Gotham’s Creepiest Couple

Detective Comics #865
Written by David Hine
Art by Jeremy Haun
Co-Feature by Greg Rucka
Art by Cully Hamner

 

The main story was prefectly creepy! I love good Arkham Asylum stories and the new pair of Jeremiah Arkham and Alyce Sinner will probably make stories in the future. Arkham is an inmate of the asylum now just like his ancestor – he even carves his intial into Zsas’s eyelid! But Alyce is now director of Arkham Asylum and she is equally insane and in love with Jeremiah Arkham! This was a great little story. The Question back-up comes to its conclusion and we are left with a cliffhanger. Odd, Rucka really must have left DC in a hurry but we are not told whether Renee Montoya has the mark of Cain now or not. I wonder if we will have to wait till Rucka comes back to DC or if The Question is too high profile to keep waiting for him. Hmmm. All Good Questions haha.

Brings Me Back

Detective Comics #864
Written by David Hine
Art by Jeremy Haun
Co-Feature by Greg Rucka
Art by Cully Hamner

 

Wow that was good! I always have loved Haun’s writing from Brave and the Bold to his Arkham work and I was excited for his run on Detective Comics – but this blew me away. He really gets into the psyche of Jeremiah Arkham and how crazy he is. My guess is that the three inmates he supposedly cured aren’t real at all. I love that he is referencing old Batman stories – but not SILVER AGE Batman stories or something pre-crisis but the honest to God DC Universe of my childhood – Devin Grayson’s Gotham Knights run and so on. It makes me really miss that time where it seemed anything could happen in Gotham and new characters were being created and awesome dark storylines were being written. I loved reading this. I don’t even miss Batwoman – and I liked her in this book. The Question back-up was also good as Vandal Savage demands that either Question or Huntress take the mark of Cain from him. It makes me want to go back and read Final Crisis: Revelations where this all went down I am not sure how he got the mark. I also liked how Rucka brought in Huntress’s faith which has always been an important part of her character.

Masks

Batman #697
Written by Tony Daniel
Art by Daniel

 

The person behind the Black Mask is revealed and all-in-all it is not that shocking. I still loved the issue. Daniel’s artworks has been great since he started on this book and so has his writing. Battle for the Cowl was a total fluke. I was sad to see the splash page of the Network considering this was an organization began by Cassandra Cain – and she has been gone since August and no one seems to care to look for her (In other words DC’s editors are douchebags) The debut of Catgirl was unexpected – I hate the costume it looks really ridiculous but that doesn’t mean I hate the concept. I wonder what Holly Robinson will think? Will this be reflected in Gotham City Sirens? Time will tell.

Mind Control

Batman #696
Written by Tony Daniel
Art by Daniel

 

Daniel’s tremendous run on Batman continues here and he shows no sign of slowing down. He chooses to tell the story of this issue in flashback after Batman is found barely alive by Robin in Gotham Harbor. Apparently Penguin and Mad Hatter (Love the use of all the classic villains) have created a mind control “false-face” to control Batman and send him to kill Black Mask. Of course Dick doesn’t kill him but he learns of Black Mask’s plans and has a crazy adventure. I have a feeling Black Mask is either the mayor or Jeremiah Arkham as he speaks about his “office” here. I am really starting to like the character of Kitrina Falcone – Daniel has stated in interviews that she is here to stay and I am glad that she is. This book is a lot better then Morrison’s Batman and Robin – everyone should be reading it!

Bringing Gotham To life

Batman #694
Written by Tony Daniel
Art by Daniel

I know  this will make me unpopular among bloggers for saying this, but Tony Daniel’s current run on Batman is BETTER then Batman and Robin by Morrison. There I said it! This is some great stuff! The art is fantastic I loved looking at every page! What an improvement! And that is not sarcasm, he has really stepped up his game. The story and writing is fantastic as well as he crafts a compelling mystery and involves so many characters but it never feels overcrowded. It really feels like Gotham has come alive when I am reading this, sort’ve like the old days when I first got into comics during No Man’s Land. I love having the Falcones back! The Penguin being awesome along with Doctor Death, Hugo Strange, the new Black Mask, The Reaper! This was a great issue.

The Falcones Come Home

Batman #692
Written by Tony Daniel
Art by Daniel

Um can I just say holy shit….this was better then I EVER expected. Tony Daniel’s Battle for the Cowl was an incoherent mess of a comic. So naturally when I heard he was taking over this book I rolled my eyes. I figured it would be awful. It turns out, it is actually pretty damn good. Daniel IS a good writer apparently. He does something I have wanted to see happen for a long time, follows up on the Falcone crime family as they return to Gotham led by Mario Falcone. He writes great Dick Grayson-Selina Kyle scenes. He creates an interesting group of villainous scientists led by Black Mask. All of this was completely unexpected. Well-done, Mr. Daniel, I think this is going to be a great run on Batman!