In The Middle

Supergirl (Volume 5) #62
Written by James Peaty
Art by Bernard Chang

 

Not sure what is going on here – so is Alex a kryptonian? I doubt it. I loved seeing Miss Martian here (why isn’t she in Titans again?) but this issue didn’t really do it for me. It was neither great nor bad.

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.

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.

The Superboy-Kid Flash Race

Superboy (Volume 4) #5
Written by Jeff Lemire
Art by Pier Gallo

 

Anybody notices Superboy calls Beast Boy Garth instead of Gar? Come on DC Editors! Anyways, the Kid Flash/Superboy race was a lot of fun and it was great to see them being heroes on the way across the globe. The winner was Krypto which was kind of a cop-out (we all know Kid Flash would win) but oh well. Fun issue that managed to further the main plot as well.

App Drones

Supergirl (Volume 5) #61
Written by James Peaty
Art by Bernard Chang

 

I knew something was up was up when Alex was shown to have Grodd and Eclipso working for him – they are drones! Alex is a rather intriguing villains soon and I am interested to learn just who his father is and how this all ties into what is going on with Cadmus. The App concept is awesome still too and I can’t wait to see Blue Beetle next issue.

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.

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.

The Titans Renaissance

Teen Titans (Volume 3) #90
Written by J.T. Krul
Art by Nicola Scott

 

Yup the Renaissance of Teen Titans is still going strong as the Titans travel to a high school filled with students effected by some guy giving them Meta powers – and the high school gets buried underground and they are all trapped inside. Yes, it is that awesome and pretty much the perfect plot for this book. At this juncture, I could see Krul’s run surpassing even the Johns run. It’s that good and Nicola Scott is also a huge part of that. Great art.

Settling In

Gotham City Sirens #18
Written by Peter Calloway
Art by Jeremy Haun

 

This issue was much better as it is revealed Talia is behind all of this wanting to erase Catwoman of her memories of Batman and I liked the dialogue between Harley and Ivy. I think Calloway is finally getting settled writing this book. I still don’t buy Zatanna even thinking about mindwiping Selina again but oh well.

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.

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.

Titans Pariah

Teen Titans (Volume 3) #89
Written by J.T. Krul
Art by Nicola Scott

 

Robin joins the Titans and right from the get-go we can see he is not Tim Drake. He seriously screws up their mission in this issue because of his impulsiveness and not listening to orders even I was pissed at him. And I have started to like Damian too! That being said, I don’t know if Krul has Damian’s voice down just yet. There is something about the way he talks that seems different then usual. I don’t know. I still like the issue and Scott’s art is great and the team is awesome – this is the best this book has been in years!