Batman/Superman #7 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Does Batman have a nano-bot heart now?  How did Superman return to life after the game ended?  What was Mongul going to do with the satellites?  Honestly?  I don't really care.  The first arc of this series might've been great, but between the incoherence of this arc and the fact that Pak is writing Bruce and Clark like they hate each other, I'm think that it's time to say adieu.

* (one of five stars)

Batman/Superman #6 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

To use the tired line, this current arc is sort of like a Monet:  it makes sense from a distance, but it's a mess up close.  I get that Mongul is trying to get as many people as possible to play a violent video-game starring Batman and Superman so that he can harness this aggression in his bid to take over Earth.  But, I have no idea how it actually works.  For example, are Batman and Superman in the video game?  Batman loses his heart (literally) here, so I have to assume that we're dealing with some sort of altered reality, since I sort of doubt that this arc is going to end with him having a heart made entirely by nano-technology.  Also, how exactly does the aggression of the gamers help Mongul?  Right now, they're able to control Batman and Superman.  Is that it?  Is he hoping that the two of them destroy the world as they fight?  I just don't get it.  Also?  Pak is suddenly writing the two like they hate each other.  Clark's response to Bruce's apparent death at Mongul's hands is to call him a fool?  Really?  This series had a great first arc, but this second one is just bad, from plot to characterization.  If next issue isn't better, I might be dropping this one.

* (one of five stars)

Batman/Superman #5 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

This issue is totally a Monet:  The overall picture is clear, but it becomes almost incomprehensible when you take a closer look at it.

Mongul has apparently used an unidentified woman to create a video-game platform that converts the millions of video-game players online at any given time into an army.  His plan seems to be for them to think that they're playing a video game, but, in reality, help him defeat Earth's superheroes.  It's a remarkably clever idea (though vaguely "Ender's Game" feeling).

However, I had no idea what happened the first time that I read the issue.  I had to read it again to be able to piece together the plot.  Initially, I thought that Hiro knew that he was fighting Batman in the real world, not just the video game.  Pak doesn't make it clear how the game actually becomes reality, so, even when I had a better sense of the sequencing, I still wasn't clear on the details.  Some sort of pixie dust seems to be involved, but it can't just be the pixie dust, since Hiro fights as Metal-Zero in real life before it arrives.  (Maybe only Hiro was initially infected?)

Honestly, I've got serious doubts that Pak's going to be able to explain it more clearly in a way that makes sense.  All of a sudden, I'm wondering how long I'm going to be getting this series.

* (one of five stars)

New-ish Comics!: The "Villains Month" Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Earth 2 #15.1/Desaad #1:  Occasionally, I have a problem reading the DCnU, given my lack of historical knowledge of DC comics in general.  I only really started reading DC in earnest in 2010; before then, I was an occasional reader of the Bat-books.  So, although I'm familiar enough with the Bat-family's history to be intrigued (and occasionally outraged) by the "fresh take" that the DCnU has brought, I'm often left baffled in other books when a detailed knowledge of the character's history is required to understand what the author is doing (particularly when I'm supposed to be intrigued by how it differs from the character's DCU analogue).  This issue is a case in point.  I'm not really sure who Desaad is, making it difficult to follow (or care about) this issue.  At the very least, his goal is pretty clear, seeking someone named the Tunneler to help him return to Apokolips.  I failed to understand two things, though.  First, he seems to discover how to create Boom Tubes on Earth 2, since he uses one to approach the artist with whom he seems to be obsessed.  As such, why can't he use it to go to Apokolips?  It's possible that he doesn't have enough power, but Levitz doesn't make that clear.  Second, the Tunneler has something to do with Michael Holt, given that Desaad sends his agents to Holt Industries to acquire him/it.  We haven't really seen boo of Holt since he appeared and just as quickly disappeared under the manipulation of Terry Sloane, so, honestly, Holt's connection to the Tunneler is probably the least mysterious thing about him.  But, we learn that the Tunneler has been taken from him and it's unclear if Desaad knows where he is by the end of the issue.  Moreover, I'm not really sure how anything depicted here relates to the events currently happening in "Earth 2."  Basically, this issue is essentially what I expected Villains Month to be, which isn't a compliment.

Batman #23.2/Riddler #1:  Honestly, I've never been a huge fan of Riddler.  Snyder gives us a textbook Riddler story here, with him using an elaborate scheme to exact revenge against someone who wronged him years earlier.  But, I can't say that I care.  (Maybe I'm just over the Riddler given that I'm playing "Batman:  Arkham Origins" and his character is as annoying as ever in it.)

Earth 2 #15.2/Solomon Grundy #1:  Kindt does a good job of explaining how Solomon Grundy got his rage, if you will, showing him as a poor abattoir worker (and newly minted father) whose cruel boss pays his wife for sex.  His wife is driven over the edge after their most recent encounter and kills herself, causing Solomon to go on a murder spree.  The part that I don't get - and that Kindt probably could've explained - is how Grundy gets his powers.  The events that I just described happened in 1898.  After Grundy kills himself, he falls into the river next to the abattoir and something...happens, turning him into the zombie that he normally is.  But, Kindt doesn't explain what happened.  Instead, we burn a few pages of Grundy searching for "the green man" in the present, with no explanation of why he's motivated to find him.  Although Kindt hits the right emotional notes to describe the tragedy of Grundy (as Kubert did with the "Batman #23.1/Joker #1" issue), I'm still kind of shocked that he didn't explain Grundy's supernatural origin or obsession with the Green Lantern.  We know that the latter comes from some sort of Green/Grey dichotomy from his previous conflict with Green Lantern, but Kindt could've helped flesh out that concept here.  Again, it's another missed opportunity.

Batman #23.3/Penguin #1:  Whereas "Batman" #23.1 and "Earth 2" #15.2 deal with the origins of some of the DCnU super-villains, Tieri sticks to a similar script as Snyder in "Batman" #23.2, showing how the Penguin is taking advantage of the absence of Batman.  I honestly expected more stories like this one from "Villains Month" and the fact that I enjoyed this one so much probably reflects that.  I particularly liked how Tieri embraced the Penguin's status quo, showing him as reassembling his power base after the assault on his criminal empire by Emperor Penguin in "Detective Comics" (making me wonder why it wasn't part of that title's "Villains Month" issues).  Penguin is particularly bold here, murdering three illusionists trying to fleece him at his casino and engineering the fall of the Governor of the state where Gotham is located, who also just happens to be an old friend from boarding school who used to protect him from bullies.  Whereas we've seen attempts to make Joker and Solomon Grundy into sympathetic characters with these "Villains Month" issues, Tieri does no such thing here, showing the Penguin as the brutal, remorseless killer that he is.  I can't say that it's a necessary read, but it's probably the "Villains Month" issue that does its job the best for me so far.

Batman #23.4/Bane #1:  "Villains Month" authors so far have focused either on origin stories (Joker, Solomon Grundy) or showing how the super-villains are taking advantage of the disappearance of the superheroes to push their agendas (Riddler, Penguin).  (I'm not really sure what the Desaad issue was, so we'll just ignore that one for now.)  Tomasi seemingly couldn't make up his mind, so we get both here.  Bane spends time in Santa Prisca so that we can get lectured by pretty much everyone about his origin and philosophy, but, after he leaves via ship to Gotham City, we learn that he plans on building his own army from freed Blackgate prisoners to take over Gotham.  Something that's always bothered me about Bane but didn't become clear until this issue is that I've never understood why he cares about Gotham.  Tomasi makes it clear that he wasn't like most super-villains, who come to Gotham to tangle with Batman.  Bane wanted Gotham itself, but why would a kid from a Caribbean country care about Gotham?  Tomasi never really explains it, making both his origin story and the present story fall flat.

Batman/Superman #3.1:  Similar to my problem with "Earth 2" #15.1 and #15.2, this issue had less of an impact to me in part because I'm not sure what I'm seeing here.  Whereas I've been an intermittent reader of the various Bat-books for years, my knowledge of Superman is pretty much limited to "Doomsday" and "Funeral for a Friend."  In those series, Doomsday was simply a mute alien bent on destruction.  Here, he's the same, though he's wrecking Krypton rather than Metropolis.  But, similar to my complaint about the Solomon Grundy edition of "Earth 2," Pak stops short of giving us a full origin.  Just like we never discovered how Grundy got his powers, we never learn here how Doomsday eventually made it to Earth (or from where he came).  Instead, Pak diverts attention to Zod (who, we learn in this issue, made his career in defending Krypton from Doomsday), who's apparently speaking to a young Supergirl from the Negative Zone.  It seems an unnecessary diversion, given the questions about Doomsday that remain on the table and the fact that we don't really learn much interesting about Zod or Supergirl here.

New-ish Comics! (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Batman/Superman #3:  This issue would've been great if not for the completely unlikely story involving a young Bruce playing baseball with a young Clark in Smallville.  Pak and Lee have been telling a story that's often difficult to follow, requiring a re-reading (or two) to get a full sense of the story.  However, that effort is generally rewarded with a greater appreciation of the story.  Unfortunately, with the random flashbacks to an imagined childhood, it made this process all the more difficult, since it prevented them from focusing on the story at hand.  For example, I'm still unclear on why the government was developing a crystal meant to take down Superman.  In fact, I'm not entirely sure which Superman (of the two) is the target.  Moreover, the crystal's connection to Darkseid is left virtually unexplored.  Pak really could've used the four or five pages spent on the childhood digression to clarify the actual story.  The whole thing reeks of editorial interference.  Hopefully, we can just forget about it and get some answers next issue.

Captain America #10:  Honestly?  I can think of few multiple-issue runs that were anywhere near the same level as this one.  The only ones that come to mind are the Kang War ("Avengers" #41-#55) and the Black Mirror ("Detective Comics" #871-#881).  Remender kept us guessing to the very last minute, when you weren't sure if the "ghost" helping the Phrox was going to be Ian or Sharon.  The revelation that it was Ian (and the brilliance of branding him "Nomad") literally made me gasp.  Moreover, his resurrection of sorts reminds you just how much Remender leaves on the table.  Dimension Z is a weird place, where you truly believe that a child can survive getting shot at point-blank range and falling into a chemical-fueled river.  If you believe that, you also believe that Sharon Carter may be alive (and possibly Zola's host) or that Steve Rogers might really have lived ten years without aging more than a few minutes.  The consequences didn't just completely disappear at the end of this arc, wrapped into a neat package.

As such, Steve's status quo is completely unclear at this point.  After all, who does he mourn first?  Ian?  Sharon?  Himself?  What are the physical repercussion of his ten years in Dimension Z?  Did he actually age?  When he briefly returned to Dimension Z from the tunnel, the ruins of the destroyed battle-station had already aged, seemingly implying that Steve is a decade older.  How does that work?  Also, how does he handle Jet Black?

But, we have next month to worry about those questions.  For now, it's time to bask in Remender delivering the quintessential Captain America story.  Remender made this storya bout Cap and his faith in himself.  He reminds us of that faith in this issue, when Cap tells his mutate clone that a few derogatory comments about his mother aren't going to make him doubt the lessons that he learned from her.  Moreover, Remender reminds us that this faith in himself is bigger than Cap, that it inspires the entirety of the Marvel Universe; here, this faith inspires Ian in exactly the way that Cap hoped, leaving behind his legacy in Dimension Z even if he's unaware of it.  Moreover, Sharon is perfect here.  Remender treats her as the bad-ass that she's always been, completely in charge of the situation and doing what needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.  Even Brubaker, who freed her from the "Gal Friday" role that she often played, rarely portrayed her as strong as she is here.  It's one of the few times where I've felt sad at losing a character but actually OK with the way that their story ends.

Can we also just talk about the craft on display here?  Remender's amazing narration of the epilogue, where you had no idea where it was going until you arrived at the Nomad revelation?  JR JR's insane landscapes and even more insane Zola?  This entire arc was a tour de force in terms of the talents of everyone involved.

It's a big, crazy, epic story.  You're left wanting so much more; I found myself hoping that we're going to get a Dimension Z series that follows Nomad.  But, Remender isn't rushing anything.  I was hestitant about this story in the first few issues, but Remender has finally give Cap the sort of ongoing series that he deserves.  I can't wait to see where we go from here.

Captain Marvel #15:  The obvious problem with this issue, which Sana herself acknowledges in the letters page, is that you feel like you're not missing one issue, but several.  First, we're presented Carol's memory-loss as a fait accompli, despite the fact that it wasn't particularly clear at the end of last issue that it was the repercussion of severing her telepathic link with Yon-Rogg.  Moreover, Carol is notably not in New York, but somewhere in deep space with the Avengers, fighting the Builders.  I stopped reading "Avengers," but I am reading "Infinity" and I don't remember this ground being covered in issue #1.  (When exactly did Earth join the Galactic Council?  Do they no longer consider it an irrelevant back-water?  Of course, I had trouble following "Infinity" #1, so maybe it's just me.)

But, DeConncik actually, somehow, manages to move you past all that.  She embraces the chaos, showing Carol as somewhat thankful that she's lost her memories, because the lack of emotional investment makes it easier to deal with the insanity around her.  In fact, DeConnick seems to be speaking to the reader and Carol on the same level, promising all of us answers so long as we make it thorugh the "Infinity" business.  It's remarkably clever, just as we've all come to expect from this series.

Scarlet Spider #21:  Buddy's going to be OK, right?  Right?  I mean, everyone's going to be OK, right?  Kaine is going to remember that he's a hero now and save everyone, right?

Unlike the past few issues, Kraven is a villain from Kaine's past whose presence here makes sense.  After all, it's Kaine who led to his defeat at Spider-Man's hands during "Grim Hunt."  Kraven's not likely to forget that easily.  Moreover, under normal circumstance, I'd be totally fine with Kraven posing as Ben Reilly in order to torture Kaine, since it's exactly the type of crazy that you'd expect from Kraven.  However, on the heels of the cross-over event with "Superior Spider-Man Team-Up," I have to say that it didn't work the way that I think Yost hoped that it would.  I spent most of the issue worried that it was a continuation of the Jackal's plot, something Yost clearly wanted us to think to make the revelation that it was Kraven all the more impactful.  But, instead, it proved to be distracting, since it not only reminded me of a plot that I find overplayed but also makes you wonder what the Jackal is doing now that he's returned to the background and when some other remnant of the Clone Saga is going to darken Kaine's door.  So, although it was clever, it would've been even better had it not come on the heels of the "Clone Saga 2.0" story that we just had.

Regardless, I'm definitely anxious to see where we go from here, both in Kaine's confrontation with Kraven and the status of his supporting cast.  Interestingly, unlike the Assassins Guild or the Clone Saga, Kraven is a ghost of Kaine's past as a hero, not as a villain, and I wonder if it'll play out differently than the other stories have.

Thanos Rising #5:  Aaron makes it pretty clear here that he doesn't believe that Death has guided Thanos through the years; Thanos himself is responsible for his actions.  In fact, if Aaron raises any questions here, it's not whether Thanos really sees Death, but it's if his construction of Death is a sign of mental illness or a convenient excuse for his behavior.  In other words, is Thanos mad or, as Monitor says, is he really just selfish?  Either way, we emerge with a more complete and sympathetic view of Thanos here, though one that actually somehow makes him more responsible for his crimes.  It's been a complicated story for a complicated character and Aaron really did a great job of giving us a definitive approach to a character who's too often been used simply as a powerful bugaboo.  "Infinity" is unlikely to add any nuance to the character, so I finished this issue glad for this mini-series and a chance to understand Thanos better.

Young Avengers #9:  Ugh.  Heart-breaking.  I mean, OK, I trust Kieron GIllen and I really believe that he has no intention of keeping Billy and Teddy apart forever.  Moreover, as Teddy himself implies here, Billy's decision to let Teddy go seems to signify that he's not making Teddy love him.  I mean, I don't think that we're ever going to get a definitive answer to that question, since it essentially requires proving a negative, that Billy isn't making Teddy love him.  But, if he were, it would seem unlikely that he would allow Teddy to go.  Instead, it seems more likely that he believes that Teddy loves him and equally believes that Teddy will return to him, a conclusion that we all hope Teddy will also make.  Because I trust Gillen, I also know that Teddy has to go through this journey.  They are, after all, just kids and the people who live the kind of life that they live don't just get to marry their high-school sweetheart and live happily ever after.  For them to be happy, Teddy needs to believe that Billy isn't making him love him and that requires some time on his own for a while.  (I mean, if Billy is really an multidimensional messiah, he can probably make Teddy love him from afar, but, really, let's not go too far down that road.)

Batman/Superman #2 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Man, comics got good again while I wasn’t looking!

This issue is great.  Although it takes some focus to keep the future separate from the past, it’s worth the effort.  The women really provide the framework for the story here:  Martha figures out that younger Clark’s pain comes from losing them so early, Lois gets fake-angry at older Clark for younger Clark’s clear attraction to Wonder Woman, and older Selina simply enjoys watching the Bruces fight one another.  They provide the emotion and the humor to the issue, as the men just simply bumble from moment to moment.

But, the men do eventually pull themselves together and we’re promised the battle royale with the Trickster next issue.  I’m hoping that Pak tries to explain why she did what she did, but it honestly doesn’t matter all that much.  Pak really channels the old-school “World’s Finest” stories, where the reason for Bruce and Clark getting thrown together matters much less than the fun of watching their worlds collide.  I can tell that I’m going to re-read this arc from start to finish once it ends, but I have to take off my hat to Pak for not writing for the trade, for still making it an enjoyable read, issue after issue.

Batman/Superman #1 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

The first time I read this issue, I thought to myself, "O-kay, I'm going to have to read it again before I even try to say something coherent about it."  I mean that in the best possible way.  This issue is a trip from start to finish and I can honestly say that I haven't been more excited about a new title in a while.

From a plot perspective, Pak uses a somewhat dreamy narrative structure, making it unclear (in a good way) what we're actually witnessing at times.  The first few pages depict the meeting of Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent in a Gotham park.  At first I thought that we were dealing with an alternative universe, given the revelation that the Kents died in a car accident.  However, a trip to Wikipedia revealed that this change came with the DCnU.  However, the entire sequence has an Earth-One vibe, so I'm still not entirely clear if we're supposed to believe that this moment is the first time that Bruce and Clark met in the DCnU.  Before we can get some context clues to help us ascertain that, though, Bruce and Clark are transported somewhere else, with a possessed Clark encountering an older Bruce.  Pak deepens this mystery by making it clear that the older Bruce had been warned by an older Clark to be "prepared," though it's unclear what they were doing that led them to this place or why Clark knew that they had to be "prepared."  (It seems clear that next issue will depict the younger Bruce confronting an older Clark.)  Why the mysterious figure who possessed Catwoman and now possesses younger Clark decided to transport Bruce and Clark (and their older counterparts) to this place remains to be seen and I expect that we're not going to get that answer next issue.

In terms of the art, Lee and and Oliver help contributed to the dream-like atmosphere that characterizes this issue.  I've never been a fan of Lee, but, OMFG, his Bruce and Clark are beautiful.  Bruce in particular shines here, almost literally, as he sits in his army uniform watching the children fight, his blue eyes smoldering.  With limited background imagery, Lee manages to convey how nightmarish Gotham is, where even its park structures seem to evoke the worst of humanity's imagination.  Lee also accomplished the impossible when he managed to make me feel emotions over Bruce's parents' death, something that I long thought impossible given how overused it is.  Something about a young Bruce cuddling against his father one last time, after Pak explained how comforting Bruce had found his father's presence when he read him bedtime stories as a child, made me feel Bruce's pain at their loss to an extent that I possibly never have.  It made you actually feel the pain of that young boy and not just the refracted pain of an adult Bruce reminiscing about that terrible night, as is often the case.  Not only is conveying this pain so clearly a remarkable artistic feat in and of itself, but it also shows how Pak and Lee are working in concert here, with Lee really drawing out the emotions that Pak is expressing.  Given how distinct Lee's artwork is, I also have to say that Oliver does an excellent job picking up the baton almost seamlessly from him.

Needless to say, after reading this review, it should be clear that I feel like we really witnessed something special with this issue.  I feel the need to read it again, because I gathered so much after the second reading.  This book feels the way that I wanted "Justice League" to feel, injecting an excitement over seeing two iconic characters interact for the first time that the DCnU promised by seriously failed to deliver.  If Pak manages to save the DCnU concept a bit, as he seems poised to do here, DC owes him big time.