Beasts of Burden #4 (of 4) — Writer: Evan Dorkin; Art: Jill Thompson
You know the drill on this by now — dogs and cats in a small-town suburban neighborhood battling various supernatural menaces, with skillful and effective storytelling by Dorkin, and beautiful art by Thompson. It’s a crime that this is selling something like 6,000 copies an issue in comic book stores, but they’re collecting these four issues, plus the other four stories with the characters, into a nice hardcover for publication next year; watch it fly off of bookstore shelves then. In the meantime, buy this, and the others, and be glad you got in on the ground floor of a classic comics series.
Battlefields: Happy Valley #1 (of 3) — Writer: Garth Ennis; Art: P. J. Holden
Crossed #8 — Writer: Garth Ennis; Art: Jacen Burrows
Two by Ennis: Crossed is his variation on the zombie-plague meme, and he’s been alternating quiet issues with teeth-rattlingly violent ones; since last issue had a horrific event, this one examines the aftermath (the deliberate irony is that the two examples of casual violence this time are both by non-infected humans). Battlefields continues his critically-acclaimed series of war stories, this time among an Australian bombadier squadron during the middle days of World War II. A rookie pilot comes in and establishes himself; we get a number of quick, effective portraits of the crew, most of whom will presumably die in terrible ways over the next two issues. As with Crossed, the best part is the clear-eyed examination of ordinary people under extraordinary stress, and their varied, and very human, ways of dealing with it.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Willow #1 (of 1) — Writer: Joss Whedon; Pencils: Karl Moline; Inks: Andy Owen
A one-shot flashback, as Whedon follows Ms. Rosenberg on the spiritual other-worldly journey that increased her powers to the kick-ass witchery she’s been exhibiting since “Season Eight” started. Nice art by Moline, and the usual spot-on dialog by Whedon (among, not just Willow and Buffy, but all the various supernatural entities who show up to kvetch and bicker about her quest) both insure that all BTVS fans should enjoy this.
Criminal: The Sinners #3 (of 5?) — Writer: Ed Brubaker; Art: Sean Phillips
Captain America: Who Will Wield the Shield? #1 (of 1) — Writer: Ed Brubaker; Art: Butch Guice and Luke Ross
Two by Brubaker: CA:WWWTS? is the sequel to Reborn, coming out before the last issue of that mini-series, as Marvel has apparently decided that the Cap is out of the bag, and there’s no percentage in delaying any other titles just because Bryan Hitch is slow. It’s good, with a few unexpected twists, although as a corporate superhero book it feels like there’s less at stake than in Brubaker’s creator-owned Criminal, where he’s already shown that anyone can die at any time, and “rebirth” is just a false hope for suckers. His low-rent characters there exhibit a Coen-brothers-like set of cross-purposes and varying motivations, clear to the readers but not to each other, as the title motors along, smooth and casually lethal as whiskey.
Hellboy: The Bride of Hell #1 (of 1) — Writer: Mike Mignola; Art: Richard Corben
Corben’s The Crooked Man Hellboy mini in the summer of 2008 was one of the best books of last year, so this one-shot is more than welcome. It starts out as a typical innocent-girl-kidnapped-by-Satanists tale, although of course with Mignola nothing is as it seems, and the supernatural creatures, spooky settings, and general mayhem are all a lot of morbid, classy fun. Also included: six pages of Guy Davis’s new Marquis graphic novel.
Stuff I read and liked enough to buy, but don’t have much to say about, so read previous reviews in the archives if you’re interested:
Usagi Yojimbo #125 — Writer/Artist: Stan Sakai
Powers #2 — Writer: Brian Michael Bendis; Art: Mike Avon Oeming
Spider-Woman #4 — Writer: Brian Michael Bendis; Art: Alex Maleev
New Avengers #60 — Writer: Brian Michael bendis; Pencils: Stuart Immonen; Inks: Wade von Grawbadger
Amazing Spider-Man #616 — Writer: Fred van Lente; Art: Javier Pulido
Detective #860 — Writer: Greg Rucka; Art: J. H. Williams III
Justice Society of America #34 — Writer: Bill Willingham; Penciller: Travis Moore; Inker: Dan Green
Uncanny X-Men #519 — Writer: Matt Fraction; Penciler: Terry Dodson; Inker: Rachel Dodson
Jack of Fables #41 — Writers: Bill Willngham and Matthew Sturges; Penciller: Tony Akins; Inkers: Andrew Pepoy and Joe Rubenstein
Knights of the Dinner Table #157 — Creators: Jolly Blackburn, Steve Johansson, David Kenzer and Brian Jelke
Green Lantern #49 — Writer: Geoff Johns; Pencils: Ed Benes and Marcos Marz; Inks: Ed Benes and Luciana del Negro
Phil Mateer
