"Wear the old coat and buy the new book." - Austin Phelps

Long post time. All of these are graphic novels. I'm trying to win that bet with Alexa. It's looking good for me.

The Dark Tower: The Long Road Home. More about the childhood of Roland Deschain, the creation of Stephen King. This story was never written by Stephen King. It's an original story by the author of the Dark Tower concordance. It was fairly interesting. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who is unfamiliar with the tale of Roland, though. 4/5

All Star Superman, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. After reading so many comics this past month the ones I read at the beginning are becoming a blur. This was an interesting, if short-lived, excursion into the life of Superman by one of today's preeminent comic book writers, Grant Morrison. It begins with a seemingly innocuous life-saving mission by Superman. He saves a scientific expedition from imminent death by way of running into the sun. This intense exposure to the suns yellow rays causes Superman's cells to explode. (Of course, everyone knows Superman gets his powers from the rays of a yellow sun.) This was all an ingenious plan by Lex Luthor. As Superman discovers that he is dying he sets off on his own version of the Twelve Labors of Hercules. It was a really interesting concept that felt a little rushed and incoherent at times. Even so, I really enjoyed it. The self-contained story arc definitely helped. You can jump right in and know what's going on; a must for successful graphic novels. 5/5

Batman: Year 100. This was horrible. The artwork was doo doo. The story was dense. The dialogue made me want to burn the book (good thing it belongs to the library). It's set in the future. Of course this future is totalitarian (always is, isn't it). Batman fights the fascists. Batman cracks some skulls. Batman has fake teeth to make him look more like a bat. Lame. Batman doesn't need fake teeth to scare people. 2/5

Batman: The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul. Another one by Grant Morrison. I suppose I would expect more from him considering his work on Superman. The dialogue was cheesy. Apparently Batman has a son and his son SUCKS. He might be one of my mortal enemies. Ugh. Kind of hard to get through for that reason. The fact that the story of Ra's al Ghul is interesting definitely saved this one. 4/5

Green Arrow: Quiver. I had never read a Green Arrow comic before, but I may seek more after reading this one. Spoilers ahead. Just a warning. Green Arrow was killed at some point (not covered in the graphic novel). He comes back. But he has no soul. The soul of Oliver Queen (Green Arrow) decided to stay in Heaven. So the Green Arrow on Earth is merely a husk. A man involved in the occult plans to move his soul into the body of the Green Arrow husk. This one had me reading when I should have been sleeping for more than one night. It was just suspenseful and I found myself needing to know what the heck was going on. It was just great. 4/5

Eternals. Neil Gaiman took over the story of legendary comics writer Jack Kirby in this seven-part series. The Eternals were put on Earth as demi-gods by near-omnipotent aliens called the Celestials. The Eternals have helped shape humanity through the ages while fending off their foil race, the Deviants. An interesting concept in the hands of the ever-creative Neil Gaiman made for a very enjoyable read. It dealt with moral issues, deity issues and more. It made for some great ruminating for days after. 5/5

New Avengers: Illuminati. This one has Skrulls in it. Doesn't get much better than that. 5/5

Absolute Batman: The Long Halloween. Batman Begins and The Dark Knight were heavily influenced by this year-long comic run. That's all I have to say. 5/5

Absolute Kingdom Come. This three-part series takes place in the future. Superman has quit being a superhero and has isolated himself in his Fortress of Solitude. Batman runs Gotham's crimefighting unit of Bat-bots from his Batcave. The new breed of superheroes just blows up everyone and everything in their pursuit of bringing the "bad guys to justice." When Kansas is leveled by the Atom giving off all his nuclear power after being split open, Superman returns. There is a large conflict that results in many of today's and tomorrow's superheroes becoming dust. Fits my mold of doom and gloom. Loved it. 5/5