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?

Streets of Gotham 19 and 20

Batman: Streets of Gotham #19
Written by Paul Dini
Art by Dustin Nguyen

 

The House of Hush storyline seems all over the place here filled with time jumps but I don’t mind cause it has been a good story so far and I loved the Joker stuff in this.

Batman: Streets of Gotham #20
Written by Paul Dini
Art by Dustin Nguyen

This was even more flashback to the Waynes and this time includes the Justice Society with Hippolyta on the team!! Despite comments by Didio and DCU Legacies, I knew she was still the Golden Age Wonder Woman! It is weird how Nguyen draws her here though.

Birds of Prey 8 and 9

Birds of Prey (Volume 2) #8
Written by Gail Simone
Art by Guillem March

Black Canary is in trouble and as always the Birds are in a terrible situation. That is one thing that is great about the Birds – they always seem to be in these situations where I have no idea how they are going to get out of them but they always succeed. That is what makes them great to read about. Huntress’s reaction to seeing Bruce was great too!

Birds of Prey (Volume 2) #9
Written by Gail Simone
Art by Inaki Miranda

I like these Inaki Miranda’s art. I know she or he is not staying on this title but DC should put him or her somewhere. Anyways, this was a good issue as Dinah proves too strong for Mortis and Calculator believes he has killed Oracle (But we all know he hasn’t.)

Don’t Let The Bed Bugs Bite

Batman: Streets of Gotham #18
Written by Paul Dini
Art by Dustin Nguyen
Co-Feature by Fabian Nicieza
Art by Szymon Kudranski

The main story is so good it makes me sad that this book is ending in a few months. The BedBug is a great new addition to Batman’s Villains as Dini has yet to create a new villain who isn’t and the Hush storyline keeps my interest enough. In the Ragman backup, Ragman discovers the mayor is behind Firefly’s arson. I wonder where this story is going to continue now that DC is dropping its back ups??

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.

Damage

Superman #703
Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Art by Eddy Barrows

 

JMS’s Grounded tales is a lot better then I thought it would be and I love that he is incorporating the after effects of New Krypton and not just sweeping that story under the rug but I don’t know if I buy the argument about the potential damage being done as Superman walks across America. What is the difference between this and the damage done when people attack him in Metropolis? Nothing really. Anyways, I wonder what this New Krypton kryptonite does cause it seems to have possessed a school teacher and caused another guy to gain powers hmmm.

Needs A Consistent Artist

Birds of Prey (Volume 2) #5
Written by Gail Simone
Art by Alvin Lee and Adriana Melo

 

Well this certianly got odd quickly. The art is all over the place and a confusing mess even without Benes. Can we just have once consistant artist on this book please? Anyways, Black Canary heads to Bangkok and is followed by Huntress and Lady Blackhawk but they soon discover that Black Canary is now wearing the White Canary costume and being called a mistress by a bunch of students??? What the hell is going on? Interesting and Gail’s writing is still top-notch but damn they need a new art team for this book. I love that Oracle is now working out of Kord Tower – a nice nod to her relationship with Ted Kord. I wonder if we will ever see Platinum Flats again though?

Sister In Silk

Birds of Prey (Volume 2) #4
Written by Gail Simone
Art by Ed Benes and Adriana Melo

Black Canary defeats White Canary using her sonic scream in a freaking awesome moment you won’t want to miss. I loved it! The intensity of this story arc was amazing. If only it had all been handled by an artist that drew backgrounds! Ugh! We find out who White Canary is and it is a big pay off for long time fans of the Birds. In fact, this whole story arc had really been a look back at Gail’s previous run on the book with Savant and Creole and Dinah’s training in Singapore and all that. Now that we know Lady Shiva is involved it can only get more crazy.

Penguin Party In My Pants

Birds of Prey (Volume 2) #3
Written by Gail Simone
Art by Ed Benes and Adriana Melo

 

Shit this is the most intense suspenseful edge-of-your seat comic DC is putting out right now. Every page was filled with revelations and shocking moments. Creole and Savant alive and working for the White Canary! The White Canary is somehow Sin! (I think) The Penguin is also working for the White Canary and financed her plans! Hawk is injured! The GCPD have a tank! It’s all so awesome, go read it! Cassandra Cain gets another mention and Dinah knows Cass wouldn’t say she would piss on corpses, loved that! Oh and I loved how Penguin hallucinates and declared a Penguin Party in his pants haha the only downside to this is Benes still won’t draw backgrounds ugh.

Who Is This Angel?

Gotham City Sirens #13
Written by Tony Bedard
Art by Peter Nguyen and Andres Guinaldo

 

Hmmm so is Maggie Kyle really being lead by an angel? It seems so or is it something else? Something sinister. I don’t know as it is clearly not just a hallucination as Harley saw it too. This was a quick read but it was still good and it was a great recap of Catwoman history. I loved seeing the nineties costume again too. I wonder when this will be followed up as Dini is sure to return as regular writer next month.

Birds of Prey: Wanted

Birds of Prey (Volume 2) #2
Written by Gail Simone
Art by Ed Benes and Adriana Melo

Um pretty much EVERYTHING goes to hell for the Birds of Prey in this issue. Black Canary is blamed for the death of the Iceland guy from last issue and is now a wanted criminal and the Birds ended up fighting the cops. The White Canary is pretty awesome whoever she is and seems to be behind this. I sure hope it is not Cassie (But I don’t think it is anyways). Creote and Savant are murdered. There goes another gay character. Come on Gail, you of all people are not who I would expect to be killing off the few gay characters in the DC Universe. That bothered me. Oracle decides it is time to go to war with whoever is behind all this and Black Canary’s secret identity is revealed to the world! I have a feeling this has something to do with Sin. Could Sin be the White Canary somehow? I don’t know. The only bad thing about this issue was the damn art. Benes couldn’t even finish the issue and he didn’t draw backgrounds for the pages he did run. They are in Gotham and we are supposed to believe their are no backgrounds!

To 700 More!

Batman #700
Written by Grant Morrison
Art by Tony Daniel, Frank Quitely, Andy Kubert, Scott Kolins, and David Finch

 

Morrison returns to the main Batman book to celebrate the 700th issue. I am not sure why everyone around the blogosphere wants to rip on this book. I enjoyed it more then anything Morrison did when he was actually the writer of this series! I liked the look at Batman through different eras and it was awesome to see Batman Beyond and everything. I thought all the art was superb and it worked really well. This was a great anniversary issue.

Escape

Justice Society of America #39
Written by Bill Willingham
Art by Jesus Merino

 

For some reason I thought this was the conclusion of this arc but I guess not. This was all good as we check up on the heroes making their escape from the Nazis. It was cool to see grown up versions of our favorite heroes. The twist is that Mr. Terrific is going to use Obsidian to send a message back in time I guess we will see how it goes next issue.

The Birds Are Back In Town – And Maybe Cassandra Cain Too!

Birds of Prey (Volume 2) #1
Written by Gail Simone
Art by Ed Benes

 

Okay first of all let me get something out of the way, I am still really annoyed that no one is mentioning that Hawk – before he died and came back to life – was fucking Extant! The genocidal mass murderer why is he being allowed to act like a hero and no one is mentioning it! That better be explained soon. That being said, I fucking adored this issue! It is so great to have the Birds back and Simone really brought them back in style. She reintroduced them for new readers and made sure that old readers would enjoy all the references to their past. I did not realize how much I missed this team – they just work together and they need to be part of the DC Universe. But the greatest part of this issue, the one that makes me want to kiss Simone write on the lips – was the reveal at the end of the “White Canary”. An asian woman who Dinah guesses is either Lady Shiva or —- Cassandra Cain! Now I don’t think she is Cassie but I love that Dinah knows that if they were fighting  Cassie  – “There is a good chance neither of us will make it out of this alley tonight.” That shows that  Simone respects Cassandra Cain and this is the first respect we have seen from a writer since well – Frank Tieri on Outsiders. I am sooo happy right now.

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!

Mystery and Speculation

Batman #695
Written by Tony Daniel
Art by Daniel

 

Tony Daniel’s run on Batman continues to impress me. He utilizes Gotham and it’s characters in a great way. I hope he isn’t leaving this book any time soon. I loved every page of this issue and his art is getting better and better. This has as many Gothamites has Hush had but it’s an actual coherent story and good mystery unlike Loeb’s Hush was. So is Kitrina Falcone working with Riddler or with Penguin and Mad Hatter? Could Jeremiah Arkham be Black Mask? The mystery to all this is great and the speculation is fun to make. I can’t wait to the next issue.