THE WEEK IN COMICS: JAN. 24

Yes, it's time to start another regular feature there is no guarantee I will stick with! But after my brief hiccup where I was in doubt of my love for comics again, I'm ready to talk about in on a regular basis. It's the most into comics I've been since 2000 and I'm really enjoying that fact.

Another issue of 52 did come out this week; I'm going to wait until after next week's issue (which will be #39) and do a big catchup post on the series as a whole, since it is a vaguely consistent feature I've been doing...well, I've written about every issue at least.

The second comic I read this week was Criminal #4. This is a new series from Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, who last worked together on Sleeper from Wildstorm (I still need to buy/read the last collection of that series, which is criminal in its own right). The first arc is a heist story gone wrong told mostly from the point of view of Leo, who is deemed a "coward" by many in the business. This is the fourth of five parts and I don't want to say too much about it. I would recommend you look out for the upcoming trade of the series. Phillips is one of my favorite artists and Brubaker knows his way around these types of tales.

Next up was Checkmate #10, the third and final part of the "Pawn 502" story, where in a Checkmate operative tries to infiltrate the crime (and religious) organization, Kobra. The politics and espionage of the series are mixed with magic in this issue via the presence of Shadowpact (who also star in their own book). Again, I don't want to say much about the plot particulars but I will say that Greg Rucka knows how to do these kinds of stories. This is a series I had been debating giving up before this arc began; now I'm not going anywhere.

The Spirit #2 continues the reintroduction of the classic Will Eisner character. This revival is being overseen by Darwyn Cooke, who is easily one of the most talented artist working in the industry today. Cooke is writing and drawing the book, with inks by J. Bone (whom I was lucky to have drawn one of my stories). This issue features one of the original femme fatales, P'Gell. She seeks her revenge on Prince Farouk of Karifistan; the Spirit tries to both stop and protect her. Lots of fun and full of fantastic art.

Finally, I decided to pick up Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #26. Long-time readers of this blog may recall the Legion are my favorite group of super-heroes and responsible for the beginning of my love for comics. However, I have stayed away from this latest reboot of the franhcise for the last 2+ years; I weathered a previous reboot but had no heart to start all over again again. Well, the teaser at the end of Justice Society of America #1 gave me reason to believe some of "my" Legion might be making a comeback and I know an upcoming trade of the series ends with #25, so I thought this might be a good point to check it out. This is not the start of a new story and I was a bit lost and frustrated at first. Over the course of the issue, though, the story clicked with me and while I wasn't blown away I was sufficiently intrigued enough to pick up the next issue. So, tune in next month to see how the series sits with me after the next one.

And tune in again next week!