Comic Roundup: February 27, 2008

• For a blog about games and comics, I sure spend a bunch of time talking about games and very little on comics. Here I attempt to rectify this omission and, thus, reestablish this blog as the foremost resource of all things Anjin. Without further ado:


• All-Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder issue 9: Once again the question must be asked, "Does Frank Miller have any idea what he's doing?" At times, my opinion has swung between thinking that he's definitely pushing the Batman mystique to its logical conclusion, if not farther, or thinking that he's just writing from the seat of his pants. With this issue, I've come to the conclusion that he maybe doing a little of both. Topping this all off with Jim Lee's detailed line work certainly does a good job of disguising the parody being played out. But underneath the art, Frank Miller is having his cake and eating it too, probably losing fans on both sides, but genuinely amusing us in the middle.


• Criminal volume 2 issue 1: My favorite ongoing comic returns to ongoing status with this issue. And thank your requisite deity, because I can only deal with so much nerd heartbreak in my life. Criminal is constantly the best comic on the stands, hands down. This new issue 1? Awesome. Ed Brubaker has a masterful command of the crime genre and the all-too-human characters that are the real reason to tell crime stories. Sean Phillips' art is consistently compelling in clarity of storytelling and evocation of emotion. If you are into crime fiction or film, you are doing yourself a disservice if you don't read this book. And this issue is the perfect starting point.