New Stuff: Batwoman #1

DC has released their solicitations for February 2011, and the first issue of the new 'Batwoman' ongoing series is among them. Take a gander.

Batwoman #1

Written by J.H. WILLIAMS III & W. HADEN BLACKMAN
Art and cover by J.H. WILLIAMS III
1:10 Variant cover by AMY REEDER

The multiple award-winning creative team of J.H. Williams III (DETECTIVE COMICS) and W. Haden Blackman (Star Wars, Force Unleashed) launch the first, chilling arc of the ongoing series fans have been clamoring for! In the 5-part “Hydrology,” Batwoman faces bizarre new challenges in her war against the dark underworld of Gotham and new trials in her personal life as Kate Kane. She quickly finds herself in the deep end facing truths about her past and her future. Who – or what – is stealing children from Gotham’s barrio, and for what twisted purpose? Can she train her cousin Bette Kane (a.k.a. Flamebird) as her new sidekick? How will she handle dark revelations about her father, Colonel Jacob Kane? How is she dealing with the supposed drowning of her sister, the villain known as Alice? And why is a certain government agency suddenly taking an interest in her? The road to the answers begins here!

On sale FEBRUARY 23 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Sounds pretty good to me, and it looks like the writing duo of Williams and Blackman are jumping right in at the deep end with plot lines. This series looks to be one of the stars of 2011.

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.

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.

'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.