Batman Comics

Writer: Tony Daniel

Artists: Tony Daniel, Ryan Winn

Date: April 2011

My Rating: Holy Classic Capers, Batman!

This month’s Batman was action-packed and felt very classic to me. Even though Batman and Robin themselves are different, Dick and Damian instead of Bruce and Dick, I was strongly reminded of old-school 60′s Batman — and yet it was also more realistic!

I love the cover of this issue, and although my plan had been to show covers in the Pull File posts, there’s no reason not to include one here! The colours are great, Batman is Badass, and I really like the text at the bottom. I’m also fascinated by the tears in his costume – you can see the mesh of the armor he wears under the grey cloth of the suit, and I think I remember other issues recently where tears in the shirt show flesh. Did he upgrade the batsuit?

So this bad guy The Sensei is searching for an evil mask (“The Beholder”) that gives amazing powers. Batman and Robin are on the job, as are The Peackock and her kid brother Luki Lo, who have spent their entire lives dedicated to finding and destroying The Beholder. Meanwhile, The Riddler and his daughter Enigma (someone write a story for me with Robin and Enigma, k?) are also messing with Batman and seem to be involved in a larger plot of their own.

There’s a great two-page spread, where Sensei has just donned the mask and got all powerful, and Batman attacks. I wanted to share it, but my scanner only fits one page at a time. So, this image isn’t awesome, but it’s better than nothing

Triumphant in the end, Batman sees Peacock (Miss Lo) and Luki off as they return home. Pretty sure the kiss here is a memory, rather than actually happening at the airport, but still – Dick gets around, eh? Awesome. I am going to make a point of watching for further Dick Grayson Kiss Moments (TM) and will be sure to keep everyone updated!

OK, that wraps it up for me. Leave a comment with your thoughts on Batman 707 or any other Batman comic, and have a great weekend!

Writer: James Robinson
Artists: Mark Bagley, Rob Hunter, Norm Rapmund
Date: February 2011
My Rating: Supergirl steals the show!

This is the third issue of JLA I’ve read, and I’m really into it! It’s got enough Batman to keep me interested, and I’m slowly getting to know some other characters. This month Supergirl had some awesome dark moments, I wanted to focus on her.

Quick recap – The Crime Syndicate of America (evil Justice League from alternate universe Earth 3), featuring sexy big bads Owlman and Ultraman, showed up searching for a way to stop the evil forces destroying their home universe. Another even bigger bad guy Omega Man also showed up, and so this green chick Jade enclosed the entire city (Washington DC, of course) in a dome. This protected the world against Omega Man, but also means that the JLA and CSA are trapped inside together. They decide to band together to fight Omega Man, but not everyone is on board.

Omega Man brought a lot of bad energy with him, and Supergirl gets to take a walk on the wild side as a result. Here we see her reaction to her new outlook on life:

(click through to see it larger)

I gotta say, if Dick Grayson were all bat-suited up and talking inspirational right in front of me, I might have a similar reaction. Makes a girl glad to believe in alternate universes.

Once Supergirl is pushed to choose a side, she goes where we might not have expected. On the other hand, Ultraman is a pretty intense character, and Supergirl’s looking for someone to go crazy with right now. Who better than Ultraman, with his unlimited powers and complete lack of morals or general human concern? He’s also got quite the body.

And yes, that’s Owlman and Ultrawoman in the middle panel there, along with Donna Troy (apparently a crossover from Star Trek). I’m definitely looking forward to seeing how this plays out in future issues! The last page of this issue has another great image, but I’m not going to share it here. Read it yourself and let me know what you think!