Day-And-Date: Justice League 2, Batman 2, Nightwing 2, Wonder Woman 2

Justice League 2
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artists: Jim Lee & Scott Williams
Rating: 4 out of 5 Pixels

Like the first issue, this is not the world-changing comic it was promised to be, but it's still an enjoyable read. Even better than the first in that it's starting to feel more like a Justice League book now that we have Superman and the Flash in addition to Batman and Green Lantern. Still no sign of Wonder Woman (except in a text piece at the end) or Aquaman, though. In true Geoff Johns fashion, we get a sequence where Barry Allen proves that he's the awesomist ever,

but then on the next page Clark shows that he's still pretty darn awesome too, lest we piss off Superman fans. (And I think I might be a Superman fan, now that he has a personality. It's interesting to see the dynamic between these characters now that Clark is no longer the level-headed one.)

But memo to Geoff Johns: A cliffhanger where the left half of Victor Stone's body is all mangled from an explosion is not really a cliffhanger. It's not like anyone doesn't know how that story ends. (His brain is put into a robot body and he becomes Robotman, of course.)

Batman 2
Writer: Scott Snyder
Artists: Greg Capullo & Jonathan Glapion
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Pixels

Good stuff, from page 1 to 20. Great character moments for Bruce, fascinating historical details about Gotham, intriguing hints of some kind of secret society. Also, I love that Bruce has a page full of captions to represent the thoughts that run through his head in the couple of seconds it must take to be thrown out a window and fall toward the ground below:

Nightwing 2
Writer: Kyle Higgins
Artists: Eddy Barrows, J.P. Mayer, & Paulo Siquiera
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Pixels

A good issue all around, but I dunno, nothing really stands out about it. Except that Dick's redhead of the week calls Bruce his boss, and Dick doesn't correct her. Did Bruce never adopt Dick in the new continuity? If so, that will make me sad. Also, I could swear that there's been a story where Dick bought Haly's Circus before, which bothers me not so much for continuity's sake as for the sake of feeling like I'm reading a new story, not one I've read before. Oh well, the last page promises some kind of huge reveal about the circus coming up, which hopefully will make this story stand out from similar ones that have preceded it.

Wonder Woman 2
Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artist: Cliff Chiang
Rating: 4 out of 5 Pixels

I felt a little lukewarm about the first issue of this series, but this issue rocks. It's got humor, action, intrigue, and best of all, the plot is much easier to follow than the first issue's was. I'm kind of angry that the last page reveal was spoiled in all the coverage of the New York Comic Con, though, because otherwise I think it would have totally caught me off guard (in a good way). I love that Hippolyta is blonde again, because it goes back to her roots (no pun intended) and because it visually distinguishes her from Diana. Depending on who was drawing her, black-haired Hippolyta often looked like Wonder Woman's identical twin. Also, I love this exchange:

The look on Hermes' face in that middle panel made me laugh out loud.

Digital Video: Batman Year One

Batman Year One
Release Date: October 18, 2011
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Pixels

The strength of Batman Year One, the animated adaptation of Frank Miller and David Mazuchelli's comic book storyline of the same name, is that it stays very close to its source material. Lines of dialogue and narration are taken straight from the comic, frame compositions directly reflect panel layouts, and even dates are adhered to closely (I know this even though it's been years since I read Batman: Year One because Batman's debut is on April 6th, my mom's birthday and also Jesus Christ's birthday, according to official Mormon doctrine--I always thought that was appropriate, in a bordering-on-sacrilegious way, growing up almost as faithful to Batman as I was to the Mormon faith). The film works because the narrative is great--great in ways I'd forgotten, like the way a large cast of characters works because each one is introduced slowly throughout the story, or the way Jim Gordon's relationship with his wife and his affair with Sarah Essen is presented completely devoid of melodrama, or the way Batman has to deal with details like setting up a spotlight and cutting the power in order to create a dramatic entrance.

As for the adaptation itself, the voice acting and music are well-done. I'm not crazy about the animation, at all. The opening sequence is of an airplane entering Gotham City, and both the plane and the city are very obviously computer-generated, devoid of any semblance of style or life. The same is true of later scenes involving cars, helicopters, and even the horde of bats descending on unsuspecting bystanders at the showdown between Batman and the Gotham City SWAT Team. I hate hate hate when traditional animation incorporates scenes that are so obviously CGI. I'm also not a fan of the art style in general, with lines a little too sharp and colors a little too bright to capture the subdued tone of Mazuchelli's and colorist Richmond Lewis's masterpiece.

I do like that the creators decided to make this a period piece rather than attempting to update it for the new millennium. It's not overtly a period piece, mind you, but there are little things like the car models and the fact that Gordon is in the hospital waiting room while his son is born, and even the music has a sort of 80s heavy metal vibe to it. And best of all, a video store that rents both VHS and Beta.

Day-And-Date: Batman 1, Nightwing 1, Red Hood & the Outlaws 1, Wonder Woman 1

Batman 1
Writer: Scott Snyder
Artists: Greg Capullo & Jonathan Glapion
Rating: 4 out of 5 Pixels

I've been hearing a lot of good things about Scott Snyder's run on Detective and I recently read Gates of Gotham and enjoyed it, so I had high expectations for Batman 1. My expectations were met. This issue does what I'd expect a first issue to do--it introduces me to Batman and his world, including the setting, the villains, and the supporting cast--and it does all this while telling the overlapping stories of Batman quelling an Arkham riot with some unexpected help, Bruce Wayne's efforts to improve Gotham (reflecting a subplot from Batman & Robin 1), and a mysterious new killer that appears to be closer to Batman than he first suspects. Capullo's art is fun and dynamic, though I have to say I'm not crazy about his Dick Grayson, who looks about sixteen. I mean, I know Dick is short, but not a full head shorter than Bruce. And what, is Tim thirteen again?

Nonetheless, it's good to see the boys all together, bickering and all.

Nightwing 1
Writer: Kyle Higgins
Artists: Eddy Barrows & J.P. Mayer
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Pixels

This is good. It didn't blow me away, but it's good to see Dick as Nightwing again--or as he says, "finally me again." I like that Gotham City is as much a character in this story as it is in Batman 1 (though not surprising since Higgins co-wrote Gates of Gotham with Snyder), I like that Dick recognizes both the differences and similarities between him and Bruce, and I like that we're starting out with a story centered around the circus. Also, I'm glad to see that the red eyes are not a permanent thing, but just some kind of infrared thing he can turn off and on as needed:

Red Hood & the Outlaws 1
Writer: Scott Lobdell
Artists: Kenneth Rocafort & Blond
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 Pixels

I had high hopes for this. I won't say my hopes were completely dashed to pieces, as there is some good to this issue: Jason and Roy work well together, they make sense as a team, and both characters are written more or less in character. There's a backstory hinted at, something to do with Jason Todd's past involvement with a secret society in the Himalayas, which I won't call good or bad because right now it's more confusing than anything--but potentially interesting, assuming it's explained soon. And the end of the issue tells us it will be:

Starfire's characterization, however, is horrible. It's established that Tamaraneans can't really tell humans apart and that they "have a terribly short attention span about all things Earth." Starfire doesn't even remember her former Titans teammates, or her ex-fiance, Dick Grayson.

(Also, who the hell is Dustin?) Worst of all, she tells Roy that for her making love has nothing to do with love. Apart from the fact that her seemingly empty brain and voracious sex drive make her into nothing more than a fanboy's wet dream come true, it's totally contrary to her character. Historically, Starfire has been driven above all by passion. Not by hormones, passion. If anything, she loves too easily and too fiercely. A Starfire who doesn't even remember Dick Grayson, who wants only sex without love, is not Starfire. Scott Lobdell has promised that even though the Teen Titans characters are being rebooted, they'll all be true to the core of the character. If Starfire is an indication of his idea of being true to the core of a character, then I'm scared to read next week's Teen Titans 1.

Wonder Woman 1
Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artist: Cliff Chiang
Rating: 3 out of 5 Pixels

This is a good Wonder Woman story, but like Nightwing, doesn't knock my socks off. Diana is at least fully recognizable as Diana, and I do like the reinterpretations of Greek mythology going on. True to Azzarello's promise that this would be a horror comic, the gods and creatures here are more Pan's Labrynth than George Perez's Wonder Woman. Azzarello and Chiang's Hermes, especially, strikes me as a unique interpretation, with blue skin and birds' feet.

Overall, one thing I'm liking about the New 52 is that all the stories feel fresh. There's very clearly an effort to write new stories, not to redo the same stories that have already been done a thousand times. That, at the very least, DC can count as a success.

Comixology Win: Reading My Blog

It has become clear to me that the people at Comixology* are reading my blog. Last Tuesday I posted about how lame it is that they digitally published the first ten parts of "Grounded" but not the rest, and that the same with the Booster Gold tie-ins to Flashpoint. I also mentioned that it's nice that they've been consistently releasing one issue of Gotham City Sirens every week for several months now. So guess what happened yesterday? The rest of "Grounded" was released, and Booster Gold too. And, for the first time in quite a while, there was no issue of Gotham City Sirens.

So... If I complain about something, they will fix it, and if I praise them for something, they will stop doing it.

So... Isn't it totally lame that Comixology has four issues of the Alan Grant/Norm Breyfogle run on Batman but not the whole run? It's absolutely ridiculous that they haven't digitized every single issue of Batman and Detective ever written by Grant and/or illustrated by Breyfogle. Gah! Get a life, Comixology.

And also... Isn't it awesome how new comics cost a full three bucks? Way to go, Comixology, keep it up!



...And now I will wait...



*It should be noted that when I say "Comixology**" I mean whoever it is that makes decisions about what shows up in Comixology's digital store. In the case of DC comics, it's most likely someone at DC's digital department, but those finer distinctions are beyond me.

**It might also be noted that the correct form is actually comiXology, but I've been doing it wrong since my first post and I'm not about to change now.

Digital Dollar Bin: Batman/Planetary: Night on Earth

Batman/Planetary: Night on Earth
Writer: Warren Ellis
Artist: John Cassaday
Release Date: June 25, 2003 (print), July 15, 2010 (digital)
Rating: 4 out of 5 Pixels

I wasn't all that excited about this weekend's Batman 101 sale (going through Sunday night!) because I already own most of these comics in trade form, but I decided to check out the Batman/ Planetary crossover because a couple months ago I bought the JLA/Planetary crossover when it was on sale for $0.99 and I loved it. I've never read a single issue of Planetary but that didn't impede my enjoyment of either of the two crossovers. I loved how JLA/Planetary took more of an Amalgam Comics approach to the crossover, combining the two universes into one rather than doing a traditional crossover, so I wasn't disappointed by Batman/Planetary, which takes another slightly non-traditional take on the crossover concept, yet one that also has a parallel to the mid-90s DC/Marvel crossover that Amalgam Comics was spawned from: like DC vs. Marvel, Batman/Planetary also centers around a character who lives between universes. While Access was set up to be a superhero, though, John Black is more of a tragic figure, a man whose ability to slide between universes comes from a cruel experiment that killed his parents, and who can't stop himself from killing those around him as he sends parts of them to alternate universes or collides multiple versions of the same person into the same place.

Warren Ellis has fun with the concept, making references to 1986's Crisis on Infinite Earths, allowing Planetary's Jakita Wagner to butt heads and egos with Batman, and best of all, giving John Cassaday the chance to have some fun himself by rendering several different versions of Batman. Apart from the basic John Cassaday Batman from the then-current DC Universe, Cassaday also faithfully portrays the Adam West version (whom Elijah Snow mistakes for a transvestite hooker),

the Dark Knight Returns version,

the Neal Adams version (in this Neal Adamsiest of poses),

the Bob Kane version,

and some kind of cool-looking futuristic Batman that I presume John Cassaday made up.

I'd like to read more about this Batman.

Apart from the fun of seeing multiple versions of Batman argue with Jakita and Elijah, this comic also offers a great character moment when Batman recognizes the similarity between his tragic past and John Black's, and offers Black advice on coping with the pain of losing one's parents. Overall a great comic, definitely worth a buck if you get a chance to pick it up before the sale ends tomorrow night, probably even worth whatever price it will be after that.

Now one of these days I need to actually read Planetary...

Unpixelated Panels: Knight and Squire 1-6

Knight and Squire 1-6
Writer: Paul Cornell
Artist: Jimmy Broxton
Release Date: October 2010 - March 2011
Rating: 5 out of 5 Pixels

I could swear I'd seen this entire miniseries listed on Comixology, but I just checked now and all I can find is a ten-page preview of the first issue. This is a shame, not only because this is one of the most enjoyable miniseries I've read in a long time, but because it's a miniseries made up almost entirely of single-issue stories, which I think works really well for the digital format--for your buck ninety-nine, you get a complete experience. You'd enjoy it enough to want to buy the other issues, to be sure, but it's nice to feel like you've gotten your money's worth with just one issue. You wouldn't be happy, for example, if you bought a song on iTunes, only to find you really only got one-sixth of a song. You know you're getting only part of an album, but you expect to get an entire song. The problem with too many monthly comics lately is that they're not written like songs that are part of an album, but like parts of a single song.

Knight and Squire, refreshingly, does not have this problem. Each of the first four issues has a unique conflict that is resolved by the end of the issue, and even though issue five ends on a cliffhanger that leads into issue six, each of the two issues has its own definite beginning, middle, and end. At the same time, there are plot threads and recurring themes throughout the miniseries that tie all the stories together, so there is added value to listening to the album as a whole, as it were. This is how serial comics should be written, especially if they are to be sold as single units digitally whose ultimate destiny is not necessarily the trade collection.

And I haven't even gotten to what makes Knight and Squire truly awesome. The main characters, of course, are meant to be the British version of Batman and Robin, members of the Silver Age International Club of Heroes and reinvented by Grant Morrison in more recent years. Paul Cornell takes the Morrison version of the characters and makes them completely his own. The result is nothing like a Batman and Robin story--not even a British Batman and Robin story. Instead, it's a purely original story, both hilarious and touching, that delves into the world of British superheroes and supervillains, a world of crazy adventure and eccentricity, defined at the opening of the first issue as a mix of trade, hobby, and fetish. This is a world that at once emulates American superhero culture and rises above it, as would be expected of "stiff upper-lipped" Brits who are civilized enough to stop fighting at the end of the day and sit down for a drink with their enemies. As characters point out more than once, "It's complicated." Perhaps most impressively, this is a world populated by more than 130 characters who are unique creations of Cornell and artist Jimmy Broxton.

A few highlights of the series:

• Text pages at the end of each issue explain the British references for readers who, "through no fault of their own... are from the colonies"... "(not that there's anything wrong with that)."
• When a scientist brings Richard III back from the dead, he speaks in iambic pentameter, rhyming couplets, and spoken asides, just as he does when written by Shakespeare. (And then notes on his Twunter feed, "It is hard to fit rhyming couplets into 140 characters.")
• Knight's butler, Hank Hackenbacker, is an American dressed in cowboy attire who speaks in some vaguely Texan/southern accent, to parallel Batman's butler, Alfred Pennyworth, a Brit dressed in formal attire who speaks in some vaguely British, equally stereotypical accent. 
• When Squire gets in a fight with her new boyfriend, the word balloon for each of them reads "<Captain Haddock Style Swearword Icons.>"
• One of the 130+ new characters created for this miniseries is Birthday Girl, a superheroine who fights crime in the nude, surrounded by conveniently placed "modesty balloons." I especially love that when Birthday Girl is speaking to Knight and Squire via the large-screen video phone that all superheroes use rather than conventional phones, a black box with the word "Inappropriate" covers her breasts. Because of course any decent superhero would have censorship software installed on his video phone.

But the above bullet list doesn't fully capture Knight and Squire. Amidst all this wackiness and British humor, there are true moments of poignance, heroism, heartbreak, and introspection on both individual and cultural levels. To get the full experience, you'll just have to read the miniseries yourself. Hopefully it will be made available digitally, to make it easier for you to do so.

Day-And-Date: DC Retroactive: Batman - The 90s

DC Retroactive: Batman - The 90s

Writer: Alan Grant

Artist: Norm Breyfogle

Release Date: August 17, 2011

Rating: 4 out of 5 Pixels

It's a bit of a cop-out to point you somewhere else in my first review, but J. Caleb Mozzocco expressed my sentiments exactly in his review of this issue on Robot 6: This is a fantastic piece of nostalgia that perfectly recaptures the feel of Grant/Breyfogle Batman stories from the early nineties. I give it only 4 out of 5 Pixels because, as Caleb points out, this doesn't do much above and beyond recreating the era. 

I will add, though, that I think it's great that DC and Comixology are releasing 99-cent digital versions of comics from the era in conjunction with these Retroactive specials. I bought and reread Batman 462, 463, 464, and 465 (featuring one of the early appearances of Tim Drake as Robin, yay!) to complete my nostalgia experience. The thing that stood out to me, apart from how great Grant is at populating Gotham with three-dimensional characters, how much I love Breyfogle's Robin, and how apt Caleb Mozzocco's description of Breyfogle's Batman is ("Breyfogle drew the character so that his cape, cowl, white triangle eyes and often gritted teeth looked like highly-abstracted, expressionistic elements that belonged to one character, but his Batman had a tall, thin, highly-muscled athletic body that seemed to belong to another character"), was that Breyfogle's Batmobile is by far my favorite:

Here's hoping this won't be Grant and Breyfogle's last Batman collaboration.

Diving Into Digital Part 1: Batman and Me

My first comic was Batman 476 (Apr 92) by Alan Grant and Norm Breyfogle. The cover shows Batman unmasking himself before a shocked Vicki Vale. I remember picking up the issue and thinking how momentous it must be, as surely Batman had never revealed his secret identity to anyone before, and how lucky I was to start reading Batman on this important occasion. I bought the issue and brought it home, only to find out that the cover was a bit of a white lie. Yes, there's a scene in which Batman unmasks himself to a shocked Vicki Vale, but it only happens in Bruce Wayne's imagination.

Taking my cue from Batman 476, I've also started out with a little white lie. In truth, I had read and even owned a few comics before this one--as an elementary school kid, I'd dabbled in G.I.Joe, Transformers, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. But it was not until as a twelve-year-old I bought Batman 476 that I truly became a comics reader. Despite the cover's deception, I was entranced by Grant's mature, witty script, and by Breyfogle's crisp, dynamic line work. This was a sexy, mysterious, captivating Batman unlike either the Adam West version I'd watched in old reruns or the Michael Keaton version I'd seen more recently. Although the issue was part three of a three-part story, it was easy enough to jump right into it, with enough of a hint of the greater universe it existed within to make me want more. 

And more is what I got: Armageddon Inferno introduced me to others in Batman's universe, not only familiar faces like Superman and Wonder Woman, but unfamiliar ones like Starfire, Guy Gardner, and Lobo; Justice League Spectacular showed me an entirely different group of heroes than I remembered from Super Friends; and Batman: Shadow of the Bat gave me more of the Grant/Breyfogle Batman I'd fallen in love with. From there I worked backward, browsing through the local comic shop's back issue bins, and forward, using the Advance Comics catalog to plan my monthly purchases. 

Nearly twenty years later, I'm still here, immersed in the world of comics. I've tried other genres and fictional universes, from Vertigo to Ultimate Marvel to Craig Thompson's Blankets to Art Spiegelman's Maus. My buying habits have changed as disposable income has ebbed and flowed and interstate moves have given me better or worse access to decent comic shops. I've even tried waiting for the trade. But the constant has always been Batman and the other heroes of the DC Universe. 

It's only appropriate, then, that the impetus for the newest change to my comics buying habits stems from a related change for the DC Universe: next month's New 52 and the accompanying same-day digital release of all DC titles. I've been testing the waters with digital comics for several months now, so when DC announced the relaunch I decided this would be the perfect time for me to complete the switch from print to digital. This blog will chronicle my foray into this brave new world, with reviews of digital releases, news, and musings on the evolution of digital comics as it happens. 

Today seemed like a good day to start the blog, as this morning I bought DC Retroactive: Batman - The 90s and felt like I was twelve again, reading Alan Grant's clever script and seeing Norm Breyfogle's sleek Batman--with the subtle difference that this time it was on a screen instead of on paper.