Welcome back to Upcoming Comics! I don’t know about you, but I am stuffed with stuffing and writing this up through a tryptophan-induced coma. Hopefully once all of this digests, I’ll have the energy I’ll need for these reviews, because pretty much from now until the end of the year we’ll have our hands full here at Batman-News. I’m not sure why DC decided that December is the month of the bat, but we’ll be here, reviewing them just for you.
Upcoming Comics
Batman ’89 #1: Echoes
You wanna get nuts? Let’s get nuts! After Harvey Dent’s crusade against Gotham and Batman, the Caped Crusader has disappeared without a trace. In his place, ordinary citizens have taken to the streets to root out crime. As innocents get hurt, the question on everyone’s mind is the same: Where is Batman? Sam Hamm, screenwriter of the 1989 Batman movie, and Joe Quinones reunite for another tale in Gotham!
- Written By: Sam Hamm
- Penciled By: Joe Quinones
- Inks By: Joe Quinones
- Colors By: Leonardo Ito
- Cover By: Joe Quinones
Thoughts: The Burton Batman films were always dripping with atmosphere and defined the character in many ways for decades. It’s fun to see that world get continued.
Batman News Critic: William (trade wait)
Titans: Beast World #1
Clawing its way out of the pages of Titans comes an unprecedented threat to the DC Universe. Superman, Wonder Woman, Starfire –all are powerless to stop the Necrostar from ending all life on Earth. The only hero who can save the world is…Beast Boy?! With Nightwing, Raven, Cyborg, and the Titans beside him, can Garfield Logan rise to battle an ancient evil? What will Amanda Waller do to take advantage of the situation as millions of people are changed into rampaging creatures? Can humanity survive all-powerful heroes and villains transformed into ferocious beasts? Friends will fall. Heroes will rise. And nothing will ever be the same again. Earth is about to become…Beast World. DC proudly presents the Titans’ first crossover as the world’s premier superhero team, with universe-shattering repercussions. Brought to you by the all-star creative team of writer Tom Taylor and artist Ivan Reis, this story promises to be an epic one that sets the stage for what’s to come for the DCU!
- Written By: Tom Taylor
- Penciled By: Ivan Reis
- Inks By: Danny Miki
- Colors By: Brad Anderson
- Cover By: Ivan Reis, Brad Anderson, Danny Miki
Thoughts: This event is going to be massive, so I hope you’re ready. We talked a lot here at Batman-News about how much of it we should cover, because if we did all of it we would never be allowed to sleep.
Batman News Critic: Aaron
Batman Beyond: Neo-Gothic #5
As Neo-Gotham above falls under the unstoppable shadow of Donovan Lumos’s City of Light, Batman faces down the monster that lives in Gotham’s heart: the Garden! With the combined powers of Swamp Thing, Poison Ivy, and Black Orchid, the Garden’s motivations are finally revealed…as is the tragic figure that lives at its center. Has Batman gone so far into the darkness that he can never return? Is it time for Terry McGinnis to join Bruce Wayne in the Garden’s endless embrace?
- Written By: Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing
- Penciled By: Max Dunbar
- Inks By: Max Dunbar
- Colors By: Sebastian Cheng, Rain Beredo
- Cover By: Max Dunbar, Sebastian Cheng
Thoughts: Aaron graciously took this over for me last month when I was sick, but I was never going to stay away from Kyle Selina the Catboi forever.
Batman News Critic: Jackson
Batman: The Brave and the Bold #7
The brutal and action-packed Batman tale “Back to Year One” by Guillem March takes a shocking turn! In part one of “Wild Dog: Here Comes Trouble!,” writer Kyle Starks (I Hate This Place, Peacemaker Tries Hard!) and artist Fernando Pasarin (The Flash) begin the tale of a super-villain moving to the Quad Cities thinking it’ll lead to an easier life of crime-until they meet Wild Dog! Eisner-nominated Gabriel Hardman tells a definitive Aquaman tale! Plus, Matthew Rosenberg and Matteo Scalera bring their incredible talent to Batman Black & White!
- Written By: Guillem March, Kyle Starks, Matthew Rosenberg, Gabriel Hardman
- Penciled By: Guillem March, Gabriel Hardman, Fernando Pasarin, Matteo Scalera
- Inks By: Guillem March, Gabriel Hardman, Matteo Scalera, Oclair Albert, Wade von Grawbadger
- Colors By: Arif Prianto, Matt Herms, Matt Hollingsworth
- Cover By: Simone Di Meo
Thoughts: For the first time since I started writing Upcoming Comics, I think the solicitation is actually totally correct (so long as you can excuse them changing the name of “Back to Year One” to “Batman: Pygmalion” last month)
Batman News Critic: Jackson
Detective Comics #1078
Part three of five in “Batman: Outlaw”-the biweekly Detective Comics event! Under the scorching Gotham sun, a showdown at high noon will determine who walks away…and who’s carried away. Catwoman finds out that someone within her heist crew has been a mole this whole time, feeding information to the Orghams! Who among the team could be the traitor?
- Written By: Ram V, Dan Watters
- Penciled By: Jason Shawn Alexander, Caspar Wijngaard
- Inks By: Jason Shawn Alexander, Caspar Wijngaard
- Colors By: Caspar Wijngaard, Dave Stewart
- Cover By: Evan Cagle
Thoughts: Most of what we’ve gotten so far has been build up, so I’m hoping this “high noon showdown” will be the kickoff we’ve been waiting for
Batman News Critic: Jackson
Harley Quinn #34
Cleanup on aisle Earth-0! As if playing detective fer my own murder ain’t bad enough, now I’m also on janitorial and princess-babysitter duty?! I just can’t seem ta catch a dang ol’ break! Hopefully I can mop up some clues along the way and get to the bottom of who’s been out fer my precious clown blood! Plus, my childhood best friends Grace Ellis and Steve Lieber recount the true story of th’ time I got trapped inside of…a comic book!
- Written By: Tini Howard, Grace Ellis
- Penciled By: Sweeney Boo, Steve Lieber
- Inks By: Sweeney Boo, Steve Lieber
- Colors By: Sweeney Boo, Tamra Bonvillain
- Cover By: Sweeney Boo
Thoughts: Anyone else notice just how many Harley Quinn stories recently involve going to different universes?
Batman News Critic: Theresa (trade wait)
Penguin #4
Oswald Cobblepot’s plan to return to Gotham City is about to be executed, but he’s going to need one last, key piece…and only a beautiful face from his past can provide it. Enter the femme fatale, Lisa St. Claire.
- Written By: Tom King
- Penciled By: Rafael de Latorre
- Inks By: Rafael de Latorre
- Colors By: Marcelo Maiolo
- Cover By: Carmine Di Giandomenico
Thoughts: This series has gone in a different direction than I expected, and I’m still not sure how I feel about where it’s going.
Batman News Critic: William
Beyond the Bat
Welcome to Beyond the Bat, where we take a quick look at the rest of DC’s comics coming out this week.
Graphic Novel Watch
Sometimes you need more than floppies. Sometimes you want something that can sit nicely on your shelf that proudly displays your favorite stories. That’s when you turn to graphic novels. Let’s see what bat collections are coming out this week:
Ratings
Most Excited: Detective Comics #1078– For all of my critiques of this run, it’s still incredibly atmospheric and V’s writing skills often get a chance to shine
Least Excited: Harley Quinn #34– Harley’s books have been in a bad way for a very long time, and it seems to be getting worse. I think it might physically be hurting Theresa.
Wild Card: Batman ’89 #1: Echoes– It’s always interesting to see where a new series will be going, and the world of Burton has plenty of material to build from.
Well that’s it for this week! Let us know in the comments what comics you’re looking forward to.
