I don't know about you guys, but this week has been a great week for me concerning the comics I collect and read! From the pulp hero of Doc Savage to Mike Carey's The Unwritten, I couldn't be happier in the books I bought this week.

First on my list today, I will be reviewing DC's Birds of Prey #4, written by Gail Simone, with art by Ed Benes. This is the final issue of the first story arc and I was really looking forward to some closure concerning the new threat the team had to face. In the first issue they encounter the deadly White Canary, hell bent on bringing pain and suffering to the Birds of Prey and those that are close to them. I really like how Gail Simone brings us Black Canary, aka Dinah Lance's thoughts as she grapples with this mysterious threat. Though this is part 4 of the 4, we do get a nice cliffhanger into where the series will be going from here. I've never read the first Birds of Prey series, but what really intrigued me into picking up the new series was the idea of an all-female team. Not only do they look really hot, but they are very strong female characters, who have humanity, but can also kick your ass if you try to mess with them. Even though he plays a small role in the story, I'd have to say my favorite character is Hawk aka Hank Hall. Being the only male on an all-female team, he really sticks out as this macho jock jerk, which is both amusing and interesting, seeing how he interracts with the women of the group.

Next I wanna talk about Doc Savage #5. Taking over from writer Paul Malmont, B. Clay Moore takes us into the next phase as Doc Savage and his crew seek refuge after the lightning attack on their home base. I gotta be honest, the first story arc wasn't my favorite but I do enjoy the pulp feel of the book, and have really been enjoying the First Wave books, also featuring The Spirit, and The Bat-Man. This issue was really fun because it's a stand alone tale where we see the normally powerful Doc Savage in a really vulnerable state. His team goes to Greece where he has to put his trust into a crime lord, who offers him a safe place to gather and recoup. I also really like Doc's team of men, who include Ham, Renny, Johnny, Tom, and Monk, each with their own unique skills and personalities. DC has done a great thing bringing back the old 1930s pulp characters to new 21 Century readers. Brian Azzerello, who is writing the main First Wave miniseries, will soon take over the Doc Savage series. What else can you expect from the writer of 100 Bullets and Johnny Double, but excellence?

Finally for this week's reviews, I wanna discuss The Unwritten #16, written by Mike Carey. This is classic Vertigo, smart and entertaining. This is a great issue because we get many answers to previous questions we all had for what was really going on with Tom Taylor and the shadowy literary organization out to get him. Tom finally meets his missing father for the first time in the series, and these two have some serious father/son issues to work out. Trying to explain to his son why he is so important and how they must defeat this evil organization who control the world through its literature, their meeting is cut drastically short by the arrival of the assasin Pullman. I don't wanna spoil too much, but death is involved. Meanwhile Lizzie has her own troubles, struggling with her identity as a literary character from Dicken's novel Our Mutual Friend, living in the real world. This series has been nothing but a joy to read, and I hope it lasts far into the years to come.

These three I wanted to highlight, but other great reads this week were Superman #702, Daytripper #9, and Zatanna #4.

For next week's books, I'm looking forward to the epic conclusion to Star Wars: Legacy, in issue #50. Also next week, Harlan Ellison will unveil his new comic miniseries, based off his tv pitch, The Starlost, titled Phoneix Without Ashes. Finally Cullen Bunn's The Sixth Gun #3, will be waiting eagerly in my pull to be read.

This has been Matt's reviews for the week and I will see you all next week.

What would you say is the most important day in your life? Well your birth, obviously; the day you crawled into the world. A miracle of nature ready to enter into life and what we call the grant human comedy. But immediately after your date of birth, what becomes your most important day, or some might say second most important day? Death would be pretty high on the list for most people along with marriage and the birth of their own children. But that's what it's all about, isn't it? Life and death, or life and continuing life, as the whole process keeps "perpetuating itself through the sands of time," as a Mr. Sam Eliot would describe it.

And the epic Brazilian brothers team of Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon bring to us just that in their treatise about life, reflecting its ups and down, strikes and gutters. Known for their art work on Casanova and the Eisner award winning, Umbrella Academy, these two are absolutely magnificent when telling a tale. The artwork is truly unique, taking us from the bustling city Sao Paulo to the glittering beaches of Salvador. 

One of the other big reasons this work stands out among the multitude of comics out there, is that I've truly never seen anything like this before in the comics medium. Sure I'm new to the format and just getting started, but Daytripper stands out. A comic dealing with a Brazilian slice of life, featuring one man without any type of super heroics going on; who ever heard of it? There are so many super heroes out there that we often forget about the literary gems that also exist in the comics world. I defiantly plan on reading their other work set in Brazil, entitled De: Tales, for another bit of "stepping outside your comfort zone" reading.

But along with the writing, the coloring on this book would have to be my favorite. Dave Stewart does a wonderful job gifting us with a splash of color from start to finish. 

In the ten-issue miniseries Daytripper, we are the privileged viewers into the life of Bras de Oliva Domingos, a depressed obituary writer, who dreams of more for himself, as he struggles through life and trying to break free of his father's literary shadow in the first few issues. The audience trips through the most significant days in his life, everyone ending with his death by the end of the issue. We see what is most precious to Bras'; his lovers, his friends, his family as they also come to terms with what really matters in life.

This work deals with life at its harshest. No matter how much we plan, we can never cease to be surprised by the unexpected events that change our lives forever. Living every day as if it were your last certainly resonates with this work. But overall I think the underlying message of this work is hope. Hope for a better life for our futures, hope for much better lives for our children's futures. Because at the end of the day, though our lives are very meaningful and precious to us, we have to let them go someday and go back from whence we've come. But life always continue on, fighting for its right to exist in the vast cosmos.

If you haven't picked up Daytripper, by Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon you are doing yourself a great disservice, not only for your mind, but for your heart. And though the series reaches its conclusion in a couple issues, it's never too late to go back and find the previous singles or to wait for the completed trade that I'm sure will be read for decades, and hopefully centuries to come.