Not-So-New Comics: The October 25 Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

For some reason, I didn't really have a lot to say about the October 25 releases.  It's not necessarily a bad thing; they were all really solid issues.  "Ben Reilly:  Scarlet Spider" #9, "Bloodshot Salvation" #2, "Detective Comics" #967, and "Nightwing:  The New Order" #3 all significantly advanced their plots, and I thoroughly enjoyed "Quantum and Woody! #0.0001½.  But, I guess not much seemed particularly noteworthy.

Dark Nights:  Gotham Resistance (Teen Titans #12, Nightwing #29, Suicide Squad #26, and Green Arrow #32):  I finally had to admit I was enjoying “Dark Nights” so much I decided to go back and buy these issues.  (I read "Nightwing" #29 when it was released on September 20.)  The authors do a great job in keeping the story connected issues to issue as some members of the Suicide Squad and Teen Titans get possessed by the Batman Who Laugh’s Damian while the other members join with Green Arrow, Mister Terrific, and Nightwing to get to the heart of Challengers' Mountain in the middle of Gotham.  It actually helped reading these issues after reading "Dark Nights:  Metal" #3, since it's clear the music and voices Dick is hearing is Bruce telling him not to come rescue him.  Dick doesn't exactly hit the nail on the head in interpreting that message, deciding instead Bruce is dead or lost.  (That said, he was a helluva lot closer to interpreting the message correctly than Clark was.)  The main outcome of this cross-over event in terms of the larger story was Damian seemingly mortally wounding his counterpart with Nth metal.  Mister Terrific arrives to whisk the remaining team members — Damian, Dick, Green Arrow, and Mister Terrific — to the Oblivion Bar, as we saw in "Dark Nights:  Metal" #3.  Here, Green Arrow reveals what they've learned about the Nth metal, setting the ball rolling for the rest of the series.  Beyond just advancing the larger plot, the authors really show the despair the characters are beginning to feel, particularly Dick and Harley; you understand why Dick is such a mess in “Dark Nights:  Metal” #3.  The only criticism I have of this mini-event is I didn’t really buy Harley and Killer Croc feeling some sort of patriotism for Gotham, but it’s a minor complaint.  All in all, it's a solid event that anyone reading "Dark Nights:  Metal" would benefit from reading.

The Flash #33 ("Dark Nights:  Bats Out of Hell" #1):  This issue starts immediately after Superman enters the Dark Dimension, as Murder Machine and Devastator arrive to steal the tuning fork (as seen in “Batman:  The Devastator” #1).  Interestingly, Devastator destroys the fork, saying he’ll bring it to Barbatos only after he rebuilds it.  Why would he need to rebuild it?  Is that going to provide the loophole the League needs to defeat Barbatos?  Meanwhile, Barbatos kidnaps the various League members from their missions to lock down more Nth metal, separating Arthur, Barry, Diana, and Hal from their partners and sending them against their Dark Dimension counterparts.  This entire event has been building to this moment, and I can see why these issues were sold as essential to the overall story.

Amazing Spider-Man #790:  OK, first, I have to say, I could overlook a lot here just given how beautiful the art is.  Honestly, in 35 years of reading Spider-Man comics, I can't remember them ever looking as good.  (Yes, I'm not a McFarlane fan.)  As mentioned in the letters column, Immonen really has an amazing (heh) ability to convey motion; at certain points during Peter's fight with Johnny and later Clash, it really felt like I was watching a movie.  But, the good news is I don't have to overlook anything.  Slott is telling a really bang-up story.  I love the idea of Peter committing to going on an apology tour, showing how solid of a guy he is; as Harry says, most companies would've just sent some lawyers to sign the settlements on their behalf.  I'm also glad Slott is continuing to keep the Robin Hood version of Clash here.  I even liked Peter continuing to somewhat uncharacteristically look the other way when it comes to Clash, as he does here when Clash steals back the tech he developed for Parker Industries.  It was a little questionable previously, but something about it now feels like it reflects Peter's new worldview after the fall of PI.  Is he really going to sweat Clash stealing back the technology he himself created?  He has bigger fish to fry.  Meanwhile, I wonder if the developments in "Uncanny Avengers" means Johnny is going to buy back the Baxter Building.  (Are the Avengers going to live there?)  It seems too perfectly timed for it not to be true.  In other words, Slott and the art team have really hit a home run when it comes to a Legacy story that feels and looks like the Spider-Man stories of my youth, and I hope it lasts as long as possible.

Also Read:  Batman:  The Merciless #1; Ben Reilly:  Scarlet Spider #9; Bloodshot Salvation #2; Detective Comics #967; Nightwing:  The New Order #3; Quantum and Woody #0.00011/2; Rebels:  These Free and Independent Starts #8; U.S.Avengers #11; X-Men:  Blue #14

Not-So-New Comics: The September 20 Non-Marvel Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Batman #31:  OMG, I'm just over this "event."  Kite-Man helps Batman fly Riddler and his army into the skyscraper where Joker is hiding.  But, Kite-Man is working with Batman!  Surprise!  [Yawn.]  He immediately activates a secret parachute system that whisks away everyone but Batman and Riddler.  (If you're wondering why Batman agreed to this scheme in the first place, given he whisked away the army right after delivering them, it's because Riddler insisted on bringing them with him.  I'm not sure why, but it is what it is.)  At any rate, it's Batman versus Joker versus Riddler.  Sure, whatever.  Apparently we're finally going to learn what Bruce did that's so awful Catwoman won't marry him.  [Sigh.]

Batman:  The Red Death #1:  As I feared, this tie-in issue feels very tie-in issue-y.  The premise of this event appears to be that an agent of Barbatos has brought the seven most dangerous Batmen of the Dark Multiverse to the Light Multiverse to save them.  If I understand correctly, the Dark Multiverse mirrors the Light Multiverse (no surprise there), with 52 versions of Earth.  But, something about the Dark Multiverse makes these Earths less stable:  they're destined to die.  The doorway Barbatos opened through Batman in "Dark Nights:  Metal" #2 allows these seven Batmen to enter the Light Multiverse before their Earths die.  At this point, it's unclear if he has a plan for them beyond just allowing them to survive, but we'll see.  In this issue, the Batman of Earth -52 has stolen the Rogues' powers in order to steal the Speed Force from the Flash.  Jason, Tim, Dick, and Damian have all been killed, and it's clearly driven this Batman over the edge.  He's seeking more power to save not only Gotham but the world.  Batman eventually captures Flash and connects him to the Batmobile, using it like the Cosmic Treadmill.  Despite Flash's warning, he tries to enter the Speed Force.  He partially succeeds:  he's now the dominant partner in a shared body with Flash, like Firestorm.  He then goes on a killing spree and happily takes up Barbatos' agent's offer to travel to Earth Zero.  Again, I'm not really sure what Barbatos' plan is.  Is it chaos just for chaos' sake?  I guess we'll see.

Nightwing #29 ("Dark Nights:  Metal - Gotham Resistance" #2):  I'm not going to buy three other issues just to complete this mini-series within a mini-series, but I have to admit this issue is solid.  Leading a hodgepodge team of Suicide Squad and Teen Titans members, Nightwing tries to liberate a frozen Gotham from Mr. Freeze.  Freeze himself has been installed by the Batman who Laughs, who I believe is Barbatos' agent from "Batman:  The Red Death" #1.  Along the way, the wound Deathwing delivered to him in "Nightwing Must Die!" reopens.  Dick thinks about the electrum the Court of Owls infused in him as it prepared him to be a Talon, and he wonders if he is Barbatos' weapon to Bruce's doorway.  Seeley does a solid job of focusing on characterization throughout this issue despite being saddled with delivering a tie-in issue.  Dick's sotto voce assurances to Damian that they'll find Bruce are a great reminder of who they are as a duo, and Seeley conveys the gravity of the situation by making even Dick question whether he's really capable of filling Batman's shoes this time.

The Wild Storm #7:  This issue is talky, but it’s talky because Ellis takes the chance to recap what we know.  It’s not a terrible idea; we have a lot happening, after all.  I remember mostly everything except the fact Cray set off the “xenobiological alarm” when he attacked Marlowe and partially dissolved Marlowe's “spur,” seemingly confirming he’s also an alien.  The biggest new development involves a player called John Colt.  He’s a Wild C.A.T. spy in IO, and he sets off alarms when the device Kenesha developed for him finally breaks through IO's digital firewalls.  In a really spectacular sequence, he fights through waves of IO guards to find a broom closet where Adriana can evack him without revealing her presence (and the team’s means of transportation).  At the Wild C.A.T.s' HQ, Colt is explaining how IO is working on machine telepathy when a bleeding Angie walks into the room.  She scans him, revealing to herself he’s also an alien.  Later, when Marlowe talks to Angie to calm her down a bit, she reveals Colt, Kenesha, and Marlowe are not only all aliens, but they’re all different from each other.  The other new development is the team admitting they don't understand why IO went after Marlowe.  Clay was using polonium, which they agree would’ve sent Marlowe to the hospital for “medical intervention and an autopsy.”  Colt doesn’t think IO normally would risk that, since it would reveal to the world at large that aliens walk among us.  Why didn't they kill him immediately?  But, Clay doesn’t have another theory on what IO was actually doing.  He’s more concerned Marlowe revealed his spur.  Curiouser and curiouser.  As I said, Ellis uses a lot of narration in this issue, but he pulls it off well, mostly due to Davis-Hunt’s staging.  The conversation between the team about Marlowe happens in a living room, and Davis-Hunt has carefully put them in conversational positions that switch organically as the conversation progresses.  It makes you forget you’re reading a comic and not just watching a group of people talk.  It’s why the narration doesn’t feel heavy and why Ellis and Davis-Hunt are possibly the best team in comics right now.

Also Read:  Bloodshot Salvation #1