Quarter Bin 103 "Moon Knight"

Moon Knight #4, 7-10, 13-17 (Marvel)
from August 2014-September 2015

So, inspired by Jeff Lemire's recently concluded Moon Knight, and remembering I'd once read the last issue of Brian Michael Bendis's run, too, and last year so other back issues (I could check to see how much I may have duplicated my reading, but...nah), I decided to have a look at some older stuff, from the likes of Warren Ellis (I figured if anyone was comparable to Lemire it'd be him), Brian Wood (I have a spotty history with him), and Cullen Bunn (not the biggest fan).

And Greg Smallwood, by the way.  He illustrates the Wood issues.  It's clear he hadn't yet developed the intricacy of what he'd later bring to Lemire's run, but it's still fun having that continuity.

Of course none of them were ever going to do exactly what Lemire later did.  That would kind of diminish Lemire's work, I think.  But there's stuff here and there. I mean, it's the same character, who long ago developed a reputation for multiple personas. 

Ellis has Declan Shalvey on art.  Shalvey has kind of become a big deal recently.  Bunn doesn't have anyone with name value doing his run, and he has the least distinguished storytelling, the stuff you'd expect from someone who has a far more generalized concept of the character, who recognizes the trappings but can't quite exploit them. 

It was interesting, reading more Moon Knight.  That's about all I can say about these issues, seeing where the character came from immediately before Lemire.

Moon Knight #14 (Marvel)

The final issue of Jeff Lemire's Moon Knight sort of follows its own logic.  I struggled a little to find resolution with it, but here it is:

Lemire originally set out to explore Marc Spector's state of mind.  He started the series with Spector in an asylum, once and for all questioning his sanity.  Subsequent issues explored Spector's various identities, while distancing him from Khonshu, the Egyptian moon god who made him a superhero. 

(In a lot of ways, Moon Knight is more a DC kind of character than he ever was Marvel.)

But then Lemire decided, if there was to be any kind of resolution, Khonshu had to come back.  The issue details Spector's decision that he doesn't have to confront Khonshu at all.  All he has to do is quit giving Khonshu so much power over him.  If this were any other writer, Khonshu could just as easily say, "It ain't that easy."  He'd exert his control over Moon Knight all over again, the way he did in the first arc.

But the thing is, Lemire's Spector is defined by the relationship between his separate identities, how this is something he's had since he was a kid, and has gradually found some use for, especially as a superhero, where compartmentalizing comes in handy.  He never had to deny himself, but rather finally become comfortable. 

And so he's able to take Khonshu's power over him away.  It really is that easy.  Does that solve all of Spector's problems?  Well, no.  But at least he no longer has a moon god usurping his sense of control, even if he isn't always in control. 

Greg Smallwood's art, as it has been throughout the series, is sensational.  It used to be, I loved the covers first and foremost.  I mean, it's kind of a Saga thing.  But the interior art has become more impactful, I think. 

One of my all-time favorite creative runs.

Moon Knight #9 (Marvel)

This is kind of the issue where Jeff Lemire lays out the rest of the series, and so it's fun reading it now after having already read four of the remaining five (the fifth being published on Wednesday) issues, seeing how he immediately delivers on its promise.

I love how easily he explains each of Marc Spector's personalities, especially the sci-fi one that for all I know Lemire actually invented for this series.  I admit that I don't know Moon Knight well enough to answer that mystery for myself, but the letters column seems to suggest that he did.  And can I just say how glad I am that this comic has a letters column?  I know he's had one in the pages of Descender, so clearly it's an important legacy for Lemire, a way for readers to know what other fans are thinking, and clearly Moon Knight inspires a lot of interest, and even a lot of interaction between readers, who are reading the letters columns too, responding to printed letters, so that actually becomes part of the fun.  The responses Lemire and the editors give are kinda weightless, going for the positive no matter what, sometimes outright ignoring what a letter actually said just to plug this or that, but that's a part of letters columns, having a response (I hate it when they don't), so the actual content of the responses doesn't really matter.

Well anyway, this issue is all about Marc deciding to take on Khonshu, the moon god who made him Moon Knight.  The early issues I loved so much actually featured Khonshu pretty heavily, and I'm just now realizing that he's largely absent in later issues.  Those earlier ones had Khonshu talking a lot about how he was using Marc's mental issues against him, which in hindsight sounds kind of bad, so to see Marc in a position where he seems in control, even when he isn't, is actually more fun to read, and so all over again I'm glad I made the decision to keep reading. 

And all the more curious as to how Marc resolves this conflict with his creator...

Moon Knight #7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13 (Marvel)

Last year Jeff Lemire launched the latest Moon Knight series, and I had a look and it was absolutely brilliant.  I mean, one-of-my-favorite-comics-of-2016 brilliant.  I read the opening arc, and...that was it, until a few days ago.

It was nothing against the series, obviously.  But as you can probably tell I haven't been spending huge amounts of coinage on comics these days.  I figured, I'd read one genius Jeff Lemire Moon Knight story, and that was good enough.  Well, I finally reconsidered that policy.  I'm missing three issues of the run to date at this point, but otherwise I think I've caught up nicely.  Apparently the next issue is released on Wednesday, and it's the last issue.  But what a powerful creative legacy Lemire and pals will have left behind.  This really has become one of my all-time favorite comics.

I'm not a Moon Knight fan.  I mean, I've never sat down and read the character in any dedicated fashion, until Lemire.  I've dabbled in back issues (and have a few more queued up), but as far as I'm concerned right now, I've just been reading the definitive Moon Knight.  I don't see the point of humoring a wildly different approach, any approach that treats him as just another superhero. 

Because Lemire writes a very specific version, one that completely embraces Moon Knight's given idiosyncrasies, his multiple personalities (paging fans of M. Night Shyamalan's 2017 blockbuster comeback Split), and spends the entire series keeping readers guessing about how much of it is mental illness and how much the poor guy being screwed around with. 

But never for a minute does Lemire slack on keeping the focus incredibly tight.  It's always very specifically about Marc Spector's perspective, which plays so well to Lemire's strengths as a writer, his perennial interest in isolated people constantly having the rug pulled out from them, new information being revealed, the story constantly being elevated and never diverging from the original vision...

It's good stuff.  It really, really is.  And the art, from Lemire's many collaborators, is astounding.  As far as Marvel is concerned, I have to wonder if anyone has done anything this stellar recently.  I mean, I loved Matt Fraction's Hawkeye, which was a master class in exploring superheroes at a casual level, and Tom King's Vision, which was a master class in total character deconstruction, but Moon Knight goes well, well beyond them both, Lemire (and company) in total creative control.  King's Vision, I can never quite equate with his DC stuff because the whole story is inevitable.  Fraction's Hawkeye, it's so casual it never feels like it has any weight.  But Lemire's Moon Knight, it's both unpredictable and heavy storytelling.  I mean, you know Lemire will keep you guessing, but in a really, really good way. 

Well, apparently one issue remaining...

Reading Comics 197 "DC Rebirth Week Nine, DC's Young Animal, Avatarex, Bombshells, Iron Man, Moon Knight"

Covered this edition: DC's Young Animals Ashcan, Avatarex #1, Batman #4, Bombshells #16, Green Lantern #4, Harley Quinn #1, Invincible Iron Man #12, Moon Knight #5, Nightwing #2, Suicide Squad: Rebirth #1, and Superman #4.

DC's Young Animal Ashcan (DC)
Gerard Way (Umbrella Academy, The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, My Chemical Romance) has finally made his way to DC, and is helping launch what is kind of Vertigo 2.0, reimagining some of the company's unused properties from a new perspective, starting with a couple of titles inspired by ones that helped launch Vertigo itself, Shade, the Changing Girl (originally Shade, the Changing Man) and Doom Patrol, which Way is writing (along with co-writing Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye, which is probably the title I'm most interested in; the fourth in Young Animal's debut set is Mother Panic, which seems to be the imprint's Batman title).  What I love about Way's approach to Young Animal is built into his introduction from this preview: "With a monthly book, it is real seat-of-your-pants comic making, and you sort of have an end in sight, but you don't know exactly when you'll get there."  It's a refreshing perspective on the nature of writing at the Big Two, whether or not you have your own imprint.  The ashcan was done in the style of the old Who's Who comics, with profile pages for key characters in the upcoming launches, plus some artwork.  Michael Avon Oeming, who helped create Powers with Brian Michael Bendis and Mice Templar with Bryan JL Glass, does art for Cave Carson, and it's weird seeing him do humans again.  I know people are probably more familiar with his Powers work (which has since become one of the many streaming TV shows people can obsess over), but I know him better for his Mice Templar, so...it's weird seeing him do humans again.  I'm so glad DC is doing Young Animal.

Avatarex #1 (Graphic India)
Now that I've finally gotten a copy of the debut issue, there's not a ton of difference between what inside and what was previously featured in the FCBD release, but all the same, I love that Grant Morrison is exploring the idea of a superhero who has no idea how complicated the modern world really is in relation to superheroes, which in conception is almost like how Marvel was originally telling its Thor stories with the Don Blake character.

Batman #4 (DC)
Tom King's the first one advancing his Rebirth story by getting to the point where Gotham (the superhero) cracks, while also making a strong Suicide Squad connection, which is hugely smart, with Amanda Waller making one of the keenest observations ever in a Batman comic: "Zero Year.  Owls.  The Joker.  The Joker again.  Bloom.  Plus all your colorful friends [referring to other villainous foes].  Ever since you arrived, Gotham has been on fire.  This is America.  We don't stand idly by while our cities burn."  While certainly New Orleans and Detroit might argue with that over the past decade, it's interesting, because we're so used to Batman essentially operating in a vacuum, existing in a chaotic environment with one crisis after the other, and only him capable of intervening.  I know Scott Snyder (and Christopher Nolan, in The Dark Knight Rises) came up with certain reasons why soldiers couldn't disrupt Zero Year, but it's been traditional to let Batman exist in his own little world, and continue a war that never seemed to get better and in some respects get progressively worse without anyone else ever stepping in (the No Mans Land arc is probably archetypal in this regard).  I'm not at all surprised that it's King penning this insight.  I figure it'll play into the future of his run, too.

DC Comics Bombshells #16 (DC)
I figured I would finally have a look inside one of these, and saw that one of the stories in this issue features Mera, who in recent years, thanks to Geoff Johns, has risen to costar status in Aquaman stories, so I bought the comic and found it well worth it.  I'm familiar with Marguerite Bennett as a presence, but this is the first time I've really found her notable.  The lead story is kind of like the DC superheroine version of Kurtis Wiebe's Peter Panzerfaust, which updated the Peter Pan story in a WWII context.  Obviously a DC equivalent would be backtracking back to the company's roots.  It was a fun read.  But the Mera story, as I figured, was more interesting.  This version of the Atlantis saga puts her squarely in the lead, with the monarchic saga (Game of Thrones fans will appreciate it) at the fore, with Arthur Curry (Aquaman) tagging along.  I honestly have no idea why she hasn't already gotten an ongoing series.  It would almost be a better sell than Aquaman at this point.  Bennett would be an ideal writer, naturally...

Green Lanterns #4 (DC)
Sam Humphries continues his exploration of Jessica Cruz and Simon Baz as they learn to trust each other.  I'm so, so happy this series is happening.  Every now and then, this franchise benefits greatly from the introduction of new leads, and Humphries is proving that all over again.

Harley Quinn #1 (DC)
Blatantly a continuation of the recent series (it figures, with Harley), with some quick reintroductions, including Red Tool, the parody of Deadpool that's been featured previously.  (It's only natural; Harley is DC's Deadpool, after all.)

Invincible Iron Man #12 (Marvel)
I figured I'd check back in with Bendis and Tony Stark, what with Civil War II going on and the announced Riri Williams era that will follow it.  Bendis is writing the cinematic Iron Man so thoroughly it's almost disappointing at this point, but I'm also the guy who had no idea why Marvel wasn't doing that already. 

Moon Knight #5 (Marvel)
Jeff Lemire's masterful saga continues and/or concludes, depending on your level of mental engagement.  Marc Specter, by the end of the issue, has confronted his psychiatric issues, realizing that it's Khonshu who's been messing with him, only to be booted into a different persona, Steven Grant.  Lemire is being incredibly thorough and comprehensive, and you don't have to be a long-time fan, or at least know vaguely the Moon Knight backstory, to follow along.  The best thing about Marvel, and DC, is that these minor characters do get to have comics this rich, the most daring and experimental stuff from the mainstream, and sometimes, the best, like Lemire's Moon Knight.

Nightwing #2 (DC)
As someone who hasn't really read a great Nightwing comic since the Dixon/Grayson era (aside from the brilliant Grayson: Futures End one-shot), it's so nice to be reading one that totally gets what the character is all about, and what he represents, which as described in this issue: "hip new version of an old beloved product."  At his best, Nightwing really is Batman, but less grim.  I mean, wasn't that the whole idea of Robin to begin with, making the Dark Knight more accessible? 

Suicide Squad: Rebirth #1 (DC)
Rob Williams, at least in this debut, doesn't arrive in the title with the same thunderclap that he brought to Martian Manhunter, but that may be due to the fact that this is a concept that kind of overshadows the messenger.  Just look at the reaction to the movie.  (Critics hated it because it sells the concept of superheroes too strongly, which is why they've hated most of DC's movies; Marvel's tend to be far more flippant about it, which is why critics tend to love them, because that's how they approach superheroes, too.)  Anyway, the issue is really an introduction to Rick Flag, the ringmaster of this circus, the military leader tasked with keeping Task Force X in-line.  Williams has President Obama (in image if not by name) talk about the moral repugnance of the team, while Amanda Waller argues that in the grand tradition of black ops apologists, this nasty work is necessary to maintain the goodness everyone prefers to think about.  This is clearly a military title (the movie got that, too; it's no surprise that director David Ayer has Fury under his belt, along with all the grey areas explored in other movies like Training Day, which he wrote, and End of Watch, the previous directorial effort I've seen, which was brilliant), and I'm not sure previous incarnations got that.  Hopefully Williams keeps that in mind.

Superman #4 (DC)
It's so good to see Patrick Gleason back on art.  I realize the twice-monthly shipping schedule will probably prevent him from doing so every issue, but as much as I admire his writing ability, too, I can't help but long to see his artwork help lead the storytelling.  I loved seeing Bibbo (one of the signature '90s supporting characters), and the Kryptonian ghosts end up not being adversaries, as they at first seemed.  I hope fans are appreciating this run as much as I am.

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.

Moon Knight #1, 2, 3 (Marvel)

Moon Knight is one of those odd Marvel characters that has been looking to define his niche for years.  When Deadpool showed up and stole the spotlight from a lot of what had made Moon Knight stand out, Marvel started looking elsewhere.  There have been a lot of recent attempts to find it.

Well, look no further.  I've been a fan of Jeff Lemire for a while now, so it's no surprise that he's the one who figured it out.  The gimmick about Moon Knight is that he's probably insane.  Lemire takes that pretty seriously.

In these opening issues, Lemire has the hero, in his most basic guise, Marc Spector, locked in an asylum, because his Moon Knight adventures are one massive delusion.  The Egyptian god Khonshu, however, suggests to him that madness may not be a handicap, but an asset, because it leaves Marc in the unique position of interceding in a pending war with the gods that have lost their ability to directly interact with humans, except Seth, who of course is planning nothing good.

It's kind of like the Marvel version of Warren Ellis's Supreme: Blue Rose, which similarly took advantage of a muddled mythology to produce something great.  The art is in the best Marvel tradition of allowing low-profile characters to have an indy look (this time courtesy of Greg Smallwood).  There's every indication that Lemire has been granted all the leeway he needs to give Moon Knight the story he's always deserved.

I'm assuming all the supporting characters who aide Marc will be familiar to long-time Moon Knight readers, of which I am not.  I've been a dabbler.  This is a character who even got the Brian Michael Bendis treatment, and even that didn't leave an impression on fans.  So in its desperation, Marvel turned to Lemire, perhaps one of the few writers who could have finally figured out that the answer was there all along.  Lemire is fearless.  Of course he'd put Marc in an asylum.

Which makes it all the more rewarding when, in later issues, he's once again running around in that neat white sport suit variant that makes him look like the deranged Spirit.  Perfect.  Is all this in Marc's head?  Probably not.  But it could be.  That's why you have a writer like Jeff Lemire taking the helm.  Because he just might be crazy enough to give Marc Spector the opposite of a fairy tale ending...

Quarter Bin 72 "Moon Knight is the connoisseur's Deadpool"

Let's recap.  These comics were not literally bought from a quarter bin.  The title of this column is symbolic.

Moon Knight #7 (Marvel)
From November 2014.
It strikes me that no one is running around trying to get Moon Knight into his own movie.  Well, maybe someone is, after the big success of Deadpool?  Because Moon Knight is basically the connoisseur's Deadpool.  Marvel has been trying for about as long as it has with Deadpool to get Moon Knight to connect.  At first a fairly lame and obvious Batman rip-off, because he was so expendable, Marvel let its creators loose, and for several short-lived series now (including one written by Brian Michael Bendis), Moon Knight has emerged as one of the company's better creative vehicles.  Now more or less a psychotic vigilante, a kind of Marvel version of the Spirit, Moon Knight in this particular series and/or issue is written by Brian Wood, who is well-loved in the comics community but with whom I've continually failed to connect as a reader.  This issue features a more or less straight Spirit adventure for Moon Knight, despite the fact that the tag line in the intro page specifically addresses that he is insane and this is what follows...Well, apparently in this series Marvel has determined that Moon Knight addresses how absurd the concept of vigilantes really is.  But the character still has better overall storytelling potential than the relentlessly one-note Deadpool...

Winter Soldier #1 (Marvel)
From May 2014.
Winter Soldier, a.k.a. Bucky Barnes, is a signature character of Marvel's post-millennial comics, a resurrected, repackaged, repurposed superhero who helped lead the way to the Avengers movies and has otherwise spent a lot of time being written by Ed Brubaker, who envisioned the whole concept.  This issue, however, is written by Rick Remender, with whom I have a better record than Brian Wood.  But Winter Soldier, ironically, barely appears in this issue.  Instead, it's a Nick Fury/S.H.I.E.L.D. Cold War/Nazi Hangover adventure (as are a lot of Marvel stories).  Presumably later issues more directly feature, y'know, the Winter Soldier...

All-New X-Men #27 (Marvel)
From September 2014.
A series that shipped twice-monthly, All-New X-Men wasn't as old as its numbering this issue suggests.  I read the early issues thanks to the pairing of Brian Bendis and Stuart Immomen, who was finally emerging from a long quagmire in which he didn't draw very much like, y'know, Stuart Immonen.  But the Immonen who shows up in this issue is kind of phoning it in, as is Bendis, whose grand vision for his time-lost original X-Men and more contemporary mutants had kind of petered out into a time travel adventure...with future enemies!  I had high hopes for a Bendis X-Men.  Everyone did.  I mean, he nearly single-handedly invented the Avengers as we know them today (also contributing: The Ultimates and Brubaker's Captain America).  In the end, I think it was the overreliance on the increasingly baffling gimmick of the time-lost X-Men.  For one arc, it would have made perfect sense.  But then he just kept it going and going...Which is kind of a Bendis trademark.  And maybe something he really ought to work on...

Wolverine and the X-Men #9 (Marvel)
From November 2014.
This is from the days of "Death of Wolverine," so Marvel was about to kill off its most popular character in order to spite 20th Century Fox.  But these were good days.  This issue features Logan confronting a rogue student (saddled with a terrible name I won't dignify here) who eventually makes it clear that it isn't all X-Men or Brotherhood of Mutants.  There's a third option.  There always is.  So, a pretty good issue. 

Swear to Bendis, I'm Not Becoming a Convert

BATMAN AND ROBIN #9 (DC)

I feel like I’ve been reading a lot of this book recently for some reason, don’t know why…Anyway, this particular issue is the newest one and is a tie-in with the “Night of the Owls” event inspired by events in Scott Snyder’s BATMAN, and features young Damian Wayne getting to exert himself against a Talon and a bunch of army officers he’s attempting to rescue, one in particular who has become a target of the Court thanks to some unresolved business from centuries ago, the American Revolution to be precise.  If anything, Peter Tomasi helps make clear that the Court of Owls is basically a Freemasons type of secret society in this episode, even if he kind of stumbles in the few scenes not dominated by Damian (any scene with Damian is dominated by Damian).  Nothing overtly connected to previous issues occurs, but there are subtle connections.  Patrick Gleason will be back, and hopefully the regularly scheduled storytelling will also resume next issue.

CHARMED #21 (Zenescope)

My sister is kind of obsessive about CHARMED, the TV show, though she enjoys the comic book, too.  My access to the comic was severed last year when I backed out of my subscriptions with Midtown, so I jumped at the opportunity to resume access to this book, along with some others.  My sister seems content to read the trade collections (there are now three), so I’m actually wondering if I should even pass these individual issues to her anymore.  The comics tend to be a little less about the Halliwell sisters and more about the big stories, which I suppose might simply be a difference of the mediums.  Another difference?  Prue can finally return, as has apparently happened.  Prue was the sister played by Shannon Doherty, who left the TV show at the end of the third season, never to be seen again.  Hopefully Paul Ruditis nails this opportunity.  The current big story?  The sisters have lost their powers, while everyone else in the world now has them, and disaster has resulted.  And yes, this is when Prue returns.

DEMON KNIGHTS #9 (DC)

I’ve been investigating exactly the background Paul Cornell enjoyed before entering the exciting world of comics, and it was usually summed up with, “worked on DOCTOR WHO.”  Turns out he started out as a fan who got to write some fiction, book-form, and some of that led to work on the actual TV version of DOCTOR WHO, and he’s also got a few pieces of original fiction out there, but it may be safe to say that his name has gained greater recognition as he’s begun his career in comics.  Since coming to DC, Cornell has truly blossomed, certainly in his Lex Luthor arc in the pages of the pre-New 52 ACTION COMICS (must-read material), and now in the pages of DEMON KNIGHTS, a fantasy series that functions much in the same way as his acclaimed CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI:13, sadly cut short before its time.  DEMON KNIGHTS is what that series would have been like had Cornell been given complete creative control (one of CB&MI13’s most notable arcs was a tie-in with SECRET INVASION), and in many ways feels like what Grant Morrison’s SEVEN SOLDIERS OF VICTORY would have read like as an ongoing series.  Most of the characters involved have their own agendas, but their common destinies (as of this moment, since characters like Jason Blood/Etrigan and Vandal Savage are active in modern times as well) are currently involved in the continuing legacy of Camelot.  The famed wizard Merlin is a virtual stand-in for Walter Bishop from FRINGE, which I find utterly fascinating.  It’s Cornell’s ability to make anything fantastic to be relevant that marks him not only to be one of the best writers in comics today but arguably a threat to be the best writer of tomorrow.  If that’s not enough reason to read him now, I don’t know what is.

GREEN LANTERN #9 (DC)

The secret origin of the Indigo Tribe is exploded by Geoff Johns in this issue, and as usual, he manages to tie it in with the intricate mythology he’s both inherited and greatly expanded on within the Green Lantern mythos.  If you’re a fan, you know who Abin Sur is, and how he helped set BLACKEST NIGHT into order; now it becomes clear that he was looking past those events, too, and that’s why he helped create the Indigo Tribe, under circumstances and with a partner you’ll have to read this issue to fully enjoy.  Suffice it to say, but this is probably the most important issue so far in the New 52 era, and is probably the one that finally links the work Johns was doing previously with the soft reboot that “War of the Green Lanterns” helped usher.

MOON KNIGHT #12 (Marvel)

One of the things referenced in the letters column substitute from BRILLIANT #3 was this wrap-up of the series Brian Michael Bendis improbably agreed to do, handling one of Marvel’s problem children, a character who’s had multiple chances at ongoing series and pretty much failed at all of them, for decades now.  Bendis, so far as I can tell with this issue, seems to have concluded it makes sense to make Moon Knight actually seem crazy and isolated, given that his tenuous grip on reality has always suggested that.  If I’d known this earlier, I might have sampled the series earlier, but for many years now, I assumed Bendis was a Marvel stooge the company’s fanboys embraced simply because he was ubiquitous and seemed to write every other title for them.  Granted, a lot of his Avengers work (and there was an avalanche of it) definitely seemed to support that theory every time I sampled it, but there was other stuff that suggested he was more competent than that.  BRILLIANT nailed that for me, and so now I’m free to approach Bendis from a new perspective.  This is one of my rewards.

ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #10 (Marvel)

This is another.  I sampled the first issue of this second reboot of the Ultimate Spider-Man adventures (the first to not feature Peter Parker), featuring the introduction of Miles Morales as only the third new Spider-Man in Marvel history (I’ll give you a nickel for naming the other one, and I’m not referring to clones who may or may not answer to the name Ben Reilly).  It’s amazing how vividly inspired Bendis has been by his long tenure with Ultimate Spider-Man.  This alone has secured his status in comics history, and I’m kind of hitting myself for not reading another Morales adventure until now.  But this is a good one to jump back into with, as he finally learns the truth about Uncle Aaron, which is another of those brain-numbingly obvious superhero stories that few writers have actually done it.  Treat yourself and discover it for yourself.

WASTELAND #37 (Oni)

Another issue!  Concluding “Under the God,” Michael and Abi finally get to leave the Cross Chains town of Godsholm, sort of like THE BOOK OF ELI but with less Denzel Washington, and shev off back along their journey to A-Ree-Yass-I, along with Gerr, who will soon help all of us better understand what exactly is going on.  This is an epic adventure that may finally find its audience once it concludes so that there can no longer be any doubt concerning its brilliance.  Christopher Mitten may be working on other stuff, too, but this will be his legacy.