What I Read This Week

I'm really trying to be more on-track with posting.  Don't know what my problem is!

Detective Comics #853 -- The conclusion to "Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?" ends up briefly touching on the style of the first part, and then expanding on what exactly it means in a very metatextual sort of way.  This allows Neil Gaiman to explore the nature of superhero comics and the strength of good storytelling.  Kubert's art, well, not to put too fine a point on it, but it's pretty darn nice.  This wasn't what I was expecting from this story, but I liked it anyway.  This is not the same situation as Moore's "Whatever Happened to The Man of Tomorrow?" and thus it makes sense that it would not be the same kind of story.  As a coda to Bruce Wayne as Batman (for now), I thought this was very good reading.

The Outsiders #17 -- The battle against the Insiders continues, with the shadowy foes still obfuscated from our heroes.  The conflicts within the team are starting to bubble to the surface, and another threat is looming.  Solid Outsiders story, with the action and tension both being ratcheted up a notch.  Very much enjoying this take on the team, and Owlman is impressing me.

Sgt. Rock: The Lost Battalion #5 -- With the "Texans" still pinned in by the German mountain soldiers and artillery, the Army is desperate to get them out of there -- moreso now that the media has started to take notice.  Will their last-ditch effort with the battered Japanese-American 442nd break the German lines?  The art takes a somewhat different look this time out, being scratchier and rougher hewn than previous issues.  Was this deliberate for the turns the story takes?  Or perhaps a response to some of the criticisms regarding the art being too "soft" for Rock?  I don't know.  What I do know is that Tucci has turned things up in this issue, with the charge of Nesei being one of the best moments I have read in comics so far in 2009.  The finale should be something to see!

The War That Time Forgot #12 -- The blowoff to the epic soldiers versus dinosaurs miniseries bows here in cataclysmic fashion!  It's all a rush from one point to another, but honestly, that's not only expected but also quite appropriate.  Bruce Jones, Al Barrionuevo, and Graham Nolan have turned in a series that, while not exactly Eisner-winner material, goes to show that there still is a place for fun, exciting, genre titles from the Big Two.  I have really enjoyed this series and hope we get similar off-the-beaten-path ilk in the future!

Guardians Of The Galaxy #13 -- The Guardians split up, with half the team going to Hala to petition Black Bolt to stop the war with Vulcan, and the other half trying to stop Vulcan from inadvertantly ripping a hole in the fabric of reality.  The team is growing just in time for the threats to get even bigger.  My favorite bit is that the bar on Knowhere is called "Starlin's."  Ha!

The Pick of The Pile is Tec, unsurprisingly.  But I'm a sucker for Gaiman writing superheroes.  All told, it was a good week of comics.

So what did YOU read this week?