Anyway, like I said, it’s a resurrection and if you haven’t been reading this series from the start then stop reading now because I’m about to mention the big spoiler from last issue and that big spoiler, which is coming right now, is… that… Calvin Rose was…are they gone? Okay, Calvin Rose was killed by Bane at the end of the last issue. Had his neck snapped. It was a very cool moment and quite the surprise. But in this issue we get to see how Calvin is brought back to life, which is exactly what you would expect it to be. It’s been a month of resurrections really. First there was Deadshot coming back from the dead in Suicide Squad, then Jim Gordon Jr. who appeared to have died at the end of last month’s Batgirl showed up in that same issue of Suicide Squad, and now we have Calvin coming back via the Court of Owls Talon experiment.

Why isn’t Batman using this stuff to revive Damian in Batman & Robin? Seems kind of like the obvious and safest choice to me. In fact, why doesn’t Batman and his whole team undergo this procedure themselves? You gain the power of almost instantaneous regeneration, can feel no pain, and the only downside to is a pale appearance and blue veins that can be covered with makeup. When Court of Owls first began I figured that the Talons were mindless zombie slaves, but no, they chatted everyone up quite a bit. Then I thought that a bullet to the head killed them, like zombies! I even saw one “die” this way in Batman and then again in Catwoman but soon after, we learned in Batman: The Dark Knight and Talon that these things will always rise again and cold and only cold seems to shut them down. Well, I assume decapitation ends it all too. I also thought that perhaps the elixir or whatever you want to call it would make the patient insane or evil, but nope! With the resurrection of Calvin we finally see once and for all that the zombification process only seems to make you awesome for the small price of bad skin. So we can only write it off for Batman and his squad because they’d have some moral reason behind doing it, but what about the rest of the court? Shouldn’t they all have this advantage and not just the talons?

SHOW SPOILER ▼

The awakening of Calvin is basically all you get in this issue. The Butcher makes a return on the opening pages and we see some more of Bane’s plan (again, he’s only featured for 2 pages. There might actually be less Bane in this then there was in issue #7) but essentially this issue is there to explain things to new readers. Who everyone is, what’s been going for the past 8 issues, and where we’re going in the future are all elements that are covered here. Here’s where we’ve been and here’s where we’re going! It’s got me pretty excited about what’s to come. I’m liking all of these characters (well, except the Court, which still strike me as a rather bland evil-organization without a clear motivation). I really care about Calvin and Casey and the little girl. The Butcher is a very scary villain, the new setup for future adventures is fresh and new, and Bane’s plan has massive potential to be a very kick ass story.

This is also the first issue illustrated by Miguel Sepulveda who appears to be a great fit for this series. While, like March before him, Miguel draws Butcher way too big to in any way be human the character does have a very memorable and frightening look. The guy is nightmare fuel. He reminds me a bit of a Todd McFarlane monster like you would see from Spawn. All the other characters look great too, especially Bane. There isn’t much action in this book, but Sepulveda draws the quiet moments well and puts a ton of detail into shots like the Gotham Public Library and a full page depicting a massive crowd (although he did cheat with the crowd, duplicating small groups across the page to fill space). It’s a good looking book and I can’t wait to see how well Sepulveda draws the fast-paced action that Talon is known for.

Talon #8 is a solid issue and one of today’s most fulfilling reads. There aren’t a whole lot of surprises or story progression beyond the resurrection, but the artwork is great and Tynion sets up a lot of really cool ideas that we’ll all want to see play out in the newest arc. The stakes have definitely been raised in issue #8, but Calvin just got a lot more dangerous.

SCORE: 7.5/10

The post New 52 – Talon #8 review appeared first on Batman News.

While there’s not very much darkness on the cover, that’s pretty much all you’ll find in the interior both in story and artwork. Once again, we have Szymon Kudranski doing the artwork, and while last time I was relieved to find that he hadn’t over done the shadows and the close-ups, that’s exactly what happened this time. It’s kind of amazing that they didn’t run out of black ink. Anyway, his style works awesomely in many scenes. He’s capable of establishing a very spooky atmosphere, but some panels are so minimalist that they look downright lazy or it’s difficult to even make out what’s going on. And then there are some characters, like Bruce’s girlfriend whatshername, who look like expressionless, lifeless mannequins. The worst instance of this was when Bruce’s girlfriend clawed at Mad Hatter’s face. Her face is totally blank while the speech bubble reads “I’ll never be your Alice, you freak!” and her hand and what she’s actually doing to Mad Hatter is unclear. Did she slap him? Karate chop him? What is this? Then on the next page we see three rather severe (but hopefully not permanent, as I don’t want a scar-face Mad Hatter becoming tradition) claw marks across Hatter’s face. The sense of space inside the helicopter later on in the story (where did the chopper come from, anyway?) was also difficult to tell. Most of the panels have no backgrounds to speak of, only shadows. So I found it hard to judge where we were in some scenes. Overall, the artwork was a disappointing step down from the previous issue. And, again, this whole arc will read oddly in a TPB due to Van Sciver and Kudranski having such vastly different styles.

Before I get into the book’s story let me say that I’m so, so, so sick of hearing Alfred being called “Penny One”! Even when Batman is all alone inside the Batwing he calls Alfred “Penny One.” Stop it. It’s a terrible alias for Alfred to use. Terrible. Who alludes to their real name in their code name? And Batman says it more in this issue than ever before, almost to spite me! You want to know why Alfred doesn’t need a code name? Because the God Damn Batman knows not to have a conversation with Alfred over the radio while bad guys are in ear-shot. Batman doesn’t talk a lot so when he does, Alfred’s aware that Batman is probably addressing him. Heck, Batman can call him Alfred as much as he wants as long as nobody’s around. But that’s not the story here, the story is that the body count in Gotham is too damn high!

At the end of the last issue, Mad Hatter had a few hundred people in hats drown themselves. How the hypnotizing hats didn’t float away when they hit the water or short-circuit is anyone’s guess, but they didn’t and the people died. Now Batman has to figure out what happened to them all by actually pursuing the one clue that came up like 2 issues ago. Remember when Batman followed the van to an empty field and he was just like “Well, I guess I lost this one.” Well, in this issue he calls up Alfred, or Penny-One, and says “Hey, check in on what the deal was with that plot of land.” And sure enough they’ll discover that it’s prime villain-lair real-estate. Other than that we have the predictable abduction of Natalya, the girl Bruce has fallen so madly in love with that he’s having nightmares about his parents and even considering hanging up the cape and cowl so he can live a real life. It’s pretty serious for a character we haven’t seen for a full year, eh? What happens in this issue is all pretty formulaic and many of you predicted it all in the comments section of reviews for issues dating back 2-3 months ago.

SHOW SPOILER ▼

Oh well, at least there’s only one more issue of this arc. It has gone on for long enough and in the past two issues has turned into a predictable snooze. A blood-soaked snooze, but still a snooze. And if anyone wants that band name “Blood-soaked Snooze” You’re free to take it. Since issue #20 is only accessible to readers who have been with this arc from the beginning, those are the only folks I can recommend this to. If you’re dead-set on seeing this story through to the end then fine. But if your interest has been waning, you can probably just flip through this in the comic shop. It’s a very quick read. The thing about Batman: The Dark Knight #20 isn’t that it makes me all that angry or disappointed, it’s that I can clearly see that the events that happen are intended to elicit great emotion, but I felt nothing.

SCORE: 4/10

The post New 52 – Batman: The Dark Knight #20 review appeared first on Batman News.

Our story takes place in Tokyo, where we see a colorful motorcycle gang causing havoc on the streets. It gets so bad that the police use the Bat Alarm to interrupt the Batman of Japan’s date with sidekick Canary, a 6 inch tall girl with wings and a sexy school girl outfit. Canary, like the well-known character Black Canary, is capable of delivering a sonic scream. Batman Japan and Canary suit up in their Bat Base, which is littered with trophies and dinosaurs of its own (even a case for a Robin costume for whatever reason) and head out to stop villainy in its tracks. From then on things get even more eccentric.

With only 2 chapters left in this story there really wasn’t a worse time to slip this filler in and I can’t help but wonder how this will fit into the eventual hardcover. I figured at first that slipping it into the very back or very front of the graphic novel would be the best way to go, but the comic is book-ended by a shot of Alfred the Cat at Damian’s grave and a shot of Man-Azrael-Mecha-Batman flying toward the roof where Heretic and Talia are standing. So… I don’t know. It’s clear that people involved in this book enjoyed working on it but it sure as hell isn’t what I wanted to read this month. Grant Morrison’s epic has been going on for like 6 years or more and I couldn’t care less about watching Jiro and his little bird sidekick fight some vulgar Power Rangers.

Speaking of Morrison, he sits this one out and our usual artist, Chris Burnham takes a crack at writing while Jorge Lucas assumes drawing duties. And what Burnham and Lucas have created is… well, it’s weird. Plain and simple: you’re either going to view Batman, Inc. #11 as wacky fun and a nice break from what you’ve seen in pretty much every comic lately OR you’re going to write it off as being dumb and a complete waste of your time. The whole thing has a manga meets silver age American comics vibe. I thought that Jorge Lucas did a terrific job of drawing it. I mean, his art and Ian Hannin’s colors really captured the campy tone of Chris Burnham’s writing perfectly with its blend of silver age and anime. It’s a world where that goofy ascot/handkerchief wearing Batman Japan costume can actually work! Oh, and I really dug the Batmobile.

Everything is silly, vibrant, and over-the-top, but there are occasional shifts from the wholesome Adam West-esque feel to something very crude that didn’t blend well with the atmosphere. Earlier in the review I mentioned vulgar Power Rangers, these characters interrupt lighter moments with tongue-ripping-out violence and a Doctor Who vagina joke among other remarks that reminded me of Kevin Smith/Seth Rogen-ish movies. And yes, I’m aware that that last sentence probably convinced a lot of you to buy this issue just because it sounds so ridiculous that it can’t be passed up.

Look, we’re all disappointed that we’re not getting the first half of Morrison’s Batman Inc. finale today. I think we can all agree on that. But would you rather have had a month long delay or something experimental like this? For the most part I think those who will hate it will know they’ll hate it just by taking a glance at the cover, but a good way to know if this is worth your time is if you enjoyed the pre-New 52 Batman Inc. run’s most campy stories. If you liked those episodes then you should buy this but if not or if you never read the pre-New 52 run, then you can skip it. Worry-free. It’s the very definition of filler. Personally, I thought it was well constructed with some really cool artwork, but it’s not something I’m ever going to re-read again and if it wasn’t for me doing the review I would’ve been a member of team skip-it.

SCORE: 5/10

The post New 52 – Batman Inc #11 review appeared first on Batman News.

This is going to be a tough book to review, because there are so many surprises in it so I’ll likely keep things short. Geoff Johns brings back the idea of there being a traitor in the Justice League’s midst, a surprise cameo by a much loved character SHOW SPOILER ▼

Plain and simple: it’s a book that’s going to give fans A LOT to talk about. It’s an issue that stirs up all kinds of debate and fan theories and most importantly it’s going to get you a little more excited for Trinity War, which is actually starting to feel real. I know I have gotten tired of waiting for this thing to happen, what with it being hyped for well over a year.

The only thing that disrupted my complete enjoyment of this issue would have to be the artwork. There’s a guy doing layouts, three guys doing pencils, three guys doing inks, and two handling the colors. It’s amazing it looks as good as it does with that many cooks in the kitchen, but still, a few of the transitions are noticeable and the quality overall feels a bit rushed with the line work being overly dense. I simply find the heavy lines and frequent cross-hatching to be unappealing. SHOW SPOILER ▼

As for the Shazam backup, the artwork by Gary Frank is as lovely as usual and he even got to draw more of Kahndaq with some neat flying carpets and everything! The story is, as always, very captivating only it felt even shorter this time… or maybe it was even more of a page turner than usual and I blew through the thing even faster. It’s good and it definitely has some surprising elements. It’s a whole book of surprises!

Issue #20 picks up where we left off last time only it takes the time to better develop the new recruits Element Woman (who I think I actually might like), Firestorm, and the Atom while pushing the story ever closer to Trinity War. It’s a fast paced issue with a lot of twists and turns and more than enough action to satisfy everybody. Add that with the Shazam backup and you have a winning combination that’s worth your $3.99. Had the Justice League portion featured artwork that I could label anything higher than “passable” this would’ve been a 10/10.

SCORE: 9/10

The post New 52 – Justice League #20 review appeared first on Batman News.

Content

This trade paperback collects issues #8-12 and #0, that’s six comics in total. The very first TPB of the Birds of Prey series featured an arc that was great at developing these characters and giving readers a complex story with plenty of action. It was also a tale that seemed to hint at even bigger things to come, but in Your Kiss Might Kill, I found a collection of mostly unrelated stories that felt as though they were from an entirely different series.

With issue #8 we get plenty of action and the mysterious murder of Black Canary’s husband is addressed as well, but even though it’s the closest we come to capturing the look and feel of Volume 1, it’s far too chaotic. Most of the issue is spent watching the Birds of Prey battle a group of no-name villains of the week inside a burning building while a hologram barks orders. It didn’t do a very good job of easing the reader into what was happening. I read and liked Volume 1, but even I had trouble recalling exactly what was going on and how we got here in the first place. And truthfully, it’s not worth your time to dig back in the previous volume or catch-up on Wikipedia because after issue #8 the Birds of Prey series of I knew ceased to exist. Everything gets tossed out the window as soon as the original artist Jesus Saiz exits the book.

When Saiz leaves, Animal Man’s Travel Foreman joins the series for a Court of the Owls tie-in that’s very good, but very out of place in this collection. Issue #8 had such a dramatic ending and you’re ready to get answers, but when you turn the page you’re confronted with owls. It’s one of the very best Court of Owls tie-ins and if you’ve read Foreman’s run on Animal Man, you know he can draw horror well, but this story simply doesn’t fit with what we saw in issue #8 whatsoever. This would have been forgivable had we returned to Black Canary’s drama in the following chapter, but that never happens.

Instead we get what makes up the bulk of Your Kiss Might Kill, a Poison Ivy story that had all the ingredients to be very good. I’m all for seeing her return to straight-up villainy but the story is very jumpy, the reasoning behind much of the action is ludicrous, SHOW SPOILER ▼

As soon as the greatest consequences of Poison Ivy’s plot should go into effect, we are interrupted by a the #0 issue, which is good but just like with the Court of Owls tie-in it’s not what you want to see at this point in time. I want the story to stay on task. It’s bad enough that we’re being asked to forget the huge thing that happened at the end of the first chapter, now we have to wait until volume 3 to find out what happens next to the Birds of Prey?

Besides the half-hearted writing, it seems that no artist had any interest in illustrating this book. First Jesus Saiz left and was replaced by Travel Foreman. Foreman is great, but this isn’t the book he should be illustrating .He was awesome at capturing the gritty, gory details for Animal Man and it was a damn shame to see him leave that series. His pencils were a perfect fit for the tone of that book. And while his style worked well with the horror themed Court of Owls chapter, it didn’t lend itself to the adventure in a jungle chapters at all. Everyone looks too scrawny and twisted and then in the final pages there are some panels that look hastily sketched and I had to flip back to the credits to make sure it was still Foreman doing them. Timothy Green II had to take over on pencils for the second half of the following issue and we never saw from Foreman again.  Green’s pencils were far cleaner and captured movement and expression better. His pencil suited these ladies surprisingly well and I thought he was a much better fit here than in his brief stint on Red Hood & the Outlaws. And then in the next chapter we have Cliff Richards showing up! Yeah, another artist with a different style. This time, we see more detail but we also get a lot of unnecessary lines on the character’s faces and a Poison Ivy who uses vines like Doc Ock uses his arms and one shot in which she is having a full conversation with the Birds while they parachute– only she’s not wearing a parachute. Finally there’s Romano Molenaar, who drew issue #0 and in my opinion he wins this massive artist mash-up. His work fits the series very nicely and from what I understand he stuck around for a few more issues after all of this ended.

Bonus Material

8 pages of cover sketches and one character design for the highly forgettable character Napalm.

Value:   Dirt Cheap

I wouldn’t give $14.99 for this or the $11.86 price that Amazon is currently offering. It would take a drastic clearance to make this book worth it. I would recommend that you pick up the stand-alone issues #9 and #0 as they are both very enjoyable reads. The rest of this stuff should just be forgotten about. And as far as re-read value goes? Let me put it this way: when I started this review I read half of the book and then cast it aside to go do something else.  I ended up forgetting that it existed for a full week and began reading other graphic novels instead.

Overall

It just doesn’t feel like a book that anyone had their heart in. Duane Swierczynski’s first arc of this series was full of ambition with developed characters, a complex plot, and terrific action that was well illustrated by Jesus Saiz. This was an absolute mess of poorly thought-out concepts, one of which had the potential to be a really great Poison Ivy story. And the artwork is woefully inconsistent due to artists constantly coming and going. I can’t recommend that you bother yourself with the entire volume, but I will say that it is worth your time to seek out issues #9 and #0, which were stand-alone episodes and the only highlight of this collection.

SCORE: 3/10

The post Birds of Prey, Vol. 2: Your Kiss Might Kill review appeared first on Batman News.

Also, the winner of the 1939 poll is Detective Comics #31, which earned well over half of the votes!

Pick the cover you like the most. You’re not voting for which comic you think was the most significant to Bat-history or what story you liked the best. This is specifically for which cover moves you the most. Poll ends in 2 weeks!

Detective Comics #35

Cover by Bob Kane

Detective Comics #36

Cover by Bob Kane

The first appearance of Hugo Strange, the first Batman rogue with real staying power. Professor Strange will be seen again when he escapes from prison in Batman #1 later in the spring of 1940. Issue #36 also marks the first time we see the spikes (or fins) on Batman’s gloves. 

Detective Comics #37

Cover by Bob Kane

Cosmo, the master of disguise first seen in issue #1 of Detective Comics, has his final adventure as he is forever replaced by the Batman. However, Detective Comics will still remain an anthology series with Batman sharing the title with the likes of the Crimson Avenger.

Detective Comics #38

Cover by Bob Kane

It might surprise you to know that Batman wasn’t even around to fight crime solo for a full year before DC introduced his sidekick Robin. Besides being the first appearance of Dick Grayson, it is also the first we see of Tony Zucco, Mister Haley, Dick’s parents, and Haley’s Circus. 

Batman #1

Cover by Bob Kane

The Joker’s first appearance. There is no battle at Axis chemicals, no mention of the Monarch Trading Card Company, and no Red Hood disguise. In fact, Axis chemicals and the Red Hood concept are never introduced into the Batman mythology until 1951! Much like the way he was represented in the film The Dark Knight, the Joker of the comics  came out of nowhere. It was almost as if this evil city had created him to counter-balance all the good that Batman represented. In this issue, Joker goes on the radio and causes panic among the average citizens of Gotham, the police, and even the underworld as he announces that he will kill three of the city’s most prominent figures. We even get a glimpse at the rivalry between gangsters and freaks as mobster Brute Nelson plans a trap for the Joker that fails miserably. Another first is the use of Joker venom. The Joker racks up quite the body count using this bizarre weapon and even to this day we still see victims of the Clown Prince of Crime wearing a permanent grin! It’s really quite amazing how perfectly formed The Joker was in his very first appearance. Very little has changed about him over the years and it could be argued that Batman has evolved more than the Joker. And as if the monumental first appearance of Joker wasn’t enough, Batman #1 also marks the first appearance of Catwoman, but here she is simply known as The Cat. And yes, Batman does allow her to escape. 

Detective Comics #39

Cover by Bob Kane

Detective Comics #40

Cover by Bob Kane

Think that crappy remakes of classic horror films are something new? Think again! In June of 1940, actor and makeup artist Basil Karlo was furious to discover that his most famous film, The Terror, was being remade and shot without him so he went on a bit of a killing spree. He’s not a shape shifter or a mud man at all. The villain in the movie being remade is called Clayface and the enraged Basil dons the character’s mask, hat, and cloak before roaming the set with a dagger (it’s a hatchet on the cover) and killing the actors in the same order they would die in the movie. When we think of the very first Batman villains, I’m sure we all instantly list such names as Joker, Hugo Strange, Catwoman, Penguin, Riddler, etc. But many don’t realize that Clayface is one of the oldest. 

The post Poll: the best Batman cover…1940 Pt. 1 appeared first on Batman News.

Here are the review comics coming out this week, May 22nd, graded on a scale of my own anticipation.

Hell no!  –   I’d rather not   –   Ambivalent  –  Interested  –  TAKE MY MONEY

Scroll to the bottom of the page and post in the comments section what books you’re most looking forward to this week!

May 22nd

TALON #8

Written by JAMES TYNION IV
Art by MICHAEL SEPULVEDA
Cover by GUILLEM MARCH
1:25 B&W Variant cover by GUILLEM MARCH
On sale MAY 22 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

Anticipation Level:   TAKE MY MONEY!!!

SHOW SPOILER ▼

BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT #20

Written by GREGG HURWITZ
Art and cover by ETHAN VAN SCIVER
1:25 B&W Variant cover by ETHAN VAN SCIVER
On sale MAY 22 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

Anticipation Level:   Interested

I was rather annoyed with how predictable the Alice-kidnapping plot went in the last issue and the whole arc in general is running too long, but Mad Hatter killed so many people in the final pages of last month’s installment that I can’t help but be curious as to how Batman and the rest of Gotham responds to all of this.

BATMAN, INCORPORATED #11

Written by GRANT MORRISON & CHRIS BURNHAM
Art and cover by JORGE LUCAS
Variant cover by GUILLEM MARCH
1:100 B&W Variant cover by CHRIS BURNHAM
On sale MAY 22 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
Combo pack edition: $3.99 US

Anticipation Level:   Ambivalent

We’re SO close to the end (wraps up in issue #13 and a special in August) and there’s SO much happening in this comic that you would think that every issue would count, right? The last couple of issues have been rather cluttered and chaotic because there’s too much going on and too many characters. And after the last issue ended with Batman equipping every weapon he has to bring down Talia and Heretic once and for all, I’m pretty disappointed to learn that this issue is walking away from all of that. Batman, Incorporated #11 is supposed to showcase many of the characters we saw in issue #0, with a special emphasis on Batman Japan. Since issue #0 is easily my least favorite of the New 52 run of Batman, Inc. I can’t say I’m that excited for this comic.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #20

Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art and cover by IVAN REIS and JOE PRADO
Backup story art by GARY FRANK
Variant cover by HOWARD PORTER
1:100 B&W Variant cover by IVAN REIS and JOE PRADO
On sale MAY 22 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
Combo pack edition: $4.99

Anticipation Level:   Interested

It’s the prologue to Trinity War, which will be a very big event for all of the DC Universe this summer, but most importantly, issue #20 is the penultimate chapter of Shazam. I really love Shazam.

Graphic Novel Watch!

There aren’t any Batman graphic novels coming out this week. That’s a good thing. For me anyway. Maybe now Jim Gordon can approve the graphic novel review he so rudely pocketed in last week’s Upcoming Comics article. Oh well, I printed another copy of the Black Mirror review and decided that if I want some helpful feedback to ensure it’s worth posting for all you readers anxiously awaiting this piece, I need to go straight to the source with it. That’s right, I’m going to have Batman read it! I mailed it a couple days ago in a really nice hand-written letter with a lovely envelope and everything. I’m sure he’s jotting down a few notes for me right now and we should have that article posted right here on the website any day…

OH COME ON!!!

The post Upcoming Comics: May 22nd, 2013 appeared first on Batman News.

“He becomes Batman pretty early in this,” Snyder teased about Bruce Wayne picking up the Dark Knight’s cape and cowl. “You’ll see him as Batman not too far in. So in terms of that origin, that’s part of it. But part of this is the first big adventure he had as Batman. It’s not just how Bruce becomes Batman. That’s certainly a big part of ‘Zero Year’ at the beginning, but it’s also about how the city changes for him. It’s about how he becomes its hero. What does that mean? And what kind of threat is it going to throw at him to challenge him and make sure he’s worthy of that?”

“It’s fun stuff,” continued Capullo. “It’s a bit of a challenge to make Bruce look only a few years younger. It’s not like we’re turning him back into a teenager, which is easy, right? It’s a fun challenge in doing that. And you have to modify your personality. You’re not the same guy you were five years ago or ten years ago. You’re constantly changing. Some of your core mannerism may be in tact but there’s a different flavor on it. Bruce is far less controlled and calculated. He’s kind of like an angry puppy with big feet so he trips over them once in a while. It’s all fun to explore an earlier version of that character.”

Check out some preview images of Batman #21, 22, and 23 in the gallery below, courtesy of DC Entertainment and Comic Vine. For more information, head on over to DC Comics’ official blog, The Source.

The post DC Comics releases first look at Batman: Zero Year appeared first on Batman News.

For starters, this comic does a fine job of picking up where the last one left off,even the aftermath of the horrifying torture scene is addressed, but first we need to get Grayson home. Nightwing has had a rough night and his suit is in tatters (tatters is always spelled with 3 Ts, by the way. If you come one “t” short and your sentence becomes instantly hilarious). He manages to sneak back into his new apartment to get some much deserved rest when suddenly we are introduced to his roommates. That’s right, roommates! Plural! And it’s a pretty startling introduction because, while Brett Booth’s artwork has been phenomenal on this series so far, the character is drawn to look far too similar to the “mimic” we saw in issue #19. It doesn’t help matters that the colorist gave her blonde hair as well. Perhaps by adding some highlights or something this could have looked better, but overall Booth’s faces have a knack for looking overly familiar. This single instance, was the only problem I had with the book’s art, though. It’s a stunning comic. But let’s get back to the surprise roommate!

Joey represents some good ol’ comedic relief, a possible love interest, and… a suspect. Not only does she look like the mimic, but she appears to have the same build as the masked Pranskter, too. Overall she makes a nice addition to the book, but a terrible roommate. As someone who has lived with multiple roommates in the past and argued over bills, I tensed up a bit when she told Dick that he could stay since he already paid but this meant that she wouldn’t need to fork over any cash during that time. Hold up! Make this woman contribute, Dick! She should still pay for utilities or something. Oh well, Dick’s lived with circus folk and billionaires, I doubt he gets uptight about finances the way many of us do.

Speaking of Dick’s money situation, as you would know from the last issue the character has taken on a kind of Peter Parker angle where he’s barely scraping by (is Peter still poor? Isn’t he a successful scientist now?). But if he’s poor and cut off his ties with Bruce, then how is he affording and manufacturing all the wingdings and other equipment? This hasn’t shown up as a problem yet, but maybe it can in the future. I’m pleased to see that writer Kyle Higgins and artist Brett Booth have already addressed suit damage. Look close at Booth’s pencils and you’ll see where Nightwing stitched various holes in his uniform. And man, does that uniform look fantastic! (Was the red trim on the eyes there before?) Sure, I still wish that the costume was blue instead of red, but getting beyond that the design is really great (and I’m starting to get used to the crimson. Took about 2 years, but I’m getting there). I especially like the mesh accents under the arms and behind the knees. It’s those little touches that make Nightwing’s suit one of the most believable (and breathable) outfits in the New 52. And if you ever find yourself in a discussion about how overly sexualized women are in comics and the other person says that that’s never the case with male characters, just show them Grayson’s buns in this issue right here. There are butt-shots aplenty in this issue.

But, again, back to the roommate drama, it’s all lighthearted fun and a good contrast to the more intense stuff rising up in the background. However, I do wish that Dick had used an alias when he moved to Chicago. In this day and age, when you get a new roommate the chances are very good that you’re probably going to give that person’s name a Google. I would imagine the first page of results would have loads of links to stories about Dick’s time with billionaire Bruce Wayne and that sort of info raises a lot of questions. But that’s just a very minor nitpick. The nittiest of nitpicks.

Of course, doesn’t turn into the superhero version of “Friends.” There’s a whole lot more going on. While the greater Zucco plot is approached for a moment, it’s far from being the center of attention. Prankster is an ever-growing threat and will need to be taken care of first, however Higgins found a clever way to keep Prankster relevant to the Zucco plot so we don’t go too far off track. AND the way in which Dick gets the necessary info on Prankster is a great nod back to the natural detective skills we saw in issue #0, and I thought that was a nice touch and laid out very well by Booth. There’s no wasted time in this issue. Every scene is there for a reason and it all works really well. It’s a good balance. The only reason I didn’t feel like taking the final score any higher is probably because, while the book is very enjoyable there’s no “oh snap!” moment to really push it over the edge and make it sear into the reader’s mind. But hell, anything I give over a 6.5/10 to is worth flipping through at the shop if you’re really into what the scores represent. But back to the baddie!

When it comes to the Prankster, he/she is making for a pretty formidable villain so far and the final pages of the comic are very exciting. While this is my 2nd SAW references of the day (see the Batgirl #20 review), there are some definite similarities between the new Prankster and Jigsaw in terms of their twisted form of justice in which someone guilty of wrongdoing is placed into a rather ironic death trap that highlights their evil deeds.  SHOW SPOILER ▼

I really can’t stress enough what a world of difference Booth, Rapmund, and Dalhouse have made on this book. Their style is EXACTLY what I’m looking for in a Nightwing book. Great movement, vibrant colors, creative page layouts, and a damn good looking outfit. The art and the writing have harmonized in a spectacular way to make Nightwing  a very fun ride. I sincerely hope it can keep this up and doesn’t dive back into the gloom and doom of earlier arcs or fall itself slipping back under the shadow of the bat. These past two issues have given this the feel of a Dick Grayson tale through-and-through.

I laughed for the first half, was on the edge of my seat for the 2nd half, and was wowed by the artwork the whole way. The future looks bright for Nightwing and this particular story has all the potential to be the best arc yet. By the way, I’m happy that the book you all most voted for me to review turned out to be one of the best of the month.

SCORE: 8.5/10

The post New 52 – Nightwing #20 review appeared first on Batman News.

1. Creepy Children: I blame Black Mirror for starting this trend. Such a great book, but ever since then I’ve had to suffer through incessant appearances by an increasingly super villain-like Jim Jr. but every origin tale being told is now showcasing the villain as being a deeply disturbed child that commits their first murder at the age of 8 or so. Stop it. Just because it worked for Jim Jr. and everyone liked that book doesn’t mean we need to give every character the same treatment. Think back to all the great origin stories of Batman: The Aniamted Series, how many of those do you recall beginning their tale with the villain as a kid?
2. Gore: It’s as if Batgirl and Batman: The Dark Knight are in constant competition to be the book I would least want my niece and nephew to see. The cover is slathered in blood and features dripping crimson blades. Within the very first page of this comic we have a mass poisoning thanks to an overly convenient bottle of weed killer just left out in the middle of the lawn on the day of children’s birthday party. On the next page there’s a blood splattered doll. Two pages later there’s a batarang hanging out of a man’s eye socket. From then on it only gets worse with snapped legs, electrocutions, and drills, drills everywhere.
3. Magic: If you read my reviews often enough then you know my stance on magic and aliens. Batman characters can work with this stuff, sure, but you’re also never going to get the best Batman story with magic and aliens either. The stuff isn’t germane to the world of Gotham. And giving this new Ventriloquist a supernatural and more homicidal angle than Arnold Wesker doesn’t make her more threatening to me, it instead looks like we’re trying way too hard.
4. Eidetic Memory: I hate this aspect of the Barbara Gordon character. It’s essentially a superpower. I want to see a Barbara who is naturally smart in a way that the average reader can read this book and aspire to be like her. You know that if you work hard and study, hell you could be as sharp as Barbara Gordon. With eidetic memory, well, you’re either born with it or you’re not. You can practice memorization skills, but it’s never going to be photographic.
5. Spider-Man Batgirl no more… but I kind of am: After the events of the last issue, Barbara feels that she is no longer worthy of wearing the bat symbol… but she’s taking that a bit literally. Instead of really exiling herself and giving up the mantle, she just cuts off the yellow emblem from her bosom and proceeds to go out on patrol only now she’s wearing a much uglier suit. It just seems kind of silly and childish.
6. Goodbye Scar-face, hello Jigsaw: The new dummy is one that looks nothing like an early 20th century gangster, but is instead quite similar to the puppet from the SAW movies. He’s also able to be manipulated telepathically and he has drills in his hands that are used to drill things that really shouldn’t be drilled, he calls them “hot sacks of fleshy tissue.” but you would call them “people.”
7. Creepy…but not so creepy it can’t be sexy: On the cover you’ll see the ventriloquist as an old hag and I thought that that was a rather interesting direction. But while the ventriloquist we see in the interior pages is rather anorexic looking, she’s still got quite the attractive face and she never looks so skinny as to be completely unsettling. It’s like the book couldn’t dare commit to the concept and instead decided to stick with sexy women and lots of violence. The Ventriloquist, Shauna, also lacks any subtlety. She even has glowing red eyes. Look, Arnold and Scar-Face were creepy enough and they did it without the demonic dressings that Shauna and Ferdie the puppet display every chance they get. A regular dummy is creepy enough as is and the idea that the soft spoken, little man can become a completely different person just by putting one of these ugly toys on his paw is horrifying. It’s what made Wesker one of the most legitimately crazy and disturbing characters in Batman comics.
8. Jim Loves Jim: One of the last complaints I’ll get to here since I’m getting kinda winded is that Jim Gordon wants Batgirl arrested for the murder of his son. This A) Tosses out the idea that Gordon secretly knows Barbara is Batgirl, B) Shows that he has no faith in the bat family after time and time again of seeing their no-kill rule proven to be tried and true, C) Really doesn’t jive with how Gordon viewed his homicidal son. I mean, this is the kid who just strapped your ex wife to a nail bomb and you’re going to act this self righteous now? I understand it’s his son, but I think Jim wouldn’t be furious with Batgirl for having killed him, he’d be freaked the hell out that nobody has found James’ body yet and the lunatic is probably still out there. If ANYBODY in this town should know that no body = no death, it’s Jim Gordon. He’s seen this play out a thousand times… but maybe that’s just my pre-New 52 way of thinking. If this is the direction we are indeed going to take, it would be nice to at least see Gordon conflicted about all of this. No other bat-title has a better reason to use Jim Gordon than Batgirl and he’s always an afterthought.

When it comes to the artwork, there’s nothing spectacular to write home about. A couple pages near the end are really ugly with Batgirl made up of ultra thick lines and surrounded by characters with muddled faces fighting her in a world with no backgrounds. I don’t know why those two pages were so awful, but they really look like they were hastily thrown together at the last minute. The highlight of the book would easily have to be the full page shot of Barbara weeping in front of her bathroom mirror. There are lots of details on her gloves, the shower curtain in the background and toiletries on the vanity. It looks good. However, when I pick up a Batgirl comic I’d like the best page to be something more substantial than Batgirl crying before the sink.

If you’re in favor of this series getting even darker and have no problem with magic in your Bat-comics then you’re definitely, without a doubt, going to enjoy this book WAY more than I did. But for me, I was ready for it to be over at the half-way mark. I’m sick and tired of seeing Barbara cry. I want this series to take note from the recent changes in Nightwing and make the stories more fun. We never come out of these horrible situations feeling triumphant, there’s always more doom and gloom and crippling self doubt around the corner.

SCORE: 2.5/10

The post New 52 – Batgirl #20 review appeared first on Batman News.