Batman Incorporated #7: OMG, I liked this issue! No, really! Crazy, right? Morrison gives us a Native American Batman and Robin, and it's probably the strongest issue of this series. He presents the plight of reservation life in a matter-of-fact way, avoiding the sermonizing, patronizing approach that usually accompanies such stories. He portrays Man-of-Bats as a man who's unaware he's fighting a losing fight against crime (Bruce is going to love this guy) and shows (not lectures) how the lack of government presence made it easy for Leviathan to infiltrate the reservation. Little Raven is a more reluctant and restless Robin than Dick, Jason, Tim, or Damian ever were, and his relationship with his father is poignant. ("I'd kill to fight just one giant robot or master-villain...") Burnham's art is great as always. I would totally buy a series based on these two. Thanks, Grant, for finally throwing us a bone! On the larger Leviathan plot, the mystery deepens here, in the sense that at least one of Leviathan's goals (if not Leviathan's main goal) is taking down Bats. Morrison's not going to give us an answer to that mystery anytime soon, so I'm glad he's now at least giving us enjoyable stories as he goes.
Detective Comics #878: Not to put too fine of a point on it, but holy fucking homicidal maniac, Batman. We'll get to that. First things first, though. The first 18 pages of this issue wrap up the storyline involving Tiger Shark and Sonia Branch. Dick confronts Tiger Shark, a pretty-insane pirate who (allegedly) comes from a long line of pretty-insane pirates who seek to destabilize civilizations. Tiger Shark manages to outwit Dick not once (capturing him in the first place), but twice (sabotaging the yacht after escaping). One of my favorite moments of the issue is when Dick narrates his almost-unbelievable escape from Tiger Shark's yacht, observing (as he's swimming from an amazing depth to the surface) that he had been trained to be overcautious and, as such, boosted his oxygen levels before starting this "seafaring" mission. It's a subtle nod to the past, and Snyder manages to convey in Dick's thoughts a sense of how hard Bruce drove him as a kid but also how much Dick owes him, and how Dick balances those two realities every day. It's again a testament to Snyder's skill that he can do all that in just a few lines.
The story switches gears when Dick meets James Gordon, Jr., something the Commissioner had previously asked him to do. James has been volunteering at Leslie's clinic, and the two talk about the last time they saw one another, when a bully named Ben Wolff had stolen James' glasses. During the conversation, Dick has an epiphany about the Branch case. He confronts her later, correctly guessing that she had deleted the information on security tapes so that he would go after Roadrunner first then Tiger Shark, eliminating two of her enemies, despite the fact that Roadrunner had nothing to do with her assistant's death. (By the way, this conversation occurs at Ms. Branch's rooftop pool, where she's clad only in her bikini. Dick, man; he's a sucker for the troubled, hot girls.) Snyder is an expert at portraying morally complicated people. Sonia Branch used Batman to get two criminals off her back; she didn't really engage in serious criminal activity herself (other than a little obstruction of justice), but she shows a certain amorality in achieving her ends. Moreover, I enjoy how no one really gets his or her comeuppance here. Branch used Batman to scare off Tiger Shark, who was trying to get her to launder his money. Tiger Shark escaped. I'm not sure Bruce would've been manipulated this way, but it's why Snyder has such a great touch when it comes to being perhaps the only Bat-writer to remember Bruce isn't under the cowl. Conversely, Bruce probably wouldn't have been able to let Branch walk. Something about this issue just reminds you that Dick is playing a long game here, getting to know Gotham, getting to know how he fits. He's careful and methodical while being loose and adaptable all at the same time. I can't put my finger on exactly how we see it in his interaction with Sonia, but we do. He doesn't feel the need to drag her to prison just to have a win, but he gets his point across nonetheless.
Again, you'd think we'd be done. However, Snyder doesn't stop here. In the last two pages, we watch James go to Ben Wolff's house, pick up his mail, and enter his basement, where, we discover, he's been slowly removing Ben's limbs while keeping him alive. Yup. The question of whether or not James Gordon, Jr. is a sociopathic nut job has been answered, and it's a big ol' YES! Snyder is just so brilliant when it comes to pacing a story, and I found my heart simply racing as James made his way through the silent house. The reveal on the last page was made all the more amazing by Jock's depiction of James, making him reminiscent of his father, showing us in a way a weird, sick, twisted version of James Gordon, Sr. I have no idea where Snyder is going with the James story, other than my previously voiced hunch that we're seeing the birth of a new Joker here. Dick seems to see the evil in James, since the epiphany he had during their encounter was that people don't change, leading him to believe that Branch, the daughter of the man who killed his parents, was at heart a criminal. As such, he probably doesn't buy James, Jr.'s rehabilitation. I hope the reboot doesn't sweep James, Jr. under the rug. Honestly, no one writes a better comic book than Scott Snyder, and someone should use this arc as a case study for how you write a comic-book series. Simply amazing. This issue is possibly the best one I've read all year and this arc is right up there with Snyder's "The Black Mirror" arc from a few issues ago. Awesome.
Uncanny X-Men #539: Part of the reason I don't like Wolverine stories is that they're all the same: Logan is the tough guy who has to make the hard decisions, but he's also a soft touch who feels the pain of those decisions deeply. This story is exactly that. We learn that Logan is avoiding Hope because, if she goes "the bad way," if you will, Wolverine will be the one likely to have to kill her (see "Jean Grey"). His words also imply that he'd normally be drawn to her, in a way that he was similarly drawn to Kitty and Jubilee (hopefully in a non-gross way). I don't disagree with Logan's assessment, really, but, at this point? Yawn. Gillen still manages to write an entertaining issue despite his two main characters being not exactly the fun sort. But, let's just say I'm glad it's a single-issue story.
Venom #4: With each new issue, Remender tightens the noose around Flash's neck a little more, building an increasingly suffocating sense of doom. The interesting part of this issue (and series so far) is that the symbiote isn't the only one making life complicated for Flash. As Crime Master predicted, he neglects to tell the military that Crime Master knows his secret identity and he lies about losing control in the Savage Land. Flash knows he's digging himself deeper and deeper into a hole, so much so that it's looking increasingly unlikely he's going to find a way to escape it. However, beyond the intriguing moral decisions Flash has to make, this issue had some down notes. I'm confused why General Dodge, who, after all, pushed the detonate button to kill Flash last issue, in the end decides to let him live. He knows that, if Flash has in fact been infected by the symbiote, Flash is not going to be able to tell him that, so why does he take Flash's word that the symbiote was only in control for a short time in New York? Moreover, how does Spidey totally ignore the duality of Venom, who on one hand wants to kill Betty and on the other hand is begging him to save her? Peter doesn't realize that the symbiote has bonded with someone who's fighting for control? Peter's a smart enough guy to realize the symbiote and the host are two different entities, so it's bizarre that he has absolutely no sympathy for the host, particularly since he has no idea who it is. Remender has to tighten up that side of the story, particularly if the main theme of this series is going to be the moments when Flash loses control and the symbiote takes charge.
X-Men: Prelude to Schism #4: Anyone who reads this blog knows that Wolverine is pretty much my least favorite character ever, so it should come to no surprise that I liked this issue least of the series. It's a tour of Wolverine's past, ground we've already seen covered pretty much everywhere else, so it doesn't really do much to contribute to the story. We also don't learn the source of the threat that will be the focus of "Schism." It's time to get this show on the road.
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