DCU Comic Book Reviews

TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED #8

Bloody Night

July 2007

Written by David Lapham

Pencils by Tom Mandrake

Inks by Tom Mandrake

Cover by Bill Sienkiewicz

Synopsis

On the roof of the Granville Apartments, the Gotham Police are talking to Nathan Munie, one of the tenants, about the murder of the landlord, Leonard Krieger.  Munie tells the police that all of the tenants of the building were aware that Krieger was handcuffed in the boiler room, but none of them had done anything to help him.  As Munie describes what happened to Krieger, the Spectre doles out vengeance on each of the tenants responsible.  When the Spectre finishes, Crispus Allen leaves the Granville Apartments to never return.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

It has been awhile since I finished a story and found myself flipping pages, looking for more, but not getting, amazed that I had actually reached the end because it did not feel like an ending.  This series seemed to be leading to some kind of understanding between Allen and the Spectre, perhaps giving future writers a clear indication of how they are to interact when they appear wherever else in the DCU.  But the story ends before that could happen.  Actually it ends with the Spectre saying, “one day you will learn,” and Allen telling back, “now, you will learn.”  So, no resolution to the lead characters, which makes the entire endeavor feel like it was a waste of my time. 

I might be less angry at the lack of ending if it weren’t for the weak ending to the main story, which was essentially a re-write of Murder On The Orient Express.  The solution to the mystery was not that original nor that surprising.  There was this feeling almost immediately that

I am curious as to the exchange between the Spectre and the one cop who recognized Allen’s bearded visage.  It seemed like the Spectre was hinting at something hidden in the cop’s past, which is fine, except for the fact that the mini-series ended and I highly doubt this little tease will be further explored in another story.  Why even introduce this point at all.  Plus, the cop recognized Allen.  Again, why introduce that plot point in the last issue.  It didn’t add anything to the ending and i fact just made the ending seem less like an ending than it actually was.

DR. 13:  Architecture & Mortality, Part Eight

Written by Brian Azzarello

Art by Cliff Chiang

Synopsis

After being told by the architects that he has no future in the universe, Dr. 13 decides to fight back.  Along with others also deemed irrelevant, they try to find the architects, but they are attacked by the costumes of DC heroes.  After that clothes call, they are then attacked by Primaul, who kidnaps Traci Thirteen and takes her to the architects, who tell her that she has a future in the universe.  Dr. 13 tells the architects that they don’t exist because the future doesn’t exist.  The architects then disappear and the rest are still alive.  However, Captain Fear is dead.  However, they soon learn that Captain Fear has been encased in chocolate by Black Manta.  Team 13 then decides to go after him.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

If there were a Team 13 book with Azzarello writing and Chiang as the artist, I would buy that.  In a heartbeat.  This back-up feature has been absolutely fantastic and in many, many ways much better than the main feature of this book.  Azzarello managed to deconstruct comic book writers and how they approach the universes and characters in which they write while at the same reviving characters that had lain fallow because of comic book writers.  It is a brilliant concept that could’ve easily gone off the rails, but Azzarello manages to do a fantastic job. 

The bad puns surrounding the attack of the costumes were absolutely fantastic.  Given Azzarello creator-owned 100 Bullets and his runs on Superman and Batman, I would not have thought that he would be able to write a funny book, but this feature over the past eight issues has been consistently hilarious. 

The logo for Julius is spelled as “Pryemaul” but in the text it is spelled as “Primaul” and once (I think) as “Prymaul.” Since it is consistent in the text, I am guessing that whoever created the logo (Chiang) wasn’t in sync with the letterer. 

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