Okay, so today mom asked me if I wanted to go with her to Los Angeles and pick up the kids. Justin starts middle school today and he gets out at 12:30 for the rest of the week while Nick began 1st grade and gets out at 2:30. In order to bored-proof my trip I decided to bring along my copy of Lex  Luthor Man of Steel. Let me just say that I specifically bought this book ONLY because I wanted to get a taste for the Joker novel out next month. I have taken a peek at Azz's other works. I remember I flipped through a copy of 100 Bullets at my LCS. Man, that stuff is hardcore crime noir. While I won't expect the language to appear but the level of brutality I saw there just only has me anticipating what he has planned for Mr J. I liked how Brian introduced the suave, charismatic Lex. It's like watching a special on Animal Planet. You get a sense of the majesty of the creature before you go deeper and see that beauty is only skin deep. It's like a bull shark. You can see what a beautiful animal it is before that illusion is taken away. It was quite a juxtaposition between Lex the altruistic businessman and Lex the manipulative cold hearted bastard (as seen when he uses a lackey to make a deal with an unhappy union leader). The writing is like that of the lunch scene with Bruce. It's rich, it makes you savor and you don't want it to end. Every little detail, like every ingredient has some significance. My favorite part was with Hope, his creation. As close to human as she was, it was very acrid when the reader got reminded that she was created for Lex's own selfish purposes. It was that thin, almost invisible line that made the story for me. The art, oh my gosh, I love that chiaroscuro look. It gave it that grim and spooky feeling to it. I have only finished reading the first three chapters and I had to write this own.

All Star Batman and Robin. I admit, i did go a little overboard with the last post I made, but after buying the trade and reading the story from the first issue I still maintain my view that it is an over the top self indulgence that reeks of Miller pissing all over the fans. But the difference here and now is that when I reread this over the top self induldgence that reeks of Miller pissing all over the fans, I can finally see the beauty of it. It would be cliche' to call it a circus. It's a giant guilty pleasure. Miller takes what is sacred and skinds it, turns it inside and brings its innards out for all the world to see. I would not call it brilliant by any means because it is not thought provoking. It doesn't take rocket science to see that he is doing it for the lulz. The women are giant air heads, the language is all over the place, nothing is sacred and I guess that's the only way one can approach this series. I found myself laughing rather loudly at the trade when I saw Alfred holding Vickie over like Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh. It gave Alfred some overt sexuality. It almost sacriligeous but I had too many 'oh, geez' escaping from my lips. I still will not put it in the same universe as DKR or Year One. It stands on its own and I CANNOT wait until I read Ken's reviews on this series.