The Killer; Batman 658; JLA 3; Green Lantern 14

The Killer
Matz-Luc Jacamon

The Killer is a french book that originally came out in 1998 which Archaia Studios Press(the people who put out Mouse Guard and a lot of other high quality stuff) has so kindly translated and brought across the pond to our greedy american comic grubbing digits. It's a cheap comparison to drop Le Samourai as a comparison, but I'll do it anyways, as this book and that movie are both excellent books about assassins who philosophize more than they kill.

The Killer has a really interesting style, that is obviously pretty much unlike anything you've seen in major american comics, so it's pretty cool to look at and a nice change of pace. The writing is hard to judge because it's a translation, but I'll give them a B+ because for the most part it was pretty good. The gist of what is being said is pretty spectacular though. There's a lot in here about how terrible the world is, and how awful man is to man--it's very political and drops many an ignored atrocity from world history, so it's definitely a thinking girl's book.

Towards the end of the book we see that our Killer's sanity is starting to slip, and presumably this is what is going to take up the bulk of the ten issues, is his internal battle with I assume sporatic bouts of violence. Perhaps another comparison to make would be The Professional--though the comparison there is more in terms of pacing. This is the type of book you maybe read on a rainy sunday, with some jazz in the background, maybe a nice drink. It's defintely worth tracking down month to month, but I imagine the experience of reading this as one whole, would be spectacular. But then again, it is kind of nice to have something like this every month for the next ten months.

But yeah, so this is issue 1, so you need to go track it down, because your jumping on point is now.

Batman 658
Grant Morrison-Andy Kubert

I know I've reviewed this series to death, but I love it so. Damian is such a cool character, and I am in love with this notion of Batman setting up a family with his baby's momma Talia, and teaching Damian the ropes of the world. It's time really. How many Robins do we need to cycle through? Batman has been alone for too long. I'm not saying you have to marry them either, though I wouldn't be opposed to it. But Talia and Damian just push all the right buttons for Batman. For one because Talia is kind of an equal to Batman. She can take care of herself. And Damian because he's powerful, but in desperate need for guidance. I just love the dynamics of it, and I hope Morrison decides to explore it further.

So count me in as Pro-Bat family. I mean, Batman has been technically doing this sort of thing anyways, why not have the ties be blood for once?

Apparently we're bringing the Joker back next issue, so we'll see how that goes. I still don't understand what is going on there. When I picked up this book Batman shot Joker in the face. So who knows what's going to happen there.

Oh. Did you know Batman has a rocket? Me neither. If it weren't Grant Morrison doing these things, they might come off as a little silly. But Morrison and Kubert make me buy the whole Batman having a rocket, having a kid, should settle in with his family.

Basically right now if it's got Grant Morrison's name on it, buy it. He's in top form these days.

JLA # 3
Brad Meltzer-Ed Benes

Every review of this book always points out that Meltzer is a New York Times best selling author. I wonder if every review of his book starts out "writer for DC Comics"? I should look into that. I hope so.

We get more character development with this issue, though there's a misconception being perpetuated that this book has no action in it, when it actually is fairly action intensive. There's like 3 major battles in this book, and it's only 20 some odd pages? So there's definitely action.

The cool thing about Meltzer's JLA is that we're getting beyond the main-list JLA people we all kind of associate without thinking for the the team and actually getting to some shine for slightly lesser knowns. Black Lightning for instance is shaping up into a kind of career resurgance reminiscent of Luke Cage under Bendis(am I making that comparison because both characters are black? Probably. Though neither character wears a costume, and though Black Lightning can shoot lighning he seems to prefer to punch people like Luke Cage, so who knows. But he could definitely become a star for the DCU, which is a good thing, because guys like Hal Jordan make the whole experience feel too aryan).

Black Canary kicks some but in this issue too.

The big three do some more voting. They seem to be having a really good time.

Good book, groundwork is being laid for a great book, so you really don't want to sleep on this title.

Green Lantern 14
Geoff Johns-Ivan Reis
I got this because I really like Geoff Johns. It was kind of against my better judgement because I've read Geoff Johns on Green Lantern, and it was...okay. I mean, the big problem is, I just don't really like Green Lantern. He has a cool power. But all of the guys who have been the main green lantern have come off as kind of flaky to me. Plus when the ring talks it makes me think of Iron Man's suit. And honestly Hal Jordan might as well be wearing a robotic suit. The guy just doesn't emote. Very much the square jawed hero with no fear that you've known to expect.

All in all the book is okay. If you are a fan of Green Lantern, in particular the Hal Jordan one, you might like(or you might hate it, I obviously don't "get" Green Lantern). But for the casual reader just looking for something to check out this week, you'd do far better to check out any of the other books I reviewed today.