BATMAN/SUPERMAN #16 DC COMICS
What can I say about a book that throws everything and the kitchen sink? With old school versions of our heroes? With new/old villains? With two stories literally being told on the same page (one above/one below)? I haven’t seen that gimmick since that Zero Hour issue of Green Arrow back in the 90’s! It’s almost like writer Gene Luen Yang has something to prove and has pulled poor Iven Reis into this vision. But no matter what else you have to say, you must admit that this creative teams PULLS IT OFF! Almost Golden Age versions of the World’s Finest team (Yes, I’m including Robin) is spectacular! The Unknown Wizard! A Luthor claiming the theft of his brilliance! That Batmobile! The Spider Lady from the old Superman series! The whole story being told through dueling rolls of film! Simply brilliant! This one hits all the right Golden Age buttons. This is what DC should be focasing on! 10 out of 10 Grahams!
STRAY DOGS #1 IMAGE COMICS
Horrible, horrible, horrible spoilers here! This is your only warning! Turn back now! Ok, are we good here? Fine, lets begin. Holy S&$^ Jim! When I asked my friend Jim for a book he’d recommend for a review, he pointed out this little independant. However, this week is issue #2 so he ran in back to get me a copy of the 2nd printing of issue #1 so I could get caught up. Do I like Don Bluth animation? he asks me. After a brief (and I mean brief!) explination of the story, I confirm that this isn’t going to go all weird on me? I should never have believed Jim! He was telling the truth about one thing though, Artist Trish Forstner’s style is incredibly Don Bluth animation-y. It is very well done and looks like it just came off a Disney storyboard. But I assure you that Disney could not touch this!
Like any good mystery, we are given a series of dog facts that will play into the story as we go along. One of these facts leads into an interesting plot device as dog’s short term memories are not very good. Which causes our main characters to have to restart parts of their investigations. And issue one introduces us to Sophie and askes the question why is she at the rescue house for strays. And when a random memory pops into her head all hell breaks loose! (To be continued…)
STRAY DOGS #2 IMAGE COMICS
So as I was saying, all hell breaks loose! *SPOILERS ON THE WAY!* Because Sophie realizes and tells dog gang leader and all around nice dog Rusty that the owner of the home killed her old mistress and brought her back to his house to live! Talk about going severely south in a moment’s notice! When you have a wonderfully animated dog uttering lines about murder and trying to find proof, it messes with your head! And herein lies my dilema. This is by far one of the creepiest books I have read in a while. But I think that’s writer Tony Fleecs goal here. He has crafted an intriguing mystery story that keeps you interested. But by making the character’s so cute and adorable, it just goes completely off the rails and actually shocks you. And by the end of issue two, we may have coupled together another victim and her dog. Or have we? Sure, much of the evidence presented to us so far screams that the owner of the shelter is guilty as sin, there still is no official proof. And so while being completely unnerved by this title, I can’t help but like it for a solid story, an interesting mystery, and some really well done art. I give both issues one and two an 8 out of 10 Grahams. 