Batman Inc. #3

Batman travels to Argentina to team up with the impressively mustachioed Gaucho, one of the members of the old Club of Heroes, and offer him membership in Batman Incorporated. To his surprise, Gaucho turns him down, but they still unite to defeat El Papagayo, his mooks, and his swarm of explosive Blue Scorpions. He’s working for someone who has kidnapped a trio of blind children from the poor side of the tracks, but won’t give up the name of his boss. After Bruce Wayne and Don Santiago Vargas, the Gaucho’s alter ego, stage a disagreement over the deadly femme fatale Scorpiana, the two heroes discover new clues to the kidnapping to lead them to a deserted and boobytrapped warehouse. Once they’re inside, they’re provided with taser-gauntlets and ordered by a voice over loudspeakers that they must fight to the death or the kidnapped children will die.

Verdict: Thumbs up. The Gaucho is just cooler’n heck. Scorpiana’s appearance is also 100% awesome and sexy. And wow, Yanick Paquette’s artwork is just divine.

B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth – Gods #3

The conclusion of the newest storyarc sees Abe Sapien and his team from the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense taking on some of the monsters invading Texas and working to corner and recruit the mysterious Fenix. And things do not end the way Abe would’ve expected.

Verdict: Thumbs up. A shocking ending, a shocking betrayal — and a shocking departure by artist Guy Davis, who’s leaving the B.P.R.D. comics for pastures elsewhere.

Supergirl #61

I’m behind on reviewing this one — my copy got lost in the mail somewhere, and it took a few weeks for a new one to be shipped out to me. Anyway, in this issue, Supergirl has been ambushed by a bunch of Superman’s villains, thanks to a new smart-phone app called “Flyover” that encourages users to snap photos of superheroes and post them — allowing our mastermind villain, the psychic technophile Alex, to dispatch supervillains anywhere someone’s seen a hero. After Kara takes out the villains attacking her, she meets up with Lois Lane, who clues her in on certain shenanigans at Cadmus Labs. And after that, the Flyover app targets Robin in Gotham City, and Kara flies off to help him deal with the sudden attack by Clayface and Mr. Freeze. But what’s really stalking the young heroes of the DCU?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Lots of plot plugged into this one, and it all makes decent sense. Nice mystery being developed, too. Good, distinctive dialogue for all the characters. All that, and Kara’s sporting a shorter haircut — looks pretty good. Hope it sticks around, rather than getting re-lengthened by the next artist. And can we give a shout-out for that great cover by Amy Reeder? — gotta love the use of sound effects there.

Today’s Cool Links:

• First, another reminder: There’s going to be a planning for the Comic Book Expo this evening at 7 p.m. at Awesome Books, 3009 34th St. If you can help out, please attend.
• Anyone noticed lately that Rick Perry is a weasel? “Don’t blame me for the rotten condition of the state budget just because I spent a decade screwing up the state budget! Please ignore me and your legislatures and vent your rage on your neighbors! It makes it easier for us to get away with screwing over the state when you fight each other instead of us!” Whatever, weasel.
• And hey, lookit what I’ve got lying around on my desktop! A nice handy link with info on how to contact your state and national representatives!
• And here’s some nice advice on how to effectively lobby your politicians so they’ll be more likely to listen to you.
• Why does Universal Studios hate Guillermo del Toro, H.P. Lovecraft, and the freely given entertainment dollars of hundreds of thousands of enthusiastic Lovecraft fans?
• And finally, here’s a great article on the resurgence of Dungeons & Dragons with older roleplayers.

The Flash #9

I got dead bored with this title for a while but am gonna give it another shot as they’re starting the buildup to the big fancy “Flashpoint” crossover event. We start out with a character named Hot Pursuit — some kind of supercop driving a superspeed, time-traveling motorcycle — showing up in Central City looking for the Flash. Barry Allen, meanwhile, has been sent out to investigate the dead body of an old man wearing a superhero costume — specifically, the costume of the Elongated Man, though for some reason, Barry doesn’t recognize it. When the body’s fingerprints are identified, it turns out to be a local teen hero called the Elongated Kid. No one knows why a teenager aged into a 90-year-old corpse. On top of that, Barry is avoiding attending a “Flash family picnic,” and his wife Iris is unhappy at him for that. Finally, Hot Pursuit shows up again and busts a window in the crime lab right in front of Barry. When Barry chases him down, Hot Pursuit reveals himself to be (Spoiler Alert, if you didn’t figure out the extremely obvious reveal by Page 2) Barry Allen, trying to prevent “the single greatest time anomaly to ever threaten reality.”

Verdict: I think I’m going to go with a thumbs down. First, it irritated me that Barry Allen wasn’t able to recognize the Elongated Man’s costume — longstanding continuity, confirmed only a few short years ago by Geoff Johns himself, has established that the Flash and the Elongated Man have been close friends for years. It bugs me that Johns is such a sloppy writer now that he can’t even remember something he’d written not that long ago. Yeah, it’s just one small moment in the comic, but it annoyed me enough to completely ruin the rest of the story for me. I’ll give it another issue or two to try to draw me back in, but they better step up their game quick.

Batman and Robin #20

Dick Grayson attends a performance of Das Rheingold which gets disrupted when a guy dressed as an angel plummets 80 stories to his death on the red carpet. The guy’s wings were filled with some kind of glowing yellow substance and his fingerprints and footprints have been burned off with acid. While Batman and Robin are investigating the crime scene, they’re accosted by Man-Bat, covered with some kind of glowing white substance and shouting about screams that only he can hear. And then the glowing white bats show up.

Verdict: Thumbs up. Seriously weird story and starting out very, very interestingly. But I must say, my favorite part of the whole story is the very beginning, with Bruce, Dick, Tim Drake, Damian, and Alfred all settling down with popcorn and strawberry milkshakes to watch “The Mark of Zorro” on DVD. It’s a great, fun moment.

B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth – Gods #2

This issue is actually set at the same time as the previous issue, but told from the POV of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, and particularly with Abe Sapien as our focus. He and Andrew Devon have it out about the strong disagreements between the two of them over the last few months, the whole team reviews the situation in Texas, with an emphasis on Fenix’s ability to lead large numbers of refugees to safety, and they hear from a borderline crackpot named Professor O’Donnell, who theorizes that the monsters overrunning Texas were also responsible for the destruction of ancient Hyperborea. It all culminates where last issue did, in the ruined football field.

Verdict: Thumbs up. Nice to see a little character development getting processed for Abe and Andrew, along with a little more backstory for the Texas situation.

Today’s Cool Links:

• I’m starting to think that the state budget had better be accompanied by mass resignations from the Legislature and the Governor.
• But of course, they won’t be. I’m sort of expecting Perry to react a bit more like the Wisconsin governor, who’s already expressed his preference for having state employees murdered.
• This might be Not Safe for Work, but I still laughed like a loon at the whole list.

B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth – Gods #1

A new storyline and a setting shift — we’re following a group of refugees fleeing Texas. Recent events, particularly a volcano erupting in Houston and a vast array of monsters appearing throughout the state, have freaked out a lot of people, and even folks trying to get out of the state for their own safety are distrusted and abused by people who should be helping them. One large group of refugees is being led by a 16-year-old girl named Fenix. She has some sort of unspecified illness but is blessed with uncannily accurate predictive abilities and very strong leadership skills. She nixes a newcomers recommendation that they hole up in an abandoned high school football stadium and has the group stay at an empty swimming pool instead. So what did Fenix think was going to show up at the stadium?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Previous BPRD books have shortchanged the chaos the world is going through, but this does a lot to bring home how it’s affecting people. Fenix seems like a cool character, too. My initial quibble was that people wouldn’t be so hostile to refugees trying to escape from a place that lots of people describe as — literally — Hell… but then again, history is full of stories of abused and rejected refugees. Even as recently as Katrina, there were people who tried to keep refugees from fleeing New Orleans…

Knight and Squire #4

Beryl has a date with the Shrike, a fledgling superhero who she and the Knight met in the first issue of this series. She brings him to the Knight’s castle to meet Cyril. But all does not go well. The Shrike doesn’t react well to Beryl figuring out his secret identity, and Beryl doesn’t react well to his negative reaction. And the Knight’s armor has developed a mind of its own, based on his old addictions and insecurities. Can the heroes stop the rogue armor and regain their trust in each other?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Lots of stuff to love here. I enjoyed getting a little background on the Knight’s lost years when he was an alcoholic. Meeting Cyril’s butler was nice, too — rather than being an upper-crust Brit like Bruce Wayne’s Alfred Pennyworth, the Knight’s butler is a drawling American with a proper bolo tie named Hank Hackenbacker. However, I do wish we’d get some more information about Beryl’s “communications abilities.” Are they actual superpowers or just an unusually high skill level or what? Maybe I haven’t been paying close enough attention, but they seem a bit undefined…

Today’s Cool Links:

• Allie Brosh’s new comic will make you rethink playing Hide and Seek with small children.
• Sometimes there’s a little justice visited on murder-fantasizing douchemooks.
• Kanye West mixes pretty well with comics.

Mystery Society #5

Nick Hammond has been remanded to the custody of the civilian authorities, much to the chagrin of the military brat who harbors a colossal grudge against him. Meanwhile, his wife, Anastasia, and the rest of the Mystery Society — the Secret Skull, the disembodied brain of Jules Verne in the body of a clockwork robot, and the twin super-psychics Nina and Sally — are heading for the Pentagon where they hope a secret video file will allow them to clear Nick’s name. Will they be able to get into the Pentagon without being shot? And will any evidence keep Nick from being assassinated by his enemies?

Verdict: Thumbs up. This miniseries has been a blast from beginning to end. Steve Niles and Fiona Staples really did a great job here, and I hope IDW will okay a new followup series.

B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth – New World #5

Ben Daimio barely figures out how to stop a giant monster while it’s trying to possess him — he has to kill the mostly innocent woman who is its anchor in the world. (It actually makes perfect sense in the comic, but my powers of description have failed me, frankly.) Ben warns Abe Sapien that really bad times are probably on the way for humanity. Once Abe gets back to B.P.R.D. headquarters, he has to deal with Andrew Devon’s increasingly paranoid suspicions, and he starts planning for the day when he may have to strike out on his own without the Bureau for support.

Verdict: Thumbs up. A bit dreary, as Abe’s world is slowly falling apart around him, and very creepy in places. All in all, definitely a good read and a nice ending for this storyarc.

American Vampire #8

Pearl Jones and her beau Henry get a visit from Abilena Book and Linden Hobbes, representatives from a vampire-hunting organization called the Vassals of the Morning Star. And they want Pearl to tell them how to kill her and Skinner Sweet, in exchange for a promise not to come after her right away. Meanwhile, in Las Vegas, Chief McCogan is skeptical about Agents Straw and Book’s claims about vampires, but he’s becoming more convinced as more bizarre deaths pile up. But is he prepared for the true identity of the murderer?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Great storytelling and art — I’m loving the way Rafael Albuquerque draws his monsters. The western setting really does help the stories feel more unique and interesting than some other vampire stories out there…

B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth – New World #4

Things are still going good and crazy. The Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense is short-staffed in the wake of the Houston volcano, Johann Kraus is shirking his duties to be close to the artificially-grown humanoid he wants to inhabit, and Panya is slowly taking over the entire facility. Meanwhile, Abe Sapien and Ben Daimio meet a guy who’s trying to find his wife — he got back from the war soon after his wife had their baby, wouldn’t let him see the kid, and finally knocked him on the head and disappeared. Sure enough, he’s found out the baby’s really dead — so what was his wife cradling around the house? And what’s her connection to the giant monster that keeps following Abe and Ben around? To make things even worse, the long-missing wendigo shows up, and Ben is getting set to go were-jaguar on everyone.

Verdict: Thumbs up. Lots of chaos, lots of cool artwork, lots of excellent action and creepiness. And a pretty good cliffhanger, too — looking forward to seeing how this all plays out next issue…

The Unwritten #19

Tom Taylor, Richie Savoy, and Lizzie Hexam have traveled to Pittsfield, Massachusetts, hometown of “Moby-Dick” author Herman Melville, on a semi-magical hunch that this was where they needed to be. While they explore Arrowhead, Melville’s former home-turned-museum, Pullman the assassin visits a toymaker named Rausch, an elderly woman who’s a high-end sorceress of some kind. Pullman wants her to ally herself with the Cabal, but she’s reluctant — unless Pullman has something important he can bargain with. All that, plus Savoy gets sick — but he has no idea how sick he really is.

Verdict: Thumbs up. A more relaxed pace to this story, which is a relief after how furiously previous issues have run. Good dialogue all over the place, too. A lot of mysteries moving forward, which is a nice benefit. And I really enjoyed all the stuff in Pittsfield — no idea how accurate our glimpse of Arrowhead and the town are, but they’ve got some nice touches.

Today’s Cool Links:

• Hey, look — “Sandman” creator Neil Gaiman just got hitched to a rock star.
• Frequently rude cartoons of things that people have actually said in comic book stores.
• This is an incredibly awesome and adorable movie.
• Not particularly local — as in the wrong end of the country — but there’s an actual geek-and-gaming-themed bar in Washington state.

I know it’s still pretty early, but we’ve already got a few special Halloween comics to review for ya — let’s see what’s on the list…

House of Mystery Halloween Annual #2

It’s the second installment of the special Halloween issues of Vertigo’s “House of Mystery.” Like last year, we get a grab-bag of stories about various Vertigo stars — this year, the element that binds all the stories together is a bunch of cursed trick-or-treaters. Doomed to wander endlessly from one Halloween to another, begging for candy and making mischief, all while wearing bodies both elderly and kid-sized, they turn up at the House of Mystery, get invited in, and offered a way out from under their curse, which they choose not to accept. In other eras and other worlds, they run across Madame Xanadu, who offers them visions of happier childhoods; they prompt John Constantine to reminisce about childhood holidays and first loves; they play pranks on Gwen Dylan from “iZombie” back in the days when she was still alive; and they end up running around Lucifer’s Hell.

Verdict: Thumbs up. First, I love any comic that literally begins their story on the front cover. Aside from that, the stories are first-rate, fun, and spooky — and they serve as excellent advertisements for several Vertigo comics. So it’s a winner — go pick it up.

Marvel Super Hero Squad #10

It’s Halloween, and the Super Hero Squad is dressing up for the holiday — Iron Man is Dracula, the Silver Surver is Frankenstein’s Monster, Reptil is Werewolf by Night, Falcon is Brother Voodoo, Thor and Hulk both want to be the Living Mummy, and Wolverine doesn’t dress in costumes. Dr. Doom’s lackeys, meanwhile, don’t get to dress up — they’ve just been ordered to go find a new fractal. Once the Super Hero Squad gets in on the chase, they quickly find the fractal being guarded by the Man-Thing! All who know fear burn at the touch of the Man-Thing — and the Man-Thing is plenty darn scary! Can the heroes get the fractal away from the muck-monster? In the followup stories, all the superheroes show up for a costume party at the Fantastic Four’s Baxter Building — but there’s an imposter hiding among the disguised heroes! And finally, Dr. Doom amuses himself by terrifying trick-or-treaters.

Verdict: Thumbs up. Good, funny stuff, and it’s a lot of fun to see all the Halloween costumes devised for the characters.

B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth – New World #3

The Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense is distracted by the bizarre destruction of Houston, Texas — by a full-sized volcano! Is this going to give Panya the opportunity to take over the whole agency? Meanwhile, Abe Sapien and Ben Daimio are in British Columbia trying to solve the mystery of what caused everyone in a small town to disappear. They meet a woman with an unusually ominous baby — and are quickly attacked by a monster! Can they stop the monster’s rampage and make their escape?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Outstanding action in this one. And it’s great to see Ben Daimio pulling off the giant-monster whupass again.

Today’s Cool Links:

• I would like to write about this a heck of a lot more, but I’m not sure I can be really coherent or non-sweary about it right now. Suffice it to say, I think “The 99,” the incredibly cool series by Naif Al-Mutawa, is a wonderful thing, and it frustrates the heck out of me that the usual gang of small-minded bigots are latching onto this as the latest ZOMG FEAR item.
• Venom + props = awesome sketchbooks.
• Any of you serious bibliophiles are gonna love this article.
• Privilege is inescapable, but things would be a lot better if we had more people willing to embrace a little empathy.

American Vampire #6

It’s 1936 in Las Vegas, and Police Chief Cashel McCogan is struggling with a vastly expanded population, thanks to the still-being-constructed Hoover Dam, and a shortage of prison space or police officers to deal with the resulting crime wave. He gets some small amount of assistance from two federal agents, Jack Straw and Felicia Book, but two feds aren’t gonna make much of a dent in the crime situation, especially with one very high-profile murder — local businessman Howard Beaulieu, found withered and drained in his hotel room bed. His only companion for the night was a working girl in the employ of the notorious Mr. Smoke. Hey, don’t Mr. Smoke look kinda familiar to y’all?

Verdict: Thumbs up. You might notice that Stephen King’s name isn’t at the top of this comic anymore. Well, he’s moved on with the end of the first storyarc, but Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque are still on board and lightin’ things up. We don’t see much of Pearl Jones or Skinner Sweet this time, but we don’t even miss ’em that much — it’s good fun getting introduced to McCogan and his supporting cast and getting a handle on our new Depression-era Vegas setting. Plenty of time to catch up on our American bloodsuckers soon enough…

Batgirl #14

More vampires! This all gets started when Supergirl shows up in Gotham City to hang out with Stephanie Brown (Not real sure why — I guess it’s just tradition for Batgirls and Supergirls to be friends, kinda like Flashes and Green Lanterns). And when you’re not rockin’ the spandex, Gotham can be as dull as anywhere, so they go to take in an old vampire movie. And due to a spectacularly unlikely accident with spectacularly unlikely hologram technology, there are suddenly 24 black-and-white Draculas running around the city. Unfortunately, they’re able to hurt Supergirl, but the local spectacularly unlikely scientists realize that the Draculas will disappear if they’re staked by high-tech control rods. So Batgirl and Supergirl run all over the city staking cheesy Draculas.

Verdict: Thumbs up. It’s a spectacularly unlikely premise, but it’s all used to cook up some spectacularly awesome jokes. Anything that includes Draculas on Segways and in photobooths, and jokes about Stephanie’s “bat-bra” — well, I’m always in favor of hilarious stuff, right?

B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth – New World #2

Two major plotlines working out here — first, Johann Kraus does not trust ancient Egyptian mummy Panya, who seems to be trying to get some keys so she can release her hybrid monsters. They both get on Kate Corrigan’s nerves and she gives ’em a well-deserved chewing-out. Meanwhile, Abe Sapien has run into Ben Daimio — long thought either dead or turned into a wendigo — in the Canadian wilderness. They’re both trying to discover where a small town’s population has vanished to. Abe and Ben follow the trail to a local lake, and Abe goes for a swim, finding what one might expect to find in a supposedly bottomless lake nicknamed the Hell’s Kettle…

Verdict: Thumbs up. Great to see some actual character development for Panya, and even more wonderful to see Ben Daimio again. And the last page brings the creepy stuff that Guy Davis seems to do so very well.

Daytripper #9

It’s the next-to-the-last issue of this incredible series. Brás de Oliva Domingos is — well, he’s everywhere. A wide variety of ages. Sometimes a boy, sometimes an adult, sometimes married, sometimes visiting old friends and relatives, sometimes a completely different person. He’s dreaming, he can’t seem to wake up, and there’s something he needs to learn.

Verdict: Thumbs up. Thumbs up. Thumbs up. People, if you haven’t been reading this, you should’ve been. See if you can find the back issues. See if you can hunker down and wait for the trade paperback. This one is going to win awards, it’s going to wind up on everyone’s “Best of 2010” lists, it’s going to be the type of story they teach in textbooks someday. It’s a beautifully illustrated and beautifully written story, and I hope you’ll go buy it and enjoy it.

B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth – New World #1

It’s definitely a new world for the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense — they have a new mandate from the United Nations, a much larger staff and budget, and a new global focus on the supernatural threats popping up all over the world. While new field director Kate Corrigan works to coordinate worldwide operations, Abe Sapien heads up north to investigate a string of mysterious disappearances. Andrew Devon still worries that Abe is somehow allied with the recently defeated frogs, and Johann Kraus is deeply wishing he had his old body back again. What other secret threats and resentments are lurking in wait for everyone?

Verdict: Thumbs up. A nice new start for everyone, with several new interpersonal subplots that we haven’t had to deal with before — the tensions between Abe, Andrew, and Kate are going to end up being pretty interesting. Guy Davis’s artwork is as interesting as ever — he doesn’t do the prettiest, glossiest art, but he’s brilliant with characterization and mood — his facial expressions are great, and the scene where Abe discovers how empty the Canadian town has gotten is wonderfully creepy.

Birds of Prey #4

Eeeeverybody’s in trouble. Black Canary is taking on the White Canary, who is at least as good a fighter as Dinah is and quite likely better. Savant and Creote are planning on dropping Babs Gordon off a bridge. Hawk may be dying of poison, and the Penguin has just stabbed Lady Blackhawk because he thinks he’s going to be given a database that includes the secret identities of every superhero on Earth. Things are dire all around, and several sacrifices are going to have to be made if everyone is going to get out alive.

Verdict: Thumbs up. Not the greatest story in the world, but Gail Simone structures it very entertainingly. The tidbits we get from the White Canary’s life are pretty interesting, the fight scenes are good, and Oracle’s confrontation with Savant is quite nice.

Today’s Cool Links:

• Batman is going to teach you how to feed goats.
• Usedta be, they’d make comic adaptations of anything.
• Two incredible minutes of a very scary storm approaching a beach in Finland.

Birds of Prey #1

Huzzah! “Birds of Prey” is back! With Gail Simone still writing it! And with Ed Benes on art! Oh, wait, that’s not good. Ed Benes’ main artistic skill is drawing girls’ butts. Well, at least Gail Simone is writing it!

We start out with Black Canary very gratifyingly beating the snot out of a kidnapper in Russia while Lady Blackhawk provides air cover. Then they and Huntress get a call from Oracle — she’s getting the gang back together. While Lady Blackhawk recruits Hawk and Dove, Barbara tells Huntress and Black Canary why she needs them back — she’s getting blackmailed by someone who’s compiled every important secret there is about every superhero and supervillain in the world. If the Birds of Prey don’t go after him, he’s going to release the entire list in mere hours. And even if they do go after him, he’s going to kill someone on the list once an hour until they stop him. But who’s really behind this scheme? And do the Birds have a chance to survive?

Verdict: Thumbs up. It’s great that this series is back, especially with Simone in charge. Benes’ more unsubtle cheesecake impulses are at least reined in, which makes his artwork more bearable. I’m not sure how thrilled I am to see Hawk and Dove here — both of them just bore me to tears, but maybe Simone has a plan for ’em. I also wish Misfit were in this one. As for the story itself, I’m pretty pleased with it. The opening scene is just plain awesome, and the impending crisis and the confrontation with the blackmailer on the last pages is very good. Definitely looking forward to reading more of this one.

The Unwritten #13

Tom Taylor has been lying low for a few months, along with Lizzie Hexam and Richard Savoy, as they try to avoid tipping off the authorities that they’re still alive. Meanwhile, the world is abuzz about the brand new Tommy Taylor novel that’s about to be released. The evil literary assassin Pullman is being prepped to kill both Tom and his father Wilson. And it turns out that the new Tommy Taylor novel is a complete fake — the evil conspiracy is publishing a completely crap-quality novel in an attempt to get Wilson Taylor to come out of hiding. Tom and Savoy both run into old acquaintances — one a friend and one a great enemy…

Verdict: Thumbs up. A very nice start to a new storyline. Characterization, dialogue, artwork — this one hits everything it needs to. And hey, pay attention to the captions on the TV reports in the story — there are a few good laughs lurking in there…

B.P.R.D.: King of Fear #5

And here’s the wrapup of another BPRD storyline. In the aftermath of last issue’s disasters, the field team is in the hospital, the islands of Borneo and Sulawesi have been completely destroyed, and a gigantic insectoid leviathan has appeared on the Salton Sea in California — it’s emitting some kind of noxious gas that turns people into monsters. Director Manning, Kate Corrigan, and Johann Kraus are getting raked over the coals by the UN — although the BPRD also gets some very good news out of their interrogation. The field team doesn’t trust Abe Sapien anymore, the frequently evil megacorp Zinco is trying to appear humanitarian, and Liz Sherman turns up alone in Bangkok.

Verdict: Thumbs up. A good finish for a frequently confusing storyarc, with some new status quos for everyone and new mysteries on the horizon. It’s been implied that things are just going to get worse and worse in future storyarcs — hopefully, the storytelling will continue to improve.

American Vampire #2

Both of our linked stories in this issue focus on our heroes’ transitions from humans to the undead. In 1926, Pearl Jones dies in the hospital after getting attacked by a bunch of Hollywood vamps and wakes up only to learn from Skinner Sweet that she is, like him, a new kind of vampire, an evolutionary step up from the ones who created her. What can she do? Other than survive in the sunlight, Skinner keeps that a secret from Pearl — but he does leave her a gift — the handsome Hollywood actor who lured her to the vampires in the first place. The second story, written by Stephen King, is set in the last years of the Wild West. Notorious outlaw Skinner Sweet has been gunned down by the law — but only after contact with a vampire’s blood. Now Skinner’s in an uncomfortable spot for a vampire — buried underground, unable to get out — and a few years later, after the vampire businessmen dam up the river, under an extra 60 feet of water. How can even the undead survive a couple decades in those conditions?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Oh mercy, thumbs up. Both of the stories are wonderful horror romps, and as much fun as the first issue was, this second issue makes it clear that this series is gonna be a must-buy. Let’s talk art — Rafael Albuquerque adapts his familiar superhero style very well to the world of vampires — our first glimpses of Pearl and Skinner in full bloodsucker glory are just awesome. And the look of the artwork actually changes from the story in the ’20s to the one in the Old West, credit to both Albuquerque and colorist Dave McCaig.

B.P.R.D.: King of Fear #4

The King of Fear, a skull-faced, semi-mechanical, black-glowing wannabe-world conqueror, has Abe Sapien, Andrew Devon, and their team of B.P.R.D. operatives trapped underground, surrounded by frogs and proto-humans and giant robots, as the King makes his plans to destroy the world and present it, wrapped up in a bow, to Abe, who he sees as the next stage in the evolution of life. Meanwhile, Liz Sherman has been taken into a vision of the apocalyptic future by the ghost of Memnan Saa. Is there anyone left who can save everyone?

Verdict: I’m gonna have to thumbs this one down — and for a second issue in a row! As I’ve said before, this series has gone on for so long now that we need a lot more detailed recaps of what’s happening and who all the players are — and not just the heroes, but the villains, too. Other than that, the story seems straightforward and credible… or at least as far as I know, since I can’t remember who all the villains are…

Crossed: Family Values #1

Here’s a new series set in the “Crossed” universe, this time starting at the same time as the initial outbreak of the insanely homicidal super-virus. Our lead character now is Adaline Pratt, eldest daughter of a very large and very wealthy horse-ranching family. It seems like a fairly happy life — except that dad is an authoritarian rageoholic with a fondness for child abuse and molestation. So, ya know, not so much of an idyllic existence and more of a barely-suppressed domestic hell on the verge of exploding. And that’s even before the army of virus-driven psycho killers show up and try to kill everyone at the ranch…

Verdict: Ya know, I’m really not sure yet. I like Adaline as a character, but when the leader of the survivors is a moral monster like Joe Pratt, you’ve got the potential for a really deeply unpleasant story ahead of you. I’ll need another issue or two before I’ll be able to decide whether or not I want to deal with it.