SUPER DINOSAUR #1

Robert Kirkman's books have all been pretty pedestrian. If Invincible and The Walking Dead hadn't lasted so long, would he still be such a famous writer? Maybe I enjoy his work because they're pedestrian. His books aren't obtuse like Grant Morrison or some of Alan Moore's stuff. Kirkman feels to me like a regular comic book fan writing a comic book. Sure, it's simplistic and by-the-numbers, but it's entertaining, often thrilling, and he has a knack for good cliffhangers. This is his newest book, a book aimed at kids, about a boy superhero, his scientist father, and his sidekick dinosaur. The plot has this trio fighting a rogue faction of dinosaurs and an evil scientist. It's fun, action packed, and nothing new at all (it actually resembles Invincible a little too much; a superhero kid with father issues that works alongside the U.S. government). The art is by Jason Howard, the dude that did a fantastic job drawing The Astounding Wolf-Man. It's good, clean fun. **1/2

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: THE GRIM HUNT

Borders is bankrupt. I bet one reason is that the rent on their stores is probably astronomical because they're fucking huge. People haven't read books in great numbers for a hundred years so it's not a surprise that a book store is broke and closing a bunch of stores. The cleaned-out graphic novel section was half-off at one of the closing stores and I hadn't read "The Grim Hunt" when it came out last year so I bought it. Spider-Man is a great character with great villains but lately his books haven't been that great (even Ultimate Spider-Man has grown awful with the return of artist Mark Bagley and the "Death of Spider-Man" storyline). "The Grim Hunt," which brought back Kraven the Hunter, was a terrible decision. Kraven was a hunter who got bored and started hunting man and eventually Spider-Man. Kraven eventually thought he killed Spider-Man and then shot himself in the head. Great ending...why is he back? I suppose if he came back in a thrilling, jaw-droppingly cool story I might be okay with it...but "The Grim Hunt" is a disaster. Kraven's wife and daughter concoct some plan that brings Kraven back to life. The Kravinoff family attempts to kill off all of the super-hero "spiders" that include Peter Parker's clone, Madame Webb, Arachne, Arana, and Mattie Franklin (all characters I've never heard of). The rest of the four-part story makes no sense at all. Spider-Man is killed but it turns out to not be Spider-Man. Animals start running loose in the streets of New York City. Spider-Man dons his black costume for no real good reason and then the Kravinoff family just disappears after a short fight. The art by Michael Lark is dark and effective and the covers are great but the actual plot is incomprehensible, dull, and pointless. The co-story that was a back-up in the original issues is even worse. Reading this makes me sad for comics. *

DETECTIVE COMICS #875

Commissioner Gordon's son might or might not be a serial killer but we do realize that his son is creepy, weird, and fucked up in the head. This issue focuses on a serial killer case fifteen years ago known as the Peter Pan killings. One of the dead children may have been killed by Gordon's son. His son returned to Gotham and these old mysteries well up to the service. This is a good issue because it has some weight to it; this isn't a typical Batman fighting dudes in costumes robbing banks issue. It does seem that Commissioner Gordon has been royally screwed over the years, hasn't he? Didn't The Joker kill one of his wives? And we all remember Alan Moore's The Killing Joke which featured Gordon getting the ultimate mind fuck. Writer Scott Snyder, who also writes American Vampire, has so far had an interesting run on this book. He's tried new things and went to some dark places. The art in this particular issue is beautiful stuff; Francesco Francavilla has a knack for using colors to heighten or define an emotion. The modern day blues and the historic orange meld nicely to make a searing tragedy of despair and heartbreak come alive. It's tear-in-my-beer stuff, but it's impressive. ***

AMERICAN VAMPIRE #13

If you like South Pacific and vampires, this is the issue for you. I did start reading this book when it first came out because Stephen King was co-writing it and I wanted to see what he was up to. King is long gone and this issue brings a new arc that deals with WW2. I didn't enjoy this book when it started and this issue isn't any better. I guess the big problem is that vampires have been done to death and writer Scott Snyder isn't doing anything new except setting his stories in the 1920's and now the 40's. This storyline has Pearl as a vampire nurse saying goodbye to her vampire boyfriend who joins the military where he meets Skinner Sweet, another vampire. The catch is that a small island near Japan is infested with vampires and the U.S. forces are sent to eradicate them. What's next? Nazi vampires? The art by Rafael Albuquerque is rough and sketchy. It's more or less basic, as is the writing. I don't know...this book just feels as lifeless as a...well, a vampire. *1/2