The Spirit #5
Writer/Artist: Darwyn Cooke

The Spirit tangles with a vicious new villain: The Cossack.

We’re five issues in now and, yes, it’s a phenomenal looking book. The content still has a tendency to tow the typical superhero party line too strictly, though. Don’t get me wrong, this fifth issue of The Spirit — like the others in the series — isn’t a bad comic. It goes down easy, but lacks personality and tension.

The Brave and the Bold #3
Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: George Perez

Batman and Blue Beetle vs. The Fatal Five.

Besides All-Star Superman, Waid and Perez’s new Brave and the Bold series is an effortless success and already one of the best superhero comics around. This stupendous third issue offers continuity-and-pretention-free fun and excitement, a driving narrative, and genuine unpredictability. Wheeeeeee.

The Damned #1-5
Writer: Cullen Bunn
Artist: Brian Hurtt

Although it is very similar to the film, Miller’s Crossing with demons is a description that doesn’t quite do this consistently inventive, superbly drawn, and creepy five-issue mini-series justice. The creators craft a fascinating, living noir/horror hybrid world and fill it with compelling characters, and Hurtt’s precise, atmospheric work contains some of the best use of lights and darks this side of Miller and Mazzuchelli.

Overlooked as a monthly, The Damned should find an appreciative audience as a trade.

Glacial Period
By Nicolas De Crecy

Enthralling artwork almost saves De Crecy’s paper-thin story about a futuristic archaeological expedition that uncovers the Louvre beneath decades of snow and ice. There are a couple of neat ideas — the most insightful of which concerns the archaeologists’ interpretations of the museum. But unfortunately this sometimes thoughtful and mischievous import is too uneven for its own good.

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