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Doctor 13: Architecture and Mortality
Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang join forces to tell the adventures of Dr. Terrence Thirteen, a parapsychologist who disproves reports of supernatural activity. In this story collected from TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED #1-8, Dr. Thirteen rounds up a group of the world's magical beings to prevent strange forces from tearing asunder the very fabric of the past, present, and future!
144 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2014
3 people are currently reading
217 people want to read
About the author
Brian Azzarello
1,294 books1,109 followersBrian Azzarello (born in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American comic book writer. He came to prominence with 100 Bullets, published by DC Comics' mature-audience imprint Vertigo. He and Argentine artist Eduardo Risso, with whom Azzarello first worked on Jonny Double, won the 2001 Eisner Award for Best Serialized Story for 100 Bullets #15–18: "Hang Up on the Hang Low".
Azzarello has written for Batman ("Broken City", art by Risso; "Batman/Deathblow: After the Fire", art by Lee Bermejo, Tim Bradstreet, & Mick Gray) and Superman ("For Tomorrow", art by Jim Lee).
In 2005, Azzarello began a new creator-owned series, the western Loveless, with artist Marcelo Frusin.
As of 2007, Azzarello is married to fellow comic-book writer and illustrator Jill Thompson.
information taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Az...
Azzarello has written for Batman ("Broken City", art by Risso; "Batman/Deathblow: After the Fire", art by Lee Bermejo, Tim Bradstreet, & Mick Gray) and Superman ("For Tomorrow", art by Jim Lee).
In 2005, Azzarello began a new creator-owned series, the western Loveless, with artist Marcelo Frusin.
As of 2007, Azzarello is married to fellow comic-book writer and illustrator Jill Thompson.
information taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Az...
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews
January 14, 2023
According to Goodreads, I've read this before. But I'm dubious. Pretty sure I would have remembered some of the in-jokes at the very least. I think it more probable that I meant to mark it as Want to Read and my finger slipped. Or maybe I thought it was something else based on a tiny thumbnail of the cover.
In any case, I definitely read it this time. Fun book! Doctor 13 teams up with a bunch of other minor characters to battle the mysterious Architects, who want to erase them all from the continuity. It's very meta, and in-jokes for lifelong DC readers and puns abound.
I normally don't care much for Brian Azzarello books, but this one was surprisingly enjoyable. Maybe he just needs to let his silly side out to play more often. This isn't exactly a madcap romp though. Most of the humor comes from recognizing characters that you had forgotten about, and reveling in just how much fun they are. There are all sorts of wonderful details in the art too. There's one scene of the interior of a subway car in which we can see Matt Murdock, Clark Kent, Peter Parker, and Wolverine (in civilian garb), all apparently on their way to work.
Probably this book is not for everyone, but, if you're a longtime comics fan like me, you'll likely get a kick out of it. In that spirit, it is recommended!
In any case, I definitely read it this time. Fun book! Doctor 13 teams up with a bunch of other minor characters to battle the mysterious Architects, who want to erase them all from the continuity. It's very meta, and in-jokes for lifelong DC readers and puns abound.
I normally don't care much for Brian Azzarello books, but this one was surprisingly enjoyable. Maybe he just needs to let his silly side out to play more often. This isn't exactly a madcap romp though. Most of the humor comes from recognizing characters that you had forgotten about, and reveling in just how much fun they are. There are all sorts of wonderful details in the art too. There's one scene of the interior of a subway car in which we can see Matt Murdock, Clark Kent, Peter Parker, and Wolverine (in civilian garb), all apparently on their way to work.
Probably this book is not for everyone, but, if you're a longtime comics fan like me, you'll likely get a kick out of it. In that spirit, it is recommended!
February 23, 2024
This presents a story that is ultimately about characters fighting against the creatives that write for them. It's a bit meta. I enjoyed the beginning and the end and got a bit bored in the middle. At the beginning, Doctor 13 is presented as a skeptic who refuses to admit that the fantastical elements of the story are real. That dissonance between what the readers see as real in the story and what Doctor 13 is willing to admit as real creates a lot of humor. However, towards the middle, the story piles unlikely and almost nonsensical fantastic elements to the story. When it gets to the point where Doctor 13 loses interest in debunking things, it gets a bit boring. When the story gets to the last issue, it picks up again as the story makes its points about comic book creatives. There is a lot to think about after reading that last issue.
October 5, 2007
An intriguing piece of metafiction, Doctor 13: Architecture & Mortality restores some of the fun in the DC universe. Using Doctor Thirteen, the world's foremost skeptic who denies that anything supernatural or unexplainable exists, as the centerpiece of a quasi-team of truly forgotten and often forgettable DC characters, Brian Azzarello scripts a surprisingly amusing and insightful treatise into the world of contemporary comics. Genius Jones (created by Alfred Bester!), I...Vampire, Anthro, the Primate Patrol (a team of intelligent Nazi gorillas!), Infectious Lass (of Legion of Substitute Heroes fame), the ghost of 19th-century Confederate general J.E.B. Stuart (from The Haunted Tank) and Thirteen's magic-wielding daughter Traci join Thirteen as he challenges the mysterious Architects--the shapers of the universe--, who wish to retcon him and the others out of existence. Azzarello employs no subtlety or diversion here as events unfold quickly.
J.E.B. Stuart: Who are The Architects?
Genius Jones: The ones who decide who's who and who isn't. The are the official guides to the universe. When it was decided that the one fashioned by The Architects that preceded them didn't make cents they knocked the old one down and built a new one. This is the fourth time it's happened-- in this universe.
Traci Thirteen: "This universe?"
Genius Jones: There's another universe that these Architects are at war with. One that reinvents itself every summer-- So "things will never be the same again," it claims.
Artist Cliff Chiang's clean lines and emoting faces further enhance the story. Chang clearly had fun here. What artist would not when drawing yetis, pirates, and apes? I'd have fun and I can't draw a lick.
J.E.B. Stuart: Who are The Architects?
Genius Jones: The ones who decide who's who and who isn't. The are the official guides to the universe. When it was decided that the one fashioned by The Architects that preceded them didn't make cents they knocked the old one down and built a new one. This is the fourth time it's happened-- in this universe.
Traci Thirteen: "This universe?"
Genius Jones: There's another universe that these Architects are at war with. One that reinvents itself every summer-- So "things will never be the same again," it claims.
Artist Cliff Chiang's clean lines and emoting faces further enhance the story. Chang clearly had fun here. What artist would not when drawing yetis, pirates, and apes? I'd have fun and I can't draw a lick.
Read
February 9, 2016Terry Thirteen is surely one of the most stupid characters in comics; a debunker and sceptic, but one operating in the DC universe, where gods, aliens, ghosts and wizards threaten or save the world on a regular basis. Meaning poor Doctor 13 is more climate-change denier or flat Earther than Dawkins or Randi. So the Wonder Woman team of Azzarello and Chiang run with that insanely certain denial and construct a sort of Clockwise for the misplaced rationalist, featuring such delights as 13 stood with a vampire on a flying ghost pirate ship, desperately trying to pretend none of this is happening. It's also an exercise in fourth-wall bending, undertaken during one of DC's periodic tweaks of their cosmos and building on Grant Morrison's introduction of the characters to their Architects - but even if you've no interest in that angle, it remains a big, silly stew of pop-culture-riffing fun.
April 6, 2022
Overall a fun time but I wish we would've gotten some more commentary on exactly why these characters are being written out of existence. I think there could've been some really interesting discussions about why comics had a Nazi gorilla or a Confederate general and removing past regrettable characters like those two specifically, but unfortunately not. Be mindful going in that there are hate symbols (swastikas and Confederate flags) included in the artwork as well as references to both the Holocaust and the Confederacy.
From a storytelling perspective, it is interesting and I enjoyed a majority of the characters present (yay Infectious Lass!) but I was disappointed by a missed opportunity on what could've been a very necessary and nuanced discussion.
From a storytelling perspective, it is interesting and I enjoyed a majority of the characters present (yay Infectious Lass!) but I was disappointed by a missed opportunity on what could've been a very necessary and nuanced discussion.
October 1, 2007
Funny and heartwarming. Not only did the story remind me why I love comics, but it was an interesting commentary on modern superhero comics as well. Hoping for a sequel someday.
December 5, 2020
As a longtime DC reader, this is the type of book tailor-made for me. It's a very meta story (I really wish I had a less threadworn label for it), but unlike others in the same vein, it's a well-done story in its own regard. That said, I have no clue how it would read to someone with no knowledge of DC's Crises or its one-time "archiects."
January 1, 2021
That was a fun, but silly story. I would read more of this story if there was more. If you enjoy Doctor Who you will enjoy this book. It does not try to be the typical comic book which is why it works.
January 21, 2020
I do love a good ragtag team of genuine misfits. Doctor 13, a belligerent sceptic in a world of continuous wonders. Genius Jones, a young booksmart castaway who will answer any question for a single dime at a time. Infectious Lass, a Legion of Super-Heroes reject with the ability to spread diseases. Pryemaul, a Talking Nazi Gorilla-turned-vampire. While they don't exactly fit the description of a 'super-team', they are certainly an interesting gathering of some of DC Comics's more niche characters.
Azzarello and Chiang manage to bring them all together in a tongue-in-cheek existential tale reminiscent of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. In turn they grant each one-note character depth and colour as the end inches closer. By the last page you'll even mourn the death of a cartoon fascist.
On my second reading, I picked up on the more subtle humour within this book from Doctor 13's worrying Freudian slips to accent humour (e.g. 'Like a hot day in...Joo lie!') I even felt enthused enough to translate Anthro the Caveman's French speech to seek out the cheeky jokes within.
For a thin superhero comic about gimmicks, this certainly brought a smile to my face and actual comic book mortality to the forefront of my mind. If you are similarly interested in what happens to wilfully forgotten characters in a DC Comics 'rebirth' or anything concerning the treacherous nature of the retcon, then I cannot recommend Doctor 13: Architecture and Mortality, enough.
Azzarello and Chiang manage to bring them all together in a tongue-in-cheek existential tale reminiscent of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. In turn they grant each one-note character depth and colour as the end inches closer. By the last page you'll even mourn the death of a cartoon fascist.
On my second reading, I picked up on the more subtle humour within this book from Doctor 13's worrying Freudian slips to accent humour (e.g. 'Like a hot day in...Joo lie!') I even felt enthused enough to translate Anthro the Caveman's French speech to seek out the cheeky jokes within.
For a thin superhero comic about gimmicks, this certainly brought a smile to my face and actual comic book mortality to the forefront of my mind. If you are similarly interested in what happens to wilfully forgotten characters in a DC Comics 'rebirth' or anything concerning the treacherous nature of the retcon, then I cannot recommend Doctor 13: Architecture and Mortality, enough.
January 19, 2020
Although I really loved some of the characters presented in this graphic novel (specifically Traci Thirteen and Andrew Bennett,) there was heaps about it I really didn't like, starting as early as the first page where it looks like Terry Thirteen is about to have a dream about his uncomfortably sexualized daughter (a treatment Traci will receive for the rest of the book.) The plot itself is bizarre and difficult to follow, the main character is annoyingly oblivious - denying the existence of things and people that are literally right in front of him - and the "resolution" barely deserves the word. I really wanted to like this book - the idea of a supernatural bunking doctor and his sorcerer daughter traveling around solving mysteries is a really fun one! But this isn't it.
July 13, 2020
The single star is harsher than I actually feel about it but I wouldn't say "it was okay" so here we are. I get where they were going with it and I really like the art but despite the stakes for the characters I didn't find myself caring about how things turned out for them. Maybe it's because of the nature of the writing. It's written as a comedy so it felt more cartoony than anything else. The art is really good but the story kind of meanders and some of it has really not aged well. There's also a weird incest beat with Dr. 13 directed towards his daughter that Azzarello drops in the first book that he plays for comedic effect but that leaves me feeling really weird about the protagonist. What a crazy time 2004 was.
November 29, 2013
Take 9 d-list superheros.
Add illogical and nonsensical plot.
Combine with a heavy dose of metaphorical surrealism.
( Actually, this sounds like just about every comic superhero story ever made... Am I right folks? )
I like that they brought back obscure and rarely seen characters. I don't know what the authors were trying to accomplish with this story, but it was fun watching the forgotten sub-heros of the past play once again.
Add illogical and nonsensical plot.
Combine with a heavy dose of metaphorical surrealism.
( Actually, this sounds like just about every comic superhero story ever made... Am I right folks? )
I like that they brought back obscure and rarely seen characters. I don't know what the authors were trying to accomplish with this story, but it was fun watching the forgotten sub-heros of the past play once again.
October 2, 2007
A must read. Originally a backup in DC's Tales of the Unexpected miniseries, Dr. 13 is a gleeful romp through the back alleyways of the DC Universe. At some point, this type of metafiction navel gazing will be completely played out, but not yet.
January 21, 2011
Reading this made waiting for my wife while she shopped at Home Depot seem like an eternity.
January 25, 2012
Meta comics crap.
February 10, 2015
This book is SO! MUCH! FUN!!!
October 10, 2025
It's weird, it's quirky, it's meta, but ultimately unsatisfying.
And maybe that's the intent.
Azzarello gets a lot of respect among many comics fans, and I do not want to suggest that it is undeserved, but his works does tend to feel just a little bit lacking per my tastes. His name is not a reason for me to pick up a book, but it will make me look twice at one I might have otherwise glossed over. That said, there was no concern of that here: I have a weird love for characters like Doctor 13/Doctor Thirteen, and in particular for their place in comics history.
Somehow, I had never heard about this book when it came out, but found it recently while looking for Doctor Occult books (sadly lacking), and it was cheap enough to give it a shot.
Initially, I found it very entertaining. Fun, quirky, easy jokes that still make you grin, and a bunch of not-really-obscure-but-let's-pretend-they-are-for-the-purpose-of-this-story characters. All good fun, and within 20 or so pages I was ready to recommend this to my friends...
I'm glad I didn't. I'm giving it four stars, but that's probably rounding up a bit.
Like I wrote, it starts off fun, and then Dr. 13's exaggerated disbelief gets a little strained, but, ok, still fun and funny.
Then it starts jumping around, feeling like it's skipping over story beats. The jokes get strained. The disbelief gets strained. The accents get strained. The story goes from silly-as-commentary to just silly-like-I-didn't-really-plan-this-out.
Interesting, meta ideas are hinted out but just don't go far enough, and then it ends with... well, SPOILER... a bit of a "Monster at the End of this Book" moments, and it isn't really done... but it is.
Just too much of a let down for my tastes. Maybe it was meant to be, but I found myself neither satisfied nor deep in thought. It started off fun, but even that disappeared along the way.
Worth a read if you can do so for cheap, but just don't expect too much more than some silliness and bright colors.
And maybe that's the intent.
Azzarello gets a lot of respect among many comics fans, and I do not want to suggest that it is undeserved, but his works does tend to feel just a little bit lacking per my tastes. His name is not a reason for me to pick up a book, but it will make me look twice at one I might have otherwise glossed over. That said, there was no concern of that here: I have a weird love for characters like Doctor 13/Doctor Thirteen, and in particular for their place in comics history.
Somehow, I had never heard about this book when it came out, but found it recently while looking for Doctor Occult books (sadly lacking), and it was cheap enough to give it a shot.
Initially, I found it very entertaining. Fun, quirky, easy jokes that still make you grin, and a bunch of not-really-obscure-but-let's-pretend-they-are-for-the-purpose-of-this-story characters. All good fun, and within 20 or so pages I was ready to recommend this to my friends...
I'm glad I didn't. I'm giving it four stars, but that's probably rounding up a bit.
Like I wrote, it starts off fun, and then Dr. 13's exaggerated disbelief gets a little strained, but, ok, still fun and funny.
Then it starts jumping around, feeling like it's skipping over story beats. The jokes get strained. The disbelief gets strained. The accents get strained. The story goes from silly-as-commentary to just silly-like-I-didn't-really-plan-this-out.
Interesting, meta ideas are hinted out but just don't go far enough, and then it ends with... well, SPOILER... a bit of a "Monster at the End of this Book" moments, and it isn't really done... but it is.
Just too much of a let down for my tastes. Maybe it was meant to be, but I found myself neither satisfied nor deep in thought. It started off fun, but even that disappeared along the way.
Worth a read if you can do so for cheap, but just don't expect too much more than some silliness and bright colors.
February 9, 2022
A strange, meta story that only makes sense when you're done with it. A really interesting take on fiction's relationship with reality - particularly fiction that is passed around across generations, between different storytellers.
Doctor 13 is a skeptic through and through - he doesn't believe in anything he can't outright just explain through his senses (which he, he explains, is something he can't trust at all... so does he believe in anything?), so when the world around him gets wacky, he doesn't believe he's experiencing any of it. Once he is surrounded by a ragtag group of DC's one-off characters that nobody cares about, he realized what is going on - he is living in the universe of The Architects, and they have decided that their universe has no need of people like them anymore. The Architects hide behind Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and The Flash masks, so the symbolism the authors are trying to showcase is fairly self-explanatory.
As the story approaches the end, you realize that one of the main ideas the story has been trying to get across is really quite profound - that the "real world" only exists in the past. No present, because as soon as you observe something, it's already in the past and no future because of the trillions of possibilities that could hold that don't exist and probably never will. Only the past. But fiction is permanent in all directions. And yet... with the turn of the page, an entire universe can blip in and our of existence. Really profound, worthwhile ideas.
The art is great. The execution is a bit... sloppy? Confusing? Maybe it's that way on purpose, but I would have appreciated a little less ambiguity and a little more of a conclusion. The story ties a nice little ribbon on itself, but I don't know - felt like the points that Brian Azzarello was making could have been expounded upon a bit more.
Pretty enjoyable, though. And funny.
Doctor 13 is a skeptic through and through - he doesn't believe in anything he can't outright just explain through his senses (which he, he explains, is something he can't trust at all... so does he believe in anything?), so when the world around him gets wacky, he doesn't believe he's experiencing any of it. Once he is surrounded by a ragtag group of DC's one-off characters that nobody cares about, he realized what is going on - he is living in the universe of The Architects, and they have decided that their universe has no need of people like them anymore. The Architects hide behind Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and The Flash masks, so the symbolism the authors are trying to showcase is fairly self-explanatory.
As the story approaches the end, you realize that one of the main ideas the story has been trying to get across is really quite profound - that the "real world" only exists in the past. No present, because as soon as you observe something, it's already in the past and no future because of the trillions of possibilities that could hold that don't exist and probably never will. Only the past. But fiction is permanent in all directions. And yet... with the turn of the page, an entire universe can blip in and our of existence. Really profound, worthwhile ideas.
The art is great. The execution is a bit... sloppy? Confusing? Maybe it's that way on purpose, but I would have appreciated a little less ambiguity and a little more of a conclusion. The story ties a nice little ribbon on itself, but I don't know - felt like the points that Brian Azzarello was making could have been expounded upon a bit more.
Pretty enjoyable, though. And funny.
July 30, 2021
When I visited Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for the first time in more than four years, in August, 2020, I remember discovering a used book store "by accident." I had not even used Google Maps, I just turned the corner to walk back to the hotel, and there it was.
Although I do not recall the name of the used bookstore, offhand, it is saved in my "Favorites" list on my Google Maps account.
In any event, prior to finding this graphic novel, I had never heard of Doctor 13. Then again, I AM more #TeamMarvel than #TeamDC although I happily make an exception for Wonder Woman, but I digress.
It was a good story, although I did have some difficulty connecting with Doctor 13. However, I shall definitely check out more of Doctor 13's adventures in the future.
Although I do not recall the name of the used bookstore, offhand, it is saved in my "Favorites" list on my Google Maps account.
In any event, prior to finding this graphic novel, I had never heard of Doctor 13. Then again, I AM more #TeamMarvel than #TeamDC although I happily make an exception for Wonder Woman, but I digress.
It was a good story, although I did have some difficulty connecting with Doctor 13. However, I shall definitely check out more of Doctor 13's adventures in the future.
January 15, 2023
This shows Brian Azzarello is actually capable of writing a fun comic. Doctor Thirteen is an obscure DC character who goes around debunking the supernatural. In more recent years, with his daughter Tracy Thirteen. Here they meet even more obscure characters from DC like Jeb from the Haunted Tank and Infectious Lass from the Legion of Substitute Heroes as Doctor Thirteen tries to deny anything supernatural is happening while flying around in a ghost pirate ship. It's all a load of fun.
Cliff Chiang makes it all look particularly glorious. He is just a terrific artist anytime I see his work.
Cliff Chiang makes it all look particularly glorious. He is just a terrific artist anytime I see his work.
July 26, 2019
Now, this is really fun, presaging Azzarello and Chiang's less playful, more serious run on Wonder Woman.
There is a lot of fun meta stuff with characters here, as well as the four "architects" who parallel the four scriptwriters of the weekly series "52," which was current at the time this was published. Traci 13 needs to reappear, and the end is, well, no end. Among other things, this is a great reintroduction for Infectious Lass! Now I'm going to Google a few of these protagonists, especially Genius Jones.
Recommended.
There is a lot of fun meta stuff with characters here, as well as the four "architects" who parallel the four scriptwriters of the weekly series "52," which was current at the time this was published. Traci 13 needs to reappear, and the end is, well, no end. Among other things, this is a great reintroduction for Infectious Lass! Now I'm going to Google a few of these protagonists, especially Genius Jones.
Recommended.
May 11, 2020
The individual chapters read better separately than they do coming together as a whole. Here and there were hints at things that could have been developed further but were just left there. Cliff Chiang's art is crisp and clean.
Overall, it's an amusing and cynical trifle of a story told through the eyes of DC's most cynical character.
Overall, it's an amusing and cynical trifle of a story told through the eyes of DC's most cynical character.
January 18, 2023
I haven’t read this one in a long while and I’d forgotten just how much I love it - a wonderful piece of surreal metafiction celebrating a cast of obscure d-list characters from DC’s history (am a long time Infectious Lass stan so…this book pleases me greatly)
Highly recommended
Highly recommended
July 23, 2023
A creative and lively (and meta!) commentary on the way comic book canon writes and rewrites itself constantly. Doctor 13, a powerful skeptic, challenges the base (and possibly cruel) machinations of The Architects as the future looms large ahead.
April 2, 2025
Great hidden gem from back in the early odds, when DC was publishing weird, exciting stuff. Not your regular Azzarello and an Cliff Chiang getting to his prime. Really fun, recommend if you want more stuff similar to the ending of Morrison's Animal Man
August 21, 2017
Enjoyable for how meta it is, but still.
August 7, 2023
Interesting
March 9, 2025
Azzarello at his weirdest
April 25, 2019
Maybe the one book by Azzarello I sort of enjoy? And that's due mostly to the appearance of an obvious Grant Morrison in a Batman Halloween mask near the end.
April 30, 2011
A mini-série Tales of the Unexpected trouxe duas boas surpresas. Sob argumento de David Lapham, o Espectro é redefinido como habitando o espírito de um polícia afro-americano cuja revolta perante as injustiças alimenta a violência vingativa do personagem mas cujo toque humano é o único limite à megalomania, numa história recheada de crimes com castigos tétricos.
A acompanhar esta narrativa surge uma pérola de meta-ficção saída da pena de Brian Azzarello: Dr. 13, Architecture and Morality. Pegando num personagem de segunda linha, o céptico parapsicólogo Dr. 13 para quem a lógica é tudo e que nega toda a possibilidade do sobrenatural, Azzarello mistura-o com outros personagens do estábulo sobrenatural da DC em vias de esquecimento. Juntamente com a sua filha, 13, para seu horror e negação da negação do ilógico, é forçado a juntar-se a Anthro (um rapaz neandertal), o vampiro Andrew Bennet, o fantasma pirata Captain Fear, o líder da Primate Patrol, um bando de gorilas nazis, a heroína de poderes infecto-contagiosas Infectious Lass e o espírito de The Haunted Tank para lutarem contra a ameaça dos arquitectos da realidade. O que se segue é uma viagem alucinante pelos baús poeirentos da DC Comics, revisitando personagens esquecidos que já agraciaram títulos hoje descontinuados e conhecidos apenas pelos fãs do género.
O propósito deste comic inesperado é, talvez, ser uma crítica bem-humorada aos processos criativos e comerciais que ditam a vida ou morte de um personagem dos comics. Depressa percebemos que os arquitectos do título são os principais argumentistas da DC Comics, com o literal poder de aniquilar ou reviver uma personagem. A ilustração colorida em tons pop de Cliff Chiang sublinha o brinde offbeat aos fãs do género mais conhecedores dos arcanos e arcaicos personagens da editora.
A acompanhar esta narrativa surge uma pérola de meta-ficção saída da pena de Brian Azzarello: Dr. 13, Architecture and Morality. Pegando num personagem de segunda linha, o céptico parapsicólogo Dr. 13 para quem a lógica é tudo e que nega toda a possibilidade do sobrenatural, Azzarello mistura-o com outros personagens do estábulo sobrenatural da DC em vias de esquecimento. Juntamente com a sua filha, 13, para seu horror e negação da negação do ilógico, é forçado a juntar-se a Anthro (um rapaz neandertal), o vampiro Andrew Bennet, o fantasma pirata Captain Fear, o líder da Primate Patrol, um bando de gorilas nazis, a heroína de poderes infecto-contagiosas Infectious Lass e o espírito de The Haunted Tank para lutarem contra a ameaça dos arquitectos da realidade. O que se segue é uma viagem alucinante pelos baús poeirentos da DC Comics, revisitando personagens esquecidos que já agraciaram títulos hoje descontinuados e conhecidos apenas pelos fãs do género.
O propósito deste comic inesperado é, talvez, ser uma crítica bem-humorada aos processos criativos e comerciais que ditam a vida ou morte de um personagem dos comics. Depressa percebemos que os arquitectos do título são os principais argumentistas da DC Comics, com o literal poder de aniquilar ou reviver uma personagem. A ilustração colorida em tons pop de Cliff Chiang sublinha o brinde offbeat aos fãs do género mais conhecedores dos arcanos e arcaicos personagens da editora.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews