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

GREEN LANTERN #64

This is part one in the "War of the Green Lanterns" arc. I'll admit it: I don't like Green Lantern very much, although I do love most of what Geoff Johns writes (his stint on Adventure Comics and Action Comics were both great). The reason I'm not a fan of this character is that it's beyond silly. I can't even say that it appeals to kids because it's complex and confusing. In this issue, Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern, is hanging out with all of his villains. They end up facing Lyssa Drak, who rules The Book of the Black, which is a giant, evil book that attempts to suck them in. Yes, it's super stupid. Meanwhile, the blue dwarfs that run Oa end up getting possessed by various evil entities. In "Blackest Night" these blue dudes were also the first to be corrupted...so should they really still be the ones in charge? Parallax, an evil creature thing, takes over the Central Battery and then some of the good guys try to arrest Hal Jordan. It still surprises me that this is going to be a movie. How can they possibly make this comprehensible? The art by Doug Mahnke is detailed and not-bad and the colors are vibrant...but the underlying story is just plain laughable. I'm really not sure if this type of a world can ever be thrilling or engrossing. Green Lantern is just a book I guess I'll never understand. *1/2

FEAR ITSELF PROLOGUE: BOOK OF THE SKULL

Remember last year when Brian Bendis was promoting the big Marvel event "Siege" and he said that this was going to be the last big Marvel event for awhile? Well a year later and we're already into "Fear Itself," Marvel's new event. I'll be honest: I think Marvel has better books than D.C. but for some reason I've never bothered to read Marvel's event mini-series. "Civil War," "Siege," and "Secret Invasion" just did not interest me at all. Ed Brubaker wrote this prologue and he used to be a great writer (his run on Captain America has gotten boring, his Secret Avengers stint sucked, and his new Incognito series isn't half as good as the first series) so I thought I'd see what this was all about. After reading this set-up issue I'm guessing that "Fear Itself" will deal with Sin, the Red Skull's daughter, taking over the world. In this issue, Sin and Baron Zemo go to a hidden bunker to find a Thor-esque hammer. What this hammer does has yet to be revealed, but to get it they have to read some incantation from a book made out of Antlantean flesh. The book jumps back in time to when Captain America and Bucky battled the Red Skull while he was setting up his hidden bunker. We also get to see Captain America and Bucky vs. a Yetti creature. Yes, it's as stupid as it sounds. The art by Scott Eaton is very sloppy and the writing is swift but same-old. Whether or not this event turns out to be awesome is up in the air, but they do have Stuart Immonen drawing it and Matt Fraction writing it so at least the potential for greatness is there. As for this prologue? It's silly but it's at least entertaining. Maybe I'll actually read a Marvel event series for once. **

VENOM #1

This is a solid first issue, but I really dislike the premise behind it. One of my favorite storylines in comic books is the birth of Venom, the alien symbiote that came back to Earth with Spider-man after he was battling out in the cosmos during Secret Wars. The alien symbiote eventually attached itself to Eddie Brock and a great villain was born (and Todd McFarlane and Erik Larsen's awesome art certainly helped). Decades later and the U.S. Government has the alien symbiote and they're attaching it to special soldiers to help during big missions. This series follows Flash Thompson as Venom as he fights bad guys while struggling with the weight of it all. The art by Tony Moore is incredibly detailed and vibrant and it's certainly the best thing about this book. Writer Rick Remender has one cool idea: a Pumpkinhead villain that cooks the brains of his enemies. The premise, though, is a flawed one. Venom was a great villain. He seemed like he was a lot of fun to draw and it showed. Now he's neutered and thus boring. Yes, it's been two decades of Venom as a bad guy. Marvel does have to evolve to prevent stagnation, but Venom as a good guy does not work at all. I'm guessing this will all lead to a return of the villanious Venom...but this sidetrack is dead on arrival. **