Batman Comics

My husband @VenPixel and I went to Fan Expo Canada this weekend, and we had a really nice time! I’m obviously not a reporter, so I won’t attempt to do an objective review of the event, but I’d like to share some highlights. Be careful, there are some spoilers below for the DCnU!

We started by finding the DC table and I got to meet James Robinson, writer of Justice League of America. I told him I enjoyed his run on JLA, and specifically that he made me interested in non-Bat characters such as Supergirl, who recently had sort of an identity crisis and became a very dark version of herself. He thanked me and and started to talk about women in comics, which has been a real hotbed of conversation lately (there was a lot of discussion about women creators at the San Diego ComicCon DC panel, check out DC Women Kicking Ass for details). Robinson said that there are actually a lot of women in JLA, which I agreed with, and then said that I should come to the DC New 52 Panel (which I’d already planned to attend) because they’d be announcing something and it also involved women characters. I considered saying that I think the larger concern is women on the creative side, since in my opinion women aren’t under-represented within the comics themselves (though how they’re represented is questionable), but instead I just told him I’d see him at the panel and that was that! It was very exciting have met him.

Batman Inc 1 variant cover by Yannick Paquette

Then we went and got seated for the New 52 panel. Remember, if you want real reporting it’s not here, these are just the bits I cared enough about to write down.

Dan DiDio asked who likes Justice League, then picked a kid out of the audience and let him read the new Justice League 1 and Flashpoint 5, which as we know won’t be released until Wednesday. I was so jealous! We can only hope that the kid understood the huge significance of the moment

Tony Daniel talked about how Dick Grayson is a totally different Batman than Bruce Wayne, and how excited he is to be writing Bruce (now that he’ll be working on Detective Comics instead of on Batman). That book is high on my list in the DCnU. Daniel said that Detective Comics will be very focused on Batman and his solo detective work, we might see Jim and Alfred but not much. Batman will have a love interest, and it’s not Catwoman! That’s exciting, I can enjoy the Bats/Cats relationship but it’s nice to give Bruce some variety. Daniel also told us that we’ll see short plot arcs but big concepts, and it leads into something big next year. Francis Manapul said that the ending of Detective Comics 1 is a cliffhanger that will “blow our faces away”. Can’t wait to find out what he means by that!

Captain America special Fan Expo cover

On the topic of characters in the relaunched DC universe, Eddie Berganza (the editor) said that they’re being cautious about how they reintroduce characters, and they don’t want to do it all at once. It has to feel fresh and new, and they’re waiting to have the right tone and people involved in each comic. He was asked specifically about Wally West and Donna Troy, and said “just wait”. What about the events of Hush, does Catwoman still know who Batman really is? Eddie said Catwoman 1 will have a scene about identities that answers those questions, I’m looking forward to seeing where they go with that since it will have a pretty big effect on how the different characters interact.

Finally, we have news about Stephanie Brown!! She was Batgirl, but as we know Barbara Gordon will be returning to that cape, and everyone’s been wondering what Steph will be doing in the DCnU. So, we don’t have to wonder anymore. Spoiler alert! Dan DiDio said that Steph will return to costumed crimefighting as ‘Spoiler’, her original alter-identity. That’s amazing! I am so glad to know that she’ll be getting action in the comics, and really look forward to reading about her adventures.

After the New 52 panel I got to say hi to Brian Azzarello and Yanick Paquette. I told Brian how much I loved the Flashpoint Batman mini-series, his take on Thomas and Martha Wayne was amazing, and his Joker comic was super cool. I thanked Yanick for the Batman Inc art, and told him that specifically in issue 2 I loved how he drew Bruce and Selina together, they looked exactly like themselves. He seemed pleased with that, and it was really exciting to get to meet them!

Batman 247 - Special Holiday issue!

We went to the Drawing Batman panel, where Marcus To and Tony Daniel both took turns drawing, and it was projected for us to watch. I’m still amazed at their skill and talent, being able to draw like that would be so great – I can do all sorts of handiwork but drawing is definitely beyond me. While they drew they answered questions about their work, comics, etc. I asked them to talk about drawing Joker, and their answers were very interesting! Daniel said that when he was working with Grant Morrison, their Joker was influenced by David Bowie and Iggy Pop, but modern and cool. To said that his Joker was inspired by Batman: The Animated Series, and the dark eye makeup was very important. He also liked Jim Lee and Frank Quitely’s takes on Joker, which I definitely agree with. That panel was great, they’re both such excellent but different artists. I hoped to get one of the drawings they did but wasn’t so lucky.  After the panel I introduced myself to Marcus To, he’s been nice enough to answer me on Twitter so it was cool to connect in real life.

We walked around on the main floor, I bought Batman 247 which is on my list of Matches Malone issues but discovered when I got home that Matches isn’t actually in the comic! So it seems that I do have all his Batman and Detective Comics appearances! The rest will be harder to find, they’re less common and some are worth less so they’ll be in 50 cent bins, which means they’re not as well organized.

I also bought a beautiful print of the Batman Inc 1 variant cover by Yanick Paquette (which you can see above), and he signed it for me! I’ll get it framed, such an excellent piece of artwork.

And then we were done with Fan Expo! There were people in all sorts of amazing outfits, I was so impressed with how creative and high-quality some were! We had a good time, and it definitely helped convince me that going to San Diego ComicCon next year is a good idea. Now it’s time to start planning my costumes! If you went to Fan Expo I’d love to hear about your experiences and see photos, so leave a comment!

It’s Thursday, and that can only mean one thing – time to get ready for Fan Expo Canada! I don’t really know what to expect, having never been to a comic convention before, but it should be a lot of fun. I’m already trying to decide what to wear – one of my several Joker costumes, or my fabulous She-Ra dress? And how is it possible that I don’t yet have a Batman outfit?

I’m pretty excited to meet some of my favourite writers and artists, here are the people I’ll be looking out for:

Andy Kubert – artist – Flashpoint, Batman (Flashpoint 3 – the way he drew Superman was so perfect!)

David Finch – writer & artist – Batman: The Dark Knight

Tony Daniel – writer & artist – Detective Comics, Batman

Brian Azzarello – writer – Joker, Flashpoint Batman (I loved Batman & Joker in Flashpoint, can’t wait to thank him)

Yanick Paquette – artist – Batman Inc (Bruce & Selina in Batman Inc 2 was one of my favourite panels)

Cameron Stewart – artist – Batman & Robin (Damian flipping & flamethrowing in 16 was just so excellent)

Marcus To – artist – Red Robin

I also want to ask Marco Rudy why he put Harley Quinn in that awful costume on the Suicide Squad cover. Does he just not understand who she is?

There are two big DC panels that I hope to attend, the New 52 panel and the Drawing Batman panel, those both sound like fun. Other than that, I hope to walk around, see people in fantastic costumes, maybe buy some stuff, do the con thing. Michael Biehn will be there, I’ve loved him as Hicks ever since I first saw Aliens when I was about eight years old, so hopefully I can get a photo with him or something. If I’m really lucky he’ll say “Don’t be gone long, Ellen”, but that seems a bit unlikely.

Are you going to Fan Expo? Let me know, we can meet up and say hello!

Beware – there will be Flashpoint and Flashpoint: Batman spoilers below.

Batman & Robin 25 (Sep ’11)

Writer & Artists: Judd Winick, Greg Tocchini, Andy Smith

Batman & Robin continues to be one of my favourite comicbooks, it’s just so damn enjoyable! This issue finishes the story arc where Jason gets himself transferred from Arkham to Blackgate, and then proceeds to kill as many other prisoners as possible. A mystery woman and her Zoo Crew break Jason out on his way back to Arkham, holding his girlfriend Scarlet hostage in return for his cooperation. This leads us to my new favourite thing, and our newest fun tag here — Jason Gets Naked! The goodness started in Batman & Robin 23, here’s another excellent page from that issue:

“…Death didn’t do anything except slow me down a little.” And here’s Jason in B&R 25, doing what it takes to rescue Scarlet. Awesome.

Flashpoint 3 of 5 (Sep ’11)

Writer & Artists: Geoff Johns, Andy Kubert, Sandra Hope

In the last issue Flash convinced Batman to help him be struck by lighting, in hopes of regaining his powers. The attempt left him with burns over most of his body but he’s determined to try again. This time it works, he gets his superspeed and healing abilities back! Flash suggests that they should find Superman, and Batman enlists the help of Cyborg by offering his own aid as a strategist in the coming war against both Wonder Woman’s and Aquaman’s forces. Holy complex storyline, Batman! Anyways, it leads to such a cool plot twist – in this world, Superman landed in Metropolis instead of Smallville and was immediately taken in by the Government. The worst part is, they kept him underground his whole life! He’s scrawny and timid!

He’s drawn perfectly, and those eyes – it’s so clearly Superman in there, just aching to get out and rock. Overall Flashpoint has been a cool alternate world story, I’m really into it.

Flashpoint: Batman – Knight of Vengeance (Sep ’11)

Writer & Artist: Brian Azzarello, Eduardo Risso

I still haven’t gotten over Wayne Casino, what a great concept. One thing that does confuse me a bit is the timing – when does this happen in relation to the overall Flashpoint story? Joker has taken Harvey and Gilda Dent’s twins hostage (some things never change) and Gordon’s traced them to the abandoned Wayne Manor. When he arrives he sees Joker holding a gun to Dent’s son, and Gordon shoots first – but all is not as it seems.

Such beautiful art, I like the colouring choices and how we move from a close-up of the girl’s face to wider and wider shots as Gordon comes to understand the situation he’s in. The last few pages of the book are brilliant and twisted, and although I won’t give away here who the Joker really is, I will say you really should be reading this book.