. "Flat" and "untrue" describes the art, as well. I love Powell's art-- and when it comes to the Goonverse characters, he's right on. But when he draws the Dethklok gang, he does so in a flatter, less-defined, 2-D style, as best to ape the look of 2-D animation; it all just looks off somehow, contributing to the lifelessness of the whole thing.

I can see why they didn't credit a letter, though-- because the lettering is terrible. Maybe Augie De Blieck and I are the only folks who notice this kinda thing, but the first-- okay, maybe the third-- rule of lettering is (or should be) "don't cross your i's in the middle of a word." Down with the serifs! It makes the whole thing look ugly. The choice of font isn't exactly a winner, either. The writing was probably half-killed purely because of the lettering, which is, of course, antithetical.

So yeah, I'll stick to the cartoons.

Doctor Who: Room with a Déjà View by Rich "Bleeding Cool" Johnston, Eric J, Kris Carter, and Neil Uyetake (IDW)

If all time travel stories give Greg Burgas a headache, this one would probably kill him outright. Our hero, the Doctor, receives a distress call (or does he?) and investigates, landing in a isolated space station in the literal middle of nowhere (or is it?). There's been a murder (or has there?) and the prime suspect happens to be an alien fellow called a Counter, who lives his life backwards in time (or does h-- yes, yes he does), answering the Doctor's questions before he asks them. So, naturally, to unravel the mystery, the Doctor travels back in time-- over and over and over again-- to work out the chap's story. Because of this, a few sequences in the comic have to be read backwards to get the full poop, a clever little trick we'd probably never see on the TV show.

Rich Johnston nails the tenth Doctor's voice down pretty well, as the script sparkles with jokes, asides, and one-liners, but the emotional moments sell the whole story. The backwards interrogation scene is the central showcase, and the main conceit of the plot plays those clever tricks with time travel that we all like seeing. Eric J's art is often rough-hewn, but tells the story well enough; the script's clearly the star here, though.

I've praised a lot of comics to the hilt in this post, batting my eyes at them until they buy me one drink too many and whisk me off to their respective hotel rooms, but I have to say that this little book here is my comic of the month. I wouldn't mind seeing Rich get another crack at the Whoniverse. This is a really great little one-shot, doing the exact kind of thing these comic spin-offs should do: telling a good story in a manner the televised parent can't get away with.

Greek Street #1 by Peter Milligan, Davide Gianfelice, Patricia Mulvihill, and Clem Robins (DC/Vertigo)

I give every new Peter Milligan comic a chance, because Milligan's delivered a lot of my favorite comics over the years. This is not one of them. The premise, which adapts classic Greek tragedies to a dark, edgier, modern HBO setting is okay enough, sure, but the execution leaves me cold, and I liked Davide Gianfelice's artwork more in the first arc of Northlanders. It's worth picking up if you see it lying around, because it's one measly dollar for an oversized first issue, meaning everyone should give it a try, as it's bound to be the perfect comic for somebody. I'm not that guy, though.

My biggest gripe with this issue comes from the coloring, however. I guess it adheres to the standard Vertigo color palette, but it looks more like Patricia Mulvihill never met a shade of brown she didn't like. Browns, mauves, anything generally dark that bleeds well together with other tepid tones, making the art look more muddled than anything else. I picked up the second trade of Scalped, from the same colorist, and I could barely tell what was happening on some of the pages. Nothing really stands out; the characters on every page look like action figures sinking into mud. I don't know if it's the fault of the colors, or the paper stock, or both, but this is probably the drabbest comic you will see this summer.

Ignition City #4 by Warren Ellis, Gianluca Pagliarani, Chris Dreier, Digikore Studios, and why don't these comics credit letterers, darn it? (Avatar)

Ever notice the indicia in Avatar's books? "All characters as depicted in these stories are over the age of 18"? I'm sure that's left over from Avatar's, er, less savory publishing days, but since they've become the go-to place for original work from Ellis, Ennis, and even Moore, among others, it seems like something they could do away with, no?

Anyway, the comic. Ellis brings the goods here, giving us my favorite issue of the series thus far. The reason? It's almost all down to Doc Vukovic; every line he spews is absolute gold, from the bit you see above to "Science will fuck you!" and "They are stupider than mud that's been fucked by a donkey." What Vukovic really brings to the proceedings, though, is heart. Our protagonist Mary Raven is finally able to let her guard down, allowing Ellis to reveal the emotional core of the characters. The series works in detailing a place where all the glorious, forward-looking, optimistic pulp science fiction of old has a cynical shadow fall over it. The Buck Rogers analogue reveals the horror of the future that turned him into a broken man; a thug, spending all his time in the engine rooms of those old shiny ships, laments never having seen space; the old Doc has stopped wondering, stopped being curious, and it's ruined him. Cracks begin to show in the dark veneer, however, as Ellis lets a bit of hope and redemption leak through; the mad bastard is, of course, a big softie.

Gianluca Pagliarani's artwork looks less like lines on paper and more like woodcuts, or perhaps etchings on the side of a big metal spaceship that's starting to rust over. It's a fitting aesthetic for this book.

Lightning Round!

Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter #2 by Kieron Gillen, Kano, Álvaro Lopez, Javier Rodriguez, and Nate Piekos (Marvel)

This book's likely to fly under the radar of most "mainstream" readers, I'd imagine, except for the completists (get all those space horse comics!), and that small sect of comics aficionados who enjoy "quality." And yet, this probably sells five times or more than Gillen's baby, Phonogram.

Anyway, the comic. It's cleverly written, with some fine character work for comics' favorite Bill, and well drawn by Kano. And it still has that snazzy Simonson reprint in the back, complete with eye-singing primary coloring.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #26 by Jane Espenson, Georges Jeanty, Andy Owens, Michelle Madsen, and Jimmy Betancourt (Dark Horse)

Joss Whedon has a strong pimp hand. This is why I'm still buying this series, which had, at one point, some forward plot momentum, but which took a year off to wander around and "find itself," like a pretentious teenager. And now Jane Espenson is kick-starting the plot again and throwing the whole cast in a room together because bloody hell, it's #26 and we haven't really done anything! When season nine-- which I'll probably buy, because pimp hand--  inevitably hits, I hope the cast shrinks considerably. We just can't care about faceless hordes of teen slayers getting impaled by faceless hordes of demons. The cast needs some serious trimming, and the thematic focus needs to go back to what it once was-- high school/college/growing up is hell. Not "my army is bigger than your army."

Anyway, the comic. Oz is back. Yay, Oz! Now can we get more racist Dracula?

Doctor Who #1 by Tony Lee, Al Davison, Lovern Kindzierski, and Robbie Robbins (IDW)

Here's the debut of the new Tony-Lee-driven ongoing Doctor Who series, and the last place we're going to be seeing the Tenth Doctor once David Tennant's final stories air at the end of this year. But even when Matt Smith graces our screen, we can still turn to IDW for more Doc Ten goodness. This issue's got the atmosphere of a 1970s episode with the gob of the Tenth Doctor, as he stumbles into old-timey Hollywood and runs into Charlie Chaplin-- oh, I'm sorry, Archie Maplin. That's the biggest problem with the issue-- the fact that something legal popped up at the last minute and turned Chaplin into Maplin. But that's what white-out is for. Meanwhile, Davison's art is solid, with some good facial work in spots, but the occasional awkward figure here or there. This crew seems to really "get it," and this series will sate Who fans' hunger as they wait for the next special to air.

I have no idea how Burgas does this reviewing thing every week. It took me two weeks just to write this.

16 Comments

• At August 13, 2009, Red 5 Comics » Blog Archive » Reviews for Red 5 Titles wrote:

  [...] Comic Book Resources It’s as funny, cool, and exciting as every other issue of Atomic Robo, which just goes ...

• At August 13, 2009, Joe wrote:

  The only problem with calling Captain Britain & MI13 would be that the internet would be complaining about "yet another ...

• At August 13, 2009, Matt wrote:

  Buffy Season 8, I want to love you, but you're taking waaaaay too long to do anything. We should already ...

• At August 13, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Isn't Chris Dreier the letterer on Ignition City?

• At August 13, 2009, Michael P. wrote:

  You said it was funny, so I sincerely hope that Spidey 600 had more than just tired pop culture jokes. ...

• At August 13, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  I got all excited thinking you had #3 of Batman And Robin to review... where is that thing?

  Also, it weirds ...

• At August 13, 2009, onion3000 wrote:

  'Captain Britain & MI13' should have been called "The Blighty Avengers."

• At August 13, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:

  "‘Captain Britain & MI13? should have been called..." the Cancelled Avengers. Buh-Bye.

• At August 13, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  I'm glad you finally read a Spider-Man issue again. the fact is, despite all the complaints from the professional ...

• At August 13, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  .) But it seems half the guys on the internet refuse to even look at the book anymore, so they ...

• At August 13, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  (Two Guys, A Girl, & A Pizza Place? Yeah, that’s on-topic!)

  It is an outdated reference, but I loved that sitcom. ...

• At August 13, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Spider-Man is finally being done right again, even if they had to really screw things up to get it there. ...

• At August 14, 2009, Kieron Gillen wrote:

  Thanks, Bill. And, yes, it does.

  KG

• At August 14, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  Greg -- Avatar books don't credit the letterer, so who it is is unknown... unless you just ask them.

• At August 14, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  For some reason, even though I clearly recognised the psychiatrist as Stan immediately, it never occured to me that the ...

• At August 15, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Chad: Yeah, I saw that Dreier was the inker after I posted. I always assumed the artist lettered the ...

Atomic Robo: Shadow from Beyond Time #2 by Brian Clevinger, Scott Wegener, Ronda Pattison, and Jeff Powell (Red 5)

This, my friends, was my favorite comic from June 2009. Mark it in your ledger!

Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener have perfected their shared wavelength and created the most entertaining comic on the stands. Clevinger's plotting is perfectly pared down to the essentials-- after all that fun banter and exposition in part one, this episode's all action, but not without its fair share of hilarious dialogue, be it Charles Fort's mixture of eagerness and incredulity ("Edison would never allow the likes of you or I near his necrophone"), or Robo's carphone conversation with Nikola Tesla, in which he tries to act like nothing's wrong and he's not chasing down a giant Lovecraftian (literally!) beastie with a carful of lightning guns. Meanwhile, Wegener's artwork is crispier than fried chicken, his facial cartooning brilliant-- it's marvelous how he can eke so much emotion out of a character who, by all rights, doesn't have a face.

It's in the last handful of pages, however, where Clev and Weg (as they shall now be known) really hit me, as Robo literally turns things up to 11 and the reader is handed the most badass, exciting comic book moment I've read in ages. It's flawlessly paced, the epitome of action storytelling. "There's one underlying scientific principle common to all existence. ... Everything explodes." That's the best way to describe Atomic Robo-- explosively awesome. And not in the "Taco Bell put the fear of God in me" way.

Batman & Robin #1 by Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, Alex Sinclair, and Pat Brosseau (DC)

I suppose the title is technically "Batman and Robin," but I enjoy typing ampersands. What can I say about this comic that hasn't already been said? Nothing, probably. Heck, reviews of the second ish are already out and I've just sat down with the first! Egads, Bill, get with the times! Batman & Robin #1 is so last month!

G-Mo and F-Qui have this thing down to a literal science by now. They have become such a well-oiled machine that one expects nothing less than perfection from their collaborations, and we pretty much get that here. I loved the hell out of this thing, from the vibrant yellow background on the cover to the flying Batmobile to Quitely putting the sound effects into the art to the decrepit remnants of the giant mechanical dinosaur to the cutaway of the Bat-Bunker (which I did hope would be a bigger drawing, I admit), to Damian calling Alfred "Pennyworth" to the paracapes to the brilliantly disturbing new baddie Pyg. And now I'm out of breath. But yes, absolutely gorgeous and electric, giving me the same chills I got with Morrison and Quitely's first issue of New X-Men. You might as well call this New Batman, because that's what it is. I didn't think I'd care about Dick Grayson in the Batsuit, but I'd read it forever if these two Scottish blokes were in charge. Really, there is no need for another Batman comic besides this one.

So there, I've just repeated what everybody else said. But man! What a cool comic! Why couldn't Morrison's whole run to date have been like this?

Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter #1 by Kieron Gillen, Kano, Alvaro Lopez, Javier Rodriguez, and Nate Piekos (Marvel)

Kieron Gillen writing pop comics about hip music and the cool cats who dance to it? I can't wrap my brain around that. Kieron Gillen writing an action comic about a space horse with the power of a Norse god who decides to kill an unstoppable force that devours planets? Hell yeah, sign me up.

I get the feeling that Gillen's going to be a big name in a couple years, one of those go-to guys at Marvel who follow the same path as Matt Fraction or Jason Aaron-- they'll wow you with their early creator-owned work and then start spinning cool superhero yarns, but they gotta start by paying their dues. And so Kieron Gillen gets to write a mini-series about one of my favorite characters, the noble alien warrior with a face like a dead horse who shares my name and flies a talking spaceship named Skuttlebutt. I'm surprised to see Beta Ray Bill getting the spotlight as regularly as he has been, what with the mini-series and one-shots and team books he's appeared in over the last few years. What once was maybe a novelty pet character of Walt Simonson's is apparently a favorite of some editor out there, and so we're blessed with books like Godhunter, which is about the titular Bill deciding Galactus needs to die, and going about the mission. It brings him into contact with SWORD, which puts him in the path of of a being who disintegrates folks with his cosmic organ music-- yes, that happens-- and then into a smackdown with one of Big G's heralds. And yeah, the story is pretty groovy, and it could be going places, so I'll be looking forward to the second issue.

Kano should probably be a star by now, but it seems he keeps getting overlooked for the big assignments, and that's a shame, as he really bridges the gap between a looser, cartoonier line, and more of what's the Marvel house style, but it gives the art a real verve.

This puppy's a whole lotta pages for four bucks and has no ads! What it does have, though, is a reprint of Thor #337, the first appearance of Beta Ray Bill, written and drawn by Walt Simonson. I've got this issue in my collection already, but what really struck me in perusing the reprint were the colors, especially when compared to the new story. George Roussos provided the original coloring to this old story; on newsprint, it looked cool, rife with Benday dots, but on these slick magazine pages, the bold flat colors throttle one's retinas-- in a good way, of course.

Take a look at the two panels above. Which ones excites you more? Yes, coloring is far more of an art in comics these days, and I do enjoy the various digital brush strokes you can see in Thor's face on the opening pages, but these bombastic colors in the back half of the mag really command my attention. A lot of coloring these days feels really over-rendered, which gives the pages a muddled feel, and certain contributes to the "sameyness" of Marvel art. Loads of careful attention is paid to the comics page these days, but I can't help be more enchanted by the almost violent, done-by-hand work of Simonson, Workman, and Roussos in some old issue of Thor.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Tales of the Vampires by Becky Cloonan, Vasilis Lolos, Dave Stewart, and Comicraft's Jimmy (Dark Horse)

I made sure to buy the one that had the Moon-n-Ba cover, because those two gents are awesome.

What Cloonan and Lolos give us here is something only tangentially related to the Buffyverse, but I'm glad that Buffy logo is on there, because that means a lot more people are gonna buy this comic, which is superbly crafted. Cloonan works away at the periphery of the Buffy mythos-- folks know vampires exist now, sure, and slayers are out there, but Nashua, New Hampshire is far from the Hellmouth (well, closer to the one in Cleveland), and dull teenage life is still dull teenage life. Jacob yearns for more, and he gets it-- at a price, of course. It's about choices, and bad ones, specifically.

Cloonan's known for her art, but she really sells the script here, especially with the mother character. Lolos' art is excellent as always, deftly cartooned, letting the primary characters be almost swallowed by the empty backgrounds, until the vampires bring everything into close-up.

Dave Stewart's colors are magnificent. There's a reason he's the best in the biz, and it helps that he falls more in line with what I talked about above. Many of the colors here are subdued-- lots of mauve, surprisingly-- but that works to the art's advantage. I dig Stewart's play with light, whether in the panel above with the parking lot lamps, or with the shadow that so often appears on the protagonist's face for the first half of the book.

So yeah, it's a good book, probably more akin to Demo than any issue of Buffy, and I hope the usual Buffy audience picks it up and responds well to it.

Lightning Round!

Astonishing X-Men #30 by Warren Ellis, Simone Bianchi, Andrea Silvestri, Simone Peruzzi, Morry Hollowell, and Chris Eliopoulos (Marvel)

A lot of folks rag on Simone Bianchi's art, and I'll say this: I really dig it. It's not the most dynamic, and the storytelling isn't necessarily brilliant, but my word, look at those ink washes! Every page of this looks like it wasn't sullied by mere human birth but instead brought down from Olympus by the god of storks himself and raised on pure, massaged Kobe beef. Other than that, the story finally decides to go places in its last chapter and the X-Men become dark, mean, genocidal maniacs. Maybe this is the beginnings of a dark, longform plot from Mr. Ellis, but it takes a lot to make me enjoy an X-Men comic, and I don't feel I'll be back for the next arc. Sorry, chaps.

Captain Britain & MI13 Annual #1/#14 by Paul Cornell, Mike Collins, Adrian Alphona, Leonard Kirk, Ardian Syaf, Livesay, Jay Leisten, Craig Yeun, Jay David Ramos, Christina Strain, Brian Reber, and Joe Caramanga (Marvel)

You know, I read the Annual, and still I feel that I don't know anything about Meggan or the game of cricket. There's not much in here to excite me or make me really care about the characters. Sorry, Paul! But I did very much enjoy #14. Yes, the opening negates the previous issue's balls-to-the-wall cliffhanger, but it does so using pieces earned from previous stories. Things are heating up for the big finale, and I'm looking forward to it, though I'm saddened that the end is near.

Seaguy: Slaves of Mickey Eye #3 by Grant Morrison, Cameron Stewart, Dave Stewart (no relation), and Todd Klein (DC/Vertigo)

I was going to write about this here, but I'm now considering saving my thoughts for a larger standalone post. But it may just have redeemed this mini-series for me; I'll have to reread the series and get back to you later. Promise!

Two-in-One Review!

Doctor Who: Autopia by John Ostrander, Kelly Yates, Kris Carter, and Kubikiri (IDW)

Thor: The Trial of Thor by Peter Milligan, Cary Nord, Christina Strain, and Joe Caramanga (Marvel)

I try not to buy comics whose titles don't start with A, B, or C, but sometimes I make exceptions.

I've lumped these two comics together because they both provoke the same feeling in me, which is that they feel like comics you'd find in a three-for-a-dollar bin in the back of a comic shop, wedged between unloved issues of Dan Jurgens' Justice League run. By which I mean they both exude the less-than-sexy aroma of the dreaded "filler." This Thor book is not unlike a random Thor annual you'd find in the early 80s, only with better coloring, and the Doctor Who comic lacks any of the more interesting or exciting ideas and developments you'd find in the show; it's just what one fears when they open a licensed comic.

I know Ostrander and Milligan are good writers-- I've read their good writing! I feel they're more capable than this. Both comics just kinda go through the motions, shuffling towards the inevitable when they happen to run out of pages and the plot decides to stop. The artists do their best with the material-- Kelly Yates' cartooning is quite polished, and he storytells the hell out of a plot that mostly consists of guys and robots standing around; Cary Nord draws a mean fantasy barbarian comic, and this issue is no exception.

Neither book, however, thrilled, intrigued, or otherwise truly entertained me. There's nothing inherently wrong with these comics-- everybody does a professional job, nothing stands out as an eyesore-- but they're just kinda there. A mediocre comic from good creators is the most depressing comic of them all.

5 Comments

• At July 2, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  Trial of Thor is almost worth it just for the whole CSI: Asgard element. I would totally buy a comic ...

• At July 2, 2009, Ian A. wrote:

  Wegener’s artwork is crispier than fried chicken

  If Red 5 doesn't use that as a pull-quote and slap it on the ...

• At July 3, 2009, Cass wrote:

  SPOILERS: I hated that it was the dwarves at the end of Milligan's Thor. I'd read Ages of Thunder and ...

• At July 3, 2009, Scott! wrote:

  I agree with Ian =D

  Gonna email this one to the bosses right now.

• At July 3, 2009, Philip Ayres wrote:

  > You know, I read the Annual, and still I feel that I don’t know anything about Meggan or the ...

So, in the second story contained in this issue, a dragon fights a genie. A DRAGON FIGHTS A GENIE!!!! Do I really need to go into more detail?

Oh, I guess I do. Well, the Namor/Namora romance is dealt with so that no one can point at Marvel and say, "Hey, they support incest!"¹ It was kind of a haphazard kind of mess, that first story, as the principals kind of wander around by a giant sea anenome that looks like a flower but is far deadlier than everyone (well, almost everyone) suspects until Bob figures it all out and everyone goes home. It's definitely not bad, but it feels kind of like Parker thought it would be cool to show Namor mackin' on Namora but wasn't sure how to extricate himself from that untenable situation. (I doubt if that's the case, as I'm sure Parker plotted the whole thing out long before issue #6 saw print, but it just feels like he wasn't sure how to get out of it.) It's notable for the subplot with Derek Khanata that continues to bubble as well as Hardman's fantastic art, as he really does a wonderful job with the underwater scenes. I'll get back to the coloring, which has been a bugbear² of mine since the title began.

The second story is the secret history of Mr. Lao, Jimmy Woo's dragon friend, as "told" to Temugin through a psychic link. And yes, he fights a genie ... and loses. So sad, Mr. Lao! It's a fun story that apparently leads into more secret history, and it's gorgeously illustrated by Pagulayan and Paz, which might sound odd given that I've been critical of that team since the title began. But you'll notice who's coloring the stories. Hardman's art is colored by Jana Schirmer, while Pagulayan's is colored by Elizabeth Dismang (who was recently featured right here on the blog, where you can see some of the pages from this issue). I don't mean to pick on Schirmer, but I just haven't liked her work on this book, as she seems to soften Pagulayan's lines far too much and, although Hardman's work resists that a bit, his work is a bit softer than it has been when Dismang (or should we call her Breitweiser?) colors it. Pagulayan's lines are much stronger in his section, and I have to assume that's due to Dismang's influence. This title has been fascinating when it comes to the influence that colorists can have on the art. I mean, I've known for years how much influence inkers and colorists have on the pencils, but this series is a fine example of that. I don't doubt that Schirmer is quite good (check out her DeviantArt site if you don't believe me), but I don't like the style she employs with the artists on this series.

Anyway, A DRAGON FIGHTS A GENIE!!!!!! And the recap page is quite awesome, as many of Marvel's are. I'd rather read the recap page than see yet another alien get shot through the head. You know which book I'm talking about!

Finally, Mark Paniccia edits both this and The Incredible Hercules. In a comics universe where it seems editors do, well, dick, Paniccia is editing two of Marvel's best books right now and throwing in footnotes when he gets the chance. I don't think it's coincidence. I'd just like to give a shout-out to Paniccia, because I rag on editors quite a bit.

¹ I don't know what the big deal with incest is. Okay, I do know what the big deal with incest is, but it's not like royalty for centuries haven't married cousins and whatnot. I mean, how closely related are Namor and Namora, anyway? It's not like they're fraternal twins or anything. Sheesh.
² "Bugbear" is a weird word. I don't know if I've ever used it before, either in speech or writing. Look at you, good readers - in on the ground floor of me using a word!

Astro City: The Dark Age Book Three #3 (of 4) ("Into the Abyss Part Three of Four: Deep Cover") by Kurt Busiek (writer), Brent E. Anderson (artist), John Roshell (letterer), and Alex Sinclair (colorist). $3.99, 24 pgs, FC, DC/Wildstorm.

I'm sure this has been pointed out before, possibly even by me, but one of the nice things about Astro City is how Busiek writes superpower encounters. He not only writes them from a bystander's point of view, which helps the reader get into it even more than usual, but because he is writing from this viewpoint, his superpowered fights are often disjointed, as we never see it all because the bystander is always ducking for cover and whatnot. In this issue, we actually get a bit more than we're used to getting, but it's interesting that the climactic moment, when Charles and Royal confront their parents' killer, is interrupted by superpowered beings, and Busiek does a nice job implying that this sort of thing is just a fact of life in Astro City - as he has often done in the past. Just because he's done it before doesn't mean it's not effective, and it's always interesting to see how Busiek comes up with all these characters with fascinating powers and basically uses them as a backdrop.

And we get some more interesting facts about the Silver Agent, which is kind of neat. Busiek is always cognizant of the world he's created, and I wonder how many charts and graphs and timelines and genealogies he has lying around to keep track of all this stuff (or maybe he's just a super-genius). As good as this book is in single issues, the pleasure lies in the entire epic, and it's always keen to re-read these (even though I don't always have the time). Yes, the saga of Charles and Royal is interesting, but it's interesting on more than one level - we have the human drama, but it also fills in a bunch of gaps in the history of this universe, and it's fun to read that part of it. And the Incarnate is pretty keen, even if I'm not sure how scary someone named Egron the Sifter could have been. Look out - he has a sieve!

Atomika: God is Red #9 (of 12) ("Test") by Andrew Dabb (writer), Sal Abbinanti (artist), Simone Peruzzi (colorist), and Dave Sharpe (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, Mercury Comics.

I really can't stress how uniquely wonderful this book is, because it's hard to do that in a world where so many different and cool comics exist. When issue #8 came out two weeks ago, The Dude wrote that it reminds him of Miracleman, and that's not as crazy as comparison as you might think. It's epic storytelling, the kind we get occasionally on something like Thor, except that Dabb and Abbinanti have, yes, gone to 11 on this book, and they've never turned it down yet. Even the "quiet" moments, such as early in this issue, when Atomika is reunited with his son Chernobyl, is impressive because of Abbinanti's art, which remains a blend of fantasy and Soviet-style propaganda that hits you right between the eyes. Yes, his thighs are gigantic, but these are gods we're talking about, people! They ought to have gigantic thighs, oughtn't they?

Of course, Dabb and Abbinanti continue to throw all sorts of insane concepts into the book, such as Chernobyl testing himself by opening the gates of hell and fighting all the demons contained within. The battle is visualized brilliantly enough, but Dabb keeps up with the purplest of prose, which still fits the bombast perfectly, and when Chernobyl does what he does to defeat the demons, Atomika's narration is pretentious in the best way possible, in that describing what Chernobyl does almost goes beyond words, and Atomika is just trying to keep up. Dabb does a fine job in the smaller moments, too, giving us a glimpse into Atomika's mind when he first sees his son after long decades apart and setting up the final act of this story on the final few pages. The machinations behind the scene are good enough, but it's Atomika's "humanity" - for lack of a better word, as he's a god - that helps ground the insanity and make this such a great book. In a comic book landscape littered with tinpot dictators who don't really earn their exaggerated speech, Atomika does, and it's fun to follow him through the years.

Come on - put down that book with whiny Hal and worshipful Oliver going off to make out (let's hope) and give this a chance! You know you want to!

Batman and Robin #2 ("Batman Reborn Part Two: The Circus of Strange") by Grant "It's nothing like 'Prodigal'! Shut up!" Morrison (writer), Frank Quitely (artist), Alex Sinclair (colorist), and Patrick Brosseau (letterer). $2.99, 21 pgs, FC, DC.

You know what's funny about Dick Grayson desperately trying to get Damian to listen to him? In a weird way, it's the same as Morrison and the other Bat-writers trying desperately to get the readers to listen to them: "Damian's really cool, you'll see! Dick can be Batman, you'll see! Hey, where are you going? Put that copy of Reborn down! Come on, what kind of lame explanation is that? We're DC, man! Didn't you love Dark Knight?" It's quite humorous. Or maybe I just see it that way.

Anyway, as much as the current regime would like us to forget it, I just can't get "Prodigal" out of my mind. I guess that was never meant to be permanent while this change surely is (wink, wink), but Dick's woe-is-me attitude in this book doesn't ring true because he's already replaced Batman once. Gordon and the cops sussing out that something is wrong doesn't ring true either, because Gordon already knows that others have taken up the Batman role, and he wasn't too jazzed the first time it happened. Morrison's writing isn't bad when Dick is speaking to Alfred about how sucky it is that Gordon just won't respect him (wah!), but it's just odd because Dick knows what replacing Bruce is like, and he should have gotten this out of his system long ago. It points out the fatal flaw with both "Prodigal" and "Batman: Reborn" - there's no reason why Batman is necessary. Nightwing can patrol the streets of Gotham as easily as Batman can, and while he might not have the same relationship with the cops or the same effect on punks, leading to a spike in crime initially, once he beats the snot out of some of them, he'll be established and everything can return to normal. Pretending to be Batman just makes people question you, as Gordon and the cops do, and as Damian does. Damian respected the man inside the suit, not the suit itself. Why should he respect Dick?

Anyway, the Circus of Strange part is still the best part of the book, and Quitely does a marvelous job with the fight in the police station. But, at the risk of opening myself up to ridicule from those smarter than I am who claim that if you don't understand every single thing in a Morrison/Quitely production you're basically a moron, what's going on in the last panel of the book? In the penultimate panel, Damian is getting overwhelmed by the freaky red-haired things, and the pig dude walks around the corner of the carousel (yes, I know a carousel is a circle, but he's coming around the corner of it anyway!) and watches as Damian gets overwhelmed. In the next panel, he continues with his eeeeevil monologue, implying that the final panel is happening simultaneously and, somewhat, in the same place. But I don't think it is taking place at the abandoned circus. It seems clear that this is Pig's "big plan" - have those red-haired dolls detonate bombs all over the place, and it appears that's what's happening here, as we see (I think) innocent bystanders caught in the blast of one of them. Is that what's happening? If so, boo. Have we heard anything about his big plan? Did I miss it in B & R #1, because there's nothing in this issue that points to this conclusion. I know that G-Mozz is all about making us do some leg work, but wouldn't a panel or two of the red-haired things assembling throughout the city been a nice bone to throw to us stupid readers? When you have red-haired things overwhelming Damian in one panel and in the very next one we see more red-haired things, we instantly connect that they are in the same place unless we have something to indicate they're not. That's not being stupid, that's the nature of reading a sequential narrative. If Morrison wants to get all Mark Danielewski or Milorad Pavic or James Joyce on us, he should get better at it.

Anyway, this is better than "Prodigal," I suppose. Boy, is that damning with faint praise. Oh, I'm just joking - I like it quite a bit. It's just that, as usual, I hold people like the God of All Comics to a higher standard than I do almost everyone else, so he tends to bug me more. It's still a gorgeous book, and overall, it features the kind of weird villains I like seeing "Batman" fighting.

And does Lucius know Batman's secret identity or not?

Chew #2 ("Taster's Choice Part 2 of 5") by John Layman (writer/letterer) and Rob Guillory (artist/colorist). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, Image.

Layman is still feeling this series out, so we get a few superfluous pages of Tony Chu arguing with his stereotypically assholish boss, but otherwise, he's just putting Tony through his paces on this first case. He introduces a love interest who probably isn't what she seems, gives us more about the main case and its connection to the chicken ban, and a bit more background about Mason Savoy, Tony himself, and the mysterious villain behind everything. It's certainly still a fun comic to read (well, "fun" being relative, as Tony does eat a human finger), but that's not why it's worth a look. It's worth a look for Guillory's art.

Yes, it's cartoonish, but so what? Guillory manages to mitigate the confrontation between Tony and his assholish boss with body language and facial expressions, showing just how assholish the boss is without Layman having to do anything, really. When Tony snaps and throws a punch at said boss, Guillory does a wonderful job showing how fast a big dude like Mason Savoy can move. The love interest (who appears to be some kind of food critic, but we don't actually meet her, so I guess we'll find out) gets a wonderful reaction shot to a hamburger into which she bites, while Daniel, the fast food worker who found a finger on a burger, goes from snotty to desperate beautifully (why he goes through this range of emotions is a highlight of the book). Then, when Savoy gets in a fight against Yakuza, Guillory really takes off, as the battle is choreographed as wonderfully as Quitely's is in Batman and Robin (their styles are completely different, of course, and Quitely takes more chances with his panel layouts, but in terms of choreography, they're similar). I still don't know how Layman will be able to keep this series going, but I hope he grows into the writing more, because his artistic partner is firing on all cylinders. It's not a badly-written book, but it gets a big boost from the art. And that, plus the strangeness of the concept, is good enough for right now. We'll see after the first story arc if it is.

Elephantmen #20 ("Star Bright") by Richard Starkings (writer) and Marian Churchland (artist). $3.50, 23 pgs, FC, Image.

As always, this review is a bit late because I was waiting to receive it in the mail. Mad props to Richard Starkings for sending it out to me. (Can a 38-year-old white man get away with using "mad props"? Such are the sociological conundra I pose here at the blog, folk!) It came out two weeks ago, but you might have missed it!

It's fascinating to consider how long Starkings has been working on this concept, as you look at the cover and realize it's signed "Ladrönn 2000." Starkings has just been sitting on the drawing, waiting to use it as a cover! Luckily, this issue focuses on Vanity and her relationship with Hip. Funny how that works out, doesn't it?

This is yet another quiet issue, as Vanity and Hip head out to the sticks to visit the only friend of a man killed back in issue #9. Hip tells Vanity it's agency policy to offer condolences in the cases of deaths in the line of duty, so that's why he's hanging out in a diner in the middle of nowhere. (As an aside: you rarely see the singular version of "condolences." I wonder why not?) He brought Vanity along to ease her into field work. That's the set-up, but in Starkings's hands, it becomes much more. When he brings up why they're there, he mentions it's also part of his rehabilitation. Vanity is curious about that, and we're reminded that Hip, as well as his elephantmen brethren, were killers back in the day, but before he can bring that up to Vanity, she's off on another topic, reminding us how flighty she can be. There's the usual prejudice against elephantmen, Vanity kicks some ass, and overall, it's a fine issue that once again examines the world of the 23rd century and how it's both very different and very similar to ours. It's also an insightful look into Vanity's relationship with Hip and how "normal" it is despite the obvious obstacles. Starkings has gotten better at writing this kind of issue, where things unsaid are as important as things said, and it continues to give the book more depth than it did when it started. Early on, the science fiction was more front and center, but as it's gone along, Starkings has gotten better at the social commentary, which has become a bit more subtle.

As with the last two issues, Churchland is a good choice for this kind of story. I'm not sure if she could do as good a job with the "hard" sci-fi parts of the book, but with these stories that have focused more on the "human" parts of the book, she's done a very good job. Starkings has taken the story out of the brooding city and into the country, and Churchland's soft watercolor look suits that very well. Her Vanity, interestingly, is a bit more innocent than Moritat's or Ladrönn's, which is interesting for this issue, as she shows herself to be a bit more vulnerable than we've seen her before (granted, she still kicks some dude's ass, but other than that). It's a nice contrast to the other artists who have worked on the book.

This book is definitely worth the time I have to wait for it. Of course, the free-ness of it factors in, too, but as I've said before, I'd be buying this even if Starkings cuts me off tomorrow! But I hope he won't.

Greek Street #1 ("Blood Calls for Blood Part One: The Monster of Greek Street") by Peter Milligan (writer), Davide Gianfelice (artist), Patricia Mulvihill (colorist), and Clem Robins (letterer). $1.00, 32 pgs, FC, DC/Vertigo.

Vertigo continues the category of "Why on earth wouldn't you buy this," as we get the first issue of Greek Street, which has 32 pages of story for one thin dollar, 100 meager pennies! And hey! naked chicks on the first page! Gold!

The conceit of this book, in case you didn't know, is that Greek characters from myths are still (or again?) living in London and doing the same old nasty stuff to each other. It's an idea with a lot of potential, and Milligan is twisted enough to pull it off. The main character, Eddie, gets involved in a gang feud and, if you know anything about Oedipus ... well, he fulfills some of that prophecy, too (ewwwww). Then there's a murder that a police officer named Dedalus is looking into, the aforementioned gang feud, and something odd going on in a house somewhere. Frankly, this issue is kind of a mess, as Milligan simply chucks what appears to be every plot thread into this and just hopes we can keep up. It revolves around Eddie, of course, but it's still a mess.

But guess what? Gianfelice, whose art isn't as rough as it was on the first arc of Northlanders, draws it all nicely, even almost giving us male genitalia (but doesn't, as even though this is a Vertigo book, we still can't have that, can we? we might all go gay, right?). It's a horribly creepy book, and Gianfelice does a great job with it, especially the ending, which made me and ought to make you cringe. And despite the mess, it's really compelling. Milligan does a fine job creating a bunch of characters and giving them interesting personalities. There's a ton in this book, and unlike the most recent Vertigo #1, The Unwritten, it doesn't have a straightforward plot - Milligan just throws us in and commands us to swim! And why wouldn't I? And why wouldn't you pick up issue #1? Maybe it's just wacky enough to lure you in!

Mr. Stuffins #3 (of 3) by Andrew Cosby (writer), Johanna Stokes (writer), Axel Medellin Machain (artist), Andres Lozano (colorist), Daniela Fiore (colorist), and Johnny Lowe (letterer). $3.99, 22 pgs, FC, Boom! Studios.

This series ends as predictably as you might expect, but Cosby and Stokes still have a lot of fun with it, from Mr. Stuffins acting like Rambo to Zack acting like, well, Rambo. Like a lot of Boom! books, it seems like it might have benefitted from (possibly) one more issue, but perhaps that would have been taking the conceit a bit too far. I guess it's fine as a three-issue series. The problem is that this comic is about the father as much as anything else, and David doesn't get as much screen time as he should. Unlike Mr. Stuffins, he's not terribly heroic, but he does what he has to because his family's in jeopardy. As fun as it is to watch a teddy bear kick ass, the real core of the book is a man desperately fighting forces against which he shouldn't have a chance, but doing it anyway. It makes for a nice comic, but it had a bit more potential than that, and I wish it had been realized.

Of course, as with every Boom! book, there's the price that often keeps people away. I guess they do fine (they've been around for a while, after all), but it's frustrating. I'd certainly rather read this for four dollars than a comic where the latest iteration of the Avengers goes around shooting people in the head just for fun, but that $3.99 on the cover is still daunting, I admit. I wish Boom! could figure out a way to bring down the price of the trade, at least. Oh well. That makes these difficult to recommend, because while I'd say for $2.99 this is a fine comic, I'm not sure it's worth the extra three dollars. I'm aware that I harp on prices far too much around here, but it's always in the back of my mind when I'm writing about these comics (not so much when I buy them, as I just dip into the kids' college funds - they won't mind, as by the time they're college age, we'll be eating random strangers and living in caves anyway). So it's something to think about. Sorry if it bores you.

Secret Six #11 ("Depths Part Two: Amazons Unleashed") by Gail Simone (writer), Nicola Scott (penciller), Doug Hazelwood (inker), Mark McKenna (inker), Jason Wright (colorist), and Travis Lanham (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC.

There's so much to love about this comic that I'm not sure where to begin. I mean, in the opening scene, that chick enforcer of Mr. Smyth is just wandering around with heads tied to her belt. Actual-sized human heads, that is. It's a tiny detail (I missed it last issue, if indeed it was there, which I suspect it was) that shows that both Simone and Scott are really at the tops of their games. Simone's dialogue is as crisp as ever - Rag Doll's quips are, of course, the highlight of the book, but Artemis's speech to the "nice" jailer is chilling and the team's argument at the end is great - while Scott continues to shine with every character, translating Simone's script into disturbing reality. When Jeannette wakes up to rescue Artemis, Scott gives her a truly inhuman look that reminds us that she's just not like us. Plus, there's another detail like the one above: Doll's butt flap on his pajamas is open, which cracked me up. Again, I don't know if that was in the script or if Scott just threw it in there, but it's awfully perfect.

I'm not sure about the idea of the prison, although Smyth's contention that great things have usually been built by slaves has, unfortunately, some merit. The grand concept of this arc isn't quite as kick in your guts awesome as the first arc, but this story seems to be exploring more of the moral boundaries of the team, and that's cool. Of course, Rag Doll is there to remind us who these people are: "Oh, dear, not slavers! Why, that's almost nearly sort of kind of barely a little bit about half as bad as the murderers and despots we normally work for!" Testify, Mr. Merkel! (Merkel?)

You know, you could buy a comic in which it appears a doctor bites someone's face off, or you could get this. Okay, it's nasty, but at least it's nasty with a ton of wit! That counts for something, right? And did you know the creators are women? That means you need to atone for your misogynistic past by buying it! It's your duty!

So much for this week. Not a lot of books, but damn, some good ones. And I suppose it's time for some totally random lyrics!

"Still feel it all slipping away but it doesn't matter anymore
Everybody's still chipping away but it doesn't matter anymore
Look through these blackened eyes
You'll see ten thousand lies
My lips may promise but my heart is a whore"

Cheery!

"Unstuck in time"? Really?

22 Comments

• At July 2, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Whoa! We can wrap the text around the images Whoa!

• At July 2, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  wrap what around the what now? ;-)

• At July 2, 2009, Michael P. wrote:

  What's the book with the aliens getting capped every issue? Because I don't know.

• At July 2, 2009, The Ugly American wrote:

  Stuffins? Whatever happened to Boris the Bear?

• At July 2, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Michael: That would be Green Lantern Corps. Aliens always seem to get shot in the head in that book.

  I ...

• At July 2, 2009, David Wynne wrote:

  The lyrics are Nine Inch Nails, I think. Something off broken- Gave Up, maybe?

• At July 2, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:

  Secret Six features a bunch of character types I don't care for. And they're villains, which often makes for a ...

• At July 2, 2009, Brad Curran wrote:

  I forgot that Greek Street was $1. Have to see if the shop has any copies left/ordered any.

• At July 2, 2009, Ian A. wrote:

  Whoa. Text wraps and numbered footnotes? How fancy.

  Actually, I'm none too keen on the text wraps. I prefer the old ...

• At July 2, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  Screw tags. I use tags at my blog and I use categories at this blog. I'm stubborn for no good ...

• At July 2, 2009, TimCallahan wrote:

  I thought Greek Street was terrible. Mid-90s bad Vertigo like the Nocenti Kid Eternity.

  Also, I can't read "Astro City" anymore ...

• At July 2, 2009, stealthwise wrote:

  Wow, if Callahan hates both Greek Street and the newest Astro City, then I should likely pick it up.

  Anyways, this ...

• At July 2, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  David: It's actually "Last," but good call!

  Ian: I was just experimenting with the images on either side of the page. ...

• At July 2, 2009, layne wrote:

  Shortly after reading Enigma, I accidentally touched another man - but was it really an accident? Brrr.

  Despite the inherent dangers ...

• At July 3, 2009, The Dude wrote:

  Thanks for the shout-out, Greg.You can use "mad props" anytime, as far as I'm concerned.

  Atomika really is an amazing book ...

• At July 3, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  I didn’t get the “unstuck in time” line. Is that a reference to Vonnegut’s Slaghterhouse Five?

  It's a reference to Captain ...

• At July 3, 2009, The Dude wrote:

  @Brian Cronin:

  Seriously?! I haven't read the book yet and I trust in Brubaker to pull it off but I ...

• At July 3, 2009, Rebis wrote:

  Actually, this month's awesome "Green Lantern Corps" featured a lively debate between Kyle & Guy on one side, and the ...

• At July 3, 2009, Ted wrote:

  Agents of Atlas pull quote:

  CSGB's Greg Burgas says: " I don’t know what the big deal with incest is!"

• At July 5, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  I thought Greek Street was terrible. Mid-90s bad Vertigo like the Nocenti Kid Eternity.

  That's over the line sonny!

  Although the issue ...

• At July 8, 2009, I’m Just Sayin’…#66 | Comics Nexus wrote:

  [...] But as much as I enjoyed BATMAN & ROBIN #2, Greg Burgas makes some solid points around the premise behind ...

• At July 15, 2009, I’m Just Sayin’…#67 | Comics Nexus wrote:

  [...] or not a comic book character should age is tangentially linked into the continuity question Greg Burgas noted in his July 1 ...

Oh yeah, I should probably tease the reviews. I'm sticking with grouping everything in categories, and I'm starting with some Batman comics you may not have heard of. If you are new to comic book blogs, at least.

Reborn, Reschmorn; I'm Just Here For The Creative Teams- Batman and Robin #2 and Detective Comics #854

These are both worth it for the art. I like Morrison's story better (I hope no one died of shock over that one), but Rucka's was solid. Nice to see Batwoman get some character development, although that's really faint praise, given all we knew about her before now was that she is Renee Montoya's socialite ex-girlfriend. Also nice to see Rucka and Cully Hamner doing the Question, even if that was one hell of an abrupt ending.

Obligatory praise of Morrison and Quitely. In the spirit of reader participation, I'll let you all fill in the blanks. What else do you need to say besides "this was a comic by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely. It is drawn well and is interesting." Well, okay, I did really like Alfred's pep talk and the way he gave Dick his motivation to be Batman. That's an underutilized part of Dick's character (says the guy who was read a total of zero issues of Nightwing). That's worth mentioning.

But really, I'm with these creative teams, I'm very happy to plunk down cash on these, even if they lack honest titles. I guess The Temporary Replacement Duo and Masked Lesbian Vigilante Two In One Don't roll off the tongue.

Also, an interesting debate broke out in the comments of Douglas Wolk's post about 'Tec in regards to following creators vs. following characters (well, sort of). Oh, and some guys says JH Williams III's art sucks. Don't see that every day.

Grant Morrison Wrote This One, Too- Seaguy: Slaves of Mickey Eye #3

So, yeah, that sure was the end of that story. Unlike a lot of Morrison written comics that I enjoy on a superficial level, I'm really not sure if there is much beyond the surface here (which is why people calling the first one unintelligible always bugged me; this is practically the most straightforward thing he has ever written!). I don't know why that bugs me, but it does. Although I'm not a decoder of his work, I do like knowing there's more below the surface. Of course, if there is, I'm probably ignorant of it here. Too bad other bloggers don't excessively delve in to his

That said, this was a very good comic book that I am glad I purchased, and I'm down for more adventures whenever Morrison, Cameron Stewart, and DC want to put them together. Where else am I going to see a tiny mad scientist riding a skeletal T-Rex? And, as always, Chubby Da Choona breaks my heart. I could also live with this as the ending, though. Maybe that's why it played out the way it did.

Marvel Team Books I Enjoy: Agents Of Atlas #7, Uncanny X-Men #512, Exiles #4, Secret Warriors #5

I'm going lightning round on these:

Agents- The recap pages alone makes this better than 99% of everything Marvel publishes. Nice that we got a back up without being taxed, and that Derek Khanata's back.

Uncanny- This is a jumping off point for me, at least until the crossover with Dark Avengers is over. It may be a good place for the rest of Fraction's run entirely, because I'm not sure he'll ever be able to top this, unless he gives us more stories with Steampunk Sentinels, thinly veiled Nikola Telsa, and the 19th Century's Hellfire Club. Or just throws Mark Twain in there and makes it a blatant sequel to the Five Fists of Science. I'd buy 8 copies of that every month.

Exiles- More pop culture references and a new artist, but otherwise, this is the same fun team book it was in Jeff Parker's* opening arc. I liked the swerve with the android coalition. I miss Salva Espin, but Kelley Jones and Karl Kesel are good replacements.

Secret Warriors- This reminded me a lot of GI Joe: The Movie. The original one. Unless someone announces that Sitwell's okay in a hastily thrown in caption next issue, I'm guessing that wasn't intentional.

And The Two Solo Marvel Hero Comics I Buy In Singles: Immortal Iron Fist #27 and Incredible Hercules #130

Iron Fist- This is a good way to end this volume. It's a pretty good jumping off point, really. I like the idea of an Immortal Weapons comic, especially with Jason Aaron involved, but I'll probably wait for the trade on it.

Incredible Herc- I hope Aegis winds up being resurrected. I like he and Cho as a duo. Zeus's trial has its moments, but it's probably my least favorite single issue of this run. That said, that's no bad thing. It's like being my least favorite hot actress who has terrible taste in comics. You're still a hot actress who is better than me at everything (I should really drop this now, shouldn't I?). Also, this is probably the best use of Uncle Ben since he died.

Licensed Comics: Buffy Season 8 #26 and Ender's Game: Recruiting Valentine One Shot

Buffy- It's probably a bad sign that I enjoyed this issue because the plot is finally moving, which means I'm closer to being able to finish the run. I hate being That Guy, but I am on board with this until they finish Season 8. That said, this was a legitimately good issue, with some laugh out loud moments (including a call back to Buffy's bi-curious moment) and a Seth Green variant cover. We need more of those.

Ender's Game- I got this for free. I came in not knowing much about the property (or its creator, beyond his views on homosexuality). So, I didn't know what to expect.

What I got was a perfectly okay if dull story about a little girl manipulating her teacher in to being less of a hard ass with his grading. In the future! This isn't representative of the stuff people swear by from Card, is it? At any rate, nice to see Timothy Green II, who really impressed me when he was drawing that Annihilation: Dirty Dozen With Rocket Raccoon mini. His work here is less impressive, but really, he doesn't get a lot to work with.

Beautiful Looking Viking comics With Stories I'm Not Entirely Sold On, But I will Buy Anyway Because Of The Novel Format And $2.99 Price Tag- Viking #2

Viking- That was the whole review up there.

Every Comic Book Blogger Is Required By Law To Review This- Captain America Reborn #1

When the recap ends and the plot begins, this gets good. And hey, I appreciate the sop to accessibility, even if it seems optimistic that a ton of people who don't know The Death of Cap storyline inside and out are going to be picking this up. This towed the line between being an event comic and a $4 issue of Brubaker's Cap well, and that's all you can ask. That, and my not feeling any cognitive dissonance when Hitch drew Captain America and he wasn't an a-hole make me glad I picked this one up.

*Full disclosure: Jeff Parker is my friend.*
**On Facebook. So are Jay Garrick and Chris Sims.

10 Comments

• At July 1, 2009, logomatic wrote:

  Just speaking personally, I haven't been following the adventures of BuckyCap all that closely, so I enjoyed the recap.

• At July 1, 2009, logomatic wrote:

  oo, I meant re-CAP.

  Bwahaha.

• At July 2, 2009, Craig wrote:

  I found Cap Reborn to be a jarring departure from Bru's prior 51 (50+600) issues on the title.

  (SPOILERS ON)

  I heard ...

• At July 2, 2009, s1rude wrote:

  B&R #2 wasn't quite as awesome as #1, but it was still money. Nothing new to say about 'Tec, ...

• At July 2, 2009, Ken Raining wrote:

  It's issue one rather then 601 so that Marvel can charge $3.99 for it.

• At July 2, 2009, james wrote:

  just to clarify, having a constant for your time-traveling escapades may be a lost swipe, but billy pilgrim had become ...

• At July 2, 2009, s1rude wrote:

  Excellent clarification, james. That was my introduction to Vonnegut, but I haven't read it in ages.

• At July 2, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:

  Being a gay hater is the same as being a racist, therefore I don't read any Orson Scott Card.

• At July 2, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Do you read Atomic Robo? I mean, you should, because it's right up your alley. Well, it's right up Chris ...

• At July 2, 2009, Brad Curran wrote:

  I didn't catch the Lost swipe in Cap because I stopped following it a couple years back. I didn't catch ...

Hot girls hitting monsters: Dead @ 17: Afterbirth #1 and Hack/Slash #23

Yes, I realize how hilariously awful that subtitle is on Dead @ 17. I was aware of it before a lot of you, I bet, thanks to this. That was part of the draw. That and I wanted a first issue. Which this really isn't in anything other than number. It functions more like the 32nd issue of an ongoing (which probably isn't too far off the mark; this series has been going for years). It opens a new storyline, but it references the backstory established in previous stories. Which is fine. It would be better if any of it made a lick of sense to me, but I'm sure whatever fans this property has are happy.

Howard's art is solid, in a "this looks like an animated series way", even if he seems to have a Tila Tequila fetish. There's just nothing here that makes me want to buy any more of the series ever. For my "post-Buffy girl who kicks supernatural ass" needs, I'll stick with Hack/Slash.

#23 is an interesting issue. Not neccessarily good, but interesting! It's a "double feature"; half of the issue is devoted to the story of a Nancy Drew-esque wannabe girl detective with autism (well, that's what the characters say at least; she seems kind of OCD to me, but I'm never actually studied up on autism when I was sort of supposed to). It's funny in spots, much like writer Tim Seeley's Archie parody was, as the poor girl detective stumbles in to a world she wasn't made for and doesn't fair too well.

The half featuring the actual lead character, Cassie Hack, has her fighting an evil snowblower that kills yappy dogs. Even Cassie seems bemused with that one. It does feature the ugliest poodle ever, so that's kind of funny. The back up story, where a demon tries to make bubble gum out of a Fundementalist Christian Reed Richards, redeems any flaws the lead stories might have.

Nominal Batman first issues: Batman and Robin #1 and Red Robin #1

B&R is exactly what I want out of a Batman comic. It's by Morrison and Quitely, which really isn't fair to all of the people in comics who aren't Morrison and Quitely. Damien as Robin is a blast, and I'm in for this as long as they are, or at least as long as Tony Daniel is not.

Despite not having read a solo comic featuring him since I was in grade school, I am quite fond of Tim Drake. The storyline that made him Robin, A Lonely Place of Dying, is one of the first comics I ever read in trade form. I was in interested in what he was up to with Damien taking over his old job, so I picked up Red Robin #1.

I don't think he works too well as an angst ridden, obsessed vigilante, so no thank you. Sure, if anyone has excuse to do that routine, it's Tim. He's lost two dads since Didio took over, not to mention various friends and girlfriends over the years, and he's been replaced by an incorrigible little sociopath. Also, I do think the series has a good hook; Tim's convinced that Bruce Wayne isn't dead and is searching the globe for him. That said, I don't think I'll be jumping on board for this. Chris Yost and Ramon Bachs provide a perfectly solid comic, but I need more than that to commit cash. Also, seriously, stop milking Kingdom Come already, DC!

You need one for the last page of the other to make sense: Captain Britain and MI13 Annual #1 and #14

I was pretty bemused by a lot of issue #14. While the fakeout was clever, I was really hoping MI13 would have to dig themselves out of that massive hole Dracula had placed them in last issue. I totally bought that half the team was dead, too, so I guess shame on me there. It's also sort of annoyting that Megan's appearance on the last page only makes sense if you read the annual (or that people who didn't read the annual might have to track it down). I dunno, that whole thing rubbed me the wrong way a bit.

Still, these are good comics. Cornell has found an interesting angle on Megan, who I never really had much time for in Excalibur. Really hope the creative team gets to work together after the series ends.

This also has vampires: Buffy: Season 8- Tales of the Vampires One Shot

I sort of agree with Hibbs here, in that this would have worked better if it wasn't a Buffy-verse comic. That said, it seems like Cloonan and Lolos are following the rules of the fiction, especially given the direction of the book right now. And it was a solid one shot. I really ought to get the GN these two, Gabriel Ba, and Fabio Moon are doing together for Dark Horse that this was sort of an ad for. The collective talent alone should make that worth reading.

Ed Brubaker Sure Writes Good: Captain America #600 and Incognito #4

I love anniversary issues, and Cap is the best I've read in some time. Brubaker structures his contributions the way he does an average issue of the regular series, so we get to check in on a variety of players before the ad for Reborn #1 shows up (which I'm going to buy, because Bru and Hitch, and also the LCS owner ordered a million copies or so). The art is also very good, even if Howard Chaykin's appears to be using Jay Leno as his chin model these days. Nice to see Blue Beetle's Rafael Albuquerque on the Girl Bucky short.

Beyond Brubaker, Roger Stern's contribution is a nice callback to the Grunewald era, because HOLY CRAP IS THAT BERNIE???!?!?!?! Mark Waid contributes a nice story about the adult who collected Cap.
There's also contributions from Joe Simon about he and Kirby creating Cap (which is more about producing the book and the legal problems they had with Archie than anything else) and a reprint of a Stan Lee written story. All it really lacks is contributions from Engleheart and Steranko to cover all the bases of great Cap creators.

I'm less bullish on Incognito because, seriously, there's nothing here other than Jess Nevins rad pulp fiction essays we couldn't be getting better in Criminal, pretty much. Or already did better in Sleeper, sort of. I'll buy anything Brubaker and Phillips do, because they're right there with Morrison and Quitely as the best duo in modern comics, but I don't have to be happy about it!

Really, I just miss Criminal. This is perfectly good comics, and I like Brubaker's world building. That, and I'll read anything with characters named Ava Destruction and Zoe Zeppelin. That said, I'll be happy when they get back to the straight crime fiction. Never thought I'd say that, given how much I love hybrid fiction (I'm buying the GI Joe version of Sleeper, after all), but there it is.

Dark Reign, Some Stay Dry And Others Feel The Pain (Is that reference so old in internet time I can be nostalgic for it?): Agents of Atlas #6 and Dark Reign Fantastic Four #4

Despite all the incenst in both of these (Black Sue totally wants Pirate Johnny), I love both of these comics. AOA is right up there with Incredible Hercules as my favorite ongoing. Dark Reign FF is already up there with the best of Lee/Kirby and that Simonson/Adams New FF story as my favorite FF story ever. Franklin's plan to deal with Norman Osborn alone is the greatest thing in any FF comic ever. I really can't wait to see what Hickman does with the ongoing.

And, all the rest: GI Joe Cobra #4 and Exiles #3

I was really enjoying the story of Chuckles as a double agent in Cobra right up until the end, where it just stops until a future one shot. The ending was suitably bleak, so at least they didn't cop out (even if I'm still not sure Jinx is dead).

Jeff Parker and Salva Espin's Exiles has just been really good so far, but don't take my word for. The internet's #1 Scottish X-Men Completist also says the same thing, but better!

8 Comments

• At June 20, 2009, The Dude wrote:

  I was also aware of how retarded Dead@17: Afterbirth is. I saw that same post on the ISB.

  But don't worry, ...

• At June 20, 2009, Patrick Joseph wrote:

  Actually Roger Stern did a callback to the Roger Stern era. Stern-- holy shit! created Bernie with John Byrne.

• At June 20, 2009, Jon Williams wrote:

  I am one of the few that do not generally enjoy Grant Morrison's work. But I have to admit I ...

• At June 21, 2009, Chris McAree wrote:

  Agree about Incognito. It's still at the top of my Pull-list.....but it's nowhere near the level Criminal was at.

• At June 22, 2009, Stephen wrote:

  I agree that Red Robin isn't bad, but the idea of it just doesn't work for me. First of all, ...

• At June 22, 2009, Dalarsco wrote:

  I disagree with your Captain Britain complaint. IMHO, an annual should be seen as an extra issue in the ...

• At August 21, 2009, Pulp Comics » Blog Archive » A Brief History of Comics – Golden Age & Silver Age wrote:

  [...] A Whole Mess Of Single Issue Comic Reviews You Don’t Need (goodcomics.comicbookresources.com) [...]

• At October 4, 2009, Pulp Comics » Blog Archive » Golden Age & Silver Age wrote:

  [...] A Whole Mess Of Single Issue Comic Reviews You Don’t Need (goodcomics.comicbookresources.com) [...]

6 Comments

• At June 19, 2009, Apodaca wrote:

  I will get over my dislike of Meltdown and probably go to this.

• At June 19, 2009, Squashua wrote:

  Zoids was really going somewhere awesome when they canned it. Seriously. Read it for yourself and prove ...

• At June 20, 2009, Stephen wrote:

  Goddammit, a rare screwing over of Canada by a holiday - July 1st is Canada Day, so no shops'll be ...

• At June 20, 2009, s1rude wrote:

  I first read this as "singing" and I thought I was going to have to get on a plane. ...

• At June 21, 2009, onion3000 wrote:

  It would be nice to ask Chantin' Grant whether he's giving Morrissey a cut of his royalties. I'm thinking of ...

• At June 29, 2009, Meltdown, Inc. wrote:

  There will be a signing component to the night. Right after The conversation with Clive, GM2K will hold a 2 ...

It sounds like it's part of Batman's "new direction." I'd prefer an All-Star style approach to continuity. And to be totally honest, I'd prefer a creator owned (or at least non-superhero) work out of these two, especially after RIP and (especially) Final Crisis. I liked those stories a lot, but I may be getting Morrison superhero fatigue at this point.

That said, it's Morrison and Quitely. So that preceding paragraph is kind of bullshit, really. The only proper response is as follows:

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And only that many exactly that many exclamation points are acceptable. Take note for future use.

40 Comments

• At March 10, 2009, red-Ricky wrote:

  Wait, so this comic is in-continuity? So, does that mean that Talia's demon spawn baby is the new ...

• At March 10, 2009, Rohan Williams wrote:

  Sweet. I think everyone knew this was coming, but there was always that chance that maybe the rumours weren't true.

  red-Ricky ...

• At March 10, 2009, Rohan Williams wrote:

  Aaargh. That should say 'monthly' book, not weekly, obviously.

• At March 10, 2009, Trey wrote:

  I'm not sure that Quitely would be able to keep a weekly schedule.

• At March 10, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  It's always nice to have Brad remind us what we were all feeling a month earlier, when the news actually ...

• At March 10, 2009, Stu wrote:

  Yeah, Quitely on a weekly schedule would likely result in people's faces looking even less human than they normally do ...

• At March 10, 2009, Cass wrote:

  God, this is so awesome. I hope they somehow manage to work the We3 pets into Batman canon. And that ...

• At March 10, 2009, Dave wrote:

  Nah, WE3's already part of the X-Men canon.

• At March 10, 2009, Rohan Williams wrote:

  "Quitely on a weekly schedule would likely result in people’s faces looking even less human than they normally do on ...

• At March 10, 2009, Kevin wrote:

  I'd imagine it very well could, Rohan. Wasn't Morrison's Batman the #1 DC ongoing for most of his run?

• At March 10, 2009, Cass wrote:

  @Rohan: This will almost definitely be the top seller each month as a lot of superhero fans will buy it ...

• At March 11, 2009, Killglance wrote:

  On the other hand, Cass, there are those like myself who have always disliked Quitely's Pucker-Faced art, and are completely ...

• At March 11, 2009, T. wrote:

  Not to mention that even though there are many who will buy it just because it is Morrison, there are ...

• At March 11, 2009, Tim Vojta wrote:

  This is a disaster. Grant Morrison is only capable of writing incomprehensible messes these days. RIP and Final ...

• At March 11, 2009, Killglance wrote:

  I just saw the preview art at IGN. I agree with the person who said Robin's face looks like ...

• At March 11, 2009, DanLarkin wrote:

  No accounting for taste, I guess. I'm very glad to see the rumors were true about this. This should be ...

• At March 11, 2009, fanboy d wrote:

  good news. coulda done without the '& robin' though...

• At March 11, 2009, Stephen wrote:

  >…but how can a book that comes out four times a year be “in-continuity”?<

  There's been plenty of quarterly in-continuity books ...

• At March 11, 2009, ninjawookie wrote:

  For all the people who didn't like RIP or Final Crisis, your hearts would be made of stone if you ...

• At March 11, 2009, Cass wrote:

  @Killglance: Well I don't think the fact that some people dislike Quitely will really change anything. It's sort of an ...

• At March 11, 2009, BDaly wrote:

  "Grant Morrison is only capable of writing incomprehensible messes these days. "

  No love for ASS?

  I've loved everything these two have ...

• At March 11, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  " @Killglance and T: Yeah I didn’t consider the bad blood over Final Crisis, so that’s a very good point. ...

• At March 11, 2009, Luis Jaime wrote:

  Hello,

  Just something funny I wanted to share:

  my 4 year old just saw the cover and said" "that one Batman, ...

• At March 11, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Well, I'm flippin' excited, but will be poorer than ever in June from buying too many comics.

• At March 11, 2009, Apodaca wrote:

  This is gonna be awesome.

• At March 11, 2009, Dan Bailey wrote:

  Good god. I don't think I've read a Batman comic, really, in 30-odd years ... but when did Robin become ...

• At March 11, 2009, Dan Bailey wrote:

  Duh. "Quitely FAILED TO take" ...

• At March 11, 2009, Craig B. wrote:

  Wouldn't Robin tip over if his head was really that big?

• At March 11, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  " Good god. I don’t think I’ve read a Batman comic, really, in 30-odd years … but when did Robin ...

• At March 11, 2009, Dan Bailey wrote:

  Nitz --

  It is, of course, a matter of taste, but my impression of Robin's head was that it was so ...

• At March 11, 2009, Dan Bailey wrote:

  Most of my adult LIFE. Damn whoever it is who refuses to allow an editing function here.

• At March 11, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Not to mention that even though there are many who will buy it just because it is Morrison, there are ...

• At March 11, 2009, Julian wrote:

  I dig the cover, bobble headed Robin and all. However, that interior page is incomprehensible, which is something I would ...

• At March 11, 2009, MarkAndrew wrote:

  Wasn't Morrison supposed to be done with mainstream superhero stuff.

  Wasn't he supposed to be done, like, eight years ...

• At March 11, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  He might be done for a while once he finishes his Batman run. This is part of his Batman run.

• At March 11, 2009, MarkAndrew wrote:

  And he DIDN'T say he was quitting mainstream comics in the past?

  I might be thinking of someone else. ...

• At March 12, 2009, Lawrence wrote:

  So this pretty much confirms Damian is the new Robin. But is that Dick in the bat-costume?

• At March 12, 2009, Stephen wrote:

  "The criticisms Quitely’s faces get seem to be the result of the superhero genre having artists who largely draw characters ...

• At March 12, 2009, Dan Felty wrote:

  Quitely has drawn Batman before in the one-shot Batman: The Scottish Connection written by Alan Grant. I don't ...

• At March 26, 2009, Gabriel Mckee wrote:

  There's a struggle going on in my brain between the parts that care very much about Morrison and Quitely and ...