Batman and Robin 25, Flashpoint 3, Flashpoint Batman 2
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.
