Harlan Ellison's 7 Against Chaos

Written by Harlan Ellison
Art by Paul Chadwick

As much as I've always recognized Harlan Ellison's importance to science fiction as a genre, I've barely read more than a handful of his stuff over the years.  The news that he had a graphic novel coming out from DC featuring his own characters interested me, but then I saw that Paul Chadwick was going to draw it, and getting a copy became a certainty.  I love Chadwick's Concrete, and have been hoping to see more work from him.

7 Against Chaos is kind of a strange graphic novel.  I originally assumed from the title that it would be yet another take on Seven Samurai, but it really isn't.  A mysterious hooded character takes he first third of the book to put together a team of strange characters from a number of different planets in our solar system.  All of these people are in trouble when the hooded guy shows up - one is a genetically modified (reordered) miner with metal pincer hands, another a faceless thief, another a sentient robot, an insect guy, and a woman who will burst into flames if she touches another human being).

Eventually, we find out what the mission is - this team is needed to go back in time to man's earliest days, to put a stop to an effort being made by the lizard-being Erisssa to replace mankind with evolved reptiles.  The story is a lot more complex than that - each character is given enough space to develop fully, and Ellison has a good time exploring the ramifications of time travel and how to make some of these concepts work on the page.

The graphic novel has a retro feel to its art.  Paul Chadwick fills it with designs that could have come from the heyday of 50s science fiction magazines, but the book still feels very modern.

Perhaps it's just the inclusion of the character Tantalus, who looks like a human-sized preying mantis and is reminiscent of Bug, but this comic reminded me a lot of the classic Micronauts series.  It has the same general feel of a multi-world system that has gone wrong, and that none of the characters will necessarily stick around through the whole thing.

I think that this was originally written to be a four-issue mini-series (perhaps in the prestige format) because there are a few places where the story gets kind of recapped immediately after a big moment, and am a little curious to know the history of how this project came about (especially because this is not the kind of thing that DC usually publishes, and it didn't get a lot of hype when it was released in 2013.

Batman: Death by Design

Written by Chip Kidd
Art by Dave Taylor

Having given up on the monthly (or weekly) grind of Bat-books does not take away the desire to read a well-constructed and plotted Batman story from time to time, and so I was quite happy to dive into Batman: Death by Design, an original graphic novel that is as (or more) concerned with visual aesthetic than character.

Chip Kidd is known for his design work, and so it makes sense that the Batman story he writes would be about architectural intrigue.  The story is set in a Gotham where people care about buildings and what they signify.  Bruce Wayne is in the process of replacing the Wayne Central Station, a hulking and beautiful building that was built with every possible corner cut, making it a danger to the commuters and tourists intended to pass through it.  Even though tearing the building down would involve erasing part of his father's legacy for the city, Bruce sees the value in building a new station, one that he can place a secret transit hub for his alter ego beneath.

There are protests, and the demolition work is sabotaged, which leads to the Bat-Man having to investigate (I love when his name is spelled like this).  Soon, we begin to come across a character named Exacto, who is always around when something bad is going to happen, such as the collapse of The Ceiling, a new nightclub perched high atop Gotham's streets (designed by Kem Roomhaus, which made me laugh).  Soon enough, we have a story with greedy union bosses, and even the Joker playing a role.

Dave Taylor provides the art for this book, and things look great.  His action sequences may appear a little stiff at times, but his eye for architectural detail is stunning, and his character work very nice.

I found that I really got into this book, although I don't like the over-reliance on a 'stasis field' device to keep Bat-Man safe.  It was a little too convenient.

The Judas Coin

by Walter Simonson

If asked to list my favourite comics creators from my pre-teen and teen years, Walter Simonson would definitely hold a place of prominence on that list.  His work on Thor was revolutionary, and I remember his run on Fantastic Four with fondness.  His X-Factor was visually stunning, and his Manhunter a classic of the superhero genre.

He hasn't been producing much in the last years, aside from a recent resurgence of variant covers and short art appearances on Indestructible Hulk and Legion of Super-Heroes.

He did release The Judas Coin in 2012, although I've only just now gotten around to reading it.  This is a very cool graphic novel, which begins with the crucifixion of Christ, and continues into a very futuristic 2087.  Each short story in this book is linked by the presence of a single coin, lost by Judas when he tried to return his thirty pieces of silver at the dawn of the Christian era.

Jumping through the various eras, this book also serves as a survey of some of the different, storied parts of the DC Universe's past.  Little-seen characters such as the Golden Gladiator, the Viking Prince, and Captain Fear star in the first chapters, while Bat Lash is given the 19th Century slot, and Batman and Two-Face represent the present day.  Simonson creates a new, 2070 version of Manhunter (unless this is just a really obscure DC character I never knew about) to finish up the novel.

Each of these stories involve some sort of misfortune that befalls the person holding on to Judas's coin.  It's a very effective framing device, that allows Simonson to tell a number of different stories that match the genre of each era.  Of course, the Viking Prince story involves large monsters like those Simonson drew in his Thor days, while the Bat Lash story takes place after a particularly heated game of cards.

I love Simonson's art, and the way in which he adapted things for each new chapter.  The Bat Lash chapter has a slight sepia-tone to it, and in the Manhunter 2070 story, the female adversaries look like they could have stepped out of an anime series.  The decision to construct the Batman story around the landscaped shape of a newspaper strip was an odd one, and while it looked nice, I hate having to read comics sideways, especially in hardcover.

It would have been nice to see some of the other eras of DC history or future represented here.  I would have loved a Justice Society of America chapter set in the WWII era, and for the book to have ended with the Legion of Super-Heroes, but I can see how the powers that be didn't want the book to be too visibly pre-New 52.  Still, this is a solid read, and worth checking out.

Before Watchmen: Minutemen

by Darwyn Cooke

When the Before Watchmen books were first announced, despite my general opposition to the project, I was most interested in the idea of Darwyn Cooke writing and drawing the Minutemen series.  I have always loved Golden Age characters, even ones that didn't actually exist in that time period.  I figured that Cooke was the perfect person to look at the original team, given the success he had with The New Frontier, his love letter to the Silver Age, and the superior sense of design he brings to his Parker adaptations.

Really, this miniseries disappointed me.  It feels like Cooke was being told what to do with the book, and it takes about three issues before any sense of story arc kicks in.  The book is narrated by Hollis Mason, the Nite Owl.  It's framed in the early 1960s, after Mason has written his tell-all biography, and is getting some serious push back from his surviving friends from their period of dressing up to fight crimes.

Mason flashes back through his entire career, showing us the high and low points as he goes.  A number of the main events are explained in Watchmen, and these points are glossed over here, although we do see how they affect Mason and his friends.  This makes reading this book as a prequel before someone reads Watchmen (there are a few people left who haven't read it yet, mostly children I assume), as the narrative stays jerky and lacking in enough exposition in places.

Cooke's art is always great, but aside from the visual trick he pulls on most of the first pages, which have repeated design elements, much of this book looks rushed.  In the final analysis, Cooke doesn't make me care about any of these characters any more than Alan Moore did, and this series adds little to nothing to the 'mythos'.

Before Watchmen: Silk Spectre

Written by Amanda Conner and Darwyn Cooke
Art by Amanda Conner

Before I begin to discuss this comic, I feel it's important to first acknowledge some of the controversy that has surrounded the Before Watchmen project.  I did not support the notion of DC Comics making prequels to the Watchmen series, not so much because I view that book as a 'holy text' of modern comics, as I feel that DC did and continues to knowingly cheat original creators Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons out of their rightful ownership of the property.  To that end, I felt that making a bunch of prequel comics, against the express wishes of the original creators, to be shady business.  That is why I did not buy these comics when they came out, and have no intention of buying any of the trades that are currently being released.

That said, I love me some comics, and there are some very impressive writers and artists involved in the Before Watchmen project (and some I don't care for).  So, how to satisfy my curiosity about, say a four-issue mini-series written and drawn by Amanda Conner, while still sticking to my morals, such as they are?  I could take the book out from the library, but instead, I found a complete set of this comic in a used bookstore, and figured that my purchasing it does not count as a monetary vote in favour of the project.

Anyway, regardless of whether you think this is a comics universe that needs revisiting (and I think it isn't) or not, this is one hell of a good comic.  Conner's art is fantastic, and with Cooke's help, she writes a very good story.  The young Laurel Jane, who will grow up to be the second Silk Spectre, is chafing under her mother's parenting skills.  She's in her last year of high school, and wants nothing more than to make friends, land a boyfriend, and enjoy herself.  Instead, her mother has her studying constantly, and training to be a fighter.  In one scene, her mother dresses up as an intruder and tries to attack her in her own home.

Laurie runs away to San Francisco with the boy she likes, and they find themselves in the middle of the growing hippie and drug culture of the 60s.  They also manage to find themselves some trouble, as the Chairman (i.e., Frank Sinatra) is not happy with the anti-consumerism that has become so popular among young people, and with the help of a guy called Gurustein, begins pumping a particular brand of LSD into the market which leaves its users full of the urge to shop and consume.

Laurie deals with heartbreak, beautiful kung fu henchwomen, and the irritating thought that her mother might have manage to prepare her for the world.  Laurie and her boyfriend's character arcs are handled very well, and Conner excels at depicting the hallucinogenic time period.

One thing that surprised me about this series was the extent to which Conner took it into the 'mature readers' world.  I questioned the likelihood that a female high school student in 1966 would make a joke that revolved around male ejaculate being on a girl's face, and was also a little surprised by the amount of nudity in the book, simply because I'd expected DC to try to be able to market this to as wide an audience as possible.  Given the crassness of this book's genesis, I would have thought that marketing would have had a stronger say in the actual content of the book.

In the end, this is a very solid comic.  I didn't bother reading the Crimson Corsair back-up pages, as that strip appeared in a number of different titles, but I was otherwise impressed with this book.  Too bad I wouldn't buy a sequel...

National Comics: Eternity #1

Written by Jeff Lemire
Art by Cully Hamner and Derec Donovan

When the Vertigo line began back in the 90s, one of my favourite comics was Kid Eternity, by Ann Nocenti and Sean Phillips.  There had been a mini-series by Grant Morrison and Duncan Fegredo (I think) before that, but it was in the monthly that the character, a modernization of a Golden Age child superhero with the ability to call historical figures back from the dead that helped him fight crime, really grew on me.  I distinctly remember that one issue had KE driving around with Neal Cassady, and that coincided with my discovering the writing of Jack Kerouac.  The 90s were all about synergy, right?

Anyway, we're now almost a year into the New 52 at DC Comics, and a big part of the mission statement seems to be repatriating Vertigo characters into the new DC Universe.  It's worked well with Swamp Thing, Animal Man, and John Constantine, although it didn't work too well for Shade the Changing Man.  Now it was time for Kid Eternity to get the treatment as well, I guess.

In this one-shot, Jeff Lemire revises the character a great deal.  Christopher Freeman is a young medical examiner who, a year ago, died from a gunshot wound, but then returned to life.  Since then, he's been able to bring the spirits of the recent dead back from the grave, and he uses this ability to solve their murders.  Generally speaking, Christopher is a bit of a screw-up.  He's haunted by the death of his father, and the poor relationship he had with him (it's weird that this came out the same week as Lemire's excellent The Underwater Welder, which explores the theme of father-son relationships as well).  He's afraid to talk to the girl he likes, and his boss wants to fire him.  When he brings back the spirit of Darby Quinn, an antique shop owner who was found dead the back of his store, he is close to losing his job.  He figures that solving Quinn's murder will save him, but Quinn is not what he seems.

This is the first issue of DC's new National Comics series, which is going to be a monthly one-shot featuring a different character and creative team.  From the solicitations for the next few months, I'm not too sure what the goal of this new series is going to be.  I imagine it's serving a purpose similar to Top Cow's Pilot Season comics - to float an idea for fandom and see how people respond to it, but the next bunch of issues look like they'll be underwhelming.  After reading this issue though, which sets up an opposite number for Christopher in The Keeper, and establishes what the next mystery would be, I would definitely be on-board for a mini- or ongoing series, especially if it has this creative team.

I've been a big Cully Hamner fan since I discovered his work on Green Lantern Mosaic, and would love to see him on a regular book again (or, in DCnU fashion, sharing a regular book with an artist with a similar style).  This comic was a real treat this week, and even if it doesn't lead to more new Kid Eternity stories, I hope that DC may start republishing the old Nocenti ones for a new audience to enjoy.

Shazam! The Greatest Stories Ever Told

Written by Bill Parker, Joe Simon, Otto Binder, Denny O'Neil, Elliot S! Maggin, Roy Thomas, Julius Schwartz, Gil Kane, Joey Cavalieri, Alan Grant, Barry Kitson, Jerry Ordway, and Steve Vance
Art by CC Beck, Jack Kirby, Kurt Schaffenberger, Curt Swan, Bob Oksner, Gil Kane, Barry Kitson, Peter Krause, Dick Giordano, John Delaney, and Ron Boyd

I've never really been a fan of Captain Marvel, although I did enjoy his stint with the Justice League back in the Giffen/DeMatteis days.  I know he has a fairly solid fan base, and has not ever really been given much of a chance as part of the regular DC Universe, as there is little for him to do that can't be accomplished just as well by Superman.  I also know that he is due for a major revamping, and when I saw this trade for only a dollar, I figured it was worth checking out, to see if I could at least understand the character's appeal to so many.

It didn't really work though.  The Golden Age stories, by people like Binder, Beck, Simon, and Kirby are quaint, but don't have the edge to them that a lot of Golden Age comics have.  Denny O'Neil's attempt to revive the character after DC bought out the Fawcett line, where Cap was originally published, is fine I guess, but not too special.

I did like the DC Comics Presents Annual, which has the Supermen of Earths 1 and 2 teaming up with Captain Marvel, but that was probably mostly because of the Gil Kane art.  The only story that gave me a sense of nostalgia is the edited-down issue of LEGION '91, which has Cap fighting Lobo, during some big crossover or another (War of the Gods, I think).  I loved that old LEGION title, and was thrilled to read something with Telepath, one of the weirder characters DC ever had, again.  Too bad there was so much Lobo in it, but that was the problem with that title in the early 90s exactly.

In selecting the stories for this book, I think the editors did well to pick so many of the Binder/Beck classics.  I did think it odd that the LEGION story was included, and that the story chosen to represent Jerry Ordway and Peter Krause's long-running The Power of Shazam was so maudlin and 'after school special'.  I also thought it odd that Black Adam was completely missing from this collection - he's by far the most interesting part of the Marvel Family story.  At the same time, I appreciate that there were no Talky Tawny stories.

Catwoman: Wild Ride

Written by Ed Brubaker
Art by Cameron Stewart, with Guy Davis and Nick Derington

This fourth trade is perhaps the best of Ed Brubaker's run, at least the best since the first one, which had the benefit of Darwyn Cooke art.

In this trade, Selina and her sidekick Holly go on a road trip.  This leads them to a number of different locales in the DCU, and some run ins with the people who live in them.  We as readers get to see New York (Wildcat), Keystone City (Captain Cold), Opal City (Bobo Benetti), and St. Roch (Hawkman and Hawkgirl).

There's also a plot line involving an ancient Egyptian cult, a story about a diner heist that goes badly, and Batman and Slam Bradley get into it over Selina.  Brubaker had a good handle on Catwoman, keeping her foray into being a good guy (or at least, not being such a bad guy) interesting.  What really makes this book work though are Selina's relationships with Holly, Bradley, and Ted Grant.  Cameron Stewart's art, as always, is excellent.

Although Brubaker's run on this title continued for a while after this (with Paul Gulacy on art, which would be a pretty jarring shift in tone), for whatever reason, DC has not published any further trades.  Is the rest of the run worth tracking down in back issue bins?

Catwoman: Relentless

Written by Ed Brubaker
Art by Cameron Stewart, Javier Pulido, and Mike Manley

I'm still not sure how I missed out on Ed Brubaker's run with Catwoman back in the early 00's.  This trade collects eight issues of that run (from #12 - 19), and is broken into two stories.

'Relentless', the longer arc, has to do with the Black Mask seeking revenge on Selina for stealing his diamonds in the previous trade.  He hatches a very complicated plan that involves freeing one of Selina's oldest friends from prison and setting her up in a Fagin-like operation.  He also hires Selina's brother-in-law at a shell corporation so that her family would have to move back to Gotham.  He then sets about dismantling Selina's world, and the good work she's been trying to do for Gotham lately. This is a pretty standard story, elevated somewhat by Cameron Stewart's art. 

The second story, 'No Easy Way Down', is excellent.  It's drawn by Javier Pulido, but in a style that is remarkably different from what I've come to expect from him.  His art is more minimalist than normal, and it looks a great deal like Darwyn Cooke's.  This story has Selina, her friend Holly, and private detective Slam Bradley (who, in Pulido's hands looks a lot like Christopher Chance, were he a boxer) all wallowing in their various personal miseries after the events of the previous story.

This part of the comic is very well-balanced, and utterly compelling.  The growing closeness between Selina and Bradley is the best thing about this trade, as they move from colleagues to something much more.  It's a relationship tinged with self-doubt and self-pity though, and it more than anything else here makes me want to read the next trade.

Catwoman: Crooked Little Town

Written by Ed Brubaker
Art by Brad Rader, Cameron Stewart, Rick Burchett, Michael Avon Oeming, and Mike Manley

I don't often buy trades of superhero comics.  If I am interested, I usually buy them as they come out, or in cases where I've missed a particularly good run, I'll pick up back issues at sales or in used bookstores.  Ed Brubaker's run on Catwoman is something that completely slipped past me about a decade ago, and clearly came at a time when neither he, nor any of the artists he worked with, had developed names for themselves.  Looking at the cover of Crooked Little Town, the second collection of his run with this character, it is almost impossible to find the writer's name, or the name of any of the artists.  I guess that says a lot about how much Brubaker's fame has grown in a little under ten year's time.

Anyway, this trade collects one longer story, and a few shorter ones about Selina's new approach to life as the guardian of the East End of Gotham City.  She is not afraid to take on the mob, and spends most of the book hunting down some crooked cops with the help of private eye Slam Bradley.  The story is nicely written, and shows the more tender side of Selina when her young friend Holly gets hurt.  Also, there was an extended cameo by Detective Crispus Allen, who was my favourite character in Gotham Central, which was probably the best comic DC published in the 2000s (and should have been resurrected for the New 52).

The art in this volume is very consistent.  Brad Rader is a very good artist, yet I'm not sure if he's done anything since this book.  I definitely don't remember seeing his name anywhere else.  His style fits nicely with that of artists like Cameron Stewart (who inks him here), Darwyn Cooke, and Michael Avon Oeming.  I picked up two more of Brubaker's Catwoman trades when I got this one; I'm looking forward to reading them.

Xombi #6

Written by John Rozum
Art by Frazer Irving

I get it that sales probably weren't that great, and that I should just be thankful that a six-issue arc of a book like this got published at all in today's climate, but really, I'm just sad that this book is ending, and won't be returning in the DC relaunch.  I think that Xombi would work just fine as a Vertigo book, with absolutely no changes made to it, but it is what it is.

This issue finishes up the Stronghold story that began with the first issue.  Through most of this series, the book has really been an ensemble title, with David Kim, the titular Xombie, being the lead, but not the centre of things.  And that approach worked really well I felt, as when a comic with super-powered nuns with funny names shouldn't be about just one person.

In this issue, our collected heroes have their final confrontation with Roland Finch, the mastermind who stole the Skull Stronghold, and is now hoping to wage war on other Strongholds (floating islands of immortals).  The writing is clever throughout, and Frazer Irving's art is beautiful.  This comic has had more than its share of interesting new ideas and colourful villains (this month, the Sisterhood of Blood Mummies), and I hope to see more work from Rozum (other than Static Shock, which has art by Scott McDaniel) and Irving (who I'm really hoping is going to finish Gutsville now).

If you haven't read this, pre-order the trade and let DC know that you want more comics like this.  It is definitely the best thing to come out of the DCU in years, and is up there with Scalped and DMZ as one of the best books the company publishes.

Jonah Hex #70

Written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti
Art by Ryan Sook, Mick Gray, Diego Olmos, and Jimmy Palmiotti

A seventy-issue run for a Western comic in today's market is pretty amazing.  I know that Jonah Hex had become a bit of a vanity project at DC - it never had amazing sales numbers, but it had a dedicated core audience, and was the type of book that brought prestige to the company, as a bit of an art-house hit that could be marketed to book stores and readers who weren't all that interested in super heroes.

With the exception of one overlong six-issue arc, the stories in this comic have always been one-offs, although they have built on their own continuity, and have featured returning characters.  Sadly,over the last couple of years, many of the stories have felt a little formulaic or predictable, and the writing was on the wall that this title would either have to end or get a shake up.

What has made this comic particularly strong over the course of its run has been the fantastic line up of artists that have graced its pages.  It began with Luke Ross, but just about every artist on the book since has been excellent.  I clearly remember work by Paul Gulacy, Tony DeZuniga, Darwyn Cooke, Jeff Lemire, Fiona Staples, J.H. Williams, Phil Noto, Bill Sienkiewicz, Billy Tucci, and Eduardo Risso.  Of course, if there's any one artist who should be associated with this title, it is the great Jordi Bernet, who really made this book his own.

This last issue is strange and unusual.  It shows us an elderly Hex being shot, and then we enter into a kind of confusing story wherein poor Jonah revisits his life, and seems to keep getting shot.  There's a reason for all of this, but talking about it would be spoiling things.  Needless to say, it's a fitting ending for the series, and it's nice to see a few familiar old faces again, like Talullah and Bat Lash.

Ryan Sook is a great artist for this title, and it's too bad he didn't finish the book, but the last pages by Diego Olmos work just as well.

I'm a little unsure about what the DC relaunch will bring to the Jonah Hex table.  Naming the title All-Star Western, and then setting it in Gotham doesn't make much sense to me, but I like that Moritat will be drawing it, and I do feel like this book was ready for some change.  I guess we'll have to wait and see how it works out.

Xombi #5

Written by John Rozum
Art by Frazer Irving

I love this comic.  After this, there is only one issue left before the DC Relaunch, which looks to have canceled this title very prematurely.  But instead of complaining, I will instead try to focus on how lucky we were as readers to get a six issue run of a book that is so unique in today's market.

In this issue, David Kim and his crew pursue Roland Finch, with the goal of reclaiming the Skull Stronghold that he has taken over.  Most of this issue is interlude and preparation for the final battle, and Rozum has filled it with fascinating character work and back story.  To give you a hint of how well-written this book is, here are a few descriptions of the Skull Stronghold, a floating city of immortals:

"Over centuries the skull was trained into a glorious city by experts in architectural bone topiary."  "The chamber of tangible music, the sand children, the alphabetical flower garden, the lake of knives, the ivy lamp posts, Mr. Salt and Pepper, the hall of wishes."  Rozum is tossing out ideas like Grant Morrison, and that's what the series has been like from the beginning.

We also get a better sense of David Kim, our Xombi, in this issue.  Having never read a Milestone comic, I still don't know much about this character, so I appreciate learning about his relationship and how he has adjusted to the change that gave him his abilities.

Of course, the writing, as good as it is, pales in comparison to Frazer Irving's stunning artwork.  His designs for the Skull and other Strongholds are amazing, and he manages to create believable people, and then have them fly on pterodactyls.  I love the palette he has chosen for the different Strongholds.

I can't recommend this comic enough (for at least another month).

Jonah Hex #69

Written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti
Art by Jeff Lemire

Having read this, I don't understand how it could have taken so long for Jeff Lemire to draw an issue of Jonah Hex.  He's perfect for this title, as he draws almost everyone as ugly as Hex is, although he still manages to make Hex look worse.  In fact, he's done one of the best jobs I've ever seen of making Hex's facial scars look raw and painful.

This issue really suits Lemire's sensibilities as an artist as well.  Jonah has a final confrontation with his father, as they sit out in the desert and have a conversation.  I don't want to give too much away, aside from the fact that it appears unlikely that they will ever meet again.  Some of this is familiar ground for Lemire, as his Essex County trilogy touched on the theme of estranged family members (if you haven't read this, you really should).

Jonah Hex has felt stale for a while now, but as it's relaunch looms, with a new status quo for Hex, it's nice to see Gray and Palmiotti tie up some loose ends and try something a little different for a change.  I think this may be the first issue of this title where we don't see anyone shoot anybody.

Catwoman: The Dark End of the Street

Written by Ed Brubaker
Art by Darwyn Cooke, Cameron Stewart, and Michael Allred

Somehow Ed Brubaker's run on Catwoman escaped my notice when it originally was published, and I've only now gotten around to looking for any of the trades, starting with this first one.

Really, I missed out on something very good, as Brubaker is joined by the always-brilliant Darwyn Cooke, who was in turn inked by two artists who are better known as pencilers - Michael Allred and Cameron Stewart.

The book opens with a four-part Slam Bradley story that was originally used as a back-up in Detective Comics.  Bradley's been hired to prove that Catwoman is still alive, and he investigates the mysterious death of Selina Kyle as part of his search, not knowing that the two women are one and the same.  This story was alright, but ultimately reminded me of something I've read before, although I'm not sure where (I suppose it's possible I read the original comics, but I would have to check to see if I own them).

After that, we get the first four issues of the newly-relaunched Catwoman series (circa 2001).  Selina comes out of retirement when she learns that someone is killing prostitutes in Gotham City.  She hunts down the perpetrator, although things are not what she expected, and the guy is not a garden-variety psychopath.

The story is well-told, but the real star of the show is Darwyn Cooke, and his unique way of setting up pages of story.  The art in this book is incredible, as it always is with Cooke's work.  Now I need to find the rest of Brubaker's run, because I like his take on Catwoman as someone who wants to do good, but will use whatever means she deems necessary.  I also like the way Brubaker uses Dr. Leslie Thompkins in this comic; she's an under-utilized character.

Xombi #4

Written by John Rozum
Art by Frazier Irving

I'm very bummed out by the fact that Xombi is not going to survive the DC Relaunch.  This is by far the best superhero-ish comic that DC is producing, and the way that John Rozum is laying groundwork to re-establish David Kim's world, has the most potential for years of interesting stories.

This issue is almost all talk, as Annie, the woman who had freed a monster in previous issues, explains her life story, and how she has come to be both a tool for Roland Finch, and the best hope for defeating him.  She tells of twenty-seven floating strongholds, like the one she was born on, populated by immortals with advanced scientific and artistic knowledge.  Finch has taken over Annie's home stronghold, with her unwilling assistance, and now has a chart which will lead him to all of the others.  Kim (the Xombi) and his crew of super-powered nuns and large golem are going to try to stop him.

While most of this issue consists of Annie's narrative, Rozum still squeezes in some nice character moments, and helps build on what has to be the most interesting and original supporting cast in comics.  Frazier Irving's work is always genius, and he continues to please as he designs the unique looks of a few of the strongholds.

I really wish this title was going to last longer.

Xombi #3

Written by John Rozum
Art by Frazer Irving

Xombi has become my favourite DC Universe comic, and could be my favourite superhero monthly.  John Rozum and Frazer Irving are doing an incredible job with this book, and while I'm not surprised, I am saddened that this title is not getting more acclaim.

I don't know anything about this character's previous run with the Milestone imprint, except that it was also written by Rozum, and doesn't appear to have ever been collected.  I gave this new series a try based solely on the strength of Frazer Irving's artwork, and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the writing.

In this first arc, David Kim, the Xombi, has been called in to investigate the escape of a prisoner from a prison comprised of a miniaturized subdivision, run by an interfaith coalition of jailers.  Aiding him are Catholic Girl, and a pair of superpowered nuns named Nun of the Above and Nun the Less.  As the story unfolds, David and his friends, along with a couple of golem and a creature made up of the souls of wasps that have died on windowsills have to fight Marantha, a lion-like wrath of god creature.

There's more going on than this, but hopefully you can get the picture - this comic is crazy good.  In some ways, this book reminds me of Grant Morrison's run on Doom Patrol, but it has more of a heart to it than that legendary series.  Amid all the action of this issue, Rozum treats us to a monologue on living given by a ghost, and uses a few pages to set up his villain, Roland Finch, as very smart man who only makes mistakes by design.

Wonderful writing, beautiful art.  Please, go buy this book; I fear it's too good to survive in today's comic market unless people start to get the word out.

Orion: The Gates of Apokolips

by Walter Simonson, with Jon Bogdanove, Dave Gibbons, Klaus Janson, Frank Miller, and Bill Reinhold

I've never been as big a fan of Jack Kirby's Fourth World characters as most DC comics readers appear to be, but I have heard a lot of good things about Walter Simonson's run on Orion, and have been a fan of his work since his tenure on The Mighty Thor.  When I saw this trade at a very low price a little while back, I decided it was time to give this series a try.

I found I had mixed emotions about this comic.  Simonson's art is as great as it's ever been, and he excels at portraying gigantic super-being conflicts, like the massive fight between Orion and Darkseid that takes up the entire fifth issue collected here, but I found that a lot of the standard silliness that has always marred The Fourth World for me brought the book down.  The inclusion of the Newsboy Legion served no purpose other than to pad out the story, and generally irritate me.

Otherwise, this is pretty standard stuff.  Orion is angry that he might not actually be the son of Darkseid, and decides to defend his mother Tigra's honour by tracking him down and challenging him.  Of course, Darkseid is back on Earth looking for the Anti-Life Equation.  There's lots of fighting, which leads to the aforementioned large confrontation at the end.  I'm not sure how long this series lasted beyond these original five issues, but I would hope that there was a little more substance to them.

I did really enjoy the 'Tales of the New Gods' back-ups, which featured some terrific artists like Miller and Gibbons, although I think that the best one was the Granny Goodness origin story by Simonson and Janson.

The Question Vol. 6: Peacemaker

Written by Dennis O'Neil
Art by Denys Cowan, Malcolm Jones III, and Carlos Garzon

It's funny how memory can sometimes play such tricks on a person.  I have fond memories of picking up some random issues of Dennis O'Neil's run on The Question from the late 80s, although I never had anything like a complete set of the run. I got interested in the character after the series had closed, although I remember a quarterly title, with the same creative team.  When I saw this volume, which holds the last six issues of the run, on sale for only $2, I thought it would be cool to see how the comic held up.

It hasn't held up at all.  Fine, the clothing and hair styles are really dated.  There are a bunch of mullets, pleated skirts, and shoulder pads stinking up Denys Cowan's otherwise fine artwork, but that's not the problem.  The problem, surprisingly, is that O'Neil's writing is ham-fisted, clichéd, and embarrassing.  Reading this, I wonder how any fans could have been upset that Renee Montoya took over the mantle of this character.

The concept is sound - that The Question patrols Hub City, the most perfect example of urban decay and blight this side of Warren Ellis's Snowtown, and ten times worse than Detroit (not an urban farm to be found).  The problem is that Hub City is ridiculous.  If you park your car for five minutes on a main street, a gang of thugs will just randomly attack it.  People walk around with dead babies hoping to con you into lending them a dollar for milk.  Corrupt judges hire gigantic black men named Cathy to kill the mayor, and then lend them their car to drive to City Hall in.  I don't even think those are the worse examples.

And then there's the mayor.  I remembered Myra Fermin as a tough, dedicated, hands-on mayor, but the number of times that she gets kidnapped or chased after by killers is insane.  I really don't know what was going on with this book, or why DC has just recently reprinted the whole series.  It's probably best left forgotten...

Catwoman: Selina's Big Score

by Darwyn Cooke

I've been playing catch up on Darwyn Cooke's work for the last little while, and had overlooked this graphic novel (as well as his and Ed Brubaker's work on the monthly comic).  Cooke gives us a rare thing - a superhero comic (okay, maybe a villain comic), without any superheroics.

Selena's Big Score is a heist/crime comic, which just happens to be set partially in Gotham City, and which features a character who gets involved with a man in a bat suit.  This is an intelligent, tightly plotted and beautifully illustrated comic, which is set squarely in the DC Universe, but is not really of it at all.

Selena has the inside line on a potentially very lucrative train robbery, and goes about assembling a team to help her pull it off.  This involves going to a former partner and lover, Stark, who falls into the traditional role of the mysterious and brooding criminal.  Their associates include a demolitions expert, a call girl, and a pawn shop owner.  While all this is going on, Selena is being hunted by the classic DC gumshoe, Slam Bradley.

The plot moves quickly, while it jumps back and forth to Selena's past, and the entire book is as beautiful as anything Cooke has ever done, although it is probably the darkest work I've ever seen from him.  Recommended.