Planetary is still really, really good.

<p> I suppose you could say that I&#39;m cheating a little bit here, insofar as <em>Locke &amp; Key</em> is a comic book. But at this point it&#39;s finished—36 issues from beginning to end—and I read it through in its entirety.</p> <p> I&#39;m definitely going to recommend this book; I only picked up the first volume a few months ago, and I&#39;ve been waiting for the conclusion to be collected ever since.</p> <p> The story builds methodically from page one. In re-reading the earlier collections, I was impressed with how dense it actually is—in this era of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decompression_(comics)">decompressed storytelling</a>, there is no filler here. I suspect that on future re-readings, I will continue to notice more subtle details from the beginning and middle that have ramifications for—or are referenced in—the end.</p>

<p> It had slipped my mind that last weekend while Anne was out of town, as part of my Festival of Dubious Movies, I also watched <em>Kick-Ass</em>.</p> <p> In its comic-book form, this was the title that finally made me realize that I mostly don&#39;t like Mark Millar&#39;s writing. It&#39;s not sarcasm-over-a-layer-of-caring like Warren Ellis (<em>Transmetropolitan</em>). It&#39;s not dark and compelling like Frank Miller in his heyday (<em>Elektra: Assassin</em>, <em>The Dark Knight Returns</em>). It&#39;s not dense like Alan Moore (<em>The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen</em>), or deep and beautiful like Neil Gaiman (<em>Sandman</em>). It&#39;s not convoluted and mystical and self-referential like Grant Morrison (<em>The Invisibles</em>, <em>Doom Patrol</em>). It&#39;s not clever (even if it never quite delivers) like Brian K. Vaughan (<em>Y: The Last Man</em>, <em>Ex Machina</em>). It&#39;s really just middle-of-the-road superhero comic stuff–the sort of thing that Geoff Johns (<em>Green Lantern</em>) or Brian Bendis (<em>Avengers</em>) do, and do pretty well–but with a big old helping of <strong>super-violence</strong>.</p>