Reading: Doctor 13

When one thinks of writer Brian Azzarello, the things that readily come to mind are guns, crime, and shadey characters.  He isn’t someone you quickly associate with comedic fourth-wall-breaking romps.  And yet, with artist Cliff Chiang, he delivers exactly that in the guise of Doctor 13.

This mini-series showcases the character originally created in 1951 now teaming up with the likes of Traci 13, Anthro, I… Vampire, the Haunted Tank, Infectious Lass, and Genius Jones.  In other words, it’s a book showcasing D-listers.  Think of it as the DC version of Next Wave, except with a point.

As a comic book, Dr. 13′s strength is also its weakness.  It is extremely in-jokey and requires a solid-to-strong knowledge of recent DC continuity both on and off the pages; because believe it or not, the main villains of this book are a quartet of seemingly all-powerful beings known as the architects, whom eagle-eyed fanboys will recognize as Grant Morrison, Geof Johns, Greg Rucka, and Mark Waid.  These same four creators laid down major foundations for today’s DC universe way back in the weekly series 52.

Dr. 13 is the hilariously executed story of a perennial skeptic who is faced with the reality that someone is in charge of his fate.  But it really need not sound that serious.  It’s about a tired old fictional character challenging the powers that be in order to stay relevant and survive in an ever-changing (read ever-rebooting) comic book universe.  Read it if you think Azzarello’s dark and twisted writing style hides a nostalgic humor-laden talking ape at its heart.  You’d be surprised.