By its end, Arkham Manor promises both a gritty and fresh take on Batman, while presenting a complex psychological portrait of a character who is presently enjoying his 75th year of limelight.

Overall, the complaints highlighted in this review reflect the more paranoid reading habits of this writer than the quality of this months The Fade Out. Brubaker and Phillips, with fifteen years of success behind them, manage " as always " to produce what readers of comic books care about most: a good story. With little doubt, one can place The Fade Out among the pantheon of this team's other successes, and rest assured that this series will continue to sell huge numbersand gain readers. But, even more importantly, this noir and its cerebral practitioners stand at acontinuously escalating peak. These two continue to do their homework, and have earned this moment of limelight.

While it might seem obvious in pointing out what any weekly subscriber of comic books already knows, thisis worth remembering: one can approach each month with the fear that any given writer will capsize these titanic narratives and ultimately render our time (and money) lost. It is with relief and joy that Velvet #8 has a beginning and an end, that our protagonist holds a plan, and it seems that bythe end of the next two issues that plan will finally enter the spotlight. Thatpromise – coupled with the explosive natureof this issue – marks Velvet as a must-read.

Purchasing Dark Horse Presents allows the reader to the support the comic book industry's new and emerging voices in a format that divorces Dark Horse from their higher-selling compatriots. If we scan all of Dark Horse's offerings, we see an emphasis on style and art, and experiments in the form of comics that are hard to find elsewhere. While each story may not match cater to one's desire for the caped ubermench, it is a chance to spot new talent in a field that will only keep growing.

Overall, one must grant a serialized format theopportunity to chart a course and offer surprises. As it stands,Rasputin has the potential to eithercrash on the rocks or steer itself into safeterritory. Maybe the team has already channeled some the clairvoyant powers of its protagonist and know just where they're headed. But so far, the rest of us are in the dark.