Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 2/10

Batman #49
Story: Scott Snyder & James Tynion IV
Art: Yanick Paquette & Nathan Fairbairn

Damn, I promised myself I wouldn't cry...  So, the one true Batman is back, and my heart is as broken as I expected it to be by the choices Bruce Wayne had to make, and even moreso by the choices the people who love him had to make. Snyder uses the mind download device from his short in Detective Comics #27 as the way that Bruce can reclaim his past, which makes a fun Elseworlds-type story into a very cool bit of foreshadowing. And as the attempts to download the old memories into the new Bruce's mind fail, we see visions of possible Batmen in Bruce's mind die with each failed download. These different realities all show different, unusual Batmen, some with hints of classic other versions of Batman, some completely new, and it's a credit to both Snyder and Tynion for the ideas, and artist Yanick Paquette for their execution; the centerpiece visions of Batman as Gotham's white knight is gorgeous, but a post-apocalyptic desert Batman with a similarly garbed Robin is the one that grabbed my attention the most. But as cool as the science fiction of the issue is, and all the alternate Batmen are, the thing that grounds the issue and that makes it one of the best Batman stories of Snyder's run on Batman is the interaction between Bruce and Alfred. This Bruce, the one without the trauma, is possibly an even grater hero than his old self, because he willingly makes the sacrifice of everything that makes him happy to save Gotham. And this isn't a "For the Man Who Has Everything" situation, where he's rejecting a fantasy. No, he's rejecting a better life and a better self. And Alfred, loyal Alfred, is pleading with him to not do it. Everything Alfred says, whether before he is forced to use the machine that might return Bruce's memories or might just kill him or after, are the words of someone who loves this man he is talking to like his son. And between those words and the absolute, heart-rending pain that Paquette draws on his face, you can't help but feeling your heart break too. And when Julie Madison enters the Batcave and... I don't want to spoil exactly what she has to do, but her backstory with Bruce has been really well seeded throughout the series, and her choice is just as heroic as Bruce's. The original Golden Age Julie Madison was never that memorable compared to other Batman love interests, and while Matt Wagner did some great stuff with her in Batman & The Mad Monk and Batman and the Monster Men, it's these stories that have earned her a place in my heart alongside Selina Kyle and Talia as one of the great loves of Batman and a great character in her own right. The final panel of the issue shows a Bruce Wayne, shorn of the beard he has worn in his recent life by the heat and lightning of the machine that has given birth to Batman once more, wearing a look that is pure Batman, and with two lines, "Save it for the car. Let's go to work," you know he's back, and that the evil Mr. Bloom's day in Gotham are numbered.

Harrow County #9
Story: Cullen Bunn
Art: Carla Speed McNeil & Jenn Manley Lee

After taking a couple months off, Dark Horse Comics' southern Gothic, Harrow County, returns with an issue focusing on one the series' principal supporting characters: the Skinless Boy, one of the "haints" that serves Emmy, the series protagonist. The issue takes place over one night, and starts out with a mysterious new character jumping from a train and entering Harrow County, catching a sparrow from the air and fashioning it into a flute, and with the music of the flute he summons the Skinless Boy. This new character is clearly a witch (wizard? sorcerer? monster?) in his own right, as he spends the night leading the Skinless Boy through a journey of discovery. What makes this story chilling is the way this new character gets into the head of the Skinless Boy, the way he taunts him about what his life was like before he became what he is, and how he leads him along this path, through the woods, to the brier patch where Emmy found his empty skin, which he carries with him, and to the house where there are answers to the question of who he was and what his name was. And when he enters the house, what he finds shows readers a new secret of Harrow County, a secret about how Hester, the witch who is both Emmy's mother and possibly Emmy herself, created all the creatures that she populated her little corner of the world with. And even as the man offers the Skinless Boy a chance to maybe reclaim something, a name and a life, we see that what appears to be a monster may be much less one. The Skinless Boy remains loyal to Emmy, but this new man, who addresses himself as, "The Boogeyman's Boogeyman," is out there, and it's clear he knows more about Emmy and Harrow County than maybe she does. This issue is a great jumping on point for this series, because even if it doesn't feature the series lead in a leading role, it gives the reader a sense of the atmosphere that Harrow County provides, and that atmosphere, of dark dread, is part of what makes this comic outstanding. Guest artist Carla Speed McNeil does a great job blending her own style with that or series regular artist Tyler Crook to make the issue feel like a seamless part of the same world that readers are familiar with. If the weather outside isn't chilly enough for you, pick up this new issue of Harrow County to get a good chill up your spine.

King's Road #1
Story: Peter Hogan
Art: Phil Winslade and Staz Johnson & Douglas Sirios

It's a testament to how much I enjoyed the King's Road serial in Dark Horse Presents that ran from April through June of 2013 that I remembered it clearly when this mini-series was solicited and was excited to see where the story went. And for those of you not reading Dark Horse Presents, this first issue reprints the three part prequel, so you're getting twice as much story for the price of one comic! King's Road is the story of Don, a man who left his home world, a fantasy type one, and through magic traveled to Earth, where he set up a normal life. But now, his brother the king is dead, and his sister the general has been transformed into a dog, and so he's now king. So Don and his wife Sophie, along with his kids, Ashley and Tyler, have to go back to his homeworld and stop the evil sorceress Malicia. Only the kids have no idea that their dad is from a fantasy world; they think he's just a boring regular dad. This first issue spends time with each member of the family, as well as Aunt Amerine, who is now a talking dog, so it feels like an ensemble book. There are monsters, sorcerers, a creepy amusement park, guardians disguised as friends, and a traitor in their midst. The charm of this issue is that it takes so many fantasy tropes and plays them straight. There's no deconstruction of the genre, just high fantasy mixed with a touch if family drama. There's something abut a well trod tale told well, and Peter Hogan knows his fantasy well enough to keep it interesting, and knows how to build likable characters. The opening chapter is by the inestimable Phil Winslade, one of those artists who has the chops to do great superhero comics, great horror, and great fantasy, all with a distinct style all his own. Staz Johnson comes in with the new material, and he's able to capture the same sense of motion and excitement as Winslade, but not lose his own work in Winslade's style; Johnson is one of those artists who did a lot of Batman adjacent work in the 90s-00s, and I have fond remembrances of his work their, and he's only gotten better. King's Road is a great comic if you're looking for a light, exciting action and fantasy comic that has touches of the best of heroic fantasy.

The Manhattan Projects: The Sun Beyond the Stars #4
Story: Jonathan Hickman
Art: Nick Pitarra & Michael Garland

After a considerable delay, the new Manhattan Projects arc/mini-series, The Sun Beyond the Stars wraps up, and it's quite an ending. When last we left Yuri Gagarin and Laika, they were on a space ship with a group of criminals, surrounded by a fleet of Sionnu Science Union ships ready to board them, and with Justice Ryleth, the insane judge whose been chasing them, waiting to board the ship as well. And things don't get better, Like, not one bit. Jonathan Hickman's creator owned books from Image don't really have much of a sentimental streak, and this is an issue that ends like a Shakespearean tragedy: there are bodies everywhere. Hickman gets to run rampant with the action, with a big fight between most of the crew and Ryleth, while Primor, the escaped Sionnu slave that has led an entire race of vile super scientists down upon their heads, prepares for his endgame. And boy it's quite an endgame. Nick Pitarra gets to really go to town this issue, drawing fighting aliens and robots, as well as giant tentacle monsters. Chekhov's (ray)gun goes off, with the spores that were the cause of much of this hunt going off at the end of the series, and leaving us with a pretty barren playing field. And with just our Manhattan Projects alums left, Laika and Yuri floating in space, you think you might get a final sweet reunion between a spaceman and his dog right? Hah, you don't know The Manhattan Projects do you? While many issues of The Manhattan Projects are full of mad science and lots of talking, it's nice to get this climax that's full of action and humor. Well humor as long as your sense of humor is warped enough, and I recommend a particularly warped one if you're going in to this comic. Now with this arc over, and Hickman's contract with Marvel complete (mostly anyway, C'mon, let's get the end of SHIELD please!), I'm hoping we'll get a new arc set back on Earth of Manhattan Projects soon, but as send offs go, this is a very good one for our astronauts.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 3/18

Batgirl: Endgame #1
Story: Cameron Stewart & Brenden Fletcher
Art: Bengal

The silent comic isn't easy to do. I've read quite a few of them over the years, and I have often found them confusing. The artist has to have a very strong sense of storytelling, and I can only imagine the writer has to provide a strong script, or have a strong relationship with the artist, so they know the style the writer is trying to convey. The Batgirl one shot tying into the big Joker story running in Batman right now, "Endgame" is one of those really strong silent comics. Batgirl, who has been living in Bristol, one of the outer boroughs of Gotham, stands defending the bridge from the main city as those not infected by the Joker's toxin flee before the bridge is blown. It's a taut, well paced story, with legions of grinning, Joker looking Gothamites try to kill those who remain uninfected; it's a zombie apocalypse with a really creepy laugh track. But if the Jokers aren't enough of a problem, Tiffany Fox, daughter of Lucius Fox, has been separated from her parents, and Batgirl has to rescue her form the sea of Jokers. The Foxes were featured supporting cast members in the last year of Batwing, but haven't shown up as a family since then, and if you know the hardships they went through there, a reader can only imagine the devastation of losing their surviving daughter. So Batgirl uses a combination of brains and skills to save the girl. She also has help from Frankie Charles, her roommate who in the most recent issue of Batgirl (#40, also on sale this week, and a fine comic in its own right), joined Batgirl's crusade, seemingly as a new Oracle of sorts. Bengal is an artist I'm not familiar with, but his art is perfect for this issue. His Jokers are creepy, grinning ghouls, and his Jker (the real one, not the infected people) who appears on a screen briefly has an air of menace and madness. But it's the scene where Batgirl has to communicate with Tiffany over a distance using hand signals that sold me. The facial expressions and hand gestures are more eloquent than many words balloons. This is a great comic to show how far Batgirl has come as a character, confident and strong in the face of the man who crippled her; if the New 52 Batgirl needed an issue where she proved she had moved beyond the trauma of the Joker, this was the one.

Invisible Republic #1
Story: Gabriel Hardman & Corinna Bechko
Art: Gabriel Hardman

The dystopian sci-fi is a genre unto itself, and Image comics has some great ones going right now, with Lazarus, East of West, and the recently launched Descender. But I figured I'd give Invisible Republic a shot, on the strength of its creators alone. Hardman and Bechko did a tremendous job on the second volume of Star Wars: Legacy, exceeding all  my expectations, and another science fiction story seems right up their alley. And it did not disappoint. On Avalon, a distant world, reporter Croger Babb is getting nowhere asking people about how they felt when the Malory Regime fell. There's no explanation of what the Malory Regime was, but you don't need it. The look of the world, and the reaction people are giving Babb, makes it pretty clear things haven't been good on Avalon for quite sometime. And things for Babb aren't looking much better until he finds a bum burning stacks of paper. He buys the paper and settles in to read it, after we see that he is not exactly looked upon well by his fellow reporters, and we flash back to a time before Avalon was settled, when people had just arrived, before faster than light travel had been perfected, and to two people on the run: Maia Reveron, who wrote the memoir, and her cousin, Arthur McBride. Again, we enter in medias res, with Maia and Arthur camping alone on a beach, hungry and seemingly cast out. But an encounter with soldiers turns quickly brutal, as the soldiers attempt to talk them into joining the army of the Commonwealth, and when they are refused decide to simply conscript them. The fight scene is brutal, and it's clear that Arthur has a killer's instinct, while Maia has a softer heart, something that I can only imagine will come back to bite them, as she spares one of the soldiers after Arthur kills the other two. The final page reveal sets up the direction of the series, as it turns out Arthur eventually became the strongman and dictator of Avalon. It feels like we'll be watching the creation of a monster in one narrative, while Babb will be dealing with the fallout of Arthur's regime in the other. While this is a first issue, the world has a lived in feel; it's familiar without being derivative, like watching Alien for the first time. Hardman's art, with it's gritty textures, perfectly suits a world in decline. If Image keeps releasing new, smart, and interesting series like Invisible Republic, I might as well just hand my wallet over.

The Manhattan Projects: The Sun Beyond the Stars #1
Story: Jonathan Hickman
Art:Nick Pitarra

After returning from hiatus, it's nice to see that Manhattan Projects hasn't lost a step; it is still the craziest comic out there. This first issue of the new mini-series, The Sun Beyond the Stars, has a slightly tighter focus than the previous volume, with it's sprawling cast. The opening sequence, which feels like the teaser to a science fiction movie, introduces us to Primor, a mad alien scientist, and the Sionna Science Union, the government that he seems to have it out for. Primor's weapon of choice are spores that seem to sprout world killing monsters, and he has no problem obliterating planets and betraying allies to get them. Primor escapes at the end of the teaser, but if we've been taught anything by the first volume, is that nothing stops a mad scientist from attaining his goal, so I'm pretty sure we'll be seeing Primor again soon. The main story of the issue begins with finding Yuri Gagarin, cosmonaut, imprisoned on a space station, in a holding cell, hearing the story of an alien named Garru who apparently ate all the young of an entire species by accident, thus committing genocide. Yuri is apparently here for a parking violation, his ship wandering into the area as he looked for his lost dog, Laika, shot out into space during the last volume. We get a particularly funny court scene, when Yuri and Garru are brought before Ryleth the Hammer, and we learn Garru's full name, or at least his known alias. It's by no means safe for work, and I try to keep the swearing to a minimum on here, but it struck me as so funny I got an odd look from my wife as I laughed violently at it while sitting on the couch. The issue ends with Yuri and Ryleth heading to a bar, and a reunion, one that does not go exactly as expected. Jonathan Hickman is a writer who tends towards huge casts and crazy ideas flying every which way. But this issue, along with his recently launched The Dying and the Dead, are more intimate stories, focusing on one character. That doesn't mean the ideas are any less crazy or interesting, and that the books don't feel like Hickman stories. And Nick Pitarra is working at the top of his game, with wonderful and completely original alien designs. I'm curious to see where the rest of the cast of the Manhattan Projects are, or whether this will be a Yuri and Laika story exclusively, and exactly what Primor is up to. It's bad science all over again, and I couldn't be happier.


Dan Grote brings us a review of a Matt Signal favorite writer working with everyone's favorite Merc with a Mouth...

Deadpool’s Art of War TPB

Story: Peter David

Art: Scott Koblish

While Deadpool defies normal comic book conventions as a rule, he tends to defy the most rules in his miniseries. He’s killed alternate versions of himself, classic literary characters, and even the entire Marvel Universe.

In Deadpool’s Art of War, Marvel’s mirthful mercenary runs through Sun Tzu – the original author of the text from which this series takes its cues – changes Loki back to his classic look (while taking pot shots at J. Michael Straczynski and Matt Fraction in the process) and destroys Manhattan by pitting Earth’s Mightiest Heroes against the combined forces of the Nine Realms (That’s right, nine; Angela’s not in this one), in a battle that will never be spoken of again.

All this is so that Deadpool can publish his own version of The Art of War and make money. All he has to do is convince the Norse god of mischief to wage war on Midgard.

Peter David seems such a natural fit for Deadpool – a humor-driven character with occasional bouts of pathos – that it’s nearly unbelievable he hasn’t written him before, save, apparently, for an off-panel cameo in X-Factor. Artist Scott Koblish makes things fit even more like a glove, having penciled ’Pool in Gerry Duggan and Brian Posehn’s (nearly over) ongoing series. Koblish drew the flashback issues in the main title, such as when Deadpool teams up with Power Man and Iron Fist against the White Man or when he teams up with Iron Man against alcoholism. Koblish excels at drawing DP in when-in-Rome-style costumes, and he gives Wade a pretty sweet/ridiculous Asgardian helmet early on in the book, while he’s playing Loki against Thor.

Look for guest appearances from all your favorite Asgardians – except Angela – and pretty much all of Earth’s heroes, from the Avengers to the Fantastic Four to the X-Men. Also, because Loki is waging war on Manhattan and the Hulk makes an appearance, look for an easy nod to the Avengers movie.

(Please note: I wasn't able to find a good image of the cover to the trade paperback of this series, so that is the cover to issue #1.) 

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 4/28

All Star Western #30
Story: Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray
Art: Staz Johnson/ Jose Garcia-Lopez

It's not good to be a love interest for Jonah Hex. After burying the girl who he brought back from his brief sojourn to the 21st century, Jonah heads to town to find a room and finds Tallulah Black. For those of you not in the know, or who have only experienced that character through the unfortunate Jonah Hex film, Tallulah is a female bounty hunter Jonah trained initially to hunt those who killed her family, and became his recurring love interest and partner throughout the initial Palmiotti & Gray run on Jonah Hex. This issue is a good jumping on point if you're not familiar with either character, since Jonah has to establish his identity because his historically scarred face was fixed in his time in the future. You see that they are both coldblooded killers with little regard for pretty much anyone else. You see the fireworks between them, the perfect chemistry, and the final page of their story sets up what looks to be a bloody beginning to the next issue. This issue is also the first issue of All Star Western in a while to have a back-up story, something that was a regular feature when it debuted, and this issue features the New 52 introduction of Madame .44. A more obscure old DC western character, the origin is slightly altered, but still features most of the original aspect: father who was a miner, seeks revenge on those who wronged him, but it also adds a supernatural aspect that wasn't there originally. The extra big draw on that back-up is art by living legend Jose Garcia-Lopez, who hasn't lost a step in portraying the old west.

Duffman Adventures #1
Story: Max Davison/ Ian Bootby
Art: John Delaney/ Jacob Chabot

OH, YEAH! Bingo's Simpsons comics are consistently fun, but I have gotten a real kick out of these "One Shot Wonders," single issues focusing on single characters. This issue clearly focuses on Duffman, the pitchman for Homer's favorite beverage, Duff Beer. The issue features two stories, both of which are parodies; they're pretty on the nose, not very subtle, but are so full of in jokes and well put together, who needs subtlety? In the lead story, mild mannered Kyle McKagen is called by an extraterrestrial beer can to join the galaxy's leaders in partying, the Duffman Corps. Not only do we see Duffman versions of such legendary Green Lanterns as Kilowog, Salaak, Tomar Re, and G'Nort, but there are also Duffmen from the Rigellian species (Kang and Kodos of The Simpsons), and Nibblonians and Decapodians (Nibbler and Dr. Zoidberg from Futurama respectively). When you factor in Vinostro, king of the buzzkills, you get a fun Green Lantern parody. In the second short, we get previews of shows on the new Duff Network, including "CSI: Duff," "Duffton Abbey," and "DuffTales." "DuffTales" was my favorite, with Duffman in a Scrooge McDuck costume and bill, and three of the Seven Duffs as the Beagle Boys. If you watch The Simpsons, you know that Duff Beer is from a corporation so corrupt it would only fit in Springfield (or Wall Street), and so their product placement ads work as a good lampooning of corporate greed. And the next one shot features Kang and Kodos! Nothing better than wacky tentacle aliens!

Eternal Warrior #8
Story: Greg Pak
Art: Robert Gill

I haven't talked about Valiant Comics as much as I probably should have since their return, and I feel bad that I'm only now hitting on Eternal Warrior with its last issue. This arc finds Gilad Anni-Padda, the titular immortal warrior, aged and in the year 4001, a world that has returned to an almost Middle Ages level of technology. There, he has been on a quest to find a cure for radiation poisoning to save the village he has been living with an most importantly his grand daughter, Caroline. Gilad must lead a group of men and women to defeat a death cult that has claimed the bunker that holds the cure, and to do it, must teach them how to use weapons from the old days, including mechanical war suits and laser blasters. Gilad knows that teaching them to use the weapons could again bring about the destruction that was brought about by the high technology. In the end, while Gilad wins and saves his people, he also loses, as Caroline, enchanted by the technology, seems to be the one who will bring it back and doom the world again. This theme, that of the cycle of destruction and rebirth, is important in apocalyptic literature, and Pak adds the extra personal punch of Gilad seeing it's his own blood who will bring it about again. The series ends with this issue with some plot threads left dangling, and I'm hoping to see some of those dealt with in Valiant's new future set series, Rai. But Gilad is the eternal warrior, so I can only expect to see him back.

Herobear and the Kid: Saving Time #1
Story and Art: Mike Kunkel

A couple weeks ago I did an advanced review of the new Scratch 9 series, and said how glad I was to see another great all ages back. And now here's another of the best all ages comics I've ever read back with a new series! Herobear and the Kid is the story of Tyler, a young boy who got a very special inheritance from his grandfather: a pocketwatch that tells Tyler of someone is good or bad and a stuffed bear that, when Tyler presses his nose, turns into a full size flying, talking, superhero polar bear called Herobear. This new series takes place not too long after the first series, at Tyler's first New Year's since his family moved into the house his grandfather left them. He and Herobear have an adventure doing battle with a crocodile, and when he arrives home, he learns the secret of his butler, the always punctual Henry: Henry is Father Time, one of whose jobs it is to aid Santa Claus in his deliveries (oh, did I forget to mention that Tyler's grandfather was Santa, and Tyler is in line to be the new Santa?), and once a year, on New Year's, he turns into Baby New Year, and it's up to Tyler to protect him or there will be dire consequences. Of course, Tyler isn't even a teenager, so you know he's going to get distracted, and the evil Von Klon is waiting in the wings. Herobear and the Kid is the product of cartoonist Mike Kunkel, whose gorgeous black and white art is a major draw to the series. This is a well written comic, with plenty to read; I would be surprised if there were any books from either Marvel or DC that took as much time for me to read. That is not to say it is overwritten; nowhere does the book feel like I'm slogging through too much narration or dialogue. Kunkel really gets into the mind of a child who still can experience the magic of the world in a way we adults can't, while still keeping the stakes high and the action and humor coming. If you have a kid, or are a kid at heart, then you should be reading Herobear and the Kid, and this issue is the perfect time to come on board.

The Manhattan Projects #20
Story: Jonathan Hickman
Art: Nick Pitarra

This is it, the issue I've been waiting for since the series began. Early on, Albert Einstein discovered how to open a gate between worlds and dimensions, only to be left trapped in another dimension by his alternate self, Albrecht Einstein, who took the place of the great thinker. I knew Albert would be back, and now we get pay off on that long dangling thread. This issue is the story of what Einstein had to do to get back to his home world, and of what he experienced. We see exactly the kind of world Albrecht escaped, a crazy fantasy world where they believe science is magic and magic is science. We see Einstein passing through numerous other alternate Earths. And we see him having a conversation with his alternate self. Now, Albrecht has fit in pretty well with the narcissists and maniacs who make up the Manhattan Projects team, and no doubt he's not a very nice guy, but seeing the world he's from not only clearly makes him the lesser of many evils, but even Albert understands why he would do anything to escape it. And the reasoning behinds Albert's immediate assassination of Oppenheimer a couple issues ago becomes very apparent, and I feel is going to important as the series continues. I've always felt like Jonathan Hickman's strength as a writer has been his big crazy plots, but this issue does a nice job of giving us a character piece with a character who isn't a lunatic. And who could pass up a comic titled "Einstein the Barbarian"? Not me.


And a little additional recommendation. One of the seemingly exponentially number of podcasts I listen to is NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour, a weekly discussion of different pop culture topics. Occasionally, host Linda Holmes will have a fun quiz that the panelists have to take, usually to their shagrin. Well, this week, she handed the quiz duties over to Glen Weldon, their resident authority on comics, who happens to be writing a book about how Batman intersects with pop culture, and so naturally his quiz was about Batman. It's multiple choice, but pretty darn tricky; I wound up getting eight out of twelve. Check out the episode and see how you do.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 3/26

All-New X-Factor #5
Story: Peter David
Art: Carmine Di Giandomenico

We're five issues into All-New X-Factor, and I admit to feeling bad I haven't reviewed an issue yet. It's not for lack of quality. X-Factor was one of the consistently best books Marvel published for years, and the new version hasn't lost that quality. It's exactly for that reason that it's fallen below this radar; books this good regularly just sort of are expected to be good. But after talking about Peter David on Friday, I knew I had to discuss the new issue. The new team, the corporate X-Factor in the service of Serval Industries, has a very different dynamic than the previous one. The last X-Factor was a dysfunctional family; this one isn't there yet. There's a very funny dynamic here, with the two siblings sniping at each other, Gambit not trusting Quicksilver, the newly added Danger acting really weird, and the manipulative CEO of Serval Industries, Harrison Snow, clearly up to something. This issue begins the two issue arc that will round out the team's roster, with the first appearances in the series of Warlock and Cypher. Warlock is seemingly in league with his evil father, The Magus, who is hiding among humanity with the most conspicuous and evil sounding human name ever; clearly he doesn't get that there are no people with the last name Smaug. The action sequences are top not, with artist Carmine Di Giandomenico pulling out all the stops, but it's the smaller scenes that really grab. Danger's strange obsession with Gambit, after he helped reboot her in the previous issue, is interesting, building a different relationship between them, and fleshing out Danger. And I have to say, for everyone who rags on Cyclops, Havok once again proves to be the creepier Summers brother with his having Quicksilver hanging around X-Factor to spy on his ex, Polaris. This isn't going to come back to bite Havok on the ass when his occasionally unbalanced ex-girlfriend finds out. Not at all.

Bloodhound: Crowbar Medicine #5
Story: Dan Jolley
Art: Leonard Kirk

The new Bloodhound mini-series wraps up in an issue that is intense final issue that ties up all the story points, but leaves the characters in a very dark place. Clev, the man who hunts super people, his partner, Agent Saffron Bell, and their erstwhile super powered ally, Terminus, confront Dr. Morgenstern, the man who has been giving everyday people superpowers. Morgenstern's reasoning behind his program is warped and sent chills up my spine, especially in its logic. But in pushing Clev's buttons, Morgenstern made a mistake, and the confrontation comes to a bloody conclusion. The core of the issue is not the action or violence, and there's plenty of both, but the emotion. Morgenstern's pain at the death of his son, that has not faded, parallels Clev's own loss, caused by Morgenstern, and we see Clev as a man who feels like he has nothing left to lose. He ends up in a place even worse than the one he was in when the series began, both literally and figuratively. While the ending is a downer, it works in the context of everything we've seen in the series; not everyone gets a happy ending. The final discussion of Morgenstern's plan furthers what I read as a comparison to super powers and firearms, dealing with some of today's most divisive political topics in a way that comics do so well. I hope that we get to see more Bloodhound in the future, so if you didn't try the series, a trade will be arriving shortly, so give it a shot.

Manhattan Projects #19
Story: Jonathan Hickman
Art: Ryan Browne

After the past few issues, stories that have forwarded the main plot of the series, it's nice to go back a revisit the inner mindscape of Joseph Oppenheimer, where the war continues between Joseph and his brother, Robert, who he consumed and took his mind, especially after the shocking ending of the previous issue and the seeming death of Joseph. Hickman's story is exciting, with all sorts of crazy ideas that work because we're in a world completely controlled by the wills of the combatants, but artist Ryan Browne is the absolute star.  Having drawn the first "Finite Oppenheimers" story, returns to draw the bizarre world, with all the different versions of Oppenheimer in all of their different costumes, all the bizarre weapons, and all the chaos of massive battles of different versions of one guy massacring other versions of himself. I'm being cagey, because I don't want to give away all of the cool things that Hickman provides Browne to draw, because the joy of the issue is experiencing each page and all the detail worked into it. Browne's style works well with the series; his won but not so far from the work of series regular artist Nick Pitarra to be jarring. The issue ends with a resolution of the end of the previous issue, showing who it was who shot Oppenheimer in the real world, and it's the return of a character I have been waiting to return for some time. Every issue of Manhattan Projects is so stuffed with crazy ideas and twists that I keep thinking, "Nothing's left to surprise me," but every issue I'm proven wrong, and I love that.

Sandman: Overture #2
Story: Neil Gaiman
Art: JH Williams III

It's been five months since the first issue of Sandman: Overture, and I admit that I thought even my excitement, as an avid fan of all things Neil Gaiman, might have been dulled by the length of the wait. But by the end of the first page, I was enchanted again. The issue opens not directly where the first issue left off, but in the present, nearly a century after the events of the previous issue. Daniel, the current human incarnation of Dream, meets with Mad Hettie, an immortal bag lady from the original Sandman, and retrieves an item that I can only imagine will have importance in the future. With that, we return to the convocation of Dreams from the end of the last issue, with the different aspects of Dream having a conversation. Or is it a monologue? There is an amusing discussion of the semantics of dealing with an infinite number of the same being, all slightly different, speaking to each other, before events start to play out. The oldest Dream, the Dream of the first beings, talks to the others, and as each of the Dreams seems to be pulled away, Morpheus summons one who can answer his questions about the death of the Dream in the previous issue and what he was told about a coming end of all things. And in the end, Morpheus heads off with the Dream of Cats to go to a place the Endless should not walk and meet with a being whose description left me with my jaw on the floor. For an issue where there is next to no action in the strict sense of the word, an issue that is for all intents and purposes and extended monologue, a lot happens. The understanding of the cosmology of the universe the Endless exist in is expanded, and the threat is made more clear. And as ever, the art of JH Williams III is something to behold. It is literally breathtaking; there were some of his trademark double page spreads that made my breath catch in my throat. The different Dreams are all meticulously crafted, all different yet still clearly aspects of one being, and the dream house that Daniel and Hettie walk through is a twisted house that is part Escher, part Giger, but all the lush painted art of Williams. According to Gaiman, we won't be seeing issue three until July, another four months, and while I won't say I'm not disappointed, the quality of the first two issues makes it worth the wait.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 1/2

Batman Incorporated #6
Story: Grant Morrison
Art: Chris Burnham


The end of the first half of Grant Morrison's final act on the Batman titles centers around a conversation between Batman and Talia over radio, while Batman makes his way through one of Leviathan's houses of horror. As much as we've heard of Leviathan, Talia's evil organization, we haven't really seen them in play beyond a few small instances before now, but it seems that is about to change as the endgame begins. The whole series has always been really about the relationship between Batman, Talia, and Damian, and the family dynamic, and this is becoming more clear as Batman and Talia discuss Damian while he fights through an army of her minions. Talia gives Batman and ultimatum: save Gotham or save Damian. And Bruce freezes. He isn't sure which he would save, which for Batman is a big deal. It indicates just how important his son has become to him, and how central to his life Damian has become. The scenes taking place away from this confrontation are no less riveting. Members of Batman Inc, wounded and trapped on the top floor of the building that Batman is fighting through, and the scenes of Knight attempting to resuscitate the wounded Squire are heartrending. When The Heretic, Talia's lumbering bodyguard (who I still believe to be a possibly malformed and imperfect product of the same science that gave birth to Damian), arrives, he brutally seems to kill one member of Batman Inc., an event that will resonate further down the series. And in the Batcave, Batman's four sons (Nightwing, Wingman aka Red Hood, Red Robin, and Robin) discuss what they have to do, with Alfred attempting to referee. Damian's pain at possibly being sent back to his mother is apparent, and he has surrounded himself with his pets, Titus the dog and Batcow. And Alfred presents him with a new one: a kitten whose demeanor is as prickly as Damian's own, something that seems to please him. With an army of Leviathan's converts marching the streets of Gotham, and a last minute revelation by Talia about Heretic and the vision Batman saw of the future, this issue moves the series into its highest gear, speeding towards a conclusion that will no doubt leave the lives of Batman and his son changed forever.

Fatale #11
Story: Ed Brubaker
Art: Sean Phillips

"The Case of Alfred Ravenscroft" is the first of a series of one off flashback issues of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips horror noir series, Fatale. The issue, set in the 30s, features a younger Josephine then we've seen before. Josephine, one of the protagonists of the series, a seeming immortal with the ability to make men fall madly in love with her whether she wants them to or not, hunts down pulp author Alfred Ravenscroft to find out why the stories she read by him are so similar to the nightmares she has been having. Ravenscroft is a thinly veiled analogue for legendary horror writer H.P. Lovecraft, right down to the diary of his lingering illness, something Lovecraft did in the last years of his life. When Jo asks him where the ideas come from, Ravenscroft spins her a tale of his youth, traveling through Mexico with his mother and a cult that she joined. In the end, the young Ravenscroft sneaks into the leader's tent, and there sees a book that grants him a vision of a many eyed thing, a certainly Lovecraftian monster, something similar to the demonic things that have been plaguing Jo in the arcs set in the present. In the letters page, Brubaker comments that this story is one he's had in his head a long time, one that helped spawn the idea for Fatale, and has been reinvigorated by reading the Dark Horse Comics reprints of classic Creepy and Eerie. While I haven't read any of those, there is also a distinctly EC feel as well to this story, especially at the end when Ravenscroft introduces Jo to his mother, or the thing that was his mother. All Brubaker and Phillips works are atmospheric, and I enjoy how Fatale is taking both of it's literary ancestors, the classic horror and crime noir, and twisting them into a chilling mix. This is the first of four one off issues, and is a great point to give the series a try if you haven't yet.

Hellboy in Hell #2
Story & Art: Mike Mignola

Boy howdy, I can't get over just how gorgeous this book looks! I think I said pretty much the same thing with issue number one, but Mignola has only gotten better during his hiatus away from drawing Hellboy. This issue, Hellboy begins a Dickensian travel through his past, seeing his own birth and how exactly he received the fabled Right Hand of Doom, and then takes a trip to Pandemonium, the great city of Hell. There is no one who draws demons like Mignola in comics, creating things that look close to classic demons, with their cloven, goat like appearance, but still something very much in the vein of the universe that has been created. The dusty, twisted architecture of the abandoned Pandemonium adds to the overwhelmingly eerie feel of the issue. Even trapped in Hell, Hellboy maintains his usual cool and sarcastic demeanor, still refusing to take up the crown that has waited for him his entire life. The issue ends on a cliffhanger, with Hellboy about the confront the last demon in the city of the damned. This series is a great extension of Mignola's already fascinating Hellboy mythos, and it will be interesting to see more and more of what will happen as Hellboy tries to maintain his good spirit in a realm where good spirit is something distinctly lacking

The Manhattan Projects #8
Story: Jonathan Hickman
Art: Nick Pitarra

The Manhattan Projects is one of the most interesting comics on the market for its discussions of science and its relative morality, but this issue, there's nothing relative going on. President Harry Truman and his fellow Mason leaders have decided that the alliance between the Manhattan Projects and their Soviet counterparts in Star City to create science outside the control of their governments is not to be tolerated, and so AI Franklin Roosevelt has taken over all robots and tech that he can and has begun to kill anyone at the sites. And even in all of this chaos, Hickman finds a way to get in some very interesting character moments. The issue is mostly narrated by Wernher Von Braun, and we get a good view inside the head of the former Nazi scientist. I won't say he's made sympathetic, I don't think any of the cast of this series is ever going to be terribly sympathetic, but the reader is given a view into what drives Von Braun, and his passion to reach the stars and make advancements in science. Also, what other comic has an evil alternate dimension Einstein and Robert Feynman shooting robots with their computer screens filled with the image of our 32nd President? While the issue wraps up with the combined Soviet/American scientists winning a victory, the question remains how long can they maintain it?  The issue title, "They Rule," is spoken about the Masons, but with a victory for the Projects, has the balance of power shifted? Or is it just a matter of time before Truman and his crew attack again?

Recommended Reading for 9/14: The Manhattan Projects

One of the great failings of a lot of today's media is that they retread the same ideas over and over. They might polish them up, add a little shine (or gloom), but in the end, nothing is different from countless other stories, and nothing changes. This extends to not just comics, but movies, TV, and the stage. But sometimes, something comes along that is just bursting to the seams with new ideas; big ideas, little ideas, and everything in between. The Manhattan Projects, the recent series from Image Comics written by Jonathan Hickman and drawn by Nick Pittara, is a series that not only is full of ideas, but is about ideas.
The high concept on the title is simple enough: what if the Manhattan Project as we know it was just a front? That while nuclear research was part of the project, behind that were many other projects, all of them wilder and stranger than the last. And what if all the men involved in the projects were insane, evil, or just a bit off? Within each issue, there are a series of other concepts, little bits of science and philosophy, that mix to create a broad tapestry of ideas like none I've seen in recent memory.

In recent years, there actually have been a few writers in comics who really seem to love science fiction, and tend to jam their books full of ideas. It feels similar to the boom in crime comics in the early 00s; a few writers (in that case Brian Azzarello, Brian Bendis, Ed Brubaker, and Greg Rucka) seem to feel something coming and start telling stories in a genre that hasn't been featured in comics for some time.  Matt Fraction, Nick Spencer, and Kieron Gillen all have written interesting science fiction comics, some within traditional superhero universes, and some on their own. But for me, Jonathan Hickman is the preeminent voice of the new science fiction comics. While I haven't read his early works yet, I can say that I was impressed with his time travel series Red Wing, and his run on Fantastic Four/FF has been the best since Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo, a run that mixes both the family dynamic of the team with his brand of super science.

But for sheer science fiction, nothing he's done touches The Manhattan Projects. One of the things that I find really impressive is that The Manhattan Projects is legitimate science fiction. When Oppenheimer, Einstein, or Feynman are talking about the science behind their madness, there is (or at least seems to be to my relatively untrained eye) a legitimate basis in fact. It's easy in comics to talk about unstable molecules and ultimate nullifiers, but instead to talk about teleportation and dimensional travel and have a reader think that there might be something to that is a completely different thing.

The issues are each structured as done in ones that build off each other. This is great, since it allows readers to pick up any one issue and not feel cheated. But reading each issue allows the reader to understand more of what's going on. You don't need to know that J. Robert Oppenheimer isn't just a multiple personality, but happens to be his twin brother Joseph, who killed and replaced his brother, but it helps. The device seen invented in one issue can come to rear its head in the next.

Now here there be real spoilers. While I've talked about this as a book based around ideas, ideas are only as interesting as the characters who speak or embody them. And, hoo boy, these are some characters. The series is an ensemble book, with each of the scientists who were really a part of the Manhattan Project recast in a broken light. Richard Feynman is the closest the book has to a central figure, since each issue is framed with quotes from his autobiography, but different characters narrate each issue, giving the reader a view into the particularly twisted mindset of that character. I already mentioned Oppenheimer is actually a brilliant, if insane, multiple personality twin of the real scientist, but I didn't mention that he also has the ability to eat the brain of someone else and absorb their knowledge and personality. Albert Einstein is not this universe's Einstein, but actually Albrecht Einstein, an alternate universe reality version of the great physicist who replaced his double when Einstein bridged the gap between dimensions. And hey, if you don't like your scientists as evil doubles, you have the narcissistic Feynman, or the A.I. based on the mind of FDR.

The somewhat malign or selfish intentions of all these characters are important because there's more than just science here. There's a look at the philosophy of power and responsibility that I feel is part of all science and science fiction. Stepping momentarily onto a soap box, I don't think people are any more vile or violent than they ever were noawadays. I just think we have the capability to do so much more evil with modern technology, and can see so much more of it because of that. Social advancement has not caught up to technological advancement. And I feel like that is reflected in these stories. Every amoral or immoral character doesn't stop to think if they should do what they're doing. They just want to see if they can, not for anyone's benefit except their own, and for their own glory.

The fifth issue of the series was particularly chilling, as mankind contacts other species. The US government has had contact with aliens for some time, but when a new race appears to meet with them, things go bad, and Oppenheimer realizes, through eating an alien brain, that the aliens they have dealt with before have been conquered. So, a group of scientists go to meet these new aliens and, unbeknownst to him, use poor, irradiated Harry Daghlian to wipe them out. Power and fear are the driving force here, not thought and hope. This is not a story of man reaching out to the stars. This is the story of man shutting his borders and killing anything that tries to climb the fence, including his fellow man. And the final two pages, with Oppenheimer looking at the door to anywhere, and paraphrasing the most famous thing the real Oppenheimer is purported to have said, sent a shiver up my spine.

Artist Nick Pitarra is an able accomplice to Hickman's brilliant science fiction madness. His art is super detailed, with gorgeous backgrounds and settings. His characters are distinct, and while I'm not familiar with how all these people looked in real life, the ones I do know look similar to what Pitarra puts on the page, with some choices stylizing them (Werner Von Braun's super robotic arm, or Fermi's non-human features come to mind). The designs of the different alien species are fascinating and different from the more traditional aliens you see in many other places.

The Manhattan Projects is not a comic to read if you're looking to turn your brain off and sit back. This is a series to read if you want to think, if you want to be challenged. Moral questions, super science, alternate history; this is a stew of concepts. You might learn something, or some away with a new view on life. Or you might just get a kick out of mad science. Either way, it's a wild ride.

The first collection of The Manhattan Projects, Science Bad, is available now, collecting the first five issues. Issue six was released this Wednesday. Both should be at any good comic book store.