Here’s some thoughts about some of the comics that I read from the first two weeks of January, 2015.

FAIREST #33: What the hell was that? This was a set up for an OGN and not the final issue of a sometimes interesting spin-off series. In fact, I liked the stories that Bill Willingham didn’t write, and I loved Phil Jimenez’s art on that first arc. This series should have ended with issue #32.

LEGENDS of the DARK KNIGHT 100 PAGE SUPER SPECTACULAR #5: The first story made a Batman enemy out of a psycho calling himself (and looking quite like) Edgar Allen Poe. I question, however, even Batman’s ability to pick a lock out of a pinched tin bell. I quite enjoyed the way Batman was rendered by Scott Kolins in the second tale, though the story was somewhat confusing. The final story was done for me because it featured Dick Grayson as Robin teaming up with Batgirl. As per usual, it’s the little details that make me love certain comic book stories, such as the Shakespeare bust that opens the entrance to the batpoles, and the Gray Ghost comic that Dick is reading. I also really enjoyed the interaction between Robin and Batgirl.

SIP (STRANGERS IN PARADISE) KIDS #2: While I didn’t enjoy this as much as the first SiP Kids, it’s still delightful to see Terry Moore doing his best Charles Schulz but with his own characters.

JUPITER’S LEGACY #5: Wow, after 10 months, we get the ending of the first arc. Plus, there’s a time jump of several years. It reads almost like the beginning of a new arc instead of an end. It was still good, however, and I plan on sticking with the next story, Jupiter’s Circle.

STAR WARS #1: Not a bad start to the series. I’m not big into Star Wars like I am Star Trek (I love the original trilogy, but I’m not into the “lore”), but I have loved what Jason Aaron has been doing on Thor and before that, Scalped, so I was predisposed to at least try it out. I wonder about the setting, i.e., the time frame, as in do we really need to fill in what happened between Star Wars and Empire? I thought the ending was sufficiently cliffhangery and made me want to read the next issue, but there’s no dramatic tension in what’s to come–we already know Luke walks away from this encounter.

TEN GRAND #12: This started out so very cool (it didn’t hurt that Ben Templesmith was doing the art): for ten grand, you can hire Joe to help with your supernaturally based issues. Unfortunately, that premise is dropped after the first issue, and the rest of this series is the after effects of Joe taking that first case, and springboarding him into a war between Heaven and Hell. Wasted potential.

I also read:

• BATMAN ETERNAL #40 & 41
• EARTH 2 #30
• EARTH 2: WORLD’S END #14 & 15
• FADE OUT #4
• NEW 52 FUTURES END #36 & 37
• ASTRO CITY #19
• AVENGERS #40
• BATGIRL #38
• DAREDEVIL #12
• GRAYSON #6
• JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED #8
• LAZARUS #14
• STAR TREK #40
• SUPERMAN/WONDER WOMAN #15
• WORLDS’ FINEST #30