Reviews: continued

To make sure each review gets it's fair share of screen space we've set up each full review here.  Simply scroll down to the review that you clicked on on the front review page.  Each review is topped with a color title that matches it's cousin on the front review page. 

BlaqueSaber reviews some Classic Nightwing in JLTaskforce

Like JLE, this team carried a United Nations charter which sanctioned their activities. In fact, JLTF was comprised of several former JLE members. The team was called to action by Hannibal Martin, a representative of the U.N.. He asked that Martian Manhunter select a "strike team" of fellow Justice League members and to "lead them on a very special mission".

It will come as no surprise that the U.N. officials in charge wanted Batman to be on the Task Force.  Unfortunately he was busy with Gotham City so Nightwing stepped up [bad for them, good for us].

Nightwing is featured prominently in the first story arc [#1-#3] where the team is sent out to destroy a new dangerous weapon.  The rest of the team, Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, The Flash, & Gypsy are all currently present when Nightwing enters the highly secure instilation without detection to let all of them know that Batman can't be present which is why he's showed up.

Imediately Auquaman, Manhunter, and Gypsy dislike the idea.  After all Dick is not a member of the JLA and is known for "Grand Standing".  Even The Flash is unsure if he'll be able to count on Dick if the fit hits the shan.

It doesn't take long for Dick's naturaly leadership abilities to kick in and he begins detailing Manhunters plan through delegation.  Two leaders is one two many and Manhunter establishes that fact early. 

Still, Dick's abilites prove invaluable on more than one occasion, particularly his leadership skills. I won't spoil it here.  Over all I'd give this appearance of Nightwing high marks.  The book is well written, the characters true to their original renditions, the art is beautiful [particularly the covers] and Nightwing has lots of "Screen Time".

The one drawback has to do with how true the characters really are.  This book was written in the early nineties and Nightwing is still bitter about being second fiddle to Batman.  He's taken this assignment to help him get out from the shadow of the bat.

While this is the prevelant attitude that Dick has throughout the book, it doesn't deter from the over all enjoyment.  I'd suggest going out to purchase a copy of issues one, two and three if you crave a little more Nightwing in your current diet.

SirK_to_You Reviews Battle for the Cowl #2

Before Battle for the Cowl #1 came out, I posted the following prediction to my blog as to how Battle for the Cowl would unfold:

I knew I was going to be close, but looking back it's almost eerie how on the mark I was not only with what would happen, but how issues one and two would begin and end. I bring this up not to showcase my amazing ability to deduce DC's great Batman plan, but rather to illustrate my main problem with this whole event: it's shallow, predictable, and should have never been handed down to the readers as if there were any mystery behind who would succeed Bruce Wayne and become the next Batman.

I had hoped DC was taking notes on the way Marvel let Ed Brubaker replaced Steve Rogers with Bucky Barnes all in one series, under one writer. How Rogers' death was kept a secret until the day the issue hit, and how, while his mantle wasn't immediately filled, the story in between Captain America's was not to answer the blatantly obvious question of who would succeed the original, but how the successor would come to accept his fate. While there's a little bit of that in Battle for the Cowl, it's too little, too late, and too long after readers knew Bruce Wayne was about to be replaced.

But with all that said, is it unnecessary? That's a harder question to answer in today's comic book environment, where fans demand top quality work from A-list creators, but also demand this work to ship promptly on a monthly schedule. In June, DC is promising just that with Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely (my favorite creative duo in all of comics) collaborating on the first three issues of Batman and Robin. If June, July, and August roll by with back to back Morrison/Quitely comics, then it will be easy to forgive DC for insulting our collective intelligence as to who would succeed Bruce Wayne or who the gun-toting Batman was.

And despite all these criticisms I have of Battle for the Cowl, I think it would be unfair to lay any of these complaints at the feet of Tony Daniel. The man found time to script and draw these last two oversized issues and get them out on time, and while his blog was still running, he anticipated no delays for the third issue. While I don't think the writing is as tight as it should be, and at times the art work seems more "showy" than, uh "telly," Tony Daniel deserves a Two-Face owned, Black Mask hijacked boatload of credit for delivering some of his best art work around a story handed down to him by editorial, based on Judd Winnick's proposed first issue of Batman.

And it isn't all bad. I have been anticipating Dick Grayson taking Damian Wayne under his wing since I first read Batman #666. They are a complete reversal of the original dynamic duo in that Dick, now the mentor, is light-hearted, while Damian, the young protege, is full of a darkness that Bruce Wayne would not be able to successfully manage, as Jason Todd clearly illustrates. In Battle for the Cowl #2, we see Dick and Damian swinging into action together for the very first time. It doesn't last very long, but for me, actually seeing these two characters coming together on the page was one of the more exciting small moments for me in comics this year, and I found myself rereading their scenes several times in both this issue and the first issue.

In short: the plot is the text book definition of predictable, the overall scenario of Gotham falling so horribly apart because Batman is gone for a short period of time makes no sense when placed in the larger picture of 52 where Batman left Harvey Dent alone as Gotham's sole protector for the good part of a year, but the artwork is pretty and a palpable tinge of excitement cane be felt seeing the first glimpse of what is surely to be the next dynamic duo swinging into action together for the very first time.

On a scale of green pixie boots and short pants to sleek, black and blue full body costume, I'd give Battle for the Cowl #2 a blue and yellow chest-less disco attire."

John Westcott's Review of Battle for the Cowl #2

Hola!

I'm here today to give you my thoughts on Battle For The Cowl #2 (which, henceforth, will be referred to as BFTC2, because that's a LONGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG-a$$ title to be typing out over and over again.

First off, a bit of background. As most everyone pretty much knows, I've lost the thread on the bat universe and on most of the DCU as a whole over the past few years. Since Infinite Crisis I've drifted consistently away from titles I once could not live without, including most bat family titles. The last few mega events like Morrison's Final Crisis and Batman R.I.P., were the final straws that broke this reader's back, and I dropped most DC titles completely. I just didn't understand where DC was at any more.

Now that Final Crisis and R.I.P. is resting in peace, I thought it might be time to try and get back into what's happening with the bat crew, so I began to tip my big toe into the waters with Battle For The Cowl. Why? Because it's short, mostly self-contained, and by an artist/writer I know next to nothing about. No preconceptions. I like that. It's a nice feeling for a change.

The premise is simple: Batman is gone. Gotham is in chaos.

Where have I heard that before?

Oh yeah... that whole year Batman, Supes and WW were absent. A little vaca from Gotham should be par for the course in the cesspool known as Gotham by now. But alas, it's not, and all hell is breaking loose with the news that Batman is dead.

I'm still not sure how the population at large knows this. The events that killed (but didn't kill) Batman, took place in Final Crisis, far out of reach of the average human being. The only evidence that Batman was killed to Gothamites was an exploding helicopter over the water during the Black Hand thing. Surely they have more faith in Batman's skills than that, to think that a simple helicopter explosion is enough to kill the caped crusader... didn't they see Batman Forever????

Whatever.

Anyway, this issue picks up almost immediately where the last left off, with the gun-toting Punisher... errrrr.... Batman, facing off against Nightwing and Damian (after some short scenes setting up a Penguin/Two-Face gang war caused by this mysterious new Black Mask). They come to the conclusion pretty quickly that it's Jason they're facing off against, and the battle ensues. Thankfully, it's Damian, not Dick, who gets shot. That pleases me twofold, in that I don't care for Damian and I'm sick of seeing Dick Grayson get shot. It's one of the oldest cliches in DC history (along with the champion, Dick Grayson gets knocked out from behind).

Jason, of course, gets away after shooting the kid, while Huntress and Black Canary show up. I'm not sure why they were included. It makes it seem like their presence is what makes Jason run. Really? He's afraid of them? I'd rather have had the panels devoted to Nightwing kicking Jason around a bit and Jason using some duplicity to run away from Nightwing, rather than the BOP, but that's my Nightwing bias coming through.

After some short scenes of Black Mask setting up some future insanity with C list bad guys, we return to Jason, who has by now shot a kid in the chest and will shortly be revealed to have done even worse deeds (if there are, in fact, worse things than that).

Jasonbats shoots some more bad guys as he hunts down Black Mask. Look out, Jason, Frank Castle may be visiting you soon about copywright infringement. I'm not sure how Jason can be viewed any longer by DC as any kind of hero. He shot a kid in the chest. I repeat... HE SHOT A KID IN THE CHEST. There is no coming back from that. I don't care what kind of hard on Winnick and Didio have for Jason, there is NO COMING BACK from SHOOTING A KID. Jason Todd is not a hero. He's a deranged psychopathic killer.

What's worse, Tim, in the Batman suit from the 70's/80's, discovers Jason's new Batcave in the old classic abandoned subway station, a clever and eerie looking version of the real cave, where Jason has apparently tortured and starved to death some low level bad guys for intel.

This takes the cake and, IMHO, finishes the character of Jason Todd off completely. He shoots kids, tortures and starves people now? There is no redeeming this character. He has gone wayyyyy too far in my eyes. He's a villain, not a hero and not even an anti-hero. If DC continues their worship of this guy, then I can't support it. Todd needs to be put down like the mad dog he is... right NOW.

It's nice to see the yellow oval bat suit again, and there's a panel in the bottom right corner when Tim looks through the subway car that I swear was lifted directly from a 70's or 80's Batman comic. The face, the mask, the whole shot of him in the cowl seems like it was directly copied from Neal Adams. Nicely done, folks, nicely done. DC may have lacked in storytelling for me over the years, but their art stable is second to none and always has been IMHO.

Tim falls into a boobytrap but is saved by Catwoman. What the hell is she doing there? Why is she there? She claims Tim led her there, or more likely she followed him, but why? Her appearance there just seems jarring and a little deus ex machina, if you know what I mean.

Finally, we have the big fight between Tim and Jason and, as one would expect, Tim comes out the loser, though he gives a fine account of himself. The title of the next and final chapter, Last Man Standing, is telling. Given how he's running roughshod over Gotham, it's pretty apparent that Punisher... errrrr.... Jason, is due for a serious smackdown.

My thoughts:

There's a few scenes I left out of my description because I wanted to address them here. Most of them involve Dick Grayson. If you haven't read this series yet, the signals are clear to most readers, including me, that the gun toting Batman is Jason Todd (we've yet to see his face) and that Dick Grayson is most certainly going to don the Batman outfit and lay the smack down on Jason Todd.

It's almost TOO clear, in fact. Dick spends a lot of this issue in the cave, worrying about Damian and being praised as the one true successor to the cowl by Alfred (a great moment, by the way). It's the classic scene from superhero movies where the hero is biding his time while the villain runs amok, until finally in the third act he shows up to save the day and kick royal a** (think Superman 2). When I see this, I always suspect a swerve to throw me off in the last act. It's what I'd do if I were writing, but to do anything else other than what I expect at this point would be to royally tick off fans everywhere.

Also, Jason Todd has gone so totally around the bend that I have a hard time believing it's him without seeing his face. DC LOVES this guy. They wanted to make him Nightwing, for God's sake! Now he's shooting kids in the chest and torturing people?

WWWD?

(AKA What Would Winnick Do?)

I really do feel like I'm being set up for a swerve as to Punisher/Bats real identity. If this really is Jason, then he's gone... totally irredeemable at this point. He's, dare I say it... bat-sh!t crazy and there's no coming back. What could Bruce have possibly said to Jason in his final message that made him turn into this? It doesn't jibe for me and the fact that his face is completely covered still makes me wonder.

Is it Jason? All signs point to yes, but given DC's past love for the character and their need to make him a hero (or at the very least an anti-hero), I still am left wondering. Everyone is saying his name over and over again, but he never acknowledges it. All the facts fit. He knows who everyone is and appears to have an intimate connection with Bruce Wayne, but who else fits that description?

The art is gorgeous in this series. The fight between Tim and Punisher/Bats is expertly handled and reminiscent of the 70's style, which fits given Tim's choice of attire. It's some of the best I've seen in a while. Tony Daniel is fantastic and his story is pretty well thought out, too. He's almost as good a writer as he is an artist (at least so far, one issue left to go).

The subplot with the villains is the weakest point, IMHO. I really don't care about them at this point. I'm far more concerned with who's going to win the battle and how. The villains, IMHO, just aren't that necessary to the series at this point. Who's the new Black Mask? Why is he orchestrating all this (by now, standard) Gotham chaos? I doubt it'll be answered in the next issue and will instead be addressed in the coming series, but whatever the case, it's just not that interesting to me right now.

Some have postulated that whoever the new Black Mask is might also be playing the part of Punisher/Bats. I also suspect that might be the case. Jason is fond of playing dressup in other people's costumes, after all. That's just another reason why he should take a double tap to the skull (if, indeed, is is him).

One thing is certain: Daniels and DC are setting Dick Grayson up to be the big hero of this piece and I like that. All the signs point toward Grayson/Bats before the end of issue 3. Will he A) lay a smackdown on Jason or pull a "Captain Picard" and make peace with the murderer (mainly because DC loves him so much) and give him a second chance (perhaps as Red Robin)? I don't know. At this point, it almost has to be option A but I suspect it'll be option B. For sure, though, Dick Grayson will be the hero of this piece. Fans like ourselves will be pleased to see it. Others may find it anti-climactic that we already see it coming in the second issue. If Dick isn't Batman, it'll be the swerve to end all swerves.


Addendum: After posting this and doing some research, it apparently says so somewhere on DC's website that this definitely is Jason Todd behind the mask. If so, then Jason definitely needs to be killed ASAP.
JW

ComicfanGirl Reviews Battle for the Cowl #2

A shrine for a killer has no place in the Batcave. Jason Todd does not deserve it, and Battle for the Cowl # 2 emphasises that in all it’s glory. But at least they did find a place for him, I would have preferred to see him six foot under again, but crazy Bat villain will have to do.

But let’s start at the beginning of the book. Two-Face and Penguin are unaware that there is another power on the loose in Gotham, Black Mask. Instead the two long-serving Bat villains suspect each other. Understandable, but it’s unwise just to assume, gentlemen.

Last issue Dick and Damian were attacked by a group of Black Mask henchmen after crashing landing the Batglider. And who comes to their “rescue”? The crazy one.
Jason Todd as the Batman with guns. Yes in the beginning Batman was written that way, but that was decades ago, now it’s: “We don’t kill.”

I have to give it to Tony Daniels the Jason Todd monolog is written perfectly. Not only it reflects what so some of the “fanboys” are raving for: A Batman who kills just like the latest “hero” as seen in the last glorified video game. But it also shows that Todd has more then one screw loose. His rants make it pretty clear why one shouldn’t use the Lazarus pit to resurrect the dead, it definitely increases the hubris some suffer from.
Batman just took Jason under his wing to prevent him from becoming his enemy? LOL.
An eight-year-old who steals the hubcaps of the Batmobile, that’s one impressive enemy for sure.

All that self-righteous ranting might lead to no good….can you say Arkham? J

Actions speak louder then words, to hinder Dick from chasing him, Todd shoots Damian in the chest. The cowards way out. Of course Dick tends to Damian instead of pursuing Todd, forbidding Huntress and Black Canary to track him.

And while continuing to mock Bruce and his methods, Todd does his best to justify killing another tug he questions about Black Mask, who has gathered the criminals he broke out of Arkham to set his plan to take over Gotham in motion. Enter Jane Doe and Firefly with Adam Bomb. They blow up the GCPD, killing the new DA Hampton and Gordon ends up with three bullets in the chest.


Meanwhile in the Batcave Damian is on the way to recovery… well that was to be expected he is the latter half of the new “Batman and Robin” book after all. Dick has his wounds bandaged and ponders if there is a cape and cowl in this future. As usual it falls to good old Alfred be the voice of reason.

Tim is already a step ahead of Dick as we saw last issue he took one of the Batsuits and hunts for Todd, leaving Dick a note, who isn’t happy to find out Tim took matters in hand.

The current Boy Wonder locates Todd’s Batcave, only to be rescued by a Kitty-Cat, Catwoman saves the youngest Batman as he activates one of the traps.
Todd appears knocks Selina out, and fights Tim. We get more insane talk like “ Be my Robin, Tim.”
Tim finally snaps while fighting Todd he grabs a lying around crowbar and smashes Todd’s chin protector. He might done even more damage but unfortunately Todd used that moment to pierce Tim’s chest with a Bata-Rang, awfully close to the sternum.

Todd leaves his phony Batcave to confront Dick.

In about 4 weeks the story will continue. I loved the art, especially the Jim Aparo homage used on Tim’s Bat-Suit.

The upcoming third an final issue hopefully shows us how badly are Tim and Gordon wounded? In which costume Dick will confront Todd and how has won the Battle for the cowl?

Rating 8 out of 10 for Battle for the Cowl #2.

Nightwing2001 Reviews Oracle: The Cure #2

Well issue #2 of Oracle The Cure, what good can I say about this issue? Unfortunelty not much. With a weak start with issue #1 (still not too bad) we get an even weaker issue 2. I found myself struggling to get through this comic, having trouble figuring out what was going on and not really caring to know what was going on. First off this book is under the banner of "Batman Battle For the Cowl" A bit of a deception on DC's part as this really has nothing to do with what is going in the BBFTC ltd. series right now other than it has Barbara Gordon in the comic and she is a member of the Bat-Family.

Well the comic starts off with Barbara in Hong Kong, I guess the internet is not working well enough where she lives and she has to go elsewhere in the world. She gets attacked by some muggers and fights them off showing that even in a wheelchair without the use of her legs she is a force to be reckoned with. While this was kind of a cliched scene I liked it just for the fact we see that even with all of the difficulties she has gone through in her life she is still a strong woman and can kick butt when she wants too. She shows up in the rain to a group of computer hackers, thinking she is an agent of Oracle and not Oracle herslf. Meanwhile Calculater is trying to find pieces of the anti-life equation on the internet (?) so he can cure his daughter. Last issue he killed one of Oracle's cyber buddies Cheese-fiend (hopefully that is her internet handle and not her real name ) to get a piece of it and is now after another one Chaos Larry all in a virtual reality fantasy world called Alta Viva. The hackers (who kind of have a Lone Gunmen thing about them) help her go into the internet to try and find the energy that was able to kill Cheese-fiend through the computer and I presume to be able to find the Calculator. Meanwhile Chaos Larry goes back into the Alta Viva game against the warnings of Oracle and decides to attack Calculator in the VR world resulting in Calculator nearly killing him and promising to Oracle he will kill him and her for sending Chaos Larry against him by the end of the issue.

*sigh* Can I stop now? Please?

Anyways I just thought this story was not interesting at all, and the next issue would have to be really damn spectacular for me to think this was even worth buying after all. At the beginning of issue #1 they touched on a troubled Barbara Gordon, moving back to Gotham City after breaking up the Birds of Prey and sort of going into hiding. It was interesting for me because I am a fan of hers but was disappointed with how it was left behind for a boring tale of the Calculator trying to find the anti-life equation. I just can't find myself caring for what is going on at all and what the point of this story is right now, unless the big plan is to have her walk again by next issue I can't see this story having much importance. Maybe I am alone on this but if this story was more tied to what is going on in the Batman books right now and more about what is going on personally with Barbara this would have been much better. On the positive side I have to say the artwork inside and on the covers are just spectacular, Babs has never looked better. Anyways I would give this book a 2 out of 5.