Okay, one more from last week before I move on to this week's releases. After all, today was new comic book day for those of us in the know for comics. Hey, I just got home from work though, so I haven't read anything yet.
I was kind of worried about what was going to happen in the Batman books specifically (not so much about the Bat-family titles, but the ones featuring Batman specifically) with the relaunch of the new DC universe because the books were in the middle of an ongoing re-establishing of the status quo already. And, he is the one character that is supposed to change the least because at the end of the Flashpoint series, his father, Thomas Wayne, is all but screaming at the Flash to remember his son, so you know that is forefront on his mind as the universe gets reinvented through the Flash's actions.
Detective Comics #1 and Tony S. Daniel gave me a reason to put those worries aside, at least for now. Daniel has written Batman the way he should be written; Batman in Detective is back to his roots as a dark and gritty character. As I said in my previous 2 sentence review on Facebook before I started this blog, if you like Batman gritty and in the Joker's face, then this is the book you should be reading right now. Go buy it already.
The book starts with a triple panel page of hte Joker's face in various disparate positions. It has potential now because the writer knew to start the first book with the Joker (good choice any time you relaunch the Bat). I'd like to say the artist did an excellent job of capturing the insanity of the Joker in just those images of the face, of capturing what the writer intended, but then Tony S. Daniel is also drawing the book, so he knew what he wanted. On the third panel, there is an image of what looks like someone in a dark mask looking down at the Joker's face, and I, for one, thought the fight was already in progress between Batman and the Joker... The second page proves me wrong though as it's a two page spread of Batman rushing across a rooftop trying to get to the Joker before he murders someone else. Now, we're into it, there's a mystery of why the Joker seems to be killing off his "friends" (let's face it, the Joker doesn't really have friends, just people he hasn't killed yet), and Batman is trying to stop another one.
The action doesn't stop from that point on other than a few pages of brief interludes with Batman talking to Commissioner Gordon or Alfred in the cave. The best part is that we're back at a point where, in general, the Gotham PD is ready to shoot at Batman as much as at the Joker again. Currently, this seems to be a political ploy by the mayor of Gotham, but I hope this stays a part of the book for a little while. I always like Batman when he is working outside of the system for the most part. It's the way he was always meant to be written.
I have to mention the city briefly at least because I think Gotham is as much a character in the Bat books as any of the people. Daniel draws Gotham the way it is supposed to be and the colors and inks by Tomeu Morey and Ryan Winn respectively keep it that way. It is a dark city of gothic architechture that looks like there could be a lunatic or psychopath lurking anywhere.
Batman is one of the few characters I've always wandered back to in DC. I've always loved him as a character because he was as "human" as the rest of us and somehow he keeps surviving even in fights with Superman. I love this version of Batman and recommend Detective Comics...judging by its sold out success, most of you already knew all of this though.
Just a bit of a teaser, and to show you what I'm reading, the titles I picked up, in no particular order, are: Animal Man #1 (I missed it last week and barely got my hands on a copy, so it must be good to someone), Green Lanter #1, Mr. Terrific #1, X-Men Legacy #255, Alpha Flight #4, Ghost Rider #3, Demon Knights #1, Deathstroke #1, The New Avengers #16, Starborn #10, Fear Itself #6, Hercules #7, Journey Into Mystery #627, Suicide Squad #1, Batwoman #1, Red Lanterns #1, Grifter #1, Resurrection Man #1, Batman and Robin #1, LEGION Lost #1, Frankenstein Agent of SHADE #1, and Superboy #1.
These are my opinions of the omniverse. The omniverse includes many comic book multiverses, some MMO universes, and our own real universe (or at least mine - maybe yours is different). If you like comic book reviews, MMO's, Christian views, political opinions (these will be minimal but will happen from time to time), or just musings on society, you might like my blog. If you don't, you probably won't, but give it a try, you never know.
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