Batman Incorporated #1

$2.99

Written by Grant Morrison

Art by Chris Burnham

DC Comics

Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham make Gotham City come alive. In Batman Incorporated #1, the creative team reacquaints us with DC Comic’s “home of the goats” in all its Technicolor, late-night zaniness. We get to experience Gotham’s billowing rooftops, her frenzied highways, her blood-drenched meat-packing district, and the palatial penthouses of satanic worship.

Wonderfully, Burnham depicts all of this in that Adam West-era tradition while Morrison builds towards a devastating cliffhanger. Together, they guide us through a perfectly-paced game of cat-and-mouse with Batman’s greatest nemesis…a Gotham City taxi driver.

Incredibly refreshing. 

Star Wars: Darth Vader and the Ghost Prison

$3.50

Written by Haden Blackman

Art by Agustin Alessio

Dark Horse

With Darth Vader and the Ghost Prison, writer Haden Blackman cleverly re-instills Vader with that much-needed ominous touch that made him such an instant classic back in 1977.

Instead of providing Vader with lengthy pontifications about the texture of sand, Blackman uses a disfigured Empire recruit named Laurita Tohm. Tohm idolizes the cloaked mask-breather and feeds the reader tons of narrative propaganda to add to Vader’s mystique. This allows ol’ Anakin Skywalker to do what he does best: Stand in the shadows, kill Rebels, and shut the hell up.