It’s over. The Dark Knight rose. He, The Batman, has risen and although it will be some time before there’s ever another movie, life goes on for Batman comics. For every great or terrible movie, TV show, toy line, and cereal Batman comics survive. Because they can take it. They’re not the medium we… (you get where I’m going with this)
Anyway, so this week we have the New 52 debut of Matches Malone in “Batman Inc.” and Scarecrow continues to terrify Gotham in “Batman: The Dark Knight”. There may not be a lot of bat-titles this week, but it’s a very good week and that’s great considering all of the new readers “The Dark Knight Rises” has hopefully attracted. If you are one of those people and you are reading this, then I recommend you start reading the comics starting with:
Batman Vol. 1: The Court of Owls
Batman & Robin Vol. 1: Born to Kill
and look for these issues that should still be available in your local comic shop’s back-issues area:
Those are all great places to start. And if you haven’t read any Batman comics before but would like to pick up some of the best ones, look at this phenomenal list over in the CBR forums. (big thanks to @wwaterfalls for pointing that list out to me)
Now, on with the show…
Here’s a list of all the Batman comics coming out this week, July 25th, graded on a scale of my own anticipation.
None. – I’ll get to it…eventually – Eh…meh. – Bring it. – 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!
July 25
BATMAN, INCORPORATED #3
Written by GRANT MORRISON
Art and cover by CHRIS BURNHAM
Variant cover by JAY FABOK
1:100 B&W Variant cover by CHRIS BURNHAM
32 pg
$2.99 or $3.99 for a digital combo pack version
Anticipation Level: TAKE MY MONEY
Last month’s issue took a detour from the apparent death of Damian to deliver the definitive Talia Al Ghul story. Both issue #1 and issue #2 of this series were fantastic and it’s shaping up to be a far better comic than the original run of “Batman, Inc.” in my opion. And this week we’re going to see Matches Malone, Bruce’s felonious (so ****ing happy I had the chance to use that word today) alter ego. I love the concept of Bruce going undercover as Matches. That persona is the #1 most underused and underrated weapon in Batman’s arsenal if you ask me. I’m very excited about this issue.
BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT #11
Written by GREGG HURWITZ
Art and cover by DAVID FINCH and RICHARD FRIEND
1:25 Variant cover by DAVID FINCH and RICHARD FRIEND
32 pg
$2.99
Anticipation Level: Bring it.
This book doesn’t suck anymore. Last month’s issue, the first by writer Gregg Hurwitz, proved that. Expect to see more Scarecrow creepiness as he uses a captured Commissioner Gordon as Batman bait. If it’s as good as the previous chapter, then it’s a must-buy for sure.
Other comics coming out this week that kinda/sorta deal with the Batman mythos are All Star Western #11 and a one-shot from Mad Magazine that collects all of their best Batman parodies for $5.99. Also expect to see reviews from me on Catwoman Vol. 1, Batwoman Vol. 1, Batwing Vol. 1 (I know I said I’d get this posted last week but it was TDKR week so give me a break), “The Art & Making of The Dark Knight Trilogy” (which isn’t a comic book, but is incredible from what I’ve looked at so far), and hopefully some more graphic novels that I haven’t even thought of yet.
