Devon Vs. His Comics

TRINITY #1

I'm intrigued. Superman, Wonder Woman & Batman hugging it out on a weekly basis, while a trinity of super-villains tries to kill them, sounds like it could be fun. While I wasn't blown away, I can easily see where this is headed and well... it's enough to make me wanna stay. Under Busiek and Bagley, the guys who brought you the highly under-rated Thunderbolts series, I really don't see how this book could go wrong.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #561

See? This is what I want more of from Spidey. Tight plotting, new villains, old friends and more writing from Dan Slott and gorgeous art from Marcos Martin. Give me that and I'm picking this book up on the regular.

DETECTIVE COMICS #845

It's like Detective Comics writer Paul Dini is making comics specifically with me in mind.

Paul: "Hey, Devon! Wanna read a detective story with Batman, a chimp and The Riddler in a chatroom?"

Me: "Hell, yeah!"

Paul: "Done."

JONAH HEX #32

I'd been thinking of dropping this book. I don't know where it happened but this book just became downright ugly. The thing that worked in Jonah Hex's favor was that, at heart, he was a good man. Not so much these days. Lately, he's been blind-stinking drunk and killing whoever shows up in a cheesy mustache. This issue had all of that but it was a welcome return to earlier form. This issue finds Hex in Mexico, where beautiful women fall in love with matadors and pay a high price for doing so. Tons of dark humour in this issue written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray and the art by semi-regular artist Jordi Bernet is simply stunning in its deceptive simplicity.

NIGHTWING #145

If there's anything more fun in a comic panel of Batman, Robin & Nightwing running towards The Batmobile while Alfred looks on, I haven't seen it. Talia al Ghul, daughter of Ra's and mother of Batman's son, Damien is systematically trying to build an army of super-powered assassins, like all mothers in blended families do. Standing in her way, Nightwing, the adopted son of her ex-lover. God, don't you just love DCU family dynamics?

MANHUNTER #31

Put this image in your head: Ben, in the background singing falsetto, "Baby, I love you..."

Me, in my rich baritone: "Girl, where you been?"

Ben: "Baby, I missed you..." (Does a little twirl)

Me: "You've been gone way too long. There've been others but no one could take the place of you."

Ben: "Whoooo-OOOOOOW!!!! OOOOoooo...."

Me: "Other men tried (Dan DiDio) to take your love from me, but a love like this is eternal..."

Ben: "Eternal, baby. Eternal. Wanna do it all night long..."

Me: "and only gets better when you showed up with that little Latin kid."

Ben: "I... can't be here." (Walks off)

Me (Chasing after Ben) : "Dammit, Ben. I... I... was talking about the last page of Manhunter #31. Read it. Seriously."

It smartly starts you off with a recap of who she is and what she does, who she knows within The DC Universe and jumps right into a plot involving the disappearances of young girls on the Mexican border. Writer Marc Andreyko provides whip-smart dialogue and the promise of kick-ass with a severed head and a note in a box. The last page will make the internet squeal with glee. Artist Michael Gaydos is the perfect choice for the Manhunter, providing dark moody artwork that flows flawlessly in whichever direction, quiet moments or action sequences, the story goes.

Manhunter #31 makes me happy to be a reader of comics. How else would I have found you, girl?