JOE THE BARBARIAN #1 (VERTIGO): Starting off a review of a new Grant Morrison title, and saying, “Well, that’s a weird one,” is like saying that hamburgers are delicious. Certain people will agree with you unequivocally, and know exactly what you mean; and other people are vegetarians and wrong. However, I don’t mean weird in the Morrison sense that everything is trippy and needs footnotes to even begin to parse; I mean weird in the sense that its so straight-forward. Surprisingly so. It’s accessible, easy to read, and the situation (which I’ll get to in a second) is completely easy to parse. There’s almost no mystery here.

The situation I alluded to not two sentences earlier is that teenage Joe, ostracized by his classmates, mourning the death of his father, and dealing with an emotionally absent mother, retreats into a possibly delusional fantasy land, filled with warring toys. Is it kind of like the recent Stuff of Legend? Yup. Is it like every other fantasy film ever made? Surely. Will it be ambiguous in the end whether Joe is crazy, or it was real? Well, probably. So what makes this worth it?

Sean Murphy. Grant Morrison takes ample breathers in his script (which, it should be mentioned, is well written and observed, even while cliche) to just allow Murphy to draw. And he draws the crap out of this book, from two page spreads of cemeteries, the inside of a house both cluttered and beautiful, and a splash of warring toys straight out of any childhood fantasy. His style mixes ultra realistic with cartoony to gorgeous effect, and though I could be wrong, this is probably exactly why Morrison is writing this series as straight-forwardly as he is. He’s being gracious enough to step back from the curtain, and allowing Murphy to shine. So come for the writing, stay for the art. And always ignore my metaphors about hamburgers.

STARMAN #81 (DC): Can I call this comic “ultimately frustrating,” and leave it at that? No? Okay, fine. In case you aren’t up to speed, DC brought back some of its “dead” titles in Blackest night cross-overs. And there was no title that made me more excited than James Robinson revisiting Starman, one of the best comics ever written. There’s probably no way that Robinson can effectively bring back Starman, honestly, as with each year he’s flatly refused to let Jack Knight back into DC continuity, the more intense the urge to see him increases. Which, to bring it all around, is probably why Robinson won’t write more Jack Knight stories, and why this comic is, in the end, a tease.

We get to see almost every other Starman supporting character fighting a back-from-the-dead David Knight, reflexively playing on the opening (and entire run) of the Starman series. And it’s a real thrill to see The Shade, the O’Dares, and all the rest back and interacting. Robinson doesn’t miss a beat writing these characters, and it feels like going home, in a certain way. But the reason its a tease? Well, for one, they mention Jack Knight, but we never get to see his triumphant return. And more than that, it’s only one issue long.

I realize this is the “this soup is terrible… And the portions are so small!” problem, but it’s there, so there it is. It’s a good issue, filled with brutal fights and great character moments, but at the end of the day, I’d rather have a full throttle, new Starman run than this one issue tease. Don’t fondle the tip if you’re not gonna put it in, know what I’m sayin’? Yeah you do.

BLACKEST NIGHT: THE FLASH #2 (DC): …On the other hand, Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins back together on The Flash, even for three issues, is like crack injected directly into my brain. Every criticism I’ve had of Blackest Night, all the lack of emotional character struggle, sense of humor, sense of fun and danger lacking from the main series is right here in this issue. From a character shouting, “Everything is better with Gorillas!” (something like that), to Captain Cold completely OWNING the Black Lanterns, this is the kind of issue that makes you clap with joy as you’re reading it. I know I’m a little biased, as the Johns/Kolins Flash run is one of my favorites of all time, but I love the Blue Lantern Flash stuff, even though I thought it was silly at the end of Blakest Night #6; and the Rogues are so much fun to read, and so well written, I want — no, need them to get their own ongoing. This is why comics are made.

GREEN LANTERN CORPS #44 (DC): Here, I’ll keep this short, because the rest of these have been pretty long: Peter Tomasi writes a hell of a comic book. Big, fun moments, mostly action. It’s a middle chapter, and it feels that way, but there’s a creative solution to the Black Lantern infestation of Oa that makes a lot more sense than some of the other temporary solutions we’ve seen in other books. I’m really looking forward to Brightest Day under Tomasi and Johns’ steady hands.

THE AUTHORITY: THE LOST YEAR #5 (WILDSTORM): See, that’s what I’m talking about with putting The Authority in the worst situation possible, and then trying to figure out how to get them out of it. Space monsters attack The Carrier in The Bleed, and our team desperately tries to stop them. It’s nice to have two good Authority series running at the same time.

FABLES #92 (VERTIGO): Taking a break from the ongoing Witches/Mr. Dark storyline back in the good ol’ USA, this issue we revisit Ambrose and the kingdom of Haven. There’s a fun riff on Casey at the Bat, and Willingham is clearly lightening things up for a bit here. Though, there’s still enough adult humor and dark situations to make this a non-disposable lark. Every issue of this series is always good. Always. It’s kind of weird.

STREETS OF GOTHAM #8 (DC): Main story? Oh wow. Wowee. Wow. Yipes. Manhunter back-up is awesome, though, as usual. Guh. I have to wash out my brain now.