Buying comics shouldn’t be so darned complicated!  Or maybe it should be.  Maybe therein lies the worth.

• Saga #13 (Read it!  This thirteenth impression’s a pretty damn good one, proving that, yes, even after a few months off, this baby–despite its modesty, this “sacred text”–has still got legs.)
• Suicide Squad #23 (Read it!  Really, really not good.  Ales Kot–scribe of the magnificent mindf___ Change–clearly wasn’t suited for the book.  But that’s OK: he’s got a couple of promising books in the Image pipeline; and Matt Kindt, who’s got even more irons in the fire, is the new god of the Squad.  Can’t wait to see how that pans out.)
• East of West #5 (Read it!  Hickman’s hitting the “Wow!” button and making it look easy!  Some writers out there should be taking notes.)

East of West #5

• Breath of Bones: A Tale of the Golem #3 (Read it!  It was OK; I mean, it certainly is what I was hoping for from the get-go: the golem finally kicks some serious Nazi hintern.  But, in the end, I was left a bit flat–kind of like my own hintern–perhaps because the grandfather, who was the source of most of the emotional punch, is replaced by the brutish golem, whose punch is of a more physical sort.  Wait a sec.  Hmm.  Suddenly I ain’t feelin’ so flat anymore.  Clever, Mr. Niles.  Very clever.)
• Batman #23 (Read it!  Starts off well enough–very well, in concept, anyway.  Execution-wise, it’s a bit clunky.  This is supposed to be the moment in Bruce’s life; instead, it feels like a moment–one that’s not nearly the same caliber as Red Hood’s gun.  As the story crawls its way toward Bruce’s Batpiphany, Snyder struggles with drawing out the psychological side of the journey.  In fact, he would’ve been better off letting Capullo carry it through to the end without the weight of his burdensome words.  That would’ve been something.)

Batman #23

• Uncanny X-Men #10 (Read it!  Gonna be honest: I liked it.  Oh, how I’ve longed to say it!  I want to say it again: I liked it!  I especially enjoyed Frazer Irving’s work this time around; it’s the first time he’s left me feeling like he owns the characters.)

Uncanny X-Men #10

• Deathmatch #8 (Read it!  Two monster matches!  Each fight hits the right notes, reaching the height of harmony between the physical and the psychological.  Plenty brutal, sure; but emotionally engaging, as well.)

Deathmatch #8

• Lost Vegas #4 (Read it!  A satisfying conclusion.)
• Ghosted #2 (Read it!  Not bad.  Feels a lot like Revival.  I’ll try another.)
• Mind the Gap #12 (Read it!  A really good read.  Like the issues come before, this one peels back another layer and brings, however briefly, a feeling of satisfaction–of “almost there.”  Thing is, it’s all a tease: we’re dealing with a “one step forward, two steps back” narrative; and wouldn’t you know, as frustrating as it is, the experience is all the better for the strategy.  Kudos to Mr. McCann–for effing with our minds and making it feel oh so good!)
• Harbinger #15 (Read it!  Sneaky, sneaky.  Dysart sets a trap early on with the title–“Perfect Day”–and a general feeling of frivolousness, and then he springs it with a crazy ending.  My only wish: that the final page followed a page turn.  That would’ve delivered a bigger punch.  And as it turns, Kitson’s art isn’t much of a drag here as it was on Bloodshot.  See, folks: I can be fair, after all.)

Harbinger #15

• Archer & Armstrong #12 (Read it!  As solid as always.  Fred Van Lente’s got it down to a science, and Pere Perez’s art is the perfect complement.)
• The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys #3 (Read it!  An odd experience.  Feels scattered and tidy all at the same time.  Not sure how much value there is in this story or in the storytelling, but I’m going to ride it out, nevertheless; it’s only a six issue series, for goodness sake.)
• Six-Gun Gorilla #3 (Read it!  So good.  Spurrier adds another dimension as he builds upon Blue’s background as a librarian: in doing so, he joins Saga‘s Vaughan by plowing into the power of fiction.  Monkey bar raised yet again!)

Turning pages,

Scott