I Tell You What to Think about 2/27's Comics

Batman 674
Batman Dies at Dawn
--I'm undecided as to whether or not I should drop this title. On the one hand, it's clear by this point that Morrison's entire run is building to something, and I am interested in seeing what that something is. The clues are intriguing. On the other hand, the individual issues -- the individual stories -- taken on their own, are weak. It's all hints and portents about the final destination, but the actual journey towards it is ho-hum. The plots, once you strip away the clues toward the bigger picture that's still a long way from becoming clear, aren't all that interesting (This issue, Batman escapes from a psycho's torture chair), and there isn't much in the way of characterization. The Batman here's a computer progam: loss and obsession and little else.

The clues are intriguing, like I said, but so far it's all clues, clues, clues. There's headway towards answers but not enough. The air of mystery can only stay interesting for so long before it gets tired.

On another note, who in god's name is crazy enough to trust their well-being to a man named Dr. Hurt?

Fables 70
--My favorite issue in a while. King Ambrose's plot device magic got slightly tedious towards the end there.

This issue is basically a breather between arcs, and it shows one of my favorite things about this series: the lack of a status quo. Things are always moving, always changing. Boy Blue formally presents the farm Fables with Flycatcher's offer to move into Haven. While I don't know who'll accept and who won't, I do know that whatever the outcome, things will not stay the same. Interestingly enough, I find I'm not particularly attached to any of the characters in the title; I read mainly for the further adventures of Fabletown itself, Fabletown as an ever-evolving organism.

Niko Henrichon provides guest art for this issue, and s/he does a good job. Whoever picks the guest artists for this book, they have opinions that can be described as 90 degrees from my own. I always find the guest artists to be pretty good but not great. I'd say Henrichon's one of the stronger ones, and I really liked his/her beauty shots: the double-page animal gathering, the Farm establishing shot, etc. That's in large part due to the coloring, which, according to the credits, I can partially credit to Henrichon, too.