Batman Comics

Hello and happy new comic day, everyone! There are so many good comics out this week, but I’m not as excited as usual because of some other Batman goings-on in my life — this weekend I’m going to be an extra in Dark Knight Rises!! It’s such a once in a lifetime experience, I can barely even think about it. If Christian Bale is there, I might need to be restrained… Well, we’ll see. On to the comic books!

Batman Beyond 8 – I’ve tried really hard to care about Batman Beyond, but it’s just not happening. I’m sorry, I know that sounds awful, and there’s nothing specifically wrong with it – I actually like the overall look of the artwork, and it’s well written. It’s just that somehow from month to month I can never remember what’s going on, and I don’t feel any connection to Terry McGinnis. I’ll read it, but I don’t mind that this book isn’t continuing into the DCnU.

Batman: Arkham City 4 of 5 – This book has been so much fun! I love how Joker and Harley are drawn, and Batman is as badass as he should be. The videogame will be a lot of fun when it comes out, and I like that DC is doing a comicbook tie-in.

Batman: Gates of Gotham 4 of 5 – The tale of Gotham’s history continues! Red Robin has been especially excellent in this series and I look forward to seeing what he does in this issue. The story opens with Robin and Red Robin fighting against a guy wearing a 100-year old diving suit (I think?) the two of them are so funny when forced to work together, I know I’ll enjoy wherever the story goes.

Flashpoint: Batman – Knight of Vengeance 3 of 3 – After the reveal at the end of the last issue, I can’t wait to find out how they’ll follow that up!  I’ve really enjoyed seeing Thomas Wayne as Batman, so different than how Bruce turned out and yet also very Battish. I’m totally sad that it’s the last issue already, but there’s lots to look forward to in the DCnU!

Flashpoint 4 of 5 – Flashpoint! Hurrah! I’ve been enjoying this mini-series so much more than I expected to, it’s been just great. I can’t imagine how they’re going to get from here to a resolution in just two issues, but I’m sure it will be awesome. Overall a great week for comics!

Can you believe it’s July already? I don’t know where spring went, but I’m really enjoying summer. Got some exciting new books today, and also finally got the ones from last week – I’ve got some fun evenings of comic reading ahead of me!

Batman & Robin 25 – I confess, I read this one before work this morning. I just had to know what happened when Batman and Robin teamed up with the Red Hood! Jason is pretty super hot here, I’ll share some details later on this week.

Batman Beyond 7 – Is this series even continuing in the DCnU? I’m still reading it, but not as excited about this as some other books, my new theory is that’s because it’s set in the future and I just don’t care as much about Terry as I do about the rest of the Bat-family. That said, I do want to know what Terry’s friend is up to with that cloud computer, and hopefully we’ll find out how Dick lost his eye.

Flashpoint 3 – There were some news articles over the last few days that said Flashpoint leads directly into the DCnU reboot, and if so, all I can say is, ‘How?’ There will need to be some major clean-up efforts going on…

Flashpoint: Batman – Knight of Vengeance 2 of 3 – I read this one before work today too! Why? Because I couldn’t wait any longer to find out who the Joker is in the Flashpoint world, and now that I know, I’m (a) surprised, and (b) a little ashamed that I didn’t realize. It’s just so perfect! And twisted, of course, but we wouldn’t have it any other way.

All in all, a good haul! What are you reading?

Good morning! New comics always brighten up the middle of the week, even when I don’t get around to talking about them until Friday… Here’s what I’m reading:

Flashpoint 2 of 5 – This issue continues DC’s big ‘event’ mini-series, and I’m excited! Of course, when am I not excited about something comic-related? We’ll find out what happens with Flash and Batman — does Batman believe Flash’s story about coming from an alternate past? Or will he just beat him to a pulp? The cover image shows Batman electrocuting Flash, that can’t be healthy.

Flashpoint -  Batman: Knight of Vengeance 1 of 3 – Batman lures crime to him by running Wayne Casino, while still working with Gordon to make Gotham a better place. Meanwhile, the Joker has kindapped DA Harvey Dent’s children. Can Batman save them in time? I heard a rumor about what Joker’s origin might be in this Flashpoint world and I can’t wait to find out if it’s true – it would be amazing.

Batman Beyond 6 – I’m enjoying the futuristic world and the relationship between old Bruce and Terry. The storyline last issue didn’t really stand out in my mind, but this month might be more memorable. Once again, the cover by Dustin Nguyen is excellent, I really like the colours and the textures, and the implication that this glowing green villain has the Bat in his clutches!

Happy Wednesday and May the 4th be with you! One comic for me today.

Batman Beyond 5 (Jul ’11) – I liked issue 4, with Future-Dick Grayson ‘coming out’ as having been Nightwing, and Batman’s friend Max Gibson getting mixed up with suspicious characters communicating through a computer. This one is the start of a new story arc called “Industrial Revolution” and based on the cover art it should be an exciting time!

Writer: Adam Beechen

Artists: Eduardo Pansica, Eber Ferreira

Date: June 2011

My Rating: Engaging and with solid artwork, but somehow not my favourite.

This issue is narrated by Max (Maxine) Gibson, as she thinks about what it means to be Batman’s best friend. Of course, in this future world, the Batman she refers to is Terry McGinnis, not Bruce Wayne.

The conflict in this story is based around Dick Grayson – some ex-detective (are we supposed to recognize him? I don’t) is threatening to expose his former secret identity Nightwing to the world. Terry decides to throw them off the trail by posing as an aging Nightwing in public view while Dick is also out and about. That doesn’t go as planned, since Dick “comes out” as Nightwing and claims to be one of the earliest employees of Batman Inc, saying he never actually met Batman himself. One thing I found really fascinating about how this was drawn is that we never see Dick’s face full-on, he’s always in profile, upside-down, or at some other weird angle.

And when did he lose an eye? I’ve seen a few episodes of the Batman Beyond tv series as well, and can’t remember ever having seen Dick in this future world. Bruce seems to feel betrayed or otherwise upset, and I’m curious about what’s happened to his relationship with Dick over the past several decades.

Meanwhile, Max is being tempted to betray Batman by “Undercloud” (with a name like that, who can take this villain seriously?) who offers information and power if she works with them, and threatens her friends and family if she doesn’t. It’s a cliffhanger ending and we don’t know Max enough to know which way she’ll go… We’ll find out in the next issue!

Three new comics for me today! Thanks as always to the guys at The Beguiling for keeping track of what’s on my list

Superman/Batman Annual 5 (Jun ’11) – I got a mini history lesson in Annual issues of comicbooks this afternoon, and it makes so much more sense now! Turns out it’s a holdover from oldschool comics, they used to do big deal one-off issues once a year, often featuring special and unusual crossovers. These days they’re still fancy issues, but they don’t necessarily happen annually and they fit into the ongoing storyline. So this comic apparently picks up at the cliffhanger in Justice League 55, which is awesome. I tried to look at S/B #4 to see if that story arc was finished or if it’s just on hold for #5 but apparently I’ve misplaced that binder, so we’ll never know.

Batman Beyond 4 (Jun ’11) – The last issue of Batman Beyond convinced me that I enjoy the series and want to keep on reading it, so all this one has to do is not mess up! I like the futuristic style, and it’s so interesting to think about what Bruce would be like as a really old man, and taking a very different role in his Mission.

First Wave Special (Jun ’11) – I got the Batman/Doc Savage/Spirit First Wave 6-issue mini-series as they came out, and then re-read the whole thing when #6 came out in March. It had its high points, but wasn’t my favourite series. Not quite sure exactly how this one relates to that, and the official description was pretty vague, but what the heck. It’s Batman, I’ll enjoy it.

Instead of the letters column, the back page of this month’s comics is a tribute to Dwayne McDuffie, a comic writer and co-founder of Milestone Media who died recently. McDuffie worked hard to increase diversity in comics, and his death is a loss to everyone who reads them. Instead of sharing a cover image, here is the top section of that memorial, written by Derek T. Dingle.

(click to enlarge)

Happy March, old chums! What comics did you get today? Here’s my list:

Batman Beyond 3 (May ’11) – I haven’t gotten into Batman Beyond as much as some other titles, probably because a big part of my enjoyment comes from the characters that I love (Bruce and Tim especially) who aren’t really the focus here. Still, I’ve kept B.B. on my list because I like the premise and want to give it a fair chance, and the story arc in the last few issues has been interesting. I’m curious to see how they resolve it!

First Wave 6 of 6 (Mar ’11) – I  feel like I dont like this series but I can’t clearly remember anything about it. Something about Doc Savage in an elevator shaft and Batman uses guns. This is the final issue of the series, so I’ll read all 6 parts in a row now and see what I think of the series as a whole.

Streets of Gotham 20 (Apr ’11) – The previous issue had an awesome early-Joker flashback and sets up Hush (Tommy Elliot, Bruce’s childhood friend) moving against Bruce Wayne to get to Batman – which we remember Bruce recently told Selina he was prepared to deal with.  I really enjoy this series, Paul Dini is awesome and I’m looking forward to the next issue. The cover is also excellent, anything with a gasmask is OK in my book. Check it out!