One of my many quirks when it comes to reading comics is that I love to listen to music. Actually the madness goes a bit deeper then that because what I love to do is find a ‘soundtrack’ to a title. It’s a real fun thing to do because it brings the comic a bit more life then it would without it. You gotta find the right one though because reading a comic with the wrong song can sometimes damper the fun. Lately I’ve been reading anything Batman-related (when appropriate) with the ‘Batman: Arkham City’ soundtrack with the first track being used A LOT. (It’s a great, moody piece that’s great for both the detective and action part of Batman)

So let’s play a game. Before you read this week’s OMAC I want you to experience it how I did. If you don’t already have it on your iPod then go find this specific song to download. (Yes this game costs some money, so sue me!)

“Grindhouse (Main Titles)” by Varese Sarabande from their album ‘Varese Sarabande: A 30th Anniversary Celebration

Do you have the song yet? Good. Now play it while reading this title. I’m not saying every experience will be the same, hell some might find it a bit of a weird combination, but for me this piece totally fit for the issue. It’s got a slow beginning, like this issue and it sets up for the action that is to come. Then, WHAM: The music really kicks it into high gear like how the action starts in the issue. Then it crescendo’s into a finale that feels like it ends in an explosion, exactly like this issue and both ends with a unexpected twist.

Back to my actual review of this issue: God damn I love this book so much! Dan Didio, Keith Giffen, and Scott Koblish are doing the impossible. They are making what is quickly turned into the most fun series I’ve read in a long time. (Chew is still fun and Xombi is the only title that seems to match the level of craziness here) There isn’t as much ‘crazy’ ideas in this issue as the previous four but there’s still a hell of a lot here to like. Now I never really cared for Jeff Lemire’s Frankenstein and I wasn’t so sure if a tie-in to that series was going to be good. But if Didio (and it looks like Lemire helped out as well cause Frankenstein doesn’t talk like anyone else in this book) didn’t prove me wrong by making this issue one hell of a fun fight scene. If the DCAU was still producing animated shorts I definitely would love to see this turn into a short.

Every page of this title is just so damn gorgeous to look at too. I have no idea how Giffen, Koblish, and Hi-Fi are able to crank this out every month. I mean look at the opening page of this comic! It has such a loving tribute to all things Kirby but they don’t mince on the details. You can see individual cracks in the building and that’s really impressive. But it gets even more impressive when the fighting starts. Didio/Giffen threw everything into this fight and Giffen draws it in such beauty. The two page spread (with no effects on purpose) is begging to be a poster. One page I really loved though was the explosion towards the end. It’s pure Kirby filled with Kirby dots and a big ass sound effect and also….a tiny streak of blue to show OMAC is in all of this carnage. That is a gorgeous looking page.

There have been a lot of great titles from DC since this new 52, but I really think this might be the best series at DC right now. It’s fun, it’s action packed, it’s stupid, and it’s just god damn gorgeous to look at. I don’t know why so many people aren’t buying this title, judging from sales figures, and you gotta really hate fun not to like it. This title will be the most fun I’ll have with a comic, and it’ll also continue my journey into finding the best soundtrack for a comic as well.