Batman The Dark Knight #10 - Since the New 52 began all those months ago, The Dark Knight has consistently been very well drawn but almost completely devoid of any interesting content. The writing was cartoonish and full of holes, with one-dimensional characters and situations that made little sense. They even managed to mess up their part of the epic, otherwise super-awesome cross-over event, "Night of the Owls"!
All of that is poised to change starting this month, as writer Gregg Hurwitz takes over the writing chores to give us a dark, visceral tale of children going missing on the streets of Gotham City, only to be returned, physically unharmed but so badly traumatized that they are near-catatonic. The issue opens on an extreme close-up of our so far "mystery" villain (gotta be Scarecrow, I'm thinking) sewing his own mouth shut. It certainly grabs your attention!
Not only do we get a creepy and disturbing mystery, but we are also treated to some emotional, in-depth moments for Bruce, as well as for both Damian and Commissioner Gordon! Mr. Hurwitz seems interested in making them believable, 3-dimensional human characters! Suddenly this title, my LEAST favourite of the Batman books, has me looking forward to next month!! Excellent!
Of course there's another 7 books, including Justice League and Nite Owl, which we'll discuss After the JUMP!
NEW! Nite Owl #1 (of 4) - "There are things you learn about yourself, about the person you really are, as opposed to the person you think you are, that make you ask the one question nobody wants to ask. Why am I still doing what I've been doing my whole life?"
With these words Hollis Mason, the original Nite Owl, hands over his legacy to Daniel Dreiberg, and a new hero is born.
Nite Owl #1 covers a lot of ground in an efficient way...showing us the pertinent bits of Dan's life right before and right after becoming Nite Owl, his first meeting with Rorschach, his point of view when meeting the other heroes that are invited to form a "new" Minutemen-like group (as seen in the original Watchmen) and his interest in (a still 16 year old) Sally Jupiter aka Silk Spectre! Of course she only has eyes for Dr. Manhattan...
Out of all the super-heroes in both the original and (so far) in Before Watchmen, Nite Owl seems the most sincere to me...the one who wants to do good for the world and help humanity. He does the sort of things heroes SHOULD be doing...saves a woman from being gang-raped, rescues a baby from a burning building, etc. He also really WANTS to be a hero, pulling a "Tim Drake" and finding out where Hollis Mason's headquarters is, breaking in and learning about him in an attempt to join the cause! Perhaps he's naive or too idealistic, but it's a quality I'd admire in him...he still believes in GOOD. Dan's story is a good one and I'm looking forward to issue #2! My only complaint is that it may be a bit rushed...I'd rather have this as issue 1 of 6 than 1 of 4...
Batman Incorporated #2 - "My DETECTIVE walked AWAY when I offered him PEACE. He ran when I offered him a FAMILY and a future. I promised LOVE. He chose WAR."
This month's Batman Incorporated offers us a fascinating look into the mind and motivation of Talia Al Ghul as she confronts her father, Ra's Al Ghul, over her plans with Leviathan and her war against the Batman. Ra's is NOT in favour of her war and orders her to stand down. She is not so anxious to comply...shocking! Hell hast no fury like a woman scorned, and Talia is a woman scorned not just by her beloved, but perhaps far more hurtfully by her father...Who has time to pay attention to a little girl when world conquest beckons?
We also get an abridged origin of Talia, through flashbacks, from when she was a baby, a young girl, a young woman and a young mother...actually these are the only times Batman shows up in this book at all...flashbacks! This issue really wants you to understand Talia, perhaps even sympathize with her...even though she looks poised to become the Dark Knight's greatest enemy. I can't wait to see where Grant Morrison is going with this story...it's obviously reaching epic proportions!
Flash #10 - It's a good thing that the Flash is the world's fastest man because in the last several issues he's barely had time to stop and take a breath! There's no rest this month either, as he returns to Central City for about a panel just to discover that Patti Spivot has been kidnapped and then it's off to Guatemala to save her from some mob family that's taken her for being to curious.
Oh, also connected to this family? The Weather Wizard! Learning some hard lessons about the people he thought he knew.
This whole issue Flash has decided that he's in love with Patti and that it's unfair of him to keep the truth from her...he also needs someone to share HIS hardships with...and so he has resolved to tell Ms. Spivot the TRUTH about who he is! Right now Patti thinks Barry Allen is DEAD! Flash wants to say..."he's NOT dead! He's ME!!" But then....he might have second thoughts about that...
I love the way that this book is written...not just this issue, but the whole run contains all these events happening at near light speed on the page but with Barry's thoughts and insecurities running along in a sort of stream of consciousness, usually lagging two or three miles behind his speed-force charged actions. In a way, I think we can ALL relate...
Teen Titans #10 - The mystery of the mysterious Mystery Island continues right where we left off in Superboy #10 a couple of weeks back, as Red Robin, Kid Flash and the others reunite with Superboy and Wonder Girl! They may be stuck on an island filled with dinosaurs and shaped like a question mark, but at least they're all together! They even have time for a nice relaxing swim and get the chance to, you know, talk to each other! It's cool...
This is really a character development issue. We learn about Tim Drake's doubts as he ponders whether the Titans should even continue. We see Bunker's inner guru come out as he gets tough with Tim! Superboy makes friends and Wonder Girl smiles for what may be the first time, ever! And then of course Kid Flash and Solstice seem pretty fond of each other all of the sudden! I guess living through near-death experiences does help you bond...either that or dropping teenagers on a tropical island paradise just makes them horny, meta-human or no. Probably the latter....
By the way, have I mentioned lately how much I like the artistic team in this comic? The pretty pictures really jump off the page this issue, and I love the facial expressions and how much they communicate! Colours are great too! Kudos!
Aquaman #10 - Chapter 4 of "The Others" begins with another of Aquaman's former team-mates, The Operative, breaking into Black Manta's headquarters to search for information. He finds what he is looking for, but also gets wounded by hired guards for his trouble. Regardless, he makes good his escape and is off to meet up with Arthur, who is embroiled (along with the Prisoner and Ya'Wara) in a battle with Black Manta himself! Manta's still trying to steal Atlantian artifacts from Arthur's friends in order to further his mysterious agenda.
Well, perhaps NOT so mysterious after all! You may recall that Dr. Shin has been left with Mera throughout all of this. He has not been silent in this time, revealing some of Arthur's secrets to his lady-love. As Shen says, "Arthur's kept an entire chapter of his life hidden from everyone. Even you Mera. He's kept Secrets. He's not the man you think he is..."
What could it all mean??
Superman #10 - This month we get part 2 of the tragic tale of Anguish, the girl who can't be touched! We open as Superman is trying to either reason with or fight her into submission with more or less no effect. To make matters worse, the news is reporting that Superman is really some guy named Spence Becker....a man who lives in the suburb with his wife and young daughter! A man who is now in danger of losing that wife and daughter and even his own life! Talk about irresponsible media reporting! Daily Planet C.E.O. Morgan Edge released this story without any proof. Lois Lane is PISSED OFF!
Poor Anguish...she has a story that actually makes her a pretty sympathetic character, but it doesn't excuse her violent intentions! It's up to Supes to find some way to stop her...but how can you stop someone who can't be touched or feel a thing?? Certainly not by physical force...
I continue to be impressed with this Superman story! It's great when Clark is forced to use his head instead of just his mighty, mighty muscles. This month, he'll definitely need BOTH and maybe more...
Justice League #10 - "It's no wonder you're oblivious to the tragedies that befall us. You can't see anything bad happening way up here. At least, not yet."
The Justice League are having trust issues and squabbling amongst themselves up in their satellite so far above the lonely blue planet Earth when a silent alarm goes off. Someone's used Colonel Steve Trevor's access codes to teleport to the Watchtower! Of course Steve Trevor's never been there and the codes are purposely set up to warn the League of foul play! Enter Graves - one time author now mutated and bereft of humanity. He's out for revenge for the deaths of his family! He blames the League and now they will pay...
Incidentally, Colonel Trevor showed his bad-ass stripes by breaking his own hand to slip his manacle and attempt an escape from Graves' clutches! He didn't succeed in escaping, but he did all that he could! Far more than I would expect from him. Good work!
Of course we're also still getting Shazam! stories...and no, Billy has not yet gained any powers. We are introduced to his favourite tiger in the zoo and he appears to be in danger of actually warming up to one or two of his foster "brothers and sisters". Also, the archaeologist with a magic eye from last issue speaks the magic word at the tomb of Black Adam. This can only bode ill...
Wow! Big week of an even bigger month! Can't wait to see what July has in store for us! Won't be long, as what the Americans call Independence Day tomorrow, us Canadians call New Comic Book Day! Can't wait for Action Comics, Detective Comics, and more Before Watchmen...not to mention new issues of Earth 2 and Worlds' Finest!!
As always, in the meantime there's always something to read over at Stryder's Dementia, even if it's just some silly poem....
Peace and Love to the geeks and the freaks! See ya...
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