As I type this, there’s a packed bag and a boarding pass sitting on the couch across from me. Batman-News is going to LA.
The premiere for Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1 is this Monday and I’ll be there to conduct interviews, take some pictures, and watch the film–which I will review soon after. That’s the idea anyway. WB was kind of vague on the details. They told me I’m on the VIP list and I’m allowed a +1 but other than that I have no idea how things will go down. So! Triumph or disappointment, I’ll be live tweeting from the event (or, if nobody believes I should be there, outside of the event) and we might even have a widget on Batman-News that keeps everybody up to date as well. I bought an iPhone 5 so I can take pictures and video, etc. so expect a lot of unnecessary panoramic shots.
What’s my trip have to do with this week’s upcoming comics? Well, I’m not sure how quickly I’ll get reviews up. I have a copy of the Penguin: Pain & Prejudice and Knightsend TPBs sitting here, but I haven’t had time to read them yet and I don’t know what comic shop to go to while in LA. Nor do I know if I want to buy from a different comic shop…feels like cheating (but maybe I could borrow a friend’s books and then buy my own when I get back).
But even though I might not be able to read these great books on Wednesday, you will. So without further delay, here’s a list of all the Batman comics coming out this week, September 26th, 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!
September 26th
TALON #0
Written by SCOTT SNYDER and JAMES TYNION IV
Art and cover by GUILLEM MARCH
32 pg
$2.99
Anticipation Level: Bring it.
I know many of you are curious about this book and have asked me on a number of occasions if I’ll be reviewing it here, I will. For the first issue at least and then we’ll see how it goes. If it feels fairly disconnected from the rest of the Batman world then I’ll just wait until the TPB to review it rather than review monthly issues (I’m already reviewing around a dozen comics plus TPBs, I’m only human).
What’s Talon about? Well it’s a Court of Owls spin-off. Imagine if one of the Talon assassins escaped the grasp of the court and tried to live a normal life. It’s the story of a guy who is on the run and I hope it stays true to that. If it goes beyond a typical super hero book and is basically The DC Universe’s version of The Fugitive, then that would be unique and pretty awesome. I know I’m not that excited about the character design. It reminds me too much of the lighthearted post-Knightfall Azrael suit. It’s doubly disappointing after seeing how bad ass all of the evil Talons looked. Maybe the idea was that if he still looked like an evil Talon then nobody would believe he’s a good guy…but there was once another character who looked more like a villain than a hero and that worked out pretty well… (I’m talking about Batman!)
Guillem March left Catwoman for this and James Tynion has written some very, very good backup stories in Detective Comics and Batman so yes, I think we should all give this book a chance.
BATMAN, INCORPORATED #0
Written by GRANT MORRISON and CHRIS BURNHAM
Art and cover by CHRIS BURNHAM
Variant cover by AARON KUDER
1:100 B&W Variant cover by CHRIS BURNHAM
32 pg
$2.99
Combo pack edition: $3.99
Anticipation Level: TAKE MY MONEY
I’m not really sure what Grant Morrison has planned for this that we didn’t already see in the first volume of Batman Inc. which focused on the building and recruitment of Batman’s global campaign. I kind of wish that this series could’ve ignored the #0 thing and kept driving forward. Oh well. All three issues of this have been phenomenal so my hopes are still very high.
BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT #0
Written by GREGG HURWITZ
Art and cover by DAVID FINCH
1:25 Variant cover by DAVID FINCH
32 pg
$2.99
Anticipation Level: Bring it.
The story of Batman’s search for Joe Chill, the man who killed his parents. It’s also being marketed as an epic conspiracy to wipe out the Wayne family…that has me a lot less excited. It seems like the sort of thing that has a high potential to upset me to be honest. I like my Wayne murder to be random street crime and nothing else.
P.S.
I didn’t re-read or proofread this article. I had forgotten to write this thing before I packed for my flight so now it’s really late and I need to get some sleep. So I wrote it in a hurried 10 minutes and what you see is the result of that. If there are glaring grammar/spelling mistakes then please, let it slide. Also if any of you are in the LA or Burbank area this week, contact me on Twitter and we can try to meet up and talk comics in person!
Update: Teen Titans #0 will be available this week too! More info about that over at DC Comics.
