Monday, February 27, 2012

New Comics!: The Bat Edition #1 of 2 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Batgirl #6:  OK, so, one of the things that bothered me last issue, but that I was giving Simone time to explain, was the idea that Gretel could have brainwashed Bruce Wayne.  As Barbara herself notes in this issue, Bruce has resisted every type of mental attack out there.  I mean, we're talking about the guy who created a back-up personality just in case someone messed with his mind.  But, Simone doesn't disappoint.  She reveals that Bruce was mostly acting for the witnesses, since, to be fair, Bruce Wayne shaking off Gretel's powers might've raised a few eyebrows.  With that lingering question resolved, I was free to enjoy the rest of the issue.  Simone gets a little exposition-y here with Gretel's story, to the point where I feel like, had she taken an extra issue, we might have gotten her origin story more naturally, possibly through Barbara's investigation, rather than three pages of thought bubbles.  That said, I believed this origin story a lot more than I believed the one provided for Mirror.  Moreover, I have to applaud Simone for really diving right into providing Barbara with her own rogues' gallery.  Simone also keeps some of the ongoing sub-plots going, giving us appearances by Barbara's mother (and revealing that James, Jr. does exist in the DCnU) and Detective McKenna, who I'm guessing will eventually become Barbara's own Commissioner Gordon.  All in all, this series continues, for me, to be the best thing about the DCnU.

Batman #6:  OK, it was hard for this issue not to a bit anti-climatic, given that last issue was maybe the single best comic book I've ever read.  But, Snyder actually puts the plot a bit on fast forward here, having let the dramatic tension build over the last few issues.  We start to get a better sense of who the Court of Owls are, or, at least, how they operate and how insane they are.  (To be honest, the latter is a sort of reveal, given that it was possible that the Court was a sort of gentlemanly pursuit, albeit a gentlemanly pursuit of the type you'd only find in Gotham.  Instead, it's more of a Black Glove pursuit.)  We also maybe (maybe?) get a clue that the Court of Owls might've really existed around the time of Alan Wayne, given that he appears to be one of the victims whose photos appear on the wall.  Does that mean Bruce was wrong that they never existed?  Snyder relies on the pretty standard Batman denouement here, where Bruce is pushed to the brink of physical exhaustion only to find a last reserve of strength to defeat Talon and reveal his carefully laid escape plan.  However, Snyder is Snyder, and we don't see Bruce stagger into the Batcave to be tended by Alfred, but instead face yet another impediment to his escape.  It might not have been the greatest comic ever written like last issue, but it's still a satisfying and intriguing read.

Batman and Robin #6:  OK, let's address the most obvious problem with this issue:  pet peeve #1.  Bruce and Damian never fight in this issue.  I mention it, because it's one of those covers that throws off the entire issue as you're reading it.  You're kind of moving past important plot points because you're waiting to get to the scenes depicted by the cover (Batman and Robin fighting), but you never get there, leaving you feeling disappointed at the end, regardless of how good the issue was.  And, it was a good issue.  Although I'm not a fan of the device of having Bruce narrate his past with the Ducards for Damian, I felt that the flashback sequences in this issue were more effective and interesting than they were last issue.  We see Bruce almost kill Ducard; we so rarely see Bruce in this sort of rage that it was downright shocking.  Moreover, it seems to set up the next issue, because you can tell Bruce is going into the coming battle with Ducard totally beside himself in concern and rage.  I almost wonder if Tomasi would have Bruce kill Ducard, which goes to show how well Tomasi sold Bruce's emotions in this issue.  Tomasi also doesn't disappoint in the Damian department.  I actually bought the fact that Damian intended to shoot the Ambassador, just as I bought the reveal that he was faking it.  In the end, I'm glad it was the latter, not the former.  As I've said before, I've been annoyed by how Tomasi seemed to discount the work Dick did with Damian, though, here, you can see it shining through the ruse.  Moreover, he also reminds us that Damian is vulnerable; as Bruce himself says, he's the only ten-year-old boy patrolling the streets at 2:00 am.  I feel like we're going to end this arc moving past a lot (though, clearly, not all) of the issues that Tomasi showed Bruce and Damian having.  All in all, it's probably the best issue of this relaunched title and addresses A LOT of the concerns I had about this series.  I can't wait to see next issue's fight!

Batwoman #6:  I feel like you have to accept the occasional experimental and non-linear storytelling techniques when reading Williams and Blackman (can we call them WnB yet?), so I put aside my initial annoyance and kept reading.  I'm glad I did.  If nothing else, WnB (see, maybe I'm making it a thing) manage to show us just how populated of a world they've created, giving six different characters their own storylines.  (OK, really five, since, after all, two of the characters, Batwoman and Kate, are the same person.)  They reveal that Maria's children were killed in order to drive her to suicide, so that a mysterious woman named Maro could trap her spirit before it moved to the next world and use it to harvest children and strike fear in the hearts of Gothamites, making them "start believing in monsters again."  (I'm pretty sure the people of Gotham believe in monsters, though.  I mean, maybe the people of Topeka don't, but I don't see how you live in Gotham and don't believe in monsters.)  They imply that Detective Sawyer has a child, reminding us that we don't know a lot about her, something highlighted by the conversation she has with Kate, who refuses to allow them to discuss their pasts.  They also upgrade Batwoman's armor, a perk of her new alliance with the D.E.O.  I'm still not a fan about the sudden change in her relationship with the D.E.O., but it's a minor point.  Most intriguingly, they drop us in media res of Batwoman's battle with Medusa (or, at least, who I assume are Medusa).  It's a lot for one issue, but WnB pull it off really well, delivering yet another excellent issue.

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