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!

2/20/13

I enjoy storyarcs and crossovers. I thought Death of the Family was quite a good storyline, and just when you thought it was over you pick up your comics on Wednesday, Friday for me, and find "Death of the Family; Aftermath" in giant letters on the cover of all of the bat-titles. For me I say "YAY! More of the story I so enjoy." Yet as I sit down and actually start reading the comics I find myself thinking something different altogether. This weeks reviews:

• Catwoman #17

New story, great. Black Diamond Probability was subpar at best in Catwoman's title, I think we can all agree about that much. This issue finds Catwoman breaking up a kid's heroin dealing by whipping them senseless, a nice "I'm going to tell your parents." would have been appropriate to the situation, but Catwoman is rated T+ for some reason so the author just wants to throw in random, racy moments of violence for no purpose other than to prove it is rated T+ for a reason.
The art, as always, is neat but nothing outstanding and sometimes the scenes of action get a little hard to understand. My main problem with this title, however, is that the dialogue is poorly written. This includes cops making remarks that are so unlifelike that it's funny, and an endless slew of cat metaphors that make my skin crawl. Catwoman is a very interesting character, and her title could be very interesting, the writer just has to come up with more interesting enemies than a fat guy with a fishnet over his head.

Spoiler Alert: The scene depicted doesn't occur in the book.

• Nightwing #17

The title of this issue is The Long Week, and that pretty much sums up the entire issue. Dick is moping around complaining about the fallout of Jokers visit and feeling really sorry for himself. He visits the circus and some clown who is close to death blames Dick for the disaster for who-knows-what reason then Dick pretty muh goes crazy and violent while fighting crime. Of course it is Damien who stops Dick's spontaneous rampage and brings him to his senses. I felt that this was a decent way to show us readers how Dick feels after Death of the Family, my complaint about this issue comes from the art.

There is a new artist on the book who is not bad at all, he just can't cover up Dick's identity. That's right, for the first time since I started reading comics I think that the identity of a superhero might be at stake. Dick looks identical to Nightwing that even the youngest child could tell the difference.

• Thor God of Thunder #5

This is my first review of a Thor comic, I read the first four way after they came out, so I am pretty darn excited. The series has been awesome both in writing and in illustrations, and I couldn't wait for the finale to the God Butcher storyline.

Writing dialogue is hard. That is the main barrier that keeps great writers from being fantastic. Jason Aaron nails dialogue every single time, that's what makes him such a phenomenal writer. This finale is spectacular consisting of the three Thors dealing with the God Butcher in different ways. The present Thor fights the God Butcher head-on as he revisits his past encounter with the God Butcher through memory. This shows the past Thor and his decibels fighting Gorr in a cave. The future Thor gets a much needed visit from his confused, past-self and continues to fight Gorr's berserkers. The issue leaves us with just the right amount of answers and questions and leaves us wanting next month's Gorr-igin issue.

I can't get over how great Esad Rubic's art is.

• Indestructible Hulk #4

IH has been the best damn Hulk series I have ever read, Mark Waid captures perfectly the two very different characters of Hulk and Bruce Banner and Leinil Yu's art is the best the Hulk book has ever gotten. I think that this creative team is better at times when a scene has lots of thinking or dialogue, the beginning of this issue was one of those scenes. The last third of the book was a fast-paced action scene that was interesting but not very well laid-out. I give them credit, however, because the action is all underwater which is hard to write. Overall this was a good issue and I am very ready for the next.

• Red Hood and the Outlaws #17

Of all of the Death of the Family tie-ins RHO was my least favorite, yet the aftermath was the best thus far. Roy was annoying as usual but other than that the story was sad and moving. All of the reactions of the characters to both the other characters and the situation at hand. The art is OK but nothing special and the dialogue is also decent. I do think that Lobdell nailed Damien and Jason's relationship.

Thank you everybody for joining me for this weeks reviews and please come back next week for more.