Were Money No Object on June 29 With Batman: Knight & Squire Plus 27: First Set

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Books I Think You Should Buy:

Batman: Knight and Squire

by Paul Cornell and Jimmy Broxton; DC, $14.99

I understand why DC would feel the need to brand this book as a Batman title, but that is accurate only in the sense that the Knigt and Squire are affiliated with Batman Inc., and that they’ve only appeared in recent years in connection to Batman.  The thing is, this book deserves to stand on its own merits, as one of the funnier and more creative DC books of recent years.

Writer Paul Cornell and artist Jimmy Broxton don’t just chronicle the adventures of the British Dynamic Duo; instead, they create an entire world of British superheroes and rogues, their backstories, and their relationships to one another.  It seems like they created hundreds of new characters for this series, which ends with a confrontation with the American, original Joker that also includes Jarvis Poker, the British Joker.

There’s a lot of great stuff in this book, ideal for anyone who enjoyed the classic Giffen and DeMatteis Justice League, or is interested in seeing how American superheroics translate in other settings and parts of the world.  I was hoping that a K&S series might appear in the DCnU, but it seems we will have to settle for this trade…

27 Vol. 1: First Set

by Charles Poule and Renzo Podesta; Image, $16.99

27 is one of those recent Image books that came out of left field, and made a big impression.  It’s premise is that a particularly talented and gifted musician, as he approaches his twenty-seventh birthday, develops some kind of inflammatory condition in his hand, making it impossible for him to play.  Having exhausted the options provided by modern science and medicine, and a variety of forms of quackery, he, in desperation turns to yet another kook, who somehow manages to cure him.  The only glitch is that he now has a strange dial embedded in his chest, and when he turns it, he shortens his lifespan by 1/27th.

The book is really enjoyable.  It ranges through a number of interesting ideas, and applies numerology to the fact that many important musicians, such as Kurt Cobain and Jim Morrison (who makes an appearance) lost their talent and/or their lives at age 27.  The theories behind this are pretty cool, as is the writing and art.

Highly recommended.

So, what would you buy Were Money No Object?

Get in touch and share your thoughts on what I've written: jfulton@insidepulse.com