C2E2 Report: Tim Seeley – Matters of Life and Death

Tim Seeley has been making waves for a long time with creator owned series like Hack/Slash and Revival but recently he’s begun commuting to Gotham City to write Batman: Eternal and Grayson for DC. A skilled writer and a talented illustrator, Seeley is a prolific creator, drawing covers for numerous companies and penning clever, often unsettling, scripts month after month.

With so many interesting projects on his plate, I knew it would be worth my while to seek Seeley out at C2E2, in his hometown of Chicago. Tim was kind enough to speak to me during his live sketching session, the results of which you can see in this article. Read on to hear about Seeley’s process, his thoughts on death and horror, and comics like Revival/Chew, “The Body”, and Grayson.

Detective Comics #23.3: Scarecrow – Review

By: Peter J. Tomasi (story), Szymon Kudranski (art), John Kalisz (colors)

The Story: There’s a war out there, and you’ve got a pick a side—evil or other evil.

The Review: To be frank, I’ve mostly been unimpressed with Villains Month, both in concept and on execution.  I tend to dislike these company-wide gimmicks in general, mostly because they reek of editorial mandates thrust upon unprepared or, worse, unwilling creators.  That lack of preparation and enthusiasm has often come through in the various issues I’ve read.  Plagued by stilted writing and sloppy art, it’s no wonder this has been my lightest DC month yet.

But the law of averages dictates that there shall be gems among the rubbish.  Finding one is a bit like winning a small sum from the lottery, in the sense that you can’t tell if your excitement is from the prize itself or from the fact that your losing streak is finally over.  As a writer who emphasizes character over plot, Tomasi can generate good material from the thinnest stories.  In this case, he manages to do more than simply make lemonade out of lemons; he makes you look at lemons in a whole new light.

Batwoman #21 – Review

By: J.H. Williams III & W. Haden Blackman (story), Francesco Francavilla (art)

The Story: What does a Croc need to do to get some respect in this city?

The Review: Williams-Blackman gave us a pretty great send-off last month, what with Batwoman and Co. deciding the time had come to bring in the goddam Batman themselves and getting us pumped for a big, juicy Bat-fight.  Then, all of a sudden, Williams-Blackman decide to throw this “Interlude” at us instead, one featuring Killer Croc of all characters.  Given the fact that he has nothing to do with the arc at hand, this is a bizarre, untimely sort of choice.

Setting aside how this makes almost no sense, the issue itself does succeed in getting you invested in the heart, mind, and soul of Waylon Jones.  I have a distaste for the brawler-type criminals in comics.  They always seem to carry their muscle-headed approach to fighting over to their lives as well, and come across as rather moronic for it.  But Croc declares early on, “I know I ain’t smart, but I ain’t stupid, neither,” and spends the rest of the issue proving it.

Katana #4 – Review

By: Ann Nocenti (story), Alex Sanchez (art), Art Thibert (inks), Matt Yackey (colors)

The Story: No use crying over broken swords, Katana.  Don’t try huddling in a heap, either.

The Review: Have you ever read a comic and halfway through thought to yourself, I can write a better issue than this?  Yeah, me too.  It’s an inherently arrogant sort of thought, we can all agree; after all, we are basically throwing down with writers who are actually getting paid to have their work published—not to mention the fact that we just put down our own good money to purchase this product we’re now disparaging.

I don’t want to overstate my own writing abilities here, but I’m pretty sure if I had Katana on my plate, I could at least deliver a coherent, focused plot.  Nocenti, on the other hand, is all over the place.  There’s really very little excuse for that kind of distraction in this case; it’s not as if she’s obliged to tie in the title to any event or story arc going on elsewhere.  Yet these four issues have given us four rather different conflicts which have only the most tangential connection to each other and which Nocenti barely manages to develop before moving on to the next one.

Katana #3 – Review

By: Ann Nocenti (story), Cliff Richards (pencils), Rebeca Buchman, Juan Castro, Le Beau Underwood, Phyllis Novin (inks), Pete Pantazis (colors)

The Story: The Dagger Clan try to prove that the size of one’s sword really doesn’t matter.

The Review: I always find it a little risky when a creator mentions how he was inspired by this-or-that or so-and-so in his latest project.  Most of the time, he’s referring to some seminal work of the past, which is now held up as a standard for all works to follow.  Not that this is his intention, but why invite that comparison?  It just raises fans’ expectations and skeptics’ eyebrows that much higher, and a story tends to suffer in the process.

In nearly every interview I’ve read of Nocenti talking about Katana, she’s referred to Seven Samurai as a source of inspiration.  I find this rather amusing because not only does the substance of this series bear no resemblance to that legendary film (except, perhaps, for Katana being a samurai—sort of), but nothing in the tone nor the structure of Katana evokes the spirit that made Seven Samurai special.  This title already suffers from its own shortcomings; it can only look even worse when beheld next to a masterpiece.

Legends of the Dark Knight #2 – Review

By: B. Clay Moore (story), Ben Templesmith (art)

The Story: Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, up until it gets you killed.

The Review: With this title, Smallville, and Ame-Comi Girls, that makes three digital-first series on my review list, and yet I’ve never even commented on that particular aspect of these titles.  So here goes.  While I think it’s smart of DC to anticipate the future market, I don’t know if setting aside a number of what have been really mediocre titles for digital-first release will do much to set a trend for web reading.  Still, changes in medium can’t stop good stories from popping up.

I have no idea how this story worked as a digital product, but as a collected issue, it’s a very fine showing from Moore.  Batman tales can come in many different flavors: dark and moody, mean and violent, tragic and poignant, warm and uplifting, funny and outrageous, strange but true.  Moore’s story of random philanthropists taking on the cowl of the Bat and running to their deaths manages to hit all of these different takes and maintain a unified tone.

Batwoman #10 – Review

By: J.H. Williams III & W. Haden Blackman (story), Trevor McCarthy (art), Guy Major (colors)

The Story: Sometimes people are so close, it’s like they share one body.  Sometimes they actually do.

The Review: This fragmented approach to storytelling that Williams-Blackman have taken on has been an interesting experiment, and a pretty successful one.  Keeping six different plotlines running at the same time in each issue and somehow delivering a coherent, unified read is no easy feat, so in that respect alone, Williams-Blackman have been wildly effective.  But up until now, there didn’t seem to be any reason to write the arc this way except for sheer novelty.

Now, however, with each plotline running closer to each other in time, all coalescing into the “Now” of the present story, you can see how each informs and plays off the others.  Imagine one of those photo-mosaics, where you have scads and scads of little pictures, each with a distinctive subject of its own, yet all coming together to form a single, focal image.  We’ve been too close to the individual pictures, and only now do we step back and see what we’re really looking at.

Batwoman #8 – Review

By: J.H. Williams III & W. Haden Blackman (writers), Amy Reeder (penciller), Rob Hunter (inker), Guy Major (colorist)

The Story: Kate demonstrates she’s not exactly girlfriend material.

The Review: A black friend of mine once told me that to make it in this world, “you can’t work as hard as a white man; you have to work harder.”  A dim outlook, but one no less wise for it.  I think the same philosophy applies to women as well, perhaps even more so, and perhaps especially to women in the superhero business.  One of the long-running, subtle themes of this series is Batwoman’s struggle to craft a heroic identity beyond “the female Batman.”

The first step in that struggle involves her lack of resources.  Though independently wealthy, she doesn’t have the technological connections and inventiveness to be as well-equipped as the Dark Knight.  Working for the D.E.O. has clearly caught her up some.  Here, she gets to put her voice-controlled throwing dart (with the bit of alien A.I. inside) to use against Medusa’s monster minions.  As cool as the dart’s versatility is, it takes away from Batwoman’s abilities to a certain extent as it takes down all her enemies for her, all in a row.

Still, considering she’s outnumbered by supernatural foes, the extra help is warranted.  Besides, she proves her chops later in the issue (but earlier in the story) by singlehandedly executing a breakout at sea, clearing two boats full of GCPD cops, including her girlfriend, in the process.  The scene plays out yet another complication in Batwoman’s life: the overlap between her civilian identity and her night job.  Batman’s had a long time to separate his personas, but now that Kate’s dating Batwoman’s direct competition, such divisions don’t seem feasible now.

Batwoman #7 – Review

By: J.H. Williams III & W. Haden Blackman (writers), Amy Reeder (penciller), Rob Hunter (inker), Guy Major (colorist)

The Story: Don’t be too hard on him, Kate—everyone needs a hook to get by in this world.

The Review: Last issue marked something of a turning point for this title.  The first story arc, appropriately enough, focused entirely on delivering a knockout tale that would get you to fall in love with its tone, its sophistication, and its star—check, check, and check.  Now that you’re hooked, it’s time to expand the scope of the series and get you to sympathize with its world and supporting cast.

With that in mind, Williams-Blackman’s “six story” format works very well, especially in this issue, now that most of the light setup is out of the way and they can really focus on knitting the various perspectives together.  It’s clear that a lot of thought went into deciding which scenes go where, as despite the lack of chronological order, you can still see the plot develop in a fairly clear fashion.

The best example starts in Kate’s story, where she encounters Abbott (a werebeast from the Religion of Crime), who worries Medusa might “run us out of Gotham.”  We cut to Maro, and see Killer Croc complain that the occultist promised to make me big time…to give me the juice I need to eat Gotham alive.”  Both these scenes intersect in the following chapter from Maggie’s POV, where we see Croc, now buffed out and feral, tearing into various werebeasts.  A Medusa agent soon after states, “…the Gator’s gut is full of acolytes and Abbott has gone to ground,” proving Abbott’s concerns from earlier.  This is a situation where you can have your cake and eat it too; the story feels lively from the constant cuts, but you can follow along quite easily.

All this is the more plotty sort of stuff, but Williams-Blackman also take the opportunity to do some necessary character work.  So far, they haven’t quite managed to pin down Maggie nor Chase, both having assertive, wry voices which just happen to echo Batwoman’s herself.  It’s a case where we have three strong women, each with strikingly similar backgrounds, so it’ll take some doing to define Chase and Maggie’s personalities and make them more distinguishable.

Batman: The Dark Knight #1 – Review

By: David Finch (writer, artist), Scott Williams (inker), Alex Sinclair (colorist)

The Story: The Golden Dawn, Part One: Dawn Golden, a childhood friend, if not a childhood fascination, of Bruce Wayne’s, has disappeared. Gotham’s finest aren’t getting anywhere with the case and Batman puts off a lot of other important Bat-work to embark on this personal quest.

What’s Good: David Finch’s visuals were stunning. The level of detail in background (check out the broken glass on Croc’s head), the gadgets (check out the Bat-Cave) and people (throughout the whole book) was right up there, while the dynamism of posture and panel layout made the whole issue feel like it was in movement (even though there was only one fight scene). Finch’s Gotham is dark and worn down, but real, unlike the psychologically-disturbed Gotham we’d find through Frazer Irving. The grit, realism and lack of exaggeration in the art tells us that this is a hard-boiled, noir crime story with the cowled detective in his element and his obsession. I have to say that I also really liked Finch’s take on Killer Croc and Penguin. Neither has ever looked better or more menacing to me.

On the writing side, Finch did everything he needs to do to propel a new mini-series into action. He set up the deep and personal relationship between the detective and the victim, he put society and its pressures into play, added mysterious opponents and traps, and ended on a cliffhanger. While I thought yet-another-personally-connected-damsel-in-distress (you’ll recall we’ve got the Cornell’s Absence arc happening in Batman and Robin at the same time) to be a bit tired, Finch made it work to really drive up Bruce’s normally obsessive personality and make the reader *really* want the bad guy. I bought into the knight-errant-on-a-quest story. The repulsiveness of some of the details (I can’t give spoilers) of the crime raised the stakes and had me wanting more.

The Joker’s Asylum: Killer Croc – Review

By Mike Raicht (writer), David Yardin and Cliff Richards (art), Rodney Ramos (inks, pg. 21), Joe Villarrubia (colors), Patrick Brosseau (letters)

The Story: Another tale spun by the Clown Prince of Crime, this one dealing with Killer Croc’s escape from Arkham and his adoption by a severely dysfunctional criminal family.

What’s Good: Although I’m a pretty big Bat-fan, Killer Croc has never really been my favorite villain (aside from his very cool appearance in the Arkham Asylum video game.) I don’t dislike him, mind, I guess I just prefer seeing Batman take on the slightly more humanoid side of his rogue’s gallery. (Of course, since Batman is only peripheral in this book anyway, that’s not really an issue.)

Speaking of human, though, that’s one thing this book does quite well: humanizing the monster that is Killer Croc. He’s still not as sympathetic as his Marvel counterpart, the Lizard, but this story goes a long way towards parting the curtain and letting us see a little bit of the man behind the beast. The whole “beauty and the beast” angle, while Raicht overplays it a bit for my taste, is still effective, and helps the story more than it hurts.

I particularly enjoyed the artwork in this book. It’s not overly photo referenced, but it doesn’t fall into the “cartoony” trap either; in other words, it fits my definition of a very well drawn comic. It’s not perfect—facial expressions get sloppy when they aren’t in the foreground, and the detailing of the scales on Croc’s skin tends to come and go—but overall, it’s very solid indeed.

Batman: Widening Gyre #1

By Kevin Smith (writer), Walt Flanagan (penciller), Art Thibert (inker), Art Lyon (colorist)

The Story: Some years ago, Batman and Robin (Dick Grayson) captured Baron Blitzkrieg and Atomic Skull. Flash to the present, where Dick Grayson, now Nightwing, has brought Batman to help him out in a bout, since one of the criminals he has been tracking has now gotten the Baron Blitzkrieg armor. There is more on Dick’s mind than nostalgia, when he shows Batman a body in the morgue that could only have been killed by Poison Ivy, who is still in Arkham Asylum. The Dark Knight goes off to find Arkham completely overgrown, as he penetrates it to puzzle out this mystery.

What’s Good: The cover by Bill Sienkiewicz was great, as it really drove me to buy this book.

What’s Not So Good: I had a bit of a hard time with this review, because I love Kevin Smith’s movies so much. His movies are original, manic, unexpected, irreverent and hypnotic. Unfortunately, this book was none of those things.

Right out of the gate, the art put me off. Some artists are so realistic that you can feel the texture and mood of what they draw. Other artists abandon realism for style, and weave compelling images that fascinate. The art in The Widening Gyre achieves neither realism nor style. It tells the story competently, but there is little to leave the reader breathless and swept up in the pictures. The figures, expressions, textures, and even light and shadows, have a plastic feel. The art made me much less receptive to Smith’s story.

As for the story itself, it never took off. I had major problems from the get-go with Smith’s long set-up scenes. We open on some adventure in the past when Dick Grayson was twelve years old. In the present, Nightwing gets Batman’s detective curiosity going, but then disappears. Batman didn’t need Nightwing to show him a body. Anyone could have done that and Batman would have been off to Arkham. Therefore, what was the use of that set-up?

The set-up is tied factually and mechanically to the story in the present, but thematically, there’s no apparent linkage for all the nostalgia. My hope is that Smith added the set-up scene with Nightwing not to fill the third of the book, but for a thematic purpose that will reward the patient reader later in this mini-series.

Nor did the set-up sequence crank up the tension for the reader. Quite the opposite. Both Bruce and Dick spent the flashback and the present fight ridiculing and belittling the villains. There was little sense of anything being at stake, or that this was more than a routine workout for the once and future dynamic duo. The old rule for comics is that the stature of the hero is proportional to the danger and menace of the villain. These foes are not people who raise the stature of Batman and Nightwing.

And the tension did not really pick up once Batman got in Arkham. Every villain he found was tied up, except for Killer Croc and a surprise villain. Ivy herself wasn’t really threatening, unless she has some death by coitus thing going on. The battles at the end don’t manage to pull the tension into positive digits.

Long story short, Smith and Flanagan never made me care about Batman. Not only that, I found it hard to get invested in a Bruce Wayne Batman story when I know he is “dead.” I’m actually quite happy and intrigued by his replacement.

Conclusion: A sub-standard bat-offering. Take your bat-money elsewhere. I will be back for Smith’s next movie. I won’t be back for Widening Gyre #2.

Rating: C-

DS Arsenault

Batman: Gotham After Midnight #11 – Review

By Steve Niles (Writer), Kelly Jones (Art), and Michelle Madsen (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: I’ve been enjoying the Gotham After Midnight series almost entirely because of the ridiculously unique artwork provided by Kelly Jones and Michelle Madsen. While the story isn’t necessarily bad or anything, it’s definitely overshadowed by the art. It helps make even the most basic or generic elements of the story into something incredibly fun to look at. That said, the length of the series is definitely starting to wear on me.

The Story: The penultimate chapter of Gotham After Midnight features Batman facing off against some of his greatest foes as he tries to bring down Midnight. The catch is that all the foes are being controlled by Midnight. But worry not, Batman has a plan…

What’s Good: The latest issue of Gotham After Midnight is very much like the others. If you have been enjoying the series so far, then I see no reason why you’d feel any different about #11. As usual, the crazy visuals and striking (slightly trippy) colors take center stage while the story sets up situations for the art team to go wild. Sure the Midnight story is pretty mindless and downright hokey at times, but it’s pretty hard to care when everything is so much fun to look at. I mean c’mon, how can you not dig a Batman branded Man-Bat catcher?!

What’s Not So Good: Simply put, Gotham After Midnight isn’t a series for everyone. The visuals, the “Adam West” (to steal a term from a colleague) style gadgets, and the generic, predictable storyline will inevitably (and understandably) turn people off. Considering that (thankfully) there is only one issue left, I’m sure you know by now if Midnight is right for you.

Conclusion: What more can I say other than that Gotham After Midnight #11 maintains the status quo. The story remains below average, the visuals remain the highlight, and the series as a whole still feels like it has gone on for too long.

Grade:  C

-Kyle Posluszny

Batman: Gotham After Midnight #7 (of 12) – Review

By Steve Niles (writer), Kelley Jones (art and cover), Michelle Madsen (colors)

The Story: Bruce Wayne wrestles with his feelings for Detective Clarkson, while Batman tries to find her missing partner. Detective Lucas’ disappearance at the hands of Killer Croc clears him of being Midnight, but the harder Batman looks for Lucas’ body the further he gets from the truth about Midnight.

What’s Good: Taking a break from Midnight is good. It’s not that he isn’t interesting, he’s just too much at once. His plan is so intricate, it’s cumbersome. Through seven of twelve issues I still don’t know what he wants aside from giving Batman the runaround. So moving away from him gives us a nice breather. Still, I can’t say enough about Kelley Jones’ art. Cover to cover, the tone of Niles’ writing is captured perfectly. The liquid-looking skull on the ground of a crime scene, and Croc’s character designs stick out in particular. Michelle Madsen proves once again why she was the prefect choice to color this book. The aforementioned crime scene is a good example of that. The white background shows how bleak the case looks, and the skull design indicates death. These simple, but unique choices help Madsen keep pace with Jones’ pencils and help give the book’s visuals an added flair.

What’s Not So Good: The idea that the book needed to step away from Midnight in the first place. Why introduce a villain to Batman’s Rogue’s Gallery and then avoid any clear explanation of intent. The book is about him, but it’s only really good when he’s not around. This is never a good sign. There also seems to be something a little off with the character work here. Batman’s dialogue continues to bug me in this issue. I understand he’s the world’s greatest fighter, and his movements are instinctual, so he can actually think while fighting. But that’s the sort of thing that only makes sense when he’s fighting a common thug. Fighting someone like Croc, who is a much more formidable foe is more of a challenge that should require more attention.

Conclusion: People who love unique, detailed artwork should definitely stick to reading this series. If you’re just in it for the story, it might be a little tougher to keep following. Niles’ depiction of Batman is spotty at best, with his writing showing the characters duality to an annoying degree. Too much genius one week, too much fighter the next, this is a balance he’s yet to find throughout the series’ run. It’s not a good sign when a comic is most enjoyable without it’s two main characters. Still, the artwork is amazing and in my opinion worth the price of the book.

Grade C+

-Ben Berger