Yeah, it’s been a couple of months since my last comics roundup.  But I have been reading, I’ve just been too lazy to post.  There have been some seriously good things crossing these eyeballs though.  Onward!

Batman: The Long Halloween

It has Halloween in the title. It has Batman in the title. It’s also a touchstone for many fans of the Bat. Solomon Grundy! The Scarecrow! The Mad Hatter!  Naturally, I had to pick this up.  This is a great noir piece, which is a different tack than the usual Batman-ness.  But it works perfectly.  The added benefit of a holiday-themed psycho killer is a cool bit of fun that ends up being the perfect way to segue from one holiday/chapter to the next.  Brilliant exposition throughout that informs without affecting the flow of the story keeps even newbies hep to what’s going on and why you should care.

The artwork is amazing, and unsettling. Which is probably exactly what artist Tim Sale was going for.  And I love Selina Kyle looking like Death‘s Upper East Side sister.  And I’ve found another great Batman graphic novel.  Woot!

Y The Last Man: Unmanned

Alas, poor Yorick. Yeah, I love me some Scottish Play as much as the next gal, but in Y, he’s the only human survivor of a plague/Act of God/what the fuck that viciously killed any and everyone with a Y chromosome. He’s a typical slacker, but with the end of the male species, it’s all fun and nekkid happy times.

Hah — gotcha! Anyone who thinks that a world of women would be all kumbaya & crochet doesn’t know any women. Factions form, Democrats and Republicans are still at each other’s throats, and all Yorick wants to do is find his sister Hero (apparently Dad had a thing for lit), then track down his girlfriend/fiancée. Oh, did I mention that said fiancée is in Australia? And that she may not have accepted Yorick’s proposal?  Phone lines can be a bitch during the end of civilization….

The bad news is that as a series, Y, The Last Man is already wrapped. That’s also the good news, since once you start, you’re gonna want to see how it all turns out, pronto. Looking for a new fix? Grab this.

The Sandman: The Doll’s House

Easily read as a stand-alone, since this volume deals with a girl who has powers she cannot seem to control. Readers of the first volume will understand what’s going on a bit better than raw newbie, but either way it’s an interesting, layered tale.

This volume gets into the thick of the Sandman mythology, and we get to see more of The Endless and how they interact.  There’s also plenty of cleverly added exposition to keep readers in-the-know & invested. Lovely art, and the different styles add to the otherworld vibe.  And as always, Gaiman’s words wash over you like a sea of comfort, even when his words are anything but comfortable. A brilliant second volume that makes me want to jump up and grab the next one. On to volume 3….