Batman #53
DC Comics
Written by Tom King
Art by Lee Weeks
Colors by Elizabeth Breitweiser
Letters by Clayton Cowles
Cover by Weeks and Breitweiser
The trial of Mr. Freeze wraps up in this issue. Bruce Wayne explains his experience with faith in God and the Batman to his jury peers. King’s exposition serves to give testimony to Bruce’s purpose for life in and out of the Bat-suit. It is an intriguing essay on trust in God. It may not seem that such a literary theme would work well in a Batman comic book. We disagree. While to be sure, there is very little “action”, besides a walk to the water cooler, the issue on the whole flows from what has come before in this arc and brings it to satisfying conclusion. In terms of the overall opus of King’s Batman, there is some feeling of losing steam or focus that may come from this arc. While Batman is dealing with the raw emotions that are causing him pain, and these issues are beautifully drawn by Lee Weeks, it definitely feels like someone has hit the breaks hard, and the story hasn’t gotten back up to cruising speed just yet. We, however, have more faith in King than Bruce has in Batman that the culmination of this long form-story will be excellent.
Extermination #1
Marvel Comics
Written by Ed Brison
Art by Pepe Larraz
Colors by Marte Garcia
Letters by Joe Sabino
Cover by Mark Brooks
Well, There will be deaths!!! Ed Brison has started what is promising to be a excellent and important mini-series with this issue. Let’s get it out of the way that Pepe Larraz does a really fantastic job on the art in this book. The way that the story is laid out visually is amazing and just damn gorgeous. Also Mark Brooks’ cover should be hanging in a museum. On a personal note, the original five X-Men have always been a favorite grouping of ours. However, the group of time-displaced young X-Men have always been something I thought to be a problem. We learn in the epilogue essay that Marvel editors and writers were posed with question of “What do we do with these kids?” My response would have been “Finally!” That being said, here we are with the initial issue into what Marvel has suggested is the solution to fixing the time-displaced O5 X-Men. It is wonderful. It is tragic. It is immediately thrilling. There is a sense of real gravity to what is happening in this book. We are even more excited to get the next issue to see what happens next than we are to see the next gorgeous Mark Brooks cover, and that is saying quite a lot.
Justice League #6
DC Comics
Written by Scott Snyder
Art by Jorge JImenez
Colors by Alejandro Sanchez
Letters by Tom Napolitano
Cover by Jimenez and Sanchez
This is a good issue. If you come for the quick answer, there you have it. If you are looking for more, stick around. This is a series that we want to love. It has been difficult to do that. There have been good and bad up to this point. This particular issue, goes a long way in beginning to wrap all the storyline together in a solid way. The league arrives at a set of goals and work together to try to save the world. Jorge Jimenez is simply outstanding on the art in this issue. Snyder’s storytelling is some of the best he has done in this series to date. There are some character altering events that are happening in this story and it will be interesting to see how the resolution allows that to fit in to the rest of the DC Universe. As a closing note, the last page to this comic is something to behold.
The Magic Order #3
Image Comics
Written by Mark Millar
Art by Olivier Coipel
Colors by Dave Stewart
Letters by Pete Doherty
Cover Art by Coipel
This is the best Mark Millar original that we have read in some time. That is not a sentence that comes without weight. Millar is prolific in the field of producing quality original comic stories. The Magic Order is full of high stakes suspense that delivers massively important results. Coipel is at his finest here. There is a roughness to the art that serves to further the character of the world this story takes place in. It is a departure from the majesty imbued in other works by the artist, such as his work on Thor, but that is not a bad thing. The story itself is certainly picking up the pace, and it seems that a hero will soon emerge. What form the hero takes is what makes this book so good and intriguing. This is not the magical world of Harry Potter, or even the Unwritten. This is a dangerous world of magic and treachery hiding in plain sight. It is a good story. Feel free to pick it up, you won’t be disappointed.
