Comic Review -- Batman #9: Night of the Owls / Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion, and Rafael Albuquerque

This would be a slightly confusing cover if you haven't read this series up to now, with the Cylon-Batsuit staring out at you over what I assume is Wayne Manor.  It's exceptionally bad-ass if you know what's going on though, and the Talons caught in the reflections of the mask's visor actually look daunted.  This is why you do not mess with Batman, ever.  He prepares for everything!

Batman has picked up where he left off in the last issue, coming out of the Batcave's armory in a tank of a Batsuit designed to withstand environmental extremes.  He throws down on the group of Talons, taking a large number of them out before they overwhelm him... and then get trampled by Batman's dinosaur statue.  Batman heads out into Gotham, makes his way to Arkham Asylum (covered in Detective Comics #9), and heads to Lincoln March, who dies just after handing Batman a piece of paper.  Reading it, Batman tells Alfred he knows where the Court is... and that he's going to burn their house to the ground.

In a follow-up story, Alfred's father, Jarvis Pennyworth, recounts the story of his association with the Wayne family, and how he blames himself for the Wayne family becoming enemies of the Court of Owls.  He implies that, if Alfred has indeed read the letter, whatever Jarvis has done, Alfred likely knows what the cause is.

I've made no secret of how much I'm enjoying the Night of the Owls crossover going on amongst the Batman family of titles.  The last issue of Batman sent a shiver through me when I finally put it down, and the follow-up in Batman #9 continues to lay down the sense of epic, creeping dread that has been so expertly delivered in this series and the tie-ins to this story.  Now Batman has decided to actively push back, and as all Bat-fans know, things are about to get seriously ugly... for the Court of Owls.

One thing that is spot-on and which never falters is Batman's sense of confidence.  Whether it's commenting that he can simply play harder as he lays into the Talons or coolly knocking the last one out with the Batmobile as the Talon tries to escape, it never fails to impress me.  This is a guy who has looked into the abyss many times, and always makes whoever's on the other end blink first.

I was saddened by Lincoln March's death, but I'm also a little suspicious of it.  He hung in just long enough to gasp a message for Bruce Wayne to Batman.  I don't know if he's just a figure intended as a springboard of sorts for Bruce, or if he's faking his death and is somehow aligned with the Court, but I can't claim either would really surprise me at this point.  I really would have liked for March to have been an actual, live, genuine BFF for Bruce Wayne.  If anyone needs a civilian bromance, I'd say it's him.

The Jarvis Pennyworth storyline kicks off an interesting and potentially very vital look at the relationship between the Pennyworths and the Waynes, and seems to center on a secret they are keeping from the family they serve.  I'm eager to see what happens next, as the Pennyworths' influence over the Waynes, while subtle, must not be for nothing, and the sinister nature of whatever information they've concealed from them doubtless holds a vital link to the Court.  More, please!

I've said plenty about how much I love Capullo's artwork in this series, so I'll only say this time that he maintains his usual high standards very well.  I saw a lot of hate for Albuquerque's artwork in last issue's additional story, and am more than a little puzzled.  While I admit it's a different style than Capullo's, it's very beautiful and fitting to the tone of the stories.  I can't help feeling people are punishing the artwork simply for not being Capullo's, and I don't think that's right.  Albuquerque's artwork is sinister, evocative, and an excellent fit for the tone of the Night of the Owls storyline.  I for one hope to see more of it!

Overall, this is a strong continuation of this storyline.  I continue to bow to Scott Snyder's take on the Batman mythos, as well as the evocative and striking artworks provided by Capullo and Albuquerque.  If you haven't read Night of the Owls, do yourself a favor and start.  I think this will go down as one of the classic Bat stories.  Highly recommended.

Comic Review -- Batman #7: The Talons Strike! / Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, and Jonathan Glapion

Again, the stupid banner at the top.  Get rid of it, DC.  It's really unnecessary and insulting.  Save your ads for somewhere inside the comic, like a proper marketing monster, so we can either read or ignore them.  Stop blorting up the covers with non-comic related banners.

I do like the concept behind the cover design.  Deal with one Talon, and you've still got a legion more of them on the horizon, preparing to swoop down and finish what the first began.  It sets up a good foreboding tone for the story, and helps keep things tense.

Batman has escaped from the Court of Owls' underground labyrinth, though he is far from unscathed.  He's resurrected by the attentions of a girl named Harper Row, who he's apparently met before, and who he warns to leave him alone before storming off.  He's found by Alfred near one of the underground entrances to the Batcave, and waves off any medical care to go right into an autopsy of the Talon corpse Alfred found.  Meanwhile, the Court prepares what appears to be another Talon for a looming confrontation with Batman.

Nightwing shows up while Batman's examining the body, and gives him the basics about the Talon's abilities and how they work.  Bruce also reveals to Dick that the man on the exam station is his great grandfather, and that Dick was going to be chosen to be a Talon, had his parents not died and Bruce not taken him in.  He tells Dick that he now sees that Gotham is a stranger and an enemy, and Dick responds that neither Batman nor the Court is Gotham City.  Finally, we see the Court release a number of Talons at the same time.  Their goal: to retake Gotham City for them, and destroy Batman once and for all.

I'm continuing to enjoy the revelations Snyder brings forth in this story, first portraying the Court as this mysterious, ages-old thing, and then having them kidnap Batman and drive him to the brink of insanity, with Batman finally escaping and using his formidable mind to figure out the method behind their madness.  I'm not familiar with Harper, but her brief appearance raises enough questions that it's likely we'll see her later, hopefully in a more substantial capacity.  I'm definitely keen to see how Batman handles a squadron of Talons.  I have a feeling that he's suffered enough that some serious payback is in order.

I was a little miffed with one particular moment in the story.  Batman punching Nightwing.  From where I'm standing, it was at the very least, clumsily portrayed.  At worst, it was grossly out of character.  I can understand wanting to punch the little bastard in the mouth when he gets up on his high horse, but that doesn't mean you go ahead and do it, particularly when he's supposed to be one of your closest allies and adopted son.  Presumably, he did it to get the little owl deposit from his tooth--that is what happened, right?--but even that's not made explicit.  And really, was it necessary to hit Dick in order to get it?  I wasn't too thrilled with that scene, overall.

Artistically, I'm becoming a big fan of Greg Capullo's work.  The stark, gritty detail of his line work really helps the story pop, and really establishes the dark mood as well as the idea that the setting really is a dark entity all its own.  Again, the eyes he draws on his characters can really make an entire picture.  Keep the hits coming!

Overall, I'm very pleased with this storyline, and can't wait to see what's next.  I'm really hoping we get to see Batman make the Court pay for what they did to him, for coming to Gotham at all, and for just breathing the same air as him.  All that remains to be seen, but in the meantime, I'm pretty well sold on this storyline and eager to see where it goes.  Highly recommended.

Comic Review -- Justice League #4-6 / Geoff Johns, Jim Lee, & Scott Williams

Justice League #4

I like this cover, even if it suffers from "didn't happen in the comic" syndrome.  While Hal and Aquaman do some verbal sparring, there's never any real physical conflict between them.  Still, Jim Lee does his customarily awesome job of making his heroes look epic and badass, as he does with Aquaman, who actually totally wins me over in one scene of this issue.

The impromptu team-up progresses as Aquaman joins the fray, proving to his new teammates that being king of the oceans holds some distinct advantages in the combat arena.  A newly-formed Cyborg assimilates some of the mysterious cubes in the alien invaders, and inadvertently transports himself into the fray of assembling heroes.  But before they can get their bearings, the invaders' titan of a leader shows up, calling himself Darkseid.

The progression of the plot is good, as we get to see everyone's personalities and the interpersonal dynamics involved begin to really take shape.  It's good to finally see everyone getting together and forming an alliance, albeit one out of desperate necessity.  Clearly these are some powerful heroes, with powerful personalities and biases, but they are slowly coming together.  They may bicker about who's in charge and why, but they already know to fight together against a bigger enemy.

I personally loved Aquaman showing up Green Lantern when asked what he could possibly bring to the table of assembled heroes.  He's never been my favorite hero, but I've also always suspected that to be due to poor utilization by writers of his power set and personality.  After seeing him throw down on Darkseid's minions so thoroughly, I'm eager to see what else Geoff Johns and the other New 52 writers do to make him more favorably viewed.

Favorite scene from this issue: Hal telling the truth about himself after coming in contact with Wonder Woman's lasso, and his reaction to Batman laughing at him.

Artistically, I loved the final page shot of Darkseid as he announces himself.  It's all shadow and blazing eyes and brimstone badass-ness, very much befitting such an apocalyptic foe.  I also like the extra uses of splash pages as the action gets more and more epic and intense.  Aquaman's sharks devouring aliens, Darkseid's emergence and intro... things are definitely getting hairier, and the art really plays that up.

Overall, I'm in it for the long haul.  Between the grand scale of the storytelling and the dynamically beautiful art by Jim Lee, there's little reason not to want to see where this story goes.  Highly recommended.


Justice League #5

Decent cover, even if it's missing Batman and Flash from the assembled team pose.  Still, it symbolizes the team's coming together in the story, and looks appropriately grand.

Darkseid's emergence has temporarily knocked out the heroes.  He captures Superman and contemptuously casts a pugnacious Green Lantern aside.  Batman reveals his identity to Green Lantern, and tells him to put his issues aside and work with the other heroes, then allows himself to get captured by Darkseid's aliens so he can go after Superman.  Green Lantern rallies the remaining heroes with a plan, and they head after Darkseid.  Batman, escaping his captors, finds part of the city converted into some hellish processing plant.

This issue sees the Justice League essentially getting their bearings, realizing that Darkseid is going to be anything but a pushover, and understanding that they'll need to work together to bring him down.  There's only a little bit of action, but the pacing keeps things developing at a good clip, and some of the dialog choices really keep the reader entertained.  Green Lantern acting all feisty and going vainly at Darkseid was quite amusing, for example.

We get an interesting sort of "candid" moment between Batman and Green Lantern in this issue, as Bruce reveals himself to Hal in the name of getting Hal to get over himself and focus on being a team player.  It works in the story, but I'm left feeling a little puzzled by the whole thing.  Batman is notoriously cagey about many things, especially his own secrets, so giving up the big one just to make a point feels pretty out of character, at least to me.

Favorite line of the issue goes to Wonder Woman: "It's settled then!  WE BLIND HIM!"  She reminded me of a Klingon in that moment.  A very hot Klingon, but still.

Art-wise, there's visual candy all over the place.  The visuals of Flash and Superman trying to avoid Darkseid's guided missiles were intriguing, and slightly amusing in their Tron-ness.  I also enjoyed the pose of the assembled heroes when Green Lantern tries out his war cry.  The reveal at the end of the issue is breathtaking in a horrific kind of way, as we see the sheer scale of Darkseid's destructive intentions.

Overall, I'm not overly impressed with this issue, but it does bridge the narrative to what I'm expecting to be an exciting finale.  It looks good, but the action is slowed somewhat.  Still, the overall story is very well told, and I can't wait to see what happens next.  Highly recommended.


Justice League #6

This is a breathtaking cover, in that way that makes your stomach lurch.  The JL, bowing before Darkseid?  Fortunately, it's another of those "not in the issue" covers.  It's very well rendered, and indicative of how formidable an opponent Darkseid is.

The Justice League finally take the fight to Darkseid, working together and hitting him as hard as they can with everything they've got, while Batman tries to find and rescue Superman.  Cyborg manages to use the mother boxes to transport the team and Darkseid to Superman's location, and Batman talks him into getting his bearings so he can assist in sending Darkseid back from where he came.  Cyborg is finally able to shut the tubes created by the mother boxes down, ending the threat and destroying all of Darkseid's props as he is expelled from Earth.  They are hailed as heroes, and commit to publicly forming an alliance.

I really did enjoy the narrative bookends employed for this story, where a writer frames the conflict in catastrophic, end of the world terms.  He's in the middle of the fray, his family about to die with him, but for the emergence of these metahumans on the scene, heroically risking all to ensure that there will be a tomorrow for Earth and its people.  It's a little cheesy, but the impact is really felt at the end of the story where he calls them the greatest superheroes in the world.

I'm also impressed with how little Darkseid actually says about his intentions.  It frustrates the heroes, leaving them to wonder what motivates this titanic force of evil to lay waste to the earth.  This adds considerable weight to his presence as an intergalactic hardcase.

It's always fun to watch the personalities at play between the heroes, and in this issue it's especially obvious. Green Lantern's petulance, Flash's diplomacy, and Batman's forward-thinking all make for amusing moments.  That Wonder Woman and Aquaman are hands-on warriors also makes for an interesting bond between them as they engage Darkseid in melee combat in succession.  I think this issue does a good job of playing up their individual presences, as well as their collective awesomeness.

Artistically, Jim Lee continues to illustrate die-hard action and epic heroes with aplomb.  One excellent example of this is the Justice League's fight against Darkseid, as they take turns engaging him and work together to do so.  Everything looks crisp, dynamic and high-stakes.  The two-page splash of Superman flying into Darkseid to knock him into the mother box tubes was a delight to behold.  Finally, the pose near the end of the story of the team is satisfying, as is the cover of them on the final page, where the writer's book comes to print.

Overall, a satisfying end to a fun origin story.  I'll be curious to see if they come back to the present day--remember, this story takes place 5 years before the "present day"--or if they build directly from this endpoint.  This story is a must-have for Justice League fans, readers of the New 52, or anyone who enjoys Geoff Johns's storytelling and/or Jim Lee's epic artwork.  Highly recommended.

Comic Review -- Batman #4-6 / Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, & Jonathan Glapion

Batman #4: Face the Court
I like the cover for this issue.  Batman in the sights of the Talon, an outline of a Gotham Batman may not know as well as he thinks... it really sets the tone for this issue.  Playing up these elements also shows Batman's obsession with the Court of Owls as a hoax, as well as the Talon's current obsession with killing him.

Batman narrowly escapes the blast from the tripwire he caught at the end of last issue, and heads back to the Batcave, where Alfred attempts to slip him a sedative and get him to sleep.  Dick Grayson, visiting Bruce, finds him awake and continuing to obsess over the Court of Owls.  He explains to Dick about how he looked into it as a child, his curiosity and unwillingness to accept his parents' death as a random act nearly got him killed.  He then journeys into the sewers, where he is ambushed by the Talon, stripped of his utility belt, and dropped into a nightmarish underground maze, where the Court of Owls mockingly greet him.

I have to hand it to Scott Snyder--I'm really enjoying this story.  The subject matter, the way its plotted... it all makes sense, and is plausibly presented in a way that makes Bruce capable of missing the big picture without making him look like a complete moron.  The explanation of how he searched for the Court in the wake of his parents' murder--and how it nearly killed him--makes it clear that, despite his assertions to the contrary, Bruce very well could letting his emotions and past experiences cloud his judgment.  This is in some ways a reassuring reminder that he, like everyone around him, is human, and capable of the occasional mistake.  It just so happens that this mistake may have huge ramifications for his knowledge of Gotham City.

I also really enjoyed the Talon's brief appearance.  It's quick, violent, and brutally effective, as he lives up to his reputation as a tool for the Court.  After he dumps Batman into the labyrinth and leaves him there, you can't help but feel a shudder run through you as you see he's exactly where his enemies want him to be.

Greg Capullo's art continues to impress, though I'm starting to notice that the eyes on his characters look a little too big at times.  It's not a problem, really--the eyes are the most expressive part of the face, one could argue--but it is something I've started to take note of in this issue.  Time will tell whether it works for or against the overall look.  Overall though, everyone and everything looks great.

Overall, I'm hooked.  I've got to see where this ends up going, and what ultimately the Court of Owls is--real, or extremely clever hoax?  The answer will say a lot about not only Batman, but the Court itself.  Definitely a gripping and interesting story for this title.  Highly recommended.


Batman #5: Face the Court
Oh, wow.  Nice cover.  Batman, lying on the ground, covered in blood, trying to pull himself away as the Talon bears down on him, daggers drawn and dripping. The scene is only partially lit and suggests a partially enclosed area.  This looks deliciously grim!

Over a week has passed, with Batman stuck in the Court of Owls' underground labyrinth.  He's delusional, dehydrated, and keeping to the shadows, where he believes it's safe and they won't find him.  Vacillating between fear and rage, illusion and reality, he sees picture galleries of their victims, as well as cameras set up for himself.  Finally, seeing a picture of himself as the latest victim, he is stabbed viciously from behind by the Talon.  The Bat-signal is defaced, prompting Robin to both demand and plead that it be replaced quickly.

The fact that Batman has been trapped for longer than a week by the Court, with no trace, is a pretty big deal.  That they've reduced him to hiding in the shadows, pushed to the edge of his faculties and seeing illusions shows that, whoever they are, they're no pushover group of adversaries.  Something big is going on here, and I'm both horrified and thrilled by it.

I did enjoy the forced perspective mechanism once Batman drinks the presumably drugged water in the labyrinth, where the reader has to turn the comic sideways, then upside down to continue the story.  It's a good mirror of Batman's twisting perceptions and reinforces the suggestion that no one--especially Batman--knows where this is going or how it will turn out.  Very nice and timely use of what could have been a very gimmicky and distracting trick.

Capullo's obsession with the eyes of his characters, which last review I mildly criticized, actually serves him very well here, where shadows and darkness mask all but the most extreme of emotions.  Seeing Bruce's eyes, or specifically, one eye under the torn cowl really drive home just how desperate the situation is, and really works in favor of the narrative.

Overall, this is an eerie and pulse-pounding thrill ride, with an ending that makes you drop your jaw.  While I'm sure he won't die--he never does--I can't wait to see what kind of trouble Batman has to deal with in the next installment.  A wonderfully surreal and nerve-wracking read.  Highly recommended.


Batman #6: Beneath the Glass
Another horrifically good cover here!  I have to give an eager thumbs-up to Greg Capullo for his cover work on this series.  The image of Batman metamorphosing into a man-sized owl is both vivid and grotesque, and probably not far from what Batman is feeling by this point in the story.  I love it.

In an apparent endgame to Batman's time in the labyrinth, the Court of Owls reveals itself to him as the Talon moves in to finish him off for good.  Still plagued by fear and hallucinogens, Batman nevertheless fights back, against the Talon and the Court, using his wits, resolve, and intelligence to engineer an escape from their deadly labyrinth.  With their Talon beaten and broken, the Court members decide to awaken an army of them, to use against the Dark Knight for good.

This was an interesting segment of the story, that does ask the reader to suspend a little more disbelief than usual.  While I'm more than a little skeptical that even Batman can come back from such a thorough psychological and physical beating, I'm willing to chalk it up to that singular strength of will that makes him so special, even if it's just for the sake of narrative license.  What is a little more hard to swallow, in the context of this story, is the Talon's apparent uselessness to the Court after Batman turns the tables on him.  I'm supposed to believe a man who survived a several-hundred story fall like it was nothing, is too beaten and demoralized to come back from a beating from a man who's been starved, dehydrated, drugged, and bloodied for about a week?  I think that is asking a bit much.

It's interesting to note that the Court of Owls doesn't have an age limit, apparently--either that or it's disturbingly easy to qualify for membership when you're young.  This suggests to me that they're some kind of family, which of course begs the question of what Gotham family is rich, powerful, and connected enough to do all of this and keep off of Batman's radar.  If you think the list of possible candidates who could be Batman is short, the list of possible families that could be the Court has got to be even shorter.

Artistically, wow.  The artwork was creepy, nightmarish, and vivid, particularly the illusory sequences of Batman when he's mobbed by the Court.  Some images may even make you sick to your stomach, depending on how sensitive you are--the Owls clucking and possibly touching their tongues to Batman, at one point, are particularly disturbing, on at least a psychological level.  So far Capullo and Glapion have done a wonderful job at keeping this story visually dark, grotesque, and engaging in support of the narrative.

Overall, I'm eager for the next chapter.  More Talons?  A Court of Owls that's so blase about the fact that Batman just escaped them?  If they're only just getting warmed up, I can't wait to see what Batman has to put up with next.  Very highly recommended.

GN Review -- Batman: R.I.P. Deluxe Edition / Grant Morrison, Sandu Florea, Lee Garbett, & Trevor Scott

As I put down my borrowed copy of Batman: R.I.P. and try to shake the cobwebs from my head, I can't help but wonder whether Grant Morrison really is as crazy as he seems, or if he's just super smart and more than a tad pretentious.  This was quite possibly one of the more confusing Batman stories I've ever read, and I say this after having had time to read it, put it away for a while, digest it, and come back and look at it with a more deliberate eye.

What we essentially have with this story is a secret, high-power crime society, led by a Doctor Simon Hurt, who decide to use their resources and abilities to take Batman apart in every way imaginable.  Bruce, meanwhile has started dating a model named Jezebel Jet, who he lets in on his secret identity with surprising speed.  The recent traumas of being Batman, along with Jezebel's suggestion that he plays at being a hero as a way of coping with his parents' death, causes more stress for him, and when he hears the phrase Zur-En-Arrh, it triggers a mental incapacitation and causes him to faint.  Hurt and his minions surround the cave, beat up Alfred, and basically do what they can to destroy Batman's lair and resources.  Bruce wakes up, drugged, with no memory of who he is, when a homeless man takes him on an "odyssey" across the city to deal with his withdrawal symptoms.  When he gets to a point that he knows he'll be okay, Bruce realizes that the homeless man who helped him is gone, and learns that he'd been dead for several days, causing him grief and throwing his sense of reality into question.

Soon after, he basically loses it and creates a Batman costume from purple, yellow and red rags he found in the garbage and fighting crime as the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh.  He sees a small, impish companion called Bat-mite (spelled "might" in this instance), who gives him advice as he fights his way in chaotic fashion back to the Black Glove, the group that had caused Bruce's problems in the first place.  Eventually coming through it and getting back in control of Batman, Bruce Wayne realizes the Black Glove's role in everything and fights back.  He gets buried by the Black Glove, escapes, and goes after Doctor Hurt after he inadvertently summons Batman's allies by poking and probing at the "bat-radia" Bruce's homeless friend had given him.  Chasing Hurt onto an escape copter, Batman causes it to crash, where the story abruptly ends, briefly suggesting that he perished along with Hurt.

Of course, he doesn't die--that honor is reserved for Final Crisis--and we see an epilogue that acts as both a bridge to that story and a summation of Batman's long career and the major events in it.

Again, I'm forced to ask myself what the hell I just read, even after having more or less summarized it.  I'm perfectly willing to admit that perhaps Morrison is just a brilliant writer whose mind functions on far more levels than I can possibly grasp, but the overall feeling of this story was such a sense of disjointment and confusion that I had a really hard time enjoying it.

Never mind that you have to suspend the obvious disbelief of Bruce dating someone like Jezebel Jet, who seems to appear out of nowhere, and letting her into his secret circle so very quickly.  Never mind that you almost have to do some background research on Bat-mite and the whole Zur-En-Arrh phrase / story / character in order to understand what they are and what they mean for this story.  And never mind that we have yet another Bat-villain whose knowledge of Batman and his secret identity is the key part of his intended plan to pick the Dark Knight apart and destroy him so totally.  All of these things, be they far-fetched, troublesome, or just plain annoying, are plausible enough plot points in a world where a man dressed as a bat can hang with modern-day gods in tights.

Accepting it all at once, in one sitting, is asking a bit much, I think.  Setting this up as some grand finale to the Bat's existence--or even Bruce Wayne's particular existence as the Bat--and then suddenly handing it off to Final Crisis feels a little cheap.  And the obvious red herring of Jezebel Jet as a member of the Black Glove was so predictable as to feel insulting.

I know Grant Morrison is an extremely popular writer, and I've been enchanted by a few of his storylines.  But it's hard for me to shake the feeling that he's spending too much time making this whole story complex and hard to follow for it to be enjoyable.

I will grant this (pun partially intended): the Zur-En-Arrh angle was interesting.  In the final analysis, it's what you get of Batman when you completely take Bruce Wayne out of the equation.  It shows that Batman is truly prepared for any eventuality, and I do admire that kind of forward thinking on Morrison's part.  Even Bat-Mite was interesting in that he represented a part of Bruce's mind (logic and reason).  It was an interesting psychological study of that aspect of the character.

The art is good, and the characters are well represented, be they real or otherwise within the context of the story.  That's saying quite a bit, as there are a considerable number of characters, with a considerable number of costumes, and originating from various periods in Batman history.  Despite feeling like a jumble, the visual depictions are actually handled very nicely, and help tell a story that's fairly dark but has grandiose aspirations.

Overall, I'd have to say I'm a little disappointed in this story.  It's complex to the point of distraction, some of the plot elements are just cringe-worthy, and there's simply too much going on that the reader is simply expected to take on faith, when they reasonably shouldn't have to.  Moving a story too fast or in a confusing fashion is a good way to alienate your readers, and I feel like this story for the most part does that.  There are a few interesting and even brilliant bits, but overall, I'm still left wondering if Morrison is brilliant or crazy.  Recommended, with some reservations.

GN Review -- Batman: Year One / Frank Miller, David Mazzucchelli, & Richmond Lewis

I've seen many takes on Batman's origin story--hell, I've privately tried writing my own, just to see if I could do a good job--and it's always a titanic undertaking.  You have to have the character down cold before you can really move along to plotting and interpreting everything else.  Batman: Year One, while not my absolute favorite re-telling of the Dark Knight's initial forays into crime-fighting, is nevertheless one of the milestone stories in the mythos.  It is also undeniably a damn good story overall, because it explores Jim Gordon's life as in-depth as it does Batman's.

Whatever problems I may have with Frank Miller personally--and make no mistake, I now despise that bitchy, sentience-less, ranting bastard--he wrote one hell of an origin story for Batman and Jim Gordon, who receive roughly equal emphasis as they begin their respective careers in Gotham.

Bruce Wayne, having been studying a range of skills abroad for the last dozen years or so, returns to Gotham to begin his war on crime and attain some measure of revenge for his parents' murder when he was a child.  Gordon has just transferred to Gotham from the Chicago police force, and quickly comes to understand that he's come to a highly corrupt--and dangerous--city.  As Bruce gradually evolves his identity as the Batman, Gordon soon receives orders from his superiors to bring the Batman in at any cost.  Using threats and blackmail against Gordon, whose own behavior hasn't been completely sterling, the top cops in the GCPD have a mob goon kidnap Gordon's newborn son.  While Gordon manages to catch up to and tussle with the mobster, Bruce manages to rescue the child from a fatal fall from a bridge.  He hands the baby to Gordon, and is not wearing his costume, but Gordon, who's lost his glasses, says he's "practically blind" without them, and urges Bruce to leave before the authorities arrive.  Soon after, as the corrupt Commissioner Loeb is slowly forced to resign from the police force, Gordon waits on the rooftops for a friend to help him solve a crime involving someone named the Joker.  It appears the alliance between Batman and Gordon has finally solidified, and Gotham will never be quite the same again.

While there are a virtually endless supply of things I could say about the writing here, this is one of those stories that I remember mainly for particular scenes in the narrative.  I'll go over just a few of my favorites and explain why I like them so much.

Assault and Counter-Assault: Gordon's attempts to clean up corruption do not go well on the GCPD.  His superior, Commissioner Loeb, orders Gordon's partner Detective Flass and several others to beat him up.  Flass personally threatens Gordon's pregnant wife Barbara.  What does Gordon do while he's recovering?  Instead of going to the hospital, he tracks down Flass, waits for him to leave alone, then hands him a baseball bat before beating the living snot out of him, taking his clothes, and leaving him naked and handcuffed in the snow.  The fact that Flass is younger, bigger, and a former Green Beret makes his beating at the hands of an injured and pissed-off Gordon all the more satisfying to watch.  After this scene, I perished any thoughts of Gordon being any kind of pushover, forever.

Dinnertime Debut: Wow.  While the corrupt fat cats wine and dine themselves at the mayor's mansion, Batman appears to them, crashing through a window and telling them that their long feast upon Gotham's wealth and spirit is nearing its end.  Just before that scene, you see Loeb telling Gordon that the Batman is not a high priority target for the police.  Now that he and his fellow fat cats and mob bosses have just been threatened by him, what does he say to Gordon in the next panels?  "No excuses... that vigilante goes under--instantly--or it's your job!"  Amazing what a little focus can do, isn't it?

Fight Against the GCPD: Deprived of his utility belt and trapped in an abandoned tenement by the Gotham Police, Batman is injured, cornered, and surrounded by a squad of heavily armed men.  Using his wits, resourcefulness, and more than a few lucky distractions, he turns the tables on the SWAT team, summons a swarm of bats and escapes from them, having only injured a couple of them.  This scene basically establishes that not only is Batman strong and physically intimidating, but also that he's cunning, intelligent and resourceful enough to take on an entire squadron of highly trained men.  After getting shot up by them, he makes the cops look like complete idiots.  Because that's just how bad-ass Batman actually is.

So, there's a few of the reasons that I like the writing in this story.  There are also touches that I didn't particularly care for.  Selina's origin, which didn't feel like it needed any tweaking before this story, comes to mind.  Not only do I find her former calling as a prostitute a little off-putting, but I'm just not sure she figures heavily enough into the narrative for that kind of interpretation.  I mean, really, how often does she appear?  She's on the sidelines for most of the story, and dons the Catwoman costume in a manner that strikes me as reactionary and trite.

Also, in the final action scene, why the hell is Bruce Wayne not in costume?  Perhaps I missed something important, but I don't recall any circumstance keeping him from donning the costume so he could rescue Gordon's family in anonymity.  He just shows up on a motorcycle, wearing body armor and a helmet, which of course falls off.  What was the reasoning there, Frank?

Art-wise, I'm only marginally impressed.  Mazzucchelli's style is fine for what it is, it's just not what I would consider a dynamic or very interesting one for superhero comics--though I suppose you could technically argue that this really isn't a superhero story.  It does feel very noir and gritty, with the bold lines and the liberal use of shadow, but the flat coloring and relatively simple line work feels like this is something we should have seen in the decades prior to the late 80s.  I won't deny that it supports this story wonderfully, it's just not my cup of tea personally.

Overall, Batman: Year One is an important piece of work in the Batman mythos, as well as comics in general.  I don't personally like some of Frank Miller's reinterpretations, but others are spot-on and really make the narrative pop with excitement.  Batman fans of all stripes need to read this story, and I think anyone who likes crime stories in generally will be pleasantly surprised at this comic book story.  Highly recommended.

Comic Review: Batman #1-3 / Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, & Jonathan Glapion

Batman #1

Well, I can definitely get into the cover here.  It's dark, it's desperate... it's Batman facing off against a big crowd of his worst enemies.  Not a bad intro to the issue.

And, as it turns out, the cover isn't lying this time.

The story starts out in Arkham Asylum, with Batman surrounded by a big crowd of his worst enemies, which of course is almost never boring to watch.  His team-up with Dick Grayson's "Joker" is of course just another way to show off Batman's hi-tech toys, which are of course impressive.  It of course makes you wonder just what other gadgets and technological tools Batman has hidden in his narrative arsenal as we kick off this story.

The introduction to the Court of Owls here is handled decently, with a grisly murder pulling Batman away from a party and his unwillingness to even acknowledge the Court even as Harvey Bullock starts to bring them up.  It provides at least a plausible reason for why it's never been brought up before, even if it unavoidably leads to the, "Oh no, not that again!" syndrome that sometimes plagues stories that bring in a new element without ever having acknowledged it in the past.  The ending, though, implying that Dick is the murderer and connected to Bruce Wayne's impending assassination attempt, is a little ridiculous.  Given his publication history, no veteran of these books is ever going to believe that Dick could possibly want Bruce dead.

Art-wise, I enjoy Capullo's designs and pencil work.  He handles Batman and his family and rogues gallery with equal aplomb all around.  Arkham and its denizens look freakish and dirty, while the Bruce Wayne gala and its attendants all look convincingly smooth, polished, and well-to-do.  I think his pencils and Glapion's inks do an excellent job of supporting the narrative and conveying its mood.  Kudos.

Overall, not a bad beginning, though not perfect either.  I'll be eager to see the Court of Owls and how they influence Gotham and pit themselves against Batman.  It makes for a promising initial story arc to the reboot for Batman.  Now we'll just have to see where it goes.  Recommended.

Batman #2

Another cover that actually gives you an idea of some of what's going on in the cover.  The action here is exhilarating, and for good reason.  Batman is playing chicken on a train track with a helicopter.  I am amused.

We get a very in-depth look at Bruce Wayne's relationship to Gotham from his viewpoint, and his many reasons for seeing the city as his.  From his family's building of the city and Old Wayne Tower in the past, to his constant vigilance in protecting the city as Batman in the present day, there's apparently plenty of reason for him to be confident that he knows this city better than anyone else.  The idea of the Court of Owls's existence is anathema to him, as he's the city's best son and its best student.  Nothing happens in his city without his knowledge.

Of course, continued investigation of the murder victim's body suggests they do exist, as does the sudden appearance of an owl-clad assassin to kill Bruce Wayne at the appointed time.  It takes every trick he has to stay alive and evade the killer's wrath, but even then he refuses to believe that the Court exists as anything more than an urban legend.  The assassin awakens from his apparent death while in the ambulance, kills the driver and EMT, and takes off to freedom in the ambulance, leaving a chill as we realize Bruce seems to be very wrong.

I'm also interested to know more about Lincoln March, given his apparent similarities to Bruce Wayne.  I'm hoping he ends up being more or less what he advertises, as opposed to another Tommy Elliot.  He seems like he might know about the Court of Owls, and I'm hoping that, if he becomes an ally, that he's an ally in the form of a regular guy (albeit with connections and money) who really just wants to help protect the city that helped him when he was young.  I think we could use seeing someone like that in this comic.

Old Wayne Tower, the motorcycle-helicopter joust, and the ambulance sequence all look great here.  Capullo can clearly handle action scenes as well as the quieter, more introspective ones where Batman is conducting his investigations.  The assassin, the Talon, is also pretty impressive: fierce, and vicious without even really evincing any expression.  And he just keeps coming, like a Borg or the Terminator.  I like the look of him.

Overall, things keep getting better as the story progresses--this seems to be the norm for the New 52 so far.  As the mystery here deepens, I find myself wanting to know more about the Court of Owls, as well as why Batman knows nothing about them.  The storytelling is tighter than in the last issue, and the illustrations are involving as ever.  Highly recommended.

Batman #3
I'm not too impressed by the blank white background of this cover, but the blacks and reds lend an appropriately stark sense of urgency to Batman's bloody struggle with the Talon in this illustration.  If only there'd been more to the background...


The hunt for the Court of Owls is on in this issue, as we see Batman interrogating the local gangs for information about the Talon, talking to Alfred about his great-grandfather Alan Wayne's senility and to Lincoln March about the Court itself, and finally investigating the possibility of "nests" where the Court has made its bases of operations over time.  Things are kept appropriately chilling and foreboding as we discover that the Court does indeed exist, and has for centuries.  The lead-off bit about Alan Wayne's delirious state shortly before he died was effective in maintaining the mood from the end of the last issue.

The explanations about owls, as they emerge from various sources, also keep things just on the edge of creepy: they're natural predators of bats, they make their nests from the remains of other nests.  Even Lincoln March's warning to Bruce about being so focused on the smaller, more immediate dangers that you can't see the bigger ones that have been close by forever makes my blood chill a little.  When Batman then discovers the various hideouts the Court of Owls has been using over time, it just drives everything home, and we realize he doesn't know Gotham as well as he once believed.

I really enjoyed the various looks of the Court's hideouts over time, established with varying levels of decor and technology to reflect the decade or era in which each was appropriated.  The dark colors in all scenes but the Gotham General Hospital were also impressively suited to the narrative tone in this issue.  We don't see the Talon in this issue until the final panels, but his armor suits over time and his eventual appearance look appropriately awesome and sinister.

Overall, I'm really liking the narrative now.  I'm eager to see how Batman handles the existence of the Court now that he knows it's not just a legend, as well as a rematch between him and the Talon.  Hopefully it'll happen in the next issue.  Looking forward to reading more!  Highly recommended.