Batgirl #3: OMG, SQUEEE! I love this issue. I love that Simone gave us this issue early in the run. She covers so much ground here it's hard to put it all into words. Let's talk about Mirror first. Simone does an amazing job portraying Barbara's sense of dejection after she fails to stop Mirror from blowing up the train. Her conversations, both imagined and real, with her father in his office establish how on edge she is, struggling to be this sort of superhero again. We get our first hint here, both from the Commissioner and Nightwing, that she's pushing her physical limits, and I feel like Simone is doing a great job using these reveals to show that Barbara didn't just magically wake up one morning all healed. She's driving herself possibly too hard, something we'd expect from Barbara. Only three issues into this series, you can tell that its Barbara's drive to succeed, in spite of the consequences, that's going to give us an endless number of compelling stories. Now, let's talk about Nightwing.
I don't think I've ever read a better sequence of seriously intense flirting and heart-felt conversation than this one. My heart raced as Barbara narrated the chase, because Simone has such a great ear for her inner narrator and an amazing ability to convey real feelings. I really felt Barbara's emotions, from struggling with her complicated feeelings for Dick while at the same time trying to make him see her as something other than a charity case. Their chemistry here is electric, because Simone takes us beyond tired clichés and gives us real people. I mean, who wouldn't have a crush on Dick Grayson? Seeing him portrayed here -- cocky and sensitive at the same time -- makes me wish Simone was writing "Nightwing," because it's this type of story that shows us how different from Bruce Dick is. I particularly enjoyed that Simone let's Barbara be a red-blooded, sexual being. She doesn't just want Dick because he's nice to her. She actually wants him. Women are so often neutered in comics (see Wonder Woman) that I love that Simone had Barbara talk about Dick physically, how the look he gives her melts her, how having the former Boy Wonder wrapped around her makes her "think of something other than trains and explosins." It's this desire for him that really drives the issue, that takes it to the next level and made my heart race. The final images of the book -- frozen images of Barbara watching Dick somersault into the night -- were the topping on the cake. An amazing issue of a great series.
I don't think I've ever read a better sequence of seriously intense flirting and heart-felt conversation than this one. My heart raced as Barbara narrated the chase, because Simone has such a great ear for her inner narrator and an amazing ability to convey real feelings. I really felt Barbara's emotions, from struggling with her complicated feeelings for Dick while at the same time trying to make him see her as something other than a charity case. Their chemistry here is electric, because Simone takes us beyond tired clichés and gives us real people. I mean, who wouldn't have a crush on Dick Grayson? Seeing him portrayed here -- cocky and sensitive at the same time -- makes me wish Simone was writing "Nightwing," because it's this type of story that shows us how different from Bruce Dick is. I particularly enjoyed that Simone let's Barbara be a red-blooded, sexual being. She doesn't just want Dick because he's nice to her. She actually wants him. Women are so often neutered in comics (see Wonder Woman) that I love that Simone had Barbara talk about Dick physically, how the look he gives her melts her, how having the former Boy Wonder wrapped around her makes her "think of something other than trains and explosins." It's this desire for him that really drives the issue, that takes it to the next level and made my heart race. The final images of the book -- frozen images of Barbara watching Dick somersault into the night -- were the topping on the cake. An amazing issue of a great series.
Batman #3: First things first: Greg Capullo's Bruce Wayne can accost me in a dark alley anytime he wants. [Shiver.] Yes, I know he looks Dick's age and, yes, I know the reboot shouldn't have affected the time steam, but, seriously, I don't care. I could stare at Capullo's Bruce all day. The dreamy eyes, the toussled hair... [Deep breath.] OK, now that we've gotten that part done, let's move onto the plot. I love this Court of Owls business. It's what I had hoped "Batman: Gates of Gotham" was going to be, but, disappointingly, wasn't. I love the attention to detail that Snyder characteristically brings to the tale, having the owls "nest" in various buildings built with Alan Wayne Trust funds, as actual owls do in the homes of actual bats, their natural enemy. Now, the Waynes weren't associated with bats until Bruce, so I'm intrigued whether Snyder is going to make a more direct connection between the Court of Owls and Batman, or if it's just going to be coincidence that Bruce happens to be Batman, given that bats and owls are natural enemies. Either way, truthfully, it works, because the Waynes are the enemy in whose homes the owls are "nesting." Snyder keeps this issue moving at a brisk pace. I realized I hadn't breathed in a while as Bats made his way into the first owl nest and kept on not breathing during the creepy sequence where he made his way to various other owl nests. (Again, Capullo really brings it here, with those creepy photos of Talon posing with the people wearing owl masks really adding to the tense atmosphere.) I also marvel at the fact that Snyder has changed his tone for "Batman." Whereas his "Detective Comics" always focused on the dark threat that simmered underneath the surface -- the approaching menace whose movement you could see from the corner of your eye but on which you couldn't exactly focus -- he's giving us more traditional straight-up threats in "Batman." I mean, they still bring his careful plotting and amazing storytelling, but they fit more in the tone of "Batman," which focuses on him more as a superhero, than that of "Detective Comics," which focuses on him more as a, well, detective. Awesome stuff. I'm also glad to see Lincoln March survived, because, seriously, Bruce could use a friend.
(NOTE: I always write my reviews before reading anyone else's review. But, I usually have a lag of a day or so between when I write a review and publish it, because I usually just want to let it sit a day to make sure I'm, you know, coherent. In that time, sometimes I read reviews that make me think of something new, and I figure it's worth mentioning here. In the comments on the IGN review of this issue, a lot of people focused on how they like this arc because Batman gets proven wrong, something that, obviously, doesn't happen often, because the Court of Owls does exist. I hadn't quite noticed it, but, in fact, one of the things bothering me throughout this arc is that Bruce didn't think the Court existed in the first place. He's been dismissive of it since it was revealed, at one point even making a comment to the effect that he's the only shadowy operator operating in Gotham. It's bothered me, because I'm surprised Bruce, who, let's face it, has seen a lot would be so quick to dismiss a shadowy organization. I mean, he believes in Leviathan, but not the Court of Owls? I also think Snyder is a good enough writer that he's leading us down this road on purpose. Someone mentioned that Alan Wayne might've built the 13th floor on purpose because he was associated with the Court of Owls. Maybe Bruce was raised having it drummed into his head not to believe in them because, as Lincoln said, they weren't ready for him to know about them yet. At any rate, I thought it was worth mentioning that I will be either slightly disappointed at Snyder for Bruce adamantly insisting they didn't exist or seriously impressed when it's revealed that Bruce having the blind spot in the first place was the work of a criminal mastermind.)
Batman and Robin #3: Tomasi continues to take a restrained approach to this series. As such, you can just feel the tension behind every conversation had. In the end, this issue at its core is a pretty standard tale about Robin defying Batman and Batman having to save Robin when everything goes badly. Tomasi puts a twist on it, though, with No-Body identifying the killer instinct in Damian and encouraging him to embrace it. You can tell that Damian is a little distraught, after his rage subsides, at the damage he's inflicted on the muggers, and No-Body catching him in that moment of weakness doesn't help. I'm intrigued by this movie we're going to watch next issue, as well as some eventual information about No-Body and how he knows all of Bruce's secrets. Tomasi pretty much gets a pass for why we haven't previously heard of this guy, given the reboot, but he's still going to have to give us some details at some point. I can't say this series is setting my world on fire, and I think it's officially on my potential axe list. I more or less enjoyed Damian when he was with Dick, because the various Bat-book authors were doing a great job of telling a compelling story portraying his redemption attempts and contrasting him with the more light-hearted Dick. But, so far, Bruce isn't exactly bringing out the good side of Damian and, now that Damian is confined mostly to "Batman and Robin," the idea of dropping this title -- and his drama -- is tempting. We shall see.
Batwoman #3: Honestly, this issue was sort of odd to me. Williams and Blackman are keeping the Weeping Woman case and the D.E.O. investigation on a slow burn, and, rather than moving forward either plot in this issue, they add Kate "firing" Flamebird and introduce Kate's father. At this stage, it's a lot of angst but not a lot of progress. I'm not really sure why Kate breaks down crying at the end. I mean, sure, she "fires" Flamebird, but I didn't get the sense it was that emotional of a decision, particularly because, based on her conversation with Batman in issue #2, it seems like it's a temporary one. Plus, it seems like a ridiculous one, given that any reasonable person would predict that someone told not to do something is going to go do it, as we see at the end of this issue and as we saw in "Batman and Robin" #3. Moreover, it's a little abrupt. She climbs in the window, fires her, and lies on her bed. I mean, it was probably upsetting, but Williams and Blackman didn't really show anything here that convinced me it would leave her in tears. Similarly, the Weeping Woman incident was probably upsetting, but I don't feel like Williams and Blackman drew a direct enough line between that incident and Kate crying on Sawyer's lap to explain why she was so upset. I just felt like the pace of this issue was off a bit. Hopefully, we'll get more clarity on where the various plots are going next issue (and, you know, something might actually happen).
Nightwing #3: OK, I have to say, I had trouble focusing on this issue, because I was so distracted by the "A cornfield in Iowa, five years ago" banner that began the issue. Are we really supposed to believe the entire sum of Dick, Jason, Tim, and Damian being Robins happened within a five-year period? (I'm not sure if Stephanie Brown even exists in the DCnU, which is why I didn't include her in that list.) In the previous continuity, Dick was usually identified as 12-years-old when his parents were killed. (Dick mentioned in "Batman" #710, before the reboot, that, "The first time I came through this window I was twelve.") If that time frame holds, he's 17-years-old now? Really? Shouldn't he be in high school, not living by himself in an apartment in a bad neighborhood in Gotham? I mean, at most, he's no more than 16-years-old in the flashback scene, because it's not like Bruce was going to adopt a 17- or 18-year-old. In fact, I'd probably put him at no more than 14-years-old. So, we're supposed to believe he's 19-years-old now? Everything in the Bat-books so far has been a pretty soft reboot, so we're lead to believe that everything that happened before the reboot -- including Dick becoming Batman -- happened. (Jason Todd makes reference in "Red Hood and the Outlaws" #2 to all the times he tried to kill Dick, which he only really did when Dick was Batman.) As such, it seems like a stretch to ask us to believe that it all essentially happened in five years. I mean, was Jason Todd Robin for, what, three weeks? Was Dick Batman for only two or three days? The rest of this issue was fine, but I just couldn't get past this blatant attempt at ret-conning to enjoy it fully.
Red Hood and the Outlaws #3: OK, this issue was based around a pretty
obviously forced conceit. S'aru the Proctor, the guy at the heart of
the All Caste citadel, takes the Outlaws' most cherished memories as
collateral for their entry into the Chamber of All, which they need to
enter to retrieve a clue left for them by the Untitled. To be honest? I
have no idea what the hell happened here. I don't remember the
Untitled from last issue, so I certainly wasn't clear on why he would
simply enter the Chamber of All to leave Red Hood a clue to follow
as opposed to stealing some object or gaining some power and or doing
any number of thing that motivate villains to enter these sorts of
places. Moreover, it wasn't clear to me why exactly S'Aru needed
collateral. Was it to ensure the Outlaws didn't remove something they
weren't supposed to remove? Speaking of the memories, I was fine with
the fight between Starfire and her captors, but the conversation between
Croc and Roy was just ridiculous, because I don't believe for a minute
that Cros would spare Roy's life simply because he realized Roy was
trying to commit suicide by Croc. At the end of the day, though, all
these details don't matter. The whole point of this issue and the forced conceit was the last
page, seeing a sick Jason asleep on Bruce's shoulder. Lobdell reminds
us that Jason is still the fucked-up kid he was in the DCU and he still
has a lot of unresolved issues with Bruce and the Bat-family in the
DCnU. The fact that he tells S'aru to keep the memory, for me, was just
heart-breaking. Since hearing about this series, I've hoped we were
going to start working toward some sort of resolution of the issues
between Jason and Bruce et al. This issue serves as a reminder of how
far we have to go. I'm hoping Lobdell starts going somewhere with this
Untitled plot because, although I'm happily distracted by the great
characterization we saw in this issue, I would like to be able to
reasonably understand what I'm reading. At this point, the plot has
simply become a framing device for banter and emotions.
(NOTE: I always write my reviews before reading anyone else's review. But, I usually have a lag of a day or so between when I write a review and publish it, because I usually just want to let it sit a day to make sure I'm, you know, coherent. In that time, sometimes I read reviews that make me think of something new, and I figure it's worth mentioning here. In the comments on the IGN review of this issue, a lot of people focused on how they like this arc because Batman gets proven wrong, something that, obviously, doesn't happen often, because the Court of Owls does exist. I hadn't quite noticed it, but, in fact, one of the things bothering me throughout this arc is that Bruce didn't think the Court existed in the first place. He's been dismissive of it since it was revealed, at one point even making a comment to the effect that he's the only shadowy operator operating in Gotham. It's bothered me, because I'm surprised Bruce, who, let's face it, has seen a lot would be so quick to dismiss a shadowy organization. I mean, he believes in Leviathan, but not the Court of Owls? I also think Snyder is a good enough writer that he's leading us down this road on purpose. Someone mentioned that Alan Wayne might've built the 13th floor on purpose because he was associated with the Court of Owls. Maybe Bruce was raised having it drummed into his head not to believe in them because, as Lincoln said, they weren't ready for him to know about them yet. At any rate, I thought it was worth mentioning that I will be either slightly disappointed at Snyder for Bruce adamantly insisting they didn't exist or seriously impressed when it's revealed that Bruce having the blind spot in the first place was the work of a criminal mastermind.)
Batman and Robin #3: Tomasi continues to take a restrained approach to this series. As such, you can just feel the tension behind every conversation had. In the end, this issue at its core is a pretty standard tale about Robin defying Batman and Batman having to save Robin when everything goes badly. Tomasi puts a twist on it, though, with No-Body identifying the killer instinct in Damian and encouraging him to embrace it. You can tell that Damian is a little distraught, after his rage subsides, at the damage he's inflicted on the muggers, and No-Body catching him in that moment of weakness doesn't help. I'm intrigued by this movie we're going to watch next issue, as well as some eventual information about No-Body and how he knows all of Bruce's secrets. Tomasi pretty much gets a pass for why we haven't previously heard of this guy, given the reboot, but he's still going to have to give us some details at some point. I can't say this series is setting my world on fire, and I think it's officially on my potential axe list. I more or less enjoyed Damian when he was with Dick, because the various Bat-book authors were doing a great job of telling a compelling story portraying his redemption attempts and contrasting him with the more light-hearted Dick. But, so far, Bruce isn't exactly bringing out the good side of Damian and, now that Damian is confined mostly to "Batman and Robin," the idea of dropping this title -- and his drama -- is tempting. We shall see.
Batwoman #3: Honestly, this issue was sort of odd to me. Williams and Blackman are keeping the Weeping Woman case and the D.E.O. investigation on a slow burn, and, rather than moving forward either plot in this issue, they add Kate "firing" Flamebird and introduce Kate's father. At this stage, it's a lot of angst but not a lot of progress. I'm not really sure why Kate breaks down crying at the end. I mean, sure, she "fires" Flamebird, but I didn't get the sense it was that emotional of a decision, particularly because, based on her conversation with Batman in issue #2, it seems like it's a temporary one. Plus, it seems like a ridiculous one, given that any reasonable person would predict that someone told not to do something is going to go do it, as we see at the end of this issue and as we saw in "Batman and Robin" #3. Moreover, it's a little abrupt. She climbs in the window, fires her, and lies on her bed. I mean, it was probably upsetting, but Williams and Blackman didn't really show anything here that convinced me it would leave her in tears. Similarly, the Weeping Woman incident was probably upsetting, but I don't feel like Williams and Blackman drew a direct enough line between that incident and Kate crying on Sawyer's lap to explain why she was so upset. I just felt like the pace of this issue was off a bit. Hopefully, we'll get more clarity on where the various plots are going next issue (and, you know, something might actually happen).
Nightwing #3: OK, I have to say, I had trouble focusing on this issue, because I was so distracted by the "A cornfield in Iowa, five years ago" banner that began the issue. Are we really supposed to believe the entire sum of Dick, Jason, Tim, and Damian being Robins happened within a five-year period? (I'm not sure if Stephanie Brown even exists in the DCnU, which is why I didn't include her in that list.) In the previous continuity, Dick was usually identified as 12-years-old when his parents were killed. (Dick mentioned in "Batman" #710, before the reboot, that, "The first time I came through this window I was twelve.") If that time frame holds, he's 17-years-old now? Really? Shouldn't he be in high school, not living by himself in an apartment in a bad neighborhood in Gotham? I mean, at most, he's no more than 16-years-old in the flashback scene, because it's not like Bruce was going to adopt a 17- or 18-year-old. In fact, I'd probably put him at no more than 14-years-old. So, we're supposed to believe he's 19-years-old now? Everything in the Bat-books so far has been a pretty soft reboot, so we're lead to believe that everything that happened before the reboot -- including Dick becoming Batman -- happened. (Jason Todd makes reference in "Red Hood and the Outlaws" #2 to all the times he tried to kill Dick, which he only really did when Dick was Batman.) As such, it seems like a stretch to ask us to believe that it all essentially happened in five years. I mean, was Jason Todd Robin for, what, three weeks? Was Dick Batman for only two or three days? The rest of this issue was fine, but I just couldn't get past this blatant attempt at ret-conning to enjoy it fully.
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