After a long day of comic book retail, followed by a night of bartending (Wednesdays are my death days), I stopped into the store to read tomorrow’s comics.  I’ve been so busy with sales nonsense, and inventories that I had no idea what titles were coming out and who was working on them.  So, I just picked out my comics, and pulled them out of the pile at random.  Thus far, I’ve enjoyed every title I’ve read, I even “fuck yeah”ed at this week’s issue of The Mighty, but that was a story “fuck yeah”.  With the Dark Avengers Annual, I opened up, flipped past the update page, gasped, put down the book and said “Damn you, Bachalo!”

I can’t pinpoint exactly when he became one of my favorite artists.  His early Vertigo stuff did nothing for me, and I acitvely hated his arcs during Morrison’s X-Men run.  I mean, the idea of switching between Quitely and Bachalo, without having some thematic reason for doing so, gives the impression that Quesada was wearing two “crack patches” on each arm, and still smoking a little of the rock to keep his edge.

But if you give Bachalo a stand alone arc, and let him do it beginning to end, I find it breathtaking.  Sinister Spider-Man, Amazing Spider-Man, Spidery Spider-Man, they’ve all been beautiful, and Dark Avengers is not only equal to them, but better.  Not only is Bachalo on top of his game, but Bendis actually showed up for this one.  And not the easily distracted by the fifty-seven titles he’s currently writing Bendis, this is the one who whas both great dialog and sense of story.

Unlike some of the recent annuals (Punisher springs to mind), this could be a stand alone story.  Yes, it’s enhanced by having read the first issues of Dark Avengers or any of the fuhbillion Dark Reign Titles, but it’s not much of an enhancement. 

This is a story about No-Varr of the Kree trying to better understand the humans that surround him, and why he continues to stay on Earth.  A great little existential romp, that comes complete with obligatory Osborne and The Sentry appearances.  As well as Bachalo throwing back to his Sinister Spider-Man story in a hilarious way.

Apparently, this is an important part of the upcoming Seige, but, honestly, I don’t care.  This is the kind of issue you can pick up, enjoy, and not need to know its effects.