3/13/13

This week was depressing in comics, all of the titles in the Bat-Family had the word "Requiem" on them. The whole weeks comics were about the death of Damian Wayne. It also proved to be a terribly bleak week in comics. In some cases this proved to be to the books benefit and in others, not so much.

• Batman #18

I really don't understand DCs love for selling so many bridge issues. My guess would be that the normal artists are just so exhausted by the rigorous release schedule that they need a months break. I usually don't enjoy this type of issue, Batman #12 was the worst of the Batman title thus far into the New 52. So this issue surprised me. We revisit the seemingly insipid character of Harper Row, except this time a little of her origin is mixed in. She visits her dad in Blackgate where the dad is nasty to both Harper and her brother Cullen. If this dialogue was put in the words of any other writer it would be cheesy and boring. Somehow, Scott Snyder makes the dialogue crisp and natural. The second half of the book is a story of how Harper tries to help Batman out of this dark place. Scott Snyder does a terrific job of painting the picture of a Batman who is similar to the post-Jason death Batman in being feral and uncontrollable. This is a very well made issue and a good way to bridge the story of Death of the Family and the events of BI #8.

These Bat-Issues had some of the most amazing and heartfelt covers I have ever seen.

• Batman and Robin #18

I was really skeptical as to how they were going to pull this one off without Damian, but they did. It was really nothing more than a sob-fest, but that was all that was needed. What was the real shocker in this issue was that there were no words at all. The amazing creative team behind this title managed to showcase the extreme misery of Bruce and Alfred without any dialogue. There was definitely lots of strong emotion in this book, but $3 is a little steep for three minutes worth of reading material.

• Batgirl #18

Thus begins part two of the Ray Fawkes take over for Gail Simone. It was not as bad as the first part, but still not a quality comic. While I think that James Gordon Jr. has potential to be a very interesting character Ray Fawkes just fails to bring the mysteriousness that Gail Simone did so very well. I think the story told in this issue was mediocre, more about how Batgirl is a hero and how psychotic James is really demented. The thing that really made this issue not as good as it could have been was the fact that all of the non-dialogue text-boxes were about Batgirl in the voice of James. This took his mysterious edge away. I also think that if a Robin is on the cover and the book is marked "Requiem" there should be a larger Robin presence than just one moment. I just wrote an article about how DC never gives us enough of the story we bought the book for. Here it is: The article

• Thor: God of Thunder #006

I was thoroughly pleased with the "Gorr-igin" Even with the artist change this book continues to be one of the most prominent in Marvel NOW. The book completely lives up to the title with nothing but origin as Thor doesn't make a single appearance in the book. Gorrs life is so bleak it is hard to even read about it. The few people he cares about in his life all meet terrible fates while he lives his life hearing all about how the gods will look after him. He is a rebel and a leader and doesn't seem inherently bad until the last couple of scenes where he whips a helpless God. Jason Aaron really does the perfect job in writing this amazing story.

Although the interior art is done by Butch Guice, Esad Rubic still draws amazing covers for the series.

• Age of Ultron Book #2

I have to say, of all of the books this week AoU was the one I was most excited for. Why? Because #1 was so damn good. This one doesn't quite match the quality of the debut, but it comes pretty close. This issue was really just a way to get settled with the cast of characters and the circumstance. There is lots of talking about what will be the next step and even a flashback to before the crisis. I appreciate that this creative team is trying to really give the reader a strong grasp on the story. There is also a team-up in this book that I quite enjoyed, this was Black Widow and Moon Knight. They had entertaining conversation and seemed like a realistic alliance given the situation. I am so ready to see how this plays out.

• Before Watchmen: Ozymandias

I have very little to say about this book. It was just as good as any of the other books on the series. Two things I will commend them for: it was not nearly as wordy as the other issues and it wrapped up the series nicely. I am so excited that Before Watchmen only has one more book left!

3/6/13

This week was the first week that I felt that I was really a Marvel fan, instead of a DC fan who got a Marvel book here and there. My Pull-List was four-fifths Marvel. Let me also say, that this week was a phenomenal week for comics.

• All-New X-Men #8

What a truly wonderful story arc. rarely do I find a comic series that has such a surprisingly strange conceit that turns out to be entertaining and understandable. The issue starts of with Archangel and his past self flying around and trying to grasp the fact that they are actually meeting each other. It was a touching and human moment. This moment didn't last long as the Angels fly over to Avengers Tower where Hydra's troops are burning the building to the ground. They work together to stop the destructive forces until Thor comes and bails them out. The Avengers part in this issue was brief and consisted of Cap and Beast talking behind the X-Men's backs while Iceman and Kitty Pryde try to guess exactly what the pair are saying. This turns out to be a funny and clever scene. I will not ruin the last part of the issue for those who are yet to read it but will end with saying that it was a terrific issue.

• Age of Ultron #1

I bought this book on a whim. The cover looked awesome and if it was going to be a big deal I didn't want to miss it. It is a big deal. This was the only post-apocalyptic comic I have ever enjoyed. Even though Hawkeye is a pretty dull character he was portrayed perfectly and the fight scene was amazing. This whole book just screamed bleak. It was so pathetic to see what humanity had become with this Android takeover. The dialogue between the survivors, who were well selected except for Tony Stark who would in reality be the first to go, was really natural, and again, super bleak. I am super pumped for #2.

• Deadpool Killustrated #1 (second printing)

As soon as I saw the cover of this issue a month a go I was sure I wanted it. Too bad that the comic store had already sold out. The wait for the second printing has been grueling, but it was so worth it. This really shows Deadpool at his funniest. As he fights Moby Dick he just spits out one-liners making the scene just that much more ridiculous. I really liked how this issue summed up everything that I missed from Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe in only a couple pages. Deadpool has an awesome encounter with a character whom he dispatches with haste, I won't spoil who though.

• Deadpool Killustrated #2

I think that the other of this book just wants Deadpool to fight as many people as possible in the allotted pages. He finishes of Moby Dick, Dracula, The Headless Horseman, and my favorite, Little Women. He kills all of these fictional beings in only the funniest ways. The plot is also great with Sherlock Holmes thinking about how he might stop the Merc with a Mouth before he hurts the time continuum beyond repair. This is one of my favorite books in print and I am looking forwards to next month.

• Before Watchmen: Rorschach #4 of 4

I can't write a full review about this comic because I didn't understand a page of it. It was awful.

2/27/13

This week was a great week, but the most sad comic week I have ever been through. I think you all know why.

• Batman Incorporated #8

This issue was one of the single most dramatic issues I have ever read. The story begins in a warzone unlike anything you've ever seen and just gets better. They really should not have named this series Incorporated, but rather Batman Family I mean seriously, you have Dick, Tim, Damian, Bruce and Commissioner Gordon all fighting at the same time against the same enemy...But, anyways, the writing was clever and snappy (what we have come to expect from Grant Morrison) and I though the artwork was also phenomenal. Without going into the gory details I will say that Damian's death was very well thought through. I really hope that this series will continue even without Grant because it is a really intriguing story arc.

• Batman: The Dark Knight #17

I have really come to enjoy this series for what it is. And it is a way to settle a solid foundation for Batman while keeping fans entertained. I have never though the Mad Hatter as anything but in Gregg Hurwitz's hands he is quite an interesting villain. This issue has a perfect balance of flashback and suspense. The Mad Hatter is beyond brutal and completely insane, if they ever make a movie featuring him it will send children into endless fits of nightmares.

• Guardians of the Galaxy #0.1

I bought this book off of a recommendation, so I clearly wasn't a fan before today. It was a very good comic, I think it was the best way to introduce me to the main character and it made up a good, entertaining issue. I though it was weird (space guns, aliens) although it wasn't as weird as say Fear Agent. Steve McNiven's art was very clean and satisfying. I will be anxiously looking forward to #1.

• Talon #5

I though that the last issue of Talon was a truly compelling comic, I was back this month to read all about the next chapter in Calvin Rose's life. This book started out well, Calvin and his ragtag team of companions talking about their tedious lives living in a bunker. The daughter of Calvin's love interest Casey Washington is a very cute character and the only young comic book character character authors have ever gotten right. The dialogue is the star of this comic as Snyder and Tynion masterfully create scene after scene of smooth and natural conversation while not boring the reader. This is a skill that is to be admired and cherished. I got really desperate when the band of anti-courtists were discussing the infiltration of a Court controlled fortress that was seemingly impossible. I am very excited for the next issue.

• Before Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan #4 of 4

As much as I hate JMS I have enjoyed Dr. Manhattan. This last issue was strange, and I don't think the strangeness really paid off. There were two times when I had to twist the comic around in my hands to understand what was going on. There was also a large Ozymandias prescence in this particular issue. I actually think this creative team got the character of Ozy much better than they did Dr. Manhattan so this issue was a break from the ordinary series. Like the other Before Watchmen titles, I'm glad I was along for the ride, but I'm glad the ride is over.

• Teen Titans #17

I was just picking up my friends comic, this is not my sub, but I decided to read and review this anyways. This was also a Death of the Family Aftermath issue, so I was mildly interested. This comic started mediocre with the sad creation of a new villain that seemed suspiciously like something that belonged in an X-Men book. It was really a standard new mutant introduction; young boy afraid of his powers, he says how the powers started out weak and then grew more intense, blah, blah, blah. Anyways this kid is hooked up to this machine and gets stabbed a bunch of times, classic. Then some supervillain takes the new villain in as his minion. The Titans move their residence to a giant cruise ship (courtesy of Tim Drake) and they set sail moping in self pity about their recent run-in with the Joker and checking out the ship. In the course of the night the Titans manage to: piss one another off (multiple times), make terrible jokes, have a conversation that made my skin crawl and Tim Drake made out with every woman on board. There was really no entertainment at all in this entire issue.

2/13/13

Today provided a marvelous Batman story, a sub-par Batgirl story, a pleasantly unusual story of my favorite, Damian Wayne and an utterly nonsensical and confusing Comedian comic. Once again, here are this weeks reviews.

• Batman #17

What have we come to expect from comic finales? Drama, tension, resolution, and most importantly a change. We don't want to have spent hours of our lives reading a comic that will never mean anything than the initial thrill it provided us. Snyder and Capullo's stunning ending gave me all four of those things.
There was definitely drama. Hell, when isn't there drama when it's a story about the Joker? From an interesting trap to the psychotic jokes and tricks we have come to expect from the Clown Prince of Crime. There was also drama to the point of me feeling like I was there, I credit that mostly to Greg Capullo whom I will always think of when I think of the Joker.
Tension is a hard thin to bring to a comic. In a movie scary music, slow-motion and quick dialogue will do the trick, but in a comic the tension is purely the excitement and the vividness of the drawings. I was scared, worried and excited all at the same time. One of the key factors in this chapter of Death of the Family was the actual family. The family is a hard group to bring together and keep the suspense high. Snyder managed that by having the family face a different form of Joker evil than Batman.
The story pulled into the finale with many loose ends and questions left unanswered, I felt at peace with the end result. One of my favorite parts of the whole comic was the end where Joker leaves one last non-lethal gag that I will forever remember.
Did it change the entire universe? No, not really. However, this will always be remembered as one of the greatest Joker stories ever told. People refer to a great comic storyline as a party, you can be late to the party, or not come at all. I think I overstayed my welcome and read the invitation too many times. By that I mean that I probably shouldn't have bought all of the tie-ins and I shouldn't have read all of the pre-event articles. But it was a party I am glad I attended.

• Batgirl #17

This issue tells the story of the fallout of Death of the Family and describes the difficult relationship between James Jr. and the rest of the Gordons. It was kind of good, and kind of random, I really don't see what DC sees in these Joker-inspired gangs but they seem to really be trying to suck all of the material possible out of them. My main problem with this comic, however, was that it was a change of creative teams. Gail Simone was doing a great job on the book and it seems like a stupid idea to take her off the book. The new artist is quite good but the writer has yet to impress me.

• Batman and Robin #17

This was the single most pointlessly weird issue thus far in the New 52. The vast majority of the book is dedicated to showing Bruce, Alfred and Damian's dreams. They are all brutal and somewhat psychotic, but very entertaining. The art, especially the extraordinary inking, adds to the eeriness of this comic.
I have come to realize that they do this kind of thing in the Batman and Robin book just to show what a queer relationship they have.

• Before Watchmen: Comedian #5 of 6

Of all of the mediocre Before Watchmen titles two books have really stood out. 

1. Silk Spectre was awesome
2. Comedian is terrible

Comedian has just been incomprehensible. They are trying to tell this elaborate story of the Vietnam war by flashing back and then switching back to the present, again and again and again. It really drives me nuts when I see the Comedian playing games with some Vietcong kids and then immediately turn the page to find a violent jungle battle. There is literally no transition between scenes, I mean at all. It is also way over-brutalized and the language is filthy for no reason. I understand that the Vietnam war was gory and the Comedian is a brutal character, but did they show that kind of stuff in the original Watchmen? I am not excited for the sequel, and I don't think it will include any of the traits of a good sequel from the Batman review.

1/30/13

This week was a great week to be a comic reader, one of the best for a long time. I am going to review six books that I bought (In order of quality) Batman and Robin Annual #1, Batman Incorporated #7, Before Watchmen: Dollar Bill One-Shot, Talon #4, Batman the Dark Knight #16 and Teen Titans #16. So, without further ado here are this weeks reviews:

• Batman and Robin Annual #1

Annuals are always fun and long but the best Annual is always the one that tells the most interesting story that has nothing to do with the normal series. This creative team could have squandered their opportunity to create a good Annual if they had droned on about Death of the Family for 40 pages, but they didn't. Instead they created a wholesome story that seemed both loyal to the series and completely original. In this tale Damian gives Bruce a vacation by leaving him an international scavenger hunt to solve in order to rekindle his parents memory. The real reason that Damian is giving Bruce this treat is because Damian wants to try being Batman for a while. I had a smile on my face as I read every page of this wonderful issue. Well done!

• Batman Incorporated #7

The last couple of issues have been chaotic and confusing, but still good. I particularly enjoyed this issue because Grant Morrison really dialed it back and explained the whole story. In this issue we saw the relationship and the trust between Alfred and Damian grow. Batman was in little of the book as they focused mostly on Leviathan's attack on Gotham and the twisted plans of the sick Talia Al Ghul. I also liked the backstory talking about Damian's perfect twin fighting his way out of his womb in a dead whale and becoming Talia's #1 Henchman. Lots of action with all four Robins and Commisioner Gordon.

• Before Watchmen: Dollar Bill One-Shot

I went in to reading this comic with very low expectations, Len Wein tends to be a bit wordy and The art seemed a little cartoony for my tastes. I was very wrong. Like the other One-Shot I bought today Dollar Bill delivered an interesting but singular story. The story takes us through Bill Brady's entire life and on to his funeral. One of the best Watchmen prequels yet. My only complaint was that it revisited a lot of the content covered in the Minutemen series instead of coming up with more interesting missions of the Minutemen.

• Talon #4

This issue was the best comic James Tynion IV has ever written. It was well-paced, the characters were well thought through, the plot was intense and the battle was actually very interesting. This issue takes place in New York right where the last issue left off. The main story was the on and off battle of Calvin vs. The Butcher of Gotham who is an incredibly large and strong Talon (Talon SMASH!) that actually had some personality unlike other comic juggernauts. Calvin's relationship and conversations with Casey (old girlfriend) and her daughter are heartfelt without being overly cheesy. This was the first issue that I began to really enjoy learning about Calvin's troubled journey.

• Batman the Dark Knight #16

With a new creative team and a relatively new villain The Dark Knight has taken a turn for the best. This issue meant to be mysterious and delivered as well as being brutal and awesome. The story begins with the typical "chain of random kidnappings" but evolves to be much more. Although I am not such a  fan of the notion that "Batman is his Gadgets" the way the other wove the use of the Bat-Plane and various computers was very interesting. The art was some of the best (No inkers! Hallelujah!) I have seen on the book in a long time. I got my friend to subscribe to this book because I thought it was decent but now I am intrigued.

• Teen Titans #16

This whole mini-crossover within a crossover crap Scott Lobdell has pulled with both of his books has been painful at best. This book was the best, not that good, of the crossovers. I attribute that mainly to the fact that this book had the least appearances from the other team members. Jokers trap was mildly interesting but just played on the fact that Tim is smart and that Jason uses guns which are two points that were already visited upon in this crossover and are over visited upon in general. The art was good aside from the inks which gave the book an unfinished feel. This book turned me off of the series even though I am a big fan of Tim Drake.

1/23/13

A fair amount of books this week, but a definite lack in entertainment. The books that came in were: Before Watchmen: Minutemen #6 of 6, Catwoman #16, Red Hood and the Outlaws #16 and Nightwing #16.

• Before Watchmen: Minutemen #6 out of 6:

Before Watchmen has not lived up to my expectations, not at all. Minutemen was no exception. The entire arc felt fake and unlike Watchmen. Surprisingly, the ending was actually pretty good. There was a clever little twist that really made the series seem much better. I think Darwyn Cooke had good intentions going into the project but I am very glad it is over.

• Catwoman #16:

For whatever reason I kept this subscription after it finished Death of the Family, in hindsight I am not really sure why. #15 was good enough and I was a little curious to see how the Black Diamond Probability arc ended. Let me just tell you #16 was a mess. The writing was poor and repetitive, the story was confusing and in the end not satisfying, the art was sloppy and Catwoman (as usual) was over-sexualized. I don't know if I want to drop this sub, but I probably will. Please comment to tell me what to do.

• Red Hood and the Outlaws #16:

Part 3 of an already boring mini story. Remember Teen Titans #15? It was awful. This is the continuation of that. The Titans and the Outlaws team up to fight joker-infused homeless people. These are both terrible teams created by none other than Scott Lobdell and when they come together they are even more dreadful. The story is sort of ridiculous and hokey. I am definitely unsubscribing to this series.

• Nightwing #16

I am usually a big Nightwing fan and I read and enjoyed the first graphic novel and enjoyed #15 quite a bit. Somehow, this issue just didn't work as a Death of the Family tie-in. Sure, there was a creepy moment when Joker dug up all of the bodies of the former Haly's Circuis members and stood them in the circuis tent. But, the rest was just weird explosions and hallucinations. There was also one moment where Dick's dead friends came in jokerized and started taunting him that was quite entertaining. I am excited for the next issue because Kyle Higgins rumoured that his greatest Nightwing story yet is just around the corner...