Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 9/30

Batman Annual #4
Story: James Tynion IV
Art: Roge Antonion & Daniel McCaig

Bruce Wayne has been a passenger in the book he's driven for most of seventy-five years since Jim Gordon took up the mantle of the Bat and Bruce got amnesia, but this annual returns Bruce to the spotlight. On the day Wayne Manor is being returned to the Wayne family, Bruce, his current lady love Julie Madison, Alfred, and CEO Geri Powers arrive a the manor to sign the papers that will officially make the house Bruce's again. But because this is Gotham, what should be a simple signature is anything but, as three of Batman's rogues crash the party to make a point. Hunted through the manor by Riddler, Mr. Freeze, and Clayface, Bruce has to save himself and the others without his Batman skills. I really like Bruce Wayne, this likable, earnest, good guy who doesn't remember anything about his old life, but is trying to make a go of his new one. And as this little Riddler headed trio hunts for Bruce, he and Alfred do their best to make it through and save the others. It's interesting to see Bruce questioning everything about the house and his life, and moments where he sees something similar to an armory or the tunnels under the manor that Alfred covers up quickly. It's wonderful to see how Alfred wants Bruce to make a go of this new life he's been given. In the end, though, it comes to down everyone in the house in an office, and Riddler giving a speech about the madness of Bruce Wayne, both what is in him and what he's caused. And the speech has it's points, even though they're only accurate from Riddler's skewed point of view, in the same way the closing argument from the excellent Batman: The Animated Series episode, "The Trial" is. The final moment of the confrontation, Bruce does seem to channel some of his Batman muscle memory, and it makes me wonder exactly how much might still be under this calm new façade. The art from Roge Antonion, a newcomer to me, has hints of Rafael Albuquerque, with the same realistic bodies, but dynamic style and hints of horror in his Clayface. Annuals are often throwaway stories, but DC has been doing a good job of making them matter, and as a character piece to flesh out the new Bruce Wayne, this issue is top notch.

Grayson Annual #2
Story: Tom King & Tim Seeley
Art: Alvaro Martinez, Raul Fernandez, & Jeremy Cox

The other standout annual from DC this week was the second from Grayson, featuring the first meeting between superspy Dick Grayson and the recently outed and depowered Superman. Starting with a flashback to an early adventure of Batman, Robin, and Superman, the bulk of the story takes place right after he last issue of Grayson, with Dick saying goodbye to Gotham in the best way he knows how, jumping off a building to acrobat his way down, only to be grabbed by Superman, who thinks he's suicidal. What follows is what Grayson has proven time and again it does best: a fast paced adventure story, as the murder cult called The Fist of Cain come after Dick and Superman, along with Blockbuster, the Batman villain as their newest recruit, one who makes the flashback from the beginning of the story all the more key to the events unfolding. One of the things that really impressed me about this issue was how it did an excellent job of getting the readers up to speed on each character's status quo without making it feel forced; it was an infodump, sure, but when these are two old friends who haven't seen each other, it works. The dynamic between Superman and Dick Grayson has always been an interesting one, with Dick often acting towards Superman as if he were the fun uncle, but here, especially due to the vast weakening of Superman's powers, they are more on equal footing. The chase sequence, with them being pursued by the Fist of Cain and Blockbuster, is phenomenal, as he heroes try to get the cultists, who would revel in collateral damage, away from populated Gotham. They banter, they fight, it's charming, dashing, and fun, which is exactly when Grayson is at its best. But the Fist of Cain isn't a laughable threat, especially since they've weaponized Blockbuster's blood to make it a Venom knock off of sorts (and isn't that a freaky idea?), and so they have to ask from help from the one man who neither really wants to: Lex Luthor. Luthor's demeanor is the smug arrogance on has come to expect, and he's written perfectly, and with his help, the good guys win. Thematically, there's lot of talk of change, and the Kyptonian myth of Nightwing and Flamebird gets a new telling, one that makes Dick even more aligned with the mythical Kryptonian figure. All in all, if you've been curious to check out Dick Grayson's new spy adventures, or if you want to know more about Superman's status quo, this is an excellent place to start.

Sandman: Overture #6
Story: Neil Gaiman
Art: JH Williams III & Dave Stewart

"It begins..." Those are the last words of the main story in Sandman: Overture #6, and are words that are perfectly appropriate for a tale about the Endless, beings who never truly die but just begin again, and a story about the power of stories. Dream, on the ship with the beings gathered by his cat form and the ghost of the girl named Hope, must prepare to fix the problem he created by sparing the vortex that has become the mad star. It's cleverly done, tying in with one of the best Sandman single issues of all time, "A Dream of a Thousand Cats," making the appearance of the cat Dream throughout the series make all the more sense. I don't want to give too much away, because there are twists and turns throughout the issue that pay off events hat have happened earlier in the series, as well as some that make perfect sense in retrospect and make me want to go back and reread the series from the beginning, but the main story ends exactly where I expected it would. Gaiman has always been a writer who plays a long game, and little things are rarely little things. The Saeculum, the device that was a point of contention between Dream and his father, becomes an important aspect of the plot in this story, something I should have seen coming. Most members of the Endless appear in this issue, giving us Williams's visions of Delirium, Death, Desire, and Despair, all of which impressed, which shouldn't be shocking if you've ever seen his art. The pages with Delirium are particularly stunning, as his style morphs, becoming no less clean, but is now surreal. I usually have no problem telling how Williams two page spreads are meant to be read, but this one threw me for a second, simply because of how irregular and odd the borders are, which is perfectly befitting the subject of those pages. There are also two very clear hints at events that would come in the future of Sandman, evens that are important, and these nods to the future could have come off as twee or winking, but instead are natural fits to the way Gaiman tells stories. It's been two years since the first issue of Sandman: Overure was released, and a lo can change in two years. The quality and beauty of the words and pictures in this comic, though, have not, presenting a story that is a feast for the eyes and mind. If you've been waiting for the collection, I cannot recommend this highly enough, whether you're a fan of Sandman from old times, or have never tried it before.

Scooby-Doo Team-Up #12
Story: Sholly Fisch
Art: Dario Bizuela & Franco Riesco

I've enjoyed the various issues of Scooby-Doo Team-Up that have paired Scooby and the gang with DC Universe characters, but this particular team-up, with Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, along with appearances by a couple other of Gotham's lady defenders or villains, has to be a favorite. Mystery Inc. arrives in Gotham, assuming they have been called for help by an anonymous source who can only be Batman. Only it's not Batman, it's Harley and Ivy, who are having ghost problems. Having stolen the cursed Opal of Osiris, their luck has gone sour, and they need the best ghost hunters in the biz to find out what's happening. The issue plays it completely straight with the Scooby-Doo tropes: there's a fake ghost, an unmasking, a chase. But who is behind the ghost mask each time is great fun. Sholly Fisch has done a great job merging the DC Animated Universe with Scooby-Doo's, and I was excited to see the designs for Harley and Ivy, as well as the two other gust stars who don't appear on the cover, were the classic Batman: The Animated Series designs. I have nothing against the New Batman Adventures designs, or any other, but those designs are so iconic and so perfect for animation, that they work seamlessly with this comic. I know this is technically a two week old comic for those keeping track, but my store sold out in a couple hours and I had to wait for this week's reorder. It has sold out through Diamond now, but a second printing is on the way. I have to say, the only thing that would be better would be Scooby and the rest meeting real DCU ghosts. Oh, the next issue features The Phantom Stranger, The Spectre, and Deadman? Sign me up!

Fiction Friday: Some New Prose Books of Note

Things have continued to be a bit hectic in these parts, as I prepare to transition to a new full time job for the first time in thirteen years and have been doing some work on my house, so I haven't had the time for the intensive reading/research that my usual Friday recommended readings or lost legends entail. I have started reading some books for a lost legends, but I'm not done yet, so today I thought I'd give a quick rundown of some interesting novels/novellas/etc. that have some links to comics that have come out in the past month or so. Not reviews, as they're all on my shelf to be read, but stuff that I think you all might enjoy.

A week ago was Force Friday. For those of you who don't know or haven't read any number of articles complaining about the lack of toys at retailers, this was the day when merch for Star Wars Episode Seven: The Force Awakens started hitting stores. I do my best to avoid buying too many toys anymore, due to a lack a space, but books? Man, I'll buy as many of those as I can get my hands on. And aside from toys, five novels, four for the YA crowd and one for the grown-up audience were released. I didn't order them all (yet), but the one that has me really excited is Smuggler's Run. First and foremost, it's a story of Han Solo, who was my favorite of the big three from the original movies, and his Wookiee partner, the inimitable Chewbacca on an adventure. But what makes it even more exciting? It's written by Greg Rucka! Yes that Greg Rucka, the one who wrote some of the best Batman stories of the past 15 years and some of the best crime comics ever. This is the book I'll be reading the minute I finish my current book. And if you like Rucka and/or Star Wars, you should probably check out Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens- Shattered Empire, the comic Rucka is writing that bridges some of the gap between Return of the Jedi and Force Awakens, with his Punisher artist Marco Checchetto.

While I enjoy Star Trek TV, I've never gotten into the Star Trek Expanded Universes in the same way I got into the Star Wars one. The notable exception to this has been anything written by Peter David, who I've written about more than nearly any other writer in comics. After doing a series of novels with the Next Generation cast, and a couple with the original series cast, and even one with the Deep Space Nine cast, David was given his own little corner of the Star Trek Universe. He got an original ship, the Excalibur, staffed mostly by original characters (a handful of the crew are one-or-two episode characters from TNG), and a new region of space to explore in the New Frontier series. The series let David develop, change, and kill characters in a way you could never do in novels featuring characters who appear in other aspects of the franchise. It's a great series, and all the characters read like Peter David characters: well developed, witty, a bit arch. The Captain, Mackenzie Calhoun, is an original creation who is the former liberator and warlord of his homeplanet planet (David has likened him to William Wallace). After years of exciting adventures on the printed page, the New Frontier series seemed to end three years ago with the end of David's contract, not the completion of his plans. I bought the last novel, Blind Man's Bluff, the day it came out, and left it on my shelf, unread, until I was sure no new novels would appear, and entropy took it from there until all those years had passed and it remained unread. That, though, has changed, as a three part novel, The Returned, has been released through Amazon as e-books, the final chapter of which came out this week. So I dusted off my Blind Man's Bluff, am about two thirds of the way through, and planning on reading The Returned after Smuggler's Run. Seriously, folks, even if you aren't Star Trek fans, these are great books, and the level of Star Trek continuity you need to know is minor, and is explained in the books. David has stated the future of New Frontier rests in people buying these e-books, so give them a shot. The entire New Frontier series are available for the Kindle, so there's no better time to start. I think I see a recommended reading in the future with more about the series. Oh, two additional fun facts. One: there have been two New Frontier comics, a one-shot from Wildstorm and a mini-series from IDW. Two: Mackenzie Calhoun is the only Star Trek character to never appear on any TV show to get his own official action figure. It was a mail away item, and I spent ages trying to win on on eBay before triumphing. He will have a place of honor in my nerdcave when it's complete.

I'm late to the game with Humble Bundles, I admit. A lot of that has to do with my general preference for physical media versus digital. You see them talked about all over for comics, where you can get large swaths of a series digitally for a reasonable price and part of the proceeds benefit a charity. As a matter of fact, on Monday, I was sitting on the couch and commented to my wife that I was thinking of buying the then current books bundle, a set of nine Star Wars audio adaptations, but I know that this a rabbit hole I could fall down easily. And you know what? I was right. I bought the Star Wars bundle, and the next day, the new bundle was announced, and this one? Neil Gaiman rarities. It's seventeen uncollected or out of print pieces by Neil Gaiman. This has kind of blown up, as many things Gaiman is involved with, and has set records for Humble Bundles, and been featured in various articles on the internet over the past few days. Now, I own about half a dozen of them, but that's a lot of Gaiman I haven't read. And the charities that are being benefited are The Moth, the live storytelling series, and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. How could you say no? You can give as much or as little as you like, but to get the full set of books (including Neil's biography of the band Duran Duran that he wrote as a young journalist), you have to pay above the average contribution, which is currently $19.46.  That's a very good price for a lot of interesting material. Here's the link: the bundle is live for twelve more days, so get it while the getting is good.

And finally, The Shepherd's Crown, the final novel by Sir Terry Pratchett, mastermind behind Discworld, is now available to buy here in the states. I have my copy, and will be reading it after the other books I've talked about. I have quite a reading docket ahead of me. There are worse things...

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 5/27

Batman '66 #23
Story: Jeff Parker
Art: Brent Schoonover and Giancarlo Caracuzzo

Nearly two years into its run as a print comic, it's nice to see Batman '66 take a few chances. While the early issues focused on established villains in the universe created by the TV show, since the publication of the lost episode that introduced Two-Face into the universe, we've begun to see other Batman villains from the comics who never appeared on the show, including Harley Quinn and Lord Death Man. This issue is two short stories, both written bu series regular writer Jeff Parker, with two of Batman's more monstrous foes. The first story, drawn by Brent Schoonover, introduces Solomon Grundy, whose origin is tied to that of Marsha, Queen of Diamonds, one of the series's original villains. It's weird to see this universe and actual magic tied together, as so much of the classic series was tied up in funky 60s, but it's hard to do the walking dead and use science. Still, it's a scientific solution Batman comes up with to stop Grundy, even if it's as pseudo-scientific as Bat shark repellent. A highlight of the story is that Schoonover works homages to classic covers and Batman images into panels, one especially cool one being to an old Aurora Batman model I remember assembling as a kid (a reproduction from the 80s, mind, not the original). The second story introduces Clayface, and does a very cool thing of tying him into False Face, a TV villain. It establishes that False Face was Basil Karlo, who was also the original Clayface, and he is given an origin that has echoes of the Clayface origin from Batman: The Animated Series. Artist Giancarlo Caracuzzo draws a monstrous Clayface who never could have existed on the budget of the TV show, or looked good in the effects of the era. And again, as was often the case, for all the biff bam pow action, Batman defeats Clayface using his brain more than his brawn. I'm looking forward to seeing some more Batman villains introduced (we've been teased with Killer Croc and Poison Ivy, so they're on  the horizon), as it adds some nice flavor to a book that's already a lot of fun.

Convergence: Booster Gold #2
Story: Dan Jurgens
Art: Alvaro Martinez

Convergence has ended, and sadly it was more a whimper than a bang. But there were some real high points to the tie-ins, love letters to older versions of characters and their fans. One of those love letters was the Booster Gold series, written by Booster's creator, Dan Jurgens.This issue not only features two Boosters, but his son, Rip Hunter, his sister, Goldstar, his robot buddy, Skeets, and his best buddy, Blue Beetle. While it's still serious, with the older, original Booster dying of an overdose of chronal energy, we still get some fun moments as the other Booster, Rip, and Goldtsra fight the Legion of Super-Heroes, and post-Flashpoint Booster is still as much a goof as classic Booster pretended to be to hide his more serious duties. But it's the scenes between a rapidly aging Booster and Blue Beetle that warmed my heart. We've seen Booster try to save Beetle using time travel, both in the comics and in an episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold, but here it's a resigned Booster who's meeting his friend when Beetle was in his prime, and Booster treats it as a gift. The two get to talk, and joke, and even though Booster tries to warn Beetle a little about his oncoming fate, he doesn't spoil the time together with portent. In the end, Booster gets to say his goodbyes to those he loves before he goes through a startling metamorphosis that makes absolutely perfect sense if you're familiar with a couple of DC's previous events. It's a bittersweet farewell, but with hints that the new Booster has an important place in upcoming events and the old time travel crew still out there guarding time, there's a glimmer of hope, and hopefully a hearty Bwah-ha-ha to come.

Divinity #4
Story: Matt Kindt
Art: Trevor Hairsine

Divinity has been the most experimental series I've read from Valiant, and it's been a resounding success with me. Matt Kindt talks in the production notes in the back about creating an overpowered character and the importance of knowing how to defeat them, and this issue is about the fall of Abram Adams, the godlike being called Divinity by his followers. Interestingly (and smartly) there is very little combat between the titular character and Unity, Valiant's premier superhero team (although there is a gorgeous two page spread of them assaulting him). Mostly, Unity fights Divinity's followers, who are trying to stop them from interfering with their god while trying a hail Mary to contain Divinity. Meanwhile, with all his power, Divinity has resurrected his girlfriend and daughter, and is talking to them. But it's not the conversation he wants to have. It's a tragedy, as Eve, the woman he loves, tells him that she lived a full life and she wants to stay where she is. it's not a great energy weapon, or brilliant tactics that defeats Divinity. It's his remaining humanity. The series ends on a few different notes, leaving the fate of the character and the world in the air. Unity is unsure what to do with a contained super being who could defeat them with barely a thought, Divinity's followers are ready to declare a holy war to retrieve their savior, and Divinity himself? Divinity has realized exactly how much has changed, both in the world and in himself, but still has some hope in a very human form. This level of introspection is uncommon in superhero comics; so much of post-Watchmen superhero comics plays at seriousness, but doesn't really talk about anything beyond brooding. Divinity explores what it's like to become a being of power in a very thoughtful and human way, something that impressed me greatly, and I'm looking forward to the sequel to see where Abram Adams's journey takes him next.

Ivar, Timewalker #5
Story: Fred Van Lente
Art: Francis Portela

Fred Van Lente can cram more into a comic than pretty much anyone I can think of. In one issue of Ivar, Timewalker, you get a science fiction assault in a space station, a discussion of time travel physics, a fight on a post-apocalyptic world, a conversation at a bar, and all of it is done with humor and character development. The issue opens as a space fleet attacks Oblivi-1, the time/space station that is the headquarter of the villains Ivar has been dealing with in the first arc of the series, only to meet an unfortunate fate. While we do see Neela Sethi, the scientist who has been the... target? Goal? Of everything Ivar, our titular time traveler has done over the course of the series so far, and we see her talking to another version of herself about their scientific goal, the majority of the issue is set in the year 9999, with Ivar trying to recruit his youngest brother, Gilad the Eternal Warrior, to storm Oblivi-1 to rescue Neela. It's pretty standard infiltration and save humanity from monsters, in this case the Nergal Horde, but it's elevated by Van Lente's dialogue. It's not only very funny, but it's staggeringly real. I have two little brothers, and I know how brothers talk and bicker, and Van Lente has it down. Despite Ivar being the eldest brother, it's Gilad who has always been the serious one, the one who takes his responsibilities to heart, but here, at the end of Earth, Gilad is ready to lay his arms down, for once Earth is gone, his responsibility as its guardian is gone too and he can rest. But Ivar's interference lights a spark under Gilad one more time, and he agrees as long as Ivar promises that Aram, the middle brother, better known as Armstrong, isn't coming, something Ivar agrees to without a blink. Cut back to a bar in 2015, where Ivar is talking to Armstrong shortly before he left for 9999 to find Gilad, and we see a familiar scene with a familiar promise. The issue ends with a scene involving the former captives of the Nergal Horde that I don't want to spoil, but it's interesting how both this plot and Ivar's own operate in a circle in this issue. Saying anything more would spoil the fun, and with this title, that's the last thing I would want to do.

Sandman: Overture #5
Story: Neil Gaiman
Art: J.H. Williams III

What more can I say about Sandman: Overture? This is the comic that I most look forward to whenever it happens to come out. It's Neil Gaiman and J.H. Williams working together seamlessly, producing a vision of beauty and a story that is enchanting in the literal sense of the word; I find myself unable to look away from the pages as I read the issue, quietly mouthing the words along with the comic. After being trapped in the previous issue, Dream finds himself in the court of his mother, Night, brought to her by a servant named Dusk. Dusk's "d" name makes me curious is she is another relative of the "d" named Endless, but that is not addressed here. Instead, we see Dream having a family squabble with his mother. Night makes some very valid points about Dream and his relationship with his siblings, but we also see where Dream and Desire get their tempers from. While within the blackhole, Dream deals with family issues, outside it, the Dream of Cats wanders the battlefields of the universe, the ones growing worse due to the machinations of the mad star, and begins to save people, as well as retrieving the lost girl Hope from the afterlife. What exactly the Dream of Cats's plan is remains mysterious, but he's still a cat, so that's pretty much par for the course. Dream escapes the blackhole, naturally, saved by Destiny, his elder brother. The reasoning for this particular rescue us cleverly presented, as it not only works with already established Sandman mythos in a way that it didn't occur to me it could, but gives some personality to Destiny, who has always been the dustiest member of the Endless; he's like Marvel's Uatu the Watcher, bound only to observe, only he actually does only observe. It kind of shows why Uatu was always doing stuff, since it makes him much more interesting. The final scene of the issue takes place on a boat, and here's where I want to call out Williams for his astounding work. Any page is a masterwork, but there's a great moment as Dream boards the boat and his clothes change from the usual flowing regalia he wears into a sailor's outfit that is done with such grace. It's a tiny detail, but those are what makes Williams amazing, he doesn't miss a beat. The designs of the boat and it's crew are similarly astounding. There's only one issue left now, one issue for Dream to bring about the downfall of the mad star that he inadvertently created, and to receive answers to as many of the questions as Gaiman is willing to answer. Because really, this comic is as ethereal as a dream, and whoever gets all the answers they want out of a dream?

Terry Pratchett: A Rememberance

Yesterday, we lost one of literature's greatest satirists. Sir Terry Pratchett, author of the immensely popular and genuinely brilliant Discworld series, passed away. There were a few comic book adaptations of Discworld novels, but I'm breaking my rule of sticking to things directly related to comics on this blog because Sir Terry's work meant a heck of a lot to me, and I feel like I need to write about that today.

Like a lot of Americans, I first encountered the work of Terry Pratchett through Good Omens, a novel he co-wrote with Neil Gaiman (who I might have written about a bit on here at one point or another). I have strong recollections of reading Good Omens, since it was what I was reading when I left home for college. I remember sitting under a tree on campus, watching people go by, while I read it and chuckled to myself. I hadn't even finished reading Sandman at this point, but I had already fallen in love with Neil Gaiman's work, and if this was any indication of what Pratchett could do on his own, I knew he was another author whose books I needed to track down.

Unfortunately for me at the time, the first twelve novels in Pratchett's magnum opus, the Discworld series, were out of print. Thus began a years long hunt through used book stores, British imports from Borders, and eventually e-Bay to find those early books, because I had to read them in order. Naturally, by the way, the minute I had found them all, new editions started being published, because that's the way things work.

Discworld isn't so much a series as a setting. It is a flat planet that travels through space on the back of four gigantic elephants that travel on the back of an even more gigantic turtle, Great A'Tuin. It's a fantasy world, with all the typical tropes you'd expect (dwarfs, trolls, barbarians, vampires, fairies, etc.) but it's so much more than that. Pratchett was a genius writer, and each book was filled with humor and satire. The satire could be taking on literary conventions or society, but by the time of the last Discworld book he wrote, I think he touched on pretty much every topic between life and DEATH.

Rincewind and The Luggage

Within Discworld, there are four series and a whole set of more standalone novels. The novels of Rincewind, the most incompetent and cowardly wizard on all the Disc serve as a travelogue of all the places on the Disc. This is the series that starts with the first novel set on Discworld, The Colour of Magic. That and the second novel, Light Fantastic, are the only two parter in the series, and really should be read together. They are pretty much a fantasy parody, taking on a lot of the tropes of the genre. But as Rincewind's story continues, he travels all over Discworld, usually running from some horror or another. He is the Arthur Dent or Richard Mayhew of the series, that very British protagonist who is completely out of his depth in all things. Through him we get to see the workings of the Unseen University, Discworld's preeminent college of Wizardry, whose staff appear across many different series. Rincewind travels to the Counterweight Continent (Asia), Fourecks (Australia), and The Moon (the Moon), and usually finds something that is trying to kill him. Fortunately, he has The Luggage, a sentient trunk on hundreds of little feet that has infinite carrying capacity and a nasty temper, and the uncanny luck to get out of all these situations mostly unscathed, just to get into an even crazier one.

Magrat Garlick, Granny Weatherwax, and Nanny Ogg

The mountains of Lancre are a different place than the great city of Ank-Morpork, where the Unseen University is. It's more rural, naturally, and it doesn't have wizards or patricians. What it has is witches. And the first among equals is Granny Weatherwax. Granny is confident, intelligent, and will take none of what you're pushing, youngster. As powerful as she is, she rarely uses magic, instead using what she calls "headology," something that mixes psychology and folklore and remedies, because most people just need a good talking to, after all. And woe to the mystical creature, be it fairy, vampire, or fairy godmother, who endangers Lancre, because Granny will be having none of that either, and many a powerful creature has learned better than to mess with Granny Weatherwax.

While Granny appeared in the third Discworld novel, Equal Rites, which was the first to dip its toe into true social satire, Granny didn't come into her own until the next novel featuring her, Wyrd Sisters, when readers met her oldest friend, Nanny Ogg. As tall, thin, and straitlaced as Granny is, Nanny is short, round, and probably the most bawdy character in any of these books. She is nearly as powerful and tough as Granny, but goes about things differently, using a smile and a wink instead of a stern scowl when she can. And where Granny is a spinster, Nanny has a huge and boisterous family. While other witches come along and fill out the traditional trinity of maiden, mother, and crone, among the Witches of Lancre, it's the dyad of Granny and Nanny that drives the character beats of the story. While we see Magrat Garlick and Agnes Nitt grow, Granny and Nanny are more static, more set in their ways, and a perfect duo.

The Witches books serve as send ups of different literary and mythological traditions. Wyrd Sisters takes on Shakespeare, Witches Abroad skewers fairy tales, Lords and Ladies takes on fairies, and Carpe Jugulum sees vampires come to town. But as with all of Pratchett's work, it comes down to the people in these extraordinary situations, and Granny Weatherwax pitting her intelligence and strength against all comers. And winning every time.

In recent years, Pratchett spun off a young adult series from the Witches, featuring a young girl named Tiffany Aching, who starts out as planning to become a shepherdess, but soon learns that she was meant to be a witch. They're coming of age stories, showing Tiffany growing up, and gaining the air of confidence that a good witch needs. And Pratchett wrote a thirteen year old girl as realistically as he did a man of his own years because he never lost track of the fact that Tiffany was a person first and foremost.

DEATH and the Death of Rats

There are only two constants, death and taxes, said Ben Franklin, and in Discworld this is even more clear, as a whole series centers on DEATH. DEATH speaks in all caps and with no quotation marks, so I find it only appropriate that his name should be written in a similar manner. Pratchett's DEATH doesn't understand humans, but he can't help from being fascinated by them. Over time he adopts a daughter, takes on an apprentice, spends time as a farmer, and even takes over for the Hogfather (Discworld's answer to Father Christmas). I don't think he ever really gets people, no matter what he tries, but at least he keeps trying. The last few DEATH books also add Susan, DEATH's granddaughter into the mix, a stoic, tough as nails governess and teacher, who will literally look Death in the eye, and she provides a wonderfully human counterpoint to her Grandfather's confusion. He is also the only character to appear in every Discworld novel because, well, he's DEATH.

Sam Vimes

And last but not least are the stories of the City Watch of Ankh-Morpork and it's intrepid officers, most notably Sam Vimes. Sam Vimes is my favorite character of Pratchett's, a wonderful mix of cynicism and idealism, a man of so many contradictions he'll make your head spin. In the introduction to a collection of Pratchett's non-fiction, Neil Gaiman said that anger fuels Pratchett's writing, and that the underlying aspect that fuels the anger is a sense of fairness. And the voice of that anger and sense of fairness is Sam Vimes. Not fair play; Vimes wold kick a bad guy in the teeth while he's down and not think twice about it. No, Sam Vimes is a man with an intense conviction that everyone needs to be treated the same way under the law and justice. In Men at Arms, the second books about the guards, Vimes thinks to himself that he's a speciesist; he thinks he doesn't like dwarfs and trolls. But as you follow Vimes through the book, you realize he is one of the few people who treats everyone the same. He's just as anti-werewolf, anti-golem, anti-goblin, and anti-human as he is anti-anyone. For Vimes, it's about whether or not you're doing the right thing.

Vimes grows more than any other character over the course of the series. He starts out as a knock down alcoholic, who lives alone and barely functions as a copper, since the various guilds of Ankh-Morpork police themselves. But over time Vimes goes from Captain to Commander. He makes the Watch as important as any other part of the city. He dries out. He marries Lady Sybil Ramkin, and they have a son, young Sam, both of whom he dotes on. He learns to open himself up to a few people. He develops as Pratchett's books do.

The Watch books double as satires of police procedurals and politics in general. There's usually a mystery of some kind involved, but as Vimes's scope of responsibility grows, so do the events he gets involved in. Pretty soon he's an ambassador stopping wars. This way he meets all sorts of diverse characters and offends or confuses most of them with being so damn forthright and actually saying what he thinks.

My favorite of all of Pratchett's books is Night Watch, a story where Vimes, lost in time, must take the place of the sergeant who trained him and train his own younger self, while also keeping events humming along as they should. It becomes a book about liberty, about self-determination, but more about identity. By this point in the series, Vimes has been made commander of the Watch, he's been dubbed Duke of Ankh, and since his marriage to Sybil, is now the richest man in the city. But he still feels like just a beat cop. And throughout the book, while in the past, who he was struggles with who he has become. It's an exciting book, about revolution, with barricades, assassin's, and conflicts, but it's really about Sam's journey and about him accepting the changes in his life.

Night Watch

While Sam is my favorite, I'd be remiss without mentioning the other Watch members. Fred Colon is the traditional beat cop, overweight and joyfully corrupt, but not cruel, and would stand by Vimes to the last. Nobby Nobbs, Fred's partner, is the same way, a kleptomaniac of seemingly indeterminate species. Captain carrot Ironfoundersson is a human raised by dwarfs to be honest, forthright, and cheerful, and might just be the lost heir to the thrown of Ankh, but all he wants to be is the best cop out there. Angua is the first policewoman in Ankh as well as it's first werewolf officer. Cheery Littlebottom is the forensics specialist, a dwarf who breaks the dwarfish rules by actively identifying as female. Detritus is the muscle of the Watch, a massive troll who starts out on the wrong side of the law but winds up one of its staunchest defenders. And those are just the primary watchmen; there are all sorts of other minor ones who pop up along the way.

It seemed Pratchett was building a fifth series towards the end of the novels, with three books being published featuring Moist von Lipwig, a former confidence man who was turned to work for the city first as postmaster, then as head of the bank, and next as city representative to the new railroad. Moist's books were about him becoming respectable (or as respectable as a banker can be), and about the city of Ankh-Morpork, the city so nice they named it... Ankh-Morpork. More than any other location, Ankh-Morpork speaks to how Discworld grew as a series. What started as a parody of fantasy cities developed into something like an Italian city state, and then into an almost Victorian London.

The City of Ankh-Morpork provides the last main cluster of major characters. While there were no books that featured this lot as leads, they all appeared in lots of different books. Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler was the seller of sausage on a bun and pretty much any get rich quick scheme you could imagine. The Librarian of the Unseen University was turned into an orangutan early in the series and decided to stay that way, as prehensile feet made it easier to shelve books (he is second only to DEATH in appearances within Discworld). And there's the Patrician. The patrician is the title for ruler of the city, and while early on it's hard to tell who it is, by the beginning of the Watch books it is clearly Havelock Vetinari, who remains patrician until the end. Vetinari is second only to Vimes in my personal affections. He's a brilliant politician, ruler, and assassin, the last of which is the least despicable of his avocations. His wit is dry, and he always has more pieces in play than you could count until he's already closed them around you.

In all this writing about character and theme, I don't think I've said what is probably one of the  most important things about Pratchett's writing: It's funny as hell. So funny that if you read it in public, you will find people looking at you because you're laughing loudly in the train. Pratchett intersperses odd footnotes throughout the books, usually things that are bizarrely funny. One about the importance of spelling in Witches Abroad earned me some very odd looks indeed. Pratchett never lets the humor get in the way of the story, or vice versa; he was a master of the balancing act between plot and humor.

I could write about Pratchett all day, and still not scratch the surface of everything he has written, I didn't mention any of the stand alone novels, like Small Gods, a satire of religion, or Moving Pictures, when the movies come to Discworld. I could have spent much more time rhapsodizing about the fullness of his characters and the bizarre twists and turns of his plots. But more important than all of that is the humanity underpinning Pratchett's writing. He was a man who wrote to get people to understand themselves, ti understand the world around them. And while I can understand and see the anger Neil Gaiman talked about, it's that genuine feeling that people can learn, that there's a reason to keep writing, that fills me with real joy when I read a new Pratchett.

I hope if you've never tried to read a Discworld novel you'll give one a shot. You can start at Colour of Magic, the first Discworld book, or Guards, Guards, the first City Watch novel. Small Gods and The Truth are great stand alone novels.

I apologize if my tenses slipped throughout this writing. It's hard to address Terry Pratchett in the past tense. His writing was so vibrant, it's hard to think I won't see another novel that takes me to Discworld. But his books brought me so much happiness, that's what I'm going to focus on. I think I have some rereading to do. So I end this by simply thanking Sir Terry for all he did for me, for helping me understand people a bit better and getting plenty of good laughs. There are a legion of us who loved Discworld, and who will always hold it in a special place in our hearts.

Recommended Reading for 1/30: Wednesday Comics

One of the great things about comics is that you can play with format, both within an issue, a full graphic novel, or across a series. I love to see creators experiment with the idea of comics. Whether it's some of the page layout tricks Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons did in Watchmen, J.H. Williams III's love of two page spreads, or the occasional; experiment with comics produced in landscape, not portrait, it's interesting to see what people can do. Back in 2009, DC Comics did a very cool, very unusual experiment with Wednesday Comics.

Inspired by the classic, full page Sunday color strips of the heyday of newspaper comics, DC did a twelve issue weekly series from A-list creators. They then let the creators work using pages that are far larger than a standard comic (if you're familiar with IDW's artist editions, we're talking roughly that size). The comic folded out four ways, creating a page that allowed the creators to really use the fullness of their artistic talent. It's not the only time this format has been used, the annual Thought Bubble anthology does it each year, but this is probably the most ambitious use of it.

Each creative team would do a serialized story, telling one story over twelve weeks, one page each week. DC editor Mark Chiarello gathered an amazing selection of creators to work on the anthology, and each set of creators brought something different and interesting to the table. With fifteen different stories, there was something for everyone's taste, be it a war story, a straight superhero tale, a crime comic, or a horror story. While the synthesis of art writing is important, as it is in all comics, the large format makes for an artistic tour-de-force for some of the very talented artists here, so I'll probably be talking about art a little more than I usually do. The choice of characters is interesting as well. While all the usual suspects are included (what would a DC Comics anthology be without Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and many other members of the JLA?), some creators chose to go into DC rich history and pick out some more obscure characters to feature, making the anthology well rounded and letting the creators work with characters they really have an affection for.

Instead of trying to do a generalized talk, I'm going to break out each story and give a short review/discussion of each one,

Batman: Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso weren't strangers to Batman when they worked on Wednesday Comics, having done the six issue "Broken City" story that followed up the famous (or infamous, depending on who you talk to) "Hush" story in the regular Batman ongoing. Best known together for the conspiracy and noir series 100 Bullets from Vertigo, they are a natural fit for the grimy city streets of Gotham. "Broken City" and the later Flashpoint: Batman both featured these creators working with many of Batman's classic and colorful rogues, but the story here is a classic noir. The story features Batman as a detective, really pulling out all the stops in it's depiction of crime in the city; it could have worked as a Sam Spade or Slam Bradley story as well as a Batman one. Batman investigates the murder of Franklin Glass, a wealthy Gothamite, and it leads down a path of betrayal and murder, featuring a classic femme fatale; Risso has a very distinct style for his female characters, and Luna, Glass's much younger wife, is the prototypical Risso woman.

Kamandi: One of the stories most beholden to its forebears in the classic newspaper strips, Kamandi from Dave Gibbons and Ryan Sook follows the format of classic Prince Valiant strips. There are no word balloons, just extended caption boxes. This allows Sook to use the full panel, not worrying about the balloons covering parts of the art, and he uses it to the best effect. His backgrounds are beautiful, and the animal men that populate the dystopic future of Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth, are impressive to view. The story, of Kamandi entering the territory of the ape men to aid his friends of the Tiger tribe, only to find, and lose, a beautiful human girl, has the grand sweep of the Arthurian epics that Hal Foster's Prince Valiant are known for, and it's clear that Dave Gibbons has a deep appreciation of those classic Foster strips

Superman: John Arcudi and Lee Bermejo tell a story of Superman doubting his place in the human world. While the end of the story reveals it all to be part of an alien plot, the hook of Superman wondering if he belongs among humans allows the creators to travel all over Superman's world, spending time with Lois, with Batman, and mostly with Ma and Pa Kent in Smallville. We get visions of Krypton, and we get a final battle between Superman and the aliens that shows exactly how Superman would fight in the confines of the small town he grew up in to protect the lives of the people there, and the story truly asserts exactly how human a character Superman really is. While Risso in the Batman strip moves away from drawing Batman's rogues and most of his supporting cast, Bermejo shows off his abilities to draw Superman's varied cast, many of them popping up for just a panel or two as Superman thinks about them. If you're a fan of Bermejo's art, this is a great opportunity to watch him spread his wings and draw some big super hero fight scenes, things that he wasn't able to do as much in his other Superman works.

Deadman: Artist and co-plotter Dave Bullock works with scripter Vinton Heuck to conjure a story of Deadman on a journey to a Hell world to save the soul of a girl whose murder he witnessed. In this world, Deadman is corporeal again, so we get the pathos of Boston Brand having a body (a classic plot for Deadman), while getting a view of a dark dimension where Bullcok can go wild drawing monstrous demons and bleak locations. It's a story tinged in horror while still maintaining an edge of the super heroic, and it's end is more on line with the tragic stories of Deadman than the more super heroic ones.

Green Lantern: There are a couple kinds of Green Lantern stories that really work for me. I prefer my Green Lantern cosmic, but I do understand the people who see him as an Earthbound hero. This story, written by Kurt Busiek and drawn by Joe Quinones, actually falls closer to the second kind of story, as Hal Jordan must deal with an alien presence menacing Earth, and it sells me pretty well on the Earthbound Lantern. Hal Jordan must stop an old friend of his who just returned from space who was infected by an alien fungus, and prevent an alien invasion. The story setting is very much set in the 1950s/1960s, and that is a time period that I think Hal Jordan works in better than any other. That was the era of the test pilot as modern cowboy, the space race was in full swing, and a swaggering character like Jordan, with his cocky attitude and bomber jacket, fits right in. The plot, with a man turned into an alien monster by space fungus, also seems like something out of a 50s B horror movie, adding to that retro feel. I'm always amazed Busiek hasn't written more Green Lantern, as it seems a character who would be right up his alley, and I'm glad he got the chance to write him here.

Metamorpho: I'll read anything Neil Gaiman writes, and I admit I was surprised to hear he would be writing Metamorpho for this project. One of the most obscure characters of the lot, Gaiman has a sideways connection to him, as Element Girl, a supporting character from classic Metamorpho stories, featured in the classic Sandman #20, "Facades." And Gaiman has a ton of fun with the story, writing a wacky story of treasure hunting and monsters,tossing in game boards and related mini-strips, while playing on the comedic attributes of Metamopho's supporting cast. But it's Mike Allred, king of the madcap comic, who takes what Gaiman gives him and runs with it. Allred draws the character with customary style, completely off the wall, but this feature has one of the best uses of the oversized format. There is a two page spread (spread out over two weeks, but beautifully presented together in the collection) that has Metamorpho and Element Girl making there way through a periodic table, the dialogue with each box fitting the element abbreviation into it. It would take a pair of mad geniuses to pull that off, and fortunately Gaiman and Allred are exactly that.

Teen Titans: One of the most traditionally super heroic stories in the book, Editor Eddie Berganza and artist Sean "Cheeks" Galloway turn in  a Titans story featuring a best of the team line-up, mixing classic Titans like Nightwing with newer members like Miss Martian, Galloway's energetic, anime influenced style carries the story, making for some of the most kinetic pages in the series.

Strange Adventures: If you're a fan of cult favorite cartoonist Paul Pope, his take on Adam Strange, the Earthman who becomes hero of the alien world Rann, is going to blow you away, and if you're not, this is a story that will make you one of his devotees. It's a story populated by alien warrior baboons, magic, and warrior princesses. His take on Adam's adopted home of Rann owes a debt to Edgar Rice Burroughs John Carter of Mars books, with Alanna, Adam's alien beloved, bearing a resemblance to Carter's alien princess Dejah Thoris, and Rann having a very Barsoom (that's what the Burroughs books call Mars) vibe. Pope's hyper detailed art is on display throughout the series and is served very well by the gigantic pages.  Pope adds some interesting other wrinkle to the Strange mythos, giving him a different, older body on Earth, which is a nice touch, and he even tosses in a cameo for Doctor Fate, whose design looks gorgeous under Pope's pen. This is a story deeply influenced by the pulps, and has that big crazy pulp vibe throughout.

Supergirl: This is another of my favorite stories in the anthology. Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner give us a story of Supergirl and the Super Pets, Krypto the Superdog and Streaky the Supercat. The Super Pets are acting up, and so Supergirl must chase them all over, encountering Aquaman and Doctor Mid-Nite along the way. The resolution is a fun little twist, and this is the funniest of the stories collected, a completely all ages adventure. Conner is at the height of her artistic power, not just showing off her talent for drawing expressive faces, but her delightful talent with animals. Krypto and Streaky are absolutely adorable throughout. This is a perfect story to share with your kids, and the big pages and colorful art are great for little eyes.

Metal Men: DC head honcho Dan DiDio and legendary artist Jose Garcia-Lopez contribute with a story of the Metal Men, robots with personalities who fight crime and other robots. Lopez has a classic, clean, Silver Age style that works perfectly with characters like the Metal Men, whose concept is so very Silver Age. They foil a bank robbery and fight their arch-foe, the chemical behemoth Chemo. It's another simple, fun retro-Silver Age story.

Wonder Woman: Ben Caldwell goes full cartoonist on this Wonder Woman story, and provides on the most technically stunning pieces in the entire anthology. Taking full advantage of the expanded page size, Caldwell uses panels like no one else. There are pages that have dozens of tiny panels, and ones that have one massive panel taking up the entire right side of the page. The story, a dream sequence (or maybe not), fits well with the trippy art, pulling you down deep into the experience in the way a dream can. This is admittedly the most divisive piece in the anthology, with many hating it, and some saying it missed the point of the format. I think it would only have worked in this format. It is an interesting exercise, and I appreciate nit from a technical standpoint at the least.

Sgt. Rock and Easy Co.: It's interesting to place this story right after the Wonder Woman one, as the two could not be more diametrically opposed. Written by Adam Kubert and drawn by his father, the late great Joe Kubert, this story of the Kubert co-created World War II hero Frank Rock escaping capture by Nazis. What makes it so different from the previous story is how direct it is. It's told using the traditional comic book nine panel grid, and is straight to the point. It's a testament to Joe Kubert's talent that in his eighties his art was as impressive as it ever was, full of grit and perfectly paced. No one drew war comics like Joe Kubert, and adding that genre to the anthology spotlighted the variety of DC Comics catalog of characters and the history of different genres from the company.

The Flash: The Flash strip was quite possibly my favorite in the anthology. Starting out as two related strips, a Flash strip and an Iris West one, the two stories head towards an inevitable collision. Again, this is a story that would not have worked in any other format, as it is intentionally drawing from the history of newspaper strips and that format. There are also Gorilla Grodd strips mixed in over the course of the series, and the story ends with merged, full pages that are a glory to behold. From current Gotham Academy creative team Karl Kerschel and Brenden Fletcher, it's a story of heartbreak, as Barry Allen nearly loses his wife, and triumph as he goes to save her and win her back. One page features panels inspired by other classic strips, like Peanuts and Calvin and Hobbes; the whole thing is a love letter to comic strips. Filled with heart, humor, and action, for me this is the crown jewel of Wednesday Comics.

The Demon and Catwoman: Walt Simonson and Brian Stelfreeze join together to tell a story of two characters I don't think had ever really teamed up before: Jack Kirby's Demon Etrigan and one of comics greatest villainesses/anti-heroines, Catwoman. Trying to steal from Jason Blood, Etrigan's human host, Selina gets caught up in the rivalry between Blood/Etrigan and Morgan le Fey. Along the way, Catwoman gets turned into a literal cat-woman, and the two titular character team up to defeat Morgan. Stelfreeze is an artist who draws great monsters, so this story is perfectly catered to his skills, as he draws a mean transformed Catwoman and Etrigan.

Hawkman: Another creator not known for his work on traditional super hero comics, Kyle Baker rounds out the anthology with a story of Hawkman versus terrorists, aliens, and dinosaurs. Drawing from that same obscure corner of the DC Universe that Kamandi and Metamorpho exist in, part of this story is set on Dinosaur Island, DC's answer to Marvel's more famous Savage Land. It's an action packed story, as Baker said in an interview, "Hawkman carries a mace, and it's important for a writer to create dilemmas which can be resolved with a mace." The art blends Baker's usual style with some more computer generated elements, it has one of the best T-Rex's in comics this side of Jack Kirby.

On top of all that, if you go out and buy the collection, which collects each story in continuous pages, so you get all twelve pages of each book back to back, you get some sketch work from each of the creators and two additional one page stories. Keith Giffen writes and Eric Canete draws a story of The Creeper that is, well, creepy, and Evan Dorkin and Stephen Destefano provide a comical tale of Plastic Man and Woozy Winks day at the museum. It's a gorgeous collection, as befits such an ambitious project.

Wednesday Comics is in print in an oversized hardcover.

The Matt Signal Advent Calendar 2014 Day 22: The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes

The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes

Aside from Sandman: Overture, I haven't written much about Sandman on this blog. Frankly, if you haven't read Sandman and you're reading a comics blog, the odds are you don't need me evangelizing. You either just haven't gotten to it, or it's not your thing. But if I'm writing about the specific comics that have affected me, this one ranks in the top three.

The summer before going away to college, I had a job that paid me well enough that I was able to indulge my comic habit a bit more liberally. One light week, I bought Watchmen, and I finally understood what all the hub-bub was about. And around the same time, Grant Morrison wrote a two part story in JLA featuring Daniel, the new incarnation of Dream of the Endless. So having touched on Sandman in my regular comics, and having read my first really mature comic, I decided it was time to try Sandman. I had read all about it, how smart it was, how it featured mythology and literature (two things I love); my main concern was it wouldn't live up to the hype. So the last Wednesday in July of 1998 was a fifth week, so my stack was light, and I added the first volume to my stack. I got home, and decided to break my normal reading order and start Preludes and Nocturnes. And I was done for from that moment.

Sandman was everything I had heard and more. That one trade stretches the gamut of genre from horror to fantasy to action to a melancholy philosophy. I met Dream, Death, Lucien, Cain & Abel, Lucifer Morningstar, and John Constantine (who guest starred from over in his own book, Hellblazer). "24 Hours" gave me the same chills Stephen King's novels do. "The Sound of Her Wings" made me think about mortality, yet not in a fearful way. And "Hope in Hell" was a story of demons that was my first taste of Gaiman's unique brand of mythology. I had a new favorite author pretty much from the get go. Since then, I've met Gaiman a handful of times. I met my wife because we were both fans of Gaiman. And I had my eyes fully opened to exactly what comics and graphic novels could be. Season of Mists is my favorite Sandman story, but Preludes and Nocturnes is the one that started it all.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 12/17

Batman #37
Story: Scott Snyder/James Tynion IV
Art: Greg Capullo/John McCrea

Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's Joker story, "Endgame," takes a decidedly creepy turn this issue. Not to say that the work these creators have done with Batman's greatest foe has been pure comedy at any point, but this issue was that ratcheted up the tension and added a very horror movie feel to this clash. The opening splash page, of a frozen Bruce Wayne staring out of the page at the reader begins the issue with a sense of distinct unease. Once Bruce comes out of the paralysis from Joker's drug, we begin to see just how dire the situation is, with a new strain of aerosolized Joker toxin turning Gotham into a city of madness. And none of Batman's old cures are working. Batman has over one hundred cures devised for Joker toxin. If you think about the New 52 timeline, that's over ten cures a year, meaning either Joker gets out of Arkham even more than you'd think, or Batman spends a lot of time coming up with possible cures; maybe Joker isn't the only one a little obsessed with his rival. With no cure, Batman must head to Gotham Presbyterian Hospital to find the first infected person. The journey is the issue's action peace, as Batman fights his way through a hospital filled with people corrupted by Joker. And when he finds patient zero, well, if there was any doubt about whether Joker knows Batman's secret identity, it's gone now. Snyder brings Duke Thomas, the kid who has been popping up in his run (and was Robin in the possible future from Batman & Robin: Futures End) , as Joker gives Batman a chance to relive his worst memory. And while that's great material, the scenes with Jim Gordon make this issue into one of Snyder's best. As Gordon researches Gotham Presbyterian to try to figure out why Joker started his assault there, Gordon finds photos from over the past century. Photos that all have the Joker in them. And then Gordon hears a sound in his apartment. The following scenes, with Gordon and Joker in the apartment, are straight up horror movie scenes, and Capullo's Joker is so much creepier with a face than without. The pale skin and the black suit make him seems like an undertaker, a clown, and death itself mixed together. The issue cliffhanger sent a shiver up my spine. The back up ties into the Joker's seeming claim of immortality, or a connection to the dark heart of Gotham, with John McCrea adding his manic style to a tale of madness and clowns. And even if it's set a hundred years ago, you know clowns and Gotham don't mix. Batman #37 shows everything that Snyder and Capullo have been doing right for three years now, and moves "Endgame" on to an historic confrontation between comics' greatest rivals,

Lumberjanes #9
Story: Noelle Stevenson & Shannon Walters
Art: Brittney Williams & many more

I love scary stories, and I love telling them. I think I said in a previous review of an issue of Lumberjanes that I never went to camp, so I never told them around a campfire, but I've been at a Halloween party or two where people have shared a tale of the supernatural or two. This issue, the cast of Lumberjanes each get to tell a story around the campfire, each drawn by a different artist. "Tailypo" is a classic campfire tale, one I remember reading in one of the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark volumes in my younger days; Felicity Choo does an admirable job of making the long tailed monster scary. The Aimee Fleck drawn, "Wrong Number" is a variation on another classic theme of the campfire tale, but since it's told by Jen, Roanoke Cabin's councilor, it has an ending that is a little less harrowing than it's usually presented as. "Bad Candy," drawn by Becca Tobino, is a whirling, trippy vision, perfectly in tune with the personality of the energetic Ripley, and the message at the end of the story reinforces to themes of friendship that underlies all of Lumberjanes. I'm a fan of Faith Erin Hicks, so her tale, "Ghost Girl," told by Jo, is the one that struck me the most visually. Mal's story, "Lonely Road," is one I'm not familiar as a campfire story, although it starts out like one we all know, and winds up with a twist that is a much more real life terror; Mal is a planner, someone who thinks things out, and I like that her tale of terror remains grounded in something that can be combated (for which she gets a bit of teasing from Molly). "Old Betty," with art by T. Zysk, is gorgeously drawn and atmospheric, giving off something of an EC Comics vibe. All of this is framed by art from Brittney Williams. Each of these stories is no more than a few pages, but no story seems rushed. It's a great one off that will give a new reader a great jumping on point for one of the best all ages comics on the racks now.

Multiversity: Thunderworld
Story: Grant Morrison
Art: Cameron Stewart

Wow. After what was the most complicated and intricate issue of Multiversity in "Pax Anericana" we get this gem. Not to say "Pax" was bad, far from it, but this issue is so brimming with the joy of Captain Marvel and everything that he embodies. The basic premise is that Dr. Sivana has gotten in touch with Sivana's from across the multiverse to gather suspendium, the mineral that he discovered that can effect time, to steal enough time to make a new day, Sivanaday, where he can triumph. It's a big, crazy plot, one perfect to a world of Golden Age simplicity and joy. He also has built an artificial Rock of Eternity so he can use science to create and empower his own Sivana Family. Pretty soon, the Sivana's are fighting the Marvels, and not just Captain, Mary, and Junior, but appearance from the likes of Uncle Marvel and Fat Marvel, the Monster Society of Evil appears, and in the end, Captain marvel must fight Black Sivana, a Sivana/Black Adam mash-up, to save himself and the Multiverse. In the end, good triumphs conclusively over evil for the first time in Multiversity, the wonder of magic triumphs over analytic science, and Sivana is bested as much by his own duplicity as it is by Captain Marvel. But as fun as the story is, the scene is completely stolen this issue by artist Cameron Stewart. I've rarely seen the Marvel's world look so wholesome and gorgeous; the only other story that comes to mind is Jeff Smith's Shazam!: The Monster Society of Evil! That kind of wonder filled, childlike art was perfect for a story that at its heart is about joy and simplicity defeating cold, calculating analysis. Special call outs to the page with the first appearance of the technological Rock of Eternity, the first appearance of Captain Marvel, the splash page of the Monster Society of Evil (including 52 era butterfly Mr. Mind), the designs on all the multiversal Sivanas, especially snake Sivana and Hannibal Lector mask wearing Sivana, and the beautiful, sunshine filled last page. I feel like each issue of Multiversity has worn its influence in its sleeve, and maybe it says something about me as a reader that this is my favorite so far, a simple tale of good versus evil.

Sandman: Overture #4
Story: Neil Gaiman
Art: J.H. Williams III

Every issue of Sandman: Overture is a masterpiece. I guess you'd hope that, since it's at least four months between issues, but if that's what it takes to get a comic of this quality, I'll take it. This issue slides between Dream having a conversation with his father, the embodiment of time, and entering the city of stars to confront the being who is about to bring about the end of everything. It's nice to see that Dream's relationship with his father is no better than his relationship with any other member of his family. This issue explains exactly why the sequence with Daniel from issue two had to happen when it did, and Gaiman does a very good job of making what could be awkward timey-wimey stuff make perfect sense. Williams's shifting page and panels structure as Dream wanders, speaking to his father, and his father's shifting age, makes it clear that time to eternal beings is something that mortals cannot comprehend. The star city bits feature call backs to the Dream story from Sandman: Endless Nights, as Dream talks to the anthropomorphized stars, and once again meets Sto-Oa, the star who took the heart of Dream's first beloved. More interesting is Dream confronting the mad star, and learning exactly how that star relates to Dream. The flashback in this issue, the story of Dream and that star, is one of, if not the, earliest story of the Endless that we have seen; the personalities of Dream and Death in it are a clear indication of that. We have seen stories of Death early in her, for want of a better word, life, and the Death here is the cold, matter of fact being there, not the Death who has come to understand the value of life. But we have rarely if ever seen Dream so... soft-hearted. Dream has always been the character who has no problem taking a life to defend his realm, no compassion when he responsibility is invoked. And maybe now we know why. We see more of the little girl Dream picked up last issue, and her name, Hope, invokes the classic duel from Sandman #4, "Hope in Hell," so I wonder how integral she will be to this final battle, for good or ill (ill, probably, if the Wyrd Sisters are to believed in issue three, but they see things differently than most). The art is stunning, too stunning for someone with my limited vocabulary when it comes to art to even define, but this is Williams at the height of his powers. Sandman: Overture is a comic that, when I open the book, I hold my breath, and it stays held until the very last moment, it is such an immersive experience; maybe once every quarter is all I can take, but I'm waiting for that next one with that same held breath.

Sensation Comics Featuring Wonder Woman #5
Story: Corinna Bechko & Gabriel Hardman
Art: Gabriel Hardman

I wasn't sure how much Wonder Woman I'd be reading after the Azzarello/Chiang run ended. And while I'm not sold on the direction of the ongoing, Sensation Comics, the anthology series in the style of Legends of the Dark Knight and Adventures of Superman has given me my monthly dose of Diana. This issue is a full issue story from Star Wars: Legacy Vol.2 creative team Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman, with pre-Flashpoint Diana infiltrating Apokolips to save two of her Amazon sisters who had been sent to spy on Darkseid. I think it was George Perez who conceived of the antagonism between Themyscira and Apokolips, and I have always thought the two mythic realms make great foils. Diana fights the Female Furies, Darkseid's elite squad of women warriors, and faces down the despot of Apokolips himself. She finds out exactly what the Amazons on Apokolips are up to, and in the end she does the right thing, saving the planet despite all the evil it contains because she knows that not every life on the dread world is evil. And she inspires. She inspires the people of Apokolips with her strength and compassion. The issue's final line is a perfect ending to an issue where we see Diana at her most inspirational. I like that aspect of Wonder Woman a lot, one that was used in my favorite run on the character, Greg Rucka's, that Diana is a person whose mere presence and attitude makes people want to be better. Bechko and Hardman get that, and that makes for a great Wonder Woman story. I really enjoyed Hardman's take on Apokolips; he's an artist with a gritty style, and that perfectly suits the world of evil, it's master, and his servants. This is a good done in one story for anyone who has missed traditional Wonder Woman stories in recent years, and well worth picking up.

Terrible Lizard #2
Story: Cullen Bunn
Art: Drew Moss

A girl and her dinosaur fight a giant ape. Do I really need to say much more than that? Ok, here's a bit more. Jess, the daughter of a leading scientist, and Wrex, the temporally displaced T-Rex she bonded with in the previous issue spend much of this issue throwing down with a giant ape who has a crab arm. It's a gorgeously drawn battle from Drew Moss, full of all the action you'd expect from that simple, yet awesome, set up. But after the fight, the issue finds its heart. Jess and Wrex spend the day after the fight doing everything you'd do with a favorite pet, just to a scale where your pet is gigantic, another brilliant series of pages by Moss. But there are storm clouds on the horizon, as the mystery of how the ape was pulled into the present, the army's distrust of Wrex, and Jess's father's experiments all hang overhead. Cullen Bunn does a good job establishing Jess and Wrex's bond. For a writer whose work I think of as action and horror, he's doing a bang up job crafting an all ages book.



And, from the desk of Dan Grote...

Ms. Marvel #10

Story: G. Willow Wilson

Art: Adrian Alphona and Ian Herring

During the past year, Kamala Khan has experienced a lot of firsts: Getting powers, finding out she has them, using them, using them for good, wearing a costume, fighting an archenemy, teaming up with Wolverine and getting a pet.

(Yes, Lockjaw is not technically a dog, but I still want to scratch him behind his giant ears and kiss his wrinkly forehead.)

In issue 10, Kamala gives her first superheroic speech, inspiring a group of teens to rise up against their captor, a cockatiel/scientist named the Inventor, who has been harvesting their bodies as a form of alternative energy to, among other things, power his giant robots.

Let that last sentence sink in a minute. Drink in every ounce of its Silver Age flavor. Mmm, satisfying.

Kamala’s speech is meant to motivate not just the captive teens but millennials in general, countering stereotypes of a generation of shiftless smartphone junkies. The teens initially don’t want to be rescued because the Inventor has convinced them they are worth more as energy than as human beings.

There’s also a concern about overpopulation that was also stated in another Marvel book I bought last week, but I’m not sure if that’s coincidence or part of some editorial fiat.

Anyway, like any good villain, the Inventor teaches Kamala that heroics often endanger those close to the heroes, and so he kidnaps Lockjaw.

The last page ends with the words “To be concluded,” meaning this crockpot meal of a first arc is finally about to ding. I've very much enjoyed how Wilson and Alphona have taken their time developing Kamala this past year, but I’m also ready to see how Ms. Marvel’s second act plays out.