REVIEW :: A Mixed Bag Of Comics

Instead of just reviewing one comic book this week, I wanted to take some time to recommend a few different titles:

Dark Reign: Hawkeye No. 1 — A few reviews ago, I talked about how I liked my comic book villains “bad” — not misunderstood monsters or anti-heroes. Well, I guess writer Andy Diggle and I are on the same page because his Dark Reign: Hawkeye limited series chronicles the adventures of the gleefully villainous Bullseye (who’s currently dressed as Hawkeye). Diggle pulls out the stops to show Bullseye committing a bunch of atrocities on innocent and not-so-innocent bystanders — the results are both heinous and hilarious.

Superman: World of New Krypton No. 2 — I’m fairly engrossed with Superman: World of New Krypton. The latest and second issue, written by Greg Rucka and James Robinson with art by Pete Woods, is a little thick on the subject of Kryptonian culture, but there are enough mysteries percolating about the storyline to keep my interested. And I must admit, I appreciate the hole Rucka and Robinson are digging for Clark; if the creative team keeps going on this path, I’ll more than likely stick around to see how everything gets resolved.

Batman: Battle for the Cowl No. 2 — The only reason I’m reading this limited series is to find out who becomes the new Batman. Based on the way things are rolling — and from reading Previews and a few comic news websites — I think I have it figured out. So, basically, I want to see if I’m right. Is the story or art in this comic any good? The art has its good and bad moments, and the writing, by Tony Daniel, is good enough to make me stick around to the last issue of this three-part series.

Destroyer No. 1 — I’ve already said how much I love Robert Kirkman’s writing in this space and his work in this Marvel/Max limited series doesn’t disappoint. The art, by Cory Walker, is on-point as well. Both the drawing and the writing is crafted with such economy — Kirkman using the least number of words and Walker using the least number of lines — that everything comes across effortlessly.