Time to get out the 'recidivism' tag again!

I have not had a lot of interest in current Batman continuity, but I do hope DC keeps letting Kelley Jones do a limited series or two whenever he wants to. From 2019, Batman: Kings of Fear #6, "The Once and Future King" Written by Scott Peterson, art by Kelley Jones. 

Joining this series already in progress, the Scarecrow has finally managed to force a breakthrough out of Batman with his fear gas: has Batman helped Gotham City in the slightest? Would the city have been a better place if he never was? Sounds like the worst It's a Wonderful Life riff yet, Bats really should have got around to watching that. Although caught, the Scarecrow knows something happened, he might have gotten to him this time; but Batman isn't about to tell him.

Batman tells Gordon the Scarecrow has made him question some things; but Gordon advises him to consider the source, with a surprisingly heartfelt moment that he knows Batman probably ducked out of midway through. Batman takes Scarecrow back to Arkham, along with a guard that had been working with him but turned on him in the end: Bats appears to be giving him a second chance. He also bumps into a young doctor, who tells him he saved not only her once, but her husband: he had been a goon for the Riddler, but one meet-up with Batman put him on the straight-and-narrow, and he was able to make something of his life. She also advises that while the recidivism rate in Gotham was usually around 50%, for criminals stopped by Batman it was less than two. That two percent was largely Arkham inmates, the usual suspects, and just went to prove they were crazy.

After stopping a break-in with a stern look on his way home, Batman is more emotionally exhausted than anything when he gets back to the Batcave. Alfred doesn't mince words with him: if it came down to Bruce leading a happy, long life; and Gotham going up in flames, well, let it burn. He hates Batman--that Bruce has chosen to do that with his life--but still believes Batman has done good for the city. Otherwise, what was the point of everything they had been through? 

In fairly typical Bat-fashion, Bruce gets about two whole seconds to mull on that, before the radio announces a breakout at Blackgate. I had thought it was Arkham for a moment, since we do see the Joker briefly welcoming the Scarecrow back, and I could absolutely see the humor in him busting out after he figures Batman is home and about to go to bed... 

The argument hopefully hasn't come back to Twitter since posting this; that Batman should take all the money he puts into Bat-crap instead into making Gotham a more livable place to reduce crime. First, I don't think Bruce as that cash as liquid assets, a lot of his gear is embezzled. That and doesn't Bruce do all of that already; it's just that Gotham is so bad it still has crime?

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We saw Kelley Jones's creation the Hammer about a million years ago, so it's long past time we catch up with another from him: the 13th Son! From 2006, the 13th Son #4, story and art by Kelley Jones, colors by Michelle Madsen.

Hmm, the Hammer predates this book, but I don't believe I had heard of the 13th Son until I saw all four issues for cheap from Midtown Comics. The thirteenth son (duh) of a Puritan father and a thirteen-year-old bride (that's grosser than any of the monster kills in this series) the 13th Son had recently taken the hand of his own mother, who had long ago gone insane and become a witch. With his bride Sara (possibly not his first bride, but his most willing one) he's on the verge of having his own thirteenth son, who could be unstoppable by god, man, or monster.

Furious, his mother rallies the last of her strength, to send an army of monsters to the 13th Son's hidden lair: while controlled, the monsters also hate him for killing countless of their friends, family, and associates. Surrounded in a pair of cool-as-hell double-page spreads, the 13th Son isn't afraid of falling himself, but of losing Sara, who instead uses his mother's hand as a horrible claw to join in the fight! I don't think he was setting up the Kelleyverse--although he maybe should!--but the 13th Son falls into a bit of the same trap that the Hammer did: while the art is great, he's not the most likeable character out there. Still, Jones is always worth checking out. Read more!

Yeah, just climb around on that thing's corpse, that seems safe.

Despite its origins as a toy tie-in, this book tried to get away from the traditional (and hackneyed) space-opera; yet this issue's cover seems inspired by the "Space Jockey" from Alien. From 1985, Micronauts #11, "Failures of the Heart" Written by Peter B. Gillis, pencils by Kelley Jones, inks by Danny Bulanadi.

Attempting to breech the Spacewall separating them from their usual section of the Microverse, the 'Nauts had suffered a devasting loss the previous issue: confronted by a Time Traveler, Commander Rann had felt something amiss, evil about it, and ordered an attack. That failed, as the Time Traveler devastated the fleet of their allies, the alien Confluence. Marionette had been injured, her legs paralyzed; while Rann was left old, and seemingly broken. When the remaining Confluence make to return home, Rann asks to go with them, since he could not fight the Enigma Force. He wanted to spend his remaining days communing with the so-called Dreaming Star; which Mari thinks is him quitting on the team, her, life, everything. She's furious at Rann, but just didn't want to lose him.

Acroyear steps up in the aftermath of Rann's departure; conveniently in time for them to scan Acroyear ships on the other side of the Spacewall. His wife Cilicia and their people still were sore over the destruction of their homeworld Spartak in the war against Baron Karza, and considered him a traitor. Still, separated by the Spacewall, neither of them could do anything about it. The Acroyear people did still owe Mari an oath, so Cilicia agrees to aid them for that if nothing else; and advises of a massive structure on the Spacewall itself. Within it, Bug finds a massive corpse, and Huntaar uses his unusual (and somewhat disturbing) powers to let it speak through him: an advanced alien race, millenia ago, strove to breach the wall, but never could, eventually succumbing to genetic mutations and dying out.

Still, the station had built up power for centuries since, enough to breech the wall? Or enough for Acroyear to take a shot across the bow of the Acroyear fleet, to get their attention: he just wanted to ask Cilicia if she still loved him. Unfortunately, the shockwave from the Enigma Force catches up to them, damaging the alien station, and Acroyear is forced to make a final betrayal: using his royal command codes, to order the Acroyear fleet to retreat and avoid destruction. Still, knowing it was the right thing to do, Acroyear returns to the Micronauts; only for them to be confronted by Scion, who demands leadership of the team...!

I think the entire team had pretty severe PTSD at this point; although I don't think that was widely recognized as a thing at the time. Rann would return, and Scion would be a jerk for the rest of the run, but I think Acroyear would struggle to get a final bit of closure before the series wrapped and Marvel lost the rights to him.

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This issue just hits differently now. Or misses differently.

For starters, I know I'm not the only one that sees that cover and always wishes this issue featured the Question instead. From 1997, Batman #542, "Faceless, part one: Murdicide" Written by Doug Moench, pencils by Kelley Jones, inks by John Beatty. Hey, Doug Moench already used that title for an issue of Aztec Ace!

It may have taken a few years worth of issues, but in Gotham-time, Batman feels he has fully recovered from Bane breaking his back. But while he felt Batman was at the top of his game, where was Bruce Wayne? Even if Bruce was only a mask for the Batman, he still knew he didn't have the balance right, like an actor alternating between living in and overplaying a role. His time with Vesper Fairchild may put him back on his game, if he wants to keep up with the "glib radio host." He does have a line I didn't scan there, that I kind of hate; that finding his balance as Bruce would be "a lie which is somehow true..." (OK, that part's fine.) "As elusive as the Joker...but equally worth the chase." What? Maybe don't use serial killers in casual metaphors, Bats. "This is going to be as hard as catching the Joker, but just as important!" "Um, the Joker killed 37 people the last time he was out; but no, I'm sure rebuilding your fake rep is the same priority on our to-do list, sure."

Meanwhile, postal carrier Joseph Zedno gets the axe, his supervisor giving him two weeks notice, citing too many complaints about undelivered mail. It's not immediately clear if that was Zedno's fault, but as we follow him on his route, he begins the already-dated process of going postal, getting more and more irritable at his stops that ignore him or hassle him. Back at his house...there's a lot of undelivered mail, okay, it's his fault. Zedno is also cut, but considers himself a nobody, faceless...despite the tattoo that says "Some body," and all I can hear looking at that is Smash Mouth. (I'm definitely not a tattoo guy, but if you ever see Manhunter: the killer had a colossal dragon tattoo, that would've been exotic and expensive in the 80's; and old-hat frat work by the millenium. Faceless's ink was probably not especially innovative when he came out.) Between Cliff Clavin and the postal-stereotype, it feels like postal workers were on the low end of respectability; and would take a long time for them to get back. Yet the term 'going postal' feels barely earned: they averaged like two a year? There's waaaaaay more school shootings. 

Faceless begins a murder spree along his postal route (which, come on, even the cops in Gotham should be able to puzzle that one out...well, you'd think. Actually, in real life that would probably still take the cops a while, and they'd probably either arrest the wrong guy, or arrest the right guy then let him go, or something) disguising himself like a punk-rocker type to murder him. That's his M.O, to dress up as a caricature of the victim, then steal their faces, possibly as trophies...or masks. He leaves messages written in the victims' blood, but did plan ahead and coat his fingertips in nail polish to cover his prints. (Would that beat DNA? Would that be a test even for Batman in 1997?) Faceless also makes...it's not really a mistake, it feels like hubris; sending photos to Commissioner Gordon and Batman. How many rookie killers in Gotham have pulled that one? "Ha, ha, can't catch me--Batman! How did you find me?" Later on his route, he bumps into Vesper, and considers putting her on his list, but no: she wasn't on his route. This florist, though...

Also, Robin makes a rare-for-this-run appearance this issue...I'm not sure he was a favorite for either Moench or Jones, and Jones draws him like Aunt Harriet. I distinctly recall a friend outright guffawing at that page.

Oh, no, Batman is cancelled! Well, bound to happen, I suppose. This is a lesser-effort in this run, but I almost think it's intentional? While we aren't digging deeply into poor Vesper Fairchild here, I suspect using a, frankly, lesser villain here may have been done to give her a moment to shine, not overshadowed by a bigger name bad guy.

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I know it's Monday morning Jim, but geez.

The Genesis wave is a tsunami of depression pummeling earth--that's not the Genesis wave from Star Trek II, but from the crossover of the same name that was also a tsunami of depression. You might think that would barely move the needle of gloom in Gotham, but it's actually getting hit hard, in today's book: from 1997, Batman #547, "Dark Genesis" Written by Doug Moench, pencils by Kelley Jones, inks by John Beatty.

I make a bit of fun, but I liked this single crossover issue more than anything else I've read from that one: while Batman and Oracle know the cause of this crushing despair is external rather than internal, that doesn't make it any easier to fight. Batman convinces Oracle spreading the word might help some people, maybe, and rekindle some hope. She wishes she could get out of her chair and do something, before realizing she could reach the world from her keyboard. Also in a deep existential dilemma: Detective Bullock, since his beloved donut place is too down to make a fresh batch. It's an easy joke, but there's a little more to it: Verda Mae may be the only non-cop human interaction he has, and her donuts among the very few pleasures in Bullock's life. Well, OK, he enjoys a smoke and being a slob too, I guess. But when a hostage situation calls in, Bullock has to talk down a frightened, lost man; in part by admitting he feels it too. The only thing to do, is keep pushing. Bullock also delivers a surprisingly anti-gun turn: it's up to the reader if he really feels that, or if that was just a tactic; but it seems heartfelt.

While Batman saves a woman from almost attempting suicide, other cast members reach out to each other: Commissioner Gordon and Sarah Essen; Vesper Fairchild calls Wayne Manor but is just as happy to hear Alfred. Although things look their darkest, maybe if everyone tries we'll all get through. And maybe things aren't that dark, since "Next: the Penguin returns in 'Burning Faces'"

Fighting depression isn't as easy as this, but you're not alone: there is nothing wrong in feeling that way, or in taking any help you can. I'm almost positive I would've bought this issue back in '97, since I think Kelley Jones kept my interest here until the Cataclysm Bat-Quake crossover. Man, I think I bagged out on a lot of Bat-crossovers, even if I was regularly reading a couple of the books.

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His love interest was the bad guy? That never happens...oh, wait. Yes, it does.

Actually, both of his love interests might be acting up today. From 2009, Batman: Gotham After Midnight #11, written by Steve Niles, art by Kelley Jones.

This is the penultimate issue of this limited series, and the title has a double meaning: not just the city late at night, but the main villain of the piece is called Midnight. He wears a mask--hopefully that's a mask!--that looks like a horrible skull with long hair on the sides and bald on top, and also appears to have no nose? By this point in the story, Midnight had killed several people, including a cop Bats had been interested in; and controlled several villains to do his bidding: Man-Bat, Catwoman, Killer Croc, the Scarecrow, and Axeman. Axeman? I thought he might have been created for this series, but apparently he was from an old issue of Richard Dragon, Kung-Fu Fighter and Niles also used him in his Creeper reboot. (I'm fairly sure I have a quarter-bin copy of that, I'll have to keep an eye out.)

Midnight had juiced up the villains somehow, but Batman had figured out how to break the control and their augmentation; but they still fight him because they still hate him. Scarecrow seemed to be working closely with Midnight, having created a new toxin that causes not fear but hallucinations. For his trouble, Scarecrow seemingly gets his face caved in; and he, Man-Bat, Croc, and Axeman are captured. After pausing to try and get the toxin out of his system, Batman follows Midnight to a local landmark, the Van Tassel family windmill, dating back to 1761. Midnight wanted this fight, and still had the edge, as Batman hallucinates a vision of the late detective April. 'April' turns out to be Catwoman, there to get payback for Midnight controlling her, and she starts a fire that would burn down the windmill in minutes!

Catwoman then splits, leaving Batman forced to try and save Midnight, who catches alight--and unmasks to reveal April? Another hallucination...or is it? Midnight seems to burn more than the windmill, but refuses Batman's aid, saying all of Gotham should burn. "In the end, it's just tough love, Batman. I wonder if you have the heart for it?"

I haven't read all of this one, and I don't think it's as out there as Batman: Unseen, but Kelley Jones, man.
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Vacation week! Or, more stuff that doesn't really fit in the scanner.

Yep, I'm on vacation this week, but we'll take a little time to run down some things that either don't need a full-on write-up, or are too awkward or bound wrong to fit in the scanner.

For starters, John Byrne's photo-novel from last year, Star Trek Annual (2013), "Strange New Worlds" Without going too nuts in the photo manipulation, Byrne delivers a sequel to the classic episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before." It's not bad at all, although I can see how it might not be for everyone: some people are going to think photo-comics look weird.

Chris Roberson's novel X-Men: the Return uses a trope I'm pretty sick of: that humanity was solidly useless without alien intervention. In this case, the alien Kh'thon return to earth, claiming they had been there thousands of years ago, and created the X-gene that gives mutants powers. Still, the bulk of this book is the X-Men versus super-powered aliens and their terrible masters, so that's a point in its favor. It's Psylocke heavy, if that's a plus for you; from her pre-ninja assassin days. I liked it--it was a bit of a throwback to when the X-Men occasionally had adventures and weren't completely overwrought: they're facing what could be the end of the world, but it's not heavy like oppression or racism or anything.

Finally today, I have two Vampire Batman action figures, so why not another Vampire Batman trade? Batman: Vampire collects the three books from Doug Moench, Kelley Jones, John Beatty, and Malcolm Jones III: Red Rain, Bloodstorm, and Crimson Mist. Really need to sit down again with it; since I'm not positive I have or have even read Bloodstorm. Probably maybe? Well, we have it now, so...

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From Batman: Unseen, three looks into the Batcave.

For starters, this is to remind me I need #1 of Doug Moench and Kelley Jones's Batman: Unseen. It's a fun little mini-series with Batman tracking down a mad scientist turned invisible man. In passing, Black Mask is completely spanked; which is doubly unusual, since Batman comics seemed to have been building him up for a number of years, and the character was created by Doug Moench!

I just had to look up Jones's Batman: Gotham After Midnight series, which ran about a year before Unseen and was written by Steve Niles. I've read maybe three issues of that one, but now I'm wondering if the Batcave just looks crazier and crazier every time Jones draws it. Like the next scan, where Batman appears to have disassembled Robbie the Robot and turned him into a still:

Crazy. Not as crazy as the stuff Jones does with Batman's cape, though; especially when Bats spends the fifth issue mostly naked. You'd have to see it for yourself.

Moench does have an interesting little point going throughout the series: Batman is mildly concerned or annoyed that Gotham's criminals are acclimating to him. They're still scared of Bats, but not pants-fillingly terrified anymore; and Batman wonders if that's an edge he can regain.






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"He loves only clay" would be a crummy post title, but here we are.

So, we mentioned Joker's Asylum II: the Mad Hatter some time ago; but I picked up a fifty-cent copy of Joker's Asylum II: Clayface the other day. "Midnight Madness" Written by Kevin Shinick, art by Kelley Jones.

Like many readers, I was introduced to Basil Karlo in "The Mud Pack" beginning in Detective Comics #604 from Alan Grant and Norm Breyfogle. (That wasn't his first appearance, but since that was back in 1940, it may as well have been.) A former horror-film actor, Karlo now had full-on clay monster powers; and this issue, an entire revival theatre of clay and fans who didn't care if they lived or died.

The Joker has a pretty good chuckle at the headline "Clayface Kills at Box Office," and Jones' art does wonders for this story; but what I've seen of the Joker's Asylum stories don't seem to go quite far enough. And, since it's not entirely certain if these are in-continuity stories or entertaining lies spun by the Joker, I hope if there's another round of these sometime that kick it up a notch. Of course, since Joker's Asylum already done Joker, Penquin, Two-Face, and seven others; I wonder if the third wave would be down to Killer Moth, Calendar Man, Zsasz...(There are, of course, other decent Batman villains, but I firmly believe in the separation of Arkham and Blackgate inmates.)
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"The End" Week: Micronauts #59!

It's the last week of the year, and our second annual "The End" week! All this week, we'll be looking at a pile of last issues, further proof that I've ridden a lot of comics into the ground. (Seriously, if there's a mid-tier book that you like, you might want to avoid recommending it to me...)

Some of these are books that were cancelled, some may have merely run their course. Some may have come back or been relaunched, and some may be almost completely forgotten. First: Micronauts #59, "Homeworld" Written by Peter B. Gillis, pencils by Kelley Jones, inks by Bruce Patterson.

Now, this was the last issue of Micronauts as a direct market exclusive book, and it would be relaunched in short order as Micronauts: the New Voyages. (Which wasn't as good of a book, but that's another story...) But it was also the first issue with new writer Peter B. Gillis, and he was setting up a new direction for the characters. The war with Baron Karza, the Big Bad of the entire series to that point, ended with Karza's death, in creator Bill Mantlo's last issue, #58. Sure, Karza was dead, but so was the Micronauts' homeworld, and just about everyone they'd ever known or fought for.

(Strictly speaking, Homeworld wasn't Bug or Acroyear's home planet, but that's where the team was formed, and neither of them would be going back to their homes anyway.)

As they prepare to leave in their new ship, Endeavor II, they want to leave a memorial to Homeworld's people, and their new Biotron suggests a telepathic beacon. But none of them are sure what to say.

Biotron and Microtron were replacements for their previously lost roboids, and are trying to understand their masters. Watching a tape made by Commander Rann on his thousand-year voyage, they struggle with some of the terms; so they ask the Micronauts to define 'love,' 'fear,' 'beauty,' 'hope,' and 'death.' This gives the Micronauts the spark they needed, to leave their own tributes.

Although there's a few lighter moments in there (most of them, surprisingly, in Huntaar's story) this was a gloomy issue, and a pretty big change of pace from the action-adventure nature of the book up until then. It would be a little less bombastic from then on, a little more philosophical; perhaps a little too philosophical for a comic based off a bunch of toys. But not unlike ROM, once the Micronauts got rid of their main villain, the book never really recovered. (And Karza would return; the only thing that would finally kill him off for good was Marvel losing the rights to the Mego characters like Karza and Acroyear.)

The last week of the year is traditionally a down time for the comics blogosphere, but not here! We'll have at least two "The End" posts a day for the rest of the week! It's a festival of cancellation! Be here!
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Rainbow connection? No, Deadman connection.

It's funny, but I figure the vast majority of Batman fans probably would name a Neal Adams or Jim Aparo (or god forbid, a Jim Lee) as the artist they most associate with Bats. And for me, it's straight-up Norm Breyfogle or today's pick: Kelley Jones. From Batman #530, "The Deadman Connection, part one: Sweat of the Sun, Tears of the Moon." Written by Doug Moench, pencils by Kelley Jones, inks by John Beatty.

I wasn't going to do a full write-up on this issue, but I love Jones' crazy-long bat ears on Batman. It's artistic license, but the ears are longer than Batman's skull in some panels, and the cover for #530...hey! There were two covers for #530-532, since there were glow-in-the-dark versions as well, different than the others! (Presumably, direct sales had the gimmick, while newsstands got a separate, plain cover; although comic shops may have stocked both.) Let's slap that into the scanner and see how it turns out:


Hmm, not bad. My copies were in a box, so they aren't especially glowy right now, although that wouldn't show on a scan anyway.


Jones had previously done a Deadman prestige format two-issue series with Mike Baron; and I believe he was the first to draw the ghost as a dead man: instead of looking like a fit acrobat in a silly suit, Boston now looks like a desiccated corpse...in a silly suit. Batman even mentions it, although he's almost tactful about it: this issue, Moench takes a couple of liberties with Deadman. He appears as a ghost to Batman, by virtue of concentrating really hard; previously, Deadman was always invisible. Also, Deadman possesses a corpse for much of this storyline, something I don't think he's done before or since. (It doesn't matter, now that he's 'Aliveman' in Brightest Day...)

Back to Batman's ears for a second:

They're...floppy? That's something you don't see every day...
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If I built a robot Alien, I think I'd mark him, just for safety.

I was finally able to re-read a story I hadn't been able to put together in a while: Aliens: Hive, written by Jerry Prosser, art by Kelley Jones. I don't think I've ever had the first issue of it, but it was reprinted in Dark Horse International's Aliens Magazine (Volume 2, Number 1), which was a larger size and ended up in another box.

In Hive, a scientist dying of cancer and a thief put together a scheme to harvest the Aliens' royal jelly from a hive. (In the comics, the jelly is used as a drug with varying effects, the scientist uses it to relive his best memories in a timeless state.) The scientist had previously built an android ant, used to infiltrate and study ant hives and behaviors; and the thief reasons, why not an android Alien?

Although Kelley's art is the big draw, Prosser's story has more than a few surprises; something that's not easy in the Aliens mythos. Usually, there's a cast of several that are going to be picked off bit by bit, but not here. The one downside, and one that comes up in most of Dark Horse's Alien books: in revealing aspects of the Aliens biology and life cycle, they get less and less...alien. And what's true in one mini-series, may not be in the next one.


Plus, anytime there's an educational reference like the above to Diogenes, that's a good sign right there.
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Not the most outlandish explanation for $4 gas that I ever heard. I mean, 'supply and demand'? Who's even heard of that?

A little set-up on this one, from Kelley Jones' first The Hammer series: Isobel is a reincarnated witch, brought back by the Lovecraftian Old Ones and now leading a cult of thousands as a self-help guru. For this little get-together, she's already punched (!) through the face of one human sacrifice, but she explains a wee bit about why this lot is getting the business:

I think Steven Grant of Comic Book Resources Permanent Damage had a similar idea that he used in a writing exercise. Creepy.

A longer writeup on the Hammer is probably down the line, but scary stuff. Story and art by Kelley Jones, from the Hammer #3. Read more!

RE: Fun in the DC Universe. (And other things.)

I don't know if it's dead exactly, but it's been out for a while, and I'm not sure I see it coming back soon. That's a broad generalization over a bunch of varied books, but I don't think I've bought a regular, DC universe title on a monthly basis since Countdown to Infinite Crisis.

The worst part? If you have a good pile of Impulse, Flash, or older Teen Titans issues; you will probably stumble across a ton of panels just like J'onn's there, where the older hero or mentor laments how Bart's headed for an early grave unless he uses his head. All fun and games until it actually happens...

I scanned this one in, um, about a year ago, but now that's J'onn's allegedly dead, better throw it in now. That and I'm kinda tired...good news is, last week I bought Steve Niles and Kelley Jones' Batman: Gotham After Midnight, and it was a solid, straightforward story that doesn't expect me to buy or read anything other than the next issue. So, even though I'll be dodging the rest of the latest Crisis, there's a year's worth of comics.

From Adventures in the DC Universe #13, "Sometime in New York City" Written by Steve Vance, pencils by John DeLaney, inks by Ron Boyd.

This is supposedly still a comics blog, but I'm not sure I read any comics this week until today. Slow week for me: I picked up the last issue of the Abe Sapien mini and some quarter books. I bought the first issue of Wildcats 3.0 and the Brendan McCarthy Solo issue...again. I liked 'em both, but it was disappointing to realize, oh, yeah, that's in the basement somewhere.

I bought two back issues of Marvel's Lunatik, and hell, I may have had one of them before too. #3 has a Sienkiewicz cover, and #1 has the origin. Short form: every time you see the word 'Lunatik,' read 'Lobo.' (Issue #2 has an Avengers fight that's actually pretty entertaining, but I know I have that one...)

And lastly, I picked up three more issues of Kelley Jones' the Hammer. I need to re-read the first series and the Hammer's origin again, but if you're a fan of Lovecraftian horror, it's for you. The class in the panel above is at Miskatonic University, for example.

I've read most of the Hammer, and while it has it's moments, compare it to something like Hellboy and you see it's flaws: The Hammer isn't as personable. Although he's fighting to protect earth from the Old Ones, he takes a bit more of a long view/big picture approach, concerned with saving the world but not every little person on it. The book also doesn't have the oddball suppporting cast that Hellboy built up: the human characters in the Hammer are usually, in typical Lovecraftian fashion, doomed sad-sacks. The titular Outsider of this last mini-series is trying to save earth so the Old Ones don't come pouring through it to his world, but can't understand why earth's stupid primates aren't helping him, which leads to several murders.

Still. The art is moody and creepy and scary. And while it's often grim, the Hammer sticks to it's Lovecraft roots. I'll find the first ones some other time, and see if I change my mind. Panels from The Hammer: The Outsider #1, story and art by Kelley Jones. Read more!

You might recognize the artists, maybe even the setting, but probably not this book.
There's probably a Buddy Bradley in space joke there, somewhere, but I haven't read a lot of Peter Bagge's stuff.

On the other hand, from Mad to Groo, I've read a lot of Sergio Aragones' over the years. Hell, he co-wrote that Bat Lash limited series. Last issue of that comes out on Wednesday, and it's been solid: buy it or bury the comic book western...


Here's a Travis Charest panel, just to contrast some of the different art styles this one had. Further down on this page, there's a girl that is more indicative of Charest's style, instantly recognizable as his.

And Kelley Jones had been here already, in the limited series Aliens: Hive. I haven't paid full price for Batman comics in a dog's age, but his new limited series? Yeah, probably.

These were all panels from Aliens: Havoc. From the ad for the Alien trade paperback catalog in the first issue, Dark Horse had already put out at least thirteen trades by 1997. So, to shake things up a little, this one was a two-part jam series, with artists as diverse at Moebius, John Paul Leon, Jay Stephens, Mike Allred, Tony Millionaire...I could keep going, but you get the point, a boatload of artists. (And one writer, Mark Schultz!)

Moreover, the other artistic challenge was "the action in Havoc is always seen from an off-panel character's point of view." The notes in the first issue show a cut panel from Arthur Adams, since he had done a bird's-eye view, but was kind enough to redraw it. I figure if you nitpick your way through the whole series, you'll doubtless find a few slips; but the first read or two you'll be too busy checking out the art.

I think, although I may never be positive, that I bought these full-price off the racks; but I have a ton of Aliens books from the quarter-bins. Still, Havoc, Hive, and um, there was a sharp looking Kilian Plunkett one with a rather generic name like Infestation or something. Those three at least I can tell you are worth giving a look, if you've ever enjoyed an Aliens story.

I have a vague idea for an Aliens strip, but I don't know if it will pull together or not. Shoot, gotta finish up tomorrow's! Read more!