Batman: The Dark Knight No. 4
Thankfully competing writers resolve quarrels using their pens and wit opposed to duking it out in the ring. Because if on-going Batman writer Scott Snyder went up against The Dark Knight writer David Finch, it would be the literary equivalent of Mike Tyson fighting an infant.
Snyder's Batman is cunning, deep and brooding – pretty much everything that David Finch's Batman is not.
"Batman: The Dark Knight No. 4" attempts to place Bruce in the position of a man pushed to the edge of a crumbling world. An aging Alfred, battered Gordon and a failing Flash all depend on the Dark Knight's abilities to save them, and even with the stakes so high, Bruce is left to rise to the challenge or die trying.
Finch does well to set the stage for a quasi-Batman epic, but too little attention is given to the details and opposed to drawing out the consequences of failure Finch heavily-handily pushes through the comic haphazardly.
Readers and fans may stop to admire Bats forced to live on the edge of a knife, but lackluster plot-development and remedial character exploration will have many switching over to other Caped Crusader story-arcs.
Finch leaves readers and critics alike to question "if the Dark Knight strikes and no one is around to read about it, does anyone care?"
X-Men Legacy No. 260
For all its subtle nuances, explosive arguments, and fond farewells, Marvel's Schism story arc has been downright spectacular. If all of this year's X-Men emotion could be boiled into a single issue, "X-Men Legacy No. 260" would be it.
Mike Carey's era-ending final issue, in a lot of ways, symbolizes the tremendous strain placed on the team after Scott Summers and Logan divided the X-camp. Early in Schism's issues, lines were drawn in the sand and, at last, the one true neutral party, Rogue, has found her place – a fitting conclusion for a historically nomadic character.
Carey, joined by his exceptional art team, created an endearing work with the issue, and while it lacks the explosive plots of earlier issues, serves as an ideal bookend for the author to graciously walk off stage with. It does warrant mentioning that the gratuitous fan-service and overtly drawn-out nature of the issue may not please every ink-laden palette, but longtime readers should be pleased with the comic's almost tear-jerking conclusion.
As 2011 comes to a close, so too does one of the greatest chapters in X-Men history, but as one door closes a brand new on-going story, in the form of Kieron Gillen's Uncanny X-Men, is born, completing the circle and placing the mutants at the top of every reader's 2012 must-own issues.
Uncharted No. 2
At this point there's not much left that the Uncharted series hasn't explored. In the past five years alone, developer Naughty Dog created a blockbuster trilogy, won numerous 2009 Game of the Year awards, and managed to create a universe as expansive and intriguing as Spielberg's classic, Indiana Jones.
So when comic scribe Joshua Williamson approached the studio with the premise for an exclusive six-issue run with DC, the answer was most likely an emphatic "yes."
Taking place years before the events of the first game, the series follows Drake and his treasure-hunting cohort, Sullivan, in their quest to uncover the mysterious "Amber Room." But if Drake's future experiences are any indication, heists and discoveries are never without an antagonist out for Drake's blood.
Williamson's plot is actually very well composed. He manages to make a comic that is both true to form and enthralling enough to entertain those gamers easing into unfamiliar territory. Drake is written both as a suave smooth-talker and deviant thief in perfect amounts, and while Sullivan makes comical quips from time to time, intelligently Williamson decided to keep the action in the Uncharted universe revolving around its brightest star.
Fans of the series will find a lot to love in Williamson's completely original plot, but apart from the fan base, Uncharted's chest of literary gold may be nothing more than an old wives' tale.
Email: arts@ubspectrum.com
