Looking Foward: What I Want from DC and Dark Horse for November. 2010

Batman Inc. #1

Bruce Wayne is back from his trek through time and realises that two Batmen are better than one. So with Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne handling the villains of Gotham City along as Batman and Robin, Bruce Wayne is free to go from country to country, all over the world, inspiring others to become their own nation's "Batman".

Written by Grant Morrison with art by Yanick Panaquette, this book has already created a lot of buzz, and with lots of guest stars sure to be popping up, I can't wait to start reading. And I have to say I hope he pays a visit to the Dark Ranger, the Australian "Batman", because i'm sure he could really use some help from the original.


Batwoman #0

Batwoman first appeared again sometime
during '52' and became more heavily
featured in 'Detective Comics' after the
disappearance of Bruce Wayne during the
events of 'Final Crisis', and the short run
she was featured in became highly popular
with both fans and critics.

Now DC is giving the people what they want with a Batwoman on-going series, and this issue #0 serves as
a precursor to it. With J.H. Williams returning to write the series along with W. Haden Blackman. Williams will also shoulder art duties for the first arc of the series, with Amy Reeder taking over for the second. After winning praise from both critics and the Gay and Lesbian community
for featuring a gay character in such a well
known title, this series is sure to be popular, and i'm certainly looking forward to seeing some of Williams' fantastic art again.

Hellboy: Double Feature of Evil #1

Hellboy returns with another one-shot before 'The Fury' starts up, hopefully sometime next year. This story features two tales from Hellboy's earlier days with the B.P.R.D., including a run in with zombies and another with mummies.

Written by Mike Mignola and featuring art from Richard Corben, this one-shot looks great to me, not only because i'm sure it'll have some great art an writing, it has mummies! When was the last time you read/saw something with mummies as the monster? Exactly. It's been a while.

After this we're getting 'Hellboy: The Sleeping and the Dead' in January, but hopefully this will hold fans over until then.

Everything's Coming up Green and Gold

December is set to be a good month for me. Not Christmas, not working hard on various projects, not seeing my friends and family; no, December has two Iron Fist comics coming out.

Browsing December solicitations for Marvel last night I saw something that made me grin as an Iron Fist fan (note the colour scheme of the blog). Deadpool Team-Up #886 will feature the Merc with a Mouth teaming up with everyone's favourite kung-fu superhero, and Heroes for Hire #1 sees the business originally set up by Powerman and Iron Fist way back when, back and better than ever. Official solicitations:


DEADPOOL TEAM-UP #886
Written by SHANE McCARTHY
Penciled by NICK DRAGOTTA
Cover by HUMBERTO RAMOS
If it's crazy Kung Fu action you love then you've hit the jackpot! Deadpool and the Immortal Iron Fist grudgingly team up to put a stop to an ancient and villainous warlord. Iron Fist wants him captured, Deadpool wants him dead. Can the two work it out in time or will Deadpool have to take down Iron Fist as well just to secure his payday? Villainous villains, crazy Kung Fu and more yellow slippers than you can shake a stick at. This one's got it all!
32 PGS./Parental Advisory …$2.99



HEROES FOR HIRE #1
Written by DAN ABNETT & ANDY LANNING
Penciled by BRAD WALKER
Cover by DOUG BRAITHWAITE
Variant Cover by BRAD WALKER
Variant Cover by HARVEY TOLIBAO
In the aftermath of Shadowland, Marvel’s greatest street heroes – Punisher, Moon Knight, Shroud, Elektra, Paladin, Silver Sable, Ghost Rider, Iron Fist, Falcon, Misty Knight and more – leap into one all-new series! Who has brought these dangerous loners into one fighting force? How is this network different from all other teams? Who is their first target, and what mysteries wait for them? Discover the answers and enter the action on Marvel’s mean streets, courtesy of fan-favorite writers Dan Abnett & Andly Lanning (THE THANOS IMPERATIVE, PUNISHER: YEAR ONE) and artist Brad Walker (GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY)!
40 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

All in all it's going to be a good month for me, not even mentioning the Green Lantern: Larfleeze Christmas Special one-shot and the second issue of Batman Inc., both of which i'm sure will be huge sellers. So until the time they come out and I can actually review them, i'll just sit back and prepare myself for a good December.

Back in Business, sort of...

Well technically I finished all my classes for university last friday, but since I've got my history exam on Monday, I'm still working.

Just quickly updating that i'll be back in full swing next Tuesday, most likely blogging about the recently concluded 'Hellboy: The Storm' mini-series, and hopefully getting into some more up to date titles and hardcovers.

'Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne' issue #5 was released this week and by all accounts it's fantastic, which I think we all deserve thatnks to the lengthy wait and awful Jeanty artwork of issue #4. A review of the stellar mini-series' fifth installment can be found here, all thanks to CBR.com

So, to wrap up, we're going to be seeing a lot of stuff about Hellboy, Batman, Invincible, The Walking Dead, Y: The Last Man, EX Machina, movies, tv shows and maybe even a little Pokemon Black and White. So stick with me, it's going to be a bumpy ride.

Absolute Batman: The Long Halloween

DC's Absolute format is quickly becoming my favourite printing for comics. Much along the line of Marvel's Omnibus format, the comic collections are physically larger, come in nice slipcases (with a ribbon in each as a bookmark) and use a higher quality paper stock. While Marvel may collect more content, DC presents their most critically acclaimed and popular series in a stunning fashion, making these collections a must have.

'Batman: The Long Halloween' is a 13 part mini-series which is know a staple of the Batman mythos. The series, written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Tim Sale, deals with the early relationship of police sergeant Jim Gordon, district attorney Harvey Dent and the Batman. The three men form a trinity of justice (emulated in Christopher Nolan's 'The Dark Knight') to bring down corruption that all stems from one man. Carmine "The Roman" Falcone is the untouchable crime boss of Gotham City, and is making moves to eliminate any competition from anywhere in the city, all before someone strikes back.

The Holiday killer first strikes on Halloween and continues to make his presence known throughout the following year, dealing out a special form of justice by eliminating key members of the Falcone family. The three heroic characters are left questioning each other's loyalty to each other, as Batman's rogue's gallery twists and turns through the narrative with each and every character showing signs they could be Holiday. Even though you know where the story is headed, with Dent finally becoming Two-Face, the mystery makes this a story that you'll want to get through and process as quickly and deeply as you possibly can, just so you can deduce Holiday's identity and then read it all over again.

Jeph Loeb's story is extremely intriguing, and will have you reading and re-reading for any clue you could have missed. Every major Batman villain makes an appearance, and the story gives the reader a great insight into Harvey Dent's life before he became Two-Face. Tim Sale's art is edgy and sharp, his characters leap from the pages and are enveloped in shadows that help to convey the dark tone of the book. His renderings of the characters include a deformed Joker, a Poison Ivy wrapped in her namesake and a scarred and mentally broken Two-Face. The collection is introduced by a foreword from Christopher Nolan and David Goyer, and includes many extras which offer an insight into the design of the series' covers, which are all visually stunning (April Fool's Day is my personal favourite). This is a collection that needs to be owned by any true fan of Batman, and the story definately deserved the Absolute treatment.

I've got Batman fever

Last Sunday I walked to the train station and it started to rain five minutes into the journey. I kept going. Then I missed the train by a minute and had to wait another 20. My resolve wasn't weakened. I was on my way to the city, to buy Batman & Robin. I had seen it on the shelf the last time I was in the comic shop, and would have bought it then if I had had enough money on me. 'Batman & Robin, The Deluxe Edition: Batman Reborn', how could I have not wanted it? I'd read all the reviews for the new series, and was interested to read Dick Grayson as Batman, and so far, i'm really enjoying the series. But recently I read that Frazer Irving (my nemesis from The Return of Bruce Wayne #2) will be taking over art duties on Batman & Robin from #13, and i'm really hoping I can still enjoy the series after just discovering it.

It didn't help that I got the Gam of the Year Edition of Batmn: Arkham Asylum last week either. It quickly became my favourite game, even though those fights with Scarecrow started to get annoying towards the end. And throwing three Batarangs at once? Yes please. I'm stoked that the sequel is coming out later this year, and it's going to be set in Gotham City which is going to expand the game play area immensely. Seeing the inside of the asylum was great, and fighting all of Batman's old villains was a fantastic way for me to stretch the old brain muscles. On a side note I almost crapped myself while playing the Killer Croc level and my phone rang when it was right next to me. To have five minutes of tense silence shattered in mere seconds, it nearly killed me.

And speaking of Arkham Asylum, I picked up issues #864 and #865 while I was at the comic shop and they were really great, something I wasn't really expecting. Not that I have anything against DC or Detective Comics, I just thought that a series that has bee going for that long must have lost some of its appeal, and I was dead wrong. The art was nice and simple, the story was engaging (even though i didn't know half of the characters, especially Alyce Sinner?) and the two issues lasted me the whole train ride home. Once again, i've added another title onto my ever growing list of comics to buy every month.

Of ocurse this all staretd with the great review of 'Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne' issue one, and i'm sticking with that intriguing miniseries. To see Bruce Wayne flying through time and still being an awesome fighter and detective is a bit of a thrill, I must admit. Of course Batman #700 comes out tomorrow, so i'll be getting that as well, and it'll give new readers like me a good insight into the history of the Bat. Next week the Joker's Asylum II one-shots continue with Harley Quinn's installment, and i'll be getting that too.

Batman is good, but the amount of merchandise available surrounding him isn't good for my wallet.

My Comics for the month of June 2010 [UPDATED]

I'm back again for another installment of Mark's pull list. Last month was quite eventful in the fact that I picked up a few series that I didn't mean to, and wasn't disappointed. But enough talk, I know what you want, you want to know what I want, so here we go (sorry, no linking to covers this month, the more comics the harder it is to find all there cover art. i'm a terrible blogger.):


Angel #34 (30/6/2010) - Well, seems I got my numbering wrong last month, so here we are at issue 34! James has revealed himself to be something that isn't in fact an angel, and now he's going to rip the Angel team a new one. By proxy of course. Elena Casagrande took over art duties from Denham last issue and did a great job, and Willingham's story is still a thrill. I always look forward to picking up this series every month, and so should you.

Angel Barbary Coast #3 (30/6/2010) - The final issue of this miniseries features many things: cable-cars, vampires and a dragon. What's not to love? Angel's chances of winning against a giant fire-breathing lizard don't seem to be great, but i'm sure he'll figure it out. The next miniseries after this one falls to Spike in 'Spike: the Devil you know'.

Avengers #2 (23/6/2010) - The Avengers are back and Kang has provided them with their first adventure: sort out your kids. So it's a hop, skip and a jump away into the time stream, but not before they find a time machine. Oh, and fight Wonder Man who's still convinced putting the Avengers back together is a bad idea. I'm interested to see where this title will go, and to see hwo the last member of the Avengers is, or if i'm imagining if there is anyone else.

Avengers Prime #1 (3/6/2010) - The story that bridges the gap between Siege and the Heroic Age is this! Steve Rogers, Iron Man and Thor go on a little side adventure to mend their broken friendship, so they can all get along again in the new world order. A bi-monthly, five-part miniseries.

Avengers: The Origin #3 (3/6/2010) - We're halfway through this miniseries and I don't feel any forward momentum whatsoever. Last issue was mostly a dream (or nightmare) which Loki sent to Thor's brain. Thrilling? Not so much. But i'm sticking with it to see them get together (eventually) as the Avengers. Plus a fantastic cover for this issue.

Batman #700 (9/6/2010) - As a lovely person on CBR's forum pointed out to me, if I want to start reading Batman, #700 is the issue for me. This issue is going to chronicle the lives of the different Bats (Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson and Damien Wayne) and serve as an anniversary issue. Perfect time to jump on for me and for anyone else who wants to start reading Batman. And 700 issues? Now that's a milestone.

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #3 (16/6/2010) - An intriguing miniseries that has me wondering, what the hell is going on here? Now Bruce Wayne is on the swashbuckling high seas with Blackbeard, while Superman, the Green Lantern, Booster Gold and Rip Hunter try to find their friend before he destroys reality. I'm sticking with this series and trying to get into other Batman titles as well. Come on, it's Batman!

Black Widow #3 (16/6/2010) - With Elektra's appearance at the end of last issue, and looking at the cover for this one, I can guarantee there's going to be a little tension between the two ladies. Daredevil jealousy perhaps? The artwork for this series has been fantastic, I love the painted style and washed out colours. Buy this series!

Daredevil #507 (9/6/2010) - Daredevil is back after a bi-monthly stint (which is over now, thankfully), and racing towards Shadowland. But before we get there, Matt Murdock needs to resolve the Hand situation in Japan and figure out what's happened to White Tiger. We lose the Japanese theme in the cover this month, but gain a great display of DD's radar sense instead.

Darkstar and the Winter Guard #1 (3/6/2010) - Nostroyvia! The Winter Guard are back after the success of their Hulk one-shot. Who knows, if this three part miniseries sells well enough we might be seeing more of them in th months and years to come. I am certainly hoping that we do. Red Guardian! Darkstar (obviously!)! Crimson Dynamo! Ursa Major! Russians! ASSEMBLE!

Green Arrow #1 (23/6/2010) - Green Arrow gets a relaunch this month, so I thought what a perfect place to jump on and read me some DC! The Emerald Archer is living in Star City Forest and shooting at punks (as you do), and i'm looking forward to reading this one. If it's good, i'll continue. If it doesn't impress me, could it lead to Mark not buying into DC Comics anymore? Stay tuned! I'll be reviewing this one.

Hawkeye and Mockingbird #1 (3/6/2010) - Now this is a series i've seen waiting for! I love Hawkeye, bow and arrow rules, screw modernity. Clint Barton is back together with Mockingbird, his erstwhile wife and current girlfriend, and along with a new team are taking on the world's terrorists. This book has mega potential and i'll be very excited to get my hands on it this week.

Heroic Age: Prince of Power #2 (9/6/2010) - BUY THIS SERIES. DO IT NOW.
Fantastic miniseries and I hope it won't be the last we see of Amadeus Cho and Hercules, as well as the plethora of fantastic supporting characters. We last saw Amadeus being confronted by Thor after Vali Halfling tricked the boy genius into sneaking into the Asgardian apple orchard right after all the apples were stolen! Why is this starting to sound like a kids' book...

Secret Avengers #2 (30/6/2010) - Ed Brubaker's team of secret heroes are on their way to Mars to rescue Nova, who discarded his awesome helmet for the Serpent Crown. Roxxon, that oh-so-evil energy corporation are at something again and it's up to Steve Rogers and his super spies to figure it out. With Shadow Council Nick-Fury-lookalike man attacking Sharon Carter back on planet Earth, when will we find out just what the hell is going on? Great series, buy it!

Serenity: Float Out #1 (3/6/2010) - We all loved Firefly, we all loved Serenity, we all loved Wash. So Joss Whedon stuck the nose of a spaceship through him. Why do I put up with you Whedon? A one-shot story from Dark Horse that chronicles three different stories of Wash from three different people who knew him. Written by Patton Oswalt actor/comedian/writer/(minor bad guy in Daredevil? Chico, look him up) and illustrated by Patric Reynolds, this will be a great add-on to the growing Serenity comics library.

The New Avengers #1 (16/6/2010) - One thing Marvel likes to do is spread their characters across several teams. A marketing strategy you say? No! They wouldn't do that! Anyway, New Avengers gets a relaunch this month with a few old faces but a few new ones too. Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Spider-Man, Wolverine and The Thing are the members i'm sure of, but let's hope there are some different characters in the mix as well. Doctor Strange and Iron Fist seems like good and likely candidates. *cough* Iron Fist *cough*

The New Avengers: Luke Cage #3 (23/6/2010) - The final issue of this miniseries, which has been an interesting look back at Luke's days in Harlem. We're still slugging our way to the bad guy right now, but run ins with Hammerhead and Wheelchair-man have kept the action moving along nicely. Nothing fantastic in this series but if you're a fan of Luke Cage I think you'll enjoy it.

Thunderbolts #144/#145 (OUT NOW/ 23/6/2010) - A great series brought to my attention again by CBR, with Luke Cage taking the reins of another title's team. I've been reading Thunderbolts for about 20 or 30 issues back and i've found it really interesting. I wasn't going to pursue the series monthly (maybe getting the hardcovers if and when they came out) but after the review it got (here) I thought i'd better get out and take a look. Issue #144 came out last week but I neglected to get it, so here it is listed today. They better not be sold out...

'Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #2' thoughts

As you may have guessed from my frequent Marvel posts, I'm not a big reader of DC comics. Besides Batman, I've never been a huge fan of the DC characters. Superman can do just about anything, where's the fun in that? So, I choose Marvel as my source of entertainment, and I think it's a wise choice; nothing against DC but I prefer my heroes in New York rather than Metropolis. But 'Green Arrow' #1 comes out next month and I will give it a try, promise.

So my decision to read 'The Return of Bruce Wayne' was influenced merely by the review of issue #1 courtesy of Comic Book Resources.com. I'm completely out of the loop on DC events, so Infinite and Final Crisis mean nothing to me except that Batman is back in time and has no idea who he is. So it was interesting to see in issue #1 that the bat motif follows him everywhere (even in caveman times), and that he's making his way back to the 21st century. Just after we see Batman disappear into time again Superman, the Green Lantern, Booster Gold and Rip Hunter turn up and Superman states he can hear every heartbeat on the planet and Bruce Wayne's isn't one of them. Get over yourself Kent.

Anyway, this post has nothing to do with any of that, I'm here to talk about Frazer Irving's artwork in #2. Grant Morrison's story is interesting to say the least, and I look forward to pirate Batman next month, but I honestly hope Irving is done. After Chris Sprouse's straight forward pencils of issue #1 where the characters are easily indentifiable and clean cut, Irving's renderings are horrible. I'm sorry, but they are. I have the utmost respect for different approaches to comic artwork (Brian Michael Bendis' "Echo" arc on Daredevil and the current run of Black Widow are fantastic examples of beautiful artwork that moves on from the norm), but Irving's character work is awful. His forst scenes are BEAUTIFUL, the oranges, yellow and reds of the trees in autumn are stunning and the colouration fits in perfectly with the Halloween vibe I got from this issue. But at times it is nigh impossible to determine Bruce Wayne from fellow witch hunter Malleus (Nathaniel Wayne, his great ancestor of course), and in one panel it looks like Booster Gold's face is melting off his skull. What happened to the awesome bat themed costume on the cover? It had a great mix of Salem witch hunt and Batman and looked fantastic, it's a shame we didn't get to see it anywhere in the story.

Now I hate, hate, HATE having a go at comic book artists (I'm fine with attacking writers) because I know I'll never be able to do what they do. It seems any drawing talent I once had has eradicated itself from my body, who knows how many times I've tried to draw Iron Fist and failed miserably, but I also hate seeing artwork that ruins the characters in a story. With Yanick Paquette taking over art duties next issue, all I can do is hope that 'The Return of Bruce Wayne' develops into a great little miniseries and doesn't kill my interest in DC stone dead.