Batman Beyond Universe #13 – Review

By: Kyle Higgins & Alec Siegel, Phil Hester; Eric Gapshur; Craig Rousseau; & Thony Silas (art), Nick Fillardi & Guy Major (color)

The Story: What finally broke two generations of the Batfamily?

The Review: It kind of feels like a new dawn for Batman Beyond Universe. Gone is the JLB co-feature and much of the continuity the franchise has gained in comics. Bolstered by call backs to the DCAU’s two biggest animated features, Batman Beyond #13 feels like an event, even on the tails of the “Justice Lords Beyond” arc.

The one element that viewers of the classic television series might not be familiar with is the new Vigilante who the issue informs us teamed up with Terry in “Batman Beyond: 10,000 Clowns”. Vigilante is actually the instigator of most of the issue’s drama, but the core of this story lies solely on Bruce Wayne and his young protégés.

It must be somewhat intimidating to finally reveal the details of one of the DCAU’s biggest secrets after a little over fifteen years, but, if so, Kyle Higgins and Alec Siegel don’t show it for a moment, eagerly adding in the answer to one of this series’ most speculated upon questions. So if you want to know how Bruce fell out with Dick, Terry, and Barbara, this is required reading.

One of Kyle Higgins’ strengths over the course of his run has been giving the Bruce/Terry feud a respectful and visceral portrayal. That continues this issue, with Bruce’s need for control played as a flawed outgrowth of his concern for his partners. It’s not hard to see how his gruff demeanor strangles the best of intentions.

Powers: The Bureau #9 – Review

by Brian Michael Bendis (Writer), Michael Avon Oeming (Penciler/Inker), Nick Filardi (Colors).

The Story: The curious case of Extreme and his many, many pouches.

The Review: As a Screenwriting/Playwriting student at a university, I’ve always appreciated that the comics industry not only has room for a writer that has more of a naturalistic voice for dialogue and pacing, but also that his writing style has been embraced and led to such astonishing success. That said, I’ve started to feel that the delays with his creator owned books such as Brilliant, Scarlet and Powers are really starting to diminish my enjoyment of them.

I’m not assigning blame to Bendis, I’m not sure if blame for the book’s delays can be laid at his feet, whether its the demands of artists workloads or a confluence of events, what I do know is that when I opened this book I had no recollection of the previous issue. Despite being a tad foggy on the particulars of issue #8 I still found this issue to be a great read, other than the Retro Girl sub-plot that gets a little movement at the close of this chapter, issue #9 is business as usual for detectives Pilgrim and Walker as they interrogate 90’s throwback Extreme. The Hollywood setting of this arc really does play to the strengths of Powers VH1 Behind the scenes take on super-heroes behaving badly, as Hollywood is the epitome of celebrity excess, so to is the 90’s the epitome of super-hero excess. Bendis and Oeming tie these two elements together with their hilarious send up of 90’s extremism in the form of, well, Extreme. The former “mentor” of the teen super-group The Circle is suspected of having a hand in their deaths and this issue alternates between the detectives interrogation of him and the flashback sequence detailing their final, fateful mission.

The art in this book is some of the most idiosyncratic on the stands, Oeming excels at both the moody, shadowy interrogation room scenes as well as the bright, poppy, Kirby-esque invasion sequences, other than perhaps Mike Mignola or Chris Bachalo I’m hard pressed to think of any working artist that is more singularly unique than Oeming. His partnership with Bendis at this point is a well oiled machine, there is never a duff panel, never a confusing sequence, and the over-cross hatched double page spread this issue is hilarious.

The Flash #23.3: The Rogues – Review

by Brian Bucellatto (writer), Patrick Zircher (art)

The Story: Remember kids, alcohol and bank jobs don’t mix.

The Review: DC’s Villain’s month has certainly seen its ups and downs. Some, like the Riddler, have truly benefitted, while others, like Relic, have only suffered. It almost seems random which issues are gems and which miss the mark, however DC clearly has favorites.

Though big names like Trigon and the Penguin have fallen short, you’ll find that archenemies have done quite well for themselves this month. Though many are hardly the most powerful or even most popular opponents of the Justice League’s founders, characters like Lex Luthor, Black Manta, and the Cheetah have done fairly well for themselves.

Though they don’t have the name recognition of Sinestro or the Joker, the Flash’s Rogues are well-beloved, and this issue is a fine little course in why that is.

Brian Buccellato delivers a charming story that builds upon the history of the New 52 Rogues, as well as setting things up for Forever Evil: Rogues Rebellion. Buccellato does a good job of making the plot feel natural, however I can’t help but notice that many of the interesting elements introduced since The Flash Annual #1 have been undone. It’s also a bit annoying to hear the Rogues complaining about how much better things were before they had super-powers, as many fans probably agree.

Powers: Bureau #5 – Review

by: Brian Michael Bendis (story) Michael Avon Oeming (art) Nick Filardi (colors)

The Review: It seems that Mrs. Bendis and Oeming spend a lot of time and ink apologizing for explaining why there have been publication delays with this iteration of the Powers series and hyperbolic promises that the next issue is speeding to your local stores RIGHT NOW! I’ve come to expect delays in this series, as has happened in previous series, and for the action to just sort of fritter out and fade away or come to an illogical and rushed finale. I’d wait patiently for each new issue of Powers: Bureau if the story wasn’t just so pedestrian.

There is nothing original or even remotely interesting about this story arc. Some criminal is running around selling powers-infused semen and impregnating people. In probably the most implausible aspect of the story, Walker goes undercover in the powers crime gang to try to root out the mastermind behind the sales of super-sperm. Some criminals seem to recognize him and others don’t, some think he is a spy and others believe his preposterous cover story. How many times have we seen this story or something just like it on cop drama shows since Starsky wired up Hutch?

It seems that the whole concept of a federal “Powers Bureau” was ill-conceived. What really is the difference between having Walker and Pilgrim working for a municipal police force versus working for the feds? None that I can tell. Entire plot threads seem to develop and then are dropped without rhyme or reason. Isn’t Walker supposed to be the chosen intergalactic guardian of the earth? What is he doing running down darkened stairwells and busting up felonious purveyors of bodily fluid? Whatever happened to Enki Sunrise, Walker’s supposed partner? Deena Pilgrim has always been, arguably, the most interesting character in this title, and she is apparently pregnant with a super-baby but what exactly is her status in the “Bureau”? Is she Walker’s partner? Some kind of special agent?

Takio #1 – Review

By: Brian Michael Bendis & Michael Avon Oeming (writing and art), Nick Filardi (colors) and Chris Eliopoulos (letters)

The Story: Two sisters deal with typical young kid problems while also coming to grips with their newly acquired superpowers.

Recap/Review: The first thing to keep in mind is that Takio is not necessarily a comic for “us”.  By “us” I mean the thirty-something, mostly white guys who make up the bulk of the comic reading audience.  That isn’t to say that Takio can’t be enjoyed by by someone with a growing thickness around the middle, a goatee and a Green Lantern shirt – a good story is a good story, right? – but Takio is really focused on a fan who is about thirty years younger and of the other gender: young girls.

Smart move by Bendis and Oeming.  Women read more than men (average of 9 books per year versus 5 books per year).  In virtually every developing country in the world, young girls read more for pleasure than do young boys.  Women earn more bachelor’s and graduate degrees than men.  All of this will eventually translate into better earnings.  So, young girls are probably a pretty good market to attempt to develop.  Comic publishers are tone-deaf on this subject, so I guess Bendis felt he had to do it himself.  Where are the Wizards of Waverly Place comics?  Where are the Good Luck Charlie comics?  Those comics (in digest format) would sell like HOTCAKES via the scholastic book fair market.  They wouldn’t even have to be good comics.  It’s almost like stupid people are in charge sometimes.  Note to Disney: You are leaving money laying on the ground!

Takio – OGN Review

By: Brian Michael Bendis, Michael Avon Oeming & Olivia Bendis (creators), B.M. Bendis & Oeming (writers & art), Nick Filardi (colors), Chris Eliopoulos (letters) & Jennifer Grunwald (editor)

The Story: Two sisters get superpowers.

Background: If you’re at all active in the online comic fan community, you’ve doubtless heard the calls for “more all ages comics” as comic fans wring their hands over the fact that there don’t seem to be comics to give to kids.  The common approach from some publishers to all-ages content is to pump out some out-of-continuity Batman/Spider-Man or new versions of popular kids’ fare from the 70’s/80’s (Muppets, Scooby Doo, Fraggle Rock, etc.)  and call it a day.  I’ve never been sure that was the best approach for a few reasons.  For one thing, if you read comics and get these Marvel Adventures or Batman: The Brave and the Bold type stories for your kids, your kids are intimately aware that what they are reading isn’t “the real Batman”.  Kids want the real thing, not a watered down alternative.  For another, who says that kids have to read Batman & Spider-Man?  I love those characters, but my Dad loved The Shadow and Howdy Doody and those weren’t anything I was interested in as a kid.  Why not develop a new property for kids?

What’s Good: Takio is just super fresh and new.  Bendis and Oeming deserve a LOT of credit for putting their creator-owned adult comic series (Powers) to the side and generating this new set of characters and stories that can bear fruit for a long period of time.  They also deserve credit for bringing Bendis’ daughter Olivia into the creative process.  Lots of comic creators have young kids, but I’ve never heard of involving one in the creative process when crafting an all-ages title.  Even if a sample size of one is anecdotal as hell, it is still better than what most folks do in terms of market research and it also shows willingness by two industry pros (Bendis and Oeming) to admit that there might still be things to learn.

Even though I thoroughly enjoyed it, this story is going to be very attractive to young girls and that’s important because girls read more than boys (that’s why they’re smarter than us, guys!).  It follows two adoptive sisters who are roughly 12-ish and 7-ish.  They come from a single mother household, but rather than roll around in how awful their lives are, the creators merely use this as a tool to establish that these two sisters are close out of necessity.  And while they do like each other, the older sister (Taki) is about to become a young woman.  She’s just starting to be concerned with what is cool, nice clothes, and her clique of friends; and having a tag-along seven-year-old sister isn’t that conducive to being “cool.”  We can all identify with that age, right?  And little Olivia still has that spunky, unself-conscious love-of-life that makes kids so wonderful.  Seven is such a wonderful age to see kids because they have big-kid capabilities, but they still think their parents are awesome and will laugh at fart jokes.  These two kiddos are just wonderful comic characters that will remind you of lots of kids that you know.

As you can tell from the cover art, the girls get superpowers in this volume.  I don’t want to spoil the when and how for you, but watching the girls take different approaches to trying out their powers and whether or not they should be superheroes is golden.

Batman: Streets of Gotham #16 – Review

By: Paul Dini (writer), Dustin Nguyen (pencils), Derek Fridolfs (inks), John Kalisz (colors) & Steve Wands (letters)

Two-Face Back-up Story: Ivan Brandon (writer), Ramon Bachs (pencils), John Lucas (inks), Nick Filardi (colors) & Travis Lanham (letters)

The Story: With Bruce Wayne “coming back” someone is going to have to do something about Hush who has been posing as Bruce for the last year or so…

What’s Good: For as all-inclusive as Morrison’s epic Bat-story has been, I find it very odd that he has left this piece almost completely alone.  Namely, since Bruce’s “death”, Paul Dini has had Hush assuming Bruce’s identity.  I thought it was a clever bit of storytelling because it has certainly avoided the public question of “What happened to Bruce Wayne?” and Dini did some neat things with the story when he had Hush attempt to spend the Wayne family into oblivion by donating ALL of their money to charity.

This story arc is very clearly someone at DC reminding Dini that he needs to clean up his toys before Grant “Daddy” Morrison gets home from work and finds Hush living as Bruce Wayne.  How awkward would that be?  But, where Dini excels is in making this more than a “taking out the trash” level of story.  He manages to have Hush continuing to do dastardly things right up until the (apparent) end as he is using his influence as “Bruce” to get psychos released from Arkham.  At least Bruce/Dick/Tim/Damien/Steph will have a lot to do in the months ahead!

Also excellent is the Ivan Brandon-penned back-up featuring Two-Face.  I’ve never loved Two-Face, but this series of back-ups from Brandon has made him a lot more interesting for me.  I won’t spoil the pay off, but it starts to answer the question of whether Two-Face’s psychotic cup is really half-full or half-empty.

I didn’t think that Nguyen’s art was quite as vibrant as I’ve seen in the past.  He’s also the incoming artist on Batgirl, so it could well be that he had double-duty this month and had to rush a bit.  He remains a real master of using heavy blacks as negative space (much like Chris Samnee) which is a different look and one that I enjoy.  Also, who knew that Zatanna owned such a modest dress?  Or did she wear that get-up because she was revolted by wearing her normal attire around Hush?

Batman: Streets of Gotham #15 – Review

By: Paul Dini, Ivan Brandon (writer), Ramon Bachs (pencils), John Lucas (inks), Nick Filardi (colors) & Travis Lanham (letters)

The Story: Two-Face and gang evade the cops while torturing a rat within their organization.

What’s Good: Considering that I’m a general fan of Batman’s world, some might find it surprising that I’ve never really cared for Two-Face as a villain.  I get sick of all the coin flipping and the hokey two-tone clothing.  He just looks like an ugly pimp to me.  And, throughout it all, I never really feel like he’s any sort of legitimate threat because he’s just a crazy attorney.

So, when I found out that this month’s Streets of Gotham would be a continuation of Ivan Brandon’s back-up story from last issue, I had mixed emotions.  On one hand, I think Brandon is a talented young writer and I was eager to see him get an opportunity to do this issue.  On the other, I was wishing he could do another character.

However, Brandon really did a nice job with Two-Face.  He does a great job of showing just how completely nuts Two-Face is.  At times in this story, I almost thought he seemed more like the Joker than the Two-Face I’m used to.  But, that’s okay because Brandon’s Two-Face isn’t anyone that I would want to be in a room with.  I think part of the story-telling effectiveness comes from the relationship with Two-Face has with his two minions and it is very cool how they alternate between being scared shitless of him and being sick of his craziness which leads to a pretty shocking conclusion.  I’m eager to see the next part of this story.

Batman Streets of Gotham #14 – Review

By: Paul Dini (writer), Dustin Nguyen (pencils), Derek Fridolfs (inks), John Kalisz (colors) & Steve Wands (letters)

Two-Face back-up story: Ivan Brandon (writer), Ramon Bachs (pencils), John Lucas (inks), Nick Filardi (colors) & Travis Lanham (letters)

The Story: Hush starts plotting again and Two-Face tries to root out a mole in his organization.

What’s Good: I’ve really come to enjoy Dustin Nguyen’s art.  I don’t think this is his artistic masterpiece, but I’m looking for something kind to say about this issue and I do think that Nguyen’s art is the high point.  I enjoy how he mixes his digitally drawn characters (at least that’s how I assume he’s doing it) with photo-realism in the background so he gets some of the photo-realism on the page without having his character’s expressions be constrained by whatever face the model was making.

This issue also revisits the fun Paul Dini concept of having the Outsiders and the extended Bat-family babysit Hush (who is masquerading as Bruce Wayne).  This concept was first tossed out in the early issues of Streets when Hush was attempting to donate all of Bruce Wayne’s money and bankrupt him, so in this issue Hush has a disguised Katana in tow.

Batman: Streets of Gotham #13 – Review

By: Paul Dini (story), Dustin Nguyen & Derek Fridolfs (story), Nguyen (pencils), Fridolfs (inks), John Kalisz (colors) & Sal Cipriano (letters).  Manhunter Back-up by: Marc Andreyko (writer), Szymon Kudranski (art), Nick Filardi (colors) & Cipriano (letters)

The Story: The minor character the Carpenter tries to design a way out of a murderous movie production that she has fallen into.  Will anyone show up to help her?

What’s Good: This is the type of non-Batman story that Streets of Gotham promised us when it launched last summer.  At times this title has strayed too close to being a book about Batman (who we get plenty of in other titles) or Robin (ditto), so it was nice to see a two-issue arc wrap about the Carpenter and a quandary she found herself in.  The story revolves around a new (?) villain called the Director who wants to film a movie where Batman dies in the production.  He had hired the Carpenter to supposedly build the deadly traps for Batman, but when the Carpenter discovers that she is also supposed to die, she has to engineer a way out of the mess.

I like the Carpenter as a minor character.  She definitely answers a question that has bugged some of us: Who designs all the ultra-intricate hideouts that super-villains live in?  But, there isn’t a LOT of story you can tell with a character like her (honestly, how many hideouts do you need to watch her design?), so I think it’s a bit of a creative triumph that the team came up with another story for her that works.  It isn’t deep or meaningful to the Batman ethos, but it is a cute little tale and doesn’t require much additional knowledge of Batman to enjoy it.

Batman: Streets of Gotham #12 – Review

By: Paul Dini (story), Dustin Nguyen (co-script & pencils), Derek Fridolfs (co-script & inks), John Kalisz (colors), Steve Wands (colors); Manhunter Back-up Story: Marc Andreyko (writer), Szymon Kudranski (artist), Nick Filardi (colors), Sal Cipriano (letters)

The Story: The Carpenter takes a starring turn in this arc and Manhunter tries to save her lost child.

What’s Good: For all the people who complain that there aren’t enough new characters in the DCU, here is one that is trying to make a go of it.  Paul Dini introduced The Carpenter a few years ago during his Heart of Hush storyline (at least I think that was her first appearance) and she has been popping up the Gotham City Sirens over the last year as a lady who pimps out villains’ hide-outs.  If you need clever traps installed to catch an investigating detective…..she’s your girl.

So, after wrapping up the Zsasz storyline than had been meandering for the last year, we get a wholly new arc that shows the Carpenter doing a little fix-it work for a mysterious film-director.  It is a fun little story and it follows up on some things that Dini has been doing in Gotham City Sirens.  When this series first came out it was billed as being about people OTHER than Batman and it is nice to see it playing up to that.  Dick Grayson does make a very brief (and effective) cameo in this issue, but it is a Carpenter story. Pay no attention to that really nice cover… Not much Batman in here.

Batman: Streets of Gotham #11 – Review

By: Main Story: Paul Dini (writer), Dustin Nguyen (pencils), Derek Fridolfs (inks), John Kalisz (colors) & Steve Wands (letters).  Manhunter back-up: Marc Andreyko (writer), Jeremy Haun (pencils), John Lucas (inks), Nick Filardi (colors) & Sal Cipriano (letters)

The Story: Damien and Abuse face off against Zsasz while the Manhunter looks for her lost kid.

What’s Good: I keep trying to drop this title on the grounds that I don’t need to get so many Bat-books, but it keeps being good enough to buy one more month.  Honestly, its been a better title than Batman has been for the last year.

I loved how we got to see Damien and Abuse settle Zsasz’s hash in this issue.  Dini has been building Zsasz up as the villain for nearly 8 months now, by having him build an arena for homeless kids to knife-fight to the death in.   So, it was good to see him get stopped by a couple of kids.

I’m also enjoying the growth of Damien over the last year into a heroic character, which comes to the forefront here as Damien is willing to sacrifice himself to let the other kid (Abuse) get away.  One of the big quandaries for the Bat-books is that all the Robins have stepped up (Dick, Tim & Damien) and I’m curious to see where they all end up once Bruce Wayne is back.

Dustin Nguyen is an acquired taste, I’ll say.  He probably isn’t my favorite artist just due to stylistic issues, but he does execute very well within his style on this issue.

Halloween: The First Death Of Laurie Strode #1 (of 3) – Review

By Stefan Hutchinson (writer), Jeff Zornow (pencils), Nick Filardi (colors), Ed Dukeshire (letters), Sean K Dove (design), Scott Hampton, Tim Seeley, Ryan Browne (alternate covers)

The Story: In the wake of the Haddonfield Massacre (from the first movie), Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis’ character) is trying to deal with a number of problems. First, her long lost brother Michael is an indestructible killing machine who wants her dead. Second, she’s coming to terms with the fact that her life is a lie; her adopted parents never told her the truth about the aforementioned boogieman. Wrap all this up in a traumatized teenage girl and that’s Laurie Strode.

Lately, Laurie’s been feeling a pull to get out of Haddonfield. Let’s hope (for her sake) that it pulls a little harder.

What’s Good? The book does a good job of recreating the domestic feel of Halloween when Michael isn’t around. Another plus is the imagery. I say imagery and not pencils because I like the essence of what’s being implied more than what’s “just on the page”.

Most of the effort goes into making Michael look good, so his mask and jumpsuit look great and have the appropriate lack of detail. Everything else is left in the cold as far as that’s concerned which is a shame since Michael isn’t actually involved in most of the book. But, seeing Michael’s face in the clouds during the cemetery scene is a great shot. Even in “death” he’ll always be there, a permanent shadow over Laurie’s life.

What’s Not So Good? Yes, they’ve nailed the parts without Michael Myers – it’s commendable – but those were also the boring parts of the movie(s). If he’s not there to stare and setup tension, or kill, it’s just kids sitting around unaware. What’s more disappointing is the overall feel of the issue. How many of us bought this book based on the title? My guess is nine out of ten readers would be fans of the films. As such, Stefan Hutchinson could have spent the majority of this time jumping into the story instead of using a full book to recap the first and second movie.

Conclusion: It’s an interesting concept for fans of the Halloween series – if you ever wanted to know the details of how Laurie died. To learn more than the one sentence reason given as to why Laurie isn’t in Halloween 4, 5,and 6, this book seems to be the place to go. There are two issues left to explain how she gets the idea to fake her death. Unfortunately, since there is so little movement in this issue, I have my doubts that everything will get wrapped up neatly.

(Grade: D)

-Ben Berger

A Second Opinion

I’m not sure what to think of this story since it seems like it may contradict Halloween IV. But there’s definitely some merit in this story and it could, if written cleverly enough, fit into film continuity. As far as first issues go, this one’s par for the course, chock full of setup and a too much exposition.

Laurie’s narrative is lifeless and wooden, which in a way, almost feels natural after the events she’s just been through. On the other hand, the dialogue and interplay between characters feels much more natural with the exception of one scene involving clunky excerpts from a diary. The art is a mixed bag, too. Pedestrian scenes are poorly drawn while the nightmarish montages ooze with creepiness.

All in all, this is a decent start to the series, I just hated the surprise reappearance of Loomis at the end. Talk about feeling way too forced and coincidental. This book also needs more consistency on all fronts.

Grade: C-

– J. Montes

X-Men: Manifest Destiny #2 – Review

By 1) Mike Carey (Writer), Michael Ryan (Penciller), Victor Olazaba (Inker), and Chris Sotomayor (Colorist); 2) Skottie Young (Writer), Daniel Panosian (Artist), and Nick Filardi (Colorist); 3) Chris Yost (Writer), Paco Diaz (Artist), and Matt Milla (Colors)

The Story: 1) After being shot by Mystique in the last issue, Iceman is hospitalized. However it doesn’t seem to be over as Mystique catches up with him there and shoots him full of a nerve-killer that will either “kill or cure” him. 2) The Juggernaut sits in a bar somewhere out west, talking with the locals about whether he should be “good” or “bad.” 3) Emma Frost has a long, boring internal monologue because she’s afraid that the other X-Men don’t like or trust her. Boo hoo.

What’s good: Juggernaut is always cool, especially in scenes like this where he’s taking a break from being an unstoppable engine of destruction.

What’s not so good: Emma Frost is always cool, except here, where she’s acting totally out of character. If you’re a world-class telepath, how can you not know whether or not people like you? And since when does she give a damn? The whole point of Emma Frost is that she doesn’t care.

Conclusion: Comics are so short already, Marvel really isn’t doing themselves any service by splitting books like these into even shorter vignettes. There’s no reason the last two stories couldn’t have been placed in the context of one of the many other X-books. The Iceman/Mystique storyline is obviously leading up to something, but I have no idea what. Reversal of the Decimation? But didn’t Bobby already get his powers back? And the two of them have zero chemistry. Manifest Destiny feels like a grab-bag of lukewarm leftovers.

Grade: C+

– Andrew C. Murphy