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.

Teen Titans 92 and 93

Teen Titans (Volume 3) #92
Written by J.T. Krul
Art by Georges Jeanty

This is the conclusion of the crossover with Red Robin that began here. It was decent I am just so sick of the Calculator as a villain. DC needs to give him a rest. The biggest thing to come out of this issue was Red Robin returning to the Titans with Robin leaving. I did not see that coming actually I figured they would keep Damian on for longer but I have no problem with that. I wonder how this will affect Cassie’s leadership though.

Teen Titans (Volume 3) #93
Written by J.T. Krul
Art by Nicola Scott

Now this is more like it! The Titans travel to India to search for Solstice’s missing parents. Solstice is interesting as Krul seems to be setting her up as anti-Raven – a magical character that is bright instead of dark. He also sets up Kid Flash crushing on her – much as his predecessor Wally had a crush on Raven back in the day. I didn’t mind Tim taking over leadership as long as it was something that Cassie wanted. Great stuff. When Krul took over the book was returning to greatness, now I think it has officially returned.

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.

Hidden Oracle

Birds of Prey (Volume 2) #10
Written by Gail Simone
Art by Inaki Miranda

Cassandra Cain gets name dropped again as Tim asks why she doesn’t have access to Kord Tower. I don’t know that I am completely satisfied with the answer that she has too much going on now because well…we are never shown what the hell she has going on. I hope this wasn’t a throw away line and Gail or DC editors plan to show us what is going on with Cass soon enough. This was an otherwise fantastic issue that showed off how tough the Birds are and how it was a good plan to fake Oracle’s death. Loved the bit with Catwoman too!

Bruce Remembers

Power Girl (Volume 2) #21
Written by Judd Winick
Art by Sami Basri

 

This was awesome for anyone enjoing Generation Lost as Power Girl manages to convince Dick Grayson with the help of Bruce Wayne of Max Lord’s existence and villainy. Bruce’s presence here was just awesome and it was great to see that he remembers Lord – because if anyone could it would be Bruce. I also loved how Basri got all the pre-infinite crisis costumes correct in the flashback. I know that sounds easy, and it is, but so many other artists at DC would have gotten it wrong cause their editors suck at their jobs.

Sunglasses At Night

Detective Comics #874
Written by Scott Snyder
Art by Francesco Francavila

Scott Snyder continues his stellar run by revealing that James Jr. had a violent past but he has recovered and wants to work for Leslie Thompkins meanwhile Batman and Red Robin have some awesome moments. Francavila is just as great as Jock at setting the mood for this book and I can’t say enough about how great this issue was. Snyder nails Dick’s voice with a great joke about Sunglasses at night and I love how Dick and Tim called eachother by code names (I hate the Brad Meltzer style of always going by first names – their superheroes!). I can’t wait to learn more about James Jr.’s untold past.

My Guess Is Gilda

Batman #707
Written by Tony Daniel
Art by Daniel

 

The whole mess with the mask of the beholder ends here…it wasn’t my favorite story but it wasn’t bad either. I liked that it set up Peacock as a possible Dick Grayson love interest and the ending of this issue was just awesome. Daniel’s art has improved tremendously since Battle for the Cowl and it shows here too. So who is the mysterious woman at the end of this issue with the two-face coin? I am not sure but I have a feeling it’s Gilda Dent!

Gathering Shadow

Justice League of America #54
Written by James Robinson
Art by Brett Booth

 

This was a fantastic issue as Eclipso gathers shadow-based characters for some kind of plan. It even goes back and looks at the history of Eclipso which even I needed some refreshing on. Once again Robinson really makes the DC Universe seem like a vast wonderland as he pulls characters from its history – both obscure and famous. There were some more shadow villains I could think of – such as Shadow-of-War but hey he picked the ones he did for a reason I am sure. Booth’s art is going to take some getting used to as some parts of this issue seemed too much like Ed Benes (That is not a good thing) and the beginning two pages make no sense in terms of who was in the League at the same time I mean why are Vibe and Red Arrow shown to be in the team together at the same time!

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!

Just Bring On The Eclipso

Justice League of America #53
Written by James Robinson
Art by Mark Bagley

 

I was disappointed with the conclusion to this arc. I mean it was better then anything pre-Robinson but man was it not that great of an ending and Bagley…he must have known he was leaving when he drew this cause this was a weak issue on his part. That last splash page could have used some serious editing. Elasti-Woman is wearing the wrong costume and Damage is there – Damage is dead! Come on DC! I am looking forward to next month’s Rise of Eclipso story though!

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.

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.

Azrael 15 and 16

Azrael (Volume 2) #15
Written by David Hine
Art by Cliff Richards

 

This was a good issue as Batman investigates Azrael’s suicide and Ra’s Al Ghul expects him to rise on the third day. I have no idea where this is going but I am loving the ride and the creepiness of it all.

Azrael (Volume 2) #16
Written by David Hine
Art by Cliff Richards

Azrael rejects Bruce’s offer to join Batman Incorporated but Bruce still accepts him as an ally after seeing a vision of him either becoming a sinner or saint – I think Bruce wants to keep him around so he can lead him on the path to good. We shall see.

Rule Number One: No Guns

Batman Incorporated #2
Written by Grant Morrison
Art by Yanick Paquette

 

Giant Octupuses in apartment buildings and Giant Gorillas and Shiny Happy Aquazons! This is comics! So I was right that that guy would become Mr. Unknown (Kinda actually he was Mr. Unknown all along and is now the Batman of Japan) and this book is kicking ass and taking names. There is something so cool about Batman traveling the world and recruiting new people to his cause that…well…I just never thought it would be this cool. Long live the Batman of Japan!