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.

Logging Off

Red Robin #21
Written by Fabian Nicieza
Art by Marcus To

 

Red Robin and Anarky managed to shut down the unternet in this interesting issue. I am not sure I completely understand what the unternet is – but I like the concept and the connections to Final Crisis here. I was hoping that Cassandra Cain was in this because Nicieza has said she’ll be in this book in the spring but I guess I will have to wait a little longer.

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!

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.

Red Robin 19 and 20

Red Robin #19
Written by Fabian Nicieza
Art by Marcus To

 

Tim fights the Unternet in its own virtual world in this issue (By the way I love his alternate costume) and one of the things he uses is a program representing Cassandra Cain! Nice job of course Tim would think of the greatest of Batgirls to defeat a threat. God I miss Cass being a regular member of the bat family!

Red Robin #20
Written by Fabian Nicieza
Art by Marcus To

Red Robin fights off Catman and call in the Teen Titans to go after the Calculator – who has robots now. Okay what the hell – I am so sick of the Calculator! Let’s get some other villains he is in Batgirl, Birds of Prey, and now here! Enough with this guy!

A Break Up

Teen Titans (Volume 3) #91
Written by J.T. Krul
Art by Nicola Scott

 

Still loving Krul and Scott on this book but this was the weakest issue yet, I felt like it went by too fast and I was disappointed to see Wonder Girl and Superboy break up. I suppose some drama between them was needed though but if he gets with Lori Luthor over in his own book that would be just wrong.

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.

The Auction Of The Black Mirror

Detective Comics #872
Written by Scott Snyder
Art by Jock
Co-Feature by Snyder
Art by Francesco Frankavilla

 

The main story was just fantastic and creepy as the Dick goes undercover at the Black Mirror auction. From the Dealer’s talk about evil being humanity’s divine spark to the creepy gas masks to the surprise ending it was fantastic. Jock really sets the mood with his art too. I hope this creative team stays here for a while! There is great characterization of Dick and Babs too. Everything about this makes the perfect Bat-book. The co-feature sees more of James Jr. as Commisioner Gordon and Barbara discuss him and apparently they suspect he committed murder in the past. Interesting stuff.

Crazy Cliffhanger

Red Robin #18
Written by Fabian Nicieza
Art by Marcus To

 

Whoa whoa whoa! What just happened! That was a pretty shocking ending for this issue. Is Red Star in league with the society for the good of Russia? Why were they allowed to get into the unternet so easily? What is the deal with Promise? And Cass gets mentioned yes! Nicieza has made this one of the best bat books and this issue is no better. I can’t say I have ever liked a Tim Drake book more than I do now.

The Batgirl of Hong Kong

Red Robin #17
Written by Fabian Nicieza
Art by Marcus To

 

My favorite comic book character of all time – Cassandra Cain! THE BATGIRL, in my opinion, returns in this issue! Working in Hong Kong in a new costume, Red Robin travels to give her her old costume back. She agrees that Stephanie needs to be Batgirl right now but Red Robin reminds her that she is always going to be a member of the bat family and she takes the costume! I can’t wait to see her in it again soon as the Batgirl of Hong Kong! I would have liked to see her talk to Bruce but this is good enough for now…Nicieza writers her in character and as bad ass as always. I can’t thank him enough for this I almost want to write him a letter I really think I just might. The rest of the issue was great as Tim sets up his new headquarters at the abandoned theatre in Crime Alley (Great idea for a headquarters), meets up with Lynx and then Batman and they even hug! Bruce’s new costume is awesome! I love it! Cass is back yes!!

Bruce is Back!

Batman and Robin #16
Written by Grant Morrison
Art by Cameron Stewart and Frazer Irving

 

Bruce Wayne is back everyone! Damn this issue was pretty much perfection. I loved everything about it as Batman is the character that brought me to comics I was so happy to see the return of my hero it such an awesome way. My favorite part was probably Bruce punching the Joker just as Joker was seemingly accepting that he was gone for good. The only real problem with this issue was probably the fact that the two art styles are so different, but it didn’t bother me all that much. The final scene has Bruce announcing to the world that he has been funding Batman for years and now plans to take Batman Incorporated global! I’d say that is the biggest change to the Batman world in many many years and I can’t wait to see where Batman goes from here.

Superman Batman 75 and 76

Superman/Batman #75
Written by Paul Levitz
Art by Jerry Ordway

 

The anniversary issue has a bunch of tiny back-up features that I won’t cover here cause most are not in continuity but the main story was an epilogue to Levitz’s previous arc as a future Lexor citizen comes back in time to kill Superman and the Legion and Batman team up to stop them. It was good and Ordway’s art was great but nothing to get too excited about. I am kinda sick of the same four Legionnaires always being used – let’s mix it up a bit Levitz.

Superman/Batman #76
Written by Judd Winick
Art by Marco Rudy

Now this was great! We finally get to see Superman’s reaction to Batman’s “death” during Final Crisis and it was a really great. Winik could have made this cliche and dumb as hell (imagine if this was written by Meltzer) but instead we get a look at how Superman views death and the fate of his friends as well as some awesome moments between him and Wonder Woman. I loved it!

Going Global

Red Robin #16
Written by Fabian Nicieza
Art by Marcus To

 

Nicieza is such a fantastic writer – he really understands the character of Tim Drake and his history. I loved how Brentwood Academy is mentioned in this issue – Tim’s school from the Dixon era of his book. So many writers come on to book and dismiss anything that came before but not Nicieza. I can’t wait till next issue where we are promised Cassandra Cain! And I wonder where Tim’s new home will be – he says Gotham will still be his base but  he is going global? hmm. How cool would it be if Red Robin became the protector of Vanity – Aztek’s city.

Learning About His Father

Batman #703
Written by Fabian Nicieza
Art by Cliff Richards

 

I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this – probably just filler crap. But I was wrong and I should have trusted Nicieza to tell a good story – one that definitely honors Bruce and has Damian learn about a side of his father he never knew. I thought that the whole Vicki Vale debacle was solved but it looks like she is still trying to find out the secrets of the Bat family. Richards artwork was gorgeous as well. All around a good little issue.

Archetypical Bullet

Batman #702
Written by Grant Morrison
Art by Tony Daniel

 

This concludes the lost chapter of R.I.P and I have to say I quite enjoyed this issue. One wonders why this wasn’t told back then but oh well we got a lot more information here about how Bruce was sent back in time by the Omega Sanction. I love how Morrison describes the God-Bullet as the archetypical bullet – the bullet of all bullets – therefore truly Batman’s ultimate enemy. Great writing and really cool stuff to think about. I am not sure where and how Batman recorded the message for Superman though. I will probably have to go back and reread.

Protecting Secrets

Red Robin #15
Written by Fabian Nicieza
Art by Marcus To

 

Tim shows his genius in this fantastic issue where he pulls off a huge stunt to convince Vicki Vale he is not Red Robin and throw her off the Bat-family’s trail. It was great to see Miss Martian helping out and Tim continue to reach out to his connections. This really is the book for the Batfamily as everyone seems to be appearing here (Except for Cass of course, Vicki didn’t seem to know her identity because Cass is too awesome for that!) I like how Tam Fox is being trusted to keep the BatFamily secrets as well. This book rocks!