Batman Comics

Hello Bat-fans! We’re in that calm before the storm now, with costume prep finished but Comic Con not until next week, so I have time for some Quickies! This afternoon I read three new comics, I’m not going to recap the whole stories for you (go buy some comics!) but here are a few fun moments that I hope you enjoy. Be warned – spoilers below!

Detective Comics 11, written by Tony Daniel, art by Julio Ferreira, Eduardo Pansica, Eber Ferreira, and Tomeu Morey

This comic makes a lot more sense if you read Batman in Adam West’s voice, rather than Kevin Conroy or Christian Bale.  Still, lines like “Moving .. in … slow … motion” followed immediately with “… cant move … fast enough” leaves something to be desired, I’m sure Batman would be thinking more than that. The art is okay; some of the panels where the perspective is at an odd angle end up looking a bit weird, but we get a page of Bruce in the shower so I won’t complain.

Batwing 11, written by Judd Winick, art by Marcus To, Ryan Winn, Le Beau Underwood, and Brian Reber

In the last issue, the family of Matu Ba (Batwing’s ‘Alfred’) was all killed, and today he has to go to a small dictatorship country called Tundi for their funerals. Meanwhile, Batwing is fighting Long the Antlered Dragon, and with Nightwing’s help they’re tracking a missing nuclear weapon. This issue is great, not losing momentum when switching between storylines, and fitting a lot of story into the 20 pages. Batman and Penguin share a great moment here, so although it doesn’t feature Batwing, I wanted to share it just for Marcus To’s art.

Justice League 10, written by Geoff Johns, art by Jim Lee, Scott Williams, Mark Irwin, and Jonathan Glapion

This guy Graves is going after the enemies of the Justice League, which sounds good but really just gives him more information about how to fight the League themselves. This leads to the inevitable argument up on the Watchtower where Cyborg reveals things he knows about each member of the League. We also get a nice Batman/Superman moment:

Graves suck the life-force out of each member of the Justice League one by one, magically feeding on their pain and sorrow. We see each member of the League fall except Batman. On the final page he’s shown defeated with the rest of his team, but why is he the only one who we don’t see taken down? Maybe that will come back in the next issue…  I also notice that Gary Frank is mentioned on the cover of this issue, but not on the title page, that’s a bit odd.

Happy Wednesday, Bat-fans! It’s a great week for new comics, we get some really fun things to read today. In related news, San Diego Comic-Con is rapidly approaching and the costume making is going quite well. Now I just have to be patient and wait for the organizers to post the panel schedule! Is anyone who reads this planning to be there? Leave a comment and let me know! Now, here’s what I found in my pull file this week:

Batman Incorporated 2 – I was very into issue 1, and I’m sure that Morrison and Burnham will continue to provide excellent Bat-stories with gorgeous art. Burnham teased on Twitter today that we get some back-story for the Talia/Bruce relationship, please tell me I’m not the only one hoping for some Naked Bruce Wayne time!!

For those of you wondering if Bruce was Batman yet when Damian was conceived, you’ll find out in just a few short hours!

— Chris Burnham (@TheBurnham) June 27, 2012

Batman: The Dark Knight 10 – This title has been kind of all over the place, with art that’s sometimes awesome and sometimes less so, and writing that’s been kind of uninspiring. Today Gregg Hurwitz takes over the writing with a new story arc featuring Scarecrow as the villain. The problem that Batman: The Dark Knight has had all along is that it doesn’t know what distinguishes it from all the other Bat-titles, so if this is their way of moving towards a more horror-themed comic, I think that’s a really good idea.

Justice League 10 - Who has two thumbs and can’t remember anything about Justice League 9? This girl! I even went back and read a summary of the issue (thanks gothamspoilers.com) and still have no idea what’s going on. It’s a great comic, but maybe my attention has been a little too dedicated to making the Bat-dress…

Teen Titans 10 - It feels too early for another Titans book, but that’s cool, I’m into anything that involves Tim Drake and dinosaurs! This week we get more info about Kid Flash’s background, and Bunker asks Red Robin what the deal is with their missing teammate Skitter; the Titans are definitely keeping busy! I had to share this cover for those dinosaurs I mentioned, but I love it for another reason too: I hope it’s the first in a long line of pictures I can tag “Kid Flash Outruns His Uniform.” This is by Brett Booth, Norm Rapmund and Andrew Dalhouse.

It’s a great week for comics! There’s lots going on, especially for the Bat ladies. The Court of Owls’ attack continues in some of these issues, while others are continuing their own unrelated stories. Here’s what I’m reading tonight, as always I’d love to hear about what’s in your pull file, so leave a comment!

Birds of Prey 9 – The Birds take on the Owls, it’s their turn to pitch in and fight a Talon! What I really want is to know more about Poison Ivy, and how she’s feeling about allying with the Birds rather than doing her own bio-terrorist thing on the wrong side of the law. Maybe today we’ll get both!

Catwoman 9 – Catwoman and her new friend Spark join the Bat family in fighting the Court of Owls by protecting the Penguin. Not exactly Gotham’s finest upstanding citizen, but nobody deserves to be assassinated by an un-dead Talon! I really don’t like Guillem March’s cover, Catwoman is in one of those oh-so-unnatural poses where both boobs and butt are emphasized, but I guess that’s about par for the course here, since this is the “hot” and “sexy” title…

Justice League 9 – Based on the cover, my friend Brian who really enjoys highly meta story-about-stories comics will be pleased! There’s a new villain, and it sounds like he’s writing a comic book about the Justice League – that can only lead to problems. The backup story has also been engaging, as we see Billy Batson placed in a foster home and get to know his new family, but so far it’s not quite something that would interest me as a standalone title (not enough Batman!).

Nightwing 9 – The last issue saw Nightwing protecting Mayor Hady from the Talons, which went pretty well but ended up with an awful lot of knives sticking out of our favourite former circus performer. Today Dick will continue to kick some Owl ass, I’m sure, and I want to know what happens with William Cobb, the Talon who’s also one of Dick’s ancestors.

Red Hood and the Outlaws 9 – We all know this isn’t my favourite title, but after reading the preview over at CBR I’m actually really looking forward to it! Kenneth Rocafort’s art looks great (I’m a sucker for interesting panel design) and I found Lobdell’s writing in the preview more funny and way less annoying than usual. Taking a step back from the action, I also really want to know what happens with Jason himself. He’s insistent that he’s not a good guy, and not really part of Batman’s team, but I don’t buy it. Can anyone ever really escape Batman’s family? Would anyone truly want to?

Batwoman 9 – I’ve enjoyed this book a fair amount (it’s at about the middle of my personal Bat-comic scale) but I can’t remember what the story is actually about. This suggests that the story itself is secondary to the interwoven structure that follows six different characters, and also secondary to the artwork, which isn’t really ideal for a well-rounded comicbook. That said, I do like the art quite a lot. Here’s the cover, by Ben Oliver. I find it interesting for how some parts are very textured and detailed, such as Batwoman’s cape, while other things like her hair are very smooth.

Happy Wednesday, Gothamites! Today’s a busy day for comics and there’s a bunch of good stuff in my pull file today. Let’s jump right in!

Batman 7 – I am so excited for this book! After all the buildup with the Court of Owls, in issue 7 we get a very Batman-centric story and a big reveal that’s a surprise but also totally makes sense. I’ve been following Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo on Twitter, and although they haven’t answered any of my tweets to them they’re still pretty cool. Seeing their excitement at working on Batman and the energy they bring to the story is really gratifying, I’m glad to know that the writers are much fans of Batman as I am.

Birds of Prey 7 -  The Birds finally capture Choke, the villain they’ve been dealing with for ages, but he’s got a woman on the inside! Who could betray the Birds of Prey? Hopefully we find out today. Jesús Saíz did the colours on issue 6, and now in issue 7 he does all the drawing. I quite liked his work on issue 1, so that sounds good to me!

Batman Beyond Unlimited 2 – I read issue 1 when it came out, but don’t actually remember it, and the synopsis on DC’s site didn’t help. Hey, I like Batman, I like the future, so I”m reading it.

Catwoman 7 – I just hope Selina doesn’t get beat up in this issue, it will make a nice change. As I said before, is it so wrong to hope that things will go right for Catwoman for a change? Today we get some fancy cars and fast driving scenes, which can be difficult to do in a still medium like comics, I’m looking forward to seeing how the artists Adriana Melo and Mariah Benes do it.

Justice League 7 – It hasn’t been a month since issue 6 came out, has it? Really? This issue jumps 5 years forward to the DCU present day; I wonder how the team’s relationships have changed and grown! That out-of-character moment for Batman in issue 5 still really grates on me, but who can help loving the Justice League?

Red Hood and the Outlaws 7 – I’m really only in it for the Owls. …And because Jason Todd gets naked pretty often. Actually, I do like Kenneth Rocafort’s artistic style, that’s been consistently good through this series.

Nightwing 7 – Nightwing has been an excellent comic, I definitely like getting an in-depth look at Dick Grayson that’s centred around his life. In the previous issue, Haly’s Circus returned to Gotham and Dick was caught up in a deadly situation. Today we should finally find out why a former circus performer has been carrying a grudge against Dick. I really enjoy this cover, by Eddy Barrows and Rod Reis, it feels very textured.

Happy Wednesday, everyone! This week is also a bit on the quiet side, with two new comics for me today. I’m looking forward to reading them, but I haven’t forgotten about my followup to the Court of Owls post. Hopefully I can look at Batman 4, 5 and 6 soon! Until then, here’s what I’ve got this week:

Justice League 6 – When we last left the League they were fighting Darkseid, Superman had been captured, and not only had Batman headed off to rescue him, he’d done it with no mask on. I can’t wait to see how they’ll get out of this one. I read the first couple pages and it was actually awesome, all the characters feel like the best versions of themselves.

Batman Beyond Unlimited 1 – Batman in the future has so much potential, even though I wasn’t a huge fan of the previous Batman Beyond series I wanted to give this one a try. It should be nice to see how a new creative team handles Terry McGinnis as Batman with old man Bruce. This issue also has a Justice League Beyond story, which was published digitally before print. I like Dustin Nguyen’s cover, it definitely captures that futuristic feel:

The Batman comics that came out this past Wednesday were, as a whole, not as exciting as I had hoped. Not too much happened this week! Did anyone else feel the same way? I do want to share a couple love it and livid moments, so here we go.

The first comic I read this week was I Vampire 5, by Joshua Hale Fialkov and Andrea Sorrentino. I always love seeing Batman interact with characters from other comics, it gives us an interesting view into his goals and concerns. So, what happens when Vampires come to Gotham? Hint: Batman spends a lot of time trying to beat information out of a vampire.

I enjoyed the visual style of this book, with these wide scenic panels. The advantage is that we get a broader context for what we’re seeing, but the trade-off is that instead of a really dynamic action-packed story it feels more like we’re seeing the events unfold through a series of still images. This isn’t a bad thing, it actually emphasizes the long-term view that an immortal vampire might take.

I’m trying to give Batman: The Dark Knight, by David Finch, Paul Jenkins and Richard Friend, a serious chance. Dark Knight 5 opens with a fight between Batman and Scarecrow, where Crane has just sprayed fear toxin and proceeded to taunt Batman (you know, as one does). This means we get the pleasure of seeing some of Bats’ more technicolour nightmares:

I love this page, I feel like they’re bringing the fun back to the horrific images of Batman’s worst terrors. And what does it mean that pictured among all the villains is Bruce’s own son Damian? Being who he is, of course, Batman doesn’t succumb to the fear toxin, and so Scarecrow injects him with anti-fear toxin. Wouldn’t the fear and anti-fear toxins cancel each other out? Also, I’ve read a lot of fanfic that starts along these lines, and I can tell you it leads nowhere good. In the end, Dark Knight 5 was OK but nothing much happened; I’ll give it one more issue and then decide if it’s worth continuing.

Last and almost least we have Justice League 5, by Geoff Johns, Jim Lee, and Scott Williams. I was so ready to love this issue, and it just didn’t happen! I’m going to spoil the ending anyways, so be warned! Basically in issue 5 the League fights Darkseid, Batman gives Green Lantern a pep talk, and Superman gets kidnapped by Darkseid’s weird robot guys. The thing that really made me livid was right near the end. Here’s the page, can you see what’s wrong with this picture?

Batman would never take his cowl off! If he wants to have a Heartwarming Moment with Green Lantern, he’d find some way to do so without compromising security and the Mission. Besides – are we supposed to think that because he removed the cowl and the Bat symbol from his chest now Darkseid won’t realize he’s Batman? Oh sure, Bruce Wayne is Just A Regular Guy, and he just happens to be running around in a form-fitting armored suit that coincidentally looks just like Batman’s suit minus a few crucial details. I couldn’t believe it, and can only hope that in Justice League 6 the writers come up with some sort of explanation. Batman always has a plan, but does DC?

Happy Wednesday, my fellow Bat-fans! After a long day working at Wayne Enterprises I’m always excited for new comicbook day. Here’s what’s in my Pull File:

Batman: The Dark Knight 5 – Why am I still reading this comic? Mostly because I want to know what’s up with the white rabbit lady. Every time Dark Knight comes out I comment that I’m not that into it, haven’t connected, and yet I continue buying it. We’ll see how long that continues – Issue 6 will be A Time Of Reckoning for a few titles in my pull file. Anyways, Batman’s been encountering bad guys who are all hopped up on a Venom-type compound that makes them really big and crazy, and in this issue it seems like he gets a dose of that himself. This might actually be great – I like a Batman who’s even bigger and crazier than usual!

I, Vampire 5 – I know what you’re thinking. Why is she reading a non-Batman comic, and more importantly, telling me about it? I don’t know anything about I Vampire, but apparently Batman’s involved in this issue and on the cover of issue 6, so I’ll check it out.

Justice League 5 – This one I am excited for, I’ve quite enjoyed Justice League so far. We’re still watching the team come together, with Wonder Woman and Aquaman showing up last issue, so now that the gang’s all here I’m excited to see what they do. They’re going to be fighting Darkseid, who I don’t really know anything about. I wonder why Batman isn’t on the cover, maybe he’s not really featured in this issue? We’ll find out!

Teen Titans 5 - Similar to Justice League, the Titans now all know each other and are starting to work and fight together instead of against each other. We still get the goodness that is Evil Superboy, and I’ve got all sorts of ideas about how Red Robin (Tinkerbell!) can lure Kon over to the good side. Starting with cookies, ending with nekkid superhero time, you know what I mean. I like Kid Flash on the cover, he looks like he’s having fun:

Hello Bat-fans! Oh, how I miss you! What with life being kinda crazy right now and my scanner being broken, detailed posts just haven’t been in the cards (as our favourite Joker might say), so I hope you’ll forgive me. I’m going to keep working on it and have big plans for the coming year. OK, here’s what’s in my pull file this week, it’s a good one:

Batman 4 – The Court of Owls storyline continues, with Batman investigating the shadowy group at the heart of Gotham’s criminal underworld. I’ve mentioned how much I enjoy this comic, so all they have to do is continue being awesome!

Batman Incorporated: Leviathan Strikes – Did the unpublished Batman Inc issues from before the relaunch get repurposed as this one-shot? I’m not sure, but I loved everything about Batman Inc (Morrison’s story line and writing! Burnham and Stewart’s art!) and so I’m definitely interested in reading this one. I hope it ties up the loose ends of this story!

Birds of Prey 4 – Batgirl joins up with the Birds of Prey! I suspect they won’t all get along really well – somehow I can’t imagine Barbara Gordon working on the same team as Poison Ivy, and I’d probably feel the same about the other Birds if I knew them. This should be fun.

Catwoman 4 – When we last left Catwoman she was destroying evidence in her dead best friend’s apartment and the police had just burst in. That can’t lead anywhere good! My guess is that she’ll escape out the window and then up to the roof. I’m still not sure if I want to keep reading this book, but I’ll wait and give it a chance to really grab me (or turn me off).

Nightwing 4 – Dick Grayson continues his quest to find Mr. Haly’s killer and understand his own past! Batgirl’s busy this month, she turns up in Florida to work with Nightwing and apparently we start getting answers to some of the questions raised in the first three issues.

Red Hood and the Outlaws 4 – As mentioned before, I’m giving this book six issues before deciding to drop it from my pull file. I’m waiting because I want to give the creators a chance to respond to the criticism raised after the first issue, and six issues seems like long enough to do that. Also, I like what I’ve seen of the characters in other stories, so I’d enjoy reading them if it’s done well.

Justice League 4 – Aquaman! I keep hearing he’s awesome now, but haven’t been reading his comic so this is all new and exciting. I really like the art in this series, and watching the Justice League come together and start getting to know each other as a team. Here’s the cover, by Jim Lee and Scott Williams.

Good evening Gotham! It’s an in-between week for comics, so there are no new Batman books to talk about today. That gives me a chance to share some favourite (love it) and not-so-favourite (livid)  moments from recent issues. Here we go!

Justice League 3, by Geoff Johns, Jim Lee and Scott Williams, gave us this page scoring points for love it. I enjoy stories about people from other places coming to our world, and seeing Wonder Woman getting to know the better parts of America is so much fun. Somehow I always knew she’d go for ice cream.

I love Wonder Woman’s kick-ass attitude! There’s a great Batman moment a bit later on in the issue, as the Justice League fights demons that are attacking the planet.

Vampire Batman, telling Green Lantern how to use his ring? How could I not love it?

Next up is Teen Titans 3, by Scott Lobdell, Brett Booth and Norm Rapmund. @VenPixel pointed out a livid moment in the issue, when Kid Flash cracks a four-digit code to unlock a door. I’m not an expert, but I don’t think the switches on the control panel could keep up with his Flash-enhanced typing skills (see ‘switch debouncing‘)!

Silly speedster, keypads are for humans. Another thing in Teen Titans that makes me livid is this scene, in which Red Robin is disguised as an old man ‘riding the rails’ to accompany Skitter across the country. When he reveals his superhero identity to Bunker, there’s a moment when Tim’s face is entirely bare – anyone as paranoid as Tim wouldn’t allow that.

Why isn’t he wearing the domino mask under the old man face? Wow, that was a weird sentence. I liked the comic overall, but I feel like they’ve been too lax with Tim going around unmasked. If we accept the idea that a tiny little mask protects his identity, we have to also assume he’ll be extremely diligent about wearing it.

Last for tonight we have Batman 3, by Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo and Jonathan Glapion. I haven’t really been talking in detail about storylines, but I definitely love the current story in Batman. ‘The Court of Owls’, a group of men who have been “ruling Gotham from the shadows since colonial times” attempted to kill Bruce Wayne. Bruce turns to Alfred for help, and Alfred shares this story about Bruce’s great, great grandfather Alan Wayne, and his terrible fear of owls.

I love the idea that Alfred’s father was butler to the Wayne family before him! And how he tries to drug Bruce with “medicinal” tea, now that’s a butler! The art is also beautiful, on this page I especially like the top panel (we’re inside the Batman cowl, watching Bruce and Alfred) and the use of colour.

That’s it for me! It’s been fun taking a love it or livid look at comics – I might do it again! Let me know what you think of these or any other Batman comics in the comments, and have a great night.

Hello and Happy Wednesday! I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the dull grey November weather. I took a break from comics over the past week, I had been feeling much less excited and inspired to read and write about the Bat-verse. Is anyone else feeling this way? I’m not sure if it’s because Flashpoint and the relaunch used up all my excitement and now things are calming down, or because I’ve got real life taking up my metaphorical spoons, but it’s probably a combination of both. So here’s what I got last week and this week, I’d love to hear what you think about these or any other comicbooks in the comments!

November 16

Batman 3 – Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo and Jonathan Glapion continue to deliver excitement and amazing comic art in the central Batman title! DC has been promising a far-reaching storyline that gets into the history of Gotham City and Batman’s place within it, and this issue is the starting point. I can’t wait!

Birds of Prey 3 – Poison Ivy joins the team! That really emphasizes the blurring line between heroes and villains in this book – I enjoy the fact that all four women on the team have checkered histories and aren’t easy to fit into any one category. Seems almost like real life, you know?

Nightwing 3 – Dick Grayson goes to Chicago with Haly’s Circus, while he works to solve Mr Haly’s murder and decide what to do with his own future. Tom Waits says things will be better in Chicago, maybe he’s right! (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, go buy Bad As Me, it’s an amazing album and I’m pretty sure Batman would like it too).

Red Hood and the Outlaws 3 – I’m still giving this series a chance, but I’m not very optimistic. This issue delves into the team’s pasts, and it’s possible that Red Hood and Arsenal can learn how not to be sexist jerks, but that doesn’t save us from the writer and artists’ choices in how they represent Starfire. Maybe she can develop a bit more agency? I know this will all end in disappointment.

Justice League 3 – Introducing Wonder Woman! There was some controversy over Green Lantern’s reaction to her appearance, but I’ll read the issue before coming to any conclusions. Personally I like the slow build-up of the team, unlike some people who wanted to see all the Justice League members in the first issue.

Catwoman 3 – Will the Bat-sex continue? We’ll find out! It sounds like Catwoman ends up in a hostage situation, and given how focused she is on being independent and controlling her own destiny, I doubt that she’ll be very happy about it! Guillem March’s art continues to look fantastic, his style really captures how devastating Catwoman’s claws can be. Take a look at the awesome cover art for this issue:

November 23

Batman: The Dark Knight 3 – I still haven’t got a good handle on this title – how is this different from the main Batman book? The other Bat-titles all have their own special aspects (Batman & Robin is all about that father/son dynamic and how they work together; Detective Comics is about his detective work, etc). I’m going to re-read the first two issues before starting #3 and hopefully that will give me some sense of what makes Batman: The Dark Knight special.

Teen Titans 3 – Now, this one I really have been looking forward to. Not only do we have the fabulous Tim as Red Robin (but I really want to start calling him Tinkerbell, with feathers like those), we also meet a new Titan – Bunker. Apparently he’s out as gay from the first issue, and I’m always glad to see more queer representation in comics – as long as he’s also a fully-formed character beyond his sexual orientation. This could be just the encouragement that Red Robin and Superboy need to bring their love out in the open! Or maybe that’s just my own personal Bat-verse. Here’s the cover, by Brett Booth and Norm Rapmund:

One final thought – I’d really love to see DC even out the release dates of their Bat-family titles. Some weeks I get 5 or more comics while other weeks there are only one or two. What’s the deal DC? Does anyone else find this odd, or should I just get over it?