Astapeev adds a sinister cap on a book that felt pretty hopeful in the end. In fact, it's the sort of thing that'll get fans of the book hoping that it continues down the road, and with the same creative team. All in all, this was a stellar effort in world-building and epic storytelling across a mere 6 issues.

"The Last Fall" isn't bad, but its story doesn't do anything that we haven't seen before in science fiction " and quite recently, at that.

"Usagi Yojimo" is an enduring work of comic fiction and a mark of high quality for the industry. With Stan Sakai's name comes a tradition of cartooning excellence that you can expect just about every time. There are few bets on the stands are sure as a Sakai comic, and "The Artist" color special is no different.

Szymon Kudranski certainly knows his way around Gotham by now, and the digital comic format does his particular brand of creepy, cinematic art some favors. Unfortunately, this is a common case of "too-little, too-late" and spends too much time being a wholly conventional Batman story.

If "Secret Origins" is meant to be "The New 52 for Dummies", then fine, but it's for a very specific type of comic book reader " one just dipping their toe in.