This new creative team is exactly what Detective Comics need. They make me want to just never stop reading, and I’m honestly considering going back to read their Flash run. The art and page layout in this comic is utterly beautiful. Going through the book I took time to appreciate the first page, and the page where we see Annette walking down the pier; both have such wonderful layouts and really good use of panels.
I don’t know if it was the long wait for the next issue of Harley Quinn, especially after a lacklustre previous issue, but this comic really hit the spot. It was just non-stop funny. Last time, the fact that the plot was advancing like a usual comic hurt the Harley Quinn madness. There was no time to take part in the usual Harley antics. This time out, the set-pieces were far more up Harley’s street, so the writers were able to milk comedy out of every angle.
This week, Jack and Dan are joined by the Canadian comic creator extraordinaire, Shawn Daley! The trio discuss Shawn’s career so far, the week’s news, best/worst comics, 52 #23 and the triumphant return of the dramatic reading! Stay tuned at the end for the announcement of the June #comicofthemonth and a special musical treat.
As much as I like the multiple narratives of Batman Eternal, I like how this issue doesn’t jump as much around as we are used to. We start with a brief catch-up with Forbes and Falcone, their partnership not as steady as Forbes wants us to believe. However, then we are thrust to Hong Kong, where Batman is trying to figure out why Falcone abandoned a successful criminal empire in Japan. Shen Fang has taken over where Falcone has left off and Batman needs to team up with his man in the Orient, Jiro, the Japanese Batman.
This week, Jack, Dan and Mathew talk everything X-Men! Two classic stories: God Loves, Man Kills and Days of Future Past are the Comics of the Month and a spoiler-filled discussion of the Days of Future Past movie at the end.
Plus the usual weekly news, reviews and 52 issues you’ve come to expect!
I started Moon Knight with its first issue of Marvel Now; something to broaden my horizons and move out of Gotham for a while. I really liked the books artwork, and I liked the idea behind this insane superhero that is quite light without being silly. A really good concept and something I looked forward to.
But I didn’t get it.
This is something I originally picked up at the suggestion of Mr Inter-Comics himself (@InterComics) and I did the forbidden thing of judging the first issue by its cover. I didn’t really want it; I thought it would be needlessly gory without any substance.
Holy crap how wrong I was. Top Gear top tip people: when Mr. Inter-Comics recommends a book to you, give it a buy because he’s spot on!
What I really loved about this issue is it acts as a conduit between the first story arc, with the Dos Soles, and what I assume to be the second story arc with the Howling Commandos. The way the plot has bridged together has been beautiful, something similar to how Brian Azzarello ties together his Wonder Woman arcs.
I would best describe this as the tale of a post-apocalyptic horror without the apocalypse. Society still stands, there are still police, there are mayors, there are armies, monuments still stand and cities still stand, but the world is not right. There seems to be no ‘main character’ of this book, there are a few characters that appear significant and we may follow, but this isn’t the story of one man’s struggle; instead we get a good cross section of a global response to an alien invasion and how multiple people have adapted accordingly.
If every issue of Batman Eternal was like this, I would be a happy reader. In fairness, it has been a while since Eternal has had a truly bad issue. There was fun to be had last time and the few issues before that added a few more layers to the mystery, hooking us right into the conspiracy of the story. However, it still felt a little inconsistent and jumbled. The eighth issue settles into what I thought Batman Eternal would be: inching closer to the answer hidden behind Gordon’s incarceration.
It’s a hostful episode as Jack, Dan and Free reunite to discuss this week’s biggest news, in particular, what an awful person David Goyer is. There’s also the best and worst comics of the week, the quick mentions and Week 21 of 52.
The first time I had ever heard of C.O.W.L. was on the Fatman on Batman podcast. Kyle Higgins was the guest and he was speaking to Kevin Smith about his past, or origin story if you will. He mentioned he had done a short film called C.O.W.L. for a project and it was really successful, and he created a short film about it and it had a website. I thought this was a really cool idea, to me it sounded really noir and gritty without being needlessly dark.
This series is a very divisive one. People everywhere say that it is Gail Simone at her weakest, her dialogue and charm being sentenced to endless exposition. Fans of Tomb Raider are less than impressed with the depiction of their favourite gaming heroine. However, while I can agree with certain discrepancies with the plot (how can the villains be worshippers of the Solarii, a cult made up on the spot by a marooned Mathias in the game?), this is turning out be a fantastic series, with this issue thrilling in all the right ways.
The finale to a series and the end of a hero. I followed the Nightwing comics from getting back into the genre around Death of the Family. I’ve always liked Dick Grayson as a character; to me he’s always been everything Batman can’t be as well as being everything Batman needs. Being the final issue to Nightwing’s ongoing a lot of loose ends have to be wrapped up.
This week The Freeless Defenders are joined by the one and only Cullen Bunn! The nearly hour long interview is a fantastic finale to an episode full of the usual good stuff including week’s big news, April’s sales figures, the best/worst comics of the week, 52 #20 and the season finales for Arrow and Agents of SHIELD.