It's like Pixar's Up, except set during No Man's Land!

Gotham was recently renewed for a fifth and final season; and the season finale is setting up No Man's Land, since the show's goal seems to have been to burn through as many Batman plotlines as they possibly can before Bruce Wayne even puts on the cowl. But I picked this issue out of the quarter bin based on the artist, not the event: from 1999, Batman: Shadow of the Bat #86, "Home Sweet Home" Written by Lisa Klink, art by Guy Davis.

Even though large chunks of the city have been wrecked by the Bat-quake and the ongoing turf wars, a pleasant little house still stands; home of Sergeant William S. Riley, known to the neighborhood as Sarge. After the war, he had built that house and lived there with his wife for many years, and although they had never been able to have children of their own, they befriended local kids and had a good life. Now alone, Sarge wasn't about to give up his home, even when confronted by Zsasz.

While Sarge is forced to give 'tribute' to Zsasz, he's not dumb enough to have all his stuff out in the open, and had stockpiled enough in his bomb shelter to still help out his neighbors. Still, the area changes hands several times just over the course of this issue, with the Joker ultimately taking charge, "elected mayor of this little community, by a majority of one."

This wasn't the first bad bit of business Sarge had seen, and it's implied it probably won't be the last; but at least he'll be there to face it, at home. I have to wonder if that house is still there now...Also, the GCD entry makes a point of it: Batman doesn't appear this issue. Batgirl (Cassandra) makes a brief appearance defending the neighborhood, but that's about it.
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I'll be avoiding Prometheus spoilers for another week or two...

...since I probably won't go see Prometheus for another week or two. Although, you could probably make a pretty solid guess that everyone on that ship is so dead. But, instead of speculating about that, let's take a quick look at Alien: Survival, a three-issue miniseries from 1998 written by James Vance, art by Guy Davis, covers by Tony Harris.

Feverish, halluncinating, and trapped in an escape pod; Thompson tries to piece together what happened to him. And his family. And the research party they were a part of, before being attacked by the xenomorphs. The pieces don't all fall into place until near the end, since there are several nightmares, pieces of wishful thinking, willful self-deception, and corporate double-cross to sort through.

As with a lot of Aliens comics, the story is good, but the art really makes it. I think this was Guy Davis post-Sandman Mystery Theatre, but before his run on B.P.R.D. Solid. Have a good weekend, and don't spoil anything!


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No animals were harmed during this post. Really, this time.

I had a pretty good run of Sandman Mystery Theatre at one point, but I think I sold it before a move. And of course, now I wish I hadn't. Recently, I've run across more than a couple batches of that series in the quarter bins, and while tempting, it usually (maybe even always?) ran in four-issue arcs, and is too hard to put together. I could pull ten issues for $2.50 right now, but none in order! Somehow, they would all be part three of four. Like this one!


This copy of Sandman Mystery Theatre #3 is in pretty bad shape, but still not a bad read. Wesley Dodds, the titular Sandman, is pretty new to the mystery-man game; and has only recently just met his future wife Dian. Their relationship is a big part of the book, along with some frankly grisly crimes, and great art by Guy Davis, who would go on to draw the hell out of B.P.R.D. This issue was written by Matt Wagner, with a photo-cover by Gavin Wilson.

This will make me sound like a bad comics fan, but I've never read all of Gaiman's Sandman. Wes is usually the Sandman I think of first, and although I know I've read Justice League of America and Justice Society issues with him, they were always of him as an enfeebled old man: this series is what gives him his due. Most of Sandman Mystery Theatre appears to be in trade, but I'm not sure about all of it.

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