Detective Comics No. 875
As a character that never seems to get his share of the limelight, Police Commissioner Gordon has a past just as mangled and deranged as the Caped Crusader.
"Detective Comics No. 875" writer Scott Snyder takes readers on a journey down the streets of Gotham in a way that is absolutely bone-chilling; without a doubt, it will shake them down to their very cores.
The Commish reached his position seeing some of the most heinous crimes ever committed, but as he reflects upon his own shortcomings, Snyder pries open the cover to the super cop's darkest memories.
Somehow, between the captivating plot and eerie character development, Snyder manages to slip in a half-decent mystery. What makes the mystery worth figuring out is that readers can only speculate as to what Snyder was inferring in his dark script.
This issue is worth its weight in ink, as comics that delve into character exploration of Gotham's second-best peacekeeper are hard to come by, and ones that are extremely well-done are even harder to find.
The mystery of buying this comic is a standard open-and-shut case.
Secret Avengers No. 11
Nazis, the occult, and fourth-dimensional experiences – on their own, they represent the vast majority of Captain America comics, but together, they represent a rather entertaining story of a super soldier gone M.I.A.
John Steele has emerged from the trenches of the Marvel universe as the U.S.'s first successful experiment with the prototype serum, although the character lacks the heroic finesse of his World War II counterpart. While Steele is lacking in the character development department, Ed Brubaker, the issue's penman, and Will Conrad, the newest addition to the art team, find a real rhythm and produce a solid comic.
While much of Steele's shady past has yet to be revealed, Brubaker is working hard to progress the series while adding in his own personal flair.
"Secret Avengers No. 11" follows Captain America and Steele on a mission to discover the Führer's secret experimental occult research. As this is all merely a memory, it falls upon the giant blue brain of Beast to negotiate state-of-the-art technology to link up the hero's unconscious thoughts of past escapades.
The ink in this issue is super-saturated to the point that the comic manages to entertain visually as well as mentally.
While this is not the highest tower in Cap's literary castle, it certainly is not the dungeons.
Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters No. 1
Just as international aid has begun to help many rebuild their homes after the earthquake that shook the nation, Japan now faces another threat: GODZILLA.
IDW has fallen flat on its face numerous times in taking on the ink-and-panel interpretation of many beloved cult movies, yet this issue proves that the company can still deliver once in an atomic moon.
Dialogue in Godzilla is laughable, the artwork is anything but groundbreaking, and the issue barely spans 20 pages, yet somehow, it manages to capture every nuance of a poorly dubbed Japanese film.
Godzilla, should, in all respects, be nothing more than a pile of oversized, radioactive lizard fecal matter, but it instead embraces the waste that it is and turns that into earnest humor.
The writing duo of Eric Powell and Tracy Marsh may have written this entire issue in less than a few hours, as most of the comic's dialogue seems to be more of an afterthought than anything else. Similarly, the art of Phil Hester looks rushed and lacking in detail.
All of this plays into the humor of the issue; it's an atrocious monster that has risen from the ocean depths to besiege the comic world; it's GODZILLA.
