By Chris Fenn
It’s been a few weeks since I’ve done a review, and I thought I’d come back in style and review a comic I’ve been waiting for since October of last year; Forever Evil #7.
All of the side series sub-plots have built up and become real in this issue. We see Cyborg with the Lasso of Truth, we hear the Martian Manhunter and we also see the ‘corpse’ of Grid.
The main spotlight for this issue is Lex Luthor, and we get to see the many facets of his personality and character. We get glimpses of his mercy and humanity when he resuscitates Nightwing, clears the name of his fellow villains, pays Deathstroke and mourns the loss of his monster. One of his most heroic moments seems to be saving Superman’s life, something I imagine factors a lot into his future in the Justice League.
One of Lex’s closing moments is him telling Ted Kord to keep his father’s business; though this does act as a good set up for the introduction of another hero, it beautifully mirrors Lex’s first appearance in Forever Evil, where he destroys a business man’s life and family because he wouldn’t sell his company to him.
This isn’t to say that ol’ Lex is going soft on us, as we watch him out-think all of the Powerhouses of Earth-3. I loved that he was smart enough to think to use his own voice to depower Alexander Luthor, and the way he is happy to let Ultraman suffer knowing he is the weakest man on the planet was brilliant. Swift vengeance against Atomica was simple yet ultimately rewarding. Remember readers; being human doesn’t mean you can’t be awesome.
One thing I did sort of contemplate was why Alexander Luthor was seemingly just as evil as the rest of the Crime Syndicate. I kept thinking that Earth-3 was where the good guys were bad and the bad guys were good, but I think this is a pre New-52 idea. In this continuity it is stated that Earth-3 was the birthplace of evil, so perhaps everybody is evil, Alexander just seemed the best of a bad bunch.
One thing I did really love about this book was the way John’s added in little moments that didn’t really matter but made the characters seem so much more real. One example is when Sinestro and Black Adam discuss the country Black Adam used to lead, and a few pages over Sinestro encourages Adam to do it “for Kahndaq”. Another nice character interaction is where Luthor shakes hands with a distracted Batman and steals his kryptonite ring; just another moment to show that even when there’s everything to lose Lex Luthor still looks out for Lex Luthor.
So, what’s in store for the DC Universe now that Forever Evil is over? Judging by the cover of Justice League #30 we have Luthor fighting for the good of the world. We also have Owlman free within our Earth, and after showing some remnants of a conscience and good in him could he prove to be an ally, villain or something in between? Then there’s the Anti-Monitor.
The final page shows us the Anti-Monitor speaking to his herald. The herald is unknown and may prove to be something or somebody interesting in the future, however one thing I focused on was Anti-Monitor wanted to face off with Darkseid. Could this mean our heroes side with the Lord of Apokolips for the sake of the Universe; whatever happens ti will be a good time to read comic books.
For more comic views and reviews follow Chris on Twitter at @fenneth1989
Posted on May 22nd, 2014
Category: Blog, OUT OF THE LONG BOX, REVIEWS
Tags: Batman, Bizarro, crime syndicate, Dick Grayson, Forever Evil #7 review, Geoff Johns, lex luthor, Nightwing
By Kulbir Mann
Batman and the Joker are one of the greatest all time superhero villain combinations. Their names are etched in comic folklore stone. Where do you begin to explain how they work and why they work so well with each other? There are books written on the matter and there are countless works of comics, cartoons and films depicting the subject. Put simply, Bruce took on a persona to instil fear into the villains of Gotham and the Joker is Gotham underworld’s response to Batman. Is a killer clown any more or less ridiculous or crazy as a man dressed as a Bat trying to fight crime? Of course not. Regular street crime and villainy is no match for Batman and so new criminals are born and wander into the fray for the challenge.
Enter the Joker. His insane genius is so incomprehensible that a detective will not be able to piece together the clues in his mind.
Enter the Joker. His insane genius is so incomprehensible that a detective will not be able to piece together the clues in his mind. It is difficult to remember that Batman is primarily a detective even though he has a ridiculous amount of other skills. Unfortunately that is not enough to fight the Joker, which appears a ridiculous statement as Batman always wins. However there is a cost to these victories: namely to the ones Batman holds dear. Batman’s second Robin, Jason Todd was brutally murdered, Sarah Gordon, Jim Gordon’s wife was also hideously killed, Barbara Gordon, Jim’s daughter was left paralysed and he almost sent Jim to Arkham asylum. The amount of times Joker was arrested and sent to Arkham only to escape and kill is immeasurable. The only way to stop is to prevent his fleeing incarceration or simply to kill him. Batman does not kill and therein lies the problem.
The Joker adores Batman and has no immediate wish to kill him. He is a bored man and finds the Bat incredibly amusing and loves to torture him. The Joker has described Batman’s eventual death as a work of art that needs to be planned in order for it to be fitting of the icon. There was even an episode of the animated series where the Joker stops Batman from being killed because the death scene was not amazing enough. He also knows that Batman does not kill and eventually he will always be free to inflict suffering on him. All Batman can do is try to outthink his eccentric mind and catch him again before another loved one is hurt. As complex a hero villain complex as this is, there is only one man who suffers and that is Bruce Wayne.
The Joker adores Batman and has no immediate wish to kill him. He is a bored man and finds the Bat incredibly amusing and loves to torture him.
Joker has been away. He was only in one issue of the first year’s worth of new 52 comics and that was Detective Comics #1. This featured a break into Arkham asylum in order to meet the Dollmaker, who gave him the ultimate disguise: he removed his face. A disgusting final page showed Joker’s skin pinned to a wall and that was the last we heard of him, until now. The Death of the Family has begun and the Joker has returned to Gotham ready to inflict pain on Batman again. The title suggests that there will be more death and destruction to the people Bruce holds close. What is his current motivation and why has he returned now after a year? In order to answer this question we need to look closer at his comic book return.
This featured a break into Arkham asylum in order to meet the Dollmaker, who gave him the ultimate disguise: he removed his face.
There are a few obvious truths to the return of a homicidal megalomaniac with delusions of grandeur. He has to be the most feared and hated villain irrespective of Batman. He is a son of Gotham returning to reclaim his throne and he alludes to this many times when confronting Batman and the Gotham police. He also stamps his role when meeting with the Penguin, where he places himself as a prime suspect for thug murders. He barters with Cobblepot in order to manipulate him into performing a favour. Once again outthinking and positioning himself above the Penguin in the super villainy stakes. The Joker is jealous of the troubles inflicted on Batman from the court of owls, making two separate mentions of it. He is irate that Bruce struggled so much and genuinely thinks he should have managed better. The Joker wants to be his toughest villain, not some old owls. Finally I think he just missed the place and running amok around the city.
The Joker has an interesting ideology when it comes to Gotham and Batman. Batman is the Godking of Gotham and organised crime is Batman’s purpose in life. The thugs fear the bat insignia and it’s meaning, escalating Bruce to mythological status. Successfully completing a crime is the reward; it means that you have evaded the bat, let alone the booty itself. The Joker compares this to a worship like practice and Cobblepot is in charge of the offerings. There is a lovely line that states that the Penguin is the bishop in Batman’s dark kingdom. As Batman feeds on all of this crime he is satisfied he is doing his job. He is kept busy and Gotham has its champion, its king. These villains are fulfilling a role but they are simple folk, not like the Joker, not like him at all.
The Joker compares this to a worship like practice and Cobblepot is in charge of the offerings.
The Joker is special. He is Batman’s enemy and his nemesis and that relationship is special to him. When he talks to Batman he does so with emotion and sentiment, which is easily disguised with his crazy grin and laughter. The Joker has gone to a lot of effort in his return, just for Batman. He has gotten his face back, because it is who he is and he needs to be seen again, even if it means using a belt to fix his face in place. He does not want to remain unrecognisable because the world must know what he is doing and how well he is doing it. He uses an analogy of the play My King and I to describe his relationship with Bruce. It’s an interesting reference to a show about a couple being on opposing warring factions. The man and woman eventually understand one another and only then are able to share their feelings with a single dance. The Joker understands Batman’s mentality and holds him dear. He is his jester and no one else can take his role. He wants to dance with him again. The Joker takes great lengths to re-enact the evolution of their relationship, as he recreates his first kill and one of the earliest Batman meetings on a bridge at the Gotham reservoir. Batman says, “You’re nothing to me” and the Joker replies, “Shhh. Don’t do that, don’t pretend, not here, not to me.” These are amazing lines showing how upset Joker becomes when their relationship is belittled.
The Joker takes great lengths to re-enact the evolution of their relationship, as he recreates his first kill and one of the earliest Batman meetings on a bridge at the Gotham reservoir.
Batman has changed. He has a large support network and family. He is no longer a lone warrior patrolling the night and this irks the Joker. The true villains of Batman are the company he keeps and they have ruined the Joker’s dear king. He states that Batman has become soft and fat because of his poor efficiency when handling the Owls. The Joker expects more maybe because no one else is allowed to be a bigger threat. He misses the real Batman and is angry he has become weak and dependant. He needs Bruce to be stronger and be more of a challenge and therefore he needs to eliminate his family. His dialogue during the two issues is very protective of Batman and hating to all his associates. The city deserves a better Batman and he is going to return him to full glory.
He needs Bruce to be stronger and be more of a challenge and therefore he needs to eliminate his family.
Where do they go from here? Clearly the crossover will involve many titles and many bat family members. If Joker had his way they would all be killed leaving Batman to himself. I imagine he would try to torment him for as long as possible in his strange bad romance fantasy until he mentally breaks. We know that is unlikely to happen and that Batman will win outright and probably send him back to Arkham. It is the status quo as I alluded to above, but there will be a change, and it is likely someone will die or be irreparably damaged. I hope the Jason Todd storyline will be well handled given he died at the Joker’s hands once before and is not as moralistic as Batman. Whatever happens once again Bruce will be left with the guilt of an injured or dead loved one and I wonder where it will take him. What roads will he travel that he has not travelled before? He has a huge family with his world of Batmen, which need support and continued motivation, so that cannot be changed. The Joker will remain to fight another day but Bruce will bear the consequences again and I am interested to see another scar added to his brutally abused mind.
For more comic views and reviews follow Kulbir on Twitter at @Kooliebear and check out his website over at houseofflyingscalpels.com
Posted on November 23rd, 2012
Category: DEVIL IN THE DETAIL, NEWS & VIEWS
Tags: Batman, Batman Review, Bruce Wayne, Comic Reviews, DC Comics, Detective Comics, Devil in the Detail, Greg Capullo, Joker, Kulbir Mann, Nightwing, Red Hood, Red Robin, Robin, Scott Snyder
By Jon Palmer
With the recent re-launch of Batman I’m now left wondering if Dick Grayson was in fact ever actually Batman?
With the recent re-launch of Batman I’m now left wondering if Dick Grayson was in fact ever actually Batman? I know Damien is still Robin because he’s there in the new 52 as Robin, Drake is there as Red Robin and there is Batwing who’s been nicely introduced.
Then I come to Grayson, who and I may be stalked or maimed for this, I think was pretty alright as Batman, yes he didn’t have the same broodiness of Wayne or the same reasons for being Batman as Wayne. Then, I suppose being Batman to live up to Wayne’s memory is in itself a pretty difficult cowl to fill.
Dick Grayson is the only character who apart from Wayne himself has actually earned his way up to the Cowl.
He started out as Robin, became Nightwing and fleshed out his own superhero, rather than having one created for him like Robin, and then he got the Cowl in Batman: Reborn.
I think I know the answer really but sometimes as I read the new 52 it’s like he wasn’t, as if it’s something that was known to have happened but it’s never talked about.
I hope it hasn’t been forgotten about though because I like the way that he remained himself while being Batman, they didn’t redraft him into a darker version of himself that was struggling with the loss of Bruce Wayne. Instead, he stayed his usual positive self with Damien becoming a darker version of Robin that played off nicely. It also seemed somewhat fitting that a former Robin would train a new one, plus avoided any inconvenient Father/Son turmoil that would have surfaced between Bruce and Damien.
Talking of former Robin’s, Grayson’s journey to gain the cowl also brought out a sort of challenge between those who had been Robin before. Drake who takes on the Batman after Damien is injured, Jason Todd who has been in the guise of Batman with the aim of muddying the name of Gotham’s best hero and eventually we get Grayson becoming Batman after defeating Jason Todd.
Dick Grayson had to become Batman and I hope that this new re-launch remembers that he was for a short while.
This little plot in itself would never have been imaginable without the foresight of Grayson becoming Batman, and with it we get to see all of them in their own form of Batman. Jason Todd, a slightly over the edge, gun-toting Batman – a clear sign he was never going to get it, if we needed another one. Tim Drake proved while he’s good as an ally, he has the brains but rushes in to quick and not stealthy enough for Batman. Then after dwindling these down we get Grayson who was just biding his time, contemplating through narration about what it would all mean. That’s why he had to become Batman and why I hope that this new re-launch remembers that he was for a short while.
Even if it doesn’t though I think it’s safe to say Batman wouldn’t be much without Dick Grayson, be it wearing Batman’s cowl or his own.
You can follow Jon on twitter at @palmerjono
Posted on July 24th, 2012
Category: IN THE BLACK HALL, NEWS & VIEWS
Tags: Batman, Batman And Robin, Bruce Wayne, Comic Reviews, DC Comics, In The Black Hall, Jon Palmer, new 52, Nightwing, Robin, Was Dick Grayson Ever Batman
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