Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Batman, Detective Comics and All-Star Batman

Didn't know Snyder was only on for a year. That's dissapointing but at least we've still got a ways to go and I have high hopes for the next team. Snyder has what looks like a really cool creator-owned horror comic on the horizon, BTW.

I also didn't realize Winnick was coming on B&R. Ugh...I'll prepare myself.

Wow! I just read Inc. #4--that was one terrific issue! I'd read that Grant brought the original Batwoman back into continuity in this story and, the reviews were pretty positive. I loved the sweet Silver Agey-feel to the flashbacks, especially the panel with Bats and Kathy in the Batmobile with Bats having lipstick kisses all over his face--priceless!

I'm not all that familiar with the original Batwoman, but Grant really made me want to learn more about her! Nice touch that she taught Bruce that tango we saw last issue and what the circumstance was.

I like the spin he put on her history and motivations and am curious to see how he handles her death. I'm about a month and a half behind reading in my comics stack but knowing the subsequent issues have already come out makes me excited to know I'll get to them soon. (This issue really made me hope she turns out not to be dead though. I know...unlikely. )

The artist Chris Burnham this issue was terrific! I'd almost swear we had two different ones the way he changed his style from flashback to present.He reminded me of Quitely's style at times, but I didn't feel like he was aping anyone's style too much. I'd love to see more of Burnham's stuff!

Lardy's Rating for Batman Inc. #4: Four Donuts (out of five)!

I'd give Tomasie a little time. He makes a moderate start, but he quickly gets a handle on things and starts to crank it up. He brought Nightwing back from nearly a half decade of dreck and made it great before they cancelled it for so he could take on the Batman role.

gotta say though that I'm waiting for Grayson to go back to Nightwing.

Problem is, we don't know if Tomasi's coming back, Rick! Like I said, I was willing to ride it out for the reason you state. But I'm not even sure if those three issues comprise the run's sum total. Certainly, the impression going in was that Tomasi/Gleason was the new regular team, but now--?

I guess we'll see soon what follows the Winnick arc....

Inc #6 was all kinds of fun. You know the books cooking when even a downtime issue between arcs runs at breakneck speed and throws everything but the kitchen sink at you.

We spend the issue looking at how the Batman Inc. Team is growing with more members added and a check-in on others (including the MIA Cass Cain, now called Black Bat). Red Robin's given the Outsiders for his stealth team and the we get a mystery surrounding the identity of the new Wingman. We also see Leviathan stepping up their game as the war begins to heat up.

The issue was a great Catch-up/jumping on point, but did it without seeming like just a straight info dump. Lots of action, lots of intrigue. I think if there were doubts that the concept could work, this issue shows that it can.

Just put up on the DCU Blog:

"August’s BATMAN AND ROBIN #26 will be written by David Hine and illustrated by Greg Tocchini,"

Batman Incorporated continues to be ass-kickingly awesome! The finale to the El Gaucho story in #5 was pretty awesome and completely in another direction from where I thought it was going. Morrison's brain seems to be working on another plane of existence again and I like being along for the ride.

The revelation of the organization known as Leviathan is exciting and has me intrigued for the menace that will be facing Batman, Inc. I'm glad Morrison is continuing to expand the threats battling Batman & co.

In #6 we get a further introduction of Batman, Inc. and their plans going forward in what was a pretty kick-ass story. Great to see the various Bat-character present (Cassandra Cain included), the new characters like Nightrunner, and the Club of Heroes characters, including a new Ranger and a new Wingman (whom I'm now extremely curious about).

The Hood, who revealed he's trying to infiltrate Batman, Inc. is also very intriguing to me.

So Tomasi is out; I'm not surprised. Sounds like B&R will have rotating teams for awhile.

I actually have been super-impressed by David Hine's work for about the last 3 years so I'm looking forward to his arc, much more so than Tomasi or Winnick.

The only part of Batman Inc. #6 I didn't like was the scene where Batman is addressing all of his closest allies - Dick, Tim, Damien, the Birds of Prey, the original Outsiders, etc. - and telling them how much they mean to him and he trusts them and all that - and then, standing right there with them all, is that crappy new Dan Didio invention that was just added to the Outsiders whom Batman probably doesn't even know from a bar of soap - Freight Train!

I know the artist was probably just drawing from whatever reference file depicts the current make-up of that team but come on - an editor really should have picked up on that and thought 'Gee, doesn't someone look out of place here?' ... Silly me thinking editors did things like that anymore though.

The rest of the issue (and indeed this series... and indeed Morrison's entire run on this character) was fantastic though. Each time I put down one of his comics lately I think to myself 'How can most other comic-writers compare their own work to Morrison's stuff and seeing how pale and weak it is in comparison? And not find that an inspiration to either raise their game or just get out of the business?'

The amount of creativity and energy and action and mystery and excitement in every issue of this Batman-run has been like nothing else I've read in comics in years. Or maybe I'm just reading the wrong comics? Can anyone else out there recommend a writer who is the equal of Morrison at the moment in intelligent, intriguing, action-packed story-telling?

Ha! Here I was wondering "when the heck did Black Lightning become such a huge Hulk-like 'roid beast?" Now it makes more (and ironically less) sense.

It's amazing that Morrison can make me get super-excited about one panel where Batman mysteriously helps a new Wingman don his superhero costume. One panel and I was like: "I have to get to the internet and see what the theories are!"

Blacula, I highly recommend you read:

- Green Hornet by Matt Wagner
- Zorro by Matt Wagner
- Who is Jake Ellis?
- Atomic Robo
- Morning Glories
- Thunder Agents
- Chew
- SHIELD
- Jonah Hex
- American Vampire
- Magnus Robot Fighter
- Mice Templar
- Unwritten

These are all comics that I think are as good as Morrison's Batman, which I also agree is a very high measure to set against the rest of the industry. (I think you're already reading Fables and Walking Dead?).

Does anyone else think Lord Death-man is a good villain? I have seen the manga story and I think it's excellant stuff. I'm glad Morrison dug it up for modern audiences.

^ I've only seen him in the first few issues of this series but I LOVE that Morrison has dug up this old character whom I think had only had the one appearance in the Silver Age (and yet went on to be this uber-villain in the Bat-Manga universe). I think the C-Z list Batman villains (like Lord Death Man was) have tons of potential and I would much rather see new stories polishing them up than have to read the one millionth Joker or Riddler or Two-Face or etc story.

The only one of those I'm currently reading is The Walking Dead. I dropped Jonah Hex and Fables partly for money reasons and partly because I found them to be like that old nursery rhyme - when they were good, they were very,very good; but when they were bad, they were awful. I enjoyed them both enough to know in the back of my head that I will one day track them down in back-issues though.

Of the others, Green Hornet, Zorro, Morning Glories, Mice Templar and Unwritten have definitely been on my radar for a while. If you recommend them as being as good (or nearly as good) as Morrison's stuff, CK, then I'll definitely pick them up when I get back from my upcoming holiday and hopefully start reading comics I enjoy again, rather than just ones I buy out of some misplaced character loyalty.

Batman and Robin #25 wrapped up a three part Red Hood storyline by Judd Winick, which brought Scarlet back into the fold... while the story seemed somewhat rushed (it wasn't clear how Scarlet was found or by who), I've come to like Jason Todd as the Red Hood, and I am looking forward to his new series... I hope there are more opportunities for Jason to mix it up with Dick and Damian... their interplay was a highlight of this story, especially since it showcased so well the spectrum these characters exist on...

I love love love Katie Cook's fantasy Batman comic . She described it on the Legion of Substitute Heroes podcast, where I first heard about it (she also mentioned doing a Dexter/Streaky team-up).

The child Bruce Wayne, after the death of his parents, suffers from PTSD and is delusional. He imagines all sorts of villains: Poison Ivy is really a potted plant, the Mad Hatter is a hat rack in the house... and Alfred is really embezzling the funds.

DETECTIVE COMICS # 1

I hate the Joker. My hatered of and inability to suspend my disbelief for the Joker are highlighted by the very first line on the very first page of this issue:

"114 murders in 6 years."

That right there just threatened to take me out of the story.

Fortunately, I stuck with it. I already knew Tony Daniel was a great artist but WHO KNEW he was such a good writer?

I still hate the Joker... and I hate Dr. Arkham... and I almost hate Batman some.

But I can't say I hated this comic book.

Not at all. And you will not beLIEVE the cliffhanger.

I'm onboard for the next issue, for sure.

I hate the Joker too. Just seeing him in the preview art made me say BLAH to this book. Now you've got me past the first page (haven't got the comic yet).

Detective #1 did feel like a retread to a big extent... most Joker stories make me feel blah... I think it's tough to do anything innovative with the character at this point... nonetheless, I enjoyed this issue immensely even if I felt like I'd seen and read a lot of it before (with the exception of the line, "I'm trying to figure out what the Joker was doing naked")... the art was beautiful especially the spread over pages 2 and 3... and, as Lash said, the cliffhanger was a chiller... I'm going stay on this ride for a while...

Bat-Wing #1 was a thing of beauty... the art is gorgeous... I can't say enough good about it... dark and atmospheric... pretty graphic at times too, but it matched the story, which was compelling in a way I haven't seen in quite a while... this book by far was the biggest surprise for me this week... if you're willing to go out on a limb for something, this would be it...

The Batman franchise relaunches with Detective Comics which is appropriate in regards to the series being the original Batman series. But it is a suspect choice considering Tony Daniel’s Batman run prior to the relaunch was one of the more mediocre titles. Yet, having read #1, I do think Mr. Daniel has stepped his game up quite a bit.

The story itself is a little by the numbers, though it does capture the essence of Batman very well, and it very entertaining. Previously, I thought Tony Daniel was all over the map in his pacing, dialogue, etc., but here he seems to be coming into his own. The story runs smoothly from Point A to Point B with some side trips along the way, and each character has a distinct personality. He captures Bats, Commissioner Gordon, Alfred and the Joker (and even Harvey Bullock briefly) very well.

While this so far isn’t anything completely mind-blowing, that doesn’t take away from the fact that its still actually pretty good. A dark, action-adventure Batman story with the first person narrative keeping the reader informed and excited is known as the classic way to do a Batman story because it just works so well with the character. You can’t argue that it isn’t effective.

The artwork is absolutely incredible in my mind. I’m not sure how long Daniel can keep up doing *everything*. But until then, I will continue to enjoy the hell out of his artwork, which I’ve done for several years now.

The shock ending was perhaps a bit too gruesome for a title I thought should be all ages. But I don’t even know anymore if I know whats appropriate or not. I assume all 11 year olds have googled every sexual and violent act known to mankind at this point. Perhaps this is exactly what they crave. Or perhaps DC doesn’t even care to sell comics to the 8-12 year old set anymore. It was shocking sure, but with all the Vertigo and independent comics I’ve been reading, I didn’t think it was too shocking in comparison.

Cobie Comparison: Did I enjoy it more than Justice League #1? About the same. I definitely enjoyed it more than Daniel’s recent run on Batman.

Of all the new DC's this week, Bat-Wing was the only one that my CBS sold out of completely this week. I'm almost positive this was the one the totally under-ordered, but still, it says a lot that every copy sold out.

Most reviews of it have been positive so I may try to find it elsewhere. I forgot to get Flashpoint #5 (I guess I just stopped caring?) so this gives me a reason to go back to the CBS for them both.

At the suggestion of the legendary LMBer Shark Lad, I picked up Batwing; I’d previously given it a pass mainly because I didn’t want yet one more Bat-title and Judd Winnick as writer is a very hard sell for me. Yet, multiple reviews pointed out how surprisingly good this was, and Sharky confirmed it.

Comic books set in the Africa—specifically the brutal Democratic Republic of the Congo—used to be a tough sell for me, mainly because of the sheer brutality of it all. That all changed in the last few years because of Joshua Drysart’s incredible Unknown Soldier comic, which was one of the best and most powerful comic series ever. Batwing is a different animal completely, being a superhero Bat-related title, but I can see from issue #1 that Winnick intends to at least use some of the powerful themes of Unknown Soldier as part of this series. I welcome it now.

First thing first: Batwing is one of the best looking comics to come out this week. The art by Ben Oliver is absolutely stunning, and even the colors by Brian Reber enhance the beauty of it, by being somewhat muted and almost pastel in places. The series balances from suspensy Bat-type stuff to brutal, gritty realism. Yet you can tell the artists can (and likely will) show some exquisitely beautiful African scenery when the story calls for it.

Secondly, a nice delight was the very tight writing by Judd Winnick. I know Winnick can succeed greatly at times (he did at least several great Green Arrow and Green Lantern stories back in the day). He paces it tightly and gives a great information dump while keeping it exciting. The politics of Africa are ever-present yet he never once steps into preachy territory as he sometimes does. And he delivers a fantastically brutal ending. This is yet another fantastic DCnU #1 ending (like Static Shock, Animal Man and so many others).

Batwing himself is likable and interesting, and his secret identity as a cop is very welcome. Batman plays a very subtle quasi-mentor role here which works. And Winnick has already introduced a fantastic nemesis in Massacre. Compiled on that is the mystery of the Kingdom, the seven original African superheroes from the early days of the DCU. All of these elements enhance the ‘superhero’ elements of the story which totally differentiates the series from the heaviness of other African related stories set in Uganda, the Sudan, DoC, etc.

DC surprised me yet again with a solid opening issue!

Cobie Comparison: Did I enjoy it more than Justice League #1? Absolutely! Another great opening issue.

With my ‘DCnU’ comics all done, I’ve turned to some others in my stack from the past few weeks I haven’t gotten to, including the final issue of the first incarnation of Batman Incorporated as the title goes on hiatus before returning in 2012. From the onset, this series has been utterly fantastic and I’ll eagerly await for its return.

This final issue had artwork by Scott Clark and Dave Beatty that purposely made it look computer-generated to fit the story; while I appreciate the artistic license in doing this, I did find it a little annoying and distracting.

Despite that, Grant Morrison delivers, as usual, as fantastic story featuring Oracle and Batman “within” a cyber world as spyware battling terrorist computer viruses. Even typing that just now makes me take a second to remember how brilliant Morrison is. With distracting art and all, the script is still really fantastic and I was able to overcome my annoyance. It was also a great done-in-one, which Morrison has peppered his Batman run with.

It’s fitting that the final Batman, Inc. story features Oracle as she’ll be sorely missed in the DCnU. I still think this is the single biggest error DC is making (and really kind of unforgivable) but I won’t harp on it here; there’s already enough threads about that. Still, nice to see a kickass Oracle story that actually had her as a cyber Batgirl.

The issue ends with a revelation about Leviathan and the return of an important character from earlier in Morrison’s Batman run. I can’t wait to see the story picked up in 2012!

Read the new Batman & Robin #1 today. Bear in mind that I haven't really read much Batman of late short of the first few issues of the last Batman & Robin and Batman Inc.

Speaking of Batman Inc, I'm fascinated that it and some of the new "Batmen" of the world have been getting so much play in these new books. It seems like a story element we don't need except maybe in Batwing, especially without a Batman Inc. book out right now to help clue in new readers. A cool nod to the Batworld at large, I just worry new readers won't get it.

The big new status quo of the issue really is that Bruce and Damian are now a duo, despite the fact in-story Bruce makes a (fairly cool but insignificant to the larger concept) status quo change for himself in regards to mourning his parents. I liked that Bruce, in his own way, was trying to teach Damian about his grandparents.

Damian's attitude, as it always has been for me, is a very dangerous personality trait. It can be very off-putting unless played off the right characters. I'm not sure how well it'll fit with Bruce; I don't see him as taking a lot of the grief and shaping Damian into something better like Dick was. Especially if Damian keeps pulling stunts that end up getting the perps killed.

"Nobody" is clearly the big, new(?) bad guy for this arc ... the only problem is after issue one he's not really done anything directly to or interacted with Bats and Robs yet. I'd have rather seen him make his next move this issue instead of issue two over the filler fight at the university.

It was an okay enough book. It was a book that knew what it was doing and you can tell it's building to something both in the Batman/Robin relationship as well as with the new villain. Despite that, I think this is one of the DCNu titles that I have a strong chance of forgetting to pick up again. There wasn't anything terrible about the book, it simply didn't grab me and there's a lot of other, more engaging titles out right now competing for my attention. I've always liked Batman but never been able to really get into any of his titles, weird as that sounds.

Another main Batman title went on sale this week with Batman & Robin, which is naturally very different from the other Bat-titles because of the focus on Robin (obviously). The creative team is Pete Tomasi and Patrick Gleason who did a fantastic job together on Green Lantern Corps in recent memory.

The issue had a lot of good going for it: strong pacing, great art, really cool use of a Moscow Batman as part of the Batman Inc. aspect of the mythos while that title is on hiatus and best of all, the idea of Bruce no longer dwelling on his parent's death but instead focusing on their lives--and by focusing on his son. Lots of good.

However, there is something I just can't get over--I hate Damien! He's the worst! Honestly, he's the most annoying character in comics for me. I wish, wish, wish he was erased during this relaunch. All the annoying qualities of him, between being a know-it-all to not respecting anyone--are things that caused fans to want Jason Todd to get killed. Well, annoying-ass Jason Todd took a crowbar in the teeth and it was awesome, and Damien is overdue. Okay, end rant.

When it comes down to it, Damien's presence limits my enjoyment of this comic. But even beyond that, the usually terrific Tomasi still wasn't quite as good as Tony Daniel on Detective last week, which seemed to be firing on all cylinders and had a great ending.

Cobie Comparison: did I enjoy it as much as JL #1? No. Also not as much as 'Tec #1 if we're comparing Bat-titles (psst, we are now).