Bravo to all involved.

It's always nice to read a superhero comic that fully embraces its genre and style - and this one's a real doozy. I tip my hat to the creative team for taking this sort of risk, and pulling it off in such a smart, understated fashion.

Fatale is still an excellent book, and while Ed Brubaker's scripting is sharply defined, filled to overflowing with smart rat-tat-tat dialogue and rich veins of characterization, Sean Phillips' rich artwork envelops the reader firmly in this rain-slicked, blood-drenched milieu.

For Popeye fans, having these back in print is a delight, and for those looking for humor comics, here's a new series of reprints sure to get you laughing with its funny dialogue, charming plotting and funny characterization.

For horror aficionados, Snider, Craig, and their crack team, have crafted a horror story that offers subtle shadings of characterization, an inexorable pace that makes it all compelling, and some gentle moments of humanity (which remain my favorite elements of the book - Ernie's conversation with the prison guard "Mac," is an unexpected moment of reality and warmth) amidst the shocks, gore, and occasional bit of gallows humor - and they'd be very well-served to give the book a look-see.

This is definitely a book, however, that requires you to read the first issue before leaping in " there is no brief "recap" page, and since so much of the basic scenario is set up in that first issue, it's not really something to be read alone. The plot is tautly constructed, the scripting is to the point and gives unique shadings to characters, and the art lends heft and excitement. It's a grand adventure, and the cast is appealing enough to ensure interest in the story. One final word of advice while reading, pop in one of the Apes scores " whether it's by Jerry Goldsmith, Leonard Rosenman, Tom Scott or Lalo Schifrin " the combination of the music and story really provides an immersive little experience.

Evil Ernie #2 is quite good, and has much going for it " horror fans who like the genre unremittingly dark and gruesome will love it, but for me, I'm hoping the story moves away from its litany of deaths, and comes back into focus " emphasizing the more operatic, human qualities that Snider nurtured in the debut issue.

The page layouts are smart and vivid, playing with height to great effect. The scripting keeps the characters well delineated, and the final panel reveal plays right into the opening page " providing a final "gasp" as well as a sense of internal closure.

Joe Corroney's art captures the look of the actors and scenery well, and it lends the best scene in the book " set in a diner between Picard and Seven-of-Nine " a muted, careful quality. The book's tone veers from exciting to dour while the pacing is sharp but leisurely, much like the television series itself.