Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 2/24

Faith #2
Story: Jody Hauser
Art: Francis Portella, Marguerite Sauvage, & Andrew Dalhouse

The second issue of Faith is as absolutely enjoyable as the first, making it one of the most fun books on the racks right now. Having survived the explosion from the end of the first issue (not a surprise, as the comic is named after her after all), Faith now has an even more personal stake in hunting down the people who are kidnapping psiots. But Faith has a whole other life as Summer Smith, and she's not willing to give up her secret identity, so she also has to deal with work. And her boss at Zipline assigns Summer a takedown piece on Torque, who unbeknownst to the editor is Faith's ex-boyfriend, superhero turned reality star. Before I talk about that, I want to mention we're also getting a better feeling for what's happening to the kidnapped psiots, with them imprisoned somewhere surrounded by wealthy and beautiful people, once of whom seems to be sympathetic, but most who are vapid and unfeeling. Combine this with Torque not being willing to help Faith hunt down the missing psiots and his stereotypical reality star girlfriend, and we're seeing a theme of the callous upper class and society in general standing contrasted with Faith's caring. Faith also has her Torque piece rewritten by her boos because it didn't have enough bite, and the police aren't investigating the disappearance of Sam, the young psiot who Faith has been looking for. The fact that he disappeared when going to a fandom event gives him a kinship to both Faith and the readers, the majority of whom I'm sure have all gone to some convention, signing, or the like. But it's not all Faith at work and investigating. While doing that, Faith is discovered by the people who are hunting psiots, and Faith's relative naivete when it comes to secret identities (it's not the same as in the comics), gets her in quite a bind at the end of the issue. Faith is wonderfully well rounded character, so genuinely good, but with her own foibles and doubts, and the fantasy sequences drawn by Marguerite Sauvage are a great window into her head. Jody Hauser not only does a great job of giving us a well rounded heroine, but the references to Faith's previous adventures are not so dense that readers who have no previous exposure to the character get lost, but are tantalizing enough that its making me want to track down Harbinger trades. Faith #2 has a great balance of superheroics and character, and continues to build a mystery that has me waiting on bated breath for the next issue.

Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: 1953- Beyond the Fences #1
Story: Mike Mignola & Chris Roberson
Art: Paolo Rivera, Joe Rivera, & Dave Stewart

I'm fairly sure I've said this before, but in case I haven't, Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. is a breath of fresh air in the overwhelming gloom of the current Hellboy-verse status quo. I love the stuff set in the present too, but everything there is so dire, so end of the world. We're around sixty years before hell on Earth here, so while there is still danger, things are allowed to be lighter, and Hellboy has always been the brightest light in these books, full of quips, humor, and more humanity than most humans. This mini-sereis sees Hellboy, Agent Susan Xiang (the psychic who shared a spotlight with Hellboy in the Hellboy Winter Special), and Agent Jacob Stegner to investigate what may be a monster killing children in Pasadena, California; children and pets have been disappearing, and the first adult victim has been found savaged, so the possibility of monster calls for the B.P.R.D. Xiang and Stegner are perfect opposites: Xiang is a person who tries to reach out to others and cares, enhanced by her natural empathic abilities, while Stegner is a sarcastic bastard who doesn't demonstrate the smallest amount of empathy. The mystery deepens as a scientist at local lab appears to have stolen a sample of enkeladite, an extradimensional mineral introduced in B.P.R.D.: 1948. The real charm of this issue is seeing Hellboy interact with kids. In the Hellboy comics, Hellboy was never a secret like in the movies, so he's a well known personality. As the cover above hints, Hellboy is popular with kids, and a bunch of them come looking for autographs, and when Hellboy gets away from them he finds a boy crying because his dog has gone missing, and Hellboy does his best to comfort the boy. It's a charming scene, and I've become so used to Hellboy dealing with monsters and the damned, I forget how good he is with people. It's nice to see this current series tying in aspects from the earlier B.P.R.D. series set in the '40s and the previous stories with Xiang; it adds to the tapestry of Hellboy's universe. This series is drawn by Paolo Rivera, a newcomer to the Mignolaverse, and just... wow. I love Rivera's work on Daredevil and The Valiant, and he absolutely hits a homerun here. His style isn't as moody and expressionistic as many artists who have worked on Hellboy comic before, but this story, set in the suburbs and much of it in the daytime, works with his more realistic style, but that's not to say he can't draw weird. The two page spread of Stegner and B.P.R.D. agents fighting monsters in 1948 is a sight to behold, and the monster at the end of the issue is not what I would have expected but looks great. I'm happy that there's more Hellboy out in the world, and if you're looking for a good Hellboy story that isn't heavy on the continuity, this is a great choice.

Orphan Black: Helsinki #4
Story: John Fawcett, Graeme Manson, & Heli Kennedy
Art: Wayne Nichols, Fico Ossio, & Sebastian Cheng

Orphan Black is one of the tensest shows I've ever seen on television, one that slowly ratchets up that tension to keep readers on the edge of their seats and asking all sorts of questions. The current tie-in mini-series, detailing events hinted at in the series, about a clone massacre in Helsinki,
has reached the point where the tension has my skin crawling in a good way. Our protagonist clone, Veera, has been captured by the people who are conducting the clone experiments, and the beginning of the issue is the action part of the issue, as Veera and Jade, a clone who has been kept at the facility and tested, make their escape. And once their escape has been made, the two of them, along with Niki, a third clone attempt to bring the cloning experiments to light. Even though I know the inevitable ending of this is going to be ugly, it's exciting to see the slow build, as the clones attempt to get out from under the Dyad Group, and the monitors close in. Series writer Heli Kennedy, working with Orphan Black creators John Fawcett and Graeme Manson, have created a group of new clone characters that the reader can really engage with and care about, and that is going to make their eventual demise all the more painful, and matter all the more. The comic also takes us deeper into the relationship between self-aware clone Rachel, who works for Dyad, and Ferdinand, the cleaner (the nice term for their corporate killer) who works for them. The relationship was made clear in Ferdinand's appearances in the TV series, but seeing exactly how Rachel played him and got her to submit to her desires gives more dimension to both characters. Helsinki is a worthy addition to the mythology of Orphan Black, and a must read for any fan of the show.

Rick and Morty #11
Story:
Art:

A lot of tie-in comics try their hardest to capture he feeling of their source material, and while the hit to miss ratio feels better recently than in the past, its really rare to find an issue of a comic that feels like it could have been an episode of its source material. The Rick and Morty series from Oni is one hat pretty much always hits, and this week's issue is so delightfully and perfectly warped, it captures all the flavor of the series. As is standard in an episode of R&M, there are two plots here, a Rick and Morty plot and a plot revolving around the rest of the family. Rick and Morty's plot, while definitely the wackier, is he less character-centric here. Rick enrolls Morty in a virtual alien high school so he can get through the whole high school experience in one day. Of course, as with everything Rick has Morty do, there's way more danger involved here. Every time Morty fails, he has to rerun the lesson until he gets it right. A particularly funny one involves a little... risky business, shall we say. And just when Morty tells Rick to go shove it and seems to be making out OK on his own, well, things get kinda lethal and there's a callback to what seemed like a throwaway line a the beginning of the issue that comes back in a hilarious fashion. The b-plot, which is far more strange and character driven involves Morty's sister, Summer, and their hapless dad, Jerry, going full on Freak Friday thanks to messing with Rick's tech. Instead of having some great adventure together where they come to understand each other better, Jerry takes Summer's friends on a camping trip which seems to go over well, and Summer, well, she gets a call from Beth, her mom, who is ready for, "Beth and Jerry's Crazy Sexy Weekend Part two: Naughtytown for Me and You." We cut away from that pretty quickly, but the end of the story, and Beth's reaction, indicates nothing untoward happened, and that seems to have improved things between Beth and Jerry. The look on Summer's face as she glares at Jerry once they're back in their bodies is one of the best panels in the issue, as is Morty's reaction to Rick once Rick tries to get all sentimental on him. That sort of unexpected twist on the usual emotional beats of a family story is central to Rick and Morty, as is the warped takes on classic sci-fi tales, two things this issue has in spades and makes it perfect reading for fans of the show.

And Dan Grote reviews the much delayed and anticipated return of Warren Ellis's Karnak...

Karnak #2

Story by Warren Ellis

Art by Gerardo Zaffino, Antonio Fuso and Dan Brown

A personal matter in the life of artist Gerardo Zaffino sidelined one of All-New, All-Different Marvel’s first books, but writer Warren Ellis’ latest jerk protagonist is back with an issue that is almost entirely action.

Zaffino and co-artist Antonio Fuso make up for the wait with an issue full of martial-arts ultraviolence. Necks get snapped, faces get bashed in, eyes get gouged out and guns are shattered with the wave of a hand, all in a blur of action lines and hatch marks. Little seems to stand still. Everything, and nearly everyone, is destroyed.

Oh and hey, there’s a story, too.

Karnak, at the behest of SHIELD (see last issue) has been tasked with going after an AIM splinter cell that has kidnapped a boy who underwent terrigenesis – the transformation by which Inhumans acquire their powers – only to find the process did little more than clear up his allergies. The baddies’ base is run by a priest who claims the boy is a messiah who went with them of his own volition.

Also, said priest can make guns out of zen, which wins the award for Most Warren Ellis Thing This Issue.

Karnak dispatches the priest, but the boy is nowhere to be found. Before Karnak kills him, the priest tells him the boy is someplace called the Chapel of the Single Shadow, promising his killer a journey of discovery.

A flashback at the beginning of the issue reveals there’s some discovery to be had. We see a young Karnak stacking blocks while his parents – off-camera – argue about whether to expose their son to the Terrigen Mists, mostly because it didn’t work out so hot for his older brother, Triton, the merman-looking one. The priest knows this about Karnak, calls him “The Fake Inhuman.” The issue ends with Karnak alone outside a German bistro, watching couples do couple-y things on the street. Does a man who finds basic human needs a weakness still feel those needs himself? Hopefully we don’t have to wait another four months to find out.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 1/27 Part 1

Lats week was such a big week of comics, and I liked so many, that I decided to divide up the reviews into two days! Today, there will be reviews of books from DC & Dark Horse, and come back tomorrow for books from Image and IDW...

Black Canary #7
Story: Brenden Fletcher
Art: Annie Wu & Lee Loguhridge

Black Canary is one of the best books to come out of DC's most recent wave of titles (the other one will be popping up in a review a bit farther down the page), and the final issue of this first arc is a great example of everything this book does right. The origins of the mysterious Ditto are revealed, and it's a crazy sci-fi concept that still feels perfectly right in a comic that is mostly grounded in some of the more real aspects of a superhero universe. The thing that keeps the book grounded are the relationships between the characters. Despite Ditto having a seriously wacky and awesome sci-fi origin, the fact that everyone cares about her so much that it keeps them all grounded. And when Dinah tells the others to leave, that she's the one who will stand to defend Ditto against what is coming, no one else goes because, to quote Lord Byron (the band member, not the poet), "We're more than a band now, Dinah. We're a team, for better or worse." That journey, to be more than just a group of people driving around in a van, has been the core of this arc. And it's Ditto that allows everyone to come to a peace not just with each other but with their enemy, Bo Maeve, who also cares about Ditto. The origins of the band, why they're together and who brought them together, makes perfect sense in retrospect, as well. It's nice when the mysteries at the foundation of a book come together so nicely, and the answer about how Maeve got her powers and why it seemed like the same people helping the band were also working with their enemies. I also have to stress how impressed I am that Brenden Fletcher found a way to make me really like Kurt Lance, a character whose appearances in Team 7 and Birds of Prey made me think of him as a convenient plot device more than a character. The relationship between him and Dinah makes sense after this issue; you see that he's more than just some spy guy, but a decent man who really cares about people and is clever. There is a good potion of the issue that is a battle of the band against a creature called The Quietus, a thing that eats sound, and so much of the issue is silent, and Annie Wu, whose work has been astounding so far, steps up with her best work on the book. The Quietus itself is a great design, a roiling maelstrom on feet, and the sequence where first the band fights the monster with music and when Dinah and the mysterious white ninja attack the thing more physically are great. You can follow the action perfectly without any guidance of text, and it's exciting to watch. Not like any other book on the stands right now, or any other version of the character, Black Canary is a great book that had an ending to its inaugural arc as exciting as everything that lead up to it.

Grayson #16
Story: Tom King & Tim Seeley
Art: Mikel Janin & Jeremy Cox

After a detour into the "Robin War" crossover, Grayson returns to its standard form, a wall to wall international espionage action with plenty of joyful cheesecake shots of its lead. I'm sure we'll get some answers in the future about Dick's role with the Parliament of Owls, but as much as I'm curious where that goes, I'm glad Grayson returned to tie up the threads about Dick's war with Spyral, his previous employer. The majority of the issue is Dick and The Tiger, also known as the former Agent One of Spyral, both of whom have gone rogue and know something is rotten in Spyral progressively taking down one Spyral agent after another and bantering. The bantering is mostly from Dick, granted, as the Tiger really doesn't banter, but is more talkative than Batman, who usually is the recipient of Dick's friendly banter, and his grumping back at Dick is almost as funny as Dick's jokes. There is some really phenomenal art in this issue, including a Dick and Tiger walking out of the water shot right out of James Bond movies, and the montage accompanied by Dick singing his personal theme song set to the tune of "Goldfinger" also intentionally evoke Bond, and that theme song will be caught in your head. For days. DAYS. The few scenes that aren't Dick and Tiger's excellent adventure are dedicated to Matron, Helena Bertinelli, the current head of Spyral, growing more and more frustrated by Dick and Tiger's exploits. There is also a meeting of the Syndicate, the best spies in the world, who we have seen hints of, but now who stand revealed, and who will go after Dick and Tiger soon, and they're a group of pretty big names who I'm excited to see in action. To stand against them, Dick makes a seeming deal with the devil, but I won't say who that devil is; you'll have to read the issue to find out. Grayson is getting more exciting with each issue, and I'm curious to see what happens when Dick finally faces down Spyral. Because after all, he's Grayson. Dick Grayson.

Hellboy Winter Special
Story: Various
Art Various

While nobody writes and draws Hellboy and his world like Mike Mignola, but one of the best things about the whole universe is the different visions we get from other artists and writers, and so these occasional Hellboy anthologies allow for some new visions. The Hellboy Winter Special features four stories (well, three and one two-page gag strip) that bring some new creators into Hellboy's world and lets them tell stories of the Hellboy universe's past.

Broken Vessels (Story by Mike Mignola & Scott Allie; Art by Tim Sale and Dave Stewart): One of the stories set farthest back in the history of the Hellboy Universe, the story finds the original wielder of a magical blade that has been featured in B.P.R.D. back in the ice age running a foul of a sorcerer talking about the mystical Vril energy and then fighting ghosts. It's the first time Tim Sale has drawn the Hellboy universe, and the story is well suited to his dark and moody style

Wandering Souls (Story by Mike Mignola & Chris Roberson; Art by Michael Walsh & Dave Stewart): The longest of the stories in the anthology, this story takes place right in the middle of the current Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: 1953 series of one-shot and minis. Hellboy and Agent Susan Xiang are on a mission in Wyoming to investigate a haunting. They follow the local sheriff, who is quickly possessed by the ghosts, and while Hellboy fights him, Xiang communicates with the spirits to learn about why they're haunting, and we see that this isn't a simple case of angry spirits who need to be smashed. Chris Roberson will soon be taking over as regular co-writer of Hellboy and the B.P.R.D., and if this is any indication, he'll it in just fine, and Michael Walsh is one of my favorite artists in comics right now, and I;m glad to see him working on Hellboy.

Mood Swings (Story: Chelsea Cain; Art: Michael Avon Oeming & Dave Stewart): Novelist Chelsea Cain steps up to tell a story about Christmas with Hellboy, Prof. Bruttenholm, and a teenage Liz Sherman. And the only thing scarier than a teenager is a teenager who can burn you alive with a thought. And when her Christmas present from the professor doesn't go over well, Liz runs into the woods, where a sweet gift of a ring of festive snowmen from Hellboy turns horrible when they're possessed. Michael Avon Oeming draws some really creepy monster snowmen until, well, just think about a pyrokinetic fighting snowmen. Guess who wins, and it makes me want to see more stories of teen Liz.

Kung Pao Lobster (Story & Art: Dean Rankine): A two page gag strip where Lobster Johnson orders Chinese food, and, well weird stuff happens. It's a funny little story, and that's pretty much what you can stay about it.

None of these stories require any previous knowledge of Hellboy and his world, so if you're a new fan, a lapsed one, or one of the faithful, this is a great one-shot to check out.

Scooby-Doo Team-Up #14
Story: Sholly Fisch
Art: Dario Brizuela & Franco Riesco

When telling Scooby-Doo stories, the trick to keeping them fresh is not changing the formula, but finding ways to play with that formula for fun effect. Sholly Fisch's Scooby-Doo Team-Up always finds a way to take the Mystery Inc. gang, have them meet superheroes, and make it feel fresh while not violating any of the tropes of either world. When the gang gets invited on a cruise ship because of monster problems, it turns out the monsters are, shock of shocks, guys in suits, and with the help of Aquaman, they easily catch the undersea robbers. But pretty soon, it turns out this was all part of a plot by Aquaman's arch-enemies, Black Manta and Ocean Master, to distract Aquaman so they can conquer Atlantis. There's an homage to a classic Aquaman story, with Black Manta having kidnapped Aquaman's baby son, Arthur Jr., but being this is an all ages comic, the ending is much happier than in the DC Universe. There are cameos by much of Aquaman's classic supporting cast, including Aqualad, Tula, Topo the Octopus, Tusky the Walrus, and royal adviser Vulko, who is drawn way more ripped than I have ever seen him; animation treats Vulko pretty well. There are the usual gags with Scooby being a coward and Shaggy having the munchies, but the best classic Scooby-Doo gag that gets twisted here is Freddy continually trying to unmask villains underwater, and Velma and Aquaman having to remind him that if he does, these people will, well, drown. Oh, Freddy...

We Are Robin #8
Story: Lee Bermejo
Art: Jorge Corona, Rob Haynes, & Trish Mulvihill

The other highlight of the new DC titles, We Are Robin, also comes out of "Robin War" with a clean playing field and a new menace on the horizon. The focal points of this issue are two characters, our normal series lead, Duke Thomas, and Johnny Bender, a young man leaving juvie who after a failed surgery to solve facial paralysis is left with a permanent grin. And it should surprise no one that a Gotham kid with behavior problems and a fixed grin is going to idolize not Batman but his opposite number. We do see the other principle Robins being watched over by Alfred (I especially like Andre working out his anger in Midnighter cosplay (I'm trying to think what Midnighter's junior partner would be. The Nooner? Kid 10 p.m.?), so it's still an ensemble, but we're mostly following Duke and Bender. Duke is still on the quest to find his parents, and SPOILERS, he does find them. This kind of caught me off guard, since the end of the last issue of Batman teased Duke finding his parents, but this is his home book at this point, I suppose. It's a bittersweet reunion, as they are still effected by the Joker's toxin and don't remember Duke. Joe Corona draws the scene with true pathos, as you can see Duke's joy turn to pain and you watch his heart break. Meanwhile, Bender's reunion with his parents is no better. They're clearly pretty terrible people, superficial and unpleasant, and it's easy to see why their son looks for someone else to look up to, and unfortunately it has to be Joker. His decision to kill his parents is not surprising, as his narration has been disquieting since page one, and the pages and story are structured to really set Duke and him as opposite numbers in their own right. Between Batman and especially here in We Are Robin, the character work on Duke Thomas has made him and engaging and worthy member of the Batman family, and so giving him an archenemy seems like the next logical step. This clearly feels like it's the beginning of the Jokers, a gang that has its roots in Batman Beyond (yes, they're Jokerz there, but that's such a '90s future thing), and since so many of the aspects of that show have been entering the DCU since Convergence, it makes perfect sense and seems appropriate in this title. This is the beginning of the second arc for We Are Robin, and a great place to jump on.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 6/24

The Fade Out #7
Story: Ed Brubaker
Art: Sean Phillips

As readers get deeper into Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips's filmland noir, The Fade Out, they see that every player in the series is haunted by something. Most of the issue is actually taken up by the romantic and sexual romp of the series protagonist, screenwriter Charlie Parrish, and Maya Silver, the starlet who replaced the murdered Valeria Sommers. But even as the two of them dance and have sex at a beach house away from all the pressures of Hollywood, that world doesn't release them. A particular physical trait of Maya's causes Charlie to ask a question that once again brings to mind Val and the suspicions he has about the hedonism of the head of the studio he's working for and exactly how much that might play into Val's murder. And when they're called back to the city early, Charlie gets himself immediately sloshed and into a fist fight with another writer who attacks him for naming names and getting his old partner, Gil, blacklisted. Charlie is haunted by Val's death and his own writer's block, by the corruption of the world around him. And when he goes to clean up after getting beaten down, he finally has a conversation with the man he remembers seeing the night of Val's death, who identifies himself as Drake Miller from the studio, who clearly knows that Charlie is a front for Gil's writing. Charlie knows the threat for what it is, that being outed as a front is suicide in Hollywood at this time, and still does nothing. This paralysis of action is Charlie's defining character trait and flaw, and clearly is connected with his wartime experiences in Germany. The issue also has us drop in on PR girl Dottie and Tyler Graves, the closeted gay James Dean analogue, forwarding their plots, but it's really Charlie and Maya's issue. We do get a little more about Maya and exactly what she went through to get her job on this movie. Brubaker doesn't forward the plot of the series as much as the character, although the final scene with Miller and the note he slips to Charlie are clearly important, something he's done with various issues of his earlier series as well. Phillips balances both the lovely beach scenes with the deeper darks of the bedroom scenes, which are not graphic but sexual. The Fade Out, more than any of Brubaker and Phillips previous series, is a slow burn, piecing out its information slowly while bathing us in atmosphere. I'm wondering if there were clues in this issue that will come back around to be more important later. Oh, and if you've been enjoying Devin Feraci's essays on Hollywood of days gone by that accompany each issue, you should check out You Must Remember This, an excellent podcast about the history of Hollywood in the 20th century.

Gotham By Midnight #6
Story: Ray Fawkes
Art: Juan Ferreyra

After the two month Convergence hiatus, Gotham By Midnight returns with its strongest issue to date, thanks in no small part to new series artist Juan Ferreyra. Ben Templesmith did a good job on the first arc, but I'm a huge fan of Ferreyra's from his work on Colder and Kiss Me, Satan and his talent for drawing the supernatural and the disquieting is well suited to Gotham City in general, and the macabre cases of the Midnight Shift in particular. The ghost haunting Powers Corp R&D is grotesque and shiver-inducing, exactly what I'd expect out of Ferreyra. The issue's story picks up shirtly after the conclusion of the previous arc, with the Midnight Shift attending the funeral of Sister Justine, who fell to help stop the Spectre from wiping out Gotham, and still under investigation by Sgt. Rook of Internal Affairs. After a tense argument about the powers of both Jim Corrigan as The Spectre and his partner, Lisa, Drake, who is part banshee, the two are sent to investigate the aforementioned haunting at Powers Corp. The story there is a tale we've heard before, of corporate greed run rampant, caring more for the bottom line than the human lives of those who work for it, but Fawkes infuses it with character, and makes you really want to slap around the unctuous Mark Jenner, whose corporate think and ultimatums led to the death of George Wooley, who haunts Jenner and Powers to get his justice, something the Spectre can understand. Meanwhile, Lt. Weaver spends time with Dr. Tarr, the Midnight Shift's resident scientist, who has taken Sister Justine's death the hardest, and who continues to investigate the black flowers from Slaughter Swamp, which take on an eerie turn. If that wasn't enough, the final page reintroduces one of my favorite DC characters, one who hasn't been seen since the universe reshuffling that was Flahspoint: Kate Spencer! Yes, the last character to bear the name Manhunter, the tough as nails superhero/attorney is back. Methinks this might mean a recommended reading for Manhunter is coming soon from this very blog, but for now I just want to thanks Ray Fawkes for bringing Kate back, and adding her to the cast of this comic.

The Shadow #100
Story & Art: Various listed below

I don't know exactly what math was used to determine that Dynamite was at issue one hundred of the comic featuring pulpdom's original masked vigilante, but however they got to the number, the celebrated it with an impressive prestige format anthology collecting six stories of The Shadow.

Story 1: "The Laughing Corpse," written and illustrated by Francesco Francavilla, is the story of the Shadow following leads as prominent scientists are dying with their bodies contorted and  with grotesque smiles on their faces. No, it's not a crossover with another famous masked avenger (that's for later), but a story of revenge with Francavilla's usual style and grace, with gorgeous layouts an tons of atmosphere.

Story 2: Writer Victor Gischler and artist Stephen B. Scott's story deals with members of the card club frequented by the Shadow's alter ego of Lamont Cranston being robbed and killed. It's the most detective oriented story in the collection, although the reader is on on what's going on from the beginning.

Story 3: "Black and White and Red All Over" by writer/artist Howard Chaykin, who has quite a history with the Shadow, deals with The Shadow dealing with an old friend of his from World War I who is now a published of this new fad, comic books. We get a tale right out of the early days of comics, with gangsters and unscrupulous businessmen. And the final page shows an incensed Margo Lane, the Shadow's female companion, irked that the same crooks who bought out Shadow's old friend are no publishing a Shadow comic, something the Shadow takes in stride. Less so in...

Story 4: Michael Uslan, best known for being the producer of the Burton Batman films but who has written some comics featuring both the caped crusader and The Shadow in the past, and artist Giovanni Timpano, tell a story with so much 30s charm and in jokes that I couldn't help but smile. After The Shadow saves a couple and their young son from being mugged (if it wasn't clear who they are to readers at the outset, there's a bit with pearls that seal the deal), the Shadow slips off to tell off the guy who's voicing a radio version of his, something the Shadow does not approve of. If you know anything about the classic Shadow radio show, you know who this is, and Timpano captures the actor's look perfectly, and the final page mentions of Hearst and Rosebud  again make it clear what famous actor the Shadow has set on a course to make his masterpiece

Story 5: Left out of the credits at the beginning of the comic, the back cover told me this story, of a criminal watching as the Shadow takes apart the underworld, comes from Chris Roberson and artist Ivan Rodriguez. This story feels like it follows in the footsteps of some of the best Will Eisner Spirit stories, where the Spirit, or in this case The Shadow, serves as more a plot device, letting us get into the head of a denizen of the city, in this case a crook with a sense of honor who the Shadow seeks to add to his collection of agents.

Story 6: The collection is rounded out by " The Curse of Blackbeard's Skull" a prose story with accompanying illustrations by Matt Wagner. The format, similar to that of the pulps where the Shadow comes from, makes it an excellent choice to end the anthology, and Wagner knows the Shadow. A story of rich men dying after possessing the cursed skull turns into a story of greed and avarice.

If you've never read a story of The Shadow before, or only know him vaguely, this is a great place to first read him, as it will give you a good feel for the character and his world.

We Are Robin #1
Story: Lee Bermejo
Art: Jorge Corona & Rob Haynes

The final major issue one of this month from DC is We Are Robin, where the idea of Robin, of a teenager doing something to protect Gotham from the crime that infests it, has reached a point where it has become a movement. But we only get hints of that this issue. The main focus of this issue is Duke Thomas, who will be the series point of view character. For those of you who haven't read Duke's earlier appearances, he has popped up a couple times in Scott Snyder's run on Batman, most recently in "Endgame," where the Joker used Duke and his parents as bait for Batman. This issue opens with Duke in foster care, as his parents are among the missing after the Joker's rampage. His case worker is long time Batman supporting cast member Leslie Thompkins, who has popped up intermittently and inconsistently since the reboot, and writer Lee Bermejo captures her in a way that makes me hope she is a regular supporting cast member in the book. As for Duke, one issue in and I love him. He's likable, clever, with a bit of an attitude, but he's not written to be a stereotypical street kid in any way. He's already well rounded by Bermejo just by drawing on his few appearances in Batman and what Bermejo does in this one issue. Looking for his missing parents, Duke goes into Gotham Underground and comes across a plan to blow up Gotham City proper. And when he's in trouble, that's when the Robins show up. Someone has been directing them to Duke, and we don't exactly know who that is or what their agenda is, but the final pages indicate someone with some resources is backing up the Robins.Jorge Corona, drawing off breakdowns by Rob Haynes, provides art removed from the DC house style, but with a lot of energy, appropriate for a book that is going to be populated by young, acrobatic characters. With mainstream superhero comics' recent push for greater diversity, a book featuring a young African-American lead and a group that looks to cross every possible societal group is a smart choice for the less than diverse recent DC Universe, but Duke is presented as a character first here, and that's the key to a solid character and title, something this first issue of We Are Robin sets up well.