Batman and Robin #34 – Review

By: Peter J. Tomasi (story), Patrick Gleason (pencils), Mick Gray (inks), John Kalisz (colors)

The Story: Another heartwarming Bat-family reunion.

The Review: The Super-family may have the reputation for being the brighter, friendlier gang of heroes, but it’s the Bat-family that’s gotten tighter over time. Part of that is the changes from the relaunch; the Supers are no longer on intimate terms while the Bats have preserved all their past history with each other. But I think the difference also comes from the fact that the Supers have less need of each other by virtue of their powers; to keep Gotham running, the Bats must rely on their collective strength.

So things haven’t been quite right since Death of the Family drove a wedge between Bruce and the others, one that he exacerbated in post-death of Damian grief. The reconciliation between him, Babs, Jason, and Tim—the three he hurt the most during that period—thus comes right on time, premised on an excellent promise on Bruce’s part: complete and utter truthfulness.

Teen Titans #1 – Review

By: Will Pfeifer (writer), Kenneth Rocafort (artist), Dan Brown (colorist)

The Story: Like many a teen protagonist, Cassie Sandsmark’s story begins racing to catch a bus…

The Review: Though the title remains inexorably linked to some of the most beloved stories of their eras, the latest volume of Teen Titans was something of a disaster. The N.O.W.H.E.R.E. story never really caught on, Trigon’s introduction to the New 52 squandered its potential, and a time-traveling attempt to reinvigorate the series left many readers frustrated. With Scott Lobdell’s complex mega arc concluded, DC has seen fit to relaunch the Teen Titans with Will Pfeifer at the helm. Will it be enough to revitalize one of DC’s most beloved franchises?

Well thankfully, Teen Titans #1 is not accurately represented by its rather obnoxious cover. Those worried that this would be a twenty-first century repeat of the original hip, happenin’ Titans can put those concerns to rest. There aren’t any ham-fisted references to social media or attempts to be particularly topical, instead the issue focuses almost entirely on action. We literally meet our villain in the issue’s third panel and Pfeifer wisely chooses to use the excitement to introduce us to the Titans in action.

Unfortunately our villain leaves something to be desired. The addition of a competent, non-sexualized female master planner to the DCU is appreciated, but our nameless antagonist remains fairly generic throughout this issue. The universal media broadcast and speeding hostage situation are classics of the genre, but there’s not much to set this caper apart from its fellows. Honestly after facing down Trigon, Deathstroke, and Brother Blood this kind of seems like a downgrade for the Titans.

Pfeifer does a solid job of sketching out the basic relationships between the Titans, but there’s a certain absence of joy. While it’s partially Red Robin’s stern management style, this is a very distant, businesslike team of teenagers. Admittedly Beast Boy feels a bit more youthful but, for the most part, there’s a lack of passion that feels off for a teen superhero team. And while I expect that later issues will show us a little more interpersonal interaction, small things like Raven explaining her powers to Gar make these Titans feel like strangers to one another. Admittedly, it seems like the groundwork is in place; the opening panel of Wonder Girl seems to hint at bigger things for her down the line and the implied relationships between Beast Boy and Bunker and Red Robin and Raven, respectively, are intriguing. However, it’s odd that the first issue only shows up phantoms of what may yet be, rather than what is.

Futures End #6 – Review

By: Brian Azzarello, Jeff Lemire, Keith Giffen, Dan Jurgens (story), Patrick Zircher (art), Hi-Fi (colors)

The Story: Frankenstein in space. ‘Nuff said.

The Review: There’s a fine line between achieving icon status and taking that status for granted. At a certain point after they no longer have to prove themselves, it’s too easy for characters (and their writers) to stop trying. You know what we call that situation in most circumstances? Obsolescence: the danger of being ubiquitous to the point of irrelevance. It’s the primary force behind the backlash against Microsoft, The Simpsons, and Chicken McNuggets.

Lois Lane is coming very close to landing in that same category. She’s been DC’s primo reporter for so long, the model for so many other intrepid female journalists/superhero girlfriends, that somewhere along the line, people felt she apparently didn’t have to show off her chops anymore. By sheer kismet, she just ended up in the middle of a story and got it out, rarely expending any effort beyond some sassy one-liners and obligatory questions. That’s pretty much how things are working out in Futures End.

Futures End #4 – Review

By: Brian Azzarello, Jeff Lemire, Keith Giffen, Dan Jurgens (story), Aaron Lopresti (pencils), Art Thibert (inks), Hi-Fi (colors)

The Story: Frankenstein should feel flattered that he’s wanted so badly by his ex-boss.

The Review: The superhero world differs from ours in a lot of ways, but probably the most fundamental difference is how quickly things radically change. In the real world, you can start in one place and five years later find yourself in pretty much the same place. In the superhero world, five years means you’ve lived through seven world-threatening disasters (three of which endangering the universe as well) on top of any number of major shake-ups to society. Talk about not letting the grass grow under your feet.

For all that, characters still tend to gravitate back towards where they started, no matter how far they veer off from their original course. Frankenstein, having apparently left S.H.A.D.E. out of disgust for Father Time’s manipulations, ultimately returns to S.H.A.D.E. for exactly the same reason, as Time brags. “By the looks of it, I didn’t just try [to manipulate you into coming back]. As usual, I succeeded completely, Frank.”

Batman Eternal #5 – Review

By: Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, John Layman, Ray Fawkes, Tim Seely (story), Andy Clarke (art), Blond (colors)

The Story: Red Robin and Batman briefly consider getting the band back together again.

The Review: Let’s review some Batman basics,* shall we? Great as the Dark Knight is, he’s still only one man struggling against a vicious city, which is why the Bat-family exists. But calling them a family gives an impression of a cohesive working unit when they’re actually more like a handful of government agencies. Their objectives and methods are different; they’re supposed to work in different spheres; and when they take jurisdiction over the same area, there tends to be more tension than collaboration.

Such is the way when you have obviously derivative characters trying to prove that they can stand on their own. Red Robin voices that conflict from the first page of this issue, rebelliously establishing his own data networks (his “Robin’s Nests“) in the city separate from Batman’s, declaring, “I don’t like people looking over my shoulder while I work.” Aside from that basic barrier to working with Batman, Tim reminds us of personal obstacles between them post-Death of the Family, Damian Wayne, and Dick Grayson. Gotham needs its heroes to stand together, but between Batgirl’s angry departure last week and Tim’s prickliness here, that’s going to be a very tall order.

Detective Comics #27 – Review

by John Layman, Scott Snyder, Paul Dini, Brad Meltzer, Gregg Hurwitz, Peter J. Tomasi, Jason Fabok, Neal Adams, Dustin Nguyen, Guillem March, Bryan Hitch, and Sean Murphy

The Bat-Man, a mysterious and adventurous figure, fighting for righteousness and apprehending the wrong doer, in his lone battle against the evil forces of society…

Giant anniversary issues like this are always interesting to dissect. What’s the best use of all those pages? Will it connect to current storylines, or should it serve as a celebration of the character’s history? This behemoth issue tries to have its cake and eat it too, but that’s only a problem if it fails. So the question is: did it?

Let’s start at the very beginning, as I hear that that’s a very good place to start. The issue opens with a story from Brad Meltzer and Brian Hitch that goes by the highly appropriate title, “The Case of the Chemical Syndicate.” This iteration of “Chemical Syndicate” is a clever retelling of the 1939 original. Though it has been updated, it is a remarkably faithful adaptation. The major difference is the addition of Batman’s later character traits and a running commentary from the Dark Knight, himself, which would not have been possible in the original story without spoiling the surprise ending.

Though Meltzer displays an impressively economic writing style, cramming a lot into a short fifteen pages without overcluttering his story, the real meat of this story is in the narration. Basic Batman caption boxes do a fine job of showing up a mysterious and yet inexperienced version of the Caped Crusader. Meanwhile, a series of journal entries posit a number of answers to the question “why does Batman do it?” The answers are a master class in Batman, neither overglorifying the vigilante, nor digging too deep into his neuroses to appear heroic. Particularly over the last few days, I’ve been growing tired of a Batman too damaged to inspire us to anything healthy. Perhaps I’m biased by my recent musings, but I think this story navigated these dangerous waters very well.

Batman: Li’l Gotham #5 – Review

By: Dustin Nguyen (story & art), Derek Fridolfs (story)

The Story: Figures that the day Gotham turns nice, it freezes over.

The Review: Not that I expect Li’l Gotham to aspire to Alan Moore-esque heights of literary depth, but I always think that the series deserves to be more than just a load of cuteness.  The holiday hijinks have been sweet and entertaining in their elementary way, but without much in the way of mental stimulation.  The plots are often times so thin and underdeveloped that you can enjoy them even if you’re practically brain-dead.

However, it’s not lost on me that this series is supposed to be full of fluff.  I just don’t see why that has to be mutually exclusive from building plots and characters that grown-ups can enjoy, too.  Anyway, I’m not here to argue that Nguyen-Fridolfs should change up their style or mess with a formula that works for them.  But if the stories on Li’l Gotham don’t take on some new dimensions soon, I’ll quickly run out of things to say about it besides its sheer adorableness.

Teen Titans #22 – Review

By: Scott Lobdell (writer), Jesus Merino (finished art), Eddy Barrows (thumbnails), Pete Pantazis (color)

The Story: It’s hard to say, but I assure you that the Superboy turning purple due to the magics of a giant red demon is the most logical part of this tale.

The Review: Scott Lobdell’s Teen Titans run had a fairly remarkable comeback at the beginning of the current War of Light and Darkness arc, unfortunately the arc has dragged on for months and the quality hasn’t really held up.

As has become tradition, Lobdell opens this issue with a terrible recap page that puts no effort into sounding natural. As Beast Boy rambles in the middle of a world-threatening event, I can’t help but notice that his characterization has completely changed, falling more in line with Teen Titans Go or Young Justice’s interpretations. Unfortunately this is all on the first page. By the time you reach the second, you’ll likely be aware of one of this issues greatest weaknesses, self-deprecating humor.

Don’t get me wrong, I love self-deprecation. You’ll probably catch me doing it in my reviews now and again, and it can be a wonderful attribute to give a character, however, there’s really no excuse for an entire comic to constantly apologize for itself. All too often, Lobdell falls into stilted outdated modes of comic writing that see characters announce their powers and feelings for no reason. Just because Chris Claremont can do it doesn’t mean that Lobdell can make it work and it seems like he’s kind of aware of that. Most of the time when a character winds up acting in this way, another one comments on how silly it is and then punishes them for it.  It might seem mildly clever for a moment, but once that moment has passed you realize that Lobdell has effectively acknowledged his own weak writing and, instead of changing it, has decided to blame his characters.

On the bright side, Lobdell continues to build his side plots, allowing us to slip into a new story quickly. It’s a good idea on a title with such a large cast, especially as it looks to be growing, but I admit to having some worries about how quickly we’ll see them resolved.

Kid Flash is clearly going to be the nest Titan to get the spotlight, so this issue spends a good amount of time laying track for his story. The climax of this issue might legitimately take you by surprise, and you might notice after the fact that it was actually hinted pretty hard, but in all his preparation for his next story, Lobdell seems to forget about the one he’s telling. Things are wrapped up swiftly and arbitrarily and the events of the last half a year are dismissed as if they had fully run their course. It feels almost disrespectful to the readers.

Lobdell and Eddy Barrows provide us with some interesting layouts that tend to sacrifice depth for dynamism; however it falls to Jesus Merino to actually realize those layouts. Merino’s art is a little up and down, but at his best, he brings a great look to the issue.

Red Robin, the clear focus of the arc and title, is a standout. His costume reads a little bit too much like Nightwing’s but seeing as he’s in a similar place of finding his own way to help the world as Dick was when he took on that outfit, it’s feels kind of right.

Other characters don’t fare as well. Raven has a number of wonky panels and, particularly towards the end, Kid Flash’s expressions get kind of extreme. Trigon has a palpable slimeyness about him that befits a deceitful tyrant, but he feels vaguely underwhelming, not enough of a step up from his children.

It’s sort of a shame that we have so many panels with minimal backgrounds, but with all that’s happening, I think it’s actually for the best.

Also, it seems that Tim has instituted a mandatory midriff rule for women on his yacht. What’s up with that?

The Conclusion: Teen Titans #22 is a deeply disappointing issue that squanders most of the buildup that Lobdell has spent so long giving us. The art is attractive and the layouts dynamic, but overall the book is only decent visually and writing like this demands better than decent. It’s a shame that it’s come to this, but this issue is not only weak on its own but undermines the best elements of the title’s last six months and that’s just unacceptable for a once proud franchise like the Titans.

Grade: D

-Noah Sharma

Batman and Robin #19 – Review

By: Peter J. Tomasi (story), Patrick Gleason (pencils), Mick Gray (inks), John Kalisz (colors)

The Story: He’s not alive!  He’s not alive!!!

The Review: Just as my generation saw Wally West as the Flash and Kyle Rayner as Green Lantern, the Robin that I knew best was Tim Drake.  I became familiar with him on Young Justice, got to know him better on Geoff Johns’ Teen Titans, and really got attached to his life and character on Red Robin.  Though I’m fond of both Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne, Tim is really the first person that comes to mind when I think of Robin.

I always found his sudden marginalization once Damian entered the scene a bit unfair (which probably contributed to my initial dislike of Bruce’s son), and though he retains importance as the current leader of the Titans, he really feels like an outsider in the Wayne family these days.  I had looked forward to seeing him featured with Batman again (albeit for just one issue), but I was to be disappointed; here he appears briefly, toward the end of the issue, nevertheless doing enough in that short time to incur Batman’s wrath on top of his resentment and coldness.

Batman Incorporated #4 – Review

By: Grant Morrison (story), Chris Burnham (art), Nathan Fairbairn (colors)

The Story: It’s a battle royale between circus freaks, assassins, and costumed crusaders.

The Review: From the beginning, this title has straddled two very different kinds of stories, each of which is a reflection of the dichotomy that is Morrison’s genius, if you happen to believe he’s a genius.  The first kind of story is bombastic, unpredictable, firecracking bursts of sheer superhero excess.  The second kind of story is driven and invasive, and intensely cerebral in the way it plots its course and sticks to it, determined to see it to the end.

It stands to reason you’d notice the more frenetic aspects of this title rather than anything else.  Morrison fills the pages with action, every bit of it begging for your attention.  I know some folks have a kind of sniffy prejudice towards mainstream comics, but issues like this one show how a writer can take advantage of the zany side of superhero and elevate the ridiculous into art.  “World’s greatest assassins…meet Batman’s front line,” announces the Hood.  When the front line consists of an entire gang of Bat-men, you’re guaranteed craziness of the finest degree.

Batman and Robin #12

By: Peter J. Tomasi (story), Patrick Gleason (pencils), Mick Gray (inks), John Kalisz (colors)

The Story: How many Robins does it take to save a city?

The Review: I voiced my suspicion on Swamp Thing #12 that DC’s upcoming #0 issues threw many of the publisher’s writers for a loop in terms of pacing their respective storylines, and judging from some of what they’ve had to say, that seems to be the case.  After all, what are the odds of every single arc reaching a suitable interlude point after the twelfth issue?  Surely some titles found it necessary to delay an arc, rush through the last one, or accept a sudden break.

Clearly Tomasi has had to accept the second of those options.  It seemed a bit strange last issue how in the second act, Terminus went so quickly from branding Gothamites into hiding to blasting the buildings to erupting from his underground cavern in a mecha suit.  At the time, you didn’t really notice the rush of it because that seemed to be the best way to overwhelm Batman, if that’s what Terminus wanted to go for.  In retrospect, this strategy lacks the building intensity that makes for a good climax, like launching an entire fireworks show in 10 seconds.

Batman and Robin #10 – Review

By: Peter J. Tomasi (story), Patrick Gleason (pencils), Mick Gray (inks), John Kalisz (colors)

The Story: Don’t be so surprised, Batman; almost everyone hates family pictures.

The Review: There are a lot of reasons to like Batman, but the one I think is fundamental to his mass popularity over the years is his particularly aggressive form of crime-fighting.  On paper, we appreciate heroes who seek justice without compromising principle—which Batman does, only he toes the line a bit more.  He may stop short of killing criminals, but he has no problem doling out a lot of pain in the process, which appeals to the side of us that wants vengeance.

However, as the old maxim goes, violence breeds more violence, or something similar, and this issue demonstrates that all of Batman’s efforts may have exacerbated Gotham’s crime situation more than anything else.  We open on a round table of Bat-victims, a mixture of petty criminals and minor villains who have all suffered injury by the Dark Knight and now seem even more crazed and out for blood than before.  These are some seriously scarred people here, riddled with melted flesh, deformed faces, and a lot of Batarang mishaps.

Teen Titans #5 – Review

By: Scott Lobdell (writer), Brett Booth (penciller), Norm Rapmund (inker), Andrew Dalhouse (colorist)

The Story: Oh, let them punch and electrocute each other—kids will be kids!

The Review: The first time a team comes together usually goes one of two ways: they may, by fate or fortune, surpass all expectations and work as a unit naturally, or (much more frequently) they barely manage to get through their scrape without major incident, usually questioning their communal future afterwards.

Of course, the Teen Titans fall into the latter category.  They’re young and raw, many of them having only just taken up their heroic identities, and they’ve got a long way to go in working out the kinks in their teamwork.  Most of the issue has each Titan taking on Superboy on their own, with the others either spectating or standing by to rescue their teammate when the clone eventually dispatches them.

With the fall of each Titan, you begin to wonder what the point of banding up for the sake of mutual protection was if their combined might doesn’t even seem to make Superboy break a sweat.  Even in the Justice League, Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter give Superman a run for his money in the powers department.  Hopefully, this issue doesn’t indicate the team will someday turn into “Superboy and his Merry Band of Back-Ups.”

It’s true, however, that Superboy has gotten a lot more formal training than his opponents, and you can’t help noticing throughout the battle how much more honed and technical he is with his telekinesis now than he ever was in his previous incarnation.  The Superboy of old had a more hands-on approach with his telekinesis, as opposed to the Jean Grey school.  In a lot of ways, that helped keep him from becoming too powerful, since the applications of full-throttle teke are pretty much limitless, as he demonstrates here.  How can his colleagues hope to catch up?

Teen Titans #4 – Review

By: Scott Lobdell (writer), Brett Booth (penciller), Norm Rapmund (inker), Andrew Dalhouse (colorist)

The Story: Cheer up, Wonder Girl.  For some, it’s traditional to get beat up on New Year’s.

The Review: Thus far, most of the Titans are pretty one-dimensional as individuals.  Like J.T. Krul, the last writer to handle the title pre-relaunch, Lobdell has a habit of stamping a mantra to a character and emphasizing it over and over.  You have Tim, wordy and pensive; Bart, frenetic and impulsive; Cassie, defiant and contrary; Miguel, upbeat and easygoing; Superboy, sullen and aloof.  As any one of their narratives demonstrates, these kids can very easily get on your nerves if you have to deal with them on their own.

Throwing them together, however, improves the situation quite a bit.  I have to admit, I like the energy of all these kids when they’re in the same room.  They undercut each other’s personality crutches before it gets too annoying, and together they genuinely project that restless, yet eager spirit that makes members of their age group so terribly annoying and exhilarating at the same time.  It’s fun to see them encounter conflicts adults would try to avoid, yet they actually egg on, like Miguel enthusing, “Fight!  Fight!” when he sees Tim and Bart arguing over a sweatshirt.

The smart guy and idiot dynamic between the two young men is exactly right, of course, but Lobdell introduces it with the most ridiculous point of contention ever, with Tim accusing Bart, “…is that one of my sweatshirts?!”  It’s a joke that may have rung true back in the nineties, but now seems petty and cliché.  Worse still is Tim’s overblown anger over the offense: “How is that any different from what N.O.W.H.E.R.E. is doing—stealing teenagers!”  Does he not realize he just answered his own question?

Batman Incorporated: Leviathan Strikes – Review

By: Grant Morrison (writer), Cameron Stewart & Chris Burnham (artists), Nathan Fairbairn (colorist)

The Story: Now that’s a boat ride you’re not bound to forget.

The Review: While it’s unclear where Batman Inc. fits into this refreshed DCU, with everyone still in the youth of their vigilante careers, it’s obvious Morrison’s grand idea for the next step of Bat-policing will stick around for a while (note that the final word of this issue says “to be continued” in 2012, not “to be concluded”).  But to stay on the safe side, it’s probably best to consider most of this story out-of-continuity, lest we run into unexplainable paradoxes later.

In fact, we could very well run into in the first act of this oversized issue (which, at seven bucks a pop, requires a major leap of devotion to take home), as it stars Stephanie Brown as Batgirl.  With Steph’s existence in the new 52 is still up in the air, fans will be glad to see possibly her last appearance under the cowl, especially since Morrison writes a pretty terrific version of her.  She comes with all her liveliness and charm intact (“…kiss my kung fu.”), and by infiltrating a finishing school for privileged girl assassins, she shows almost more competence than in her now-defunct solo title.

By itself, the Steph-as-Batgirl tale is great fun (with some tenderness in the background as Batman shows up as backup, giving her some much-desired praise as only a father figure can), but included as a finished product with the rest of the issue—it feels very disjointed, to say the least.  You have to remember, though, Morrison never intended for his story to be packaged in this way; the DC relaunch made the mash-up an unavoidable necessity.

That doesn’t entirely excuse the thoroughly confusing nature of remaining story, however.  Like with most Morrison tales, the surface of the plot is straightforward: Batman and his many Robins (with Dick Grayson still wearing a bat on his chest) arrives at a Leviathan freighter for a final showdown with Dr. Dedalus and take down his invasive organization for good.  The moment Bruce actually confronts the ex-Nazi mastermind, however, things go off the loopy end but good.

Teen Titans #3 – Review

By: Scott Lobdell (writer), Brett Booth (penciller), Norm Rapmund (inker), Andrew Dalhouse (colorist)

The Story: Presenting the fabulous entrance of Bunker!

The Review: It sure seems like Lobdell attracts more than the usual share of controversy on his titles.  After the whole outcry over Starfire and sexism on Red Hood and the Outlaws, he almost immediately had to answer for his creation of Bunker, an openly gay (“flamboyant” is the word used by Comic Book Resources) teen with all the superficial signs of flamboyance: hipster clothes, funky colors, preening hairdo.

Here I’d like to apply a point I made about strippers in Voodoo #1: the flamboyantly gay are facts of life; they don’t just exist as hilarious sidemen in sitcoms or reality TV.  So fiction shouldn’t have to be shy about portraying these people, so long as they stick to the principles of good writing and avoid clichés, flat characterization, or lazy research.

On that note, what can we make of Bunker?  He certainly has a cheerful, go-with-the-flow personality, even if the flow leads him to sparring with a silver-haired transient on a train car (“I don’t know how you’re going to [kick my ass] from—a—hospital bed.”).  But also proves that extreme narcissism, wherever your sexual preference may lie, is an highly irritating quality in a person: “Look at me!  You think something this exquisite—this perfect—happened by chance?”

While Bunker himself steers clear of campy stereotypes, there’s no shortage of camp in the issue, as the entire showdown between him and Red Robin is just full of it.  Let’s allow the dialogue to speak for itself, shall we?  Bunker: “Maybe my papi owns this railroad and I want to look firsthand at my inheritance.”  Red Robin: “That’s an awful lot of maybes.”  “Maybe I just like maybes.”  “Maybe so.  Maybe not.”

Teen Titans #2 – Review

By: Scott Lobdell (writer), Brett Booth (penciller), Norm Rapmund (inker), Andrew Dalhouse (colorist)

The Story: All that talk about sewer mutants and mole people are just rumors, I swear!

The Review: Just like in Justice League, this title has taken the strategy of introducing the cast in stages, which has a few downsides.  For one, it goes against the reader’s eagerness to see the entire team come together all at once.  The writer also has to ensure the few characters he puts in play manage to keep the story substantial and engaging.  You also have the danger of turning those characters into the “stars,” making all who come after accessories to the storyline.

Here we have a mix of all three problems.  We get yet another Wonder Girl and Robin-centric issue, with Kid Flash showing up in a couple pages and Superboy in just the one.  The opening with Kid Flash does nothing except establish his Emily Dickinson style of narration (“…and I’m locked in a cell / who knows where / by who knows who / or why.”), and the Superboy page is almost completely redundant if you read his solo title.  Not the best use of either character.

You also get intros to two future Titans, the mutated Skitter and the smoky Solstice.  Skitter actually gets a whole sequence to herself, but ultimately squanders it by doing little more than creep around like your typical sewer creature and hissing unintelligibly (“Kikt!  Kir kritik kih”).  So don’t expect her to add much personality to the issue.  Don’t expect Solstice to pick up the slack either, since she appears briefly and looks far from her formerly sunny self.

Granted, at this point, we still know close to nothing about Solstice or what direction Lobdell plans to take her, but just from the little we can see, it feels like Lobdell is utilizing the Grim Method of character development: when in doubt, just grim them up.  Though hardly thrilled with J.T. Krul’s version of Solstice, I at least appreciated the effort in making a character who was down-to-earth, positive, and had a loving, stable family life.  Lobdell starts on the opposite foot, turning Solstice into yet another teenaged basketcase.

Teen Titans #1 – Review

By: Scott Lobdell (writer), Brett Booth (penciller), Norm Rapmund (inker), Andrew Dalhouse (colorist)

The Story: All they want are some BFFs they can count on—to fight evil secret cabals with.

The Review: Of all the new DC titles, perhaps the one with the most controversy attached is Teen Titans.  The concern most people have, I suspect, is how a largely unknown writer will handle not only one of DC’s biggest properties, but also some of the most iconic characters in the DCU.  The Titans may be sidekicks, but they’re also incredibly popular in their own right.  No one wants to see them “reimagined” to the point where we can’t recognize them anymore.

On that point, Lobdell exercises considerably more restraint that you might have feared.  With Red Robin and Kid Flash, at least, he doesn’t make any radical changes to their characters.  Both come with fairly well-developed personalities and back-story, thanks to past ongoings, so there’s no real reason to mess with what already works, and Lobdell wisely doesn’t.

Superboy and Wonder Girl are different stories.  I’ve already talked about the inconsistency in Superboy’s portrayals, and Wonder Girl fares no better, especially since she’s never had a single ongoing dedicated to her name.  These two can definitely stand to use some tweaking in their conceptions, but it’s hard to say if Lobdell’s take truly gives them the lift they need.

You can’t tell at this point if turning Wonder Girl into a rough-talking felon will do much to reinvigorate her character, but at least it engages you more than the morose girl with a poorly hidden inferiority complex we used to get on J.T. Krul’s version of the Titans.  And anyway, Lobdell doesn’t take her over the top; her sullen attitude may run against your usual idea of her, but at least it makes sense given the explosive circumstances in which she appears.

Batman: Gates of Gotham #5 – Review

By: Scott Snyder, Kyle Higgins, Ryan Parrott (writers), Trevor McCarthy & Graham Nolan (artists), Guy Major (colorist)

The Story: Side-effects may include dizziness, shortness of breath, and murderous rages.

The Review: The tagline on the cover of this issue goes, “The secret history of Gotham revealed!”  Honestly, I don’t see why they even bother.  Every week there’s at least two or three titles on the stands from any company promising to reveal secrets of some kind.  A good many of them wind up obvious, underwhelming, just plain random, or some combination of the three.

You can consider the “secret history of Gotham” a numbing mix of random and underwhelming.  Rather than devise some substantial reason for the Gates’ downfall, Parrott (or Higgins, or Snyder, or whoever is writing this thing now) goes for the ol’ “Turns out, he was crazy!” yarn.  Those diving suits they fashioned may have all sorts of Steampunkery coolness, but spending too much time in them can apparently produce an extreme, mind-bending version of the bends.

If you can take a calming breath, the idea in itself has some interesting possibilities.  Sadly, the story squanders them all by never once laying down the groundwork for this revelation to make sense.  According to Dick, Bradley Gates’ prudent skepticism of his well-to-do employers was really the result of “delusions—hallucinations—and paranoia,” while Nicholas’ homicidal thoughts of revenge (ill-founded to begin with) came from the same, but exacerbated conditions.

But possibly the most tortured stretch of logic in the issue comes from Dick’s defense that Gotham’s first families didn’t cover up what happened to the Gates to destroy them, but to “protect them.”  All so the city-dwellers wouldn’t associate their skyline with “murder” and “madness.”  The premise just assumes a little too much in how seriously people take their architecture.  Five people died constructing the Empire State Building, and no one sees it and thinks, “Look at that.  A constant reminder of the proletariat crushed for social glory.”

Red Robin #26 – Review

By: Fabian Nicieza (writer), Marcus To (penciller), Ray McCarthy (inker), Guy Major (colorist)

The Story: Boomerang, you should know better than anyone: what goes around, comes around.

The Review: Boy, what to say about Captain Boomerang?  Conceived during an “anything-goes” era of comics, his stubborn fixation to his weapon of choice in lieu of any other skills or powers made him one of the wackier buffoons from the Flash’s rogues gallery.  He gained some prestige recently for a featured role in Brightest Day, but the story for which he’s most famous is almost certainly his murder of Jack Drake, father of then-Robin Tim Drake.

This incident brought about major changes in Tim’s life, including his adoption under Bruce Wayne’s name, and likely led to his current identity as Red Robin.  It’s thus fitting that for this final issue, Tim turns his eye on the man that arguably catalyzed his second life as a character.  Up until Identity Crisis, Tim had been thoughtful and intelligent, but resistant to the idea of becoming anything like Batman.  These issue shows things have definitely changed since then.

All of Tim’s schemes bear the Red Robin stamp of mindboggling foresightedness, but this last one takes the cake as he predicts, with stunning accuracy, the unpredictable: human nature.  Yet even at his most serious, Boomerang remains a simpleminded man (Batman remarks, “But you knew…Harkness would only make one decision.”), so manipulating him probably isn’t the hardest task in the world, but that doesn’t take away from the impressive number of variables Tim moves with meticulous precision to push Digger to seal his own fate.

All this chess-like play, just so Tim can get his revenge on his father’s murderer and still claim he kept his hands clean.  This just confirms his entrance into that murky area that frequently plagues Bruce’s methods, but in some ways, Tim’s actions this issue indicate he’s actually more entrenched in gray than his mentor.  Batman certainly has bones to pick with a lot of folks, but he’s not the type to carry out a personal vendetta with such painstaking obsession.

Batman: Gates of Gotham #4 – Review

By: Scott Snyder, Kyle Higgins, Ryan Parrott (writers), Dustin Nguyen & Derec Donovan (artists), Guy Major (colorist)

The Story: Dammit Tim, I’m a detective, not a historian!

The Review: With DC’s top creators on blistering track to launch their new lineup come fall and maintain a steady release pace afterward, it’s little wonder the current titles all have a rushed, cobbled-together quality about them.  You must have noticed the record number of fill-in writers and artists on everything, even on the three-issue Flashpoint tie-ins.  While some of these fill-in jobs have been acceptable, even praiseworthy, quite a lot more have been anything but.

For a while, Higgins as the executor of Snyder’s story worked out very well.  After it came out that Higgins would work on the upcoming Nightwing, Parrott came in as his backup. Gates of Gotham remained seemingly unaffected; last issue seemed on track for a great conclusion.  But, as in Supergirl #62, the grim effects of the lead creators taking less responsibility for the title sneak up on you, and here you get ambushed by any number of writing missteps.

For one, several principal characters experience dramatic personality changes.  While Nicholas Gates going into a very Gothamesque, homicidal bent makes some sense in light of his brother’s death, Alan Wayne revealing a sinister condescension feels inexplicable and forced, almost laughable.  Too bad his mustache isn’t a bit longer, because he might as well be twirling it as he haughtily tells Nick, “…secrets are influence…and influence is power.  But I don’t expect you to understand that.  After all, you aren’t one of us—and you never will be.”

Batman: Gates of Gotham #3 – Review

By: Scott Snyder, Kyle Higgins, Ryan Parrott (writers), Trevor McCarthy (artist), Guy Major (colorist)

The Story: We’ll cross that bridge when we get there—providing it doesn’t collapse first.

The Review: Business is a dirty field; even with the best intentions, it’s pretty difficult to wade into it and come out as clean as you started.  Traditionally, DC has portrayed the Waynes as an almost saintly exception (perhaps a consequence of the somewhat martyred circumstances of Thomas and Martha’s deaths), but recent writers have started digging the dirt on the illustrious Gotham family, revealing their history hasn’t all been as honest as previously believed.

This issue suggests hopes for a better Gotham may not be the sole motivator of Alan Wayne’s investments.  After all, is it really a coincidence he’d like to change the partner location for the newest city-building bridge to land he owns?  Possibly.  After all, other than Cameron Kane’s avarice and Edward Elliot’s suspicion, you have no evidence of Alan’s duplicity.  But then again, how could you?  He’s a businessman, after all.

But loyalty, not business, encourages Nicholas Gates to choose Wayne’s land, not Kane’s, as the end site for the new bridge, a choice spun from his eagerness to accept Alan’s declaration they are now family.  The raging bitterness he later levies against his employers thus seems sudden and somewhat unjust.  It’d make more sense to blame the tragic events on Kane, but you also have to remember Nick himself admits the Wayne land is less ideal for the bridge’s construction.

These intriguing questions and more make the past sequences the strongest parts of the issue, partly because the Bat-family’s investigation in the present stalls a little.  It offers no major revelations, nor even much in the way of enlightening facts.  Instead, it’s mostly a reactionary interlude from last issue’s explosive events, allowing each character to deal with their failures in their own way, sparking some fun exchanges (Red Robin: “You don’t trust anyone…”  Damian: “And your eagerness to trust makes you weak.”).

Teen Titans #97 – Review

By: J.T. Krul (writer), Nicola Scott (penciller), Doug Hazlewood (inker), Jason Wright (colorist)

The Story: Who cares how many there are?  You’ve seen one demon, you’ve seen ‘em all.

The Review: If you’re going to dislike a certain writer’s style, it’s probably a good idea to be clear about what turns you off about their work, and an especially good idea if you’re reviewing their pieces for public view.  By now you’ve probably caught on to the fact that I don’t really care for Krul’s writing, and since we’re on the final chapter of his opening story arc on this title, now seems a good time as any for me to get into some specifics.

The man can’t let an issue go by without inserting at least one pontificating homily on whatever theme he has going on in the story.  Readers should be free to infer whatever theme they can get out of the writing, and certainly it doesn’t need to be shoved under our noses.  And can there be a less engaging opener than a preachy monologue?  Red Robin: “…confidence has a lot to do with being a good leader.  But that confidence is not about believing in your own ability.  It’s about believing in your team.”  No one likes a high-minded goody-goody, Tim.

Red Robin #25 – Review

By: Fabian Nicieza (writer), Marcus To (penciller), Ray McCarthy (inker), Guy Major (colorist)

The Story: Anyone who says a figurative backstabbing is worse than a literal one talks crazy.

The Review: Most of us have at one time or another had a moment where we wondered how everyone else could be oblivious to what seems to be such an obvious conclusion.  Now imagine being in that position day-in, day-out, a constant bombardment of possible scenarios you see so clearly and no one else does.  It’s consuming, I imagine.  But what do I know?  The only hypothetical that consistently plagues my mind is what sort of sandwich I should get next.

For Tim Drake, his ever-ticking mind is a terrific asset, but as we see in this issue, it also poses a fairly gnarly risk.  Sure, the instant assessment of situational variables and the determination of the most logical response are handy virtues for a nerd who decides to take up vigilantism.  But give into that mindset a little too far and you, like Tim, will begin to weigh everything according to quantifiable values, a means-end philosophy that reduces humans to mere x’s and y’s.

Sure, when it comes outsmarting the ladies out to kill (and get preggers by) you, or gaining entrance to an ancient cabal of assassins that requires you die first—one heck of Catch-22, if you don’t mind me saying so—a Machiavellian mind can get the job done in stylish fashion.  And nothing ices that cake more than a slick, just ever-so-cocky explanation: “Collapsible katana blade.  Blood pack on my harness.  A pint of my blood mixed with glycerin water.”

Batman: Gates of Gotham #2 – Review

By: Scott Snyder & Kyle Higgins (writers); Trevor McCarthy (artist); Guy Major (colorist)

The Story: This city’s getting way too hot for me—it’s freaking on fire, man!

The Review: It’s a well-known phenomenon in fiction that the more effort you put into giving your story background and depth, the more life it takes on.  You can tell a perfectly adequate tale without all that work, but it won’t immerse the reader into its world the way one with a fleshed-out history will.  It’s all the difference between enjoying yourself and coming away feeling like you’ve really been transported somewhere else.

It’s been a long time since Gotham has felt that tangible; that it now largely comes down to Snyder and Higgins’ thoughtful work in laying out the city’s historical roots.  The narration takes on an almost literary quality in the opening sequences that let us into the origins of the “Gates of Gotham”, but never do they seem superfluous or forced.  Dense as it is, it reads very naturally, taking care to let you infer some facts for yourself.

Though at points during this five-page sequence the narration gets a little too luxurious with its time, you can’t help feeling that all these developments—the partnership of the Gotham architect brothers, their grandest commission, and the venerable families who commissioned them—will have a vital role to the story.  It’s a testament to Higgins’ craft that he makes each line and detail worthy of your attention.

In fact, some of these details get some quick payoff once we return to the present action, where the Bat-family is trying to get ahead of this steampunk mastermind before his plot affects any more innocent lives.  When Wayne Tower becomes victim to the mystery villain’s attack, you actually feel its loss more than you would with any other comic book building.  Thanks to seeing its conception and construction earlier, you empathize with what it represents, and its fall takes on added levels of symbolic significance.