Batman Comics

Hello Gothamites! I hope you’re still out there reading this even though I’ve been so woefully absent the last few weeks. Well, we have one more week of disruption but after that life will be as calm as it ever gets, so hopefully we can have some regular updates again soon.

Constant Readers may notice that my Dark Knight Rises release countdown has been removed from the sidebar since the movie came out. I’m not sure if I’ll post a full review but I did want to say that DKR was amazing, I loved it. The movie was everything I hoped for and more, and I’d like to see it at least once more in IMAX since that format adds so much to the viewing experience.

I have a couple comics to read this week, although loyal Bat-fans may wonder at the absence of Batman Inc 3. It’s not because I decided to skip one of my favourite books, not at all! Instead, this issue was delayed for a month out of respect for the Aurora Dark Knight Rises shooting, apparently some events in the issue hit a little too close to home. I can’t argue with that one, and I look forward to a day when people can be peaceful enough that Batman isn’t needed.

Batman: The Dark Knight 11 – I feel like I want to give this book more of a chance, and I think that may be because of David Finch’s appearance at the DC New 52 panel at Comic-Con. He seemed well aware of the negative feedback that the book’s received and urged everyone to give it another try now that Gregg Hurwitz is writing and Finch is only on drawing duties. I liked Hurwitz’s work on the Penguin mini-series, and I’ve enjoyed Finch’s artwork in this one, so I’m still glad to be here.

Teen Titans 11 – It’s a fun book and we all know that I need more Tim Drake in my life. Wonder Girl is the focus this week and I’m glad, I feel like I don’t know much about her and want to change that.  I have consistently enjoyed the covers on this comic, and this week’s issue (by Brett Booth, Norm Rapmund and Andrew Dalhouse) lives up to that. Just looking at this picture I want to know what’s going on, how they got here, and what happens next.

It’s comic books from the past! No, you’re not time traveling, I just didn’t have a chance to talk about these when they came out last week. Later on I’m going to change the date on this post, and then it will be like it was on time all along… Here’s what I picked up back on February 8th!

Batwoman 6 – Amy Reeder takes over as the artist on Batwoman, and as much as I loved what J. H. Williams III was doing with the book, I’m also excited to see a new take on it. Batwoman’s tracking down the source of a series of child kidnappings, and she agreed to work with the government, which I suspect Batman won’t be pleased to hear.

Batman and Robin 6 – I was so excited for this one, and it didn’t disappoint! Robin has rebelled and run away with “Nobody”, the villain Morgan Ducard. While Batman searches for them, he records for Robin the story of how he met Morgan and his father Henri, it’s a fascinating look at the final days of Bruce’s training before becoming Batman. Damian gets to really shine here, and the art is just great.

Batgirl 6 – I love the opening scene in this book, where Batgirl has to face a Bruce Wayne that’s been hypnotized! Bruce is a big part of this issue, having a Special Moment with Batgirl in the first scene, then appearing in public to launch Wayne Enterprise’s new urban revitalization program while Batgirl protects him from Gretel (who had hypnotized him). It’s always great to see Bruce and Barbara together, they’ve got a really sweet dynamic.

Huntress 5 of 6 – The art in this book, by Marcus To, continues to be excellent. If you don’t read it, just check out the first page next time you’re at the comic store and you’ll see what I mean. Helena takes on “The Lion”, a huge bodyguard to the slave-trafficking dictator who had nearly defeated her in a previous issue. This series has been very action-packed and exciting, and I look forward to the final issue next month.

Penguin: Pain and Prejudice 5 of 5 – In this final issue of the series, Penguin goes through with his plan to get revenge on Gotham city by calling thousands of birds to terrorize and attack people. Batman finally finds Penguin’s base, where he finds him with his new blind girlfriend Cassandra. Things don’t end well. Most of this book is written without dialogue, instead using sound effects and very expressive artwork to further the story, and it’s an interesting choice for the climax of the series. I quite liked it, but it may not be for everyone. Here’s the cover, by Szymon Kudranski, I just love it.

Hello and happy Wednesday! Did everyone have a good New Years celebration? I got to spend the evening with some other Bat-fans, and we had a lovely time. There may even have been champagne and fancy dresses! This week a few exciting comics came out, here’s what I found in my pull file tonight:

Batwing 5 - I enjoyed issue 4 and definitely want to see where this storyline goes. Will Batwing get the jump on Massacre before another former superhero is killed? Will he need Batman’s help to do so? We’ll find out! I also noticed that there was a different artist for issue 4; Ben Oliver drew issues 1 – 3 and also 5, but Chris Cross drew issue 4. I appreciated that Cross gave more detail in the backgrounds, which was my main criticism of Oliver, but now that I’ve had a change, I’m actually sort of leaning towards preferring Oliver’s treatment for this particular bat-title.

The Huntress 4 (of 6) – I love this book! Huntress is a really interesting character, and although I don’t know much about her backstory at this point, I like how she handles herself and the fact that she’s working against crimes like human trafficking. Also, she’s so fashionable! In this issue, Huntress has to decide if she’s willing to kill for her cause, it should be very interesting to see how she comes to her decision.

Penguin: Pain and Prejudice 4 (of 5) – I wrote about how great the art in this book is, so it’s exciting to have a new issue to read. Now that Batman’s in the picture, I wonder when he’ll take a more active role in the situation? I’m also looking forward to seeing what happens when Cassandra finds out that Penguin is not exactly the man he’s presented himself as being.

Detective Comics 5 – The Joker is still at large, and this issue opens with protesters out in force to support Joker and call for Batman’s arrest or worse. I’ve really liked Detective Comics so far, it’s been great. One odd thing – I notice that Szymon Kudranski (who is the artist on the Penguin miniseries) is credited on the cover of this issue, but not on the title page inside. Does anyone know what’s up with that? Here’s the cover, by Tony Daniel and Tomeu Morey:

Penguin: Pain and Prejudice 3

Writer: Gregg Hurwitz

Artist: Szymon Kudranski

In this issue, Penguin deals with the death of his beloved mother. He also meets a woman at the zoo, Cassandra, who is blind. They date and grow close, but I’m not sure that I trust either one of them.  Through the whole issue we’re shown two very opposite sides of Penguin – one the one hand he’s a devoted son whose grief would otherwise elicit sympathy, and when he meets and courts Cassandra he certainly seems to treat her well. But on the other hand, we have the Penguin who ruins a hospital orderly’s life, as well as killing his family and even neighbors, because the man was chewing gum when he wheeled Penguin’s mother’s body away on the stretcher. I thought this page showed that juxtaposition very clearly:

This strong tendency towards the extremes of dark and light are beautifully carried through to the artwork, which is very high contrast with certain elements in the panel brightly lit while others are dark and shadowed. On this page, Penguin was just giving Cassandra a footrub while explaining how penguins feet don’t get cold – with anyone else it would be romantic, but in this situation I just don’t know what to think.

I’m always a sucker for Batman blending in with gargoyles and such. I also love how Batman is drawn here, the use of red highlighting on the seams in his suit is just beautiful. I’m definitely enjoying Pain and Prejudice.

Batgirl 4

Writer: Gail Simone

Artists: Ardian Syaf, Vicente Cifuentes

Batgirl is fighting the villain Mirror, a man who survived a terrible accident that killed his wife and children. His survivor’s guilt leads him to kill other people that survived fatal situations, including Barbara Gordon. As she tracks down and faces Mirror, Barbara also has to deal with her own guilt over regaining the ability to walk. When I write it out like that it sounds kind of clichéd, but the comic was great. Here’s the end of the big fight scene (so, spoiler alert!), you’ll see what I mean.

The art is lovely, it feels almost exuberant, and I like Barbara a lot. The other awesome thing in Batgirl 4 was this moment, where a thug shows off his favourite new toy:

They make an app for everything. It’s actually a good idea, but I’m sure Batman would hack into it and send out false information pretty much right away. Do you think “Hugo” is Hugo Strange? You never know! OK that’s all I’ve got for tonight, leave a comment and let me know what you think about these books or anything else in your Bat-pull file!

Feels like Tuesday, but comics come out today so it must be Wednesday! I notice there’s a new edition of No Man’s Land coming out, I’d love to get a copy but I put it on my Holiday Wish List so I can’t pick it up this week. If anyone else gets it, let me know how it looks and if it’s a good edition to get! Here’s what I’m reading today.

Batwing 4 – The cover says “Secret Origin Unveiled” and I’m looking forward to learning more about Batwing’s history and motivations. I glanced at the first page to see how it looked and got sucked in to reading the whole opening scene, it’s definitely an engrossing book!

Detective Comics 4 – Finally! It feels like ages since the last issue and I really want to know if Gordon is OK — I’m pretty sure he was in The Dollmaker’s clutches when the last issue ended! Batman will probably save him, but how? I’d also like to know a bit more about The Dollmaker. He seems to make dolls out of pieces of people, but why? Where does he come from? Maybe I’ll find out today!

Huntress 3 of 6 – If this one is as good as the last two issues, I’m happy. Huntress is a really interesting character, I like how she interacts with other people both as a hero and as a person. And it’s always nice to see a kick-ass woman get a comic focused on her and her work.

Penguin: Pain and Prejudice 3 of 5 – I have to admit, I didn’t get a chance to read issue 2 yet, but I want to! Penguin’s always been an interesting character, and I enjoy his parallels with Batman. The art also been good, so it will be fun for that reason too. Unfortunately due to technical woes I’m unable to share a cover image right now, but it was going to be this one, I love the use of light to emphasize the image.

That’s about it for me! Hopefully I’ll have the scanner back up and running so I can post in detail about some of these books on the weekend, wish me luck. And let me know what you’re reading!

Good evening Gotham! Oh, how I’ve missed you, and missed writing here! I hope you feel the same way and look forward to my triumphant return in a couple weeks. I’m still reading comics, so once things settle down a bit I’m sure we’ll have all sorts of interesting things to talk about. Also, who out there is reading Suicide Squad? I heard some terrible things from @zuzuhaha about their treatment of Harley Quinn in Issue 3, and would love to hear more about it from anyone who’s following the series. Here’s what I’m reading tonight – I can’t wait to get home and get started!

Batgirl 3 – It’s been an interesting arc so far, with Barbara going out as Batgirl again but not being fully ready for everything that entails. I’m definitely enjoying Gail Simone’s writing, and I’d say my biggest problem with this book is that I find Barbara’s roommate to be annoying rather than interestingly eccentric.

Batman and Robin 3 – Daddy Batman to the rescue! The last issue was great and I am so pleased with the direction that the characters are taking. Plus, who doesn’t want to see a dog living in Wayne manor? … Alfred, probably, but as long as Bruce is the one taking the heat it’s all good.

Batwoman 3 – I find the Department of Extranormal Affairs just fascinating, and I’m enjoying reading about their quest to hunt down Batwoman. When that combines with gorgeous artwork by J. H. Williams III and a budding romance with Detective Maggie Sawyer, we get a comic that I’m definitely glad to be reading.

Penguin: Pain and Prejudice 2 (of 5) – Issue 1 was interesting, and although Penguin has never been at the top of my list (any of my lists), I’m enjoying this take on his history and situation. The art style matched the content really nicely, and I’ll certainly keep this series on my pull file.

Huntress 2 (of 6) – My bat-crush on Marcus To remains intact as the Huntress kicks ass and takes names in this mini-series! Issue 1 was a great example of how a woman can be shown to be both strong and sexy, and I have to say, I’m jealous of her wardrobe! Can Helena get to the bottom of the human trafficking ring she’s found in Italy? We’ll find out! I love this cover, by Guillem March and Tomeu Morey:

It’s Wednesday again! Time always seems to pass much more quickly in the fall, but since I feel like I’m getting comics more often than usual, I don’t really mind. Here’s what I’m reading tonight:

Batwing 2 – I wasn’t so impressed with the artwork in issue 1, but I’ll definitely give this series a chance and see if it changes or if I grow to like it. There’s a lot of room for the story to be far-reaching and dramatic, I hope they take that opportunity.

Detective Comics 2 – I sure hope the cliffhanger ending last month gets resolved right away today! I can’t imagine how it will turn out, but issue 1 was great, and I think Detective Comics will continue to be one of my favourite series as it continues in the DCnU.

Huntress 1 of 6 – With Huntress as the lead character, and art by Marcus To (we all know I have a soft spot for his work), this series really excites me! There’s a great interview with Marcus To at Acme Comics, both the interview and the series are worth reading.

Penguin: Pain and Prejudice 1 of 5 – I hadn’t heard of this mini-series until today, and I’m not sure if I’ll enjoy it, but Penguin is an interesting character and I haven’t read too much about him over the past year or so. He did have some great moments in Flashpoint, and I hope that this series is good as well. I quite like the cover by Szymon Kudranski, especially the way he uses shadow and light.