I think you're misreading what Gotham Central was consciously trying to be from the beginning. It's an active attempt to put the police procedural into another setting, acknowledging superheroic elements but highlighting human struggles. That can cause problems when fundamentally superheroic elements begin to appear.…

That doesn't really bother me that much and I think most readers are able to get a hang on things more quickly than writers give them credit for. My problem is assuming that your continuity based twist that took place in another series is going to have an impact for someone picking up the second storyline of your…

And I'm saying those issues are acknowledged clearly, concisely and accurately. It's almost like walking into a piece and immediately viewing it as an attack on your identity before reading a sentence might get you into some trouble.

Fine. That's still a bad move when you're working on a book that's consciously trying to be separated from superhero comics styling.

The Subterranea ark in Action Comics is really great. Pak really nailed the dynamic between Lana and Superman and really created probably the best Superman book of the New 52 with that storyline.

It's not doing great sales-wise but it's one that has solid digital sales and a pretty engaged fan base. I think it's also a book DC wants to be publishing so hopefully it keeps going. I'm certainly not the audience they're going for with it but it's great and there's nothing else like it on stands right now.

I have the singles and either misplaced or lost or never bought that issue of Detective Comics. It apparently not being in the trade isn't going to help much.

Wow, it's almost likely the piece directly addresses all those issues with the song. Reading, what a world!

You certainly weren't the only one.

Yep. That about sums up my discomfort with it. I'm surprised Waid hasn't thrown a tiny-baby Twitter fit about it yet.

It's not about holding the readers hands. It's about how Gotham Central is consciously trying to keep itself separate from superhero comics but refusing to engage them when it wants to acknowledge continuity.

I have read No Man's Land but for the many readers who've come to Gotham Central blind, a lot of these things are not explained at all and are pivotal to understanding the plot. Even when they are explained, like Bullock's removal from the force in issue #16, the book doesn't really do a great job giving context. It…

It's all in No Man's Land. My problem has always been how little the book actually acknowledges of that relationship. Rucka really assumes Montoya saying "it's Two-Face" is going to rattle every reader but, unless you've read the more than 50-issue crossover that came before it, it's basically meaningless.

Jeff Parker has made some dubious premises work so I still have faith in him. We'll see how it works out.

They've dated and got married in one of the Life with Archie universes. He's dated a host of other short-lived characters and briefly had his own love triangle that wasn't very well received. I think he generally just works best as comic relief so he kind of doesn't get the same conflicts Archie does.

Jughead has dated Ethel on and off. It's certainly not as pivotal to his character as it is to others. I think he doesn't see dating as essential and is generally independent but he has been in relationships.

But Jughead is interested in women. He just isn't as conflicted as Archie is.

MOAR ARCHIE/MOOSE PLZ

This week's JLU was really rough. It's a shame because Lemire had such a handle on those characters and it really seemed that Parker was expanding the team in a way that could lead to some great stories. I hope for the best but this one was definitely a confidence-shaker.

Archie may not have been good looking in early appearances but he's, at minimum, extremely charismatic. He's the guy you want to be friends with. I totally buy throughout this issue having other random characters be invested in he and Betty's love life. If anything, this vision of Archie strikes me exactly as what the…