Quick Hits: Saga #2, 8, 9 (Image)

Saga was my favorite new launch of last year, and it seems to be settling comfortably into everyone else's, a perfect word-of-mouth comic that Image has gotten behind.  Half of this isn't so hard to understand, given that it's written by Brian K. Vaughan, and he's done this before with Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina, and Runaways, but that he's doing it again can still only be considered remarkable.

I've previously tracked down the first issue thanks to a reprint, mistakenly believing that I'd started reading the series with the second issue, but it was in fact the third, so I went tracking again and got the second and so completed that much of the reading experience (I'm now behind a few issues, and don't know if I'll be able to continue keeping up outside of the trades).  This issue features the first appearance of The Stalk, a bounty hunter who was killed off far too quickly for artist Fiona Staples' interests, because she loved designing and drawing the curiously attractive spider lady.  More on Stalk in a moment.

The eighth issue is made up of a bunch of sometimes disturbing family bonding moments, and so is just a fun one to read (but really, they all are), including how Marko and Alana met.  Honestly, I could read this series forever.

The ninenth issue, meanwhile, features the "return" of The Stalk but is really all about The Will being all Han Solo-y, which is good, because The Will is another excellent character and I could read him forever, too.

Quick Hits: Red Hood and the Outlaws #15 (DC)

Part of the "Death of the Family" crossover that concluded recently, this is one of those issues that could've been something really special, especially considering that it stars Jason Todd, the first Robin to die in the line of duty, confronting the psychopath who killed him, the Joker.  Unlike the initial Batman and Robin outing, however, Red Hood and the Outlaws doesn't embrace the opportunity, which is curious, because Scott Lobdell has wisely wrapped the whole series around Jason's perspective, which is part of the reason I've been trying to make the case for it being exactly the opposite of the horrible mistake everyone else has been trying to make it.  Yet for some reason Lobdell hesitates at the moment of his greatest triumph, and this may be due to the fact that he simply wasn't sure how far he could take it, given that the Joker has similar confrontations in every other tie-in, and so inherently the moment can't help but be dimmed, because that was the weakness inherent in the apparent strength of a Joker story like this.  You can't expect him to be everything to everyone.  And so Jason doesn't get much out of what should have been a seminal moment.  Maybe the other issue accomplishes that, or maybe there's simply room for a future story where Joker and Jason are all alone together, advancing the "Under the Hood" story that much further.  Because in a lot of ways, the Joker is more of a Jason Todd villain now than he can hope to be Batman's.  Batgirl has a similar claim.  I didn't check in to see whether the moment was realized in her opportunities.

Quick Hits: Punk Rock Jesus #6 (Vertigo)

Sean Murphy's conclusion to Punk Rock Jesus can be enjoyed by those who didn't even read the rest of the series.  I should know, because I only read one other issue.  I knew I'd want to at least have a look when I originally saw the series announced, because it could either be really good or really crappy with a name like that, and yeah, it turned out to be really good.  It's the type of finale that seems to undo everything that came before it, and yet it's a resonant kind of undoing, making everything that much more interesting, the characters that much deeper.

Quick Hits: Nova #1 (Marvel)

Jeph Loeb is a treasure in comics, and I think most people know that, but I don't think that his work with Marvel has been particularly expressive of that.  Nova may be the book that changes that.  It may also be his best work ever.  It's very much the kind of work that can only be done after a cumulative effect, years of life and work converging, and anyway, you don't have to worry about that.  You don't even need to particularly care about the Nova concept, which I am more or less completely ignorant about.  This issue exquisitely details the relationship between a father and son, the father being a former member of the Nova Corps and the son being a kid who doesn't believe for a minute that his father is a former member of the Nova Corps.  The Nova Corps is basically the Marvel version of the Green Lantern Corps, by the way, only with an awesome helmet instead of an all-powerful ring.  This has my pick as first issue of the year, new series of the year, all of that.  It must be read.  It will be enjoyed.  And it's at the very least a career highlight for someone who has already made a career out of highlights.

Quick Hits: Legends of the Dark Knight #5 (DC)

I love anthology titles because it increases the possibility for welcomes surprises, and this particular issue of Legends of the Dark Knight is exactly what I'm talking about.  I've been trying to find ways to appreciate Joshua Hale Fialkov short of making a commitment to I, Vampire (which if I didn't have to worry about money would probably have been a series to follow since its launch, but looked for all appearances to be something that would've been cancelled long ago), and so along with the recent news that he'll be one of the lead writers in the Green Lantern creative relaunch this was the best thing I could've discovered.  It's a Batman story featuring the classic detective character Slam Bradley (I think I'd respect the much ballyhooed Gotham Central if it had featured more cowbell, I mean Slam Bradley).  And what's more, it's illustrated by Phil Hester.  I love Phil Hester.  I don't have a clue why more people don't love Phil Hester.  He's known for his art, which on fine display here, but he's also a killer writer, as evidenced by anything from Golly to The Anchor.  I would've loved this issue regardless, but it was enjoyable too!

Quick Hits: Justice League of America #1 (DC)

Several thousand covers later...DC showed considerable restraint in waiting for a spin-off of Justice League.  Twenty years ago this would not have been the case.  Fittingly the second series has the same writer as the first.  The brilliance as I'll call it continues in the way Geoff Johns approaches the membership of the new team.  Each one is painstakingly introduced in this issue, what makes them interesting, even intriguing.  The only curious thing is that Vibe and Katana not only already have spin-offs of their own but that they launched the same day this was released.  Both prove in this issue that they're more interesting than whatever reputation they previously had might suggest, and I do mean both.  Vibe is the more curious one, of course, sort of the Booster Gold without even the shred of dignity he's had, someone who is basically a blank slate.

Quick Hits: Justice League #17 (DC)

"Throne of Atlantis" concludes where it began, in the pages of Justice League rather than Aquaman, which is incredibly brilliant on the part of Geoff Johns.  Traditionally when a writer is trying to draw attention to a character or series that for whatever reason probably isn't or won't be inherently popular they have a character who is popular make an appearance in that series.  Where Geoff has wisely determined that it is probably far more effective to make the character who could use some positive mojo make a significant appearance in a book that is popular.  As excellent as Aquaman has been, Justice League by definition, even though both are written by the same popular writer, has greater exposure.  "Throne" is an incredibly personal story for Aquaman, but it was made into a full-blown event, the first one since the opening story in Justice League to help it behave like the monthly event book that I've been calling it all along.  Everyone wins, and this conclusion is entirely appropriate, because it's more or less entirely an issue of Aquaman itself.