“Batman Incorporated” (DC)

Writer: Grant Morrison | Artists: Yanick Paquette (#1-3,5), Chris Burnham (#4,6,7, Leviathan Strikes #2), Scott Clark & Dave Beaty (#8), Cameron Stewart (Leviathan Strikes #1), & Pere Perez | Inks: Michel Lacombe (#1) | Colors: Nathan Fairbairn, Scott Clark & Dave Beaty

The next stage of evolution of the Dark Knight. Bruce Wayne publicly announces that he is the financial backer of Batman and establishes a worldwide franchise of Batmen that will protect the entire globe.

This is the beginning of a stunning new direction for the world’s greatest detective that will team him with Catwoman, Batwoman and Batman Inc. representatives on international crime fighting missions against Lord Death Man in Japan, South America and Argentina.

So, Grant Morrison. We meet again... I honestly don’t know what to make of him. I can’t tell if he’s taking the piss and just falling flat, or if he’s a subpar writer who happens to have a massive following that allows him to write this drivel.

DC Comics New 52 #0s…

There’s been much discussion in the comics community about the New 52 “#0” issues, and so I decided I’d try to get a few of them read and reviewed for the website. I thought of them as another chance to get started with a new series and also some extra information and back-story for series I’ve already read a good deal of and enjoyed. I wasn’t able to get as many as I was interested in, but I’ll keep trying to find more (I just don’t have as much time as I used to, when the New 52 were first launched). I’ll certainly attempt to get the #0 issues for some of the series I never tried, but always wanted to (the Green Lantern series, for example, of which I’ve tried none; and also Flash; and a selection of others).

What I would say, though, is that these issues don’t all appear to work as proper introductions – a few of them lay out future storylines, or make allusion to events that have already happened in the main series chronology. In addition, there are some more revelations about how the New 52 is meant to be interpreted – especially on the Batman side of things, which appears to have been rather messed up by these zero issues… (which Newsarama has compiled in a handy post).

Reviewed: Action Comics, Batgirl, Batman, Batman & Robin, Batwoman, Catwoman, Detective Comics, Green Arrow, Justice League, Nightwing, Phantom Stranger, Superboy, Supergirl, Wonder Woman

Comics Round-Up (May 30)

A few catch-ups and one really early review of a new series by one of my favourite comics’ writers. This was another pretty busy week, so while I tried to get as many of the comics reviewed as I could, some nevertheless had to be culled from the list. Some of these I was sent for review, so they will be read and reviewed at a later date. I just wanted to get the reviews of these issues up ASAP.

This is also one of the last weeks I’ll be reviewing individual DC issues for a while (I may do a couple more next week), as I’m heading back to the UK mid-June. I’m still working on coming back to the US if possible – Alyssa’s here for another four years, so my desperate quest for employment in or around New York continues! I’m almost at the point of begging, but that would be rather unseemly and undignified.

[*cough* … Please help … *cough*]

Anyway, on with the reviews!

Reviewed: Avengers vs. X-Men #4, AvX VS #2, Batman: The Dark Knight #9, Batwoman #9, BPRD: Hell on Earth – Transformation of J.H. O’Donnell, Call of Wonderland #1, The Defenders #6, Massive #1, Snake Eyes & Storm Shadow #13, Star Wars: Blood Ties – Boba Fett is Dead #1-2, Superman #9, Wolverine & the X-Men #10

Batfight!

Sorry, I really couldn’t resist the pun… It looks like Batgirl will be facing off against Batwoman in Batgirl #12:

I rather liked the cover art, by Stanley Lau, so thought I’d share it on here. Both of these characters’ series are among my favourites of the New 52 (although, Batwoman isn’t holding up as well, this far in, which is a real pity – I think it would work better as a collected book, as it’s a big story that’s still connected nine issues in).

Comics Round-Up (Apr.18)

A pretty solid collection of varied comics: twisted fairy tales, fantasy, super-heroes, and horror. I wasn’t organised enough to get them all reviewed for a Tuesday post, so I was able to add a few more titles. There were actually going to be more from last week, but both of my go-to comic stores in New York had completely sold out of Saga #2 and Resurrection Man #8. I decided to cut back on a few of the others, too. For example, I decided that I’ll wait for Suicide Squad, Grifter and Demon Knights to be available as collections.

Reviewed: Alice #4, Batgirl #8, Batman & Robin #8, Batwoman #8, Dungeons & Dragons 2012 Annual, Irredeemable #36, Jungle Book #2, Secret Service #1, Star Wars: Agent of the Empire #5, The Theater #5

Comics Round-Up (Mar.14) the Third

Now that I’ve caught up with DC’s New 52, a few of them will start popping up in these post-release round-ups again. I should, therefore, be able to start offering more diverse and less DC-heavy round-ups and reviews in the future. That being said, they still release a lot of great titles and some of my favourites. And this week’s releases – DC and otherwise – were pretty awesome on the whole. A very happy reader, here.

Reviewed Herein: Batgirl #7, Batman & Robin #7, Batwoman #7, Demon Knights #7, Grifter #7, The Ray #4, Resurrection Man #7, Saga #1, Saucer Country #1, Star Wars: Agent of the Empire #4, Suicide Squad #7, Thief of Thieves #2

[Demon Knights & The Ray were last-minute additions to the round-up.]

DC New 52 Catch-Up: Bat-Family

And so, the final New 52 Catch-Up, in which I round off my reading with issues #4-6 of five series fr0m the extended Batman family: Batgirl, Batwoman, Catwoman, Nightwing, and Red Hood & the Outlaws.

All of these have strengths, a couple have weaknesses, and while I wish I could keep reading them all, a couple will probably be dropped from my pull-list (much as it pains me to do so…).

Two Awesome Upcoming DC New 52 Covers

A simple artwork post, this, but many of the great covers for the eighth issues of DC’s New 52 titles were unveiled today on DC’s blog. There were two in particular that stood out for me (not just because they’re series I’ve been enjoying), so I thought I’d share them on here.

First up, Batwoman:

Cover: Amy Reeder | Writers: J.H. Williams III & W. Haden Blackman | Artist: Amy Reeder & Rob Hunter

Second, Resurrection Man:

Cover: Rafael Albuquerque | Writers: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning | Artist: Fernando Dagnino

Batwoman: “Elegy” & New 52 #1-3 (DC Comics)

Another superb series, with a difference, in DC’s Batman Franchise

Here I finally get around to reading and reviewing the final Batman-related title of the New 52. This is a review of two parts. First, we have Elegy, a collected Batwoman graphic novel that I was told forms a good introduction to the events that take place in the New 52 Batwoman comics, which form the second part of this review.

Batwoman as a character and title to follow was attractive for a variety of reasons – most importantly the more gothic, horror-influenced storylines. I must admit, however, that it was the fact that Rachel Maddow wrote the introduction to the first Batwoman collection, Elegy, that really piqued my interest and helped me notice the title in the first place. I’m a big fan of Maddow’s, and saw her introduction to the collection as a great endorsement.

Thankfully, I was not disappointed. Both the graphic novel and the new series are great.