Beautifully painted by Esad Ribic and written by Robert Rodi, Loki spotlights Thor's greatest foe and one of the four or five biggest heavies in the Marvel Universe. Opening with the God of Thunder in chains and his evil step-brother sitting upon the throne of Asgard, issue #1 of this mini-series offers a more in depth look of Loki than we have been privy to in the past. Sure he's the God of Evil, but maybe with (cue violins) more love and understanding he might not be so quick to inflict wanton pain and destruction. Robert Rodi is an accomplished writer, but the artwork by Esad Ribic is the most striking aspect of Loki. Combining Alex Ross with Frank Frazetta, he shows us a mythical Asgard never more perfectly rendered. I also found the Passion of the Christ influenced images of a tortured Thor to be particularly striking. And dig Ribic's take on Hela! Never has death looked so damn good.
Website: www.marvelcomics.com

Hype has been building over this second volume of Brian Michael Bendis' super heroes meets NYPD Blue comic. Unfortunately, I don't think it lives up to the buzz. Issue #1 doesn't register enough "oomph" to make it stand out amongst the many super powers running amok in a "real" world setting titles on the market today. I'm a huge fan of Bendis, but he seems to be running on autopilot here especially when one of his trademark ping pong dialogue scenes elicits frustration rather than the usual excitement. Another negative is that Michel Avon Oeming's artwork simply does not match well with the tone of the story - it's far too stylized. My advice readers is to save your money and pick up a few copies of the much better Sleeper instead.
Website: www.jinxworld.com

This what I call a sludge comic i.e. an unapologetic, nihilistic journey through human filth. The Milkman Murders - a horror comic in everything but name - introduces the Vales, quite possibly the worst family this side of the Mansons. Dad Vince is a wife beating, crack smoking tyrant. Teenage daughter Ruthie has a bad habit of screwing the High School faculty while her younger brother Fletcher is the kind of twisted kid that bred Columbine. Only Barbara the Mom shows any sort of human emotion, but by the end of issue #1 it looks like she too has been pushed to the dark side. Writer Joe Casey has a knack for snappy dialogue and artist Stephen Parkhouse channels Will Eisner and the lyrical line work of the Rankin Bass Hobbit cartoons to great effect. I liken The MilkMan Murders to a kid playing in the mud, sometimes its just plain fun to wallow in the gutter.
Website: www.darkhorse.com