Quick and graphic...

Three quick runs-through of graphic novels that need to go back to the library tomorrow. If I haven't mentioned it yet, lemme give a massive and thankful shoutout to PLCH. They are a godsend.

First up is Robin/Batgirl: Fresh Blood a cross-over of two issues each from the ongoing Batgirl and Robin series. It's a story to follow up the War Games arc (which I thought was awful, but another time, perhaps) that sees Tim (Robin) and Cassandra (Batgirl) head to Bludhaven (there's a missing umlaut, so sue me) to take over where Nightwing left off protecting the Haven. (A quick shoutout to whoever created Bludhaven as it's turned into one of the most interesting new areas in the DC universe.) Robin heads out to get away from Batman, clear his head, and try to keep from going as dark as the Dark Knight. Batgirl heads out because she's Batman's errand girl sent to take care of Robin and to learn how to be more human, to watch the world instead of just being the best fighter in Batman's world.

Batgirl and Robin, of course, team up on their first case in Bludhaven, and the dynamics between the charactgers is pretty well done with the artists and writers doing a pretty decent job fleshing both characters out. The case itself isn't a great one (Penguin trying to take over Bludhaven, using Blockbuster's stuffed body as a prop), but the character interaction works well enough, and Cassandra continues to be written as a character who has no peer when it comes to fighting prowess. It's impressive to read.

My lone beef with this collection is the inconsistent artwork. Two sets of artists are working here (one from each series) really throw off the tone, and even within individual issues the artwork seems to vary more than it should. Excessively cartoonish in some issues and more realistic in others, the switching becomes disconcerting.

Good collection, good story, not great. Poor artwork - especially the cover of the TPB.

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Look, Wolverine goes to Japan in Wolverine: Soultaker. Shocking! Stunning! And he has to fight zombie ninjas.

The artwork isn't good. The story is boring and moves along too quickly, too easily, no challenge. Not much to see here, folks. Move along.

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Superman: The Man of Steel Vol 4 continues the paperback-ization of John Byrne's reboot of the Superman title following Crisis on Infinite Earths. The series is, as a whole, very strong with Byrne doing a nice job staying true to the character but resetting what the editors at the time didn't feel the need for - in this particular volume, Superboy. For anybody who wants to understand the modern mythos of Superman, this is needed reading as it finally gets rid of the glitch that was created by Crisis and its aftermath when it was decided that Superman hadn't been Superboy even though the Legion of Superheroes wouldn't exist without him.

The artwork and storyline is strong through the middle 2/3 of the book - with the first issue being a weak, stand-alone not incolving the Superboy plot. Nothing awful, just not a great issue. The final issue, then, is also a stand-alone, and is crap. The artwork's by a different artist, and the issue suffers because of that.

The middle story arc - the deletion of Superboy from the DC canon - is important reading and very well done. It references the near-invulnerable level of power that Superboy (and the pre-Crisis Superman had as well) as opposed to the more limited powers that Superman was briefly given post-Crisis

Good stuff.