Doctor 13 : Architecture and Mortality, by Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang 7.5

Originally published in ‘Tales of the Unexpected’ as an 8-part serial, this collection comprises a complete adventure of Doctor Thirteen, wherein he battles the mysterious, omnipotent Architects.

It’s a tongue-in-cheek affair, with a number of pop culture references along the way and even some industry satire (that I wasn’t aware of upon first reading). And there are a fair number of winks at the readers.

It’s funny, it’s exciting and it’s even metaphysical. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it’s clever, but maybe it is and I’m simply not clever enough to recognize it.

The art is pleasing, although it has that slick style that is particular to North American publications: it’s clean, vibrant, and a little cartoony. The writing, of course, is pretty solid throughout.

‘Architecture and Mortality’ is a dynamic set of episodes and it reads very easily. But I suspect that its multi-faceted madness would be better suited to older teens and beyond.