Megaplot

Batman Incorporated #4
Written by Grant Morrison
Art by Chris Burnham

 

This was just fucking fantastic awesome greatness of a comic! Best issue yet! We get the history of Kathy Kane – the original Batwoman and Morrison singlehandedly explains how she fits in continuity and how it all relates to his huge megaplot. Who is Dr. Dedalus? Was he really Kathy’s father? What is this war everyone is talking about? I didn’t see all this coming but Morrison hits it out of the park too and Burnham’s art is fantastic I love how he switches his style with the time periods.

Endings

Batman: Streets of Gotham #21
Written by Paul Dini
Art by Dustin Nguyen

 

The final issue of Streets of Gotham marks the end of more then just this series. It marks the end of Hush posing as Bruce Wayne after Jane Doe rips his face off (How is he able to talk after that? Wouldn’t that be too painful) and it also marks the end of Dini’s writing in the Batman corner of the DCU which is sad. The House of Hush arc was no where near as exciting as the Heart of Hush storyline but it was still good and added a lot to the history of the Waynes and Elliots. I have a feeling it was cut a little short. I wonder when we will see Hush again or when Dini will return to writing Batman.

Penguin’s Nose

Batman: The Dark Knight #2
Written by David Finch
Art by Finch

 

That was a quick read for a comic book that is so incredibly late but whatever, it was still good. Finch’s artwork is fantastic and the story is interesting even if I have no idea on how it all connects just yet. Who is the Ragman-like monster killing homeless people and what is with this amulet? Oh and Finch draws a big nose on Penguin doesn’t he?

The Return of the Crusader

Batman #708
Written by David Hine
Art by Guillem March

 

This is the first part of the Judgement on Gotham crossover that was lead up to from the now cancelled Azrael series. You don’t have to read the Azrael book to get this but it certainly helps. It was great to see the Crusader back as he was definitely the best villain to come out of that book. March’s Batman is drawn differently here, but not in a bad way. I guess Devil’s Square has replaced the East End as Gotham’s “bad neighborhood” now. I hope we get to see the East End again eventually as it was Catwoman’s stomping grounds for so long. No idea what is going on with Dick after being stabbed with the sword but it’s an interesting mystery and this was a good start to the crossover.

White Knight

Batman and Robin #21
Written by Peter Tomasi
Art by Patrick Gleason

 

The second part of this arc blew me away here. I never expected it to get this intersting. Tomasi and Gleason have created an intriguing new villain the White Knight – a man murdering relatives of Arkham inmates and treats them like martyrs – even going as far as giving them anesthetic so they don’t feel pain and passionately made wings. Awesome and Gleason’s art helps make this Gotham mystery a beauty to look at. I was very impressed.

BatCon 52 – 54

Batman Confidential #52
Written by Marc Guggenhiem
Art by Jerry Bingham

Batman calls the Justice League for help and that is about it. This would seem to be before he became a full-time member. This was probably the best issue of this arc so far.

Batman Confidential #53
Written by Marc Guggenhiem
Art by Jerry Bingham

 

Okay DC you need to decide who was a founding member or not! This issue reads like Batman is definitely not a founding member of the Justice League as he has said to have been post-Infinite Crisis. How annoying. Total continuity mistake made this unreadable for me. And if they were gonna go with the Post-Crisis, Pre-Infinite Crisis continuity where Batman was not a founder – why isn’t Black Canary there! This is just dumb.

Batman Confidential #54
Written by Marc Guggenhiem
Art by Jerry Bingham

 

The continuity mistakes (And the fact that the two stories told never connect) made this arc a lousy read for me. And this issue also marks the final issue of this book. This was a book chock full of continuity mistakes with some great arcs in between. The Batgirl and the Wrath arcs come to mind but otherwise I am not going to miss this series at all.

Family Time

Batman and Robin #20
Written by Peter Tomasi
Art by Patrick Gleason

 

Okay Tomasi already did the whole “Bat-family watches a movie together” thing when he was writing Nightwing and I thought it was corny then – doing it again here made it cornier. Maybe I am just pissed that he didn’t include Cassandra I don’t know but it’s just not what I want to see in Batman comic. The rest of the book was pretty good as a guy dressed like an Angel falls to his death and Batman and Robin tried to figure out why. Man-Bat shows up and everything. Not a bad start to Tomasi’s run on the book, but not really spectacular either.

Venomized Man-Bat

Detective Comics #873
Written by Scott Snyder
Art by Jock

 

Batman escapes the auction and confront Guiborg as he flies out of Gotham in an awesome scene in which Guiborg turns into a venomized Man-Bat like monster. Love it! This creative team produced a fantastic first arc that differentiates itself from any of the other bat-books and carves its own niche in Gotham City storytelling. I love that Dick is putting up stuff in the penthouse like the Bludhaven PD certificate and the Flying Graysons poster. Great use of continuity!

Superman Batman 79 and 80

Superman/Batman #79
Written by Chris Roberson
Art by Jesus Merino

 

Roberson introduce (or re-introduces for some) to the DC Universe of the 853rd Century and I am one of the few who have never read DC One Million and therefore I am fascinated by this Justice Legion with its many worlds and I can’t wait to see more next issue. Epoch Lord of Time doesn’t seem like a new character but I could be wrong but he was a great way to frame the story and allow for the past and the future to collide.

Superman/Batman #80
Written by Chris Roberson
Art by Jesus Merino

Epoch is stopped by the Bronze Age World’s Finest and travels through time being defeated by each era’s Batman and Superman – Brilliant! I am looking forward to seeing more of Roberson’s run on the main Super-book after reading this awesomeness.

Girl Sidekicks

Batman #706
Written by Tony Daniel
Art by Daniel

 

There seems to be a theme of girl sidekicks running through this book as both Riddler’s Daughter and Catgirl show up. I am looking forward to seeing more of Enigma as her backstory has never been really explained but Riddler does act like she may be his actual daughter in this. Though you would think the Riddler would know better then to mess with Batman’s suit? As always Daniel continues to utilize Gotham City to its fullest and I am loving his run so far.

Moon Bounce

Batgirl (Volume 3) #17
Written by Bryan Q. Miller
Art by Pere Perez

 

This was a fun story of Steph teaming up with Damian and saving a schoolbus full of kids from kidnapping. It was fun and the banter between the two is always amusing. Miller writes Damian really well and I loved the ending where Steph brings him to a moon bounce to teach him how to have fun.

Traps

Batman and Robin #19
Written by Paul Cornell
Art by Scott McDaniel

 

This is one of those things where I think the whole point may have flew over my head – in terms of what exactly Una was trying to say about Bruce Wayne (Or Paul Cornell was saying for that matter) but I sure enjoyed the edge of your seat and crazy supervillain traps that I give this issue a thumbs up. Good stuff. I hope she shows up again someday.

Finch’s Gotham

Batman: The Dark Knight #1
Written by David Finch
Art by Finch

 

And so debuts another new batbook this time the sole work of David Finch depicting Bruce Wayne dealing with darker, more occult side of Gotham City. I really enjoyed it and I was surprised how much I liked Finch’s artwork here. I loved how he drew the Batmobile like the one from the Burton films and the mystery of Dawn Golden is intriguing (Even if her name and retconnedness is a little hokey). Not a bad start at all.

Hole In The Head

Batman and Robin #18
Written by Paul Cornell
Art by Scott McDaniel

 

I have read a lot of bad reviews of this comic and I don’t get why. McDaniel’s art doesn’t even bother me like it usually does and the Absence is such a goofy villain that I can’t help but love it. I mean she has a hole in her head and is cutting off body parts of Bruce Wayne’s ex-girlfriends. Hilarious. I can’t help but love it.

Surprise Guest Star

Batman #705
Written by Tony Daniel
Art by Daniel

 

I almost didn’t like this issue…this whole mask of the beholder thing doesn’t really interest me. I think Daniel works best when he plays with the Gotham cast and didn’t want to read about this Peacock and her brother — until the very end when he saved it all by bringing in a character not seen since Geoff Johns’s Teen Titans. I wasn’t expecting her to show up. Awesome!

Find What’s Missing

Batman and Robin #17
Written by Paul Cornell 
Art by Scott McDaniel

 

Paul Cornell takes over for three issues before Tomasi comes on board here and I’d say Cornell wasn’t kidding when he kept saying in interviews that this wasn’t just filler. The Absence is an interesting new villain and not just because she apparently had a hole in the head but just the idea of looking for what’s missing seems like great story potential. I want to see where this goes. McDaniel’s art seemed different here too…good different. I was pleasantly surprised as I am not his biggest fan but I think he stepped up his game for this book.

Little James

Detective Comics #871
Written by Scott Snyder
Art by Jock
Co-Feature by Snyder
Art by Francesco Frankavilla

 

Snyder begins his run with a great mystery – someone is selling weapons based on Gotham villains – and with an artist who knows how to set the mood for it. I am not the biggest fan of Jock’s art, but it works here. This was a great debut for the team. The Commissioner Gordon back-up had quite the shocking ending! I don’t know when was the last time we saw James Jr, but I have never read a comic with him except for flashbacks set when he was a baby – and now he is committing Gotham Crimes! Interesting!