All Star Western #18

Savage is an exemplary old man. Look at him embracing new technology instead of stubbornly sticking to a club or a large rock.

Last issue, Jonah Hex and Amadeus Arkham learned that Vandal Savage had kidnapped Catherine Wayne. And Catherine Wayne learned that Vandal Savage brought the plague to Gotham. Now Hex just needs to figure out where Vandal is hiding so he can kill him, save Catherine, and return her to Alan Wayne for a thirty percent stake in Wayne's Casino. Although I don't think the killing him part is going to happen. So he might have to trick him into taking some of Arkham's drugs, have sex with him, steal his clothing, and then escape with Catherine.

But first things first: escape from the rabid Cholera peasant monsters!

Just kidding! The first thing to do is get a drink from a dwarf.

Meanwhile Vandal Savage is flirting with his captive as they try to make their way out of the quarantine in a blizzard.

Such a sweet-talker.

I can't imagine centuries of practice really means anything when it comes to sex. All it means is he's fucked a lot of women. Perhaps the different cultures and different times surprised him with things his ancient ass had never seen before, but none of those things would have changed what I suspect is the core feature of Vandal Savage's love making: selfishness. I don't see Vandal giving a shit about his partner's needs! His favorite move is probably still smashing an unsuspecting woman over the head with a club, dragging her back to the cave by her hair, throwing her over a boulder, and taking her from behind. He probably does it just like an ape. A couple thrusts and he's off to make the lesser males smell his wang.

A pack of dogs beset them before they can get very far. While Savage explains why he'd make a great father to Catherine's child (look, he lies a lot, okay! I get him!), Catherine makes a run for it. Luckily for her and the comic book plot, she quickly runs into Hex and Arkham.

DC has tried to forge so many of these moments where one major character encounters another major character and yet they almost always fall flat and feel contrived and forced and done simply to sell more books. But if they were all like this one page, DC would have no problems selling crazy amounts of comic books. Or is it just me that loves this so much? I do love me some Hex and Savage!

Vandal Savage has lived a long time and experienced a lot of things. But I wonder if he's ever eaten french fries in the shower? I just did that tonight! It was the best. Such wonderful times we live in!

Savage blocks each of Hex's pistol shots with his sword. He then begins to explain what an amazing and truly awesome influence he's been on every major civilization throughout history. And while he's busy jerking off his ego, Jonah Hex puts a load of buckshot directly into Savage's chest. I suppose Hex and company believe he's dead since nobody truly believes he's immortal, and they leave his body to the rabid Cholera zombies as they escape via the sewers. Savage's body was later dumped with the other victims of the Cholera where he healed and awoke and went on his way.

Days pass and eventually Amadeus notes Hex's absence.

I'll be sorely disappointed if Hex goes off without Arkham. Maybe Hex will pick up an equally entertaining sidekick out west.

Apparently Arkham believes, as I do, that the book would suffer from his absence so he gets a ticket and finds a seat on the train out west next to Hex. But Hex has other ideas, threatens Arkham's life, and throws him from the train.

Brilliant ending. I do hope to see more of Amadeus in the future.

Next, 19th Century Stormwatch! This issue begins with ManBearPig stringing up some bald hillbilly. That doesn't normally seem like a job for Stormwatch although I don't truly know how powerful ManBearPig is! But since this story is labeled "Stormwatch featuring Doctor Terrence 13", I imagine ManBearPig is actually just an old guy in a rubber mask trying to scare away other land developers.

ManBearPig is rampaging through a community called Lily Dale which has become a haven for Mediums and Seances. Doctor Thirteen has come to town to tell everybody that they're being silly and no such thing as ManBearPig exists and spirits don't exist and ectoplasm is a big trick and the dead don't communicate and stop falling for every scam artist that comes to town, Lily Daleians!

Doctor Thirteen quickly investigates the crime scene and decides ManBearPig is simply a zealot Pig Farmer. Yeah, but he could still be a Werepig, right?

Oh Scooby Doo! You taught me so much!

Later in Gotham, Adam One approaches Doctor Thirteen to become a member of Stormwatch. He tells Doctor Thirteen that he'll prove the supernatural is real but I'd rather Doctor Thirteen always figured out a way to explain everything in a scientific, natural, or technical way. Don't sully his character the way Scooby Doo eventually sullied itself! No, not by introducing Scrappy which was bad enough! By introducing real ghosts into the cartoon!

All Star Western #18 Rating: +1 Ranking. No Jenny Freedom, so that's a disappointment. But it looks like each new member of Stormwatch is going to get a back-up story as the group forms. And then they'll probably travel to Mars to stop a Martian invasion or something. All Star Western may be ranked about 10 out of 52 but it's easily the comic that makes me laugh and smile the most. It's one of The New 52's biggest hits and I don't think enough people are reading it. Come on, nerds! Start picking this one up! It's easily worth the extra dollar (and I don't say that lightly! Four dollars for a comic is nuts!).

All Star Western #17

Uh oh! Jonah Hex must have space madness!

I was under the impression that Stormwatch was going to be taking over as the main story but the cover is solid proof of my error. Fuck you, Cover! Who asked you anyway? Did you think I needed proof that I was fallible? Well, I didn't! I know I'm fallible! And by knowing I'm fallible, I think that makes me infallible! Didn't Buddha attest to that? Anyway, it might be a good thing. Like Beowulf in Swords of Sorcery, I'm hoping it'll just be enough to make it seem like the best story ever where it could easily overstay its welcome as the main story. Besides, Stormwatch already gets 20 pages of comic every month!

And so the story begins...

I think every American should try to acquaint themselves with how their family ended up here. And I'll judge those that can't figure it out somehow and stare down at them and shake my head and whisper, "No." Hmm. Apparently some of my ancestors had a gene for insanity.

I have a feeling my father's ancestors dealt with something akin to that panel. My dad's brother has done a lot of genealogical research and I have files and pictures but I've never delved into them as carefully as maybe I should. Believe it or not, I guess I'm just not that interested. I've just always been closer to my mom's family. My grandmother's mother, Dolores Ortega Correa Vega, and her parents left Malaga, Spain on April 10, 1913. They took a ship across the Atlantic and around Cape Horn to arrive in Hawaii (this was one year before the Panama Canal was finished). An arranged marriage was made between Dolores and Bartolo Gill so that Dolores's father could justify bringing another man to the New World to help earn and save money while working in the sugar cane fields in Hawaii. They were basically recruited via pamphlets sent to the Old World looking to bring more European workers into the sugar cane fields so that the Asians wouldn't get too uppity and start forming unions and shit. My fucking ancestors were brought in as union busters! Sort of. Not really. Maybe I'm too cynical.

Dolores's parents (my great, great grandparents) Ana Ortega Correa and Jose Vega Tirado with my Uncle Jerry in 1942. Thank you, Printer from the Early Nineties!

Here's an anonymous poem published in 1910 that describes the life my grandparents led:

The Five A.M. Whistle

"Awake! stir your bones! Rouse up!"
Shrieks the Five o'Clock Whistle.
"Don't dream you can nestle
For one more sweet nap.
Or your ear-drums I'll rap
With my steam-hammer tap
Till they burst.
Br-r-row-aw-i-e-ur-ur-rup!
Wake up! wake up! wake up! w-a-k-e-u-u-u-up!

Filipino and Japanee;
Porto Rican and Portugee;
Korean, Kanaka and Chinese;
Everybody whoever you be
On the whole plantation--
Wake up! wake up! wake up! w-a-k-e-u-u-u-up!

Luna and book-keeper;
Sugar boiler, store keeper;
Time-keeper, chemist;
Clerk and machinist;
Boss and Boss' Missus;
I proclaim this is
The hour to get up,
And eat a rice cup;
For I boss the Boss,
Same as man, mule and hoss,
And everything on the plantation,
I, the Sugar Mill Whistle!

Br-r-ow-aw-i-e-ur-ur-rup!
Get up! get up! get up! get up!
Mind the Five A.M. Whistle
The signal to hustle!"

Fuck me. No wonder I hate alarm clocks! My genetic memory is still rebelling from that bullshit! I think it's been around eight or nine years since I've used an alarm clock. If only my great grandparents could see me now! We're living the American Dream, Pana and Nana! I'm sure that's what I would have called them if I'd ever known them. I only knew my grandfather's mother although she probably went through the same experiences. I think she came over as a much younger child than my grandmother's mother.

Eventually my family struck it rich and became super fancy elitists. They baptized their children in champagne and threw diamonds to drive away stray dogs. When times in the middle of the country turned rough and dust storms ruled over everything, my grandparents watched the Okies drag their asses into the Bay Area looking for work. My ancestors would shit in their hands and throw it at the filthy refuse yelling, "Have you ever picked a Spanish Apple? Ha ha ha!" Eventually they came to own Santa Clara. They drove out all of the non-Spanish in a frenzy of national pride! Things were fairly peaceful until one day my grandfather gambled it all away on one throw of the dice with a wealthy white industrialist trick dice maker. Our family was ruined! They tucked their tails between their legs and retreated back into the one house they had been allowed to keep, quietly living out the rest of their days and lying to their grandchildren about the good old days.

Or something like that. I think I got most of the facts straight. Anyway that's enough super awesome history lessons for now. Let's see how things are progressing in Gotham.

Same old same old.

And so the story re-begins with Jonah Hex hunting a man into a quarantined section of the city filled with Cholera. The criminal in question seems vaguely familiar.

Oh Vandal Savage. Have you come to prepare the city for Stormwatch?! Or will Stormwatch come hunting you?

Would it surprise you, my loyal readers (and those random few who accidentally found this page while searching for porn), that this story has produced in me a level of exuberant joy heretofore unknown in the annals of mankind? Through the well-worked and bullseye'd tone of the Narrator to the fanciful and energetic art of Mr. Moritat (or is it simply, Moritat, Esquire?) to the simple joy and bravado of the pro-antagonist Vandal Savage, I am awash in majesty and splendour. Only a creature of the most vile and basest of humours would not admit to grinning at the erratic gesticulations of the monster Vandal Savage. He is a shallow creature that rides the waves of his prurient interests and he lives life as if he had nothing to lose. Which, I guess, technically speaking, he doesn't.

The stupid and incompetent are most able to revel in pure, exultant joy.

Alan Wayne casually confronts Vandal Savage and invites him to a private table upstairs so that he doesn't break Wayne's casino. Wayne does warn him that one of the regular players has a bit of a temper.

One of the things that makes this comic book so incredibly entertaining is the pacing. It has some superb beats and knows when a scene should end exactly and at what point in time the next scene should begin.

Hex leaves while warning Mrs. Wayne to keep an eye on Savage. Savage continues to charm Mrs. Wayne and very subtly threatens Alan Wayne with the loss of his casino and his wife. He doesn't really. But knowing Savage, the only reason he's being kind and charming right now is because he thinks, for whatever reason, that it will serve his purpose better than smashing skulls. What a magnificent dick! I believe this is the third appearance of Savage in The New 52 and he's been terrifically well-written in them all (Demon Knights, DC Universe Presents, and All Star Western. Am I missing any?).

While Savage went about Gotham making connections and "friends", the city continued to ignore the people in the Cholera Quarantine. But Catherine Wayne was desperate to help and delivered food supplies in secret. During one of these runs, she is pulled over the wall and kidnapped by the sickies. They hold her for ransom, demanding food and medical supplies in exchange for her safe return. This might be the reason Jonah Hex is sent into the Quarantine to kill everybody! He agrees but for a steep price: 30% of Alan Wayne's casino! Holy shit! Jonah Hex is going to start the Gotham City Mafia!

Things in the Quarantine section quickly get out of hand, leaving Hex and Arkham to run for their lives from the deranged and sick mob. What they find is not a bunch of people dying from starvation and cholera. What they find is some fucking 28 Days Later bullshit.

I'm sure the outbreak is Vandal Savage's fault. Or a raccoon's.

Hex and Arkham make their way toward the bank abandoned in the middle of the Cholera Outbreak. Hex believes it's the most defensible position against the rabid zombie cholera cannibals. Arkham just runs around shitting himself and questioning every move Hex makes. What they find inside the bank is no surprise: Vandal Savage. Apparently he realized during the Black Death that he has the ability to be a carrier of disease without succumbing to it. He brought this plague (Rabid Cholera?) to Gotham although his purpose is unclear as this issue ends. Perhaps just to sow chaos. Perhaps simply to fuck Catherine Wayne. Who can tell why a bored amoral immortal does anything?

That story was good enough to justify the $3.99 cover price and yet there remains to be read a 19th Century Stormwatch tale starring Jenny Freedom! Are you kidding me?! What a fantastic age we live in where we can get such voluminous entertainments for such negligible costs!

I'm not sure what year the Stormwatch story takes place but it's after the end of the civil war. Jenny Freedom is a long way removed from the overalls and pigtails shown in the single panel in Peter Milligan's Stormwatch. While I'm curious to see her fighting against oppression in the years before slavery ended, I'm just happy to get a look into her life with Stormwatch.

Currently Jenny is trying to stop Smokestack Jack from assassinating President Chester A. Arthur. Because Jenny has the power of steam, you can bet 19th Century Stormwatch is going to be full of steampunkery. While that could be fun, I guess I'm more interested in Jenny Freedom at the beginning of her career before she mastered her power of steam and electricity. I'm sure she began by just blasting people in the face with hot mist.

I guess she has to deal with mumbo jumbo as well!

Jenny engages Smokestack Jack with blades while her companion gets his entrails eaten by the mummies. Jenny is distracted for the briefest of moments as she resigns herself to not getting to fuck this man. She really is all about freedom! Go Jenny! Jack gets the upper hand and runs off to prepare his Electro-Boltacular-Mega-Blaster.

Of course Jenny Freedom stops him which causes his Electric-Assassinator to set his airship on fire. As the entire thing is about to explode, Jenny Freedom hops over the side to, um, freedom!

Chester A. Arthur was president from 1881 to 1885. As an American, of course I had to look that up. I also looked up the history of the parachute. The first parachute harness was developed in 1887 and packing and storing a parachute in a backpack was first invented in 1890. Apparently Jenny Freedom made these modifications to her parachute years earlier and was too busy to patent them.

After Jenny lands, she enters a pub to get a drink and smoke a pipe. And that's where it ends as she's approached by Adam who asks her if she'd like to come back to Stormwatch. He refers to her as Jenny Steam which is awesome because that's what I guessed the 19th Century Jenny would be called before I found out she was Jenny Freedom (which is much, much better than Jenny Steam!).

All Star Western #17 Rating: +1 Ranking. I enjoyed the Jenny Freedom comic but I felt it could have been so much more, so the back-up story is a wash. But the Jonah Hex story was, once again, tremendously entertaining. Bravo, Grey, Palmiotti, and Moritat. This may possibly be the most fun comic book in The New 52.

The Phantom Stranger #3

The original Doctor Thirteen did.

Last issue ended with The Phantom Stranger being strung up in a noose by The Haunted Highwayman. Of course this can't happen without The Phantom Stranger having a stray thought or two about how this was how he first died.

This panel gives me hope for this series.

In my mind, this story about The Phantom Stranger paying for the crime of betraying Jesus Christ by doing God's work has been bullshit from issue one. But this scene! Ah, this scene! It makes it all so much better! Judas hangs himself because he's completely guilt-ridden over what he has done. He believes he's done something so horrible that he can never be forgiven and in his crazed and desperate state, he kills himself. It is the only sign of repentance he can think of that can equal the staggering evil of his crime against the world. And so, he dies hanging from his tree.

And then this panel. Perhaps (and, of course, most likely) I'm painting it with my own bias and beliefs. But Judas says here that after he died, he did not deliver his "act of contrition." Perhaps he simply means he wasn't given the chance to deliver it to the steps of heaven because he wasn't allowed to completely die. But I prefer to read this another way. Perhaps he realized, when he looked upon the face of God, the truth of what had just happened and refused to feel guilty anymore. He takes back his act of contrition when he realizes he was used by Jesus and God to fulfill the events that needed to happen for Jesus's word to spread across the globe. And in his sudden refusal to feel bad about killing Jesus, God becomes exceedingly wrathful. Look at God's face in this panel. Doesn't he look angry? And that anger at Judas's refusal to be sorry is why he punished The Phantom Stranger to walk the Earth for all time. God wants The Phantom Stranger to repent not of the act of killing Christ but the act of not being sorry for it.

That's what I choose to believe this story is about. This also makes The Phantom Stranger a much more interesting and sympathetic character. It sets up a great story underneath the story of The Stranger doing The Font in the Sky's will where The Stranger is seeking a way to rebel and pervert his mission. The story then becomes not about The Phantom Stranger's redemption but his revenge and escape from the bonds of unjust punishment.

But getting back to the more mundane comic book action part of his comic book, The Haunted Highwayman becomes frustrated that his burning hangman's noose has no effect on The Phantom Stranger. He tries to choke The Phantom Stranger but is burned by The Stranger's cloak which is full of Jesus dander. Most evil is, of course, extremely allergic to Jesus.

"It's seersucker! Because, um, you know? It seers suckers? No? Fine, it's aba, okay? Jesus Christ, lighten up, Mr. Highwayman."

Luckily the Haunted Highwayman is a complete and utter idiot. Dawn is approaching and so he must head back to his "unholy resting place" (Motel Six). He hasn't been battling The Phantom Stranger for hours so it can only mean that he attacked Terrence Thirteen about fifteen minutes before he had to leave. That's pretty stupid in my book. Perhaps The Haunted Highwayman only just found him this night and figured this would be a quick and easy job. That's a slim possibility that I'm not willing to give any actual credence to because I'd rather believe The Haunted Highwayman is incompetent.

The Phantom Stranger is released from the noose as the Highwayman flees. And just in time, as The Stranger feels himself about to lose consciousness. I can't imagine he could have been killed so easily since The Font in the Sky probably isn't going to let him out of his job so easily. As The Stranger tries to catch his breath, he begins to hallucinate.

I guess The Font in the Sky can also manifest as a Scottish Terrier doing a Shrek impersonation.

This young Terrence Thirteen tells The Phantom Stranger his family's history and connection to The Haunted Highwayman. That whole story can be read in All Star Western #11 and #12. The editor's note that reminded me in which issues that story took place called the comic "All-Star Western." With the dash, see? That's wrong, you stupid jackass! Even in the simplest of moments, DC's editors can't get anything right. Who Edits the Editors?! Man, now I feel like Rorschach.

Anyway, this young Thirteen says the original Terrence Thirteen eventually encountered the vengeful spirit of The Haunted Highwayman and defeated it. Come now! More on that story! That's not the meat of the story now, is it? The real meat of that story is that the original Dr. Thirteen didn't believe in the paranormal and spent his life debunking it. So what happened when he actually encountered and defeated an actual ghost? Or demon? Or unholy man on horseback, anyway? It sounds like one of those stories that some hack writer came up with years later that just fucking ruins everything about this character. Sort of like when Scooby Doo began dealing with real ghosts. That just fucked up the whole point of the show! The show was about logic triumphing over superstition and kids sorting through the bullshit and nonsense showered on them every day by adults. So if Dr. Thirteen finally did meet a paranormal creature, that means his entire life up to that point was based merely on luck that each of his cases didn't happen to be evil or demonic or undead or godly or supernatural! So the real story is: How did the fucking Doctor react to this knowledge that his entire life was based on his logical and rational yet seemingly incorrect assumptions?

The Phantom Stranger realizes this is a matter between Terrence Thirteen's descendants and The Haunted Highwayman and therefore none of his business. Like the supreme douchebag he is, The Phantom Stranger tells Thirteen to deal with it himself. He has more important matters to attend to. But I'm pretty sure The Haunted Highwayman isn't going to leave The Phantom Stranger alone. If he held a grudge so badly against one man that he came back to life as a flaming demon (and got his horse to come back as well!) so that he could kill every single member of that man's bloodline, he isn't going to let The Phantom Stranger off the hook when he burned him with his cloak full of Jesus germs.

Later, The Phantom Stranger as Phil goes to a party with his wife so he can enjoy some human drama for a change. Philip's neighbor Henry is going to Thailand for six months to build condos and is upset at having to leave his family for so long. The conversation they have is a nice scene that makes me like The Phantom Stranger a little bit more while despising his neighbor for his wretched normality.

Henry's problem and Philip's solution.

Henry begins the conversation with a flawed premise that probably brings more despair than joy to people in the world. Nobody is here for a reason. A few people who believe that will stumble into positions and opportunities in their lives that make that seem true, therefore they'll believe it wholeheartedly about everyone. "If I could find my purpose, everyone can!" Some people will live the life they want to live and find purpose somewhere in that, thus making it seem true as well. "My children are my purpose." But many people will live their entire lives feeling that they never quite lived to their potential or discovered the thing they were put on Earth to do. Because there isn't one. Whatever you choose to fucking do is the only purpose you need. There isn't any overarching meaning to your random placement in space and time. You're here on Earth because the Earth happens to be in the perfect place in space to support life and happens to be in a solar system with a moon and some gas giants that have probably protected the Earth for enough time for complex life to evolve. Henry, you are right about one thing: the entirety of the universe did not spring up so that you coud "build condos in Thailand." But it also didn't spring up simply so you could "spend time with your family."

The Stranger's response, on the other hand, is perfect. If you don't want to do something, don't fucking do it.

Henry's argument against going and Philip's response.

Now Henry laments the trap he's in. Life has conspired against him. He can't do the thing he most wants to do. The trap he's in is believing that the past is accumulated stuff that you have to weigh against future choices. To Henry, not going means losing all the time he's spent at his current job. But that time doesn't exist anymore. That time is not a real thing. The only thing he's losing by going is his future time which he'd rather spend with his family. That actually exists. Forget the past because it's garbage. It's gone. It is not a thing to put on a shelf and cherish. If you want to stay, stay.

Philip's response, once again, I agree with completely. People love to put up pretend barriers which force them into doing things they'd rather not do. But this is your life. It is not your employer's life. It is not your debt's life. It is not your parents' life. It is not society's life. It's yours. This doesn't mean there won't be obstacles in the way of the goals you want to achieve. Making a choice doesn't mean it will work out for you. Happiness and success aren't guaranteed. And many times there may be real and very serious dangers and impediments to the life you want to live. Making those choices that put your life in danger take even more strength than most people have (including me, probably! I'm no fucking Gandhi!). But this conversation is not anywhere close to that. This is pretending that other things are keeping Henry from making the choices to try and live for the life he desires and it's simply a sad delusion.

Henry's real motivation and why the entire conversation was just masturbatory bullshit anyway.

And then the real reason I eventually found myself disgusted with Henry. Not that he wants the money. Six figures for six months sounds like a great opportunity to set himself to do the things he wants to with his family for a long time. What disgusts me is his need to rationalize the decision to leave his family for six months simply for money. "It's other people that made this choice!" He's not asking Philip for any actual help with this decision. It's already been made. But he needs someone to bear witness to his agony over the decision to leave his family. The need to expunge his guilt. And it's a guilt that he doesn't even need to have! Henry. Do what you need to do already and shut up about it.

My problem with Henry's attitude here doesn't mean I have a problem with this scene! I think this is a great moment (as you can probably tell by my going on at length about it) since The Phantom Stranger understands guilt. He gets guilt. And this scene isn't about Henry's problem anyway. It's all metaphor for The Stranger's past. The Stranger probably just wants to say, "Henry, I understand how guilty you feel leaving your family for six months to earn six figures. I killed Christ for 30 pieces of silver. Our problems are nearly identical. You blame your work for forcing you to go. I blame this guy Pontius and Rome and the Pharisees for putting me in the position they put me in. I get it, man. I truly do." And so Phil's answers to Henry's problems are also things he might have said to himself back in Gethsemane.

Philip's good time and self-reflection are interrupted by a call from Terrence Thirteen. The Phantom Stranger packs it in and heads off to help Thirteen. Actually, he heads off to yell at Thirteen face to face but he obviously knows if he's there in person that he's going to have to end up saving Thirteen. It feels a little bit like saving face. "I didn't really want to be forced to help you but since I'm here yelling at you as the big flaming asshole arrives, I guess I can save your life."

But even now, The Phantom Stranger refuses to take part. Since it is a family matter, The Stranger decides that family should deal with it (he got this insight from Henry saying that they were practically family! It's like an episode of House!).

Does this mean Dr. Thirteen doesn't believe in himself? Shouldn't he disappear in a puff of logic?

Sorry! I made the assumption this was all paranormal! Obviously there is a rational and scientific answer behind it all! If only I were as smart as Mister Terrific so I could figure it out.

After the problem is solved and The Haunted Highwayman banished to whatever scientifically rational and logical place exists that is kind of like Hell, Terrence Thirteen tries to become The Phantom Stranger's sidekick. But The Stranger destroys Thirteen's lab and tells him to go fuck himself. I think that's almost exactly how Batman reacted to Tim Drake's request to be the next Robin, so Thirteen might be getting a sidekick gig in the near future!

The Phantom Stranger #3 Rating: +2 Ranking. I'm not a fan of the art although the style seems to fit this comic book, so I can live with it. But the story, so far, is well-crafted and doesn't seem to be using the Judas identity as simply a hook. DiDio is weaving it into the motivations of the Stranger and the fabric of the story, and that's really nice to see. I'm looking forward to more of this even though I know it can all go way off track very, very quickly!