Comics Roundup for 12/29/10

Wow...big week for me. In the interest of sanity, I'll try to keep most of these brief:

Batman: The Dark Knight #1 - I'm not the hugest fan of David Finch, but I've always enjoyed his artwork when I was already picking up a book that he was drawing. This series gives him a shot at writing, which I'm not sure if he's done before. So far, he's doing a pretty good job, and he's setting up a pretty intriguing plot and making good use of the character dynamics that one looks for in a Batman book (like the dialogue between Bruce and Alfred). Regarding the art, I liked his work on New Avengers, but I have to say that his style is much more suited to a character like Batman. This is easily some of the best I've seen from him. I'll definitely check out the next couple issues at least.

Batman: Detective Comics #872 - I liked the last issue with this new creative team of Scott Snyder and Jock, but I have to say that I liked this one even more. Definitely a cool new villain with this one with a great warped life philosophy.

Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine #4 (of 6) - This is quite a complex tale that's being told here, and it continues to have some fun character bits along the way.

Captain America #613 - What can I say? This is a great series, but I still want them to lose the "Nomad" backups, especially since the art is devolving in every issue.

The Flash #8 - Another villain-centric issue, this time with the Reverse Flash. Gotta say that I liked this one much better than last issue, and I'm looking forward to more with this villain. This is almost as good as that Mark Waid/Mike Weiringo issue of Fantastic Four that focused on Doctor Doom. We definitely see this guy for the sociopath that he is.

Green Lantern #61 - I've noticed that the last two books I wrote about didn't really feature the title character in it. This one didn't have Green Lantern at all. Oh well, it was still good. I really think that lately we can't look at individual comics as being self-contained stories anymore. They're all just chapters of much larger sagas.

The Avengers #8 - The Illuminati return in this issue, and it looks like it doesn't have a place in Steve Rogers' new world order. I'm glad to see that the tensions from Civil War are still boiling under the surface.

Carnage #1 - 2 (of 5) - Honestly, I don't really like Carnage that much as a villain. Still, when I flipped through this one at the store, I was intrigued. They're definitely doing something more interesting than the lame-ass "Maximum Carnage" story here. Also, I really like the artwork of Clayton Crain. (Besides, it doesn't seem like Carnage is even the main villain here anyway.)

Nemesis #4 (of 4) - Fun stuff. One thing that Mark Millar really knows how to do is move a story forward with each issue. Of course, this one resolved everything, but it definitely leaves things open for a sequel. I'm looking forward to it, and I hope that they can make a decent movie out of this.

Hellboy: The Sleeping and the Dead #1 (of 2) - This is a pretty cool little vampire story, and Scott Hampton is a welcome addition to the rotating team of artists. Still, I'm kind of hoping that Mignola himself will draw one of these soon.

Echo #27 - This series keeps going strong. As always, I like the characters, I like the art and I will eventually sit down and reread the entire series.

Superior #3 - I kept thinking while reading this issue that this series needs some kind of twist in order to justify its existence beyond just telling a several times told story well. By the end of this issue, it looks like the twist that I want is coming my way.