Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 12/24

The Death-Defying Doctor Mirage: Second Lives #1
Story: Jen Van Meter
Art: Roberto De La Torre & David Baron


Valiant's The Death-Defying Doctor Mirage returns with a second volume that starts out with an issue mixing, action, emotion, a touch of humor, and some solid supernatural shivers. After the end of the first series, medium Dr. Shan Fong-Mirage has retrieved the spirit of her husband, Hwen, from the afterlife, and you'd think they'd get a happily ever after. But when one of you is a ghost who can't physically effect the world around him, that happily ever after doesn't come easily. If you'd never read the first series, the first page does a great job of establishing where Shan was with her husband without being a recap page, and the first scene, at a haunted wedding, not only establishes their current status quo, but Shan's power set. It's the lightest part of the issue, as Shan is called in to break up a haunted wedding. We learn the rules of ghosts in this universe, we see how Shan makes money as an exorcist/TV ghosthunter, and we get the first inklings of how strained things are since Shan and Hwen can't interact physically. We're also introduced to their friend/agent/producer Leo, whose suggestion upon arriving back at Shan's place, that they find a willing host for Hwen so he can interact with the camera, meets with such a vociferous negative you know that's going to be important later on in the series. The plot of the issue follows Shan and Hwen as they try to recover a scroll that potentially possess a spell to grant Hwen a more physical form, but when their copy turns out to be destroyed, they visit their old friend Seline and her family, both the living and the ancestral spirits, who might have one of the few remaining copies of the scroll. But something goes horribly wrong when the scroll is opened, and something is freed. The thing that makes this book so engaging are the characters. Shan and Hwen's relationship and dynamic is delightful to read, and Seline and her family are charming. Jen Van Meter always has had an ear for dialogue and character (I'm super excited that my copy of her new Hopeless Savages OGN arrived last week and I can't wait to dig into it), and she provides a great mix of character and supernatural suspense. Robert De La Torre's art both proves to be perfect for when Shan and Hwen are just talking and interacting as a couple, and when they're dealing with ghosts; I enjoyed his work on the first series, and this one is even stronger. This is a great jumping on point for readers who haven't tried this series or any Valiant book before, a thrilling ride, and good for fans of both super heroes and supernatural stories.

The Rocketeer at War #1
Story: Marc Guggenheim and Lisa Morton
Art: Dave Bullock

IDW's Rocketeer mini-series have all felt very different, from the wild high adventure of Cargo of Doom to the mystery of Hollywood Horror. Rocketeer at War sees Cliff Secord, the Rocketeer, as a grunt in North Africa, fighting the Nazis as a solider is World War II. The issue is a classic war story with a pulp twist, as Cliff saves a pilot from a shot down plane, and chases a Nazi spy trying to steal a component from a plane. The pulpiness happens when Cliff grabs the spy who turns out be wearing a glider suit, and so we have gliding Nazis versus the Rocketeer, even if Cliff doesn't have his rocket pack. It's an exciting issue, with a lot of set-up for what's coming, as we also see the Nazis developing a superweapon, Betty join the WACs, and we meet the pilot Cliff saved, a feisty redhead named Molly O'Hara, who greets Cliff with a kiss. Its such a standard Rocketeer trope to see Cliff as almost pathologically jealous when it comes to Betty, I'm curious to see how it works with a flip, as Cliff has another love interest this time. I don't think it's surprising that Cliff is back in his Rocketeer costume by issue's end, ready to serve his country. A Rocketeer story wouldn't be a Rocketeer story without a cameo from a historical or pulp figure, and this issue has Howard Hughes pop up, which is a great nod to the Rocketeer film, where it was Hughes, not Doc Savage, who designed the rocket pack. Dave Bullock's art is perfect for this series; he's an artist with a style that hearkens back to the classic age, and his work with Darwyn Cooke on New Frontier established his chops of stories set in the 40s and 50s. The comic also has the first chapter of a prose story, "The Rivet Gang," from writer Lisa Morton. This first chapter has Cliff and Betty going to a fancy party and Cliff tearing off after robbers to find himself in a... sticky situation. Read the story and you'll see that's a pretty bad pun, but those are the best kind.

Saga #32
Art: Fiona Staples
Story: Brian K. Vaughan

Saga is about sixteen comics in one. There are issues that are love stories between leads Alana and Marko, while others are domestic dramas with those two and their daughter Hazel. There are political intrigue stories featuring Prince Robot IV. The previous arc wrapped up with a quest story featuring The Brand, Sophie, Lying Cat, and Gwendolyn. The stories with D. Oswald Heist spent a lot of time discussing morality and war. And this are just a few off the top of my head. This month's issue hits one of my favorite genres: it's a caper, as Alana and Marko break into an administrative building to get a lead on Hazel's location. As Hazel points out in her narration, Alana and Marko are closer now then they ever have been, working as a well oiled machine to find their stolen little girl, and it's important to remember they've been doing this for YEARS,and they're still at it. The issue sees them knock out a guard, use technology and magic, and jump out of a window into their passing tree-rocket in the tradition of the best caper movies.Between this and the previous issue, we've reset where our principals are, and know exactly what the stakes are at this point. And while I love Saga's story, it's one of the best marriages of art and writing in comics, as Fiona Staples is a master of design, and this issue's new creatures/characters, the constables on the world of Variegate, are nightmares out of a fever dream dreamed after reading Fahrenheit 451, but as you read the issue, their looks as unstoppable monster are pretty misleading. We get reacquainted with a couple more Saga favorites by issue's end, including Sir Robot IV, his son Squire, and adorable little seal-man Ghus and his walrus pet, Friendo (I had to write all them out because it's just amazing to have that assortment of characters with such amusing names), and the stage is set for what might be a big jailbreak story, another new story type for Saga Thirty-two issues in, and Staples and Vaughan are still world building like no other comic, and that's what keeps me coming back to Saga month in and month out.


This week, Dan Grote looks at the debut issue of an All-New, All-Different Marvel title...

Patsy Walker aka Hellcat #1

Story by Kate Leth

Art by Brittney L. Williams and Megan Wilson

What is it about 68 Jay Street that produces such wonderful books? She-Hulk was arguably Charles Soule’s best Marvel work, Chip Zdarsky and Joe Quinones have set Howard the Duck in the same Brooklyn building, and now Kate Leth and Brittney Williams have given Shulkie sidekick Hellcat her own book that may be even more fun than the other two.

Historically, Patsy Walker is something of a continuity mess. She started out the star of the company’s early teen-romance comics, then was rebranded in the 1970s as a superhero whose early, Archie-esque stories were written by her exploitative mother. She married Daimon Hellstrom, the Son of Satan, and she was written into Marvel Divas, the company’s less-than-beloved attempt to craft its own Sex and the City-style book, alongside the Black Cat, Firestar and Monica Rambeau.

Soule’s Patsy – a feisty, hard-partying, charge-ahead PI bestie to Jennifer Walters’ She-Hulk – began the character’s rehab, which makes fitting the new series’ inciting event: She-Hulk lets her go because she can’t afford a PI anymore, and Shulkie’s landlord figures out Patsy’s been living in a storage closet in the building and kicks her out (politely; they’re friends).

If you’re coming to this book from Netflix’s Jessica Jones, these are not the droids you’re looking for. Comics Patsy is, first of all, not “Trish.” She’s not a talk-radio host with a fortified apartment and funky trust issues. In fact, if this book contains any DNA from a Netflix original series, it’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, with the title character’s infectious optimism amid a sea of troubles and unwanted past publicity.

(Inserts break to let everyone quietly sing a few bars of the Kimmy Schmidt theme. Dammit!)

Patsy needs money. One would think that being the star of a long-running series of comics would open her up to royalties, but after her mother died, the rights went to her longtime frenemy, Hedy. After a run-in with a wannabe baddie Inhuman with the unfortunate nom de crime Telekinian (He can move objects with his mind, and his name is Ian), she realizes there are many down-on-their-luck Inhumans, mutants, and otherwise powered folk who need jobs, and not necessarily hero or villain work. So she pitches The Patsy Walker Agency for Heroes and Other Cool Friends What Are in Need of Work, a job-placement agency, which she’ll have to fund by working retail.

Oh, and she moves in with Ian. It’s OK, though, he reformed after she beat him up. Also, just like Kimmy and Titus!

Seriously, though, this first issue was a lot of fun. I was already a Kate Leth fan from her Adventure Time work and following her on Twitter, and artist Brittney Williams draws Patsy as an adorable go-getter ready to show Ms. Marvel and Squirrel Girl they didn’t invent young, female superheroes with moxie. Definitely pick it up.

Recommended Reading for 4/12: The Rocketeer

I have a deep affection for the pulps. Comics would not exist as they do without their antecedents in the pulps; and let's be frank, of all superheroes, Batman could be easily picked up and dropped into the same pages as The Shadow, The Spider, and Doc Savage and fit in perfectly. But of all comics that have ever aspired to work in the style of the classic pulps (and possibly even more in the style of classic movie serials of the same era), none have been more successful than Dave Stevens's The Rocketeer. Two fisted tales with girls, guns, and Nazis, The Rocketeer is a modern classic of comics. And if your only experience with The Rocketeer is from the 1991 movie, trust me you've only scratched the surface.

The Rocketeer is a hero in the classic pulp vein: he has no real powers, but he's a guy with a sense of right and wrong who gets in over his head and fights his way out of it. Cliff Secord is a stunt pilot who stumbles across a stolen prototype rocket pack, and decides to wear it because, hey, if you could fly, why wouldn't you, especially of you're already a pilot who loves the air? But of course there are people who want it back, including the fifth columnists who stole it and the associates of the man who built it. So Cliff, dubbed the Rocketeer, is quickly up to his neck in trouble.

Stevens crafted Cliff as a very human hero. This isn't a square-jawed and noble Superman, or a dark and haunted Batman. Cliff is a guy who loves his adventures and simply gets involved with helping people because it's the right thing to do. But Cliff has character flaws that balance his better nature. He is impetuous, leaping before looking, which is pretty clear from the beginning when he decides to, oh I don't know, strap an experimental rocket he found to his back and try to fly with it. He is also almost pathologically jealous of every man who crosses paths with his girlfriend, Betty. And I mean, jealous to the point of starting fights with pretty much any guy who looks at her. Sometimes he's right, but often he's not, and this gets Cliff into plenty of trouble too.

Betty is the most important supporting character in The Rocketeer, and is the only to be featured in all of the Stevens stories. While Peevey, Cliff's mechanic and pseudo-father figure, helps him establish the Rocketeer gear, and Goose, his old friend, becomes Cliff's guide when he visits New York, it is Betty who drives so much of the action. Betty is also a character clearly loved by Stevens. Stevens was a talented artist, and one who drew amazing women. Not 90s-era illogically proportioned ones, but women who resembled the pin-ups of the 20s and 30s, the era he so loved. And Betty is a  direct homage to the most legendary and notorious of all those pin-up girls, Betty Page. Aside from being strikingly beautiful, Betty's tough and sassy, and doesn't take crap from Cliff, whose jealousy gets on her bad side, and proves she can take care of herself when push comes to shove. But it seems like they always wind up back together, because this is heroic fiction after all, and boy always gets girl in the end.

And on the subject of Betty and Stevens love of the 30s, his art is what elevates The Rocketeer from just another pulp homage into something superior. Stevens art is luscious, soft, and a feast for the eyes. His detail work was impressive, made even moreso by the thorough research he must have done to get the planes to look as spot on as they do and to make the world  breathe the 30s. Whether its California airfields or the streets of New York, there's a feeling of authenticity that you could fall into. Unfortunately, you can also see that Stevens often had to use other artists to work over his layouts at times, since he worked at a pace that made modern creators like Bryan Hitch look like Jack Kirby in his prime. There were years in between issues of the series due to Stevens pace, and I think that might actually help add to the mystique of The Rocketeer.

There are actually only two Rocketeer stories that Dave Stevens completed before his premature passing from cancer. The first is the story that the film is based on, an origin story with Nazis and G-Men. It's got the feel of the classic movie serials, with chases and a daring aerial rescue from the title hero. The second story, called "Cliff's New York Adventure" is more akin to the darker pulps or Dick Tracy, where we learn more about Cliff's past and encounter a serial killer murdering circus performers. They are two very distinct stories, tonally, but both fit into this pulp world that Stevens crafted. It is a testament to Stevens ability that so little material has inspired so much love from both fans and other creators.

Stevens also demonstrated his love of the pulps by working classic pulp figures into his Rocketeer stories, although their names are never said; these are inside jokes for fans, and it also helps to avoid rights issues. The creator of the rocketpack is hinted at throughout the series, and stands revealed at the end of the first arc as Doc Savage. The Shadow figures heavily into the New York story, and I think adds to the air of darkness and mystery that pervades that story. The post-Stevens Rocketeer, which I'll talk about in a bit but isn't the focus of this piece, also feature these kinds of cameos, with appearances of Skull Island of King Kong fame, John Sunlight (Doc Savage's archfoe), and Nick and Nora Charles with their dog Asta.

I think that those of you who haven't ever read The Rocketeer still might be familiar with the character through the film adaptation done by Disney in 1991. While the film does not hit every note of Stevens  (one major difference is replacing Doc Savage with Howard Hughes for rights reasons), I think it beautifully captures the feeling of the comics. Billy Campbell plays Cliff perfectly, and a young Jennifer Connelly is wonderful as Jenny (renamed, I think, to again avoid any issues with Betty Page licensing). Alan Arkin play Peevey, and pretty much steals every scene he's in, and Timothy Dalton is a delight as unctuous Nazi agent and actor Neville Sinclair. The production design practically lifts right out of the comic, and the flight effects still stand up pretty well today. A 20th anniversary blu-ray was released a couple years ago, so if you might be a person who has read the comic and not scene the movie, or has scene neither, it's well worth checking out.

And now a random bit of Rocketeer trivia. The Rocketeer began as a back-up story in Mike Grell's Starslayer, which seemed to be a launching point for iconic late 80s-early 90s series, as it's back-up features also featured John Ostrander's legendary and criminally uncollected Grimjack.

The Rocketeer is not a dead property, despite the passing of its creators. IDW Publishing has picked up the license and has done a series of mini-series that take the characters Stevens created in new directions. After two Rocketeer Adventures anthologies featuring many of today's best creators, Mark Waid and Chris Samnee, the current creative team on Marvel's excellent Daredevil, did Cargo of Doom, where the Rocketeer got to fight dinosaurs over the skies of LA, and currently Roger Langridge and J. Bone and are creating Hollywood Horror, where Cliff encounters a cult leader who worships Lovecraftian Great Old Ones. And coming this summer is a project I'm very excited about, a crossover between the Rocketeer and another great comic/pulp hybrid, Will Eisner's The Spirit, again from Mark Waid and with art by Paul Smith, a great who we don't see much work from these days. None of these stories will be Dave Stevens, but they are clearly attempting to keep the spirit of the series true, with the great big plots and big pulp ideas that made The Rocketeer great.

IDW released The Rocketeer: The Complete Adventures a couple years, fully colored for the first time by Laura Martin, who Stevens selected to do the work before his passing. If you want your Rocketeer in black and white, IDW also released an artists edition, published on art board sized paper and shot from Stevens original pencils. This book sold out immediately on its first printing, and the second, which was released two weeks ago, is on its way to as well, so grab them while they're hot.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 11/21

Baltimore: The Play
Story: Mike Mignola & Christopher Golden
Art: Ben Steinbeck

I haven't followed the adventures of Lord Baltimore, Hellboy creator Mike Mignola's one-legged vampire slayer, in comics before; I only know his adventures from his first appearance, the novel Baltimore; or the Steadfast Tin Soldier. This one shot, seemingly centered around a theatre troupe of vampires piqued my interest, and so I figured I'd give it a shot. I was pleased to see the usual charm and horror of the works of Mignola and his Baltimore co-creator Christopher Golden. The story really isn't about Baltimore himself; he only appears in the framing sequence. The story is about the troupe, sponsored by Baltimore's nemesis, the vampire Haigus, to spread the plague of vampirism, and the backstage chaos of a troupe of vampires. The starlet of the troupe seems to beloved both by the troupe leader and by Haigus himself, something that confuses the vampire lord. The director, leader, and playwright of the troupe has a secret: he isn't the real author, but instead has Edgar Allan Poe's reanimated head in a jar. Other than a few good Futurama jokes in my head, I love the works of Poe, and to see the death-obsessed author trapped in this sort of strange netherworld was oddly suiting. The play itself is an adaptation of Poe's "Masque of the Red Death" and artists Ben Steinbeck does a wonderful job making the play itself evoke Poe's dark tale. This is a well crafted horror one-shot, and I think I'm going to have to hunt down the previous Baltimore comic stories. Fun fact: In a connection between main character and guest star, Poe made his home in the American city, you guessed it, Baltimore.

Batwoman #14
Story: J.H. Williams III & W. Haden Blackman
Art: J.H. Williams III

Batwoman is the most visually stunning comic on the racks. J.H. Williams III has been an artist whose work has evolved and improved from his early, already excellent, work on Chase, through Promethea, and now on to this title. As we near the confrontation between Batwoman and Medusa, the ancient Greek mother of monsters and her brood, Wonder Woman has come to her aid. The two heroines meet Pegasus, one of Medusa's children who refused to join her quest and finds her all the worse for wear because of it. Williams and co-writer W. Haden Blackman, craft a sad tale around Pegasus, and leave the heroes with no choice but to take his life to spare him agony and learn that Medusa has been right where everything started: Gotham. Williams has been telling this arc in nearly entirely double page spreads, and the art flows from page to page in an organic way. Williams balances his truly beautiful characters with some really hideous monsters. The transformation of Killer Croc, already horribly mutated, into a giant hydra is a stunning image. With the return to Gotham, I look forward to seeing Batwoman and her supporting cast in combat with these monsters in the rest of this arc.

Comeback #1
Story: Ed Brisson
Art: Michael Walsh

Somewhere in the past five years or so, Image Comics has become home to some of the best sci-fi, fantasy, and horror comics on the stands, and it becomes harder to pass up any new series they start, because you could be passing up the next Walking Dead or Saga. Comeback is a new series I'm glad I snapped up. In the near future, time travel is functional and commercial, you can hire someone to go back in time and save a loved one from death. The first issue sets up the premise with one of these retrievals going wrong, and you meet two of the agents who are responsible for it. One of them has become weary of this line of work, and says that this is his last job. Anyone familiar with the concept of retirony (where something horrible happens to anyone who says that he or she is about to retire) knows that this means that he's going to be dragged into something more than just one final normal job. There's more going on in the story, as there seems to be mysterious crime that will certainly tie into the main plot. Comeback is an excellent first issue, and I'm curious to see where the rest of the series goes. If you happen to enjoy the time travel twists of films like this year's excellent Looper, check out Comeback.

Daredevil #20
Story: Mark Waid
Art: Chris Samnee

Oh, Matt Murdock... Not even having your head removed can keep you down. With the revelation that all of the things that have popped up to prove matt Murdock insane were crafted by the newly badass Spot, now calling himself the Coyote, Matt goes on the offensive, even though Coyote has used his new technology to carry around Daredevil's head like it's a football. Mark Waid and Chris Samnee continue to explore exactly how Daredevil's powers work in some fascinating ways: who needs a head when you're used to working without sight? As I saw more of exactly what the Coyote is up to, my skin crawled. This is really an evil villain, not just some guy looking to score a quick buck like The Spot has usually been show to be in the past. It wasn't a surprise at the end when it was revealed there's a lot more going on with Coyote and The Spot than has met the eye. And Daredevil's rash decision to smash Coyote's head separating machine comes back to bite him in the end. This issue is setting up a lot of payoff on storylines that have been running through this book from the beginning of Waid's run, and I'm excited to see the payoff. Chris Samnee has proven to be an able partner for Waid, who has had a murderer's row of excellent artists in this series. I hope they stick around for quite a while, and occasionally do other projects like...

The Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom #4
Story: Mark Waid
Art: Chris Samnee

With Waid and Samnee, the hits just keep on coming. A comic that features the Rocketeer toting a ray gun and fighting dinosaurs plowing through downtown L.A. is pretty much a no brains sale to me. While Samnee isn't quite the master of cheesecake that Rocketeer creator Dave Stevens was, he does really beautiful period illustration, with the setting looking perfectly forties and Betty still a complete knockout. But the thing that really knocks me out are his dinosaurs and the flight sequences. The Rocketeer in a aerial dogfight with a Pterodactyl and trying to stop a T-Rex are both sights to behold. There's also a good understanding of the pulp roots of the Rocketeer, making it clear the villain, known as the Master, is John Sunlight, archnemesis to Doc Savage, who anyone familiar with Rocketeer comics knows has a link to the title hero. In the end, with the threat resolved, we get some nice character pieces with Cliff (the Rocketeer) and Betty, a resolution to the story involving Peevy's niece, Sally, and a little tease for a future Rocketeer mini-series. Whether its for the next series, due out next year from Roger Langridge and J. Bone, or for a project from Waid and Samnee I'm not sure. I just hope to see them back in the 40s for another tale of our erstwhile hero and his loyal supporting cast soon.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 8/22

Lobster Johnson: The Prayer of Neferu
Story: Mike Mignola & John Arcudi
Art: Wilfredo Torres

The world of Hellboy has always been tinged with the spirit of classic pulps, and never moreso than in the adventures of Lobster Johnson, the 30s & 40s era man of mystery and crimebuster. Johnson's adventures are usually high action, with bullets flying and mobster and monsters dying, and this new one shot does not disappoint in the action department. The Lobster is tracking down a stolen mummy when he stumbles onto a ceremony featuring recurring Hellboy series cult, the Heliopic Brotherhood of Ra. But the Brotherhood's priestess, calling herself Neferu, after the priestess of Anubis, has been stealing the mummy's for a more sinister purpose than entertaining the rich members of the Brotherhood. Johnson must battle his way through a hulking henchman and resurrected Egyptian mummies. This isn't heavy comics with lots to make you think, it's just a fun, pulpy action piece, something that the team of Mignola and Arcudi have been doing really well with their Lobster Johnson stories. Artist Wilfredo Torres is new to the Hellboy universe, but his work fits very well here, giving the book a pulpy look. This is one of those great one-shots that will serve as an excellent introduction to a character and a world, so if you've never tried out any of the adventures of The Lobster's Claw, this would be a great place to start.

Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom #1
Story: Mark Waid
Art: Chris Samnee

From one heavily pulp influenced series to another. I'm a fan of the original Dave Stevens Rocketeer comics, and I was a little worried when IDW began publishing it's Rocketeer Adventures mini-series, featuring other creators telling short Rocketeer stories, but was pleased to see all of them fit very well in Stevens' world, and even if they didn't look like Stevens, they felt like him. But an actual, full on mini-series with one story featuring the character? That was another proposition. Fortunately, I was wrong to worry. Current Daredevil creative team Mark Waid and Chris Samnee pull off a great Rocketeer story here. Every character rings true, with Cliff "The Rocketeer" Secord still a hot head, his long suffering partner/mentor Peevy still gives Cliff good advice and an earful when he needs it, and Cliff's gal, Betty, won't cut him any slack. We also get to meet a new character, Sally, Peevys's niece and a mechanic in her own right, with her eyes on Cliff, who still only has eyes for Betty. The issue has some great action scenes of the Rocketeer in flight, but it's mostly a character piece, setting up the action without feeling like a set-up issue heavy with exposition. We also see a ship with the series villains arrive, meeting The Master, their mysterious boss, who clearly has some backstory with the Rocketeer, although I think that is stuff created for this series, and not anything that exists in the previous canon. There's also a reference to something from Skull Island, and if you're at all familiar with classic cinema, you know that name, and I hope it means a certain eighth wonder of the world might be the titular cargo of doom. If you known the Rocketeer from the classic comics, from the under-rated 90s film, or just think that his costume looks awesome (which is does), this is a great comic, and well worth picking up.

Super Dinosaur #13
Story: Robert Kirkman
Art: Jason Howard

While Robert Kirkman and Jason Howard's all ages action comics, Super Dinosaur, might not be as pulpy as The Rocketeer or Lobster Johnson, you can still see some of the same influences here: lost civilizations, world's at the center of the Earth, and a scrappy band of kids were all staples of the classic pulps. Only one of these scrappy kids happens to be a young T-Rex in battle armor. Never saw anything like that in Doc Savage. Super Dinosaur is the story of a boy and his T-Rex, who fight crime and monsters. As the "Escape from Inner Earth" storyline continues, young super genius Derek Dynamo gets to see more of the Reptiloid Empire, and we see that the villainous Exile might not be quite as villainous as originally thought. Meanwhile, Super Dinosaur, Derek's best friend who happens to be an intelligent Tyrannosaurus Rex, travels with a group of Derek's friends into the hidden world of Inner Earth, full of dinosaurs and other perils, trying to rescue Derek. Super Dinosaur is a book full of action and wonder, a comic that really works for all ages. This issue deepens some of the series mysteries, but also begins to give us answers about the Reptiloids that have been part of the book since the first appearance of the Exile. And hey, there are lots of Triceratops. And any comic with a herd of Triceratops gets my recommendation.



And here are a couple notes:

- The announcement of the new, Geoff Johns/David Finch Justice League of America has me pretty excited. Glad to see Stargirl back in a New 52 title, and thrilled to see Martian Manhunter on a Justice League again!

- Tomorrow is Read Comics in Public Day, so everyone should go out and read a comic in public. Since tomorrow would have been the 95th birthday of Jack "The King" Kirby, I think it's time to start reading Fourth World Omnibus Volume 1, so I will sit out at one of the local parks and dig into some Kirby goodness. And if you happen to be of the womanly persuasion, head over to DC Women Kicking Ass to read about Women Read Comics in Public, Again!