Reading Comics 202 "Third LCS Visit 2017"

American Gods #1 (Dark Horse)
An adaptation of Neil Gaiman's novel, which is soon to be debuted in another adaptation, for television.  I haven't read the book in years, but I liked it quite a lot.  Still, reading some of it in comics form makes me realize it really has been years, so I may have to reread it.

Batman #19 (DC)
Tom King sets up an epic clash between Bane and Batman.  He continues to write sensationally.

Divinity III: Stalinverse #3 (Valiant)
Matt Kindt likewise continues to write sensationally.

The Amazing Spider-Man #25 (Marvel)
Dan Slott's epic run continues, this time with Norman Osborn.  I actually picked this up because Stuart Immonen begins his run (he's done Peter Parker before in the pages of Ultimate Spider-Man) with the issue.  Thankfully he retains his return to streamlined work previously seen in Empress and other recent work.  Actually, the most notable thing about the issue is Slott introducing...the Superior Octopus.  Which is really, really awesome.

Star Trek: Waypoint #4 (IDW)
The first Enterprise-focused comic ever!  Phlox was featured in a doctors confab a few years ago, but this is the first time the fifth live action series has gotten its own comics adaptation.  The writer somewhat flubs the opportunity, but still rightfully puts Porthos in the spotlight.  It's always about Porthos!

Superman #19 (DC)
Action Comics #976 (DC)
Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason are their usual sensational selves in the first issue, while Dan Jurgens continues to struggle to adapt to modern storytelling in the second.  But I like the "Reborn" concept and how Mxyzptlk was revealed to be behind the Clark Kent mystery, and how Jurgens gets to unique disparate continuities in the conclusion, which feels right regardless of my other qualms.

X-O Manowar #1 (Valiant)
Matt Kindt again, in this quasi-reboot of the franchise, completely nailing it.  Might be viewed as the Dark Knight Returns/"Old Man Logan" for comics' most famous Visigoth.

Reading Comics 196 "DC Rebirth Week Eight, Divinity II, Moon Knight"

Covered this edition: Detective Comics #937, Divinity II #4, The Flash #3, Moon Knight #4, Nightwing #1, Red Hood and the Outlaws: Rebirth #1, Action Comics #960, Titans #1, and Wonder Woman #3.

Detective Comics #937 (DC)
Batman escapes from the custody of the bad guys this issue, which features the return of Ulysses Hadrian Armstrong (I remember him fondly from the pages of '90s Robin), who is a little criminal genius in the making.  As this is the bulk of the issue, it's a slam dunk of a sequence.

Divinity II #4 (Valiant)
The final issue of this particular story in the saga (an ad promises Divinity III this December, as does some quick foreshadowing) is a remarkable conclusion to Abram Adams' war with Myshka in which he's able to connect with his fellow cosmonaut-turned-god on a strangely human level.  Matt Kindst's work with Divinity remains some of the best stuff being published today.

The Flash #3 (DC)
I can't even begin to describe how happy I continue to be about this relaunch.  I haven't been (with all due apologies to Geoff Johns) been this interested in a Flash comic since Mark Waid's prime.  The cleverness just doesn't stop.  One would think Central City being flooded with new speedsters would diminish the role of Barry Allen as a significant figure, other than as budding mentor (can you say Max Mercury?), but then his new sidekick August Heart says something brilliant like, "Do you know how fast you were going?" 

Moon Knight #4 (Marvel)
Jeff Lemire continues to knock this one out of the park.  (If chosen carefully, the things you enjoy shouldn't be so difficult to enjoy.)  I decided to catch up with this weeks-old issue, and damn if this isn't one of my favorite comics in recent years.  It's really that good.

Nightwing #1 (DC)
This is a strong follow-up to the Rebirth one-shot, in which Nightwing repositions himself as a mole in the Parliament of Owls and then meets Raptor, the latest dude who thinks Dick Grayson can't hack it on his own.

Red Hood and the Outlaws: Rebirth #1 (DC)
This is Scott Lobdell's restating of the Jason Todd biography, although this time he makes the point that Jason is uniquely suited to appear like he's the compromised Batman, which is interesting.  I know Frank Miller probably has conniptions every time a comic book suggests Boy Wonders aren't destined to become lunatics, but I don't have a problem with it.

Action Comics #960 (DC)
Wonder Woman enters the fight, but other than getting some readers up to date about Doomsday's origins, nothing much significant happens this issue.

Titans #1 (DC)
This fairly Wally West-centric issue also features Linda Park.  Hey, I can't argue with that.  Dan Abnett lets other Titans in on the act, notably Lilith, who's one of the more obscure members of this family, before shockingly revealing that Abra Kadabra is claiming responsibility for Wally's disappearance.

Wonder Woman #3 (DC)
Greg Rucka does a pretty powerful study of Cheetah, one of Wonder Woman's most famous foes, who probably comes off better in this one issue than she has in all her other collective appearances combined.

Reading Comics 194 "DC Rebirth Week Six, Earth 2, Millarworld Annual, The Vision, Old Man Logan"

Covered this edition: Detective Comics #936, Earth 2: Society #14, The Flash #2, Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps: Rebirth #1, Millarworld Annual 2016, Nightwing: Rebirth #1, Action Comics #959, New Super-Man #1, The Vision #9, Old Man Logan #8, and Wonder Woman #2.

Gosh, so I kind of got all the DC Rebirth releases this week...

Detective Comics #936 (DC)
This isn't the first Detective Comics issue of the Rebirth era, but I was curious to read an issue because the spotlight was on Batwoman, Kate Kane, a character that's fascinated me since her debut in 52.  As one of the more high profile openly homosexual characters in comics, Batwoman has had a certain level of prominence over the years, although since she was created by Greg Rucka and had J.H. Williams III as her artist for a number of years, she was allowed a great deal of creative freedom, too, up to and...excluding, infamously, a wedding in her New 52 series.  The writer of Detective Comics is James Tynion IV, whom I've somewhat unfairly judged over the years due to his association with Scott Snyder, whom I've sometimes found difficult to appreciate.  But Tynion is a pretty good writer, and as this issue is a pretty good Batwoman story, I may have to once and for resolve to consider Tynion positively going forward. 

Earth 2: Society #14 (DC)
I'm not sure how much Dan Abnett is commenting on the creative reputation of the series he inherited several issues ago or if it's just coincidence, but there's much ado about the broken nature of the new society this alternate world of heroes represents.  Still, there's a strong focus on Dick Grayson's Batman, which hasn't really happened since Convergence, and that was good to see, as was the return of his son.  Which, all told, Dick himself is far less pleased about, given the unfortunate circumstances...I still think Earth 2, under its various creative directors, has been one of the shining successes of the New 52 era.

The Flash #2 (DC)
Barry Allen begins training his friend and colleague August Heart, who has just acquired access to the Speed Force, and that's fun in and of itself, their contrasting stances on what they should do with it, when the series takes a page from the unrelated TV show and has STAR Labs become the source of trouble, revealing who's behind the freak lightning storms, and what they're after.  It's such a good feeling, knowing I love reading The Flash again...

Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps: Rebirth #1 (DC)
Maybe it was because I never intended to read it full-time, but Robert Venditti's Green Lantern eventually lost its status as a worthy creative follow-up to the work of Geoff Johns, in my estimation, and once it fell, it plummeted.  Funny enough, Venditti explains his thought process in this issue, and it has great relevance in the policing controversies spread across newspapers seemingly every day for the past few years.  I have no idea where Venditti started the idea, but it begins to make more sense, seeing it all laid out, and where he has Hal Jordan continue to go with it.  So I'm glad I can finally say I get his take.  It's not Johns (but few could be).  And I'm okay with that.

Millarworld Annual 2016 (Image)
Putting all the cards on the table, the international competition for this thing that sought submissions from new creators was something I entered last year, basing my entry on Starlight, which you can look elsewhere to see how much I enjoyed.  I've been a member of the Millarworld message boards ever since, and so was able to keep tabs on when this would be released.  Obviously I had something of a vested interest in it.  The writer I got to know the best from the boards, perhaps somewhat naturally, was Deniz Camp, whose Starlight effort did win.  I can admire Camp, because he too admires Grant Morrison.  But the standout entry in the annual, for me, very easily, was Cliff Bumgardner's American Jesus script (just as amazingly illustrated by Steve Beach), which took a moment out of time from Mark Millar's original comic (originally titled Fallen) and explored the consequences of saving a dog's life, which was to inadvertently have the effect of stopping death from occurring, during those moments, around the whole world.  It gave me chills to read.  It was like reading Stephen King, or at any rate, a first-fate professional.  Kudos, Cliff!

Nightwing: Rebirth #1 (DC)
This was exactly the connecting story fans of Dick Grayson could have hoped for, as Dick's adventures with Spyral aren't just unceremoniously dumped, but incorporated into his greater adventures, as he realizes he probably really does have to become Nightwing again, an identity Tim Seeley (Dick Grayson's amazing co-writer, along with the incomparable Tom King, but more on him a little later) explains, as been explained many times before but still comes out fresh, because for the duration of the New 52 it was kind of ignored, as having been inspired by Superman and not Batman, as might be easy to assume.  There's also some good Parliament of Owls stuff in the issue, proving that maybe that whole story really should have been Dick's all along...

Action Comics #959 (DC)
The Rebirth era Doomsday saga continues, with parallels popping up all over the places, plus a few new wrinkles, like Superman being forced to concede that the New 52 Lex Luthor may not actually be an exact match for the one he used to know.  Otherwise, the reader will just have to continue waiting to see just where the new wrinkles are really headed...

New Super-Man #1 (DC)
I loved, loved, loved Tony Bedard's The Great Ten, which was about a group of Chinese superheroes.  Each issue told each member's story.  It was a true overlooked masterpiece.  Fortunately, someone realized China is perhaps a hotter topic today than when Great Ten was published only a handful of years ago.  And even more fortunately, a writer of Gene Luan Yang's quality is around to explore the landscape all over again.  Yang's Superman wasn't everyone's cup of tea, perhaps unfortunately coinciding with the "Truth" arc that wasn't really what anyone wanted to read in the Man of Steel's adventures.  His New Super-Man features as unlikely a protagonist as you'll find.  When first seen he appears to be a jerk!  (Bonus points to the Silver Age for being relevant again.)  But his personality is entirely in keeping with Chinese society, which is an extreme example of what we experience in the States (and you thought it was bad here!), with income disparity resulting in social dynamics that will probably surprise readers.  Yang's origin continues along so that his Chinese Superman ends up kind of being a DC Captain America, with his powers literally being infused into him (and making Chinese Superman to be something of the Rebirth Superboy).  I applaud DC and Yang for coming up with this, and I hope enough readers are culturally curious enough to keep it going a while.

The Vision #9 (Marvel)
For me, there was no question that Tom King's greatest superhero work of the past year was The Omega Men, to the point where I was willing to sell his Vision short (heh).  Yet, as of this issue, which details how Runaways character Victor Mancha went from uncle to murderer, explaining all over again how rich a creative source King's war experience really is, I'm completely sold on it.  So clearly King had room for two masterworks, in a very short time.  Here's hoping he has many more.

Old Man Logan #8 (Marvel)
This spin-off of Mark Millar's original story, generated in the wake of Secret Wars and I'm not sure how related to a similar Brian Michael Bendis mini-series during that event, was something I was slow to give much credit to (there I go again), because I just didn't see the point.  But if comic book logic counts for anything, then something like this makes its own kind of sense.  And it can't possibly hurt to have Jeff Lemire writing.  This is the story of Wolverine, decades older, whose whole life and world crumbled in the wake of a catastrophic supervillain victory (think Final Crisis or  Forever Evil, but more permanent), and he was left virtually alone to pick up the pieces.  Somehow he was transported to the present.  This issue, Lemire helpfully spells out the whole thing, and helps Logan come to a kind of peace with his situation.  He's been in constant dread that he's going to have to experience the fall all over again.  Curiously, the time-displaced Jean Grey, from Bendis's (it figures, right?) All-New X-Men, is the one who helps him.  This is Jean at the start of her career.  She hadn't even met Logan yet, when she was pulled from the past.  And all over again, the value of Jean Grey is exhibited.  Great issue.

Wonder Woman #2 (DC)
Greg Rucka's origin of Wonder Woman begins.  Suddenly, there are a million Wonder Woman origin stories going on.  There's Legend of Wonder Woman, Wonder Woman: Earth One, the upcoming Wonder Woman movie, the upcoming Wonder Woman: The True Amazon...  Yet, for all that, it is worth visiting and revisiting.  Every creator has a fresh perspective, and with Wonder Woman, finally getting her creative due, it's more relevant than ever before.  This is a character who's always been touted as one of DC's most important characters, but she's never been near as popular as Superman or Batman, and as such her origin isn't as well-known.  As more fans come to check out what she's all about, it presents, obviously, a rich opportunity to explore, right from the beginning of the story.  Rucka's vision is pretty focused, as the Amazonian princess Diana is alone interested in a world she never knew, as she's the first of her kind to be born since they were sealed off from Man's World.  He assumes you already know, or don't care, about the particulars of her birth (although the alternating arc in this twice-monthly series does feature exactly that), and just runs from there.  The in-house ads talk about each series of the Rebirth era featuring a new epic that starts now, and as far as I can tell, that's exactly what DC has been delivering.  Azzarello set such a high mark in the New 52 with Wonder Woman.  Rucka seems intent to, and capable of, surpassing it.

Quarter Bin 84 "Spider-Man, Starman, Superman, '90s edition"

This penultimate edition of a series covering comics found in an actual quarter bin is no indication that this feature's title can always be taken literally.

Sensational Hornet #1 (Marvel)
(Sensation Spider-Man #27)
From May 1998.
This was part of a storyline in which Peter Parker felt his Spider-Man persona was becoming more trouble than it was worth, and so he adopted several new superhero identities.  Clearly a nod to the Superman replacements of a few years earlier (although as far as I know none of these identities made it past this arc, in any form), this was '90s Spider-Man once again taking a direct page from DC, as anyone would easily argue that extended Clone Saga was created to do, to the chagrin of readers who had absolutely no interest in it.  For me, I had a look at the issue for the Mike Wieringo art, which if you'll remember was also the intent with the Flash comic I read earlier in this series of Quarter Bin columns (follow them alphabetically, or just root around the recent ones).  Ringo was a big part of my enjoyment of '90s comics, whether in his Flash or Robin runs.  Like every other creator that decade, he went on to launch a creator-owned series, Tellos, except fate played a cruel trick on him, and his fans, and comics fans in general, when he died unexpectedly in 2007, at the far-too-young age of 44.  His was a playful, expressive style that proved incredibly adaptable, and he was a natural to draw Spider-Man's adventures.

Spider-Man: Blue #4 (Marvel)
From October 2002.
The magic team of Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale produced a series of stories for Marvel's superheroes, each of them featuring narration directed at the biggest influences in the characters' lives.  For Spider-Man, they chose Gwen Stacy, whose untimely death in a 1973 comic forever altered the destiny of Peter Parker, again.  Interestingly, both this and the above issue feature one of Spider-Man's most intriguing, and oldest villains, although the Vulture takes the latter title pretty literally.  I would almost say that the melancholy Sandman of Spider-Man 3 might almost have been better replaced with Vulture, who still has yet to appear in the movies. 

Starman #45 (DC)
From August 1998.
For a lot of fans, James Robinson's Starman was the comic that redeemed '90s DC as something that wasn't merely reacting to the scene around it but producing something new, a commentary on the superhero tradition.  Which admittedly, for me, already existed in the pages of Mark Waid's Flash, but Robinson's efforts were perhaps easier to spot because he began them in a fresh title, with a fresh, new character in Jack Knight, who as of this issue launches himself into space, which someone observes in the issue is only appropriate for someone calling himself Starman.  His task is to locate one of his predecessors in the role, and he's accompanied by another of them, an alien who happens to also be gay.  For me, I always kind of saw Starman as being perhaps a little too impressed with itself, although its role as the DC equivalent of what had previously resulted in the birth of the Vertigo line remains a unique achievement, duplicated in brief by such efforts as Chronos and Primal Force, and most recently by Tom King's Omega Men, but on the whole a lasting testament to what's possible when a creator is allowed truly free reign in a mainstream comic, has the talent to pull it off, and seizes the opportunity.

Superman #57 (DC)
Action Comics #667-668 (DC)
From July, August 1991.
The truly sensational thing about the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths Superman was that it was allowed to break all the rules.  Superman reveals his secret identity to Lois.  Lex Luthor dies.  The death.  The wedding.  And now, because of the Convergence rebirth, even a child.  There was also the time Superman executed some of his foes, and the Eradicator, a Kryptonian menace that presaged Doomsday, and in fact was incorporated in the monster's aftermath.  The first two of the three comics above feature the end-battle with the first humanoid version of the Eradicator, who originally appeared as a robotic relic with a mission similar to what later played out on the big screen in Man of Steel.  The replacement Superman with the visor?  That was the Eradicator, too.  First, Superman engages in mortal combat with this foe, and is probably the moment this generation of creators first dreamt of going all the way with such a scenario.  The last issue features the specter of Lex Luthor, who had died, ironically, due to Kryptonite exposure, having worn a ring embedded with a chunk of the stuff.  Later, the clone would be introduced, and later still, be magically reborn following a lethal clone illness back into the familiar bald form we all know (the clone, "his son," had the youthful look of the vision of the villain's father as portrayed in Smallville).  The issue is fascinating, because it opens the door to the perception that among ordinary citizens of Metropolis, Lex Luthor really was seen as the good guy, which is usually impossible in comics that relentlessly feature his war against Superman.  The creator involved include Roger Stern and Dan Jurgens, both classic members of the '90s generation, Stern near the end of his career and Jurgens near the beginning.  I'd known the post-Doomsday comics I enjoyed the rest of that decade were a direct continuation of material I hadn't read, and so every now and then I like to have a look at the earlier stuff.  And now, this period gets little respect, but it deserves it.  For anyone who started reading at, and only ever cared about, Doomsday, the lasting impression probably makes perfect sense.  But it really doesn't.  This was truly a rich vision, an impressive tapestry, a whole era that saw some of the best-ever Superman stories told, a cohesive, comprehensive story that didn't end until the end of the millennium, when DC started looking at ways to "make Superman relevant again."  The stories changed, the vision changed, but it took a while for anyone to even approach getting better than what had come before...

Reading Comics 191 "DC Rebirth Week Four, Divinity II, Totally Awesome Hulk, Justice League, Robin"

Covered this edition: Divinity II #3, The Flash #1, The Totally Awesome Hulk #7, Justice League #52, Robin: Son of Batman #13, Action Comics #958, and Wonder Woman #1.

Divinity II #3 (Valiant)
Matt Kindt continues the second volume of his visionary superhero saga, in which Russian cosmonauts Abram Adams and Myshka engage in the ultimate duel, across time and reality, as they attempt to determine whose will triumphs in this high-stakes game of god-like beings.  For the second straight issue, it seems the villainous Myshka has once again come out on top, but there's a telling moment when Abram visits the young Myshka, years before the mission that was to change their lives and the whole world, and whispers something into her ear.  Abram has taken great pains in explaining to the adult Myshka that you can't change the past. The suggestion is that whatever he said to the girl is more crucial than the adult currently realizes.  I assume something of that sort will be involved in the conclusion next issue...

The Flash #1 (DC)
My name is Tony Laplume, and I am the happiest Flash fan alive.  Well, maybe one of them, because this debut issue of the series proper lives up to the promise of the Rebirth preview, as Josh Williamson sets up a bold new arc in which the gift of the Speed Force starts spreading around.  Williamson's best bit of storytelling is actually the whole issue, which starts out explaining Barry Allen's origin again, while inserting a key new player, who by the end of the issue is the first (there will be others) to experience the expansion of speedsters.  This series is in excellent hands.

The Totally Awesome Hulk #7 (Marvel)
Easiest some of the best Marvel comics I ever read were Incredible Hercules and its several continuations, which featured Amadeus Cho as the Hulk's (and yes, Herc's) biggest fan.  This shouldn't have worked, right?  In the modern era, the "kid sidekick" idea is passe, but Cho's enthusiasm, not to mention his smarts, puts him in a league all his own.  And in this era where every Marvel superhero is being replaced by their biggest cheerleader (of various extractions), this is the best variation possible.  But the issue actually puts the focus on Bruce Banner, who is totally free of the Hulk for the first time ever, and he's struggling to deal with it.  You'd think it would be a good thing, but when you're Bruce Banner, it's much more complicated than that.  If you like your Hulk to be good for something other than smashing (although that's good, too), then this is a good time to be a fan.  Spearheading this new era is Greg Pak, who knows a thing or two about the big green guy.

Justice League #52 (DC)
The final issue of the series strangely harkens back to the very beginning, as a new hero is introduced to the world.  This time it's Lex Luthor, presenting his version of Superman.  The writer is Dan Jurgens, providing a bridge between where Geoff Johns left off with Luthor and where Jurgens picks up again in the pages of Action Comics.  Lex Luthor was one of the characters who benefited greatly from the New 52, and Justice League.  It's only appropriate to give him the nod like this.  What I love perhaps even more is that the artist is Tom Grummett, making this a mini '90s Superman reunion. 

Robin: Son of Batman #13 (DC)
The final issue of the series, which I decided to read so I could say I was fair to the creators not named Patrick Gleason who worked on it.  (Okay, so technically it would have been more fair to read more than one issue, but still...)  As it turns out, Ray Fawkes is once again better than I seem to have given him credit for, as his version of Damian and friends fits in wonderfully with Gleason's, and even serves as a truly fitting finale.  Nice one, Fawkes.  I'll try to remember next time.

Action Comics #958 (DC)
Jurgens, Lex Luthor, and Superman, and Doomsday, and Clark Kent, oh my!  Clearly there are things going on that aren't quite what they seem, but I love, love, love that Jurgens is getting the chance to further expand on his Superman legacy, which admittedly he's had many chances to do over the years.  I think he's really nailed it this time.

Wonder Woman #1 (DC)
I thought Greg Rucka would be fixating somewhat exclusively on Wonder Woman's origins, despite the alternating storylines ahead, but this issue presents a wrinkle in that idea, as the end of the issue reveals that she's been locked out of Themyscira, and she's had to turn to Cheetah, of all people, for help.  I also like Rucka's characterization of Wonder Woman's reluctance to fight, and Steve Trevor's reclassification back into a military guy.  All around good stuff here.

Reading Comics 189 "DC Rebirth Week Two, Empress, Superman: American Alien"

Aquaman: Rebirth #1 (DC)
The big push Dan Abnett takes in this Rebirth reintroduction issue is poking fun at all the people who make fun of Aquaman, the superhero who "talks to fish."  As Abnett points out in the captions, "This is untrue.  He has a telepathic gift that allows him to compel marine life, but fish do not possess enough intelligence to conduct meaningful dialogue."  But such subtleties are hardly likely to convince people who like their reactions pithy and pointless...

Empress #3 (Icon)
The adventures of the escaping queen continue in this Mark Millar/Stuart Immonen comic rife with breakneck adventure.  Look, I read Saga for years, but after a while, it kind of seems like a soap opera, like The Walking Dead, where the thrust of the story is lost in just kind of keeping it going.  Empress is punchy, even while at its heart it kind of is a soap opera.  Millar is far too impatient for full-on soap opera, though, so there's not a chance of Empress becoming another Saga.

The Flash: Rebirth #1 (DC)
I was kind of shocked that DC allowed this property to all but go to complete waste in the New 52 era, after reviving Barry Allen with Geoff Johns at the helm just before it.  The New 52 Flash was one long attempt at struggling to catch up with better material that had come before it.  Josh Williamson, previously best known for Image comics like Nailbiter, seems to have been chosen precisely because he's both capable and willing to reverse this trend.  And thank god, because as the issue fans will be reading post-DC Universe Rebirth to see what happens next, we don't need another post-Flashpoint disappointment.  A story that makes Flash look like one of DC's most important characters needs a decent follow-up.  This time that's exactly what happens.

Superman: American Alien #7 (DC)
The finale of this mini-series sees Max Landis brilliantly reimagine, essentially, the scenario J. Michael Straczynski featured in his first volume of Superman: Earth One, wherein an alien comes to Earth, causes a lot of trouble, and helps Superman find out where he came from.  Where Straczynski settled for a surprisingly dull new creation, Landis chooses Lobo, as fans recognize him from pre-New 52 continuity (the good ol' bounty hunter bastiche with the bike and everything).  It's brilliant, as everything has been about American Alien.  Lobo is here to send a message to Hawkman (alluded to, which is even better), and ends up provoking Superman into his first big brawl.  I know I tend to sound fairly dismissive of Straczynski's creative output, but in this instance, a clear parallel can be found, and I think Landis does it better.  However, I'd still recommend Straczynski's Superman: Earth One work for those interested in less complicated Superman continuity.

Action Comics #957 (DC)
Interestingly, Lex Luthor is the star of this title, but the Convergence (and new Rebirth) Superman is a co-star, too, so Dan Jurgens gets to continue his recent storytelling along with Tomasi & Gleason's Superman, which I hadn't really anticipated.  The rivalry between Luthor and Superman has kind of been turned on its head, which is brilliant.  There's also Clark Kent running around (how? this continuity's Superman is dead, right?), and the threat of Doomsday once again.  After "Doomed," is it too early?  Who cares!  This is Jurgens' (ugly, ugly) baby.  It's about time he gets to revisit him again...

Wonder Woman: Rebirth #1 (DC)
It's interesting that so many Wonder Woman stories, from about Jodi Picoult onward, have dealt with a fairly insular world, and that once again, her origin (kind of like Donna Troy, actually) is causing all sorts of continued drama.  That's what Greg Rucka, returning after too many years to follow-up on his brilliant Infinite Crisis-era work, will be dealing with, all over again.  I trust he'll have some interesting stuff to say about all of this.

Quarter Bin 74 "Drax, foiled again..."

These actually were bought for a quarter each, thank you very much.  The local haunt frequently puts damaged comics aside with steep discounts, so most of them this time are younger than is usual for this feature...

Drax #2 (Marvel)
From February 2016.
Being, perhaps somewhat uniquely, a fan of comics as well as professional wrestling, I can probably give insight into a CM Punk comic better than you might find elsewhere (were you so inclined).  Punk famously ditched the WWE after feeling he wasn't getting his due, even though he was one of the company's top performers, and somewhat irreplaceable, as the last few years since his departure have helped prove.  I have a complicated perspective on Punk.  On the one hand, he truly is as good as he thinks he is.  But on the other, his ego is probably more massive than he can support.  Strange combination.  But my sympathy for him has only increased since his departure from the ring.  I'm definitely Team Punk.  When he started writing comics, I was instantly intrigued, because it's a well-kept secret that comic book writers often intermingle their personal thoughts with their fictional ones (especially when they leave a series).  I quickly found I wouldn't be disappointed.

And yet, I wasn't sure I wanted to make a commitment to his first regular assignment, Drax, so I avoided sampling it until now.  Turns out I had nothing to worry about.  Punk is definitely reflecting on his own life here, but not in a way that gets in the way.  Drax has a series because Guardians of the Galaxy made him more famous than he'd ever been.  And this series follows, more or less, with the character as established in the movie, which is a good thing because his was a fairly minimal role in the movie, and so there's plenty of room to explore (unlike, say, Rocket or Star-Lord, or the Guardians in general, but I digress).  Anyway, Drax is a unique situation in a comics era that's desperately grasping for unique situations (making them less and less unique by the minute), and again, Punk is ideally suited to explore it.  Nominally, Cullen Bunn, who never met a concept he couldn't suck the life out of, is there to help guide Punk, because Marvel probably had the same concerns I did, but I sense little Bunn here (again, a good thing).  So this was a very happy reading experience.

Superman: Lois & Clark #1 (DC)
From December 2015.
Another comic I was hesitant to read was one of the several Convergence spin-offs.  Fans cooled almost instantly on Convergence (I thought it was a pretty great success, both the mini-series itself and the creative freedom of the side projects), so maybe these spin-offs were never going to be the big hits DC thought they'd be (just as copying "Batgirl of Burnside" made that less significant, and led to DCYou being the failure it seems to have been).  Lois & Clark is a continuation of Convergence: Superman, with creators Dan Jurgens and Lee Weeks along for the ride.  Jurgens famously was one of the writers DC tried on the New 52 Superman itself, one of the writers who famously failed to make it anywhere the success Grant Morrison's Action Comics was, at least in terms of garnering any kind of buzz.  Jurgens wisely seems to have used Lois & Clark as a commentary on that, and the New 52 as a whole.  And in case you didn't know, it also continues the Superman era last seen at the end of the '90s, the last time DC was ready for a major overhaul (technically, the early millennial Superman was not a reboot, but it really was).  The series also features Superman's son, who will be playing a significant role in the DC Rebirth era.  The comic itself is a fine read (and looks fine, too, thanks to Weeks, who knows how to translate Jurgens better than Jurgens has for years).  The issue outlines the whole concept, how the '90s Superman ended up in the New 52, and stood out of the way of history.  Like Drax, makes me wish I hadn't been so dismissively originally.

Action Comics #47 (DC)
From February 2016.
The Greg Pak era in Action Comics was kind of completely overshadowed.  It turned out to be for those who didn't want the Geoff Johns, or Gene Luen Yang, Superman.  But it's not really much to write home about.  This is from the "Truth" period, and features a villain who kind of has a valid perspective (seemingly ripped from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice).  But it seems so pedestrian compared to the Johns/Yang Superman.  The artist is Georges Jeanty, whom I originally encountered in the pages of '90s Superboy, and who later resurfaced in the pages of Dark Horse's Bffy the Vampire Slayer comics.  But his work here is completely unrecognizable, which is a shame, because I liked his work from that time.  Equally baffling is Frankenstein's appearance in the issue.  It's not really dwelt on.  It's a visual element and nothing more, probably explained elsewhere, but surely disappointing for someone randomly stopping by.

Wildcats 3.0 #1 (WildStorm)
From October 2002.
This older issue is from the last attempt to keep WildStorm a viable, separate entity within DC once t became an imprint here instead of at Image.  The characters continue to pop up (they had supporting roles in Futures End, for instance, plus random efforts at ongoing series like Grifter and Midnighter), but it'll never be the same.  Speaking of completely different, this third volume of Wildcats was part of the Authority era, in which the company helped set up the Ultimates era, which helped set up the Avengers movies.  But clearly the original intent was something, again, completely different.  The idea was new maturity.  Joe Casey writes the corporate Wildcats in a way that sheds new light on just what America looked like at the turn of the millennium.  No wonder we've been struggling with our financial health ever since, because that was the era in which corporations really did seem to take over.  I mean, the '80s were the Greed Decade, but they had nothing on the '00s.  I think we all see that now.  A little too late, perhaps, but maybe it's because of things like Casey's fairly incomprehensive buzz speak heavy Wildcats.  Amusingly, Casey explains the evolution of the team in an essay, and it really doesn't help explain how Wildcats 3.0 makes sense from that any better than the comic itself, which ignores pretty much everything Wildcats except for Grifter.  I guess that makes sense...

Reading Comics 153 "Blasts from the (Recent) Past"

Detective Comics #29 (DC)

Ever since Detective Comics #27 (the second one), I've been itching to read if not the rest of then at least more of "Gothtopia," the what-if scenario John Layman introduced in the anniversary issue that proposed a happy Gotham and an appropriately coordinated Batman family, free from the grim nature more common to both.  Layman was third tier in the Batman titles after Scott Snyder (in Batman) and Peter Tomasi (in Batman and Robin), so getting the chance to have an extended crossover event of any size was a considerable acknowledgement for what he'd been doing.

To my dismay, no one really seemed to pay attention to the arc, and because Detective proved frustratingly difficult to find in a store before the Manapul/Buccellato run that succeeded Layman's, catching up on "Gothtopia" outside of the eventual collection (and not digitally) seemed like a lost cause.

Obviously I've managed to correct that, somewhat, at last.

The arc occurred in the pages of the 27th and 28th issues of Detective, Batwing, Birds of Prey, and Catwoman, as well as Batgirl #27 and Detective #29, the issue I found.  Before even the first act of "Gothtopia" was over, the cat was out of the bag (not Catbird or even Catwoman, just the metaphorical one) that the whole thing was the result of Scarecrow's fear gas in a new manifestation, lulling the city into a false sense of security.  Which was fine.  I'm assuming the intermediary issues still had some fun with the illusion the gas conjured.

By Detective #29, the illusion was over and it was time for Batman to put Scarecrow away again.  Layman, who is best known for his curious culinary experience known as Chew, proved to be a deft handler of Batman's rogues, and his Scarecrow was no different.

I wouldn't mind reading the whole thing.  If it weren't for Snyder and Tomasi, I think a lot more attention would have been given to "Gothtopia."  One of its signature elements was a New 52 acknowledgement of a classic Batman subplot, the on-again/off-again quasi-romance between Batman and Catwoman, which will surely help it stand out for future Bat-archivists.

Action Comics #25 (DC)

The only Greg Pak Superman I'd read prior to this was the debut issue of Secret Origins.  What made me pick this one up wasn't Pak but rather it's tie-in with "Zero Year," one of Snyder's Batman crossover arcs, which expanded into a number of non-Batman comics, making a limited glimpse into the New 52's past as a whole.

 Overall I wasn't hugely impressed with the issue, but in some ways I was, too.  I chose this particular image to represent it because I like how Pak depicts the young Superman.  It's rare to see Clark gleeful about his powers.  The only other young Superman the New 52 had to this point was Grant Morrison's opening run in the series, which clearly was intended to set the pace.  Pak chooses a time prior to Morrison's take, when Superman is still learning his limits, but already in the t-shirt look that Rags Morales helped make instantly iconic (the Geoff Johns Superboy had this look previously, but it has been, uh, superseded).

Perhaps more notable for me was the back-up feature, also written by Pak.  The artist for all but the final page (which, along with the main story is from Aaron Kuder) happens to be Scott McDaniel.  He's long been a personal favorite, so it's always nice to catch more recent art, especially since he seems to have been relegated to supporting work after the failure of his Static Shock at the start of the New 52 (I still owe the guys at Collected Editions the answer to their challenge of reading the run and coming to a more positive impression than they did; you can read a version of how the series imploded behind the scenes here, although for the record, the difference may still turn out to be their awareness of what happened between the creators, which is far too often the case, above and beyond the material itself).

This wouldn't be the first time McDaniel has worked on Superman (he handled the Man of Steel and also Batman in the early part of the new millennium following his best-known work, on Nightwing), so this is actually a welcome return on multiple levels.

Yeah, I always love his work.  (That's another reason I think Static Shock, on an art level alone, must be worth more than the poor reputation it gained.)  Hopefully, if he's in a doghouse or not, McDaniel can get back to some level of prominence.

Swamp Thing: Futures End #1 (DC)

The more I read of Charles Soule's Swamp Thing, the more I wish I'd been reading it all along.  The Futures End issue is another prime example of how excellent it truly is.

As far as I can tell, Soule has followed in the footsteps of Geoff Johns from the pages of Green Lantern (and to a lesser and/or unknown extent, Jeff Lemire's Green Arrow) and Aquaman, building a whole mythology out of existing material.  I know Scott Snyder began the series at the start of the New 52, and that the idea of the Parliament of Trees and the Green were introduced by Alan Moore in his seminal Saga of the Swamp Thing run, but a significant amount of what Soule has been doing (and will soon conclude before that oft-lamented Marvel-exclusive contract officially kicks in) seems to be derived from his own imagination.

As with other Futures End month issues I have previously discussed (headlined by Grayson and Soule's own Red Lanterns), Swamp Thing took the opportunity to look five years into the future as a chance to piggy-pack a conclusion to a creative run that will obviously not be in-place five years hence.  So I'm glad to have had another chance to catch this one.  Although I have a feeling I will be reading the complete Soule Swamp Thing at some point.

The included artwork also brings up Soule's inclusion of the white ring (from Green Lantern lore, currently in the possession of Kyle Rayner as depicted in New Guardians) originally featured in Blackest Night and its sequel, Brightest Day, the pre-New 52 series that saw Swamp Thing (as well as others) make his in-continuity return.  I like it when a creator has an expansive look at what's been done before them.  Obviously, few will be quite as obsessive about it as Grant Morrison (his Batman is as close to a doctorate on the subject as anyone outside of Kurt Busiek is likely to get in comics), but seeing Soule accept the challenge will always be an excellent reason to admire his work.

(And meanwhile, I will at some point find out exactly how much his Swamp Thing owes to past creators.  It doesn't really matter, though, does it?)

Action Comics #18 (DC)

writer: Grant Morrison
artist: Rags Morales

Well, this was it!  The grand finale of Grant Morrison's run on the New 52's Action Comics reboot.  This issue was originally supposed to be the first of the new team's run, but Morrison got himself an extra one.

Morrison has made no bones about how he approaches superheroes.  He wrote a whole book about them called Super Gods, after all.  The phrase "nothing less than a new American mythology" appears on the first page of this issue.  With the latest trailers for Man of Steel having everyone losing their kits, it's not hard to see the idea resonating lately, certainly not after the huge success of The Avengers last summer solidifying the place of this genre in the movies.

I somehow doubt that anyone will take the bulk of this run as an iconic take on Superman.  Morrison used elements of this particular mythology that don't tend to translate into other mediums.  Mxyzptlk appeared in Lois & Clark, but in the form of Howie Mandel.  I happen to think this material was brilliant, how Morrison used the 5th dimension and its imps (as he previously did when concluding his run on JLA) to reflect on the overall legacy of Superman, including his inspiring of the Legion of Super-Heroes in a thousand years.  When I talk about Superman's iconic legacy outside of comics, it shouldn't be that hard to understand.  In six movies now his adventures have simply been trying to figure out his relationship with humanity, let alone the greater impact a whole career has.  In Superman Returns, thought to have taken on a backlash because it hewed too closely to films that ended like the Schumacher Batman era, it briefly reflects on this concept, with Lois Lane, formerly Superman's greatest champion, now more famous for writing an article wondering if the world still needed him.

Action Comics #18 itself takes the form of one massive fight with the villains who have been assembling around Superman since the start of the story, none of them particularly memorable except for being characters who defined themselves as being diametrically opposed to him.  Previously it was really only Lex Luthor who filled that bill.  Superman's enemies are said to be his real weakness, that they aren't as memorable as Batman's or Spider-Man's.  The movies keep doing Luthor and Zod because once you go past them...?

Morrison is famous for embracing high concept.  He writes his scripts in language that is so distinctly his own that it can sometimes seem impenetrable.  That's the vibe that's very much on display here.  He's fully capable of reversing this instinct, by going sublimely simplistic, but that's just not how this story ends.

Still, there's a clever moment when Superman says, "for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction."  Basic physics, right?  Yet it's something infinitely clever to hear in a comic book called Action Comics, like the punchline seventy-five years in the making.  Was that Morrison's whole point?

The best moment of the issue, however, is Superman's last statement: "You should see the other guy."  It's the pitfall of being the icon of all superhero icons.  He can sometimes seem completely remote, unapproachable.  Most of what Morrison was trying to do in the early issues was reverse that perception.  Sure it gets crazy along the way, but it boils down to exactly that, in as many words a fight, just another fight.  He won.  And he has something funny to say about it afterward.  Is that what you should really take away from the issue?

The traditional Sholly Fisch backup follows, this time with art from Chris Sprouse, who first rose to prominence in collaboration with Alan Moore on Tom Strong and of course Supreme, which at that time was Moore's obvious pastiche on Superman.  This association is only appropriate.  The story itself is mostly wordless, set sometime in the future in a museum exhibit.  An alien boy stands up to bullies (who happen to be human), earning the respect of his peers in the process.  The Superman statue winks at the end.  Superman winks on the last panel of every era's close these days, all thanks to what Moore himself did the last time he did superheroes for the big publishers.

By now you've also heard that Andy Diggle opted out of continuing his commitment of following Morrison in this title, probably for similar editorial concerns that have riddled the New 52 pretty much since its inception.  I can't pretend to understand why so many writers have had such a problem with editors, but it's almost become as memorable a story as anything that the writers have been telling themselves.

Anyway, so long Grant Morrison, and thanks for all the greatness!

Quick Hits: Action Comics #17 (DC)

This is the second-to-last issue of Grant Morrison's run on Action Comics, though it was originally scheduled to be the finale.  In a lot of ways this one will make the whole run easier to understand, resonating the villain who's been running around, Superman's experiences, and the human element that has been at the heart of the story since the start, when we first saw the new t-shirt costume.

Action Comics #16 (DC)

writer: Grant Morrison
artist: Brad Walker, Rags Morales

(courtesy dccomics.com)

The title of this issue is "The Second Death of Superman," and that's just one indication of why I love it and this whole run so much.

Now, before you think that you missed a major comics event (which was the story of 1992), Superman doesn't die in Action Comics #16 (bonus points if you can name the issue of Superman where he did).  All along Grant Morrison hasn't only been telling a Superman story but rather one that looks at the complete legacy.  Earlier that meant employing the Legion of Super-Heroes, who famously made their first appearance of teenage heroes of the future who recruited the young Superman into their ranks.  This time it means acknowledging the equally famous, or perhaps infamous, "Doomsday" event.

Moreso than with his Batman stories, this is Morrison exploiting the history of a major character and ending up with stories that are all the richer for it.  At the time it was just a story that the writing team wanted to do, actually to delay the wedding of Clark Kent and Lois Lane, that turned into a huge media event and a years-long arc that of course saw Superman come back from the dead.  It was one of the first gimmick events.  Since that time deaths and other such crises have become a regular feature of comic books, guaranteed to make the news as people who have no regular contact with superheroes other than at the movies suddenly feel that they have to experience for themselves what's just happened to an icon.

Yet now it's just another thing that happened to Superman.  Doomsday, the monster whose sole purpose was to show up and kill the Man of Steel, isn't particularly relevant to Morrison's reference to the event.  It's more that it's become a part of his story, just the same as Krypton exploding and baby Kal-El rocketing to Earth, being adopted by the Kents and adopting two different costumes to operate in Metropolis (the one with the glasses and the one with the cape).  In Marvel very few things are forgotten but most of it still ends up being glossed over.  Nothing leaves a true lasting impact, with few exceptions.  This is different.  This is Morrison having a better grasp of what helps ground a fictional character, even if it means that said character came back from the dead, which doesn't happen very often in real life.

Yet Superman is supposed to be mythic as well as comprehensible.  That's what an event like his death and return helped make more clear, what makes that happening to him different from when it happens to other characters, and why it only makes him stronger for someone like Morrison to acknowledge it years after the fact.

The Legion returns in this issue, too, by the way, both in the main story and Sholly Fisch's back-up.  After Geoff Johns shaped a whole arc on Superman's continued link and relevance to the Legion, I thought for sure DC would finally figure out that at least as far as today's readers are concerned, something like this is absolutely necessary to maintain.  Otherwise the Legion is just a group of heroes set in a time that has no relevance to the rest of the comics a typical reader will follow.  It's fine to have a separate continuity, but the Legion is best defined by context, even if that context is a thousand years in its past.  There should be a member who idolizes Superman to the point of obsessive emulation.  (How am I the first person to think of this???)  Mon-El, or Valor, doesn't count, although even he is regularly misused.

Anyway, this is Morrison's second-to-last issue of Action Comics.  The pieces are coming together.  His enemies in this run are reaching their end game.  Although it's not really about the enemies.  With Superman, it's always kind of been that way, but few writers have been able to figure that out.  Most hero figures it's the villain who helps define them.  With Superman, as Morrison clearly understands, it's about his own context, about how the world reacts around him.  Superman is very grounded, but he tends to provoke others who aren't, like fifth dimension imps, bald madmen, aliens who otherwise wouldn't care about Earth, superheroes from the future.

Morrison clearly approaches Superman as an icon.  It'll be sad to see that image end.

Action Comics #15 (DC)

(via dccomics.com)

writer: Grant Morrison
artist: Brad Walker, Rags Morales

Earlier this year I was pretty certain that Grant Morrison had written his best issue of Action Comics with #9, which featured some bold variant storytelling.  I may now stand corrected.  This is probably his best issue of the series.

For some reason, Morrison does his best work with Superman by subverting every expectation.  In All Star Superman, he had a look at what a dying Man of Steel would do, and it was pretty much everything he hadn't done previously in his career, living up to all those funny little fan diatribes that say he's too powerful to be taken seriously.

Granted, Morrison launched Action Comics last year by looking at a very human Superman, and that too was a revelation, perhaps a a little too radical for some readers even though aside from the t-shirt there wasn't too much difference between what he did and Geoff Johns in Superman: Secret Origin or J. Michael Straczynski in Superman: Earth One.  What set Morrison apart, as always, was his intrinsic understanding of the mythology.  (That, by the way, is the reason why Morrison and Johns function so well as the head writers of DC, since it's a trait they both share.)

In Final Crisis, and specifically Final Crisis: Superman Beyond, Morrison all but gave a preview of what Action Comics would be like, featuring a Man of Steel who is intrinsically significant, not just because he's the comic book character the majority of the public identifies with superheroes, but because he's meant to be the quintessential superhero.

If you keep that in mind, you may understand why Mxyzptlk has suddenly become the most significant supporting player in Superman lore.

Mxyzptlk may have the most convoluted name in comics.  No, he does have the most convoluted name in comics.  It's so awesomely terrible that it's become plain awesome.  He's a peculiar Superman villain, though, because he forces the Man of Steel to do anything but be a typical World's Greatest Superhero.  He's an imp from the 5th dimension, and has always had, throughout his various incarnations, one of the most cartoonish looks in comics.

So again, why is this guy a Superman villain, and why is Morrison making him the showcase supporting character of Action Comics?

Perhaps not just because JLA previously featured Morrison's efforts to redeem 5th dimensional imps, Action Comics has with notable subtlety been featuring them for much of its run, including Clark Kent's apartment super, Nyxly.  (Yes, because of the precedent, all of these imps have the same impossible naming scheme.  You just have to accept that.)

While there has been building a team of villains interested in eliminating Superman, we've also been watching him figure out his relationship to the world.  In an odd sort of way, this issue shows how the imps have been doing the same, specifically Mxyzptlk.  Well, as I said, it's a pretty remarkable accomplishment.  No one else has ever made this kind of effort to legitimize him.

Rather than going into much further detail, I would simply like to note that as I may have suggested, this is a must-read.  And as his efforts have been from the start, Sholly Fisch knocks his backup contribution out of the park, emphasizing everything Morrison just accomplished in a more standalone capacity.

Action Comics #14 (DC)

writer: Grant Morrison
artist: Rags Morales

Recently I've been filling Comics Reader with a lot of perspective, why you should care about current projects, how they connect to stuff you may be familiar with.  My review of the latest Action Comics will be no different.

Basically Grant Morrison has been telling his Batman epic in miniature.  He's been writing Batman on a regular basis since 2006 and has along the way done a number of really amazing stories, although if you're not careful you could easily become confused by some of them.  Perhaps "Batman R.I.P." best illustrates my point, and is actually most pertinent to his work on Action Comics.

"R.I.P." is all about another of those master criminals thinking that they've created the ultimate web of destruction against Batman (much in the way the cumulative Leviathan arc is working its mojo through Batman Incorporated now).  To that point Morrison had sewn a lot of threads through his stories, until introducing Doctor Hurt and and saying "this is where it all led."  (Although, again, as it turns out it wasn't Hurt but rather Leviathan, but a lot of that is because of Batman's response to his experience with Hurt.)

In Action Comics, much of what Morrison has done so far is to explain how Superman responds to the world, and at the start this was done by way of an updated origin story that made the Man of Steel a little more human than he's sometimes been portrayed, most obviously with the signature t-shirt costume change, although in accord with other appearances he's since taken on a slightly more traditional look.

Yet, as in his Batman stories, Morrison has also been building toward one big threat (call it the Buffy Technique if you must), which I will not spoil for you here but it's been just below the series arc from the very beginning, tied in with Superman's alter ego Clark Kent, and what Morrison has cleverly extrapolated from the best aspect of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man movies, his relationship not with Mary Jane or Harry Osborn but the apartment residents (I'm thinking less of the grumpy super than his cute daughter whom Peter Parker remains obvious to for all three movies) he spends his most human time among.

Action Comics #14 spends most of its time on an problem-of-the-issue event, though, so you don't have to worry too much about the arc that's rapidly drawing to a close (sob!), as well as whole Morrison's tenure.  Although if you want another association, it's very much like an issue of Morrison's All Star Superman, which was widely considered to be brilliant.

There's also the regular backup effort from Sholly Fisch, which remains a highlight of the series.  Here it's actually more important to this specific issue than the lead.  Both stories involve Superman interacting with scientists, but Fisch gets to have him experience an unexpectedly moving reunion with his birth planet, the kind of moment that would probably never occur in anything but a backup feature but is something that probably should have happened a long time ago.  Maybe it did.  But for now I will use it as evidence of Fisch's considerable talents.

Reading Comics #74 "Making History"

AvX #12 (Marvel)
writer: Jason Aaron
artist: Adam Kubert
Avengers was the big event at the movies, but in the comics, Marvel's 2012 story belonged to Avengers vs. X-Men, which has finally come to a close.  A mass collaboration between the company's so-called architects) (Aaron, Brian Michael Bendis, Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, Jonathan Hickman), it's also a sequel of sorts to the classic "Dark Phoenix Saga" (featured in X-Men: The Last Stand) as well as House of M, and this basically means that the X-Men finally got to figure out how to level the playing field again.  The Scarlet Witch famously declared, "No more mutants" in House of M, and her subsequent absence was one of the defining elements of Avengers lore for the past decade (she finally returned in Avengers: The Children's Crusade).  This caused a rapid decline and possible extinction for mutant kind until the appearance of the so-called mutant messiah Hope.  AvX spent a lot of its time having the company's two most famous teams duke it out, ostensibly over control of the Phoenix, which eventually took control of Cyclops, who let the power go to his head.  In this issue he's defeated and the Phoenix is drawn out from him, and it falls to Hope and Scarlet Witch to decide what to do with the entity.  It's awesome that someone finally decided to do something notable with Hope, much less the Phoenix, and maybe killing off Professor X (which happened last issue) will stick this time, and Cyclops can become the new Magneto, if subsequent writers can exercise some restraint (though the fact that Captain America and Iron Man are once again bosom buddies despite the events of Civil War does not bode well for such a long-lasting change).  No, I did not read every issue, but it was certainly worth following, and this concluding issue does track well.

Action Comics #13 (DC) 
writer: Grant Morrison
artist: Travel Foreman
This issue has a kind of curious crossover appeal.  Grant Morrison's own celebrated Vertigo story We3 is certainly relevant to the issue, as is the Futurama episode "Jurassic Bark."  Hopefully you know the one.  Basically this is Morrison's Krypto story, though a lot of it also involves Phantom Zone villains and the like.  A lot of what Morrison has done in his run on Action Comics is provide a clear template on all the most notable elements of Superman lore, with an updated aesthetic that removes all its cobwebs.  One of the recurring pieces throughout the run is a gradual introduction of Mxyzptlk, the imp with the impossible name (and it also must be conquered backwards!) who has served as one of the most curious foes in the canon.  If anyone can make him work now, it's Morrison.  Sholly Fisch, meanwhile, emphasizes Krypto in his typically consummate backup feature, which has been another highlight of these comics.

Artifacts #s 17 & 19 (Top Cow)
writer: Ron Marz
artist: Stjepan Sejic
Preparing a script for a Top Cow talent contest has made me aware of the fact that I don't have a lot of practical experience with actual Top Cow comics.  This is a little surprising, because Ron Marz has been writing for them for several years now.  I became familiar with him (and a fan of his work) thanks to his Kyle Rayner years on Green Lantern.  He's worked hard to shape a working mythology for Top Cow's artifacts, originally represented in Witchblade and The Darkness, the latter of which is featured in the first of these two issues as Jackie Estacado concludes a confrontation with Tom Judge, the signature character of this particular series, which follows other similar mystical devices to the ones that helped define Top Cow in the first place.  All told, there are thirteen of them.  Judge isn't really defined by his artifact, however, but by how he attempts to navigate them and their bearers.  He's an ex-priest who now works for the FBI.  Apparently Top Cow has gone into Fringe territory by exploring subtly different versions of its familiar characters via an alternate reality in which old relationships can begin anew, which is what the second issue helps demonstrate with characters familiar to Angelus fans.  It's all pretty readable even for someone not terribly familiar with such nuances.  It's fair to say Top Cow does have a functioning superhero legacy developing, and Marz continues to be a strong part of making it happen.

Batman #0 (DC)
writer: Scott Snyder
artist: Greg Capullo
The lead story features a harbinger of the "Death of the Family" arc that features the return of the Joker, but its best aspect is Bruce Wayne's early attempts to figure out how to make his Batman function.  That's all well and good (and familiar to fans of Christopher Nolan's cinematic vision), but the highlight of the issue is James Tynion IV's backup feature (it's worth noting that Tynion has just launched Talon, a spinoff from the Court of Owls epic that dominated the title and franchise during its first year in the New 52 era), which follows Jim Gordon's decision to switch on the Bat-signal to hopefully make the citizens of Gotham aware of its strange new protector.  All of Batman's eventual allies see it, and the genius of it is that could easily inspire a whole series, something totally new to the franchise, exploring Tim Drake, Jason Todd, Dick Grayson, and even Barbara Gordon before they don the costumes of Robin and Batgirl.  Drake's part of the story dominates it, and for a long-time fan of the character (who now appears in Teen Titans almost exclusively, but maintained one ongoing series or another from 1993 to 2011) it still manages to be a revelation, a truly fresh take.  He's a wunderkind, naturally, well before he wears a cape.  Jason is a tragic figure as always.  Dick tracks consistently, and is familiar to anyone who's been following Nightwing in the past year.  Who wouldn't want to read more of how Barbara first decided to be inspired more by the Dark Knight than her cop father?  Such a comic would be like Smallville reclaimed by its native land (a little more directly than Birthright).

Batwing #0 (DC)
writer: Judd Winick
artist: Marcus To
It's funny, because Judd Winick originally prided himself on launching Batwing without a traditional origin story...This is that story.  It's actually very familiar to what Lost did for six seasons.  David Zavimbi's journey to joining Batman Incorporated (through which he gets his nifty armor) is a uniquely African adventure (something I'm not sure Marvel's Black Panther has ever achieved).  Although I haven't read an issue of the series since its debut last fall, I've long considered Batwing to be one of the highlights of the New 52, something new, even if it's connected to something familiar.  Yet for all intents and purposes, Zavimbi lives in his own world, something Winick has appreciated.  He's exactly the kind of character the writer has always excelled developing.  Even if I only read sporadic issues, it's good knowing something like this exists, and this issue is as rewarding as I expected.

DC Universe Presents Kid Flash #12 (DC)
writer: Fabian Nicieza
artist: Jorge Jimenez
Like Tim Drake, Bart Allen has been playing in the New 52 sandbox, but almost exclusively in the pages of Teen Titans.  This is a rare opportunity to stretch his legs a little.  Nicieza proves an unexpectedly compelling chronicler of his hyperactive escapades.  Originally introduced by Mark Waid as a humorously immature speedster who grew up in virtual reality, Bart was shaped by Geoff Johns into Kid Flash nearly a decade ago in another Teen Titans.  Here the transformation truly seems complete.  No longer callow so much as cocksure, Bart Allen is still a remarkably unique character to read, as this issue proves.

DC Universe Presents #0 (DC)
writer: various
artist: various
The anthology series that has featured a number of different properties over the past year takes Zero Month as an opportunity to explore characters whose New 52 first wave titles were cancelled.  That means Dan DiDio and Keith Giffen, for instance, can have one more crack at O.M.A.C., though they take the opportunity to explore Brother Eye, the sentient satellite best known for wrecking havoc in Infinite Crisis.  James Robinson does for Mister Terrific more justice than his comic ever did, which is encouraging, since the character is due to play a role in Robinson's Earth 2.  The highlight for me, however, is the reunion of Great Ten collaborators Tony Bedard and Scott McDaniel, who present a tale of Deadman, whose adventures launched this title (which to me was disappointing at the time, because I thought the momentum the character built from Brightest Day and Flashpoint would have led to an ongoing series, which I would certainly not mind from Bedard and McDaniel...), teaching him a lesson in humility (well, several).

The Flash #0 (DC)
writer: Francis Manapul, Brian Buccellato
artist: Francis Manapul
I haven't read an issue of The Flash since Geoff Johns left the title prior to the New 52 relaunch.  It's not because I no longer care for the character, but that I've been waiting for Manapul (who was artist in the Johns run) to find his legs.  The Flash has increasingly become a character defined more by his personal story than his adventures for me, and it seemed that Manapul was content to leave the stories at the adventure level.  I knew the minute Zero Month was announced that I would likely read my first Flash in a year.  Yes, this is an origin issue, retelling the new narrative of Barry Allen's life, how his mother was murdered and his father was blamed for it, and how Barry has been driven ever since to discover the truth.  Becoming the Flash is almost besides the fact.  If the quality of this sample is any indication, I may be reading more in the future.

Green Lantern #13 (DC)
writer: Geoff Johns
artist: Doug Mahnke
Very much like Batwing above, this new phase of Green Lantern is reading like Lost, as Simon Baz and the narrative of not just his emerging career as a ring-bearer but his life begins to take shape.  Baz seems to have stumbled into circumstances the US government can't help but confuse with terrorist activities, but he's far more troubled by what he's done to his beloved sister's husband.  There's also this ring and the two strange people (Sinestro and Hal Jordan) who broadcast rescue requests when it started to fully activate.  He adopts the distinctive mask when he realizes it would be expedient given his legal troubles.  Other than that, his is a story that's still very much unfolding.  So too is the "Rise of the Third Army" arc in which the Guardians of the Universe, founders of the Green Lantern Corps, who have devised something of an organic version of Star Trek's Borg.  And on the final page, Simon Baz is introduced to the Justice League...

Jack Kirby (Bluewater)
writer: John Judy
artist: Paul Cox
One of the founding father of the comic book, Jack Kirby co-created almost every major Marvel superhero, and became known as "The King," revered in the industry and by his peers.  This is his story.  It almost reads like a lost issue of Fred Van Lente's Comic Book Comics, but otherwise is a fairly standard Bluewater biography, skirting a lot of details and emphasizing anecdotes, which is a little disappointing for anyone who wanted a little more depth, but a good overview, even if it begins to heavily focus on the things that went wrong in his career rather than everything he achieved and has inspired.

Superman #0 (DC)
writer: Scott Lobdell
artist: Kenneth Rocafort
The company's reward for a couple of creators fans don't seem to have enjoyed as much, perhaps because they've previously collaborated on the divisive Red Hood and the Outlaws.  But the force of their magic is undeniable, and it's remarkable that they've been given a major character and title to work on next.  As compared to the Morrison-powered Action Comics, Superman has had a rocky course in the New 52.  This is its third major creative change in a year.  Tonally, Lobdell immediately marks himself as comparable to Morrison's inclinations, particularly in the opening pages of the issue, in which Superman's dad Jor-El picks up the familiar refrain of the character, the lone scientific genius capable of foreseeing the fate of Krypton.  Lobdell makes it seem fresh, and Jor-El vital.  It's the second time this column I'll suggest that a Zero Month story could easily support its own series.  It's a bright start to a bold new era.

Ultimate Comics The Ultimates #15 (Marvel)
writer: Sam Humphries
artist: Billy Tan
It's something of an irony that the year the Avengers movie inspired by the Ultimates comics coincides at a time when the Ultimates are at their least accessible.  The whole point of Marvel's Ultimate line was to make its characters more accessible.  In recent comics the United States has apparently splintered apart.  Last time I checked that hadn't happened in the real world.  Humphries makes up for this with the big bomb in the aftermath of a recall election for the presidency (several years late, but it still brings to mind the memorable California gubernatorial fiasco that gave us the Governator), Captain America taking the highest rank in the government he's served since WWII.  It's a pretty huge development that I had to check in on.  This is the issue where he wins the election (more hype is given to the following one, in which he takes office).  It's a good yarn as Humphries relates it.

Secret Origins

Action Comics #0 (DC)
writer: Grant Morrison 
artist: Ben Oliver 
September marks DC's second ever Zero Month (the original being from 1994 in conjunction with Dan Jurgens' Zero Hour), and where else would I want to start but with Grant Morrison's Superman?  Since the launch of the New 52 a year ago, this has been the all-star of the crop, which is ironic, because of course Morrison also once gave us All Star Superman, which was as big-picture as the Man of Steel has ever gotten.  Action Comics has been small-picture from the start, a more intimate Superman than perhaps anyone not dealing almost exclusively with Clark Kent has ever gotten.  The redesign (two-fold in the New 52; the armor that the present version has, and the jeans-and-tee-shirt version in these pages, set five years in the past) has been a standout feature, and the origin of that t-shirt has been something Morrison has been teasing.  One of the things this issue does is settle that once and for all.  There's also the matter of the Kryptonian cape that's indestructible, and has also been a prominent element of the book.  It falls into the possession of a boy whose father has been terrorizing the family, and the effects are interesting enough.  But again, there's more to the issue!  The dynamic between Clark and Jimmy Olsen is another highlight.  (They're all highlights.)  The guest art of Ben Oliver (who's been crushing Batwing) is another.  The backup feature written by Sholly Fisch is another!  It's a riff on the Captain Comet story that Morrison has worked on previously, a secret origin that probably makes Captain Comet more interesting in a few pages than he's been in decades.  (Though one of the more memorable images from 52 involves him, though in pretty grim fashion.)

Cobra #16 (IDW)
writer: Mike Costa
artist: Antonio Fuso
I can never get over how awesome this book is.  It's been running for years, and has remained completely awesome, and redefined IDW's approach to the G.I. Joe franchise, and still doesn't have near the amount of awareness that it deserves.  It's awesome.  In the beginning, the focus was on a single Joe (Chuckles, in Chuckles' most relevant story ever) attempting to infiltrate the mysterious Cobra organization.  Recently the focus has shifted to the Joes working with Cobra defectors (some defecting a little more honestly than others).  It's a very post-9/11 approach to G.I. Joe.  Costa, who worked on Blackhawks for a few months and didn't do anything like his work here, has been one of the best writers of character in comics.  In this issue, he makes the mystique of Firefly pop off the page, and potentially another breakout personality to work with in the future.  The whole run has been filled with stuff like that.

Green Lantern #0 (DC)
writer: Geoff Johns
artist: Doug Mahnke
Speaking of the post-9/11 world, Geoff Johns gets to introduce his very own Earth Green Lantern this issue (has it really taken so long?!?) in the form of Simon Baz, who's in the midst of being mistaken for a terrorist when a green ring finds him in one of the most awkward pieces of timing ever.  It's hard to understand this development not being a bigger deal, though I guess Superman and Wonder Woman over in Justice League does tend to eclipse a lot of things (another Johns book, by the way).  Not only is it a huge twist in a series of huge twists in the Johns run on the franchise, but it's potentially the one with the longest-lasting effect (after all, each of the four previous humans to become Green Lantern are still running around, each of them decades old).  This is the equivalent of Brian Michael Bendis introducing a new Spider-Man.  This will be extremely interesting to follow in the coming months.  And there's also that whole Third Army business coming up!

Scalped #60 (Vertigo)
writer: Jason Aaron
artist: R.M. Guera
I haven't read this series in a couple years, but this being the final issue and all, the moment I learned the end was coming, I knew I was going to have to read it.  I actually had a conversation about it with the cashier at the store (I usually don't do that), who had never read Scalped.  I remarked that the end was about as inevitable as you can get in a story, something very bloody.  Inevitable in a good way, we both decided.  Dashiel Bad Horse in the lead character of the series, but the central figure of the issue is someone else, which is perfectly befitting of Aaron's style.  Jason Aaron has become a hotshot over at Marvel since he began working on Scalped, but aside from a short piece in a one-shot years ago, I've never found anything like the sheer amount of inspiration in his superhero work that he's consistently brought to one of the best comics of the past five years.  And just as I assumed, the issue was easy to appreciate and derive resolution from, even if I missed a good chunk of storyline.  Dash's story could easily continue, but Scalped has definitely concluded.

The Secret History of D.B. Cooper #s 4-5 (Oni)
writer/artist: Brian Churilla
Apparently these are the final issues of the book, depicting the inevitable conclusions of the first three, in which CIA agent D.B. Cooper is exposed for revealing secrets to the Soviet Union in his efforts to escape the program he's been blackmailed into continued participation in thanks to the kidnapping of his daughter, using an alternate dimension to carry out hits.  In that dimension, he's been hanging out with a teddy bear, and these issues reveal the bear's identity, as well as the fateful events that lead to the November 1971 plane incident that was only reported as a hijacking and dramatic escape by Cooper.  Yes, this is all fantasy, but Churilla handles it so brilliantly that you not only accept his conclusions as plausible, but invest it with real emotion.  Five issues is a pretty good haul for a small press book, but I would have loved to read this one for years.  It'll make a very nice trade collection for your bookshelf, though.

The Shade #12 (DC)
writer: James Robinson
artist: Gene Ha
The final issue of this series comes after a year's journey through the mind of experiences of a reformed villain who's lived centuries on the edge of ambiguity, and at last reveals his secret origin.  Perhaps not so surprisingly, it's more of that ambiguity, Richard Swift finding himself in a bad situation because of an ego that got out of control (which would explain why he's been so careful ever since, and is a rare villain who has managed to take himself out of that role).  Like D.B. Cooper and Scalped, there are obvious ways to keep the story going, but as far as the series go, it's the appropriate note to end on.  (Yes, it's odd in hindsight to have gotten all three issues at the same time, and coincidentally appropriate.)  James Robinson I hope has finally convinced some readers that his Starman reputation (for those who liked it; I received a comment from one visitor a while back that suggests not everyone shares it, and that's fine, too) isn't something that's been forsaken since that time.  He can still do that work.  It can sometimes be baffling when a creator does a different kind of story than what their fans know them for, but that doesn't mean the creator has suddenly lost the ability to do the work those fans recognize.  The Shade is in fact different from Starman, too, more intimate, more studied (though those are the very terms that fans of the latter would cling to; I'd use "legacy" and "expansive").  The resulting collection, with its various artists, may prove quite interesting to read.

Thanos Quest (Marvel)
writer: Jim Starlin
artist: Ron Lim
I must admit, my favorite part from this summer's The Avengers remains the big reveal in the credits of Thanos, the rock-jawed Titan whom some comic book fans might mistake for Darkseid (hey, it could happen!), star of the crossover events Infinity Gauntlet and Infinity War.  This book is a reprint prequel, revealing how Thanos acquired the Infinity Gems, basically talismans of power that fans of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine might find similar to the Orbs of the Prophets, in his efforts to woo Death.  To my mind, Thanos is easily the most fascinating character in all of Marvel, and Thanos Quest helps make that point.  He's Jim Starlin's baby, and I'm not sure Starlin has ever found a worthier subject for his talents.  This is classic, epic material.  Why Marvel's summer event involves the Phoenix rather than Thanos can only be considered baffling.  Did the company not know what Joss Whedon was planning?  Thanos is used so sparingly, though, and maybe that's what helps him keep his appeal.  But I'd seriously wonder if the House of Ideas still didn't have something for him by next year.

Catching Up On Some Recent Comics

Action Comics #12 (DC)
Grant Morrison rounds out the first year of the New 52 Action Comics by pitting Superman against Captain Comet, one of DC's cosmic superheroes, in an epic showdown.  Hey, it's the most relevant Comet's been in years!

Aquaman #11 (DC)
Geoff Johns continues the saga he may be only spending a little while longer on, if recent reports are to be believed.  Still, if it's true, he's still done far more to make Aquaman a vital character than anyone in the dozens of attempts over the years.  If nothing else, this will make an epic, massive collection, and be put right alongside Brightest Day, where Johns and Peter S. Tomasi previously worked on the character.

Atomic Robo and the Flying She-Devils of the Pacific #2 of 5 (Red 5)
A better issue than the previous one, filled with Brian Clevinger's trademark wit, and Robo's hapless reactions to the insanity around him.

Atomic Robo Presents Real Science Adventures #5 (Red 5)
The latest issue of this anthology series is highlighted by Robo's confrontation with the man who killed Nikola Tesla (in this comics iteration), who was the creator of Atomic Robo (in the comics).

Batman: Earth One - Special Preview Edition (DC)
Yes, I bought and reviewed the full graphic novel last month, but I thought it'd be fun to see what it might feel like as a monthly-installment-sized edition.  Yes, this only covers the first fifteen pages, but it really does have a different feel.  There's a bonus preview of Scott Snyder's New 52, but the provided content is practically impenetrable, and certainly doesn't sell the Court of Owls concept, even though that's the name of the collection the preview is hawking.

Batman Incorporated #3 (DC)
The horrific shooting in Aurora, CO, delayed release of this book, though not necessarily shipments.  Morrison brings back Matches Malone, Bruce Wayne's underworld alter ego, while we learn what's really going on with Damian, who has for now assumed the identity of Redbird (which was also the name of Tim Drake's Robin-mobile).

Batman and Robin #12 (DC)
Tomasi concludes his Terminus arc with a big bang, which is a little disappointing in that Terminus didn't quite receive enough time to develop as a villain.  Long story short, the series was better earlier this year.

Before Watchmen: Comedian #2 of 6 (DC)
I read elsewhere that Edward Blake's introduction to Vietnam seemed a little generic.  I guess I haven't saturated myself with enough Vietnam fiction, since I found it to be pretty fascinating.  On the one hand, the Comedian considers this battlefield to be just another battlefield.  On the other hand, this is a guy whose best friend was just assassinated.  He has a right to be a little cynical, have an impulse to let loose a little.  That's my perspective, anyway.  Brian Azzarello also provides a fascinating insight into the possible origins of the emerging drug culture we still live in today, playing along the same notes as the second issue of Silk Spectre. (If you need a little perspective on it, Before Watchmen is an unlikely but certainly welcome forum.)

Before Watchmen: Nite Owl #2 of 4 (DC)
Whatever else I might have had to say about this issue is kind of overshadowed by the recent passing of comics legend Joe Kubert, who inked this series over son Andy's art.  I'm not a historian of the craft, but I can certainly appreciate Kubert's huge legacy, and it's a shame that he had to die in the middle of his last great contribution.  As I said in my thoughts for the first issue, Joe's inking made a definite impact on Andy's art in this book, one that spoke to the generational nature of the project.  Where some people have only been able to view Before Watchman through the Alan Moore controversy, I've relished it as a chance to view comic books in their most pure and relevant form, something creators like Kurt Busiek and James Robinson have been trying to do ever since, well, Watchmen.  Comics have, for better or worse, come to be defined by superheroes and legacies, and that's something Before Watchmen fully embraced, what the original stories were all about, in fact.  And Joe Kubert had a huge role in developing that.  Sorry to see you go.

Before Watchmen: Ozymandias #2 of 6 (DC)
The genius of Before Watchmen can also be explained this way: we're finally going to see Ozymandias and Comedian on equal terms.  That's something the original stories surprisingly avoided.  At the end of this particular issue, we begin to see a rectification.

Creator-Owned Heroes #1 (Image)
Image has slowly become the go-to home for every conceivable comic book project, and while the founders envisioned a forum to create superheroes that would contend with the popularity of the books they left behind, the projects that've come along over the past decade have redefined the company as a catch-all for creators who would otherwise look for a place in small presses.  Which has in essence made Image a large small press.  Sometimes a book like The Walking Dead can happen, but that's very much the exception to the rule.  Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray, regular writing partners who regularly work for the Big Two, join forces with Steve Niles (best known for his horror efforts) in launching a new anthology format, almost magazine-like offering, working on dream projects.  The problem is that the format short-changes those dreams.  To be frank, the examples in this debut issue don't feel like they were worth the effort.  But maybe they're better with commitment.

Demon Knights #12 (DC)
Paul Cornell may be writing this series for the trades.  I think that's the best thing to say about it.  I love Demon Knights, and I also wish it could be something more.  It's a rolling, sometimes rollicking adventure, but every time it seems like we're finally getting somewhere...it's the end of the issue.  So, Cornell may be writing for the trades.  This is not a complaint.

Earth 2 #4 (DC)
James Robinson continues his chronicle of the alternate Justice Society, in which everything old is new again. This now includes Al Pratt, the original Atom, who in this version of events is a soldier in the world army that sprang up in response to the Apokolips apocalypse.

Green Lantern #11 (DC)
Black Hand puts together a creepy family reunion and Sinestro brings Hal Jordan to his own personal Batcave, allowing us our first glimpse of the next Green Lantern.  Seriously, Geoff Johns could write this franchise forever.

National Comics: Eternity (DC)
The first of a series of one-shots reimagining various DC properties ("National Comics" is what the company was before it embraced the Detective in one of its flagship titles).  Jeff Lemire sees Kid Eternity basically as a Ghost Whisperer.  That's as much as there is to see here.

Peter Parker, Spider-Man #156.1 (Marvel)
I guess Marvel is releasing Point One issues of cancelled Spider-Man series to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the web-slinger.  This one is written by Roger Stern, a veteran I know best from 1990s Superman (but he's been around!).

RASL #15 (Cartoon)
The final issue of Jeff Smith's second comic book opus (his first being, of course, Bone), and finally an explanation for the title (an acronym for Romance at the Speed of Light, which was also the name of the third collection, and title of the eighth issue).  Things've boiled down to Rob's need to destroy the journals of Nikola Tesla (yes, the same dude as the comics creator of Atomic Robo) in order to save the universe, lest they be used to destroy it (which in fairness to Rob is a process that was already started across several alternate realities).  The big problem Rob gets to overcome in the finale is the revelation that Maya, the source of the eponymous tattoo and motivating factor in so many ways for Rob's journey throughout the series, is also his biggest threat.  He's been running the whole time toward this moment.  It's still disappointing that the series only lasted fifteen issues, but as Smith himself pointed out elsewhere, that still adds up to a lot of pages for any collection, and one way or another, this will sit proudly next to Bone on any discerning reader's shelf.  Perhaps like Demon Knights, it will read better and last longer in the memory in trade format.

Red Hood and the Outlaws #11 (DC)
Again, I have to say how different this series is from just about anything else, not just because of the distinctive art from Kenneth Rocafort, but because of Scott Lobdell's writing, which moves along at its own pace, a little like Grant Morrison's.  It is, then, any wonder that Lobdell and Rocafort have been tapped as the latest replacements in Superman?  Perhaps this will solve two issues.  This is a book that deserves to stand out, but it's also one that can be alienating (much like the heroes in the book themselves, who are all alienated), as has been proven since its launch last fall.  Perhaps more a little more convention will help readers discover how awesome it is.  This issue, by the way, features some familiar and unfamilar backstory for Koriand'r, better known as Stargirl.  Apparently she has some Farscape in her.