Review! Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi #0 (Dark Horse)

COVER: Rodolfo Migliari. Great cover...have no idea who these characters are, but still, nice artwork.
STORY: John Ostrander. This is not a book written in comic format. It is all prose. Trying to take in all
                the new characters and locations with strange names is not easy. It will take quite a while before
                anyone can become familiar with this new Star Wars era.
ART: Jan Duursema. The art in this issue is more concept art than anything else. All new locations and
           characters, even vehicles, to meet for the first time. Once again, overwhelming. Jan does a nice job
           on the characters but the locations and vehicles are rather weak digital renderings.
FINAL FILE: Buy, Read,Re-read,Read it again (there will be a quiz) Keep it close by for when 
                        you read the series.
                        * I know this is a guide style issue but all those names and locations that are thrown at us all
                           at once is not good. It really turned me off from getting the actual series. With so many
                           Star Wars eras to choose from, it wont hurt to not pick up another one.

Review! Batman and Robin #0 (DC)

COVER: Patrick Gleason. I'm a bit tired of the "hero jumping through the cover" thing...but this one is one
                of the better ones. Robins foot...super foreshortening!
STORY: Peter J. Tomasi. Damian has become one of my favorite characters. He makes the sometimes
                one-dimensional Batman far more interesting. This is a great look into his origin...crazy stuff to be
                sure. He will one day become a superior Batman if he chooses to do it.
ART: Patrick Gleason. I might say this too much but this guy is good. His Damian is just right. His Batman
          is not the best I have seen but Batman has had many great artists draw him. This issue is just top notch
          for Patrick.
FINAL FILE: Buy, Read, Bag it!

Review! Nemesis TPB (Marvel/Millarworld)

COVER: Steve McNiven. Always a nice cover by McNiven.
STORY: Mark Millar. Why had no one done this story before? It seems so obvious. At first read it feels
                like a "Batman gone villain" story, and that would have stood up just fine by itself. Then at the end
               of the book (this collects the four issue series) we get a "Charlies Angels meets Fantasy Island"
                finish and it changes how the story feels. One thing that bothers me about the story is that we are
                not quite sure what powers Nemesis has. Is he a super powered villain, or is it his suit?
ART: Steve McNiven. McNiven is just a good artist. Any book he touches is golden.
FINAL FILE: Buy, Read, Shelve it!

Review! Green Lantern #0 (DC)

COVER: Doug Mahnke. Nice, simple shot of the "new" Green Lantern, Simon Baz.
STORY: Geoff Johns. SPOILER! This could have easily become a cliche story, but it is far from it. Johns
                has written a good superhero origin story and that is rare nowadays. Baz is flawed and believable
                and I am looking forward to seeing how he uses the Green Lantern power. We also get a good
                setup with the Justice League and we learn that Hal and Sinestro are alive (of course)!
ART: Doug Mahnke.  Two words...The Rock! If Simon Baz is not designed to look like Dwayne "The
           Rock" Johnson, then Rob Liefeld is a good artist. Mahnke is good and he shows it in this issue.
FINAL FILE: Buy,Read,Bag it!

Review! Batman: The Dark Knight #0 (DC)

COVER: David Finch. An "OK" Batman image but the legs and feet still feel out of perspective.
STORY: Gregg Hurwitz. An odd story that takes Bruce Wayne from his parents murder through his High
                School years. It shows his trademark obsession early on and how sometimes things are not
                quite how you think they are. The story kind of plays counter-Batman mythos by showing us how
                he learned that his parents death was a random criminal act and not a planned conspiracy. This
                knowledge should have taken all the anger out of him but he still goes out into the world to pursue
                his training. It just did not feel so necessary any more.
ART: Mico Suayan and Juan Jose Ryp.  Suayan is one of the best artists of the moment. Ryp has good
           stuff but he tends to over fill all his panels. He needs to use the "less is more" advice and not kill us
           with all those unnecessary details.
FINAL FILE: Buy, Read, Bag it...the Mico Suayan art is worth the price.