Batman and Robin #15By Grant Morrison and Frazer Irving
It will be a sad thing when Grant Morrison leaves this book with the next issue because, with the exception of the second arc, this has been a ridiculously perfect Batman series. Not that Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason won’t do a good job, it’s just it won’t be the same, with Morrison off writing Batman Incorporated instead. The one hope right now is that the next creative team can keep this a consistently brilliant comic book about the best odd couple the medium has produced in decades.
Morrison has been crafting the ultimate Batman story for quite some time now; stretching all the way back to the introduction of Damien Wayne in Batman #655, and now the perfect ending seems to be finally within our grasp. Damien has gone full-circle; he’s no longer the irritating plot device he was when Morrison first started writing the book, he’s become a true hero, and understands the value of what he’s doing and who he is. Without Damien this book doesn’t even begin to work. The character is far beyond important to the Batman mythology now, and his relationship with Dick Grayson’s Batman is nothing short of flawless.
That said, the first chunk of the issue features Damien trading remarks with a character that is, on the surface at least, far more compelling than Dick Grayson. The opening scenes with Damien and the Joker talking about how Damien plans to hunt him down once this reluctant team-up is over are absolutely astonishing, and show just how well Morrison can write the Joker.
It’s also nice to see some wrap-up to the Dr. Hurt storyline, which was hinted at being near its conclusion when it appeared in the penultimate issue of The Return of Bruce Wayne last week. As long as Professor Pyg sticks around, this can be the end of Dr. Hurt’s arc as far as the character’s relevance is concerned; Pyg was always the more frightening villain anyway.
Now, onto the artwork; Frazer Irving is, reportedly, the reason this issue, and the preceding two, were so abysmally late. But when his work is this fantastic, you can forgive the six-week wait since the last issue. His style is perfect for a Batman book, and his design for the Joker, in particular, are perfect in keeping with what has come before, while adding a layer of threat and sadism that only comes from Morrison’s version of the character. His choreography is also second only to Frank Quitely; the fight sequence between Damien and an army of brainwashed Gothamites was stunning to behold, and harkened back to the second issue of the series, featuring a similar fight sequence drawn by Quitely.
There’s not much else to say about this book, but it’s obvious it would be the best thing released this week, especially when you glance at the last page, and see the return of a famous character; finally, beautifully, perfectly.
Rating: 10/10
And the Rest
Brightest Day #12By Geoff Johns, Peter J. Tomasi, Patrick Gleason, Scott Clark, Ivan Reis and Joe Prado
Brightest Day has been stamped down upon by the majority of the comic book reading populace for being “not as good as Justice League: Generation Lost.” This is true, in many respects, but while the latter concentrates on its isolated storyline, regardless of how good it is, the former is developing the key storylines that will shape the DC Universe for the next few years.
That said some of the storylines within Brightest Day have been unbelievably boring. Geoff Johns and Peter J. Tomasi are two of the best writers working at DC right now, but there are some characters even they can’t make interesting. Still, it’s been a good month or two since we’ve seen anything to do with Hawkman and Hawkgirl, though, and while it’s almost guaranteed that they’ll be back soon enough, the book has benefitted from their almost complete absence.
This issue focuses on the developing Martian Manhunter, Firestorm and Deadman stories; when the book began, Deadman was easily the most enjoyable arc, with the nicest art, and while there’s only one page of it in this issue, it’s still the best part of the book. The Martian Manhunter story, meanwhile, has grown in strength, and the last few issues have increased the tension surrounding the other Green Martian to the point where this instalment felt perfectly natural and the fact it filled up roughly two-thirds of the book was a blessing more than a curse. The weakest of these three stories still remains the Firestorm arc, though, and while it is the least enjoyable, the recent Black Lantern story developments within it make it just as fun to read as the rest of the book.
The artwork is often talked about in these weekly books as being unattractive and poor. 52 didn’t have the best art team, but the story was fantastic, and the art fit the characters. Countdown had some nice art, but the story was pitifully bad. Trinity had a weak story, and some of the worst art of Mark Bagley’s career. Wednesday Comics was perfect. Justice League: Generation Lost has been almost consistently great. This book has its ups and downs. The Ivan Reis page is certainly the best, while the Patrick Gleason art only whets the appetite for his upcoming Batman and Robin run with Tomasi. The rest of the art by Scott Clark and Joe Prado, meanwhile, doesn’t really feel that great, but suits each story.
For a fortnightly series, Brightest Day has managed to keep an even pace, and engages more often than not. The cliffhanger of this issue is so obvious that it’s actually shocking to see it, to the point where it actually feels perfect. But, hopefully, we’ll get more issues like this and less involving the characters that don’t warrant our care and attention.
Rating: 8/10
Bruce Wayne: The Road Home: Catwoman (One-Shot)By Derek Fridolfs and Peter Nguyen
And so we come to the next issue of the rollercoaster ride that is Bruce Wayne: The Road Home. This week, the number of one-shots focusing on the topic of the Insider and his illusive and somewhat pointless quest were sliced in half; only two issues, the first focusing on Catwoman.
Catwoman has been something of an elusive character for quite a while now; Ed Brubaker and Darwyn Cooke had a fantastic run on her solo book in the early part of the last decade, and then she fell in love with Batman. Properly, this time; there was actual unmasking on the part of the Caped Crusader and there was some genuine affection shared between them. Then, she had her heart stolen by Hush, Batman saved her, professed his love to her, and then died in another storyline, and that thread was very hurriedly wrapped up to avoid any complaints about lingering plot.
This issue, penned by Derek Fridolfs, seems to be set in and around the world of Gotham City Sirens, the series Selina Kyle and her feline alter-ego currently inhabit. And it also manages to develop some of the recent Vicki Vale plot thread from Red Robin and the previous issues of this one-shot/mini-series. There’s also a great flashback to the era of Bruce Wayne as Batman, as he encounters Catwoman in the middle of a heist. These scenes show us nothing we haven’t seen before, but it’s great to see Bruce as Batman again, in a situation we know we’d find him in before long. The biggest plus: the Insider only shows up for a handful of pages at the end. Long enough for Catwoman to work out who he is (have you folks at home worked it out yet? It’s a doozy).
The art chores in this issue are handled by Peter Nguyen, who has a really solid style. He’s not the greatest artist working today, by any stretch, but he gets the job done. Particularly in the aforementioned flashbacks, the characters of Batman and Catwoman seem to come alive with vibrant energy, while the scenes set in the present suffice, but lack any real solid integrity.
The final page of the issue seems to tie everything back to the Gotham City Sirens world, almost completely removing us from the story that’s actually been told within. The implication that the Batman-Catwoman relationship will be dealt with in the near future, though, is a welcome one, and bolsters this issue above its otherwise standard entertainment level.
To be continued in "Bruce Wayne: The Road Home: Commissioner Gordon"
Rating: 7/10
Bruce Wayne: The Road Home: Commissioner Gordon (One-Shot)By Adam Beechen and Szymon Kudranski
Commissioner James Gordon is one of the best characters in comic books. He has been since his inception, and is the victim of numerous writers who just can’t seem to work out how to write him properly. In fact, the majority of the Gotham Police Department suffers this fate, unless they’re being scripted by Ed Brubaker or Greg Rucka. But, the fact that Gordon, the patriarch of that whole world, and one of the central pillars in the Batman universe, suffers more often than not, it’s somewhat a breath of fresh air to read this book.
The sixth Bruce Wayne: The Road Home one-shot surrounds an attack on Police Headquarters as Commissioner Gordon and a rookie named Patel attempt to escape from the besieged building, all the while protecting the target of the attack, one Vicki Vale. As part of this particular arc that’s been threaded throughout the mini-series, this issue works perfectly; it shows that the villains are becoming aware of Vale’s quest to unmask all the superheroes, and it throws in some familiar faces, primarily the Penguin, for a brief cameo.
The Commissioner Gordon angle of the story, which is, obviously, the focus of the issue, harkens back to the style of Gotham Central and almost conjures up even more desire for that fantastic book to return in some form. It also manages to successfully tease the Gordon back-up which is set for Detective Comics in the near future; if it’s anything as good as what Adam Beechen has penned here, it’ll be fantastic. That’s not to say this is a perfect story; it’s unbelievably simple, the major twist is obvious from the start, and the moments with Barbara Gordon and the Insider leave much to be desired.
Szymon Kudranski manages to apply an Alex Maleev style to the art in the book, making the whole issue feel constantly grimy and harsh, but almost never in an ugly way. There are some unpleasant moments where characters faces change and some of these unfortunate errors occur on the same page, but for someone who’s clearly an up-and-comer, it’s promising stuff.
The end of the issue teases that we’re going to finally receive some closure to this story in the next two issues, which is good, as so far, the only threads that have kept the book going are the Vicki Vale side-plot and the Insider arc, which in itself, is repetitive and boring. This, however, is an example of how decent one of these issues can be; just imagine if the whole series had been like this.
To be continued in “Bruce Wayne: The Road Home: Oracle”
Rating: 8/10
DC Universe Legacies #6 (of 10)By Len Wein, Scott Kolins, Jerry Ordway and Keith Giffen
As a comic fan, reading a book like DC Universe Legacies can be one of two things. One: it can be a showcase of memorable moments from the plethora of iconic moments in the history of the DC canon; and, two: it can be a wholly disappointing experience, retreading events that are already burnt into our memories, and skipping over events we wish the publisher would tell us more about.
This issue of DC Universe Legacies fits somewhere in the middle; picking up from the previous issue’s Crisis on Infinite Earths introduction, we are propelled through the aftermath of that event and its impact on our street level point of view character, Paul. The issue briefly includes the events of the fantastic Legends mini-series from the post-Crisis era, and settles on one of the defining moments of the modern age of comic books. But it feels very slack; no matter how hard the creative team tries, the character of Paul doesn’t have as much impact as Marvels’ equivalent, Phil Sheldon. The last few issues of this series, in particular, have felt very trudging and far from the intense feel of the first issues.
Len Wein is far from a slacker when it comes to writing a compelling story, and so far he’s managed to maintain some of his charisma and genuine charm throughout the narrative. The back-up story about the Legion of Superheroes, however, is mortally wounded; it feels like the same sequence that has cropped up numerous times in the last two years, and while there is a slight twist, it isn’t enough to redeem that mini-story.
The artwork in both stories is fairly decent, however; the bookend scene drawn by Scott Kolins is easily the least appealing of all three sets of artwork. It’s sad to consider that a few years ago, Kolins was one of the best artists in the business; now, his work feels flat and muddy. Jerry Ordway’s art chores on the bulk of the book are delightful to behold, but feel like a slight step-down in quality following the George Perez issue from last month, and even though Perez returns to ink this issue, Ordway is still fighting something of a losing battle. The back-up art by Keith Giffen shows that the man still has some flair when it comes to illustration over plotting; his characters are delightfully cartoony, but his Clark Kent is positively ugly, to put it kindly.
There are only four issues left of this mini/maxi series, and while the last few have been something of a let-down, the ending of this issue does suggest that there is brilliance looming in the near future. Hopefully, as we enter into the early 1990s of DC canon, the series will return to the brilliance of the initial issues.
Rating: 7/10
By Mark Millar and John Romita Jr
No matter how much people try to deny it, Kick-Ass was one of the best comic book mini-series produced in the last five years. It didn’t have much depth, sure, but it was an engaging, entertaining and all around fun piece of comic booking. Essentially, what Mark Millar and John Romita Jr managed in the first series was to take the superhero genre and twist it into the most outrageous comic book movie of all time. And then, there actually was a movie.
So, with that in mind, this week we find ourselves with the first issue of Kick-Ass 2, or as Millar calls it, “Balls to the Wall.” And right away things seem to just grind to a halt. This shouldn’t be a surprise to fans of the comic and the movie, the first few issues were relatively slow affairs, so this fits in with the start of a new story, but the Kick-Ass brand has become so synonymous with over the top violence it was slightly disappointing to read this issue.
The focus in this continuation of Millar’s story is on Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl, as the latter trains the former; it’s the odd couple approach that made the last few issues of the first series so much fun, and the dialogue between the two is pitch-perfect. Kick-Ass is a celebrity in the world now, and he needs to develop his skills to maintain his status as the premiere superhero. It’s a nice bit of character work, and that is something Millar has been hit-or-miss with recently.
John Romita Jr’s artwork remains absolutely stellar. The man has done well for himself considering he’s the son of one of the greatest artists of all time, and this issue is a showcase of just how much of an icon he has become on his own. His style is bulky, but brilliant, a perfect mesh for this kind of action romp. If there’s any complaint to be had, it’s that the colours feels very sludgy and at times, make the artwork feel less engaging, but this is only a minor flaw.
Kick-Ass 2 has set itself up to be just as fun as its predecessor, while at this point the story feels slightly thin, it’s sure to pick up and become one of the best series of the next two/three years, regardless of the numerous delays it will surely suffer.
Rating: 9/10
Power Girl #17By Judd Winick and Sami Basri
Somehow the departure of Amanda Conner, Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti has not crucified Power Girl as a series. In fact, Judd Winick and Sami Basri’s continuation of the series has been almost better than the previous run, but for a lot of different reasons. By tying Power Girl back into continuity rather than letting her exist within her own little bubble, Winick and Basri have made the character and her world feel fresh, engaging and relevant. And this issue, they’ve taken it to a whole new level.
There are a few simple rules to make a comic book absolutely incredible. The first is to include Batman in a supporting role. Not a starring role, mind you; a supporting one. Let him interact with characters he wouldn’t normally, and see how it pans out. It’s a good thing, therefore, that Judd Winick is one of the best Batman writers of the last decade; he understands what makes the Caped Crusader tick, and writes him perfectly. So, how do you make this issue more of a challenge? You use the Dick Grayson Batman, because the Bruce Wayne Batman is still dead, or gallivanting around in a ridiculous robot-like costume, stalking his friends.
The interactions between Kara and Dick are absolutely wonderful, and the first half of the book is probably one of the best examples of how much fun Dick Grayson’s Batman can be. Winick writes him as an adventurer, who takes his work seriously, but is also there to have fun; when he needs to get serious, though, he gets incredibly serious incredibly fast, and that’s exactly how Dick should be as Batman. It’s not only Batman that Winick writes well, though; the character interactions between Kara and Nicco are fun and entertaining and remind you that Winick is a very funny guy.
Sami Basri’s art, meanwhile, is some of the best work being published right now. It’s incredibly stylistic, but it feels powerful and draws your eye to the page through its alluring combination of expression, detail and composition. If they’re aren’t big things in Basri’s near future, then DC is making a serious mistake.
The story leads into the opening of the previous issue, with Power Girl fighting a mysterious assailant, and this cliffhanger is the weakest part of an otherwise perfect issue. The ending just feels like it’s been done a million times before, probably because it has, and doesn’t have as much of an impact as you probably think it should.
Rating: 10/10
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