Buys for the week:

Batman Annual #1 by Scott Snyder
Animal Man Annual #1 by Jeff Lemire
Channel Zero by Brian Wood

Haven't gotten around to Channel Zero yet, though that's where I'm headed next, but both Batman and Animal man deliver completely.

I'm not the biggest fan of side stories as a expositional tool, especially when they tell a parallel tale in the past or future, but Lemire does a wonderful job of again providing grounded characters in dense, supernatural situations. His earlier works are largely set in the lives of everyday people, so taking that character styling and putting it smack in the middle of (DC's only really effective) horror story, he creates something not only unique, but enthralling.

Snyder hits just as hard, continuing his run on Batman through the last throes of "Night of the Owls." I'm not one to spoil things, but suffice to say, Scott Snyder writing Mr. Freeze is a great fucking idea. The conclusion to Batman's thread on NOTO does suffer a bit though, as, opposed to his previous issues, the other involved titles (read: largely shit), are necessary to paint the complete picture. And I don't wanna read Red Hood and the Outlaws. I will, because the overarching story is Snyder's and I trust that guy, but I don't wanna.

Wanna. Wanna. Wanna.

Anyway.

Channel Zero looks fantastic though. My first foray into Brian Wood's body of work, this one presents an interesting look at 1990's oriented science fiction that isn't completely insane or "throw everything at the wall and see what sticks." Wood's story is resolved in its grounded intent, which is a nice shift from the majority of modern sci-fi comics.

Not to say that lofty science fiction is a bad thing. I love stories that can contain a thread while still blasting all over science, religion, mythos and space, but having a writer try and tell a sci fi story that functions without being an allegory is a nice change of pace. Sometimes a story can just be a story.

Next week's my big purchase week, with Animal Man, Swamp Thing, Action Comics, Detective Comics (though this may be my last buy of that one), a new trade of The Boys and whatever the hell else I want you're not the boss of me.