Battle For the Cowl Tie In Round Up

The Battle for the Cowl tie in round up

Well, after about fifty pages of essay writing for my finals, I emerge rejuvenated and ready to start pumping out some reviews. I figured with the numerous BFTC tie-ins flooding the comic book market place, I’d help you, our faithful and beloved readers, decide which ones are worth picking up and which ones would function better as shredded lining for a hamster cage. Basically

I’m reading these books so you don’t have to

With that being said, let’s jump straight into tie-in number one

Gotham Gazette: Batman Dead?
This issue is pretty strong. It gives the audience a nice feel for the kind of shape Gotham is in and is sort of the set up for a number of other tie-ins. The issue is written by Fabian Nicieza, who’s work on the final issues of Robin was nothing short of spectacular. He seems to set up a nice mood and theme throughout the length of the story using the Voice of Gotham City (The woman introduced by Denny O’Neil in Detective 851 and Batman 684) as the narrator to describe what exactly is going on. This is one issue I would encourage picking out of the litter.
Solid story with a number of various artists lending a hand. 7/10

Battle for the Cowl: Commissioner Gordon
Interesting story while not the most engaging. We find Gordon shackled in the dark giving us a “What is going on?” inner monologue. Basically, he’s been taken prisoner by Mr. Freeze who sadly sounds more like the Arnold Schwarzenegger version of the character than any other version of the character. Only about half of this story is worth reading. All of Gordon’s inner thoughts reminded me of the hard nosed, strong character from Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One. The story is ultimately about Gordon realizing that Batman is gone and it is up to the GCPD to stand up and start behaving like cops. While a very good concept, between Governor Freeze and some very shoddy artwork by Tom Mandrake, the book never passes the mediocre mark.
6/10

Battle for the Cowl: Man-Bat
Let me preface this by saying I loved this issue. It’s a fantastic one shot very Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Langstrom gains some fantastic depth in this issue that really makes him stand out as a character. I really hope they carry some of this over to his next appearances in the Bat-universe. With that being said, you won’t be missing much of the bigger picture if you pass this one. This is more of an exploration of character than it is a a tie-in to BTFC, but the great story and decent art are worth your three bucks alone.
7.5/10

Oracle: The Cure
The Calculator is trying to find the remnants of the Anti-Life equation through the back alleys of the information super highway and only Barbra Gordon a.k.a. The Oracle can stop him. Sounds exciting right? It’s not. I find myself asking “Why should I care about this?” every time I read the two issues. The dialogue is boring, the inner monologues provide us nothing more than spelling out the already obvious, and that story hardly ties into BFTC at all. The art is the only saving grace and even it only stems the bleeding. If you don’t pick this book up, you won’t be missing anything. Out of all the tie-ins this is the only one that really feels like they are simply trying to take your money from you
4/10

Battle for the Cowl: Arkham Asylum
Probably on of the strongest tie-ins in general and it still suffers from the same problem the Man-Bat tie in did. You simply don’t need to read this to get anything else out of Battle for the Cowl. Don’t think that means you shouldn’t pick this book up because you need to. I don’t often read a comic and get legitimately creeped out, but for all 22 pages of this book, I was very uneasy. In case the front cover does give you the creeps right away, then about three pages in when Dr. Arkham starts talking to the inmates…you will be. This issues stands alone away from the real breadth of BFTC, but still manages to enthrall and terrify. If you pick up only one tie-in, it’s this one.
8/10

Battle for the Cowl: The Network
I think if I had my way, I would have Fabian Nicieza write every BFTC tie-in. He has a knack for getting understanding the atmosphere of the Bat-universe unlike any writer I have seen in a long time (This excludes Chuck Dixon). Fabian manages to really give us an idea of what The Network is all about and how it is handling the responsibilities left in Batman’s absence. Very engaging read, but the art kind of falls flat in some parts then shines wonderfully in others (Most notably the big panel of Bagirl). The Network really demonstrates what The Cure wanted to with Barbra taking charge and really making a difference in the Batman-less Gotham City.
7/10

Battle for the Cowl: The Underground
Loved this one shot. It did a fantastic job of demonstrating the way the criminal world is reacting to all the trouble with Batman being gone. Penguin is flipping out and employing The Riddler. Two-Face is still his same ole crazy talking to himself…self and now we get the added layer of Catwoman and how she’s handling the death of not just Batman, but Bruce Wayne. The art is also solid and has a nice few touch like The Penguin resembling the Danny DeVito version. Another strong outing that I recommend picking up. It offers a very broad look at how Gotham is handling it all.
7/10

Azrael: Death’s Dark Knight
Fabian goes three for three on tie-ins with this limited series. The whole whacky Order of St Dumas is back, well kind of. The new crazy cult establishing the role of Azrael is a more peaceful and splinter group called The Order of Purity. Basically, their current Azrael goes a bit bonkers and so The Order has to replace him. They decide to pick up someone fans of Morrison’s run on Batman will recognize and a a few other throwbacks to the last year of Batman lore. The book is dark, gritty and down right entertaining to read. The art is very dynamic, if a bit cartoony at times, but this book has been fun to read and look at.
7.5/10

There you have it. I hope this helps you make some decisions on which tie-ins are worth your hard earned money. Seriously though, don’t buy Oracle: The Cure. You’ll just be mad at yourself for doing it.
-Tom

Blackest Night #0

If you're a reader of our few reviews and insights we've provided, I'd like to take a moment to mention the fact that Tom and I are working on something more expansive.  While both of us are college students and smothered with finals and things recently (see our lack of much reviewing lately) I am taking a break from such activity to write.  I think Tom died the other night from working non-stop from like 8pm to 9am the next morning or something like that, he's probably been asleep for 48 hours.  Anyway, once school is over we'll be setting in motion plans for our own website where we do basically, the same thing here: review comics, write about comics, write reviews of comic-related movies occasionally, and possibly musing on characters.  We plan on getting it up and running by mid-May or the end of May.  So, if you're a reader here, keep an eye out to see when that is up and running.

Now, on to what I've been wanting to talk about since Saturday.  As you know, or I hope you know, Saturday was Free Comic Book Day.  The highlight of this day was the release of Blackest Night #0!!!  I've read it three or four times since it was released on Saturday and I get happier every time I get to that final page.  Before you continue, I will warn you that you should read this issue, if you don't want anything spoiled or ruined, as I will certainly do here.

Blackest Night #0

Written by: Geoff Johns

Illustrated by: Ivan Reis

We start off this issue with Hal Jordan doing some amazing reminiscing about Batman and Bruce Wayne.  He provides insights to their different views on things, their past disputes, conversations and their mutual understandings of one another as heroes who do their job very differently, one overcoming great fear, the other creating fear in his adversaries.  Barry Allen, recently revived in Final Crisis and Flash Rebirth joins the scene.  Geoff's work in Flash Rebirth spills over to their conversation, showing Barry's troubles about getting situated in a world he's been absent from for years.  Hal's inner demons arise as they speak of how everyone came to Barry's funeral, but even those closest to him, scorned Hal at his own death.

That's the theme here, death and resurrection.  If you don't read Green Lantern, Blackest Night's impending conflict comes from the dead rising from their graves.  This little preview provides a good background on what has happened in Final Crisis, Batman's death, Martian Manhunter's death, Barry Allen's return, etc.  However, while Hal and Barry depart Bruce Wayne's unmarked grave with a feeling of hope that their friends will find their way back from the dead as Hal and Barry had done, something else broods nearby.

It's in the final two pages that we ultimately get a preview of who we can expect to see arise from the dead in Blackest Night as a Black Lantern.  The first headstone to be shown is that of Aquaman, Arthur Curry, buried alongside the ocean.  This wasn't in the final two pages, but I believe the choice to paint a lighthouse overlooking his grave black and gray-striped was no mistake.  The next headstone we see is Ralph and Sue Dibny, Ralph being the hero The Elongated Man.  Then, we see the headstone of Ronnie Raymond, the hero known as Firestorm.  However, the greatest thing I've taken from this issue is the fact that, while reciting the Black Lantern oath, the villain Black Hand reaches into an unmarked grave, removes the skull and in the final page, has his ring focused on it, green lights emitting from the eye sockets, and smoke surrounding it.  However, the smoke takes a definitive shape, the ears of Batman's cowl are clearly depicted, hinting that in July, we may very well see Bruce Wayne return to the DC Universe, but not as the Dark Knight, but a Black Lantern.

The Black Lantern oath: "The Blackest Night falls from the skies.  The darkness grows as all light dies.  We crave your hearts and your demise.  By my black hand--the dead shall rise!"

Thoughts on "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" Part One

Alright, we haven't done anything this week because we're quite busy and working on some other things.  But, we both saw X-Men Origins Wolverine last night and I just woke up from getting home at 2:30 AM and well...I'm still deciding.  Tom is more of the X-Men guru, I only read a handful of Marvel titles, two of them being Uncanny X-Men and Wolverine.  Tom could answer almost every trivia question on X-Men Legends 2, I can't.  But, I still have X-Men knowledge and I still care about them because I grew up watching the cartoon and then have been reading those two comics titles.

Anyway, usually a movie makes an immediate impression on me.  Iron Man? Awesome.  Incredible Hulk?  Awesome.  The Dark Knight?  Beyond awesome.  Fantastic Four Rise of the Silver Surfer?  Terrible.  X-Men Origins Wolverine? Ehh, I don't know.  I went with a group of friends to the midnight showing last night, and while I was in the movie, there were some exciting parts, good fight scenes, things that I was thinking "great job" about.  After the movie I kind of gave it a less than enthusiastic "it was good" rating.  When a movie does this, when it does not initiate that first impression on me of either really good, really bad, or definitely mediocre, it usually winds up being labeled, not so good.

(If you haven't seen the movie, there's SPOILERS from here on out)

My first disappointment came when I saw the credits, Logan and Victor running through time, through all the wars, etc.  It was an AWESOME way to do the credits, but I was disappointed no chunk of the film would be given to that aspect of their story, other than 4 minutes of no-dialogue flash images.  I had a worry that the movie would be more focused on the secondary mutants, the swarm of fellows they put into the movie alongside Wolverine and Sabertooth.  I felt that the story actually did revolve around Wolverine for the movie, however, I now have settled on the idea that there were too many mutants in the movie.  I know the title is "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" so they have X-Men in the movie, but I think this movie could have been much, much stronger had they focused on a handful of people, a small handful at that.

Victor Creed was done amazingly by Liev Schrieber.  I love him as an actor and people had their doubts about him playing Sabertooth, I never did.  He was cold, malicious, amusing at times, and just down right nasty.  He was a great villain, only problem was that he had to elbow and nudge his way into the role of the movie's villain which was largely taken by Colonel William Stryker, who was not a movie villain.  He was a scheming bad guy, no doubt about that, but villains need to pose a threat to the main character, Striker poses none to Wolverine.  In the X-Men movies, Magneto was the villain mostly, great threat to the X-Men.  Colonel William Stryker is a regular man, someone easily killed by Wolverine if he had the chance.  Why didn't he?  Oh wait, Sabertooth was there to keep him from doing it.

Sabertooth would have been a great main villain.  The two characters have a great relationship, which I felt was very well played upon when Sabertooth says "No one kills you but me."  They should have made their involvement in Weapon X a large portion of the film.  Wolverine should have obtained his adamantium skeleton early on, and then focused the rest on Wolverine breaking out of Weapon X, killing a lot of people, and then Sabertooth hunting him down.  They didn't need to create a motivation for Wolverine to get the skeleton just to kill Victor, it was like they went to outrageous means to get him to come back to Weapon X to get it done after he left it once.  Just don't make him walk out on them so early in the film.  Which bugged me too, he joined them, then five minutes later, "Nah, I'm not down with this, sorry and he walks away."  And am I the only person who thought in this scene "Wait, he's just walking off into the jungle?  They aren't going to stop him?"  Then Victor says "We can't just let you walk away"  actually Victor yes, yes you can, because you did!!!  These fantastic artists of death and destruction just let him walk quietly into the jungle?  Really, now.

Thoughts on "Wolverine" Con't.

Alright, more about the movie's choice of villains.  If this movie was a prequel to the X-Men movies (which by events late in the film I would say it is without a doubt a prequel to those movies and not specifically just a Wolverine origin movie) we already had Stryker as a large villain in those.  We know Stryker hates mutants, that he's a bad dude, that he would kill mutants if he could...i.e. X-Men 2: X-Men United!!!!!!  Sabertooth needed to be THE villain of the movie.  Wolverine volunteers for Weapon X, they give him adamantium, he may lose his memories in the process or whatever, just traumatized and goes AWOL.  Sabertooth wants to prove he is bigger and badder than Wolverine.  There is no need for anything else, Stryker could be used to give Wolverine his adamantium, and then pushed away to save for the X-Men movies to come, err...that came before.

But they didn't take this road.  I did enjoy seeing Logan go visit the former people who were with him in Weapon X earlier in the movie, however, I did get a little tired of seeing mutants who for the most part, served no purpose.  Will.I.Am, helped Wolverine know Sabertooth and Stryker were in cahoots; Blob, helped him know where they were; Gambit helped him get to the island, but the addition of Cyclops=pointless.  They put him in the movie because this was a "X-Men prequel" not an "origin of Wolverine" movie.  Cyclops served no purpose in this movie, only to contribute to the liberties taken with the character Deadpool.

Here's where I was entertained solely because of the quality of the final fight scene.  Wade Wilson was apparently murdered by Sabertooth (yeah if you didn't catch that don't feel bad because I barely did).  If this was so, HOW AWESOME WOULD IT BE TO SHOW SABERTOOTH (if he was the main villain) FIGHT WADE WILSON!?!?!  Yes, if you said "holy crap that would have been incredible" then you're right, it would have been.  However, we find out that he just killed him and Stryker is using his body as...ugh...Weapon XI.  Remember Cyclops not having a point in the film?  Oh wait, they used to him to amalgamate powers into "the pool"/"the mutant killer."  I guess "Deadpool" was born by Stryker giving him what I guess was adamantium too, healing factor, optic blasts (thank you Cyclops, ugh) and teleportation.

Now, this fight was utterly awesome, Sabertooth back-to-back with Wolverine, getting their asses handed to them for a while by this mindless "Deadpool" dude.  It was GREAT....except...it wasn't.  They beat "Deadpool" and Wolverine cuts his head off.  Gambit jumps back in to save Wolverine from a giant mass of collapsing rubble, Wolverine's woman (I'm not gonna mention this aspect) is hurt and uh oh, Stryker comes back and shoots him with adamantium bullets!  This is how they explained his memory wipe??  It was like they, remembering this is an "X-Men prequel" movie, said "oh crap, his memories are gone in the X-Men movies, quick, let's throw something in there to "wipe" them away!"  This was totally anti-climactic, another reason why Styker SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN THE MAIN VILLAIN.  Then, Gambit comes back to help Wolverine get away from the arriving authorities.  Since he has no memory he is like, who the hell are you?  But when Gambit passes his test of "what's my name" he still refuses to follow him, even though it seems pretty obvious that this guy is trying to help you.  He just says he'll find his own way, which we never see him actually leave the island...

I had problems with the writing, klunky transitions between scenes and other things.  This movie would have been amazing had Styker been secondary and Victor Creed been the undisputed bad guy of the movie.  But, with a final cameo by Professor X, this movie became more about the X-Men than the X-"man".  This should have been Wolverine and Sabertooth's heated past and rivalry.  They are both quite old, it seems convenient they met all these mutants at one time.  Sabertooth hunting down those Weapon X team members?  That would have been great!!  Not to mention him fighting Wade Wilson as a possible fight.  But the climax should have been Wolverine finally besting Sabertooth and seemingly putting him down, becoming "the best at what he does."  However, this movie was not, the best at anything.

6/10

Buck Rogers #0

So I was pretty excited about this one.  I had read that it was coming out on Free Comic Book Day, May 2nd, but also heard it could be released today for only 25 cents.  Luckily it was today.  This is pop culture's first hero!  The infamous Buck Rogers!!  My history professor the other day showed us a prize from a cereal box, a little booklet from the 1930s, depicting Buck Rogers' origin and a little short adventure.  I was amazed, and not just at how cereal box prizes went from cool comics and reading material to crappy toys that are throw-away material in a couple of days.  Anyway, since it's a #0, it was pretty short and sweet, but definitely a good hook for me to keep reading this when it hits #1....like I wasn't going to anyway.

Buck Rogers #0

Written by Scott Beatty

Art by Carlos Rafael and Carlos Lopez (Colors)

Published by Dynamite Entertainment

We start off the issue with Buck being held prisoner, and being slapped around/interrogated by weird-looking amoeba things.  They have terrible grammar (which Buck makes a joke about) and deliver a variation of that classic alien line, "Take me to your leader" ("Take me to your leadership collective" here in the issue).  We discover these amoeba beings are about to invade or "absorb" Earth and all its people.  They are beings from Ganymede, one of the moons of Jupiter.  Buck appears to be totally out of it, like they've just beat him half to death.  However, for some reason, they decide to leave him alone?  I guess it was because they thought he was half-dead, I don't know.  They just walk away from him and say "Hey, let's invade Earth."

Buck then shows he was "playing possum" and gets up and gets his gear and gets ready to kick some ass.  One of my favorite things about the issue is when Buck looks down at Earth from the Ganymedian ship and says "Hello lady...century after century she still's got her looks" to Earth.  It was, for the lack of a better word, awesome.  I think it was kind of the, reflective feel of the statement that made it so interesting.  Buck is obviously on his decline, in age and adventuring, which he points out at one time.  It just seems like he's heading to a destination, a grand finale.

So he precedes to kick some ass for a couple of pages, while we see a woman and a man in the same suits Buck is wearing, obviously some type of inter-stellar military unit for Earth.  Buck has a plan to stop the attempted invasion of the Ganymedians and sets it in motion.  I don't want to give some things away but there's real promise for a continuation besides the opening saying this is "a last desperate battle to save the Earth...".  They say this is the end, but it looks like we're going back to the past...err future...in Buck Rogers #1.  I am ready!!!

--Patrick

Action Comics #876

And we're back for another week! I was looking forward to this week because of my dear Action Comics issue and Superman/Batman issue were coming out.  As usual, Action is my first read and let me tell you, Geoff Johns set something in motion.  In his run on Action and his recent events pushed a snowball down the hill and now it's getting faster, and faster and swallowing up more and more things.  That metaphor is meant to be a positive one, of course.  If you don't know, Superman is of course off-world (see New Krypton).  The heroes taking his place in Action Comics are Nightwing and Flamebird, mythic heroes of Krypton.  We pick up their fight in a story entitled "Sleepers".

Action Comics#876

Written by Greg Rucka

Art by Eddy Barrows and Sidney Teles, and Ruy Jose and Julio Ferreira

So this issue is told from an interesting perspective, the perspective of Ursa.  She is General Zod's right-hand-man...err woman, and his wife.  She attacks Nightwing and Flamebird as they are recuperating in the Fortress of Solitude after a previous scuffle in #875.  We get an interesting first-hand characterization of Ursa from her thoughts as she's aiming to kill the two heroes.  She is motivated solely out of bloodlust, a desire to kill.  She is evil and I'm not focusing on that, but I see her as one of the chief foils for heroic women in comic books.  She's evil to the T and she was a fairly insane in this issue.  She talks about Zod and the differences between the two of them, what he takes pleasure in as opposed to her pleasures.

In her fight with Flamebird, she relishes every feeling of fear on Flamebird's face, who is Thara Ak-Var.  In a scene that I am serious, reminded me big time of the final battle between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker in Return of the Jedi, she knows how to push every button in Thara's heart.  While there is some great writing in thought and voice in every character, Ursa totally steals the show, this issue is more about her than the two heroes.  The art was great considering the whole issue is just one big mano-y-mano fight between the two women. Lots of great spreads and interesting overlying panel construction.  This layout was especially great and effective when Ursa utilizes a knife with a Kryptonite blade.  She has already driven Flamebird to the point of wild-desperation and has the upper hand in every way.  With a huge spread in the center, a two-page image of out-lying panels show each cut of Ursa's weapon on Flamebird's body, Ursa moving so fast and effective even the artist can't keep up with her, he can only show what she has done.  Until of course, she delivers the devastating blow in the center of the page.

With Flamebird out of commission, on the verge of death, enter Nightwing.  He is Lor-Zod, the son of Ursa and General Zod.  This fight is just as good, although shorter and a great display of Christopher Kent all grown up, sort of.  Ursa points out as she pummels her son for a while that he isn't even truly Kryptonian (he was born in the Phantom Zone).  She is right, and he displays some odd powers that he learned in the Zone, to incapacitate her.  He picks up her knife, as Flamebird tells him to finish her off, he will not do it.  My favorite moment of the entire issue arises.  He refuses to kill her, not because she is his mother but because "Superman wouldn't."  When Flamebird tells him "Superman isn't here" he responds, "All the more reason."

The issue ends with Ursa buried beneath the ruins and rubble of the Fortress of Solitude and Nightwing carrying Flamebird's beaten and near-death body to Lois Lane's apartment, Lor-Zod's adoptive mother.  I've really enjoyed Action since Superman departed Earth.  With Kryptonians being officially banned from Earth, except for Superman, Nightwing and Flamebird have had to wear power suits to conceal the source of their super abilities to hide their Kryptonian heritage.  Although their larger mission isn't quite obvious yet, since they're aren't just fulfilling Superman's role as protector of Metropolis (that's Mon-El's job in "Superman") this issue did well to set them up as good heroes.  Flamebird seems to be the most ambivalent of the two, willing to do what it may take to get the job done, while Nightwing's attachment to Superman has made him adopt some of Superman's values and unwavering principles.  I look forward to see where Greg Rucka takes these two heroes in future months.

--Patrick

Battle For The Cowl #2

No one can be him. But someone can represent what he stood for, The ideals that made Batman--Justice, consequence and ironclad resolve to protect.”

-Alfred Pennyworth

Battle For The Cowl #2
Written By Tony Daniel
Art by Tony Daniel and Sandu Florea

Act 2 of Battle For the Cowl really heats up (you will get that joke after you read it). Tony Daniel takes his vision of Gotham City in shambles and takes it to a new level entirely. Buildings are burning, people are dying, and we are about to have an all out war between the three major players in Gotham’s underworld-Two-Face, Penguin, and Black Mask.

The issue opens with a page for Two-Face and Penguin respectfully. It appears Two-Face blames Penguin for the attack on his weapon shipment from last issue while Penguin realizes a third party is involved and prepares for a war with both.
The next six pages treat us to the fall out of the final moments of issue one. Apparently Rambo-Bat (which I will refer to until his identity is revealed) has taken out all the Black Mask thugs that were gunning for Nightwing and Damien. Dick confronts Rambo-Bat about what wearing the Bat Symbol means and him killing those men isn’t it. Rambo-Bat has a few choice words about that and calls Nightwing by his real name.

The following double page spread of Damien and Nightwing chasing after a fleeing Rambo-Bat treats us to a new point of view. Looks like this issue follows Rambo-Bat’s inner monologue. Rambo-Bat’s thoughts are obviously from the anti hero school of heroics. He muses on how Bruce’s mistakes were not staying in the shadows, because criminals stopped fearing him, seeking help from the law when he should have been above it, and taking Dick Grayson under his wing. Then he hints at who he is (if you don’t already know you should probably stop reading BFTC and go brush up on your Batman History). Luckily if you didn’t figure it out Dick points it out in the next few panels-Jason Todd. Jason Todd (as Rambo-Bat) shoots Damien in the stomach and uses it as a distraction to make his escape.

The next few pages follow Black mask as he begins to set his plans to destroy Gotham in order. He introduces Adam Bomb (who blows stuff up) to Firefly (who lights things on fire).

Afterwards, we get to see Jason Todd in real action as Batman. He busts up some kind of deal The Black Masks flunkies are having with a Priest. We get to see just how violent Todd is as he repeatedly shoots a man in the kneecaps to get some information about Black Mask out of him. His inner monologue focuses on how Batman has become real fear once more.

After a brief scene with Tim, as Batman, and Catwoman finding Jason Todd’s HQ, we are given one of the most powerful moments of this whole series. Dick is sitting in the Bat-Cave at Damien’s side as the boy sleeps in a bed recovering from Todd’s attack. Dick sits and sulks over how Damien is responsibility and he let him down. He goes on about Gotham also being his responsibility and everything that happens to Gotham from this point on, falls on him. Dick says he tried to be Bruce once before and didn’t like what he became and that’s when Alfred makes a point about what I think this series is about.

It’s not about replacing Bruce to become the new Batman. It’s about honoring and respecting him by standing up for he believes in in order to protect what it is he has watched over most of his life. There will never be another Bruce Wayne or a Batman like the one he created, but there still needs to be a Batman that fights for the same things Bruce did. There needs to be a Batman to protect Gotham and there is no one who would do that with more honor and respect than Dick Grayson.

After an attack on GCPD and Jim Gordon, we are treated to a beautiful full page spread of Black Mask basking in the glow of a burning Gotham City. That picture alone is worth the price of the Comic. Next is a big showdown between Tim-Bat and Rambo/Jason-Bat.

It looks like the two are evenly matched, but they are fighting on Todd’s home court and as a result, it looks like Todd is going to be Tim to a pulp until Tim reaches out and finds a crowbar. He proceeds to clock Todd a few good times with it mirroring the beating the Joker gave Todd all those years ago. Then Todd starts laughing and we see he stabbed Tim in the stomach with a Batarang. The final scene is Jason Todd walking away from a limp Tim Drake with a batarang hanging out of his gut and the ominous words

“Just one more to go.”

All I have to say is, Tony is still giving us a fantastic story in the Bat universe that continues to shine on many levels. Of course, this story is going to ruffle some feathers, but that’s expecting giving the context of the story. The issue still suffers from some art problems, most notably when Jason and Tim fight it out, and it holds the issue back a little. He did what a good author is supposed to do when you reach act 2, makes the reader want to read act 3.

8.5/10

See you next month for The Last Man Standing.

--Tom

Daredevil Noir #1

So I have never really read anything from Daredevil.  My closest experience with this hero has been the god-awful movie with Ben Affleck and the appearance of Matt Murdock as defending Spider-Man in court in Amazing Spider-Man recently.  But, since I've been reading Spider-Man Noir and it is incredible, I figured I'd give Daredevil Noir a go.  I know all about Daredevil and his character and I figured he would be easily adaptable into a noir-type story.  So, I was hoping it would be as good as Spider-Man Noir and it almost was...

Daredevil Noir #1

Written by Alexander Irvine

Art by Tomm Coker

We begin the issue with a scene of mass murder in a house, or a bunch of guys lying in a ransacked room with tommy guns lying about and bullet holes in the wall.  Then, the Kingpin in his shadowy room, the door open and the shadow of a man with devil horns on the ground.  I was immediately on board.  The grainy, shadowy images in every panel are amazing.  Very few faces are completely visible, Daredevil's own face is always completely blacked out in shadow or they create a face that truly makes him look terrifying.  The images look like the comics of old, lots of point shadowing and faded colors.  It is the Prohibition Era, New York City, Hell's Kitchen.

The beginning pages show Daredevil face-to-face with Kingpin, ready to "end this".  But, as Kingpin points out, to know the end, "you have to know the beginning" and so we go back to the beginnings of this story and of Daredevil.  His origin is the same as it is in the regular books, the son of a murdered prize-fighter, stricken blind as a young boy.  He's not a lawyer in this book, but the assistant to one.  We're given his origin amidst a courtroom scene, where Murdock sits with the lawyer, viewing Hell's Kitchen justice, a man who we're led to believe is guilty, is let off scott-free.  

There's talk of the "Bull's Eye Killer," homage to the villain Bullseye, who I am expecting to make an appearance later on.  A woman comes to Murdock and his friend, the lawyer Foggy Nelson, she is the girlfriend of Hell's Kitchen crime boss Orville Halloran.  Halloran is a bad guy on the verge of war with the Kingpin, both dabble in the business of illegal liquor.  She is prepared to give up information for Halloran but the lawyer Foggy is hesitant, Murdock is not.  He makes a hit on Halloran's business as Daredevil, and we get a glimpse of the Kingpin and Halloran attempting to make a deal to stop the impending gang war.  The end gives us a flash back to the scene with Daredevil and Kingpin and while Daredevil is eager to tell the story in a nutshell to us, Kingpin urges him to "let the story tell itself...it's just warming up".

That's exactly what this issue is, a warm up.  It's a great scene-setting piece, this is when we are, where we are, and who we're going to be dealing with.  You've got Orville Halloran, a bad guy not quite as bad as Fisk, the Kingpin, but bad enough.  Then you've got Fisk, a man who you know is the bad guy, as you can see the final showdown between Fisk and the titular hero is eminent.  The images are typical 1920s New York, dark, wet, bustling with both crime lords and businessmen working hand-in-hand or the latter in fear of the former.  Then you have Matt Murdock, the Daredevil, a vigilante blind man who is making a whispered name for himself, putting fear into the crime lords that the law cannot do.  They need to get rid of him for their business to work efficiently and we're set up to see Halloran attempt to do this, possibly using this infamous "Bull's Eye Killer".  As a precursor this issue works to the T, and I enjoyed every page and panel of it.

7.5/10

--Patrick

World of New Krypton #2

Alright, since my esteemed colleague is an hour behind me and I just finished this issue, I'm getting right to it.  Despite my overwhelming anticipation to read Green Lantern #39 today, I can't ever read anything before a Superman-family title when one comes out.

Superman: World of New Krypton #2

Written by Greg Rucka and James Robinson

Art by Pete Woods

A brief plot synopsis: The issue starts off with the Guardians of the Universe talking about New Krypton and how it requires the attention of the Lanterns of Sector 2814.  They decide to dispatch Hal Jordan to New Krypton to decide if the Green Lanterns do indeed need to pay attention to New Krypton.  Then, you have Superman, now in Krypton's military guild first meeting his unit, the Red Shard Tactical Response Unit.  During some type of art gala, Superman's unit is quickly given an assignment to stop a rampaging species of animals called Though Beasts from destroying some of their equipment crucial to terra-forming the planet.  After dealing with the situation, Superman is speaking with General Zod when a soldier informs him members of the Labor Guild have taken a group of people hostage using a stolen cache of new weapons.  They demand their guild be equal to all the others.  Commander Gor in turn takes a group of Labor Guild members hostage himself and demands the release of the hostages or else...which is where we're left.

Undoubtedly, I must commend Mr. Woods' incredible pencils in this issue and in the previous one also.  But, since this is the first issue to take place entirely on New Krypton, he shines more brightly here.  He gives New Krypton a tangible life with ease, as well as Kryptonian culture.  You've got members of the various guilds in almost every panel, brilliant images of buildings, art, and architecture that reflect what Kryptonian culture and life is like.  While I felt the situation with the Guardians was a little out of place at the beginning, I know its necessity, given I've seen the cover for future issues.  I felt like their conversation about the Green Lanterns maybe needed to pay attention to New Krypton may be more essential after the hostage crisis is made known, or not in this issue at all.

Superman's adjustment to being a military commander is a focal point in character development with Rucka and Robinson.  Kal tries to maintain his light-hearted attitude, which doesn't go over well at all with his new Executive Officer Lieutenant Asha Del-Nar, a 9th generation military guild member.  Kal's inability to "fit in" with his fellow Kryptonians is a crucial point in this series, and there's a good deal of that problem within this single issue.  We see him almost become an unrecognizable person when he takes sharp command of his unit, whipping them into shape with stern discipline when he finds them clowning around with a new "aspirant" (a private-like rank I assumed in the Kryptonian army).

This sharp attitude of discipline and order is foiled by the way Kal leads his unit in dealing with the problem of the rampaging Thought Beasts.  While his men wanted to use their spiffy new weapons to just kill the animals, Kal would not allow it.  The Thought Beasts create illusions within the mind and hallucinations when someone gets close to them.  Kal promotes the teamwork of his men and promises that they will each keep one another in focus when the hallucinations begin.  He opts to use non-lethal means to herd the beasts into a safe and non-threatening pen created by using their collective heat vision.  They succeed in diffusing the situation in this manner and Kal is even praised by Zod for his ability to lead his men effectively.

Before Superman left to deal with that situation, at the art gala he had a brief few words with a member of the labor guild, Tyr.  This was a major flag for me in reading and I felt like Rucka and Robinson were utilizing a fresh and almost limitless well of ideas to develop Kryptonian society.  Despite its scientific brilliance and their powers, they still have a hierarchical society with the Labor Guild being glorified slaves to all the others.  Tyr expresses a feeling of discontent within the Labor Guild about this.  They feel since Krypton has gotten a fresh start, they should get equal rights with all the other guilds.  It is a brilliant and effective development to use by the writers to present a society that may have trouble maintaining its own structure with its new planet and rebirth.  It was this that led to the hostage taking, which Superman obviously opposes the methods of Commander Gor, which Zod praises for his "improvisational skills".

I loved the development of Kryptonian culture the most in this issue and I hope they continue with this line of thought throughout the series.  The conflict between the rigid society and its unprivileged is one that has been seen in societies on earth for all of history, especially in the United States in the early 20th century.  It makes Kryptonian society more relatable in a way and more graspable.  All in all, I felt this issue was strong on all its points and Rucka and Robinson have this going full-steam-ahead with great promise.

9/10 overall.

--Patrick.

The Mighty #3

Greetings! I guess to differentiate between us, I'm Patrick, I'm the other half of this collaboration going on right now with this.  While, I normally would have picked a Superman-family title to be reviewed first by me, since none came out this week of April 1st, I decided to pick another.  Here goes nothing...

'The Mighty' #3

Written by Peter J. Tomasi and Keith Champagne with Peter Snejbjerg doing the art.

I must say I decided to pick this title up when I saw that Peter J. Tomasi was the author.  He had me in his hip pocket with his writing on  Green Lantern Corps, which I began reading last year.  I really enjoyed everything he had done in that since I've been reading it and I was already on board with this.  I hope it's okay I assume anyone who reads this to have already read #1 & 2, if you have not, hopefully I could convince you to go back and buy all three of these.

This issue begins in the wake of the title's hero, Alpha One, diffusing a situation at the end of issue 2.  He and the title's other, more down-to-earth hero, Captain Gabriel Cole, are left consoling the son whose mother was inadvertently killed at the end of issue #2.  With Alpha One, the character is very Superman-esque.  He is almost as carbon copy, but he's not an alien (that we know of so far) and he's impervious and all that.  Some people find those types of heroes difficult to relate to, but this opening scene wiped any speculation I think a reader might have that Alpha One is a character one cannot relate to.  He is lamenting that the fact the woman is dead was his fault, a stray bullet ricocheted off Alpha One and hit her, he is shouldering the majority of the blame here.  Cole suggests Alpha One talk to the woman's son, and in doing so, Alpha One begins to cry and apologizes.  That's the beauty of what Tomasi does with this opening scene, sure you can have anyone cry and say it is giving them a human quality, but I felt he moved beyond that.  Alpha One sheds tears, an impervious being is on his knees and weak, face-to-face with a young boy, who wipes his tears and tells him not to cry.  The boy says "heroes shouldn't cry", but while this is a great line for a kid who is 6 to say, the thing that lingers here is that heroes should cry, heroes must cry.  It was a beautiful mix between Tomasi's writing and Snejbjerg's art that makes this such a powerful scene.  While I feel I've lingered quite a bit on this opening scene, I felt it was truly the highlight of the issue, with the rest sort of giving away to plot development.

Alpha One and Gabriel go out to a diner that Gabriel's wife operates and have a drink (non-alcoholic as Alpha One makes sure to say).  When I said Alpha One was almost a carbon copy of Superman, when he's disguising himself so he won't get mobbed (like a celebrity), he has on a leather jacket and Cole gives him a pair of glasses.  I mean, what more could they do?  It reminded me so much of the Clark Kent depicted in Geoff Johns' "Lost Hearts" story line.  I haven't decided if that is a bad thing, or an amazing thing.  Afterwards, Alpha One wants to take Gabriel Cole into his "secret base" or as I said in my mind his "fortress of solitude," I felt we were given the next best characterization of Alpha One in this issue.  I am enjoying this series so far because I feel like Tomasi develops Cole and Alpha One's characters side-by-side, giving them each equal weight and importance.  Alpha One tells Gabriel that he trusts him, and wants him to lead the Section Omega (the law enforcement, clean up crew or support group for Alpha One).  Gabriel is reluctant to take the position because of the huge amount of responsibility that is required for it.  Here's where I'll give my interpretation of these two characters so far.

In regards to the title, I feel like "The Mighty" is applying to both Cole and Alpha One.  On the one hand, you have the ultimate hero, the impervious unstoppable, unflappable being Alpha One.  He is every kid's hero and idol and every citizen's guardian angel.  Yet, he weeps, he gets down on one knee and apologizes to a kid whose mother was killed accidentally.  While he has all of his powers and strengths, he still breaks down like every person you've ever met.  He doubts himself, he worries, he cries and he tries to shoulder the safety of everyone he can physically help.  He is out to save anyone and everyone that he possibly can, a point driven home by an endless tower of television screens for him to monitor any potential problem on earth in his sanctuary.

On the other hand we have Gabriel Cole, an essential "every man".  He is in a decent job, a Captain in the Section Omega, somewhat like a good-standing FBI agent.  His wife works late, he works all the time, so much that their dates take place one night a week to catch a midnight movie.  He has worries about money, the stress of his job, all the while trying to do his duty and protect the people in danger when assisting Alpha One.  He is afraid to take on the responsibility of the leader of Section Omega, but in the end, he decides to take the job.  Both of these characters appear to be "mighty" in their own way. Cole is mighty because of his perseverance and his committment to his marriage, his duty, his humanity.  Alpha One is mighty for his powers, his ability and willingness to shoulder an unimaginable amount of responsibility and at the same time, be down to earth to weep and "hang out" with his only friend.

That's what this issue brought to the table, a furthering of development in the two powerful characters in the book so far mostly the only two characters being followed.  In terms of plot, after Cole is named the new head of Section Omega and gets a large "A" embedded into his palm, a distress signal mechanism to call Alpha One, he has trouble on his first day, being overwhelmed by everything involved in his new job.  In the end, Alpha One flies off to intervene in a fire at a chemical factory, which Section Omega and Gabriel rally to assist him with.  What occurs there is yet to be seen...

I'll give this issue an 8/10, and I promise to have this more concisely down to a science next week.

Battle for the Cowl # 1

Who is going to wear the cowl? Who's going to try and take the mantle of the Bat? Can Gotham survive the transition? After reading this issue the answers are clear
I don't know. I don't know. And Probably.
I will say that I haven't read much of Mr. Daniels work before, but I found this issue to be filled with all the Batmany fun a fan could ask for. We have Gotham in chaos, Arkham in shambles, criminals all manipulating one another to be the high man on the totem pole.
What I found interesting though, is this story follows Tim more so than it does Dick. Perhaps a bit of misdirection or maybe each issue will be focusing on different characters. Regardless, The story really shines in two areas.
The first being Gotham in ruins and the effects it has. Almost every street level hero in and around Gotham you can think of makes a brief appearance. Black Mask rounds up a treasure trove of Arkham inmates and forces them to work for him. He seems to have an overwhelming desire to see Gotham burn.
The second shinning light of this issue, is the conflict between Dick and Tim on how to handle The Mantle of the Bat. Tim adopts the "We need a Batman to protect Gotham" approach while Dick goes for the "There is only one Batman and that's Bruce Wayne" approach. What I find interesting is how their conversation echoes a lot of fan debates over the issue of Batman's legacy. It's clear there will be a new Batman in June, but there are those who think like Dick in saying that only Bruce Wayne can be Batman while others would love to see the idea of a legacy being carried out by Bruce's children.
We also get to see the development of Damian as a character and his relationship with the rest of the Bat-World. We kind of see Dick taking an older brother/father role to him for a few pages near the end. It is interesting to see Damian as something more than a ruthless, spoiled child and as a vulnerable, terrified little kid.
Of course the issue isn't without it's fair share of problems. We are all forced to suspend our disbelief that none of the other heroes would show up to help Gotham out. I believe in this time setting, Superman and Wonder Woman are gone, but where's Green Lantern? Where's the Justice Society (all of them)? Where's the Flash? I know they all have their own things to deal with as far as stories go, but it is just hard to swallow that NONE of Bruce's old teammates would show up to help. Luckily, if you can suspend your disbelief over that issue, the story itself is rather well constructed.
Some of the art is spotty in some places. Most of his long distance and splash pages are a little rough, but Tony does a great Job on several key scenes (like Dick in the Bat Cave looking at the Bat Suit like a child) to really bring the emotion in them.
All in all, it was a great opening issue to kick this big time event off. I highly encourage everyone to go pick it up. Oh and if the review isn't enough, there are two Batmen in this story
8.5/10
See you in a few weeks for Army of One