Reviews

Dark Reign: Lethal Legion #3 (of 3) — Writer: Frank Tieri;  Art: Mateus Santolouco You’d think I’d have known not to read this book — but, like a victim of trauma or some horrible past abuse, I keep pushing each issue out of my memory, approaching each new one innocently, free of any past preconceptions. I don’t look at the credits, and start scanning it, wondering at the grossly misguided narrative choices (here, the climactic battle the other issues were leading up to is told in disjointed flashbacks, providing no continuity or suspense, just sketchy confusion provided by endless rows … Continue reading →

The Simpson’s Treehouse of Horror #15 — Creators: Tim Hensley; Matthew Thurber and Kevin Huizenga; Jordan Crane; Ted May and Sammy Harkham; Will Sweeney; Jon Vermilyea; Ben Jones; John Kerschbaum; Jeffrey Brown; C.F.; Dan Zettwach; Guest Editor: Sammy Harkham Harham is the editor of Kramer’s Ergot, the avant-garde indy comics anthology whose most recent issue was roughly the size of a Mini-Cooper, with a price ($125) to match. One of its contributors was Matt Groening, so it makes a certain kind of cosmic sense that he’d tap Harkham for this year’s Treehouse — it’s developed its own reputation as a … Continue reading →

Hellblazer #259 — Writer: Peter Milligan;  Art: Simon Bisley You’d think the Bisley art on this would be an event, and a natural fit, but, while there are a number of well-drawn panels, it’s just not very exciting. Part of that’s the style: it looks like it was shot directly from the pencils, and the figures don’t pop out of the backgrounds easily; Jamie Grant’s murky, monochromatic coloring makes it even worse. Part of it’s the script: for a story involving a demon from hell, it’s often talky and static, with a typical confusing/elliptical Milligan ending. It’s as if the … Continue reading →

Beasts of Burden #1 (of 4) — Writer: Evan Dorkin;  Art:  Jill Thompson Burden Hill is a quiet, storybook town that keeps experiencing brushes with supernatural evil. Its residents are clueless about this… but their pets aren’t. Beasts of Burden is about the group of dogs (and occasional cat) who defend it. Given that premise, you’d think this book would be a cutesy mess, but check out those credits: Evan Dorkin, the creator of Milk and Cheese, doesn’t do cutesy: he does clever, funny, strange and sometimes chilling. Jill Thompson, the creator of Scary Godmother, does evocative painted art that … Continue reading →

Archie #601 — Writer: Michael Uslan;  Pencils: Stan Goldberg;  Inks: Bob Smith This is part two of the six-part “Archie Marries Veronica” story — and, yes, it’s an Elseworlds tale, set after the cast has been through both high school and college (try explaining that to civilians: “Well, it’s not real. Yes, I know none of them are ‘real…’”). It’s also, so far, utterly predictable: he proposes, there’s a little “You’ll always be my best friend” scene with Betty, they get married, he joins the Lodge company and becomes a competent-but-overworked executive, and, at the end of this issue, Veronica … Continue reading →