When we last left Tim Drake, he and his new compatriot Clyde Rawlins have had to lay low on the outskirts of Paris while looking into the plans of the Ghost Dragons and their master – King Snake.
Read moreRobin (1991) #3: Comic Review
Robin (1991) #2: Comic Recap
Last time, Tim Drake decide to go off on his own to become a better superhero, starting with studying under a Tibetan martial arts master in Paris – only to run afoul of a street gang.
Read moreRobin (1991) #1: Comic Recap
Having finished with Tim Drake’s path to becoming Robin, it’s time to get into his first solo adventure.
Read moreBreaking Down The Knightfall Saga: Road to Knightfall Act 1, Rise of Robin Issue 1
I’m putting Legends of the Force on hold for a bit so I don’t burnout. In the meantime, I’m a starting an (ultimately) shorter limited-run series taking a look at the Knightfall Saga. This time I’m starting off with some of the building blocks, with the start of the introduction of Tim Drake.
Read moreBatman #457: Comic Recap
We’re finishing up the second arc of Tim Drake’s introduction as Robin, where last time we learned our villain is Scarecrow.
Read moreBatman #456: Comic Recap
In the last issue of Batman, we saw a series of spree killings unfold in Gotham, with a plot inspired by Larry Cohen’s film God Told Me To, and with a cliffhanger where Vicki Vale was being menaced by a skull-hooded man with a sledgehammer.
Read moreBatman #455: Comics Recap
We’re continuing with Tim Drake’s rise as Robin, and shifting books from Detective Comics to Batman.
Read moreDetective Comics #621: Comics Recap
This time we wrap up the first of the three main arcs leading to the start of Tim Drake’s tenure as Robin.
Read moreDetective Comics #620: Comic Recap
When we last left off, the ransom pickup instructions had just reached the Gotham PD – and now it’s time to find out how the pickup turned out.
Read moreDetective Comics #619: Comics Recap
When we last left off the Road to Knightfall, Tim Drake’s parents, Jack and Janet Drake had been kidnapped by The Obeah Man, and their plane was reported missing.
Read moreDetective Comics #618: Comics Recap
I’m starting a new project now, which I’m calling “Batman: Knightfall Saga” – this will be taking the place of Legends of the Force for a bit, so I can take a break and cover something else – so I don’t burn out. I’m starting this off with the path to the Knightfall saga, focusing on three different characters and concepts. First off, we’re getting into the origins of the third Robin, Tim Drake.
Read moreComic Review: Detective Comics (Rebirth) Vol. 3 – League of Shadows
After the end of The Victim Syndicate, I found the volume to be something of a missed opportunity – like the volume was deciding to take on one of the most cliched criticisms of Batman, a dead horse that was beaten into glue, and decided to address it by – not addressing it. By saying that Batman didn’t have an answer to a question that people who are a moderately serious superhero fan would have been able to answer immediately while reading the book.
Read moreComic Review: Detective Comics (Rebirth) Vol. 2 – The Victim Syndicate
One of the ongoing criticisms of Batman as a character is he’s a superhero whose stories solely consist of “punching brown/poor people and the mentally ill,” and at no point does he use his money to address the social ills that affect Gotham. It’s a criticism that frustrates me because, all the way back in the ’70s, you had writers like Denny O’Neill addressing this – with Bruce Wayne using his funds to address the underlying issues affecting Gotham, while Batman contents with those who would exploit those issues for their own gain.
Comic Review: Batman – Night of the Monster Men
Batman: Night of the Monster Men is the first post-Rebirth Bat-Line crossover, with all three of the main Bat-Books (Nightwing, Detective Comics, and Batman) crossing over to deal with the larger threat of a series of, for lack of a better term, Kaiju attacking Gotham City at the same time that a major hurricane hits the city, with the Bat-Family having to contain the monsters while investigating their source.
Comic Review: Detective Comics (Rebirth) Vol. 1: Rise of the Batmen
Rise of the Batmen is something of a launch for a new status quo for Detective Comics in the post Rebirth DCU. Someone is putting together a literal army of Batmen – a black-ops team with skills comparable to members of the Bat-Family, except they’re willing to use deadly force. So, Batman puts together his own team to stop them. Read more
Comic Review: Batman (Rebirth) Vol. 1 – I Am Gotham
I’m adding the “Rebirth” tag to the title of this comic to distinguish it from the initial post Flashpoint relaunch. of the Batman books. Tonally, the book is interesting, in terms of how the book openly embraces the concept of the Bat Family (by contrast with the last Batman graphic novel I reviewed), while also escalating the power level of superheroism in Gotham City.
Graphic Novel Review: Detective Comics Vol. 1 – Faces of Death
While in the main Batman book, after Flashpoint, Scott Snyder jumped more or less straight into the Court of Owls storyline, over in Detective Comics writer Tony S. Daniel has a couple stories that fit in a little more with members of Batman’s existing rogues gallery – with a story featuring two existing members and re-interpreted versions of a couple others. Read more
Comics Review: Batman/Flash – The Button
When Flashpoint ended, the comic dropped a little hint suggesting that the new DC Multiverse could end up incorporating the world of Watchmen, because in the Batcave, embedded in a wall, was The Comedian’s Button. Batman/Flash: The Button follows up on that revelation, as Batman and The Flash try to figure out what The Button exactly means. Read more
Comic Review: Batman/The Shadow – Murder Geniuses
I’ve been a fan of The Shadow for a long time. I’ve enjoyed his outings in the pulps, the radio plays, and even the film featuring Alec Baldwin. However, at least in the late ’80s and early ’90s on, comic book writers haven’t quite known what to do with him. The best depictions of the character after that time I’ve encountered have effectively skipped over any idea of characterization for the character, in favor of making him a force of nature, or an unknowable cipher, instead of giving him grounded motivations. Read more
Comic Review: Batman – Death of the Family (Complete)
Not to get overly reductive in the way that is often mocked when people talk about criticism on the internet, but maybe a better title for Death of the Family is Fridging of the Family. Read more