Dear Journal I was straight up giddy to be handed the latest issue in the Absolute Batman series, one that proves that the Dark Knight is the best superhero in any universe. Issue 11 left us with the ominous scene of Bain standing over Batman's closest circle of friends, who, in the regular universe, positioned themselves as his greatest foes. I guess it just goes to show that Bain is positioned against Bruce, no matter which timeline they traverse, although this time, he shows that there's more than one way to break a bat beyond bending a back. In one go, Bain becomes the common origin source for The Penguin, Two-Face, Croc, and the Riddler, and what a way to do it. Halt, hear all ye squeamish ninnies, the visuals from #12 will give you nightmares, but the response from Batman and Alfred has me salivating, and while the entrance of a very cool looking Cat Woman was welcome, it's Joker's (hopeful) entry that I'm hoping and holding out for. Now what to read whil...
A colleague of mine plopped Everything Dead and Dying onto my desk, assuming that my love of titles with all things dead and dying would position this little title right up my alley. He assumed correctly - and I came to be particularly drawn to the Little House on the Prairie font style, with the Cattle Decapitation cover art (check that band out, folks). Indeed, the soft colour palette complemented the dark gore that lay within, even augmenting it by way of betraying the senses, making us think we were in for Lassie as opposed to Stephen King's Cujo.
I speak of course of general tone, so don't think you're in for a ravenous dog attacking the good towns folk, but a virus has swept through a sleepy US town, Resident Evil style, and infected everyone save a farmer who ejected stereotypes right out of the window and went ahead and got himself a husband and even adopted himself an African American child. I guess you could say what you're walking in on is a threesome with Modern Family, Adam Sandler's 50 First Dates, and I Am Legend.
Indeed, old farmer John (or whatever his name is) looks to maintain normalcy by keeping these zombie critters alive on a diet of fettered cow flesh and good will. Each corpse essentially lives out their last human days like clockwork, and our protagonist seems content with the routine, playing house the same way he did before his family joined the corpse eater ugly club.
Good, strong start to a haunting series, nicely combining memories of the past with the nightmare of the present, and our resident farmer will have challenges ahead with other survivors not so keen on keeping the dead as pets. Read it, read it now.
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