Batman: Lost #1: Long-time "Batman" readers will probably do a better job of picking out the meaningful nods to his history that pepper this issue. But, Snyder manages to make his point clear even without that. Bruce is stuck floating through his own past, and Barbatos foils his every effort to escape by telling him he's nothing special: Barbatos has been the driving force behind his entire existence, setting up every moment in history that brought about his creation so he could serve as the doorway. Barbatos makes Bruce doubt everything, even convincing him Barbatos has really been the detective, not Bruce. This attack at his will leaves him unable to break free of his history, doomed to constantly repeat it and face the fact Barbatos has allegedly been directing it from the start. Snyder has been painting such a dark picture over these last few months that you almost begin to believe Barbatos, and it's this belief that makes you realize how full of despair Bruce must be for believing it as well.
Detective Comics #968: Tynion wraps up this story well by essentially not providing us a definitive conclusion. The tension in the issue comes from Future Tim using the suit Ulysses is holding at the Colony helicarrier to re-activate the drones, sending them after Batwoman. He takes down the guys in the Cave in pretty quick succession and then takes Tim with him to the Belfry to finish off Batwoman himself. But, he's misunderestimated his control through Brother Eye. Apparently, in his world, Batwing didn't take over the Belfry, so Tim was able to run his routines through Batwing's servers, buying them a window of time. Plus, some of the equipment in the Batcave was running off older servers, allowing the guys to fly Batplanes to take out the drones. (Jason is needless to say thrilled, and the moment Bruce has to end his squabbling with Damian with a simple, "Boys, focus," is hilarious.) Brother Eye knows it's defeated, so he prepares to return Future Tim to his time. He never reveals what Batwoman does, and Tynion doesn't really give us a reason for it. Presumably, if he really wanted to "save" Tim by removing the threat Batwoman poses, he'd tell him. Of course, it's possible he did off-panel, and we'll learn that later. If not, I'm not quite sure I'd buy it. Even Nightwing at one point asks if they could all just talk, and I don't get why Future Tim doesn't go that route. (Per pet peeve #3, I'm not giving Tynion credit for having one of his characters point out a illogical part of the script.) At any rate, he leaves begging Tim to enjoy the time he has before everything goes wrong, and the last panel shows how upset Tim is by this entire arc. I'm certainly excited to see where we go from him. We still haven't really explored Tim's return, since he was so busy fighting Future Tim, so I'm hoping Tynion takes some time to do that over the next few issues.
Falcon #2: Barnes seems to be playing Blackheart for a fool, and I'm honestly not sure how I feel about that. We learn Blackheart has decided to take over Earth as a way to earn a seat at the table where the most powerful beings in the Universe gather once a year to tell their best stories. Apparently when he asked his father Mephisto for a seat he banished him to the seventh circle of Hell for a millennium. Maybe take the hint, Blackheart? But, he doesn't, and he's decided Dray is going to rule Earth once he conquers it, earning him said spot at the table. But, Dray seems an...odd choice for a ruler, as he makes it pretty clear he's only there to get paid. You may also be asking what anything here has to do with Falcon, and you'd be asking the right question. The disappointing part is Barnes' script is so solid when he focuses on Sam, particularly in his interactions with Dr. Voodoo and Shaun. The conversation flows so naturally you feel like you're actually watching the conversations. But, these nice moments are overshadowed by Blackheart's chaos, and it leaves me still wondering how I feel about it all.
Moon Knight #188: Whoa. I mean, holy fucking shit. I can't remember a series that started without the main character actually making an appearance, but that sense of anticipation just helps add to the tension of the issue. But, it's not the only source of tension. The story focuses on a psychiatrist, Dr. Emmett, who previously treated Marc Spector but who I don't recognize from the Lemire/Smallwood run (the only one I've read). She's treating "the Nameless One," a patient who served in the Army but burned several soldiers to death after they tortured him (stripped him naked, forced him to drink urine, etc.). He claims to have experience a religious awakening in doing so, and Emmett recognizes the parallels between his story and Marc's. She decides to introduce him to Egyptian mythology as a way to help him process his trauma. She tells him the story of Amon Ra, with the sun often representing the "sovereignty of masculinity," and Khonshu, with the moon representing femininity and the power of insubordination. At this point, it becomes clear Bemis is creating an archenemy for Marc, and the issue becomes chilling. Emmett visits the military hospital where the Nameless One was originally treated, and a patient there accosts her. Before the orderlies drag him from her, he tells her he was in the same platoon as the Nameless One when the incident happened and that he managed to burn those soldiers with his hands still tied. Emmett is called to Ravencroft for an emergency, and we learn the Nameless One attacked one of the nurses, ripping off her nose because she didn't believe he was a god. When he asks Emmett his name, she offers Khonshu, and it's a reflection of her hope he's accepted the redemption she was offering. Instead, in her words, he accepted Amon Ra's power as the abuser, and he sets her and the institution on fire, pleading to destroy Khonshu.
Star Wars: #38: Something Gillen does surprisingly well here — even for someone with his considerable talents — is get the mood of the series right. As a new author getting his shot at working with such iconic characters, I’m sure it was tempting to go balls-to-the-wall here, to tell a story reminiscent of Aaron’s opening arc. But, he’s more subdued, because the characters are more subdued. They’ve had all sorts of experiences in the last few months: they destroyed the Imperial weapons factory on Cymoon 1, they’ve escaped Grakkus on Nar Shaddaa and Darth Vader on Vrogas Vas, they’ve been stalked on Sunspot Prison, they steal a Star Destroyer to rescue Tureen VII, they saved Luke (again) from the Screaming Citadel. In this issue, they’re still trying to find a base, and you can tell they’re tired. Leah may be indomitable, but everyone else has an edge.
Titans #17: I haven't been a huge fan of this series for a while, but Abnett delivers one of his better issues here. We learn future Diana Troy, calling herself Troia, has traveled to the past to kill the Titans, saving herself 80 years of heartache. WTF, you ask? Diana is apparently immortal; as Karen dies of natural causes in 2091, Diana loses the last of the Titans and wonders why she bothered caring in the first place. Abnett makes it pretty clear Troia is insane here; it's a much different conversation than the one Future Tim has with his counterpart in "Detective Comics." She goes on a murder spree after Karen's death, killing everyone from Darkseid to Wonder Woman (for telling the lie in the first place). My only real problem with this issue is the question why it took Diana so long to get here. Abnett has been advancing this story through Psimon's grim warnings for months, and it seems to me like Abnett had a number of more straightforward ways to go here.
The Wild Storm: Michael Cray #2: OK, the art is terrible, but the story is solid. First, Michael has Trelane hire him a team of three support staff to help him with his missions; he auditions them in a steampunk VR game. We've got Hector Morales the trap-builder, Leon Carver the strategist, and Victoria the assassin. He then poses as a Afghanistan vet to get transported to Queen's island, where Queen immediately IDs him. They're in hand-to-hand combat before you know it, and Michael disintegrates Queen's arm. Queen advances on him. but Victoria has apparently followed him and takes out Queen. It's a surprising moment; I thought this story was going to last longer. But, when Trelane reveals Michael's next target is dirty cop Barry Allen, it appears Hill and Ellis have a bigger story planned. Is Michael going to kill his world's versions of the Justice League? We'll have to wait and see. Meanwhile, throughout the issue, Michael is examined by Dr. Shahi, who reveals he's not dying of brain cancer. Instead, he has some sort of secondary brain (a "second layer" of "normal synaptic processes") coming online, but she refuses to tell him more. She wants to cure him; he wants to be able to use the power to take out the bad guys. We'll see how that goes.
Also Read: Captain Marvel #24; Generation X #8; Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #32; Uncanny Avengers #29; X-Men: Gold #15
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