BATMAN #13

It's good to have a plan...right? So Dan Didio & Jim Lee, the co-publishers of DC, and, probably, a few others, created the new DC era by re-launching every book with a new #1 and new creators. There plan didn't stop there. There idea for how to keep things fresh in year two was to re-introduce The Joker in a big event titled "Death in the Family." Honestly? Part one of this new Joker serial is the best book I've read so far in this new DC era. It helps that The Joker is a great villain and it helps that Greg Capullo is one of my favorite artists. & writer Scott Snyder does a terrific job at making this creepy and not silly. The one problem is that this has all been done before. Not better, but this story is far from new or fresh. The Joker had his face cut off in Detective Comics #1 last September and finally returns here by killing a bunch of cops, setting up Harley Quinn to capture Batman, then attacking Alfred at Wayne Manor. Plus...this issue has a die-cut cover. Yeah. Bring on the 90's excess! The extra story drawn by Jock is good but unnecessary but the main story is 24 pages so $3.99 is an okay cover price. It's a good start...but, honestly, I'm still pondering if this is the right thing to do after a guy shot up a Batman movie premiere after dying his hair like The Joker in July. Is it okay that I'm enjoying a violent book? I often wonder. ***1/2 (out of ****)

AVENGERS VS. X-MEN #12

It's over (mercifully) (finally). It took 12 issues to...what? Kill off Professor Xavier, bring back more mutants to Earth...and...is that it? I admit that I actually read this entire event (minus most of the B-titles) and enjoyed a lot of it. There was one good issue that Jonathan Hickman wrote and one issue that had good art by Olivier Coipel. The rest was mostly a mess, but I was at least entertained and curious about the story, which I haven't been in a long time when talking about Marvel events (I might have read one or two issues of Fear Itself and none of Siege or Secret Invasion). In this issue the Phoenix leaves Cyclops, goes into Hope, then leaves the planet. That's it. Seriously. Where's the fucking drama? Cyclops stammers, "Please...kill me. Before it's...," in one panel which means this book could've been dramatic and sad and bloody and awesome. Most of that potential was lost. The art by Adam Kubert is good but the Jason Aaron script is poor and the final panel is awful. Not a good ending to a book that never truly took off. ** (out of ****).