by Carlton Hargro

OK, you’ve got to give it up to Robert Kirkman.

He said he’d get his trio of Image-brand comics (The Astounding Wolf-Man, Invincible and The Walking Dead) out on time, and for the last few months it appears that he’s been delivering on that promise.

And I’ve got to say, now that his books are coming out more frequently, I find myself reading everything he writes — which has given me a newfound appreciation for his talents.

Kirkman is not a blockbuster-level writer yet (like, you know, guys like Mark Millar, Grant Morrison or even Brian Michael Bendis) but he churns out some entertaining stuff.

Invincible is a consistently engrossing superhero comic that’s fun without being silly or devoid of substance; The Walking Dead is a dark, violent, gory, unpredictable and addictive horror comic; and The Astounding Wolf-Man is an action-packed, scary and blood-soaked superhero/horror series.

If you only read comics from the Big-Two, then you may have read Kirkman’s runs on Ultimate X-Men or Marvel Zombies. But honestly, those works weren’t a great representation of his writing abilities. Flip through the pages of his creator-owned stuff (like, you know, those three comics I previously mentioned), and his love of comics and command of the art form is evident.

On top of that, his books feature the best letter columns in comics (yes, even better than the letters pages in Powers).

All that to say, buy some Kirkman books. You’ll dig ’em.

For more comic reviews from Carlton, visit www.charlotte.creativeloafing.com.