I assume Eric M. Esquivel is packing his scripts with these fun and fantastic details, because the background of the banquet was a little heavy handed but still an absolute visual delight. There were four songs listed as recommended listening on the title page, but I'll admit I didn't notice them until afterwards. I don't know how much they would have enhanced the story, but I wouldn't mind if in the future Esquivel writes a text free and visually lush script for Gaylord to present, because I would love to just experience this as musical and visual rip roaring fun fest and not the bloated and barely original story that it is with the current text.

I don't want to disparage a series I've been such a fan of, but this has probably been one of the weakest and most skippable installments they've put out. If you're not following and considering starting, I would say wait for next issue to jump on, because I have high hopes that I'm sure won't be disappointed when Leo and Requiem duke it out on a psychic plane next month. Leo reuniting with his family was nice, but after the way Requiem's been behaving with his face, it rang a bit false for me. Let's hope next month brings about a visually vibrant, climactic battle of the selves that we know we want. Also hope the Men of Gold's nefarious plot is cooler than they've been these past two issues. Bring on some more mystery and spectacle!

Read it if you're a fan of the book, or if you're really into “lost in Mexico” crime stories, or supernatural crime stories, but if those things aren't your cup of tea, I don't know if this issue has that much to offer you this month.

Criticisms aside, Carey and Coelho really crafted an interesting standalone story with this issue. For those following the series, this is an essential and surprisingly emotional piece of the overall puzzle. For those who might be considering jumping aboard, it sets up some interesting upcoming conflicts, and might be leading into a new super-being manhunt story. It's hard to tell, because over these past 10 issues, their really has been a wide and fascinating array of different kinds of stories.

I really wish that more could be said of the art in this issue, but it was simply a job well done with an issue that was more focused on information than it was visual excitement. This issue was something of a revelation and could be appreciated on its own, but it will stand up much more as a piece of the whole that is this series. I just can't wait to see where things go from here, and think thatSuicide Risk is a series that should be totally worth investing ones time in.

While you can't fully appreciate everything without knowledge of the series, this issue provides an interesting start to another interesting and totally different kind of story, something this series does frequently. Worth checking out if you're interesting in super compellingly colored, inked, and penciled alternate reality mystery adventures combined with what appears to be some interesting coming-of-age elements.

Manifest Destiny is a fun and creepy alternative American history tale, and this issue in particular is an interesting and fun form of set up for what should be some fantastic flora fighting next issue. As long as Sacagewea shows up for the action, I'll be happy. Buy this book if you like gorgeously rendered history, adventure, monsters, and, hopefully soon, a strong female lead?

The constant mythology building that's been going on here would obviously be best appreciated by regular readers, but relationships were made clear enough here that others could probably tune in as well. This was the second part of a three issue arc, and while I think this could be enjoyable on its own, I also think that Suicide Risk is going to be a totally different comic by the time Issue 14 comes around, and I can't wait to see what it is.

The morose orange on the single panels of Warren and the purple of the shared screen panels worked to heighten the tension and emotion as well. While the first arc of this series was a wonderful introduction, this arc has undeniably been a fleshing out and a development of what makes this ensemble tick, and it featured quite a bit of set-up for future stories as well. Pick it up if you're interested in seeing some great character moments and an over the top villain origin story, but really you should pick up both trades and just start following this series already. It's already a classic in my book.

The current character design lends so much to everyone's physical presence, and the details in the eyes and the sweat and the bluster and the suffering all work to make the two key players here so tangible to the reader. The events here could be leading to either further epic otherworldly occurrences, but it could potentially lead to something similar, yet the opposite, of what this series started as. Whatever the case may be, I'm hoping for more unexpected twists and turns, more beautiful and violent settings, and the culmination of one helluva final two page spread.

While a lot of this might sound like you need to be following this regularly, and while I definitely recommend that you do so,Sexis the kind of book that looks so good and is written so well that the three word character descriptions that open each issue should be enough to set you up before jumping right in. This is some of the smartest, most fascinating storytelling you can find, and is definitely worth jumping in at most any point, especially a seemingly transitional and heavy point like this one.

If you're interested in a book that's composed beautifully both visually and conceptually, look no further than the graphic superhero deconstruction tale that isSex. Casey's column in the back,”Dirty Talk”, happens to be consistently fantastic as well.