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.

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.

Streets of Gotham 15 and 16

Batman: Streets of Gotham #15
Written by Ivan Brandon
Art by Ramon Bachs

 

This is kinda weird…replacing the back up as the main feature in the middle of an arc. I don’t know why Dini is having trouble getting his scripts in on time but whatever this was good. It was violent and disturbing as a Two-Face story should be and ends with Two-Face getting stabbed brutally by his lackeys and thrown in a river. I doubt he’s actually dead but it sure seems that way.

Batman: Streets of Gotham #16
Written by Paul Dini
Art by Dustin Nguyen
Co-Feature by Ivan Brandon
Art by Ramon Bachs

The main story continues “House of Hush” and it is really good. It focuses once again on fleshing out a back story dealing with the Waynes and we get more moments from Bruce and Tommy’s childhood. I have said before and I will say it again that Dini has given Hush more depth then Loeb ever did or could. Zatanna showing up was weird….does Dini have to put her in everything he writes? He writes her well don’t get me wrong though. The Two-Face back up has Harvery being found and taken care of by a priest and has a pretty shocking ending I don’t want to ruin here. Good stuff.

Manhunter Should Still Be Here

Batman: Streets of Gotham #14
Written by Paul Dini
Art by Dustin Nguyen
Co-Feature by Ivan Brandon
Art by Ramon Bachs

 

The main story begins the sequel to Dini’s excellent Heart of Hush storyline that ended with Hush being made to look like Bruce Wayne. Now Hush feels trapped as the imposter Wayne and someone wants Wayne dead. It is all set up though and not much happens here but it is cool to see Dini is using Jane Doe. The new Two-Face back-up starts out okay although I just don’t see Two-Face as a starring role character…I don’t understand why they took Manhunter out of this book.

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.

Dumb Continuity Mistakes

Detective Comics #866
Written by Denny O’Niel
Art by Dustin Nguyen

 

This was a decent little one-shot story about Dick remembering his first encounter with the Joker and solving part of the mystery that was left unsolved from that night. It was okay. There were some major continuity issues that got on my nerves like for example Harvery Dent was already Two-Face by the time Dick became Robin in current continuity. This is something O’Niel and the editors should know. Dumb. Very dumb mistake. It pretty much ruined this issue for me but I loved the art and the style changes between past and present.

Keep Her In Gotham

Batman: Streets of Gotham #10
Written by Paul Dini
Art by Dustin Nguyen
Co-Feature by Marc Andreyko
Art by Jeremy Haun

 

The main feature was a probably the first solo Damian story – as Damian is kidnapped by Zsadz’s men whom he went looking and is forced to fight the serial killer in an arena. It annoyed me how easily the Abuse kid figured out Damian was Robin and that Damian is going around introducing himself as Damian – I mean if he is going to do undercover work at least use a fake name! Ah! Oh well I guess we can chalk that up to his inexperience. It wasn’t a bad issue, but was a little on the short side. The Manhunter back-up kicked major ass…I love the character of Jane; she is such a creey villain and pulling a bomb out of her neck made her even creepier. Why is this co-feature ending exactly? I mean how are they even judging how well a co-feature is doing without the trades out? I am loving Manhunter in Gotham and do not want to see this end.

A Whole Lot Of Nothing

Batman: Streets of Gotham #9
Written by Mike Benson
Art by Dustin Nguyen
Co-Feature by Marc Andreyko
Art by Jeremy Haun

Meh…the main story bored me still but at least it wasn’t as bad as the first part where Jim Gordon was making jokes about dead bodies. Can’t wait for Dini to be back. The Manhunter back-up was decent but not as good as it has been in the past just more of Kate prosecuting Two-Face. The Huntress is in her “I am going to bare my stomach for no apparent reason” costume again and I do not like that but whatever.

Meat Statue?!

Batman: Streets of Gotham #8
Written by Mike Benson
Art by Dustin Nguyen
Co-Feature by Marc Andreyko
Art by Jeremy Haun

Okay the main story is not at all what was solicited and is by a completely different writer I have never heard of. I was looking forward to reading more of Dini’s story! What the hell! And this is even a two-parter. I really don’t like Benson’s story, it is a generic Batman story and could easily star Bruce, and Commissioner Gordon is written like a jerk. I really don’t see Gordon ever calling a corpse a “meat statue”. DC’s website still has this being written by Dini and a completely different solicitation. That’s just bad DC and false advertising! The Manhunter back-up could have easily redeemed this issue if it were of the same quality as usual, but Haun’s art seemed a little rushed and I don’t buy the idea that little Ramsey knows who Harvey Dent is. Why would a ten-year-old kid know the name of an evil criminal mastermind from the other side of the country?!

There Is Nothing Quite Like A Gotham City Christmas

Batman: Streets of Gotham #7
Written by Paul Dini
Art by Dustin Nguyen
Co-Feature by Marc Andreyko
Art by Cliff Richards

The main story is one of the more disturbing Batman Christmas stories I have ever read and I get a love disturbing Batman Christmas stories! Especially when written by Paul Dini! How great was that Joker and Robin Christmas issue from his Detective run?! Children are being locked up under a catholic orphanage and forced to fight to the death by Szasz. Their bodies are discovered by Humpty Dumpty who is desperately trying to put them together again. What a seemingly sweet villain Humpty is!? I have very limited experience with him and I would like to read more of him. Damian’s expression when he realizes that the kids Humpty is taking care of are all dead is great because you know when Damian is sickened by something, then it is really bad. I am really starting to love Damian since that Batgirl issue. I love how he has the balls to say that if you are a real son you get better gifts for Christmas haha. The Manhunter back-up is also great as Two-Face comes after Dylan and Manhunter has to defend him.

Batman and Manhunter Kissing In A Tree?

Batman: Streets of Gotham #6
Written by Christopher Yost
Art by Dustin Nguyen
Co-Feature by Marc Andreyko
Art by Jeremy Haun

This was a decent issue. I don’t really have much to say about it. Yost toned down the blood-thirstiness of the Huntress which was good. I like Man-Bat’s mentioning of being in Louisiana – acknowledging how he was in the Outsiders and this. Nice use of continuity and it shows how strong of an editor Marts is with the Batman line. The Manhunter Co-Feature wasn’t as fun as last issue and I don’t really like Dylan as a character so I am not excited to see him come back in Kate’s life. But I am interested to see how this Dick Grayson – Kate Spencer dating thing will pan out.

Blood Thirsty Huntress

Batman: Streets of Gotham #5
Written by Christopher Yost
Art by Dustin Nguyen
Co-Feature by Marc Andreyko
Art by Jeremy Haun

During Gail Simone’s run on Birds of Prey, if I remember correctly, Huntress grew as a character and now rarely goes for lethal force on villains. So why in this issue is she unnecessarily blood thirsty? I get that she is more willing to kill then any of the other Gotham heroes but she seems to want to kill Man-Bat in this issue. It is just over the top. That being said I did like the story and the idea of the crazy priest. The Manhunter co-feature was pretty damn awesome as we look at Dylan’s histoy and Two-Face being up to no good. I did enjoy the issue although the Huntress was written strangely.

What Was Bruce Hiding?

Batman #691
Written by Judd Winick
Art by Mark Bagley

Okay I bet this issue is a bigger deal then anyone expected. Why was Bruce keeping a hidden case file on Dick Grayson’s parents? Is Tony Daniel going to explore this in his run? Could there be more to the murder of the flying Graysons then anyone knew? Winick really avoided all the cliches – he brought in a plausible reason for why Harvey wasn’t able to ever break into the cave before – and I like the idea that Dick and Alfred would move everything out of the cave after this. It is too dangerous to leave it like that. But Oracle has been using it over in Batgirl – I hope that gets acknowledged over in that series. This was a good issue and I have to say that this Winick-Bagley art was a success. It really didn’t get the attention it deserves.

Introducing The Broker

Batman: Streets of Gotham #4
Written by Paul Dini
Art by Dustin Nguyen
Co-Feature by Marc Andreyko
Art by Jeremy Haun

This has to be the best issue of this series to date. Dini goes back to what he does best, exploring Gotham’s villains and adding interesting new ones to the roster. In this issue, he introduces The Broker, the real estate guy who sells all the abandoned warehouses and amusement parks to the bad guys of Gotham. That’s just genius! I can’t believe no one has thought of that before. I also loved how Dini explains why there are so many abandoned amusement parks by going over the history of Gotham. I love when writers flesh out DC’s fictional locales. The Manhunter back-up was pretty good as well, Kate makes the statement to the press that she will bring down Two-Face no matter what and I am sure that will get her in a lot of trouble. She also teams up with Huntress.

Bat-Face or Two-Bats?

Batman #690
Written by Judd Winick
Art by Mark Bagley

So I really don’t know why Two-Face is dressed up like Batman at the end of this issue. I am assuming it was him that was in the Tony Daniel Battle for the Cowl teaser, that makes sense since Winick was originally slated to write Battle for the Cowl. I am not really sure what is going on with Two-Face, Penguin, and Black Mask but I can’t wait to find out who Black Mask is. This was a decent issue and it definitely showed how skilled in combat Dick Grayson is, but I can’t say there was much here to get me too excited.

Bagley Steps Up His Game

Batman #689
Written by Judd Winick
Art by Mark Bagley

 

Now this was more like it…after last issues’s less then stellar debut of Mark Bagley, Bagley steps it up a notch with this issue. I bet he was just rushed on the last issue because this was some good art and I loved how he drew the new Batmobile. Winick’s writing is also spot on, he created some cool new things for the new batmobile to do and explored the difference between Bruce and Dick even further in this issue. I still don’t know how I feel about Dick making Batman too public but it at least fits his character. He even announces over a loudspeaker from the batmobile to the crowd, and it was kinda fun to see that happen despite my misgivings about the publicness. I really wanna know who this new Black Mask is. This was a good issue.

The Boy Wonder Meets The Girl of Steel

Superman/Batman #62
Written by Michael Green and Mike Johnson
Art by Rafael Albuquerque

You may think I am nitpicking, but this blog is called the CONTINUITY Blog for a reason. Robin simply did not wear that costume yet when Kara first came to earth. The editor should have caught this and told Albuquerque cause there is no way this adventure takes place one year after Infinite Crisis. Unless it takes place right before Supergirl joined the Teen Titans…hmmm…I suppose you could place it there but it seems like Kara should have met Tim long before then. Otherwise, this was a really fun issue. Any time we get to explore Arkham it is a good comic and this is no different, and Albuquerque’s art is perfect for this book! I never really liked his Blue Beetle art because I thought it was too cartoony but I think he adjusted his style or something because I enjoyed his art here a lot. I am glad he is the regular artist.