Happy new year, who’s ready for more Batman comics? This week we have three very unique comics to choose from. Grant Morrison continues to ignore the rest of the New 52 and do his own thing with Batman Inc, Batman: The Dark knight says goodbye to David Finch as it also concludes Scarecrow’s tale, and Teen Titans gets thrown into the review rotation due to it being yet another Death of the Family tie-in. Oh, and I’ve also changed the Anticipation Level Scale up some for the new year and I think I’ll do a poll on Mondays now where we vote on which issue of the week had the best cover. What’s everybody think about that? We can even take the winner from each week and then put them all against one another at the end of the month. Update: Hey, Chris here. Interactive polls will play a big part in the new Batman News redesign, which is coming in the next couple of months. Stay tuned!
Here’s a list of all the Batman comics coming out this week, January 2nd 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!
January 2nd
BATMAN, INCORPORATED #6
Written by GRANT MORRISON
Art and cover by CHRIS BURNHAM
Variant cover by JUAN JOSE RYP
1:100 B&W Variant cover by CHRIS BURNHAM
32 pg, $2.99 US • RATED T
Combo pack edition: $3.99 US
Anticipation Level: TAKE MY MONEY
We’re back to business in this issue. Last month we focused more on Batman’s vision of a possible future in which Damian becomes Batman. Now we’re back in the present and Bat-Robots are going to fight Man-Bat ninjas, Damian is being returned to his mother, and The Heretic is returning. Should be a pretty exciting issue and from what I understand it will mark the halfway point of Batman, Incorporated.
BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT #15
Written by GREGG HURWITZ
Art and cover by DAVID FINCH
1:25 B&W Variant cover by DAVID FINCH
32 pg, $2.99 US • RATED T
Anticipation Level: Interested
This is David Finch’s final issue and it also marks the end of Hurwitz’s Scarecrow arc. This story has gone on a bit longer than it should have and the tone switched over to over-the-top action in the previous issue so I’m curious to see how explosive this finale will be.
TEEN TITANS #15
Written by SCOTT LOBDELL
Art by Brett Booth & Norm Rapmund
Cover by Greg Capullo
32 pg, $2.99 US • RATED T
Anticipation Level: I’d rather not
I’m officially tired of the Death of the Family tie-ins. Sure there have been a few gems but I really don’t see Teen Titans being one of them. The trade paperback I reviewed a month or so back left a bad taste in my mouth and with this being part 2 of the rather disappointing Red Hood & the Outlaws tie-in…I really just don’t care. Especially since it’s Tim Drake-centric, a character who has been completely redundant in the New 52. If he died in this event I wouldn’t be fazed which is a real shame. That character has lost any importance to me in this past year. And apparently Batgirl is included in this issue as well…what? How? The timeline of this event is a mess. Sigh…still, the #0 issue that Lobdell did that focused on Drake alone was alright and if the issue stays focused on Jason and Tim it will hopefully be alright but I imagine it’ll get bloated with more unnecessary cameos from the other Teen Titans, Arsenal, and Starfire.
BATMAN BEYOND UNLIMITED #11
Written by Adam Beechen, J.T. Krul, Dustin Nguyen, Derek Fridolfs
Art by Fiona Staples, Howard Porter, Livesay, Norm Breyfogle
Cover by Dustin Nguyen
48 pg, $3.99 US • RATED T
Anticipation Level: TAKE MY MONEY
Batman Beyond is really exciting right now with the Jokerz gang blowing up half of Gotham and Bruce Wayne hospitalized, the Justice League wrapped up their arc last month so this time we’re getting an origin story for Micron illustrated by Fiona Staples (whose work I’m really excited to see. She does and amazing job on Saga), and the Superman Beyond tale included here is going to have the debut of a beloved DC character. So it sounds like you’re getting a lot of bang for your buck with this one and I can’t wait.
