Hey, everyone.  I had an awful big pile of DC comics this week, so I figure I’ll spare you and just let you know which ones I thought were definitely worth picking up. 

     To start off with, BATMAN AND ROBIN # 13 was awesome!  The number is very fitting.  I have to hand it to Morrison, as confused and frustrated (I’m being nice) as he has made me over the last few years it really has been paying off in this particular book.  It has definitely been new and exciting, and this month’s issue is no exception.  As you all know, Joker is back and has been taking care of business from behind the curtain (so to speak) since his departure.  Frazer Irving breathed a new kind of desperate insanity into his face that I’d call beautiful if it wasn’t so creepy.  For a second I thought about blowing up and framing a scene of him and Damian.  Between that and the cluster of chaotic events that are playing out, including the miraculous surfacing of “Thomas Wayne”, this one comic was nothing short of cinematic.  Ok, now that I’m done with the high praise, let’s hope this thing stays together at the seams.  I highly recommend it, but if you haven’t been reading you might be a bit lost.

RED ROBIN # 14 was an entertaining read.  Gotta love the beef between him and Damian;  mostly because we’d feel the same way in Tim’s combat boots.  Since the last issue, Red Robin revealed he had a no-holds-barred plan of action to systematically take down the crime scene in Gotham.  Well, this time around we find out it goes a little further…enough to make it awkward for some of the people he’s working with.  Also, more of that pesky Vicki Vale (hey, even superheroes can’t stand paparazzi).

RED HOOD: LOST DAYS #2 taught us a valuable lesson that should have followed through all the way to Damian; Batman would do well to have a strict mental/emotional screening process for all future Robins.  Jason grapples with the feelings of an ultimate betrayal (in his mind) by Bruce; not executing the Joker.  I know he died, but, personally, I’d set my sights on the person who killed me first before going after the guy who cared for me when noone else would (and I already knew had a strict moral code when it came to revenge-by-murder).  All-in-all I am interested in where this is going.  I like the incorporation of the Al Ghuls (even though I hoped they would have been the reason for his resurrection…c’mon), and I do feel for Jason.  That’s a pain not many can say they’ve felt and you can see it in the artwork.  I think it’s worth a shot, especially if you are a fan of Batman, or Winick for that matter.

Speaking of resurrecting and not feeling so hot, BRIGHTEST DAY #5 was  more of the same.  The two biggest things that happened this time around was the insanity in Hawkworld and a heartbreaking secret that could shake Aquaman to the core.  For some reason it feels the issues are either becoming faster reads or getting shorter.  No matter, I just want to know what this is leading up to and how it will shape the rest of the DCU.  How about you?

John Ostrander (SUICIDE SQUAD) spun a tale in SECRET SIX # 23 that brought the team to a secluded tropical island under false pretenses.  Waiting for them are a bunch of bored rich men who pay to hunt the most dangerous game.  Little do they know that they won’t be able to even bite off more than they can chew when they are missing their teeth (or their head for that matter).  Since this story takes place before the last few issues, we know everyone makes it out in one piece, but getting there is ALL the fun.  The issue was bloody, fast paced, and everything you’d expect from the SIX; even without Simone writing…ok, so it wasn’t as deviant as it could have been.  It was a good read, though.  Check it out.

That’s the end of my DC portion.  Now, I’d like to urge you to pick up the comic I enjoyed the most this week, next to (if not more than) BATMAN AND ROBIN.  HELLBOY:  THE STORM #1, the final arc in Mike Mignola and Duncan Fegredo’s epic saga that includes DARKNESS CALLS and THE WILD HUNT, started out spectacular!  The story begins with bodies missing from the tombs of an old church in England.  Hellboy knows something is brewing.  He is accompanied by Alice, the baby he saved from the fairies decades prior, whom it would seem a  relationship has begun to blossom with.  The issue begins to replay all of the horrible things HB has gone through while trying to find himself after leaving the B.P.R.D.  It’s almost a Cliff Notes in the form of him venting to Alice; all of which feels to be leading up to something.  Then, all hell breaks loose!  Like BATMAN AND ROBIN, this book was extremely cinematic.  There is one panel that is probably up there with my favorite Hellboy moments to date.  At this point I don’t think anybody else could have taken over in the art department after Mignola, except for Fegredo. He’s so good that you’d almost swear Mike snuck a pencil in there at certain points.  The man is a wizard.  Even if you don’t want to read too far back at the moment, pick up the last two TPBs and start this while it’s hot off the press.  You can back track later on.  You will not be sorry. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; in my opinion, Mignola’s is the most consistently great writing in comics today.  He does not drop the ball.  End of story.  Also, cheers to John Arcudi and Guy Davis, who know how to keep us excited and entertained as well (and of course the ever-present, ever-amazing Dave Stewart)!  Look out for ABE SAPIEN: THE ABYSSAL PLAIN, on sale now, and B.P.R.D.: HELL ON EARTH: NEW WORLD which should be out next month. 

Until later, catch you on the flipside–ExSleepyInk

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