Recommended Reading for 2/5: Super Hero Society: Study Hall of Justice

The concept of younger versions of adult characters meeting and having adventures isn't anything new. I remember Muppet Babies when I was a kid, and to this day, once of my favorite movies of all time is Barry Levinson's vastly underrated Young Sherlock Holmes. I've written about Skottie Young's charming Little Marvels, Art and Franco's Tiny Titans and Itty Bitty Hellboy,and Yale Stewart's JL8. A couple of weeks back, a new entry into this genre was released, from creators familiar to The Matt Signal, I hope: creators of Li'l Gotham, Derek Fridolfs and Dustin Nguyen released Secret Hero Society: Study Hall of Justice through Scholastic Books.

Study Hall of Justice isn't just Li'l Gotham in a new form; there are two very distinct differences. Firstly, the characters in Li'l Gotham were the regular adult versions of the characters, just drawn in Dustin Nguyen's most cartoony style. More importantly, the format is completely different. While there are comic pages, this book falls into the same journal mixed with comics style similar to the popular Diary of a Wimpy Kid, My Dumb Diaries, and Jeffrey Brown's Jedi Academy books. Told from Bruce Wayne's perspective, the book is the story of Bruce at his new school, Ducard Academy , which is filled with familiar faces, both heroic and villainous (although mostly villainous).

If the cover didn't completely give it away, while Bruce Wayne might be our narrator and lead, his friends are also recognizable stars of the DC trinity, Clark Kent and Diana Prince. Each of out leads are recognizable as who they will become, but are clearly still finding out who they are. Bruce is the detective, investigating and curious, and takes himself a bit too seriously. Clark is as earnest as you'd expect from a young Superman, but doesn't entirely have the mastery of his powers or of not occasionally mentioning he might be an alien. Diana is still finding the balance between the Amazon teachings of peace and war, and has a bit of a temper. Much of the book is the three of them, all kids who are different and don't have many friends, learning not only about the mysteries of Ducard Academy, but also about friendship.

The other students in the school are not quite as concerned with friendship and doing right as our three leads. One of the joys as a longtime fan of DC Comics in reading this book is seeing all the characters Nguyen crams into his illustrations. Some villains have prominent rolls, like Lex Luthor (class president), Circe, Poison Ivy, and Mister Freeze (the staff of the school paper), Bane (the school bully), Talia, Catwoman, and a gang of clowns led by Joker and Harley. But pretty much every student is a recognizable villain, and it's fun to play the game of, "I know that character!" The teaching staff, by the way, is of as dubious character as many of the students, including history teacher Vandal Savage, Mr. Jervis Tetch teaching English (just one book, Alice in Wonderland), a Brainiac robot as the librarian, and teaching Boy's Gym is Coach Zod.

The plot that drives the book and makes it more than just a cute bunch of in jokes for nerds like me and lessons about getting along is the mystery of what exactly is going on at Ducard Academy. Bruce is immediately suspicious when he sees ninjas hiding around the school, and the fact that bullying, cheating, and generally bad behavior seems encouraged, as well as the fact that the teachers aren't really teaching much, has his detective senses on high alert. Once he meets and becomes friends with Clark and Diana, they begin trying to find out the secret of the school, as well as its mysterious, never seen principal. If you've seen Batman Begins the school's name is a pretty good hint as to who is behind this whole school for villains.

The investigations leads the "Criminal Investigations Unit," as Bruce calls them (and don't call the Junior Detectives! That's for kids), to try to join sports teams, run for student office, write for the school paper, all to no avail. There's a lot of comedy in these attempts, and in the interactions between our leads. Bruce's too serious attitude alienates his friends at time, and  the ever optimistic Clark doesn't understand Bruce's brooding or Diana's anger. These are really well defined versions of the characters, even if they're different from the ones I read about each month, and I like how Fridolfs and Nguyen handle them. They're relatable to kids in a way that the grown up versions aren't, but the book never talks down to the younger readers who are the target audience.

As is the custom with this format, the book also has "artifact" pages, almost like scrapbook items, as part of it. Report cards, student evaluations, and pages from the school paper give readers a better idea of what's going on around school. Aside from the text of Bruce's journal and the comic pages, we also see "screen grabs" from various on-line chats between Bruce, Diana, and Clark. These pages can also be packed with Easter Eggs. The report Bruce gets from an outside, grownup detective about some of the clues at the school comes from Vic Sage, P.I., and a page that shows Bruce's locker has photos of Sherlock Holmes, Zorro, and the Grey Ghost, as well as a copy of Victor Hugo's The Man Who Laughs, and a can of shark repellent.

The art throughout is top notch, something I'd expect from an artist like Dustin Nguyen. His character designs are stellar, not drawing little adults but kids, aging the characters down but making them still recognizable. The highlight of the art are a few two-page spreads that really let Nguyen show off. The Halloween spread shows many of the kids in costumes that they will wear again as grown-ups, the Valentines Day spread is full of Easter Eggs as we see Valentines from various girls to Bruce, all of which have hints of what their identities will be as adults villains and heroes. and the Christmas spread shows the home lives of our three leads.

I've always enjoyed all ages comics and YA books, and like championing them to as wide an audience as I can. Super Hero Society is a perfect book to share with the kids in your life, or to read on your own: it's charming, well structured, well illustrated, and a blast to read. Every fan of DC Comics should give it a shot, and if you aren't? Read it anyway. You might become one.

Super Hero Society: Study Hall of Justice is available at comic shops and book stores now.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 4/8

Birthright #6
Story: Joshua Williamson
Art: Andrei Brissan

After a brief hiatus, Birthright is back and picking up right where it left off, both in story and quality. Brother Mikey and Brennan are now on the run together, and Mikey is using all the skills he learned spending years in the fantasy otherworld of Terrenos. There's some nice binding moments, as the two brothers act brotherly, playing and teasing in the way siblings do. But there's the darkness in Mikey, not just the fact that some aspect of the evil God King Lore is driving him, but what seems like PTSD from his years of adventuring. The jumping up from nightmares, the callous way he kills, it's clear that there's a darkness driving him. While the two brothers are off having this adventure, their parents are once again left to pick up the pieces of "real life." Aaron, the boys' father, is once again being interrogated by Det. Brooks, the officer who has been investigating the case form the start, and just as Wendy, the boys' mother, is getting through to Aaron, the NSA arrives in the form of the pompous Agent Kylen. As Kylen immediately says that Aaron's son is a threat, he seems to have less of problem with the idea that Mikey has aged twenty-plus years in the space of a year, so I'm wondering if he's just playing Aaron or if the government has some idea of what exactly is happening with Terrenos. Artist Andrei Brissan seems to have stepped up over the course of the short hiatus; while his art was excellent before, it's on a new level. The two pages spread that shows Lore and his realm is creepy and disgusting in the way you'd want the domain of a dark lord to be. There's a scene with a bear coming across the boys in the woods that really stands out, not just because the bear is gorgeously rendered (which it is), but also for the way Mikey acts towards it. The last couple of pages introduce who look to be Mikey's new nemeses, and while we know Mikey's the "bad guy" in this situation, we know him and care about him enough to want him to defeat them, which is a sign of how well written he is. Joshua Williamson amazes me; some writer have a hard time getting one book out in a month, and he writes three very strong creator owned titles, each with a different flavor. Birthright is one of most original books on the racks, mixing fantasy with modern family drama. The first trade is out now, so grab it and this first issue of the second arc now.

Convergence: Nightwing/Oracle #1
Story: Gail Simone
Art: Jan Duursema

As Convergence starts is earnest this week, we got the first week of mini-series set in old worlds, this week focusing on the pre-Flashpoint world. They were kind of a mixed bag, but shockingly, one of the really strong ones was Nightwing/Oracle from Gail Simone, who wrote Oracle longer than nearly anyone, and Jan Duursema, whose return to DC after years at Dark Horse doing some of the best Star Wars art ever is welcome. After a year under the mysterious dome, Barbara Gordon, better known as Oracle in this world, is starting to lose hope. She's been partnering with Dick Grayson, Nightwing, and they've been keeping Gotham safe. The issue is narrated form Barbara's point of view, and we see just how close she is to sinking into despair. It's hard to see Barbara, who is such a string character and been through so much, at this point, but it does make the situation seem all the more dire. Meanwhile, Nightwing is still full of so much joy and energy; Simone writes a Nightwing who is a big, grinning kid, not dumb, but as Barbara says, living every moment in the now. Duursema's kinetic style works perfectly with the acrobatic Grayson. As the issue progresses, we get the standard Convergence set-up, the gladiatorial conflict between heroes of two cities, and after seeing them wipe out the Justice Riders at the beginning of the issue, it's not a shock that our heroes will be facing the dark versions of Hawkman and Hawkwoman from the Flashpoint reality. But the deal that is offered isn't like anything else going on, and it leaves Dick and Barbara in a bad place. Barbara has just turned down Dick's marriage proposal and now tells him she's not going to fight the Hawks. But after Dick leaves, the last panel of the issue is one of those knock you off your feet ones, not for action or shock, but because it's so perfectly Oracle. Gail Simone writes a better Barbara Gordon as Oracle than pretty much anyone, and if these are the last two issues we're ever going to get, well, that last panel sums up what I want from an Oracle story and makes me even more excited for the next issue.

Convergence: The Quesion #1
Story: Greg Rucka
Art: Cully Hamner

And equally not shocking, the second Convergence title that really blew me away was The Question from Greg Rucka and Cully Hamner, who wrote the excellent backup stories featuring the character on Detective Comics. And as you'd expect from Rucka writing the Question, this is a very personal and human story about Renee Montoya. Most of the characters who formed Renee's supporting cast are all here: Huntress, Two-Face, Batwoman, and while they don't physically appear, her family's presence is felt. Renee's relationship with Two-Face has always been complicated, and while the two are working together at the beginning of the issue to find morphine to her father, who is dying, Two-Face doesn't realize Renee is the Question and they have a very different relationship. Rucka's Two-Face is one of the most sympathetic and well-rounded presentations of that character, and his time in the dome has clearly not been going well. Meanwhile, the easy camaraderie between Renee and the Huntress makes for some great interplay between the two. I don't think I'd realized how much I've missed either character more than when they were simply bantering in the apartment they share. But Huntress warms Renee not to trust Two-Face, but Renee still has faith in him. But when the dome falls, Two-Face decides it's time to leave the dome and finally act on the death wish he has by finding another Harvey Dent to finally kill him. Renee does care about Two-Face, just not in the way he cares for her, and so she does try to stop him, to not much effect, and the issue ends with Renee once again meeting the one that got away, Batwoman, another character I can't wait to see Rucka write some more. I have one minor quibble/question that if either of the creators happen to see this, maybe they can answer: historically, Two-Face has a two headed coin, one side scarred, that he flips. That's part of the shtick: Two-Face with a two-faced coin, and it's an important part of his origin. The coin he has here clearly has heads and tails, as he both says it and we see the scarred side is a tails side. Did I miss something? Is this not the original coin? Other than that, which is at best a minor quibble, this was a great character piece featuring one of the characters who has been lost to the sands of time. No one writes these characters better than Rucka, and as with Simone and Oracle, I'm glad to see one more go around for this combination of writer and character.

Copperhead #6
Story: Jay Faerber
Art: Scott Godlewski

Another Image series returned from its between arcs hiatus this week, and it's return was also strong and impressive. Copperhead, the frontier Western in space, is back, and the events on the mining colony aren't getting any easier for Sheriff Clara Bronson. After a very cool action opening where Bronson and her alien deputy Budroxifinicus (Boo for short) stop someone from robbing secrets from the local mine, she finds herself stymied as local land baron and mine owner Mr. Hickory refuses to press charges. Hickory proved at the end of the last arc that he is no fan of Bronson's, and while she warns him not to take justice into his own hands when the man goes free, it's clear that Hickory is not pleased. This becomes more clear when he later goes to talk to Boo about a... change in regime. It's nice to see more of Boo's home life, meeting his mate, seeing another of his flashbacks to the war between his people and humanity. We don't get Meanwhile, Bronson's son Zeke sneaks away from home to talk to Ismael, the artificial human who saved him in the first arc; since this is a good jumping on issue, despite this being a brief scene, it's nice that all the principle characters show up. Bronson's night is a little more action filled, as she goes to local saloon "undercover" since it's pay day for the miners and that usually means things get rowdy in town. She stops a particularly sleazy specimen named Nestor from beating one of the local ladies of negotiable affection (a phrase from Terry Pratchett I've always loved), and meets a new character, Madame Vega, the local, well, madame, who appreciates another strong woman in town, and I find myself wondering if Vega will be a friend in whatever is coming between the sheriff and Hickory. We also see local school teacher Thaddeus Luken, a purple skinned near human, talk to Barton at the bar and ask her out, something that is interrupted by Nestor, but an invitation she accepts later at the schoolhouse. One of things that Jay Faerber is doing with this book is playing on a lot of the classic Western tropes, and so having the school marm and the sheriff as a couple works as one of those tropes, but here the genders are reversed. Copperhead is a great genre mash-up with strong characters and great designs for its world; if you ever enjoyed a Western or a sci-fi series set out on strange new worlds it's a great book, and this is a perfect time to jump on.

Descender #2
Story: Jeff Lemire
Art: Dustin Nguyen

After last month's strong start, Descender returns with a powerful second issue. The first issue ended with a group of robot scavengers arriving at the moon where boy robot Tim-21 had just awakened. This issue begins with a single page that has narration boxes talking about a memory download. The story then moves in alternating pages. One page is in the present, where we see Tim and Bandit (his robo dog, fleeing the robot hunters, while the opposing page is a differently colored page showing Tim's memories, from the moment he awakened for the first time to when he went to sleep ten years prior. we get to see his creator, Dr. Jin Quon, who we met last month, from his point of view, and then we see him meet the family he was sent to, Ms. Travers and her son, Andy. It's heartwarming to see how Tim becomes part of this family, and it's juxtaposed against the hunt for Tim and the violence that is perpetrated both by the hunters and by Tim in defense of Bandit and himself. The story winds up looping back around to the first page in a clever narrative device, and gives a view of the scene from that first page pulled further back to show the full, painful scene. The issue ends with Tim in mortal danger and a new possible friend entering his life. For a story about a robot, Tim is one of the most human characters, and his heartbreak as he finds the body of one of the victims of the catastrophe that killed most of the moon's residents is palpable. Dustin Nguyen puts in some of the best work of his career on this title; it works perfectly with Jeff Lemire's script. With two issues down, it looks like Descender is another strong title from Image.



And Dan Grote bids a fond farewell (temporary as it might be) to Deadpool...

Deadpool #250/45

Story: Gerry Duggan and Brian Posehn

Art: Mike Hawthorne, Terry Pallot, Jordie Bellaire and Joe Sabino

Backup strips: Ben Acker, Ben Blacker, Scott Aukerman, Mike Drucker, Jason Mantzoukas, Paul Scheer, Nick Giovannetti, Matt Selman, Mirko Colak, Todd Nauck, Ty Templeton, Jacob Chabot, Natalie Nourigat, J.J. Kirby, Scott Koblish, Val Staples, Veronica Gandini, Ruth Redmond and Irene Y. Lee.

Well, as promised, Deadpool’s dead. But so’s everybody else. Without spoiling things too much, there’s a reason this is happening right before Secret Wars.

That said, the main story of Deadpool #250/45 (gotta love Marvel’s selective numbering) is actually a happy ending for Wade Wilson. The last few pages find DP surrounded by the supporting cast of the Duggan/Posehn/Hawthorne/Koblish era, the closest thing he’s ever had to family, from his illegitimate daughter to the Life Model Decoy of his SHIELD handler to the ghost of Benjamin Franklin. When the end comes, Wilson loves and is loved – a far cry from the psychopath who used to keep a blind old lady prisoner. Matt went into greater detail on this last week, but for my money, the Marvel NOW volume of Deadpool is easily the best since the original Joe Kelly run in the late ’90s.

And now, backup strips galore! Duggan and Posehn’s comedy-writer friends fill half of this supersized issue, with mini tales by Thrilling Adventure Hour’s Ben Acker and Ben Blacker, Comedy Bang Bang’s Scott Aukerman, The League’s Paul Scheer and Jason Mantzoukas, and more. Deadpool’s demon wife, Shiklah, catches up on ’80s pop culture! The Prestons get a talking dog (my favorite strip)! Kid Apocalypse tries to be bad but fails! Agent Adsit takes wisecracking lessons from Spider-Man! The Thing and Ghost Franklin team up (favorite single panel)! And Michael the Necromancer goes on a date!

Finally, we come to the last of the Scott Koblish-drawn flashback stories, in which Deadpool steals the Infinity Gauntlet from Thanos and throws himself a roast guest-starring the entire Marvel Universe, which subjects him to a merciless barrage of jokes, many of which are fart-based. After he’s had enough, Wade freezes the scene and turns to camera, calling the reader out for making his life so miserable, reminding us once again that he is the ultimate self-aware sad clown. To which emcee Howard the Duck replies, “Kid, I was you before you came along,” bringing the curtain down on a money’s-worth read.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 3/4

Descender #1
Story: Jeff Lemire
Art: Dustin Nguyen

Oh, Image Comics, you are going to break my bank. Descender is the new series from Image from Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen, a sci-fi series set out on non-Earth worlds, and this first issue is a sterling start. The series opens on Niyata, the hubworld of the United Galactic Council (UGC), as a giant robot appears in space. A robot that dwarfs the planet. Dr. Jin Quin, the leading expert on robotics, is called to investigate, just before the robot attacks. Flashforward ten years, and we are on the moon Dirishu-6, as a young boy wakes up. He wanders the seemingly abandoned moon, looking for his mom and Andy, and finds his robot dog, Bandit, at which time we learn that Tim-21 is, in fact, a robot child. We spend the issue with Tim learning about what happened when the Harvesters, the giant robots, attacked the various worlds of the UGC. We also return to Niyata, where Dr. Quin has fallen from the height of society to the dregs when he is contacted by Captain Telsa of the UGC. It seems analysis has shown that the Tim robots are the progenitors of the Harvesters, and while it was thought all the Tim's were destroyed in the anti-robot purges after the Harvester attacks, Tim-21 went on-line to search for his lost family, they now know he's out there. Lemire does a great job of getting the reader immediately on Tim's side. The appearance of a child, and the quest to find his family, makes him a sympathetic character, and since he's been shut down for a decade, it gives the reader a way to learn what happened with the Harvester attack without it seeming like awkward, out of place exposition. But what made me snag this book initially was the stunning art from Dustin Nguyen. Having commented last week on how his art in Batman #39 was so strikingly different from his Li'l Gotham art, this issue is yet another departure. He draws three distinct science fiction worlds, the desolated Dirishu-6, the upper crust Niyata from before the harvester attack, and the more run down Niyata of the post-Harvester attack. He draws various aliens, giving them distinct designs. I'm curious to see each of the other eight prime planets of the UGC and what those worlds look like. Add in ther gorgeous water colors that Nguyen works with over his own line work, and you have the best looking comic of the week. Descender #1 is a strong start to a series that has the potential to rank with Saga as one of Image's strong sci-fi titles, one that explores the nature of humanity as much as the galaxy.

Hero Cats #4
Stroy: Kyle Puttkammer
Art: Marcus Williams

Action Lab has some of the best all ages titles out there. with Princeless and Fight Like a Girl, and while Hero Cats skews younger than those two books, it's still an enjoyable read for all. Hero Cats features six cats, each with a special ability, who help protect Stellar City from all sorts of robots, monsters, and crooks. This issue sees the cats entering a mysterious sinkhole and finding an underground civilization beneath the streets they protect. The team splits up, and we spend time with Cassiopeia, the team's newest recruit and our point of view cat for the series, learning about some team history from Rocket, the super fast cat who claims to be an alien. It's a good jumping on point for new readers, as we get to learn how team leader Ace met Midnight, the Batman to Ace's Superman, and how they brought Belle, the telepathic cat, out of a life of crime. The action of the issue sees the Hero Cats meet Eastly the Brave, a member of the culture that lives in the city beneath Stellar City, and aid him in defeating the Coaliod warriors that have conquered his city. Belle is the cat who gets to take center stage, since it's her telepathy that allows the cats to communicate with the underdwellers. It's a story with a lot of great action pieces, and some wonderful subterranean designs by artist Marcus Williams, both the general look of the tunnels and the various creatures that inhabit the world. I'm a cat lover (although, God bless her, my cat Bess could never be a Hero Cat; it would require way more effort than she has ever done and she's actually afraid of mice, so I don't know what she'd do about a monster) and a lover of all ages comics, so Hero Cats is right up my alley, and is a book I love sharing with my niece, so it's a winner all around.

Rocket Raccoon #9

Story: Skottie Young

Art: Jake Parker

Rocket Raccoon is a comic that finds a good balance between fun action and some darker places, but it's at it's core a comic about the friendship between it's title character and his best tree pal, Groot. And no issue has shown that better than this one. The issue opens in what seems to be a future where a Kaiju-sized Groot is menacing Earth and the Avengers seem unable to stop him. The only hope that they have is to send out and Iron Man drone to find the one being who they think can get through to Groot: his old pal, Rocket. When Iron man contacts a grizzled, older Rocket, he gets the brush off, but under everything else, Rocket is still Groot's friend, and so he heads off to Earth for the big confrontation that, well doesn't go as anyone expects. I won't ruin the ending, but what initially seems to be a tragic ending comes back to being a much more hopeful one. Young does a great job of establishing exactly why Groot is on Earth, why he has become the giant monster that he has, and why Rocket isn't with him. Artist Jake Parker does a great job of working in a style similar to that of writer and series initial artist Skottie Young without aping his style, and so the book feels seamless to what has come before. He draws some incredible spreads, really showing the scale of the monster Groot and draws an awesome giant Rocket mech (yeah you read that right. Giant. Rocket. Mech). While we see the deaths of the Avengers, and we see friend fighting friend, the conflict isn't gratuitous, and setting it in a future like this would allow younger readers to still know everything will work out ok in the here and now. As the Guardians of the Galaxy have expanded to take up their own family of titles in the Marvel Universe, each book has taken up it's own flavor. Rocket Raccoon is a high action, high octane, buddy comedy. But between the last two parter and this issue, it's clear that the "buddy" part of the equation is the most important aspect of the title.

Star Wars: Princess Leia #1

Story: Mark Waid

Art: Terry & Rachel Dodson

The third title in Marvel's new Star Wars initiative features Princess Leia, adding to Marvel's growing number of female led titles. While  it remains set in that era in  between the original Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back, as the other two titles do, this one feels like it needs to be in that particular pocket, and for a reason that makes a lot of sense. In the original film, Alderaan, Leia's homeworld, is destroyed. In the remaining two films, Leia never really mentions that nearly everyone she knew and loved were wiped out in one fell swoop by the Empire. And while some EU writers dealt with Leia's grief, like Brian Wood in his monthly for Dark Horse and Martha Wells in her Leia-centric novel Razor's Edge, what should have been a central part of Leia's character arc is usually left alone. But in an issue that picks up right where the first film ends, Mark Waid is taking this front and center. With the Rebellion fleeing Yavin-4, Leia is at ends. Everyone is handling her with kid gloves, and General Dodanna tells her flat out that he's protecting her because the Empire has a massive bounty on her head so she will be guarded at all times. Meanwhile, we meet Evaan, a female Rebel pilot who is also from Alderaan, and is dealing with the loss of her world in her own way. Soon, the two women are running away from the Rebel fleet so Leia can do what she feels she must; gathering the diaspora that has been left behind by Alderaan's destruction. It's a strong mission statement for the book and the character, and it's important to note the book is called Princess Leia, not "Leia" or "Senator Organa." The nature of Leia as a princess of Alderaan is the defining aspect of her character for the plot of this story. Waid has captured the voices of all the movie characters well, and wins extra points for adding in two of my favorite movie characters, Admiral Ackbar and Wedge Antilles. I understand in a post-EU world there's a need to establish new characters and new settings, but the movies give writers plenty of small characters who can be used, and Waid gets this; he is a writer long used to working in shared universes and it shows. While both Star Wars and Darth Vader have been big action comics, it seems Princess Leia will be more character-centric, despite there being a really well drawn spacecraft chase scene drawn by the Dodsons, who do their usual great job on this issue. Now with all three titles up and running, I can safely say that Marvel is handling the Star Wars license well, and I look forward to seeing where it will grow.

And here's another #1 written by Jeff Lemire, reviewed by Dan Grote

All-New Hawkeye #1

Story: Jeff Lemire

Art: Ramon Perez and Ian Herring

The previous volume of Hawkeye, by Matt Fraction, David Aja et al, was easily one of Marvel’s best titles of the past five years and had a distinct voice and vision. Put more bluntly, I loved every damn page of it, from the tracksuit draculas to Lucky the Pizza Dog to dear, departed Grills.

But it’s time to move on.

All-New Hawkeye starts with a beautifully painted, swirling purple flashback to young Clint Barton and his brother, Barney, catching frogs and escaping their abusive foster father. That, paired with the cover, hammers home to the reader that they’re picking up a different book from what had gone before.

Or is it? By the sixth page of story, we’re back to good-old #hawkguy Clint Barton and Kate Bishop, sniping at each other and shooting arrows at Hydra goons in a situation that, just a few months ago, would have started with a purple narration box that says, “OK, this looks bad.” Ramon Perez’s style on the present-day pages even mirrors Aja’s, which is nothing if not comforting.

The past and present narratives switch back and forth faster and faster as the issue progresses, becoming more and more intertwined. Clint and Barney get separated upon their return home to their foster father. Clint and Kate get separated by a sliding door at the Hydra base. Barney takes a beating from the old man – and gives him one right back. Kate ignores orders to retreat and keeps ripping through goons till she finds what Team Hawkeye has been tasked with uncovering. The silhouette of a Hydra agent serves as a flashback panel. Finally, in a splash page drawn like a face playing card, young Clint and Barney stand in wide-eyed awe of their future, while Kate discovers what Hydra’s been hiding and is made ill by the sight.

My only teeny, tiny nitpick is I’m kind of over new Marvel series opening with raids on Hydra bases and ending with reveals of what Hydra is hiding. All-New Captain America #1 used the exact same plot device just a few months ago. Maybe it’s a concentrated effort on the part of editorial, something to do with Secret Wars or whatever, but there’s lots more villains to punch in the 616 than the boys in the green-and-yellow tunics and bug-eye masks.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 3/12

Batgirl #29
Story: Gail Simone
Art: Fernando Pasarin

Gail Simone's Batgirl has been a consistently enjoyable comic, one that does a good job of mixing action, emotion, and character. This most recent issue was the second part of a two part story where Batgirl and her friend and sometimes partner Strix, a Talon of the Court of Owls who abandoned the Court, are up against Silver, a vampire hunter who believes the Batman family are vampires who have taken control of Gotham. Silver is a good addition to the pantheon of anti-heroes or villains, as he is clearly unbalanced, but is trying to do something good. He has kidnapped a small child, but I don't think I'm spoiling too much of a twist when its revealed he was actually right and she is a vampire.Artist Fernando Pasarin does a great job drawing the fight scenes between Batgirl and Strix and Silver and his companion/valet Miss Targa; they're well choreographed martial arts fights. What I found very interesting was also an interaction between Batgirl and Strix. After Silver escapes at the beginning of the issue, Strix makes it clear to Batgirl that she will kill Silver if he has harmed the girl that was kidnapped. And while Strix tells Batgirl she will not kill, she is lying. And while there is no murder by issue's end, I think we're going to see further conflict between the two; Strix was trained to be a killer, and it'll be hard for her to break that training. Next issue is a fill in, and the one after that sees the return of one of my favorite Gail Simone creation, Ragdoll of Secret Six fame, so I have a feeling you'll be hearing about Batgirl again here soon.

Batman #29
Story: Scott Snyder
Art: Greg Capullo

Batman is one of the few books I right about here every month, and for good reason, and that reason isn't just that I love Batman. Scott Snyder has an excellent feel for Batman as a character, and his "Zero Year" story has been a great re-imagining of Batman's early days in Gotham. This issue marks the end of the second act of the story, called "Dark City," with Batman escaping the Riddler's death trap from the end of last issue to go and try to stop Riddler from taking over all of Gotham's technology. I believe it was Paul Dini who once said that Riddler is the hardest Batman villain to write, since he has to be as smart as Batman, and his plans need to make perfect sense on a second read through. Snyder has really captured this; Riddler feels like a real threat, something many writer have failed at, and a perfect intellectual nemesis for Batman, without descending into the unctuous snobbery of the Riddler in the Arkham video games. The issue also pays off the confrontation between Batman and Doctor Death, a freakishly re-imagined version of the first name villain Batman ever fought. That re-imagining is part of a truly impressive issue from artist Greg Capullo. Capullo has splash pages inspired by Frank Miller, as well as the horrible Dr. Death, and scenes of destruction in Gotham that sent shivers down my spine. The issue also has a scene with the Waynes and young Bruce, and its a scene that I feel is important. The Waynes are a touchstone in Bruce's life, the great incorruptible past, and seeing them with him, not as absentee parents who left their son for Alfred to watch, makes the great tragedy of Batman's life more resonant. "Savage City" begins next month, the concluding third of "Zero Year" where all the seeds Snyder has sewn will bear fruit. If he can pull this off, this is an arc that could go down as one of the great Batman stories; I'm hoping he can do it.

Batman : Li'l Gotham #12
Story & Art: Dustin Nguyen and Derek Fridolfs

All good things... Batman: Li'l Gotham has been one of the most enjoyable books on the racks for the past year, and I've been expecting the final issue to really hit a high note, and I was right. The two stories are Thanksgiving and Christmas, and each show the charm and knowledge of Batman history that have defined this series. The first story sees Damian on the hunt for Jerry, the turkey he took on as a pet in the previous Thanksgiving installment, and winds up running afowl (see that pun, folks, that's why you read this blog) of the Condiment King. Yes, a Z-List villain created as a gag for Batman: The Animated Series who showed up one or twice as a gag in Chuck Dixon's run on the Bat titles. It's a fun story to see just how Damian has actually grown to care about the turkey, and to be less of a little sociopath. The final story is a Christmas tale of Alfred and Damian looking through a family album of the family. Pictures of Bruce growing up, as well as all the Robins, adorn the pages, and are narrated by Alfred and Damian's commentary. The issue is a survey of Batman's life, and shows a Batman that we'd never see in the mainstream comics: one who leaves gifts for the inmates at Arkham and gently carries his sleeping son to bed. Batman is a character with so many facets, it was nice to have a book on the racks that showed a different Batman.I hope that we see more Batman from Nguyen and Fridolfs sometime soon.

X-Files: Season 10 #10
Story: Joe Harris
Art: menton3

The X-Files was a TV series that depended on its mystery and mythology. It was a series where for every answer you got, you got three questions. With the debut of the comic series that picks up where the series left off, the mythology has picked back up, and there are new mysteries. One of the major mysteries was how various cast members long thought dead are back. This issue, "Further Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man," a follow up to a classic episode, gives us a few answers. The Cigarette Smoking Man, also known as Cancer Man, was one of the principal antagonists, and a character whose history was shrouded in mystery. This issue gives the reader snapshot views of moments in his past that may or may not be true. Ties to the Bay of Pigs and various other historic events, as well as his connection to the Mulder family, are explored, and moments with his own family show the history of the enigmatic figure. The art by menton3 is in the style of Ben Templesmith, heavily lined and full of shadow, works with the subject matter and character. As I said before, the issue gives the reader new questions to ask by the end, but those questions keep the reader coming back for more, and that's a big part of the appeal of The X-Files.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 2/12

Batman #28
Story: Scott Snyder & James Tynion IV
Art: Dustin Nguyen


From Zero Year to Six Months Later, this issue is a peak into the future of Gotham, a city that is actually more bleak than the Gotham that we're used to seeing. It's time again with a check in on Harper Row, Scott Snyder's everyone/new supporting cast member to the Bat books, who tends to pop up during interlude issues between major arcs. Harper is wandering the streets of New Gotham, as it seems to be called, and winds up in the one remaining nightspot. Whatever has happened in Gotham seems to have made it a police state, but since it's Gotham, it's a police state corrupt to its core. While we are definitely in medea res here, but I don't feel totally lost. Writers Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV do a great job of making this feel like a story where we could just continue from and have the backstory filled in. I want to avoid spoiling too much, but since every major comic news site has pretty well spoiled every surprise in the issue (and there were quite a few), I will say that I like Harper's new identity as Bluebird, and I'm curious to see exactly what her relationship is with Batman. I also tend to prefer Batman and Catwoman as allies, the idea of Selina taking over Gotham's rackets is a fascinating one, and Dustin Nguyen's sleek, slinky, American Hustle Selina Kyle is cool not just because it's great, but to show just how versatile an artist he is in comparison to his current work on Li'l Gotham. And that last page reveal! I don't know exactly what this plague that is in Gotham is, and I suppose I'm not supposed to, and I don't know what Spoiler has to do with it, but I'm happy to see her back. Batman: Eternal starts in April, and if you're unsure of whether you're interested in the new weekly, this issue serves as a great peak into that world.

Batman: Li'l Gotham #11
Story & Art: Dustin Nguyen & Derek Fridolfs

Speaking of Dustin Nguyen and Li'l Gotham, the penultimate issue of the most fun Batman comic in years came out this week as well. Making it around to the second year of holidays (each short story is themed around a holiday, and are digital first, so the printed editions don't line up with the holidays within, and since we started with Halloween, this issue brings us back to October), we're not getting the major holidays. The first of the shorts is for All Saint's Day, where Batman has to bring Damian for a supervised visit with his mother and grandfather. By story's end, we get Azrael (Jean Paul Valley, but dressed in Michael Lane's costume), reference to both Neal Adams "hairy chested love God" Batman and Jim Lee's New 52 costume designs, zombie members of the Order of St. Dumas, and Damian riding Man-Bat while fighting them off. The second story, featuring The Clock King and the end of Day Light Savings Time (ok, not really a holiday, but Calendar Man would be good with it too, and that's all that counts to me), has various alternate versions of Batman trying to restart time after Clock King created adevice that has frozen Gotham You get a classic blue-and-grey clad Batman, Zebra Batman, Vampire Batman, FruitBatman, Armored Kingdom Come Batman, and even crotchety old Bruce Wayne from Batman Beyond. It's the kind of craziness that works so well with Batman, better than with pretty much any other superhero; I don't know why, but all those alpha male/type A Batmen tend to have a great crazy rapport, and it's fun to see Clock King freak out and the goofy FruitBatman save the day. The first trade of Li'l Gotham hits this week, and if you're the slightest bit a Batman fan, or have a kid who is, you should really snag this book.

Ms. Marvel #1
Story: G. Willow Wilson
Art: Adrian Alphona

This books technically came out two weeks ago. But amazing sales and great word of mouth made me snag a copy. And I'm really glad I did. This first issue is not in the least bit a super hero comic, with only a hint of the craziness that makes for a superhero story, but is instead more of a teenage drama. Kamala Khan is the kind of teenager we don't get a lot of in comics; she's special in the way we all are, different and interesting, but not "super." She comes from an Islamic household, and her faith is an important part of her character, but not something that defines her. She's sweet, smart, and while I haven't been a teenager for more time than I'd like to admit, the feeling of not fitting in that she is going through is something that most of us can really empathize with. She has a very clear voice, as do all the characters in the title. Her parents and brother only appear for a couple pages, and I already like them, and I already like her friends Bruno and Nakia. And the school alpha girl/mean girl isn't the typical nasty Cordelia Chase clone, but is a condescending little brat who is the perfect example of how some people think their culture is superior to everyone else's. It's also charming to see that Kamala is an Avengers fangirl; I can't wait to see her interact with the Avengers. On top of a really strong first issue script for G. Willow Wilson, the art from Adrian Alphona is top notch. Best know for his work on Runaways, it's great to see Alphona working with a teen hero again. Marvel really pushed this book out into the mainstream, and I often find those attempts hollow, but in this case I'm glad they did. We got a lot of walk in business from people who were either not regular comic fans, or not regulars at out store anyway, and for them to be interested in a comic is great, and since it's a comic of strong quality, I hope it means they'll be back. So, long story short, and pardon the paraphrase Stan, but Make Mine Ms. Marvel!

She-Hulk #1
Story: Charles Soule
Art: Javier Pulido

Now, this was a book I was in for from the beginning. I'm not a huge She-Hulk fan, but the combination of art by Javier Pulido and the fact that this series seemed to be hearkening back to Dan Slott's wonderful couple years on the title that was a combination of law and superheroics had me very excited, and the book delivered. Charles Soule has been all over the place lately, and I've been enjoying his run on Swamp Thing a great deal, and this book is equally well written but has a completely different flavor. Jen Walters, the Sensational She-Hulk, starts out the issue working for a law firm and feeling like everything is going her way. But by the end of the first full scene, she's out of work, and things aren't looking so rosy. But an encounter at a bar has her representing the wife of a C-List villain against Tony Stark's company for stealing his tech, and we see that the law in the Marvel Universe isn't any more straightforward than it is in this world. While Jen doesn't have the same anger issues as her cousin, she still can be bit temperamental when provoked. When getting in to see Tony Stark to just talk doesn't work, she winds up meeting with Stark's chief counsel (a guy who simply calls himself Legal, and who I hope show up again). Jen tries to work within the system, but the little guy versus the multi-billion dollar corporation doesn't go well. So she smashes her way in to see Stark. Hey, can't hurt to be a Hulk. We see every aspect of Jen's personality in this one issue; she's smart, she's tough, she believes in the law, but she will crack some heads if she needs to. By the end of the first issue, everything is wrapped up and a new status quo is set. Yes, you heard me right: the first issue is a done-in-one story. When was the last time that happened in a book from one of the big two? That's two-for-two from Marvel on solid first issues with female characters. Maybe I need to try Black Widow too.

Recommended Reading for 2/14: Batgirl featuring Stephanie Brown

When Stephanie Brown was introduced in Detective Comics by Chuck Dixon and Tom Lyle, it seemed like she was a one arc, one note character, albeit a good one. The daughter of F-List Batman villain The Cluemaster (a poor man's Riddler best known for being a member of Giffen & DeMatteis's Injustice League/Justice League Antarctica from the BWAH-HA-HA! years), Steph donned the costume of The Spoiler to shut down her absentee father's criminal enterprises. But after a couple stories where Steph went up against her dad, she started doing the vigilante thing for the action of it, and to hang around with Tm Drake, then Robin, as the two of them developed a relationship. Steph and Tim eventually broke up, she briefly was Robin, and one of the least of the Bat family events, "War Games," seemed to have thoroughly fridged Steph (if you don't know that expression, it has to do with female characters being killed for no other reason then to affect male characters, in this case Batman). But eventually, when Dixon returned to writing Robin after some years away, he brought Steph back as Spoiler. And after the "death" of Bruce Wayne, when the Bat titles went through the "Batman Reborn" branding, a new Batgirl title was launched, written by Bryan Q. Miller, with Steph as the titular heroine, and it became a major cult hit, and one of the best books on the market during its time on the stands.

One of the best aspects of Steph, one of the things that has made her such a beloved character as Batgirl, is that she was very much an everywoman. She wasn't a millionaire driven by vengeance like Batman, a boy genius like Tim Drake, or a living weapon like previous Batgirl Cassandra Cain. Steph was going to college, was trying to make new friends, maybe even meet a new boyfriend. And even more important to her character, Steph has moved beyond her issues with her dad, and was trying to be Batgirl because it was the right thing to do, and because she wanted to be a beacon of hope in Gotham. She wasn't a scary, single minded agent of vengeance like Batman, but was someone who was a hero because she thought the city needed it.

At the time it was released, this was also the book that was the place to go for Barbara Gordon, the original Batgirl, know at the time as Oracle. DC was in between volumes of Birds of Prey, the title Barbara was often featured in, and so Barbara was in Batgirl. The relationship between Steph and Barbara didn't start out too well, with Barbara not too thrilled with Steph taking up the mantle, but by the end of the first arc they were working together. That evolving relationship was one of the pleasures of the title, and even when Birds of Prey came back, Barbara was still a presence in the book. Barabara served not only as Steph's tech person and intelligence helper, but as her mentor, as the two had more in common than either had with Batman or much of his family, as they were both similarly motivated to do good.

Miller added another character to Stephanie's supporting cast, another female character who had been somewhat trampled by recent writers. Wendy Harris had been introduced into Teen Titans to be one of their tech people, along with her brother Marvin. Yes, that's Wendy and Marvin from Super Friends. But since whimsy was something found rarely at DC Comics at the time, pretty soon Marvin was eaten by a monstrous version of Wonder Dog and Wendy was badly injured. Wendy wound up in a wheelchair, and was full of anger at her fate. Barbara, who was also in a wheelchair after the Joker shot her, took Wendy under her wing and introduced her to Steph to become her own personal Oracle and partner. Taking on the name Proxy, Wendy began working with Steph. Their friendship grew, and was just hitting its stride towards the end of the run. Miller did a good job of drawing parallels not just between Barabara and Wendy, but Steph as well, as Steph's father was Oracle's arch nemesis, The Calculator. Miller built this great little cast of female heroes working together; it was a worthy successor and companion to Birds of Prey.

A particular favorite story from the series of mine was issues 6 and 7, where Steph has her first meeting with Damian Wayne, the current Robin. Damian is so abrasive and so full of himself, that he doesn't see the point in working with Stephanie, who he views as untrained and beneath his notice. But over the course of the issue, Steph earns the respect of both Damian and Dick Grayson, currently filling in as Batman. And this leads nicely into issue 17, which is another Damian and Steph story. In that story, Steph and Damian have to team up to save the children of Gotham's rich families from being abducted. Damian goes undercover, and has to interact with kids his own age. While the story is still Steph's, the issue does a tremendous job with Damian's voice, and having Steph, and outsider, see Damian in this environment makes it clear how the way Damian was raised, by his mother Talia in the League of Assassins to be the heir to Ra's al Ghul, has really affected him; Damian doesn't know how to be a kid. It's one of the best Damian stories ever written, and rereading it makes me miss the little brat all the more.

Issue 17 was a great example of one of the really excellent things Miller did throughout the series; while there was an overarcing plot, and many multi issue stories, they were broken up by some really fun one offs. Issue 13 was a one off where Batgirl teams up with Nick Gage, or St. Nick as his fellow GCPD officers call him, to fight Clayface. A handsome cop who was Batgirl's love interest, Gage ran into Steph a couple times out of costume to amusing results. Issue 14 has Steph and Supergirl fighting a legion of Draculas. And issue 18 was a Valentine's Day story featuring Klarion the Witch Boy. Miller brought in these guest stars in charming stories that never lost sight of Steph's unique voice, narrating the stories and making you fall for her as one of the most real protagonists in comics since Peter Parker first pulled on red longjohns.

The final arc of the series was one of the most bitter sweet reading experiences I have had in comics. The book had completely hit its stride. Miller had introduced the Order of the Scythe, a group of young super villains who made good additions to Steph's rogues gallery, built plots involving Wendy, and finally brought Steph face to face with her father for the first time in years. The final issue uses the Black Mercy, the plant that pushes you into a dream world, to show what I believe were Miller's long term plans for the book, giving Steph a long and wonder filled career as Batgirl. But Steph is able to cast off the Mercy, defeat her father, and have a final heart to heart with Oracle. Steph is happy, and that is filled with hope for the future...

The three main artists that Miller worked with throughout the series were very different and impressive. Lee Garbett began the series. His art is very much traditional super hero art, with great fluidity and excellent characterization. Dustin Nguyen was next. I've spoken about him before, and between his work on Detective Comics, Batman: Streets of Gotham, Li'l Gotham, and this book, he is one of the best Bat artists of the past decade; his style is unique to him, and jumps off the page, there's so much action and joy in it. Pere Perez wrapped the series. His style was closer to Garbett's, very super hero, very light. When his Steph smiled, you couldn't help but smile along.

Batgirl #24 was the last appearance of Stephanie Brown before the New 52 happened and she disappeared. She appeared in the special that wrapped up Grant Morrison's first run of Batman Incorporated, but other than a couple near misses in Li'l Gotham, Young Justice, and Smallville Season 11, Steph has been one of the casualties of the reboot. That looks like it's going to change, with the upcoming Batman: Eternal weekly series, which was previewed in this past week's issue of Batman (more on that in this Monday's reviews). There are runs of super hero books that break the trends of their time and become something special. The vocal Stephanie Brown fans have clearly indicated this fun, character driven series did exactly that. I hope that her return will be half as fun as what this series gave readers, and that she has a new lease on life in the Bat titles of today.

The entire twenty four issue run of Bryan Q. Miller's Batgirl series are available in three trades: Batgirl Rising, The Flood, and The Lesson. They are currently not in print, but shouldn't be that hard to track down.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 12/11

Batman #26
Story: Scott Snyder
Art: Greg Capullo

"Zero Year" continues in this issue, with Batman dealing with Doctor Death and the GCPD. The deeper into this new version of Batman's origin we get, the more I like it. While it does borrow bis from earlier stories, it's not a greatest hits version, trying to strip mine elements from all the different Batman origins. Scott Snyder  is creating a new story that still stays true to Batman's history, and that adds some new elements. The big change this issue is the revelation of exactly what Bruce's problem with Jim Gordon is. After the fakeout with Lucius Fox from the end of the previous issue, and knowing Gordon and Batman's relationship is what it is in the present, I'm sure Snyder has something up his sleeve, especially especially since John Layman's Detective Comics "Zero Year" crossover focused on Gordon's incorruptibility. It's interesting to add this wrinkle into Batman's past, giving him a reason to distrust Gordon instead of Gordon distrusting Batman as in Year One. Meanwhile, the Doctor Death storyline is a great little Batman versus a mad scientist story, and using Doctor Death, the first "name" villain in Batman's history, is a nice nod; I also have to say the new visual for him is creepy, and something not seen in Batman comics in the past. The flashbacks to Bruce's journey to become Batman and the sensory deprivation ritual takes touches of Grant Morrison's run and adds them in; frankly, Morrison's work is usually so quickly retconned out of continuity or ignored, it's nice to see an element hearkening to it. I hope we get some resolution with Death in the next issue, so we can move back to the Riddler, but Snyder is playing with a large canvas, and that scope is part of what makes "Zero Year" an interesting Batman story.

Batman: Li'l Gotham #9
Story & Art: Dustin Nguyen and Derek Fridolfs

Batman: Li'l Gotham is proving itself to be more than just a way to read stories that feel like they could have taken place in the pre-Flashpoint DCU; it feels like a spiritual successor of Batman: The Animated Series. This struck me this issue not only because it featured a cameo by Simon Trent, the Grey Ghost, a character from one of the best episodes of B:TAS, "Beware the Grey Ghost," but also because it took that element and worked it seamlessly into the world that creators Dustin Nguyen and Derek Fridolfs have created. That sort of synthesis is what made B:TAS great; it took the best elements of Batman and mixed them together to create something uniquely its own. The first story in this issue has Batman and Robin chasing Clayface into Gotham Comic Con. There's a lot of con and fandom humor, but none that is mean spirited towards the fans. Damian's plan to draw Clayface out at the end of the issue is a hilarious moment, and perfectly suited to Damian's personality. Nguyen gives Batman a speech at the end to Damian when Robin is upset about changes made to his favorite comic character that perfectly reflects the best attitude one can have about continuity, one I share. The second story, a Labor Day story for The Carpenter, contractor to the supervillain set, is a cameofest, with appearances by most of Batman's rogues, plus some others from around the DCU. Paul Dini created The Carpenter during his run on Detective Comics and Batman: Streets of Gotham, and being a Dini creation, she fits perfectly into a world that is heavily influenced by his animated series work. This title is starting to wind down, with only three issues left, and I am going to miss this breath of fresh air every month.

Lazarus #5
Story: Greg Rucka
Art: Michael Lark

The second arc of Greg Rucka and Michael Lark's dystopian future series, Lazarus, kicks off with the fallout from the first arc still being felt. Forever Carlyle is still regretting the death of an innocent man, something a Lazarus, a family enforcer, probably shouldn't, and her evil brother (More evil? More overtly evil?) is on the run. When Forever arrives at a border with another family's property where he might have fled, she is confronted by a group of serfs serving the other family as guards. They immediately begin to be verbally abusive, and Rucka makes a quick and very matter of fact comment about rape culture and rape threats; he doesn't dwell on it, but makes his point and moves on. As the scene ends, Forever is shot from behind by one of the men, and instead of massacring them herself, she uses her words, wits, and the fear of her powerful family to get the others to execute the man themselves. This level of intellect is part of what makes Forever such and interesting character. There are new characters introduced, and we get the first look at what it's like to be a person in this world who has no connection to the ruling elite, and its not a pretty picture. The other scene in the issue that left a strong impact was seeing a very young Forever sparring with a teacher, and the callousness with which her "father," the head of the Carlyle family, treats her. The world of Lazarus is being built brilliantly, and each issue gets us closer to a turning point for Forever. There are plenty of dystopian stories out there, but Lazarus is top of the heap, with a grounding in reality and characters who are well rounded.

Richard Stark's Parker: Slayground
Story: Donald Westlake as Richard Stark; adapted by Darwyn Cooke
Art: Darwyn Cooke

I think I said about as much as I could about the excellence of Parker and these adaptations as I could in my recommended reading on Parker but a new volume is something to be looked forward to, and Slayground lives up to, and exceeds, it's predecessors. In an interview, I believe Cooke said that Slayground was one of his favorite of the Parker novels, if not his favorite, and from nearly the first page, I could see why. Not only does this put Parker in the place where he works best, behind the eightball with only limited resources, but it is a visually impressive story. Parker is trapped inside a closed amusement park with men hunting him, and so the set pieces that the story is set against work perfectly with a medium with a strong visual component. The mostly silent sequences where Parker slowly sets up traps for the mobsters and crooked cops that are going to come after him are some of the best Cooke has ever done, and it makes the payoff as Parker springs these traps all the more satisfying. It's a tour de force from both Westlake and Cooke, and it's probably my favorite graphic novel of the year. Also, this book contains the short story, "The Seventh," originally available only in the beautiful oversized hardcover collection Parker: The Martini Edition. You should still check out The Martini Edition for its gallery of extras, but its nice that if you don't have $75 to drop, you can get to read this gem too.

Sherlock Holmes: Moriarty Lives #1
Story: David Liss
Art:Daniel Indro

Dynamite Entertainment's newest Sherlock Holmes related series is one focusing on Holmes's archenemy, Professor James Moriarty. For a character who appeared in only one story, and who was mentioned in only one other, by his creator, Professor Moriarty has taken on a life of his own. He's appeared in countless movies, short stories, novels, and comics. I've read more than a few stories of Moriarty surviving his battle with Holmes on the Reichenbach Falls, but I was curious to see what writer David Liss would do with it. Liss impressed me with his Marvel work on Mystery Men and Black Panther, with a great noir sensibility, and while this isn't a noir, it is a well rounded portrait of Moriarty. Moriarty is brilliant, conceited, and the perfect match for Holmes. Told through his internal monologue, we see exactly to what degree of contempt and respect Moriarty holds his great nemesis; Holmes hangs over the action, despite not appearing. The story picks up directly as Moriarty pulls himself from the river after being swept away from Holmes, and he immediately sets out to return to power. He demonstrates his own skills of deduction, and his cruel calculating nature. But Moriarty seems to have a soft spot for a pretty face, and when he falls afoul of locals in protecting a pretty barmaid, Moriarty makes a pledge to protect her prized possession when she is felled by the local Baron, an alchemist. While the world of Sherlock Holmes is one of pure rationality, it is often mixed with the supernatural in pastiches, and so Moriarty versus an alchemist is not jarring. With the issue's end, Moriarty is on the run, and has a very different prize with him than he expected. The people pursuing the Professor should know that the prey with nothing left to lose is the most dangerous, and I have a feeling Moriarty will be far more than they can handle.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 8/14

Batman #23
Story: Scott Snyder/ James Tynion IV
Art: Greg Capullo/ Rafael Albuquerque

Zero Year continues on in the breakneck pace, with this issue paying off not only much of the set up from the previous two issues, but much of what was given us in Batman #0 from a year ago. The issue opens with the Red Hood gang invading Bruce's penthouse and basically beating the hell out of him and burning the penthouse, juxtaposed with Bruce falling into the caves below Wayne Manor. Bruce escapes into below Gotham, and makes his way through the subterranean caverns to Wayne Manor, where he is met by Alfred. The symmetry of the two events is presented beautifully, and Capullo is in top form. It's also wonderful to see Bruce find his way to the Manor and have Alfred waiting, affirming the strong relationship between them that Snyder has been writing since his first issue on the series. Snyder continues to tease the identity of the Red Hood Leader; based on classic continuity, it should be the Joker, and the beating with the crowbar he gives Bruce is a nod to Joker's beating of Jason Todd, and the dialogue sounds very Joker like, but I feel like Snyder might have an ace (or a Joker) up his sleeve when the big reveal comes. Also interesting are Phillip Kane's words to Riddler as he leaves his employ. I'm curious to see exactly what changes Snyder has made to the Riddler's background, and whether we'll see them in next month's Villain's Month Riddler issue.And the issue ends with one of the most iconic scenes from the Batman canon: the bat on the bust and the realization of what Bruce must be. Snyder adds his own twist on it, while maintaining touches from Batman: Year One, including Bruce talking to his father and the bell on the table, and it is still a powerful scene every time I've seen it done. This issue's backup, "The Pit," is about Bruce's physical training, and ties into the main piece by showing how Bruce can take such a savage beating, but also ties nicely into the eventual driving force behind what Bruce does: fear. While he won't kill, the driving, obsessive need to keep going inspires as much fear as the fear of death. And now, next issue, it's time for him to don the cowl for the first time. I can't wait.

Batman: Li'l Gotham #5
Story & Art: Dustin Nguyen & Derek Fridolfs

And on the other end of the Batman spectrum is Li'l Gotham. This is not just an incredibly fun book, but the perfect comic for those who miss the pre-Flashpoint Batman continuity. This is a delightfully all ages comic; it never talks down to its readers, and has great action, but is well suited for younger readers as well as those of us who like a superhero romp that isn't steeped in angst. The first of this month's two stories is a Mr. Freeze tale, about Freeze being released from Arkham and after having a good day, he decides to freeze the city in that state of perfection so when Nora awakes, she will find the perfect city. This is the tragic Freeze created by Paul Dini, not the more disturbed New 52 version, and I have a very soft spot for this incarnation of the character. Probably second only to Claremont's Magneto, this Freeze is a villain who you can empathize with, although he is clearly not exactly right in the head. The second story is a Cinco de Mayo tale (since this is a digital first comic, the holidays each story touches on are usually a couple months behind) of Red Robin, Robin, Katana, and Abuse (a Gotham vigilante who Damian befriended, a kid who was experimented on with Venom so he could grow to adult size, sort of a very angry Captain Marvel) trying to infiltrate Bane's gang. It's a light tale, and is cut with scenes of Batman, Huntress, Zatanna, and Red Hood playing Scrabble and Nightwing and Oracle out on a date. While I have embraced the New 52 and all its changes, these are the incarnations of these characters I grew up with, and to get a chance to see them again makes me smile. I love how Nguyen and Fridolfs find a way to write Damian as both bratty and endearing, and I like this incarnation of Katana, although part of me feels like she is taking the place of Cassandra Cain who is verboten by some strange DC fiat. If you want so fun Batman action without any continuity that you can share with anyone, I can't think of a better book.

Herobear and the Kid: The Inheritance #1
Story & Art: Mike Kunkel

Herobear and the Kid is one of those all ages books I missed the first time around, and have heard nothing but amazing things about. Now that BOOM! is publishing new material, I was hoping they would do exactly what they're doing, which is reprinting the original mini-series. The Inheritance is the original Herobear and the Kid story, initially selfpublished by creator Mike Kunkel. Tyler is ten, and he and his family have just moved into the house that belonged to his grandfather before he passed away. For a kids comic, it starts very frankly, at Tyler's grandfather's funeral, and is narrated beautifully by Tyler as he remembers his grandfather. When Tyler receives his inheritance, he is surprised to find it is just a stuffed bear and a broken pocketwatch. When Tyler goes to school, we see a lot of the typical schoolyard tropes: the geeky kid, the bully, the pretty girl. Kunkel handles all these characters well, but it's only after Tyler is soundly thrashed by the local bullies that he smacks the stuffed bear on the nose, and it spins around on its own and changes into a polar bear in a cape. That's the end of issue #1, so we haven't really gotten to meet Herobear yet, but Tyler is a likable protagonist, and this comic feels to me to be about the wonder of childhood and so a teddy bear superhero is a perfect vehicle for all that is special about childhood.

Saga #13
Story: Brian K. Vaughan
Art: Fiona Staples

Saga is back! It seems the time between new arcs on Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples space/fantasy/war/romance comic gets longer each time. This issue picks up a bit before the end of the last issue, setting up exactly how Marko, Alana, Hazel, and their extended family wound up on the planet Quietus in the home of D. Oswald Heist. The family dynamic with the addition of Marko's mother, Klara, is fun, as she clearly is not a fan of Alana, but after the death of her husband, she wants to stay with her family. There's some great action once the family arrive on Quietus, with living bones attacking them, and as Hazel points out in her narration, the first impression give by Heist is not the best, adding some humor to a tense scene. Meanwhile, The Will has crashed his ship and is stranded with Gwendolyn and Slave Girl. There's a Tracy and Hepburn banter going to between The Will and Gwendolyn that is clear to everyone but them, especially to the spirit of The Stalk, that seems to appear to The Will and tells him what she really wants for him. For an issue where there is very little action, a lot happens here, especially when The Will makes a statement at the end regarding Slave Girl. I think I've stated before that I think Vaughan is the master of the cliffhanger in comics, and while this issue's end isn't a jawdropper of WTF!!! proportion, it is the beginning of what I think is serious character evolution for The Will. The thrill of Saga has been how well wrought all the characters are, so this cliffhanger is actually more meaningful to me than a ship crashing into a blackhole.

The X-Files: Season 10 #3
Story: Joe Harris
Art:Michael Walsh

When it aired, I was a huge fan of The X-Files. I'm talking huge; watched every episode multiple times, owned all the novels, comics, episode guides, poured over it's arcane mythology. I stuck with it to the bitter end, and am one of probably eight people who saw the second feature film on the big screen (on the second weekend it was out (it opened opposite The Dark Knight. There was no competition there). And despite the lackluster last couple seasons, I had to admit a new season presented in comic form like Buffy and Angel, with show creator Chris Carter "executive producing" it, the same way Whedon does his comics, made me very curious. Three issues later, I'm actually pretty pleased. Writer Joe Harris has the character's voices pretty much dead on, and artist Michael Walsh, whose work on Comeback I loved, has their likenesses down while still putting it in his own style. The creators have quite a ways to go, since the series finale prophesied an alien invasion that never happened, and the mythology grew so complex by the end it took a map to find your way out of it, but Harris jumped in headfirst, with a mystery involving Mulder and Scully's son, William, long since given up for adoption, alien/human hybrids, and cults pursuing Scully. This issue brings back one of The X-Files most notorious characters, Cancer Man, the mysterious smoking man who seems to have all the answers. He and Mulder have a confrontation in a diner, and the dialogue given to the mystery man is so perfect I could hear Wiliam B. Davis's voice in my head. The last page gives a reveal that sends a shiver up my spine as it hearkens back to some of the best of the mythology episodes of the series, with Mulder unwrapping a gift from Cancer Man, who for once flat out makes a pronouncement about his relationship to Mulder. There's more going on with ol' CM than it seems, as he has now been killed twice and yet seems mostly fine, although there is a hint that he might not be as healthy as he seems. Scully, meanwhile, is running through the countryside with an alien to protect her from other aliens, and... yeah, it's good to be back in X-Files territory. Let's just hope that the truth is really out there this time, and not a whole lot of unanswerable mysteries.