SENYC Report: Marvel – The Next Big Thing

Marvel came out in force for Special Edition: NYC. Though they easily flattened the competition when it came to number of panels, this was the one to see if you wanted to know what was coming from the House of Ideas.

The panel was moderated by Senior VP of Publishing Tom Brevoort and featured a slew of top name talent. This included Senior X-Men Editor Mike Marts, fan favorite writer Peter David, Storm writer Greg Pak, and Deadpool editor Jordan D. White. There was even a surprise guest in the form of Katie Kubert, the former editor of Batman and Detective comics who had announced her departure from DC less than twenty-four hours before!

Batman #17 – Review

By: Scott Snyder (writer), Greg Capullo (pencils), Jonathan Glapion (inks), FCO Plascencia (colors), Richard Starkings & Jimmy Betancourt (letters), Katie Kubert (assistant editor) and Mike Marts (editor)

The Story: Batman and Joker have their final conflict.

Review (with SPOILERS): This issue is very well done.  I loved it and I can’t imagine many Batman fans not enjoying it.  It’s really amazing to think that 2.5 years ago, DC took a chance on this newer writer named Scott Snyder and now he’s produced – in succession – The Black Mirror (pre-New 52), The Court of Owls and now Death of the Family.  Those are three “all-time classic” quality stories.  They’re things you can hand to a non-comics friend who “wants to try a Batman comic”.  Maybe they won’t be hooked on comics, but at least you won’t have to be nervous about the material: there’s no issues drawn by Igor Kordey in the middle, no weird events that you have to explain to them, etc.  It’s just good, good comics with a pantheon-level character.

Batman #16 – Review

By: Scott Snyder (writer), Greg Capullo (pencils), Jonathan Glapion (inks), FCO Plascencia (colors), Richard Starkings & Jimmy Betancourt (letters), Katie Kubert (assistant editor) & Mike Marts (editor)

Back-up by: Snyder & James Tynion, IV (writers), Jock (art), David Baron (colors) & Taylor Esposito (letters)

The Story: Batman goes into Joker’s lair to confront the madman.

Review (with SPOILERS): Geez, where to begin?  This issue had so many nifty moments.  We’ll get into those below, but let’s take a second to bask in how this creative team is really functioning as a TEAM.  That is to say that I don’t think every story beat is coming from the mind of Snyder and I don’t think every artistic flourish is coming from Capullo.  This comic really shows what can happen when gifted creators are working together rather than just having writers shoveling scripts at artists (and the teamwork continues at another level given the amount of history that Capullo, Glapion and Plascencia have together).   Onto the cool moments….

Batman #15 – Review

By: Scott Snyder (writer), Greg Capullo (pencils), Jonathan Glapion (inks), FCO Plascencia (colors), Richard Starkings & Jimmy Betancourt (letters), Katie Kubert & Mike Marts (editors)

Back-up story by: Snyder & James Tynion IV (writers), Jock (art), Dave Baron (colors), Taylor Esposito (letters)

The Story: As Joker threatens Batman’s extended Bat-family, will Bruce trust his allies to help him or will he go it alone?

A few things (with SPOILERS): 1). Creepy, creepy joker…. – Credit to all the creators for how disturbing this Joker seems.  Just the concept that the Joker had his face cut off and is now wearing it like a mask is pretty snappy because it allows an artist of Greg Capullo’s caliber to create some very upsetting visuals: the way the mask stretches over his face, the way the mouth is pulled back by hooks, the way the edges of the skin mask curl, the musculature under the mask peeking out….  Yuck.  Mix that up with some creepy words and clever lettering and you’ve got a scary villain.  As an aside, I got involved in a message board discussion where it seemed that some people didn’t like the skin mask.  I’m not reading the other Bat-titles.  Are other artists making a mess of it?

Batman #14 – Review

By: Scott Snyder (writer), Greg Capullo (pencils), Jonathan Glapion (inks), FCO Plascencia (colors), Richard Starkings & Jimmy Betancourt (letters), Katie Kubert (assistant editor) & Mike Marts (editor)

Back-up by: Snyder & James Tynion IV (writers), Jock (art), Dave Baron (colors) & Sal Cipriano (letters)

The Story: Joker starts to go after Batman’s family by lashing out at its most vulnerable members.

The Review: 

1. Very good Again. – This doesn’t have to be a horribly long review because what made last issue so compelling is back on display here.  This Joker is horribly scary and that keeps the issue humming along.  It’s amazing that a character who has been around for decades and has been so frequently clownish can be turned into something so frightening.  The chaos of the Joker is what can make him scary.  So much of what Batman does centers on game theory and being one step ahead of his villain.  But, for game theory to work, you have to be playing the game with a rational actor and the Joker is anything but.  He breaks the rules and you have to react.

2. Relationships can slow you down. – This isn’t a new theme in a Bat-book, but relationships can make life hard.  Pretty much any partnership or group is going to have a weak member and sometimes it’ll fall on the strong one to help the weak one along.  In this issue we clearly see how Batman’s friends make him very vulnerable to Joker.  I mean, Batman is always hard-pressed to handle the Joker, but how is he supposed to catch Joker and protect his family?  I’m going to trust that Snyder has a better resolution to the story than “Batman’s friends also give him the strength to defeat the Joker.”  Let’s do something crazy, like see Batman go down the rathole to having NO friends at all.

3. Outstanding art. – You’re simply not going to find better art in a comic than this.  Part of the scariness of Joker comes from the words in the script, but most of it is coming from how the Capullo/Glapion/Plascencia team is drawing him.  My god… This is someone who would make you soil your pants if you really saw him.  He’s so creepy and so imbalanced.  You don’t want any part of this guy.  But this art team rules the quiet moments too.  There are a lot of “talking heads” scenes in the comic and those types of scenes rise and fall on the acting of the characters.  We even get a classic Capullo splash page where he made Glapion and Plascencia ink/color tons of little drops of blood.  I always wonder if Capullo warns his collaborators that such a page is coming?  Do they ever play tricks like sending complex pages to the next guy in the art chain at inconvenient times?  Like anniversaries?  Holidays?

Batman #13 – Review

By: Scott Snyder (writer), Greg Capullo (pencils), Jonathan Glapion (inks), FCO Plascencia (colors), Richard Starkings & Jimmy Betancourt (letters), Katie Kubert (assistant editor) & Mike Marts (editor)

Back-up by: Snyder & James Tynion, IV (writers), Jock (art), Sal Cipriano (letters)

The Story: Joker is back in town.  Watch out.

A few things (with SPOILERS): 1). Crazy and scary Joker! – This issue was a great test for me.  See, I love the creative team on this series.  I love them to the point where I honestly question if I would actually notice it if they did a bad issue.  BUT…I really don’t like Joker.  I know he is the classic Batman villain and that everyone loves him, but I think he’s played out and I don’t need to see each creator’s “take on the character”.  “Screw that… do something new that I haven’t seen before.” is usually my attitude.

But, surprisingly I really enjoy how Snyder, Capullo, Glapion, Plascencia and the Comicraft guys handled this issue.  This is a creepy-ass Joker!  I like him this way and they do it so well.  I love (a) that opening scene where he’s lurking in the dark and snapping all the cops’ necks, (b) the “is he telling the truth” claim that he’s been hiding under Gordon’s bed, (c) how they kept hiding his face until the final page so we couldn’t see what he looked like, (d) how he wanted to slice up Harley and how she’s afraid of him…and I loved that final page!

Batman #0 – Review

Main story by: Scott Snyder (writer), Greg Capullo (pencils), Jonathan Glapion (inks), FCO Plascencia (colors)

Back-up by: James Tynion IV (writer), Andy Clarke (art), FCO Plascencia (colors)

The Story: A flash-back story of Bruce Wayne before he really was the Batman.  Kinda Year One style.

Review: This is a tricky comic to review.  It flashes back to a pre-Batman Bruce Wayne and shows him making awkward attempts to fight crime.  We get to see early prototypes of the Batsuit (cool!) and an early rooftop conversation between Bruce and Jim Gordon (also cool).  [In hindsight….this rooftop conversation is very clever.  We all know that Gordon talks to BATMAN on the roof a lot, but he doesn’t talk to BRUCE up there much.  But, it makes sense since Bruce hasn’t fully become Batman at this point in time.  Snyder is a clever devil…] Then the back-up tale focuses mostly on Jim Gordon’s relationship with his daughter and young Tim Drake and Dick Grayson.

Batman #12 – Review

By: Scott Snyder & James Tynion, IV (writers), Becky Cloonan & Andy Clarke (artists), Sandu Florea (inks on a few pages), FCO Plascencia (colors), Richard Starkings & Jimmy Betancourt (letters), Katie Kubert (assistant editor) & Mike Marts (editor)

The Story: Batman has a new helper.

A few things: 1). Neat new character. – I kinda like this new character, Harper Row.  She’s clever, handy and hits that cute-but-not-sexy sweet spot (as appropriate for a teenager).  I like how she uses nothing but her wits and skills to figure out some things about Batman’s operations.  Heck, she basically hacks and improves his network.  That’s really cool.  In fact, her attitude and skill sets remind me a little bit of Tim Drake who famously figured out Batman’s identity and then went on to become Robin.  Could a character arc like Tim’s be in store for Harper?  Who knows…..but it would be a fun possibility.

Batman #11 – Review

By: Scott Snyder (writer), Greg Capullo (pencils), Jonathan Glapion (inks), FCO Plascencia (colors), Richard Starkings & Jimmy Betancourt (letters), Katie Kubert (assistant editor) & Mike Marts (editor)

Back-up by: Snyder & James Tynion, IV (writers), Rafael Albuquerque (art), Dave McCaig (colors), Dezi Sienty (assistant editor) & Marts (editor)

The Story: The “final battle” between Batman and his evil brother (?) Lincoln March.  Stuff is revealed….

The Review: 1). Just an epically good Batman story. – As a personal aside, it’s not a big secret that I’ve been souring on the world of superhero comics for some time.  I buy more Vertigo titles than I do DC and Marvel combined.  It isn’t that I don’t like these characters, it’s that I’ve already read them in hundreds of issues and it takes a very special creative team to make it feel special.

Batman #10 – Review

By: Scott Snyder (writer), Greg Capullo (pencils), Jonathan Glapion (inks), FCO Plascencia (colors), Richard Starkings & Jimmy Betancourt (letters), Katie Kubert (assistant editor) & Mike Marts (editor)

The Story: Batman closes in on the Court of Owls

A few things (with SPOILERS): 1). Big reveal at the end! – Remember when internet trolls were all complaining that Greg Capullo made this Gotham politician, Lincoln March, look too much like Bruce Wayne?  Remember that?  “He only seems to know how to draw one face!  What a hack!  Go back and draw some more Spawn!”  Well…now we know why.  Turns out Lincoln is Bruce’s long-lost brother!  That’s an interesting choice and I’m of two-minds about it.  On one hand, I do enjoy Snyder just going for it and reminding us that this is the New 52; this isn’t the Batman we’ve been reading for years.  I also like the contrast between Lincoln and Bruce.  We’ve always thought that poor Bruce Wayne had the worst childhood.  I mean, Bruce’s parents were gunned down in front of him and it so warped him that he turned into this creature of vengeance called The Batman.  Well, Bruce had a pretty cushy life compared to his brother who was DUMPED by his parents into an institution for screwed up little children where he was recruited by the Wayne’s worst enemies.  Basically, similar Daddy-issues to what made Bruce into Batman have turned his brother into Owlman (who has always been a wonderful mirror universe version of Batman).  I think Snyder can have a lot of fun with this.

Batman #9 – Review

By: Scott Snyder (writer), Greg Capullo (pencils), Jonathan Glapion (inks), FCO Plascencia (colors), Richard Starkings & Jimmy Betancourt (letters), Katie Kubert (assistant editor) & Mike Marts (editor)

The Fall of the House of Wayne Back-up: Snyder & James Tynion IV (writers), Rafael Albuquerque (art), Dave McCaig (colors), Patrick Brosseau (letters), Kubert & Marts (editors)

The Story: How will Batman deal with a Batcave full of Owls?

Review: This is a hard issue to review because of the expectations heaped on this creative team.  They have been SO good throughout this run (and on other projects over the years) that the reader starts to expect “issue of the year” excellence every time.  It’s a case of becoming a victim of your own success.

So, my initial reaction to this issue was: “not everything I wanted it to be”.  But, then as I reread it a second and third time (which I almost never do), I started to appreciate that even though this isn’t the best comic this creative team has produced, it’s still probably better than every other comic I’ll read this week.  It’s like an NBA playoff game where Michael Jordan didn’t have his best game, but still got 22 points and was the best player on the court, and his team still won.

One complaint is the “event”.  I’m usually the compulsive dude who buys all the tie-ins and then complains because I felt like the Captain Bogus miniseries (written by Joe Hack and illustrated by No-Fingers-Johnny) was nothing but a shameless money-grab.  But, for Night of the Owls, I’m only getting Batman.  I like the story for Night of the Owls, but I’m not buying the tie-ins.  If Snyder and Capullo told the complete story, I’d buy it in a heartbeat, but I have no interest in buying a bunch of issues by lesser creators.  We always hear about events, “You don’t have to buy everything.  You can just buy the main series and it’ll read fine.”  But, that isn’t really true, is it?  We get that one double-pager (with the super-awesome looking new Batmobile) and it shows us Robin, Batgirl and Nightwing fighting the Talons.  For me, that popped the bubble.  Now I feel like fundamental parts of the story MAY be happening in those other series.  But I also know I probably won’t enjoy all of those issues.

Batman #8 – Review

By: Scott Snyder (writer), Greg Capullo (pencils), Jonathan Glapion (inks), FCO Plascencia (colors), Richard Starkings (letters), Katie Kubert (assistant editor) & Mike Marts (editor)

The Story: The Night of Owls begins with a furious attack on Wayne Manor.

The Review: The Court of Owls that Snyder and Capullo introduced during the last story arc was really strong.  It created a compelling new enemy for Bruce and Batman and challenged this whole notion that Batman is “the master of Gotham.”  However, this being comics, if one is good, then one hundred must be great and therefore we get a Bat-crossover with LOTS of Talons running around causing mayhem.

Comparing this issue to the first story arc is a little like comparing Aliens to Alien.  The Court of Owls (Alien) was scary, methodical and psychological.  It seems like Night of the Owls will be more like Aliens: It’ll have its scary moments, but the action might be so intense that you don’t really have time to soil your pants.
The action kicks off instantly in this issue: Wayne Manor is under attack by scores of Talons (who show up on a motion tracker like in Aliens).  We’ve seen that Batman can defeat a Talon, but it was a pretty nasty fight.  How is wounded Bruce Wayne going to deal with 20 Talons?  And how can he keep Alfred safe during the whole affair?

This issue could have been nothing but a generic fight with Talons attacking Batman/Bruce and still advanced the story toward the desired endpoint.  What’s impressive about Snyder is how he isn’t content with “generic”, so this issue continues the sense that Batman/Bruce has been violated by the Owls.  Going back to Batman #1, Bruce didn’t even know they existed, much less that they were building “nests” inside his own buildings.  Now, we see the Owls violating both Wayne Manor (Bruce’s home) and the Batcave (Batman’s home).  Even the climax of the story showed Bruce and Alfred retreating into a vault within the Batcave—kind of a home-within-a-home.  Except that vault isn’t going to keep the Owls out forever.  He can’t hide and lurk in the shadows.  The whole sequence gives this horrible sense that the Owls know who Bruce is and the only way he’ll ever be safe is to utterly destroy them.  How about that?  A comic story that makes Batman been hunted and unsafe?

Batman #7 – Review

By: Scott Snyder (writer), Greg Capullo (pencils), Jonathan Glapion (inks), FCO (colors), Richard Starkings & Jimmy Betancourt (letters), Katie Kubert (assistant editor) & Mike Marts (editor)

The Story: After defeating the Talon (or at least a Talon), both Batman and the Court of Owls retreat to their lairs to make plans.

A Few Things: 

1. This book/team is hard to review. – I’ve said this before, but the quality level of Batman by Snyder/Capullo/Glapion/FCO is so high that it’s hard to review and grade.  I’m sure this is a better comic that others that I’ve given a similar grade to.  I constantly find myself trapped by not having enough room at the top of the grading scale, like I’m an Olympics gymnastics judge who has boxed himself in by giving too many 9.8s and suddenly wishing that scores could go up to 20.  But, the other thing that happens is actively looking for flaws, because sometimes there aren’t any.  Do I love that Snyder added another item to the Year 1 story with the bat getting eaten by an owl?  No, but only because that pivotal night has gotten crowded over the years.  Did I love Dick Grayson showing up in an all-time-classic Bruce Wayne story?  No, not really.  But the rest of the issue is so good that it seems silly to harp on little quibbles and I feel bad for seeking them out, but if I don’t do that, these reviews end up with me just pouring accolades and who needs that? 😉

2. Finally, a story worth of a longer arc! – Usually, when a superhero story arc gets up to issue #7, I start thinking that some writers and editors need to get over themselves.  Very few stories are big enough and good enough to soak up 6+ months of a comic book.  A good example might be Ed Brubaker’s Rise and Fall of the Shi’ar Empire arc that ran for 12 issues in Uncanny X-Men ~6 years ago.  If you didn’t like that story (and almost no one did), tough shit. That was your Uncanny story for the year.  But in this case, not only are we getting to see extremely gifted creators showing off how talented they are from a pure craft standpoint, but the story merits this time too.  I mean, this is a story about how Batman doesn’t really understand Gotham at all.  It’s an epic story and a perfect story to tell coming out of the New 52 reboot.  This story lays out the nature of Bruce Wayne and all the supporting characters in a way that should have binding implications for years and years of Bat-stories… Long after Snyder and Capullo have left the title.  I can’t wait to see what happens next!

3. Enjoy Snyder’s use of narration boxes. – Lots of writers use narration boxes to bridge two scenes.  Snyder does something that always impresses me. His narration boxes always make some sense for both scenes; hence, they are good bridges.  But, they always make a little more sense for the second scene, so they carry the story forward.  This is one of those little things where Snyder excels as the craft of comics.  Even if the story was some tepid, reheated Joker tale, I’ll bet those narration boxes will still make the action flow wonderfully from scene to scene.

Batman #6 – Review

By: Scott Snyder (writer), Greg Capullo (pencils), Jonathan Glapion (inks), FCO (colors), Richard Starkings (letters), Katie Kubert (assistant editor), Harvey Richards (associate editor) & Mike Marts (editor)

Four Things: 

1. This is a real tour de force artistically. – Man, it’s hard to even know where to start gushing about the art in this issue.  Every page has something that could be analyzed and called our for being special, but a few things really stood out.  One is that Capullo shows us some really crazy perspectives in this issue.  You know how in a basic art class they teach you to pick a point on the horizon and have everything shrinking towards that point?  Well, Capullo turns that on it’s ear by having all kinds of dominant perspective lines that (a) would never meet up if you continued them into infinity OR (b) are curved.  And, this is fitting given the drug-induced fever dream aspect of the comic, but whereas you see some artists just kinda randomly slinging objects around on the page, Capullo has a very defined plan for his warped perspectives.  Nice!  The second item that really got me was the energy and brutality of the fight between Batman and Talon.  You really feel like these are two big, strong guys beating the snot out of each other.  The sheer vitality of the characters even helped me overlook a few places where I couldn’t tell how the action flowed from panel-to-panel.  The third is how F-ing creepy owls are.  Who knew?  Those talon-hands!  Gah!  It wouldn’t surprise me if people read this and started setting owls on fire just to be safe.

2. Let’s heap some praise on inker Glapion and colorist FCO too. – It’s hard to not screw up pencils like Capullo’s.  The combination of (i) high levels of detail and (ii) intense energy is kinda a no-win situation for an inker/colorist.  There are a lot of lesser inkers who would have this issue come out looking stiff, but Glapion makes it work. Seriously, if you follow artists on Twitter you often see awesome pencils getting posted only to see the final art screwed up by the inker and colorist.  I’m not enough of an artist to know how they’re doing this, but I tend to think it comes down to Glapion’s control over the thickness of all these fine lines he has to draw (love inkers who don’t retreat to the pens just because the line is fine) and FCO being willing to go with the flow.  This is not art that needs all kinds of stupid highlights.  FCO just picks colors and shades that will work and stays within himself.

Batman #5 – Review

By: Scott Snyder (writer), Greg Capullo (pencils), Jonathan Glapion (inks), FCO (colors), Richard Starkings (letters), Katie Kubert (assistant editor), Harvey Richards (associate editor) & Mike Marts (editor)

The Story: It’s a complete mind-bender as the Court of Owls has Batman trapped in a maze.  Or do they??

Three Things:

1. Interesting mechanic with the twisting storytelling. – I read this comic digitally (as I do with an increasing number of comics).  And, about halfway through the issue, we started getting to panels where the orientation was “off.”  By that I mean, the iPad’s concept of what was “down” was different than what my eyes said.  So, to read it you had to lock the iPad’s orientation and rotate it from page-to-page.  I presume the same had to be done with the dead tree version of the comic.  Mixed feelings on this…..  First, the twisting very much fit the story and was a good way to make the reader experience the confusion that Batman was feeling.  Second, it’s great to see creators trying something different.  Not everything experimental is going to work, but you don’t advance the artform by doing the same old things.  Third, I really didn’t like the effect.  I had to step away from the story to remind myself how to lock the iPad’s orientation, so that I could read the panels and once I’m reading an iPad technical support page, the mind-bending effect is lost.  So, in summary: I credit the creators for trying something experimental and hope they never do it again.  Honestly, it wouldn’t be that hard for DC to “fix” this.  Just reorient those pages!

[EDIT added by Dean on Jan 25, 2012: Another thought on why the twisting orientation MAY not have worked so well digitally….  When reading on an iPad, having to reorient the device to view a double-page spread is ROUTINE.  It happens about once per issue whereas reorienting a paper comic is rare (usually only for those centerfold spreads).  Not sure what that means, but it is another way of explaining why it has a different effect digitally than on paper.]

2. Is this all in the mind?? – Man…..this is a really twisted story (literally).  It’s impossible to tell how much of Batman’s experience in the maze is mental and how much is really happening.  And….we’ll probably never know.  This story immediately reminded me of two other Batman stories.  One is Snyder’s own Black Mirror where Dick Grayson get’s a whiff of hallucinogenic poison that makes him see weird stuff (but you never really know if some of it is real).  The other way the classic, Batman: The Cult, just for the effect of seeing Batman having a mental breakdown.  Maybe Jason Todd will save him?  This was a really unsettling story.  I don’t even know if I enjoyed it, but I know that I’ll remember it.

3. Great bits of visual storytelling by the art team. – Twisting panel orientations aside, there was some great visual storytelling.  You know how there’s always this hand-wringing from fanboys if an artist makes Batman’s eyeballs visible under the cowl?  Well, I love how Batman is shown in this issue with one classic, triangle eye and the other side with the ‘lens’ smashed and showing his eyeball.  For one thing, it allows Capullo to wring a lot of emotion out of Batman with the cowl on.  You can’t really do that with the triangle eyes.  For another, just seeing him like that says, “Man, that dude is fucked up!”  Especially because this isn’t battle damage….this is more like he got disoriented and smacked his face into something and was too disturbed to fix his mask.  The rest of the issue is great, from the barrage of little, tight panels that sell the disorientation, to the Owl-man’s eyes lurking behind Batman, to the scenes where Batman’s hands look more like owl talons, to the scene where the owls crawl out from inside someone…. This issue has a LOT of memorable visuals.  Who knew that owls were so creepy?  I always kinda liked them before.

Conclusion: A real masterpiece of a comic.  Most comics you read and just kinda toss them to the side.  This issue is full of visual moments that will stick with you for a long time.  Wonderful storytelling by the whole creative team.  But, let’s not make digital readers leave the comic and go into the iPad’s settings to be able to continue the experience.

Grade: A (ignoring the weird twisting thing and counting on DC to FIX it in the digital store)

-Dean Stell

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Batman #4 – Review

By: Scott Snyder (writer), Greg Capullo (pencils), Jonathan Glapion (inks), FCO (colors), Richard Starkings & Jimmy Betancourt (letters), Katie Kubert (assistant editor), Harvey Richards (associate editor) & Mike Marts (editor)

The Story: Bruce keeps digging at the Court of Owls mystery, but is everything what it appears to be?

Five Things: 

1. This is a great looking comic! – This could be a copy-n-paste section every month.  Greg Capullo is just smashing each issue out of the park.  This is such impressive work AND he’s doing it within the confines of a monthly schedule.  That’s really impressive because most artists who approach Capullo’s quality can’t maintain that page-per-day pace.  One of the things that really strikes me about Capullo is how big and powerful his Batman is.  The opening action sequence is taut and powerful with Batman looking every bit a guy who is 6’2″ and 250 pounds and moves like an NFL outside linebacker.  He’s not a dainty little thing like Christian Bale, he’s build like The Rock.   Next Capullo mixes it up with a flashback sequence that is done in a kinda phot0-negative style.  It almost looks like he’s using a subtractive style like scratchboard or something.  Then we get the final sequence where he shows that he can do the “Batman looming over the skyline” pose that every Batman artist needs to nail.  Finally, kudos need to go out to Glapion and FCO.  I’ve seen Capullo’s pencils and those guy actually are adding to what Capullo is doing whereas most inkers/colorists would screw it up.  My only quibble is that there was a panel or two in this issue where I said, “Huh?  Wha?” (e.g. when Batman is falling from the building), but that doesn’t dampen the artistic achievement that Batman is every month.

2. Interesting wrinkles in the story. – Well….the final page is cool as hell.  That looks very intriguing as Batman falls into a trap that has a very Silver Age vibe to it.  Knowing Snyder’s writing, he’s not going to give us campy Silver Age, so I really can’t wait to see how he pays homage while making it dark and twisted.

3. But, I’m a little confused on a couple of items. – There are a few items where I’m clearly not keeping up as well as I should.  I can’t quite figure out if the Court of Owls is real or not.  I think that’s kinda the point of the story, but it’s giving me a little more of a “confused” feeling when it should be pure mystery and anticipation.  Same thing with Bruce fiddling with his ancestor’s bones.  When did he dig those up?  Was I half asleep when I read the last issue, because I don’t recall any exhuming going on.

Batman #3 – Review

By: Scott Snyder (writer), Greg Capullo (pencils), Jonathan Glapion (inks), FCO (colors), Richard Starkings & Jimmy Betancourt (letters), Katie Kubert (assistant editor), Harvey Richards (associate editor) & Mike Marts (editor)

The Story: Batman investigates a secret society within Gotham.

Five Things: 

1. Really awesome art.  The Capullo/Glapion/FCO team is really something!  They excel in all phases of comic art.  Can they tell the story?  Check.  Can they make the pages visually interesting?  Check.   Do they do good action?  Check.  Can they make a page of two guys talking in a hospital room appealing: Check.  They really do it ALL well, but everything flows from Capullo’s storytelling and layouts.  He is one of those guys who have so mastered his craft that he can make each page visually unique (from a layout standpoint) without sacrificing storytelling or making it hard to know which panel to read next.  I don’t think I’ve ever misread the panels of a Capullo comic and that’s saying a LOT because they guy goes nuts with his panel designs.

2. Cool story.  There’s a lot of good stuff here.  I know there are a majority of fans out there that love to see Batman fighting Joker or Penguin, but those stories are so predictable.  Let the mediocre writers who lack for ideas play around with the established Rogue’s Gallery!  This secret society of owls in Gotham is so neat because we really don’t know what they’re up to, what they capabilities are, how many of them there are, what their goal is… It’s all new and interesting to discover.  And, Snyder has so many neat layers to this story, like the discovery of a hidden 13th floor in Wayne Tower that is the Owl-villain’s lair.  How creepy that they’re living in your own home?  Doesn’t that just creep us all out: The concept that a hidden enemy could be right under out nose?  Yipes!

3. Owls = Irony.  Maybe I’m slow (or just not much of a student of DC), but I realized as I was reading this that the owl-villains remind me of Owlman, the alternate version of Batman from the Crime Syndicate.  I’m sure everyone else picked up on this instantly, but like I said, I’m slow and read almost no DC.

Batman #2 – Review

By: Scott Snyder (writer), Greg Capullo (pencils), Jonathan Glapion (inks), Colors (FCO), Richard Starkings & Jimmy Betancourt (letteres), Katie Kubert (assistant editor), Janelle Asselin (associate editor) & Mike Marts (editor)

The Story: Batman has to deal with a new threat from the Court of Owls.

Five Things: 

1. Great art from Capullo/Glapion/FCO.  Greg Capullo lays out his pages so well.  It’s the kind of thing that’s easiest to appreciate when you see comics that aren’t trying to be visually interesting.  Surely Capullo could tell this story with 3-4 widescreen, rectangular panels per page, but that would be boring and Capullo isn’t boring.  It’s nice to see that dedication to craft.  There are also a couple of classic Capullo action panels in this issue.  The one that springs to mind is the one of the bad guy side-kicking Bruce Wayne through the window.  You can just feel the power of that kick. The guy isn’t kicking Bruce, he’s driving right through him.  Then the window is shattering around his body into a bajillion little pieces.  We haven’t seen many of those hyper-detailed Capullo panels thus far in Batman, so it’s nice to see one pop up.  Now, the art isn’t perfect.  There are a few storytelling flaws, like the motorcycle on the train tracks and the point where Bruce gets knives in his shoulders, but overall the art is excellent.  Wonderful inking to retain the dynamism of the pencils and nicely colored as well.

2. A new villain!  Old villains are so boring because we kinda know what they’re capable of and we know they won’t really die.  Villains like Joker and Penguin are just as safe from death as Batman is and it’s impossible to have drama in a story when the only people who can really die are nameless civilians and Bruce’s girlfriends.  So, this new villain is great: He’s got a cool look.  He just thrashed Bruce in a fight.  We don’t really know what he’s up to.  So much is unknown because we’ve not seen Bruce fight this guy before and it’s better that way.

3.  Snyder writes so well.  Have you ever heard a buddy describe a comic as “wordy”?  We all have, but what they usually mean is, “Lots of word by a writer who doesn’t write well.”  Guys who don’t write well can be really painful to read.  So, it’s important to separate the different elements of writing.  There is, “I have a cool idea for a story.”  There is, “I can write clever banter between Spider-Man and Wolverine.”  And, finally, there is, “I can write a long paragraph in a comic slickly enough that fans don’t complain.”  Snyder excels at that final aspect and it gives him creative freedom to engage in exposition or do more to verbally establish a scene.  It’s a handy thing to have in a bag of tricks because not even Capullo could make the first page of this comic tell a story visually…that was all on Snyder.  He’s also smart to get his wordy parts early in the issue when the reader is fresh.

Batman #1 – Review

By: Scott Snyder (writer), Greg Capullo (pencils), Jonathan Glapion (inks), FCO Plascencia (colors), Richard Starkings & Jimmy Betancourt (letters), Katie Kubert (assistant editor), Janelle Asselin (associate editor) & Mike Marts (editor)

The Review: All the “in the know” comic fans had really high hopes for this issue because it is (a) written by Scott Snyder who is fresh off the best Bat-story of the last decade or so and has never written a bad comic in his life and (b) drawn by Greg Capullo who is one of the best and most underappreciated artists in the comic industry.

This is an outstanding comic book. Not only is it a wonderful comic for fans who have read hundreds of Batman comics, but I think it’ll also be accessible to new readers. Of course, only a moron doesn’t know who Batman is, but they might not know who his rogues are and who all the supporting characters are. So…. Snyder takes us on a quick who’s-who of Gotham residents. And he does it all within the context of his story and using a nifty bit of new technology that makes the introductions better than mere caption boxes. That’s what I really love about Snyder: He never takes the easy way out with his writing. By the end of the issue, you know the players, what they’re like and where they fit in Gotham. I hate to compare to other titles, but when you look at how much ground Snyder covers in this issue, it really makes Justice League #1’s pacing seem sloth-like.

Oh, and in addition to all of that, we get our first mystery too. The story looks to be a little twisted and knowing Snyder’s facility with horror-ish material, I’m really looking forward to the next issue.

There are also all kinds of bones thrown to long-time readers. For example, the Bat-cave has Dick and Damian’s flying Batmobile. So, that’s still there. We also get a really neat group shot of Bruce, Dick Grayson, Tim Drake and Damian Wayne in one picture that illustrates how they’re all slightly different ages, but that they’re all one family and all have “high” level access to the Bat-systems. Of course, the coolest thing is when we learn that Alfred has “highest” level access: As much as Dick/Tim/Damian are family to Bruce, Alfred is his real father-figure and truest partner, so it makes sense that he’d be the most trusted.

Detective Comics #881 – Review

By: Scott Snyder (writer), Jock & Francesco Francavilla (artists), David Baron & Francavilla (colors), Jared K. Fletcher (letters), Katie Kubert (assistant editor), Janelle Asselin (associate editor) & Mike Marts (editor)

The Story: The Jim Gordon, Jr. story comes to an explosive close.

What’s Good: SPOILER WARNING.

What a great issue!  The way Snyder brought Joker into this story arc a few issues ago worried me a bit because this story was so fresh and I worried that the introduction of a tired old villain like Joker would make the story derivative.  I should have known better because Snyder has never in his career had a lazy moment because Joker is almost reduced to a plot device.  That isn’t to say that he didn’t need to be in the story – because he does play a vital role – but this very much ended up being a Jim Gordon, Jr. story.  And, by telling the story this way, Snyder has added an emotionally powerful adversary to Batman’s rogues’ gallery. [I’m assuming that good continuity like this story will be allowed to spill over into the DCnU & DC would be fools not to take this story.]

This issue was just smashed full of good moments.  A lot of them originated in issue #880 when JJ went on a Killing Joke styled attack on the rest of the Gordon’s.  I especially loved how the tension regarding Barbara’s peril was heightened by this being the last issue of Detective Comics.  We all know that she’ll be the “new” Batgirl and will be out of the wheelchair next month, but it was entirely plausible that she could die in this issue, right?  Or, maybe she could have gotten her legs severed and replaced with prosthesis for Batgirl #1?  Not knowing the status of this continuity really made this a better issue because no one felt safe.

Kudos also for allowing Barbara to go out as a bad-ass, my only tangible complaint has to do with her (see below), but Snyder atones for about 95% of that complaint by having Barbara be ballsy enough to pull a knife out of her leg and stab JJ in the face!  It was a real “Hell Yeah!” moment that Barbara deserved if this is the last time we see her in a wheelchair.

Detective Comics #879 – Review

By: Scott Snyder (writer), Francesco Francavilla (artist & colors), Jared K. Fletcher (letters), Katie Kubert (assistant editor), Janelle Asselin (associated editor) & Mike Marts (editor)

The Story: Now that the cat is out of the bag about Jim, Jr.’s true nature, is there anything that could make this Detective Comics issue creepier?

What’s Good: [SPOILER WARNING]  After the reveal at the end of Detective Comics #878, we readers know that Jim Gordon, Jr. is one disturbed dude.  So, this issue is the first time that we readers know more than the characters in the comic.  That’s a pretty big reversal, because previously in this great run by Scott Snyder, Jock & Francavilla, the reader has been just as much in the dark as Commissioner Gordon and Dick-Batman.

I honestly had a small worry about how this issue would turn out with that big change. I also wondered how Snyder & Francavilla would keep the tension high in this issue because watching Gordon, Sr. coming to the realization that his son is depraved (when we already know) probably wouldn’t be that interesting.  But, I should have known to trust Snyder as he brings in this added touch that Jim, Jr. is not only disturbed, but how he’s truly evil.  It’s one thing to have a natural chemical imbalance in your brain that causes you to have no feelings of emotion or empathy, but it is something else to actively do things to further suppress your emotions so you can be a better psychopath.

Detective Comics #878 – Review

By: Scott Snyder (writer), Jock (art), David Baron (colors), Sal Cipriano (letters), Katie Kubert (assistant editor), Janelle Asselin (associate editor) & Mike Marts (editor)

The Story: Batman fights a killer whale and the true nature of Jim Gordon, Jr. is revealed.

What’s Good: [Spoiler warning]   Something that I noted in my advance review of American Vampire #16 earlier this week is how well Scott Snyder pays off his mysteries.  That isn’t to say he doesn’t tease the reader, because Snyder has been slowing building this tension around the character of Jim Gordon, Jr. since last fall.  This character really hasn’t appeared in Batman comics since the Year One storyline way back in 1987.  Jim, Jr. was (then) Lt. Gordon’s infant son who Batman saves during the climactic scene of that classic story.  But, since he has returned, there has been a slight implication that a blow to the head during that rescue may have seriously screwed up Jim, Jr.– to the extent that he might be a serial killer.  Along the way, Snyder has just twisted the knife and told us several fabulous and creepy stories that have left it clear as mud whether Jim, Jr. is a psychopath, or just kinda weird.

Of course, this touches on one of the classic Batman tropes: What is Batman’s responsibility for the evil in Gotham?  Usually that comes from the standpoint of Batman’s refusal to kill Joker and thus being (kinda) responsible for the Joker’s future victims.  Sometimes it is implied that the villains are only hanging around Gotham because Batman is there.  But this Snyder story is tugging on that same trope from a different angle: What if some of the “innocents” that Batman saves go on to do bad things?  And if Batman can’t even save infants without worrying about them coming back as serial killers, how will he ever “win”?

Usually I hate it when writers try to tackle these larger questions about any superhero because it almost always misses the mark and just comes off as preachy and some sort of nerd justification that superhero comics are “about something bigger”.  But Snyder is really nailing it here.  Bravo.

I don’t want to spoil the outcome of whether Jim, Jr. is evil or not, but there is NO doubt remaining after the final page.

The Jock/Baron team again turns in a really strong issue.  We all know that Jock is a really talented artist who can pull off all kinds of non-traditional panel layouts, tilted horizons, etc.  The storytelling is pretty top notch too and isn’t sacrificed by the desire to have cool layouts.  But, Baron’s colors steal the show.  Think about the challenge for an artist to draw something that is underwater.  That is really hard for an artist without doing something like drawing a couple of fish in the background.  That would be effective, but not very hip.  So, Jock doesn’t even really try to convey “underwater,” he just kicks that job to Baron who adds these wonderful greenish hues that really sell the scene.

Detective Comics #877 – Review

By: Scott Snyder (writer), Jock (art), David Baron (colors), Sal Cipriano (letters), Katie Kubert (assistant editor), Janelle Asselin (associate editor) & Mike Marts (editor)

The Story: Batman (Grayson-style) gets closer to finding out who put the ocra with the dead girl in the bank.

What’s Good: This is what I want Batman stories to be about.  I really just want to see a Batman running around Gotham city trying to stop crime.  That’s it.  Sure you can gussy it up and make a long-form story with interconnected elements as Snyder is doing here and that’s a great bonus, but I’m just about as happy watching Batman busting crooks.

Also, some of what makes this issue great is what Batman isn’t doing.  There’s no riding into space and there are no villains that have 6-inch wide holes in their heads.  Snyder’s Batman is very grounded in reality and that’s great.  The Big 2 make more than enough comics about characters with superhuman abilities and I love that Snyder is letting Batman just be a rich guy with awesome gadgets who fights crime.  Dick Grayson also offers up a chance to see a Batman who isn’t haunted.  Bruce Wayne stories are always (ALWAYS) handcuffed by his origin with the falling pearls, “the alley”, leaving flowers on the sidewalk, falling into wells, bats crashing through windows, etc.  You never see Snyder’s Dick Grayson just drive by the circus for no reason and chuck a few flowers into the parking lot.

With all that preamble, what makes this issue so hot is that it’s just Batman fighting crime.  He has clues to follow, connections to make amongst the actors and characters who aren’t what they seem.  We get to see Dick getting himself out of some tight spots and being a bad ass.  And, even when he is being a badass and torturing a guy for information, Snyder stays away from the stupid clichés about whether “the cowl” is making Dick into a darker person.  Snyder just lets Dick break the leg of the guy to make him talk.  I’m fine with that.  Batman is supposed to be a morally vague, greater-good type of character and he doesn’t have to be some meta-level statement on the human condition.

Detective Comics #876 – Review

By: Scott Snyder (writer), Jock (art), David Baron (colors), Sal Cipriano (letters), Katie Kubert (assistant editor), Janelle Asselin (associate editor) & Mike Marts (editor)

The Story: Someone leaves a dead killer whale in a bank lobby.  Batman has to investigate.

What’s Good: If you’ve been following Scott Snyder’s run on Detective Comics, you already know that he really has a handle on how to write a crime-centric Batman story.  So when I opened this issue that kicks off a new story cycle, I already expected good things.  But the very first panel really drove home what a professionally done comic this is.  First the art… The panel doesn’t feature Batman assuming a dramatic pose, while perched on a gargoyle in Gotham (in the rain).  Nope, Jock draws a beautiful cityscape showing Gotham in the morning.  I LOVE artists who not only are able to draw great architecture, but also give enough of a crap about that stuff to do a wonderful job.  Great comics aren’t just about the muscle men!

Then we move on to the narration boxes in this panel where Snyder is describing a Gotham bank down to the level of assets it holds.  What’s cool about this is that the dollar figure Snyder tosses out is actually a believable number for a mid-sized American bank.  How hard is it to Google search bank assets?  Not very, but we’ve all read comics where the writer was clearly just pulling “facts” out of his butt and when you notice this practice, it screws up the whole “suspension of disbelief” thing.  Snyder is professional and either only writes about things he knows about OR he checks his facts (or both).

As for the story itself, we are treated to a continuation of the saga that Snyder has been weaving for these last five or so issues.  Although this is noted as a new story arc, a certain aquatic mammal that made a bit appearance in an earlier issue shows up. Furthermore, the story of Commissioner Gordon and his unwell son is starting to interact with the main Batman story as well.  One of the biggest failings of comics today is that there are too many arcs that have nothing to do with the previous story material, but here it is obvious that Snyder is telling one very large story that is comprised of independent, stand-alone acts.  Knowing this just fills me with anticipation to see how the next 4-5 issues play out.

Detective Comics #875 – Review

By: Scott Snyder (writer), Francesco Francavilla (art & colors), Jared K. Fletcher (letters), Katie Kubert (assistant editor), Janelle Asselin (associate editor) & Mike Marts (editor)

The Story: Jim Gordon tries to close an old case while also dealing with his feelings about his son.

What’s Good: Sheesh, what a good issue.  “Haunting” is probably the most apt word for the story that Snyder weaves as he effortlessly links several tales.  Much of the story is told in flashback to a time when Gotham was plagued by the “Peter Pan Killer” who was breaking into homes and killing little boys.  It is a case that remained unsolved, but always bothered Gordon, so when his prime suspect is released from Blackgate in the present day….Gordon decides to do a little private stakeout to see if he returns to old habits.  Woven together with this A-story are Gordon’s feelings about his son, both the initial realization that something isn’t quite right with James, Jr. in the past and his grappling with what to do now that JJ has come home in the present.

But, the most spot-on moment of the issue is where Gordon discusses how he knows that his prime suspect is the Peter Pan Killer.  Gordon says that it basically comes down to an experienced cop’s intuition and ability to detect when a person “ain’t quite right”.  Of course, what does that mean about his son since Gordon clearly knows that there is something fundamentally wrong with JJ?  It is especially effecting how Snyder shows Gordon’s change from being unwilling to face JJ’s non-conformity in the past, but being so resigned to it in the present that he suspects JJ of doing things of which he is innocent.

Wow.

The other thing that is really impressive about this story is how effectively Snyder tells the whole thing in a single issue.  In this era of writers and editors noodling ideas for 6 issues to get a “better” (or at least “thicker”) collected edition, this is a very welcome thing!