Batmanology is usually the domain of Lord Christopher J. Sims, but hopefully he won't mind if I step on his toes a little. This week, the 12-part Batman storyline City of Crime was released digitally (in the individual issues of Detective Comics 800-808 and 811-814) and there's a solid chance that you missed this story the first time around. Written by David Lapham, drawn by Ramon Bachs, and ...

A few years ago, DC Comics announced that they'd licensed the characters from Milestone Media and would be folding them into the DC Universe at large. Milestone was one of the most forward-thinking and best-produced comics companies of the '90s, and built a truly inclusive universe that reflected a variety of ages, ethnicities, nationalities, sexual orientations, religions, political ...

Comics writer Joshua Hale Fialkov (I, Vampire, Elk's Run) wrote an anti-piracy piece the other day that talks about how it's time for consumers to stop being selfish and start actively campaigning against piracy in support of comics creators and the industry. It's interesting, and a pretty good example of the plight of the comics creator today. They're beset on all sides by low sales, the ...

Giannis Milonogiannis's Old City Blues caught me by surprise. I came into the comic almost entirely cold; while I'd seen Milonogiannis's name around online, most notably in this column by Joe Keatinge on Broken Frontier. It took a little while, but when I saw Old City Blues available for sale digitally, I took the leap and grabbed the story. It was the best decision I'd made in ages. OCB is a ...

Tohru Fujisawa's Great Teacher Onizuka, or GTO, has a great hook. Eikichi Onizuka was once a member of a biker gang, a juvenile delinquent, and a noted virgin/pervert. Now, he's a teacher. He uses the power of his complete lack of manners, wrestling moves, short temper, and strong belief in right and wrong to mold the impressionable hearts and minds of Japan's high schoolers. It's a great ...

A relaunch of Prophet, the muscles-and-guns Rob Liefeld comic about a time-traveling soldier originally published by Extreme Studios in the '90s, isn't something that would normally interest me. Finding out that Brandon Graham, creator of King City, was writing Prophet changed my tune. King City was the best series in comics while it went on, and its trade will be one of the best books to ...

Recently, Chris Ryall, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of IDW Publishing, announced the 2012 return of Darwyn Cooke's adaptation of Richard Stark's Parker novels. The latest entry in the series is The Score, a tale of what happens when a group of men sit down and figure out how to rob an entire town blind. The novel is just as thrilling as it sounds, with a number of twists and innovative ...

Takeshi Koike's Redline hits Blu-ray on January 17. It's a racing anime that feels like it synthesizes the best parts of the Fast & Furious franchise, the destructive core of Twisted Metal, and the absurd designs of Wacky Races and some of the more out-there works of Jack Kirby than anything else. A huge selling point is the animation by Madhouse, which features over one hundred thousand ...

I have this theory that Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips are the best writer/artist team presently working in the mainstream comics industry. They've been collaborating for over ten years now, and at this point they're a well-oiled machine. Brubaker and Phillips' shadowy, hardboiled tales have been my primary method of scratching the crime comics itch for ages now, and the pair's latest work, ...

It's always nice to see a creative team that is not only in sync, but clearly enjoys working with each other, blazing new trails and pushing their collective craft toward Olympian heights. Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, who have been collaborating since 1999's Scene of the Crime, are one such duo. Today, they're unleashing Fatale on the world, and adding horror comics into their repertoire. ...