New Comics Reviews!

So, I was hoping to get these done sooner, but was too busy celebrating Detroit Comics' award (see below) to get them done 'til now. Anyhoo, without further ado:

This Week's Reviews!

Buck Rogers #0
This is a pretty standard teaser issue, but for a quarter, you could do a lot worse. While many people (or at least, older folks like us) will remember the 1980s tv show, this book shares little with it outside of name. Which isn't necessarily bad, given the old space suits.
In this issue we find ourselves with an older Buck Rogers, shot into the future, fighting giant amoebae from Ganymede, and sucked into some space vortex to parts unknown. Basically, classic sci-fi space thrills just like you want them. Everything here points to a solid start, and it’ll be interesting to see where they go with this. And it's far better for your teeth than that gumball you'd normally get with that quarter.

Detective Comics #853
Here we have the final send-off of Bruce Wayne, and what a fitting goodbye it is. Neil Gaiman’s strength has always been in bringing his characters to life (sometimes at the expense of the plot), and here he really delivers. This continues the wake from Batman #686; where the last issue focused on various (and varied) re-tellings of the death of Batman, this one focuses on Bruce himself, and acts as a reflection both of the character and the mythos of the Batman. Gaiman proves the perfect choice to handle this, and I can’t think of a writer who could have pulled it off better (although Grant Morrison’s Last Rites two-parter came close). Andy Kubert’s art is exceptional as well, particularly in the homage sequence at the end (I won’t give it away, but… yeah). And while the story does essentially make explicit what we all know anyway (the whole “death in comic books” bit), it is the tribute that Batman deserves. And as such, it earns this week's

Ignition City #2
The promising set-up of the first issue is continued in top fashion. With this issue, Mary Raven digs deeper into the mysterious death of her father, raising the ire of many of the locals, including his killer. Having established the world, Ellis gives us a taut mystery, almost a noir story and fills it with enough intrigue and unique characters to keep interest high. An excellent book.

Skrull Kill Krew #1
In the 1990s, Grant Morrison and Mark Millar created a series about a group of people who had super powers, and one job – kill off the alien Skrulls who were trying to surreptitiously take over the earth. There were about five people who read the series, and so it didn’t last very long. Having been one of those five, I was curious to see how Marvel would revive the not-very-high concept series, especially since it’s being written by Adam Felber, best known as one of the hosts of NPR’s Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me program. So, the question was too great to ignore: take a ridiculous concept, add a nerdy humorist, and what do you get?
After reading the first issue of the new Skrull Kill Krew series, I can say the result is hilarity. The issue flips between origin flashbacks – continuing the original series’ reference to an old Fantastic Four story as its base – and the current day, where SKK leader Ryder spends his days eating in diners, tracking down Skrulls, and picking up the girls he saves. Oh yeah, and killing the aforementioned Skrulls. This has the over-the-top black humor one would expect from the title, plus a twist which indicates there should be a decent story unfolding as well. So the next time someone calls you a highbrow snob when you say, “I heard on NPR…”, just remember these three words: Skrull Kill Krew.

That does it for this week. And remember, this blog brought to you by the store that even French Spider-Man swears by, Detroit Comics!