The way I read Justice League 3000 and The Punisher is they’re both basically action films from the 80’s or 90’s in a twenty page format. I mean the action is there, but what really brightens my mood when I read the comics is the banter between the characters. I love this self-centred Superman; he’s a guy who doesn’t remember what being Superman is like, but knows that it means he’s a total badass.
Advertised on the front cover it does say that this is a “Secret Glimpse into Batman Eternal”, but I expected something along the lines of what Detective Comics #27 gave us for Gothtopia. Instead it gave us the bulk of the issue as a context-less sample of Eternal and then a ‘trailer’ for American Vampire.
The opener of this issue shows Jim Gordan acting as the last bastion of sanity and hope in a city ravaged by inter-dimensional aliens and madmen. Amidst all the chaos Jim Gordon acts as the man we know from No Man’s Land and the Killing Joke; he will play by the rules and do the right thing in the face of any terror and adversity.
Instead of going over what the plot of the issue and the ongoing mini-series is I want to talk about how well written the characters are in this issue, purely because I feel Geoff Johns has done such a brilliant job at giving each member a believable voice and a solid reason to be part of the book.
This week DC readers were treated to not one but two titles with the Scarecrow in a leading role; here in Detective Comics and also in Arkham War. This is the first full Detective Comics issue dedicated to Gothtopia, but we did get an introduction in Detective Comics #27 and it looked very promising.
I’m a sucker for Damian; when I first heard of him I was put off the idea of Bruce Wayne having a son, but when I read the way he was written by Morrison and Tomasi I fell in love with the little sucker. When he was killed in Batman Incorporated I was quite shocked and knew I’d miss him, so seeing Kubert was going to write a miniseries about grown up Damian I had to get into it.
I’ve followed all of New 52 Batman – from issue #0 to the subject of this review, issue #27. I have really enjoyed what Scott Snyder has done, and knowing he was going to re-do the origin of Batman I was slightly sceptical. How do you do what Year One did but better? Well, Snyder took the approach of not re-telling Year One, and I think it has worked wonders for him.
I was really unsure about how this series was going to go after the death of Damian – spoilers if you basically don’t read Batman comics. I understood the use of the extended Bat Family to go through the various stages of grief with Bruce, but choosing Two-Face afterwards just seemed odd. Turns out I shouldn’t doubt Tomasi. Ever.
The past few Justice League issues have gone over the Crime Syndicate’s twisted origins, but now we’re back on the good guy’s side. This issue is all about Cyborg, who hasn’t done too well in this story so far considering Grid took all his robot parts away and left him for dead.
Rogues Rebellion is the story of five friends all trying to get back to take care of their sixth friend. Except they have almost every other villain on Earth (and some from another Earth) trying to kill them. With this issue being the fourth in the series they are far on their adventure; and a lot has happened.
I am a huge Batman fan, always have been and always will be; so being able to own my own copy of Detective Comics #27 is a dream come true!… Okay, it’s not that Detective Comics #27, but it is the next best thing! As this issue is split up into separate stories I think I’ll split my review up to mimic each story on its own merit.
I just want to start off by saying I’m not a reader of Constantine. That’s not to say I dislike him, but I’ve just – well – never read any of his stuff. The Forever Evil event was my jumping in platform to the Constantine series, and to date I own a whopping two issues; so maybe I’m not the best guy to review Constantine… or maybe that makes me the best guy to review Constantine!