SpartanNerd Scoop....Detective Comics #27 review

Why is this a scoop...Almost nobody has reviewed this yet!  I Googled to read other peoples reviews, and they were quite scant.

Variant Cover #2.  This was the cover most often seen in ads.

So I scooped all of Nerd-dom this time!  (Probably not really)

Detective Comics #27 in 1939 was the first time Batman appeared anywhere.  Not long after, Detective Comics was completely about Batman.  And that is all the information I could regurgitate that I most likely learned from Wikipedia at some point!

Fast forward to the New 52.  The current DC Comics universe.  New readers might not know, The New 52 was a massive relaunch of DC Comics two Septembers ago.  The SpartanNerd began reading them then, being intimidated by the vast history of DC Comics before the relaunch.  I felt it would be a good jumping-on point.  And I was correct!  This relaunch included a re-numbering, each issue became #1.  And so now, we are back at #27, and to celebrate the milestone of the original Detective Comics #27, DC has printed a MASSIVE tribute issue!

There are six variant covers...I picked up variant cover #2 in the comic book store last night.  Cover #1 will likely come to me in the mail with my subscription.  Other covers include a Frank Miller Catwoman cover.  (And then there are 3 more, oh math scholars!)

Cover #2, by Christ Burnham and Nathan Fairbairn is kind of cartoony...featuring Batman very large, with Batwoman, Batwing, the Talon, and someone else....???  (I almost thought it was the Talon, but then saw him in the air....)

There is an ad, right behind the cover, but it is just about the only ad in the whole thing.  There is an ad for the Kubert school somewhere in it, but besides the back cover, that's about it.  (A quick flip reminded me of a Scribblenauts ad.)

The first real page is a table of contents\credits page.  We get seven different stories in this issue!  I am going to go down them all, and put forth my review!  There will likely be SPOILERS....READ NO FURTHER IF YOU WANT UNTAINTED EARS!

The table of contents\credits page.

THE CASE OF THE CHEMICAL SYNDICATE...

Hope you heeded my warning!  This first story is meant to be a classic Batman story.*  The art is the average of what we have seen since the late 1980's   We see Bruce Wayne talking to himself, and talking to himself.  Which was sort of off-putting to me at first.  But I have been reading these things long enough to know that something was going on.  In the end, we were seeing snips from "The Journal of the Bat-Man."  I like that Batman says one time "I'm still too new at this!"  The end of this story has someone falling into an acid vat, and the last panel of course shows their hand climbing out.

Now, I am certain that this isn't supposed to be a canonical story.  The New 52 story of the Joker has been hashed out several times.  We saw the Red Hood fall into a vat in the Zero Year Batman story.  Not to mention the Joker reinforcing this origin story in "Death of the Family," and even making Harley go through the experience.

No, this isn't a mainline story.  It sets the stage for the vignettes we are going to be getting throughout the rest of the book.

I LIKE THE ART, I LIKE THE STORY, RATING 5/5.  I like the pulpy nature of it!
*This is a re-telling of the original Detective Comics #27.  Oddly, I didn't remember it panning out the way this did



OLD SCHOOL...

This story begins with a cover, letting you know what it coming!

The "cover art" of "Old School"

Basically, you begin with old-style comics material, with Batman and Robin in their original looks.  As the story progresses, Batman's costume evolves, and the artwork does as well, until it looks like Detective Comics artwork looks now, as different villains do ridiculous things to him.  How is this vignette justified?  Batman has fallen asleep in a comic books store, and people are dressed in costumes all around him for Batman's 75th Anniversary party.  The last panel, he picks up a copy of "Detective Comics #27"  (The original.)

THIS IS A REALLY DIFFERENT STORY.  RATING 5/5!



BETTER DAYS...

Probably a non-cannonical story also.  This one shows Batman as old as he would be for real, with Alfred in a wheelchair.  We see Dick Grayson and Damien Wayne also.  Dick is still night wing, and Damien is currently Batman.  And Barbara Gordon is the commissioner.  They are celebrating his birthday, and an alarm goes off.  So the younger heroes go off to work!  But Bruce decides to suit up and beat them to the crime scene!  They come back, the work already done, wondering how it was possible....

I like how we get to see Damien alive...But other than that, I think it is weak story.  And I don't care for all the cursing...it seems there is some four letter bomb on every page.  I don't like the lines either.  It says Bertram is the artist, who is that?  It looks like .... something you would see in I don't know.  Something I wouldn't read.

WEAK STORY, POOR ARTWORK.  UNNECESSARY CURSING, MINIMAL ACTION.  BUT DAMIEN WAS ALIVE.  2/5



HERO...

Oddly, this story is labeled "Hero" in the Table of Contents, it is called "Rain" on its first page.  The art is far superior to the previous vignette.  And it says Five Years Ago.  This is to tell the regular readers that this happened at about the time the Justice League came on the scene in the New 52 Story arc.  It is the shortest story, and the most puzzling.  I like it...but...

Basically, Batman comes in from the Batmobile, swoops down and saves a woman and her child, who then says "Thank you for saving me...again.."  Before Batman can question him about what he said, BOOM, an explosion happens and Batman saves the kid.  The kid is called "Junior" by his mom.  What I can make of this is the kid must be James Gordon, Jr.  But maybe not...He looks like it with those glasses and the way that hair is parted.  But if this is five years ago, it seems the kid couldn't be James Gordon, Jr.  He looks to be early 20's?  This kid looks like he's 11 at the oldest...

WHATEVER....MAYBE I MISSED SOMETHING OR FORGOT SOMETHING SOMEWHERE.  5/5!



THE SACRIFICE...

I am all about sacrificial characters.  So right away, I am pulled into this story.  The first thing we see is The Phantom Stranger, a character fairly new to me, with the whole Pandora/Trinity War/Forever Evil story arc.  Anyways, the Phantom Stranger shows Batman what life would be like if he got his wish...If his parents had lived through their murder.  (If his father was only wounded).

Batman sees several things.  His parents live on and shelter him.  Dick Grayson winds up on Death Row, he is married to Natalya Trusevich (recently killed by the Mad Hatter in The Dark Knight #20, a Russian pianist.  She was tragically dropped onto the Bat-Signal.)  They have a child as well.  And Ras Al Ghul is taking over Europe.

As pleasant as the thought is to Bruce of not losing his parents, he sees that the world lost something more without the Batman.  And in order for Batman to exist, his parents had to be killed.  Such irony.

I like that they brought Natalya back.  All around, not much has been said about Bruce's grief over the loss of his lover.  It was all around the same time that Damian was killed, so that overshadowed this story.  (That and the fact that the Mad Hatter thing was a little weak).

WE GET TO SEE THE PHANTOM STRANGER, A FUTURE WITHOUT BATMAN, AND WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED BETWEEN BRUCE AND NATALYA.  THE ART IS SUBDUED AND MUTED, NOT MY FAVORITE.   SO 4/5.


GOTHTOPIA...

"And all is right in the world"...Catwoman gets to be Batman's lover,
Batman has a permanent understudy.

Now for the real deal.  This is what would have been printed in Detective Comics #27 if it wasn't a big extravaganza.  And there has been tons of hype!  And...the final panel of the last Detective Comics story arc featured "Catbird," the new "Robin,"  not really putting the question of who the next Robin will be to rest, however.  Catbird is Catwoman in a Robin-esque costume.

All the previews prepared us for this.  Gotham is now the safest city in America, bighter and more akin to Metropolis.  And it is a "Utopia" because of Batman and his fellow heroes.  It is furthermore a Utopia because people have what they desire.  The Roman Sionis is Commissioner.  Catwoman is Batman's lover, and fully knows his identity.  (They are seen together in the bat cave unmasked.)  The Oswald Cobblepot is the mayor.  All of the heroes seem to be brighter.  "Blue Belle and Brightbat" are apparently Batwoman and Bat-Girl.  (Maybe.)  Batwing is now "Flying Fox".  The Talon is "the Gothamite."  Birds of Prey are now "Wings of Truth."

And Batman is redesigned.  He has a lighter colored costume.  It almost looks white!  Really a bright grey.  As the story progresses, we're not really sure what is happening.  Batman appears to be more of a policeman in this comic, not really fighting crime so much as helping people with tragedy.  And he is unable to explain or save people who are committing suicide, (there is a higher suicide rate than usual.)  Apparently Bruce catches wind that something has changed about him, and Selina and the other Heroes want to stop him from uncovering the truth.  Batman winds up in the asylum with his enemies at the end.

Questions...Should I be buying all relevant issues to "get" this story?  It says I should follow the Gothtopia storyline in Batwing 27, Batgirl 27, Catwoman 27, and Birds of Prey 28.  I haven't read any of these titles before.  Should I have picked up Batwing last night?  I guess we'll see.  I haven't read a single Batwing story.  It does say "next: INSTITUTIONALIZED."

MY INTEREST IN THIS STORY IS PIQUED.  I HAVE BEEN WAITING TO SEE DETAILS ABOUT BATMAN:ETERNAL.  THIS ISSUE HAS ME A LITTLE PSYCHED.  BUT I AM NOT SURE ABOUT WHAT IS NECESSARY, AND DC HASN'T MADE THAT CLEAR.  I LIKE THE ART AND THE STORY, AND RATE THIS 5/5.


TWENTY-SEVEN...

The final vignette, a future reality.  Batman has clones of himself working as Batman.  He sees an older version of himself tutoring his new clone.  It is apparently 200 years in the future, and Batman is still at work.  We get to see lots of different future Batmen and Robins, and future villains and threats.

THIS IS A COOL STORY, THAT MAKES YOU THINK.  WITH TERRIFIC ARTWORK.  AND IT IS GOOD TO SEE A FUTURE BATMAN.  THIS STORY GETS A 5/5 FOR SHEER COOLNESS!


SpartanNerds overall review of Detective Comics #27...It was all I hoped it would be!  5/5!

10 Print "Best things in DC New 52, 2013" (SpartanNerd's top 10 list)

10 PRINT "Villains Month"  I haven't read one of these that I haven't enjoyed  (I can be disappointed and annoyed sometimes, but still enjoy comics)   And the cool 3D covers were also very nice, though it wasn't "revolutionary" as originally billed.  I haven't read all of the ones I bought yet!  Darkseid's origin was cool, and different.  Killer Croc looks like he has a bright future...Bizarro was cool.  The Joker's was odd...  And Doomsday was sort of disappointing.  But overall, these were pretty good.

20 PRINT "Batman:  Riddler #1" Among the best of Villains Month.  The Riddler is my favorite Bat-villain, next to the Joker.  And we haven't seen much of him in the New 52.  But he is showing up in the whole "Zero Year" story, and this villains month title served as a good companion to that.  Also, I like the premise.  He takes out the whole prison, to climb to the top and play Solitaire!

30 PRINT "Masters of the Universe Annual:  The Origin of HORDAK..." Read SpartanNerd Sundays for some thoughts on this one.

40 PRINT "Justice League #12"  Lois Lane who?  Seriously.  It should be nice if they keep these two together for a long time.  Make people think of them as an item, as inseparable as Lois and Clark.  Then do something to rip them apart.  Maybe in five years or so, Supes can sell his marriage...(let's not go there......)

50 Print "Batman and Robin Catwoman #22"  This was a positive story, ending with the two of them rescuing a little girl and swinging off with her to safety.  To me, an emotional ending for some reason!  Later (in other places), there is news that Catwoman may be the next Robin, called "Catbird," however this might be some sort of alternate universe story or something.  (The next big things are called Gothtopia and Batman:Eternal)

60 PRINT "Justice League of America #2" VIBE:  "Hawkman, you're covered in blood!" HAWKMAN: "It's not MY blood!"  Best joke of the year!

70 PRINT "Zero Year"  Everyone got a re-start for the New 52, except for the Bat Family.  They just got a soft reboot.  Batman's origin, at least the part about Thomas and Martha being murdered in front of him, has been told several times, almost ad nauseum.  BUT exactly how that translated into a guy dressed as a bat beating the tar out of criminals HAS NOT been explored in comics, as far as I know, ever.  So we are getting a big "Batman Begins" type of story.  We also got to see the Red Hood dropped in acid at the Ace Chemical plant...  The teaser line "And wait until you see who the Red Hood Really is, hasn't really been resolved yet.  So I suppose we'll see that in the coming year!  Throughout these books, we get to see little hints at Bat-stuff we are already familiar with.  The Studebaker, the "R" insignia on Bruce's hat, the grappling gun, the batarang.  On and on.

Batman #24 was an 80-page value!

80 PRINT "Detective Comics #19"  This cheapskate was quite happy with this value!  The oversized eighty pager was not even figured into the price of the subscription, apparently!  The subscription also paid off in the fact that the Back-up stories, starting around the time of this book, all focused on Man-Bat, and so it was like we got a whole other story arc!

Another 80 pager!

90 PRINT  "Suicide Squad #14 and 15"  The dynamic between the Joker and Harley Quinn is just awesome!  Harley was a character that I largely didn't care much for from past experiences of watching the Batman animated series from the 1990's.  What they are doing with Harley Quinn now is over-the-top.  I don't plan on reading any of her new series, I haven't cared for the art on the adverts, but she moved up the ladder on my unwritten list of characters, I tell you that!  I read these over and over!

100 Print "Death of the Family"  What really got me hooked on these stories?  Right after the FlashPoint.  Detective Comics #1.  We see the plot resolved here.  DC made us wait a year, and then WHAM!  This awesome story didn't disappoint!  I have almost every book from the series, and have read them all twice, as well as let SpartanSmurf #1 read them.  He hasn't finished yet...But it is good to let him in on that grown-up type story action.  Also, I came to like Batgirl a lot more, as well as Harley Quinn.  And we get one of our final issues with Damian as Robin, and it was one of the creepiest stories of the bunch!

Could I do an honorable mention?  Trinity War\Forever Evil has been gripping!  Can't wait to see what happens there!

FIRST EVER GIVE AWAY!

OK.  News this big deserves my first ever GIVE AWAY!!!!

DC NEW 52 and MOTU Crossover!!!

If you subscribe to my blog, and comment on this post by Thursday, May 16, 11:59PM Eastern Time, you will be in the running for a prize!  A sealed copy of AQUAMAN #19, plus a little bit more, comics related, not decided yet!  I will ship internationally!  Be sure you leave a way for me to contact you.

Good Luck!  I HAVE THE POWER!!!!!

Best News EVER!!!!

MOTU+DC New 52!!!!  (click to link to the story)

HE-MAN AND THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE FIT RIGHT IN WITH THE NEW52 LOOK!

Do I even need to say more?

Have you been reading this blog?  If so, then you know that I am into both properties BIG TIME!

I'm going to celebrate by playing MTG tonight.  A new AZORIUS strategy!

Game Review! Injustice: Gods Among Us (IOS version)

What do you get when you cross Mortal Kombat, Shadow Era, and Infinity Blade?

Injustice: Gods Among Us.      This is DC Comics newest video game release.  Since I don't have a PS#, Xbox 360, or Nintendo Wii U, I'll just give you my IOS assessment.

So I bought this game last night....and it took so long to download to my iPad Mini I waited to play it until in the morning!  However, the game was free......(We all know the catch here!  In App Purchases)

I just ignored the chance to purchase stuff at first, which is my general practice anyways, and dug into the game.  The game started me with three complimentary characters, Nightwing, The Flash, and Green Lantern (Hal Jordan).  After I won a few battles, I unlocked Catwoman.

It's been awhile since a game got me.  "It got me!" (said in Sweet Brown's voice.)

I played this game for well over an hour.  It is pretty simple.  You just tap and swipe on the screen, in a fighting style similar to Infinity Blade, but not nearly as in depth.

When you unlock characters and things, they go into your collection as "cards."  Like Shadow Era or Magic The Gathering trading cards.  Really.  And they get exhausted over time...  This keeps you recharging them with energy cards, or swapping them out with new cards that are not exhausted.  I have not run out of these energy cards yet, but I think I know where that's going.  They will eventually, and if I want to play, I will have to fork over the dough.  I have had a lot of fun for free, so far, but I liked the game enough to go ahead and buy their $4.99 special booster pack.  This got me Harley Quinn's card, Green Arrow's card, and another Flash card, this time the "regime" version.  This was the first time I noticed that there are different versions of each character.  This is a cool touch!  Regime Flash is much bigger and has a fancier costume.

I have nearly leveled my Catwoman all the way up.  I also had a tough time with the first boss, which was Hal Jordan.  But after I beat him, my characters each got a big boost in levels.

All of this is cool, except that some of the in-app purchases are very expensive.  You can unlock 1,900,000 game currency for a whopping $99.  You see, I hate this.  It makes me think I will never be able to achieve the perfect game without paying WAY TOO MUCH.  I vow not to spend any more money on this game.  I will grind my way to the top if I ever get there.  $5.00 is one thing, but $99 is just about enough to go and buy a newer console system.  I could buy the whole "Dragon Maze" Magic The Gathering set for around that price, and probably have a wealth of cards I could trade in at the comics store.  And I would have REAL CARDS.  Not digital goods only.

The best thing about this game has got to be the BEAUTIFUL GRAPHICS.  Never have the DC heroes and villains looked so realistic.  Never have they had such high resolution.  Never have they been so awesome.  This is why it is a good thing the Mortal Kombat people are on it.  They did it right!
You can see strands of hair, scales of chain mail, screws and nuts and bolts and wires.  Feathers on arrows.  This game is made by the graphics.  In fact, it makes up for a weak fighter with all of the awesome images and the cool stuff.  Isn't this kind of what makes Mortal Kombat successful?  Compared to other fighting games, MK is weak on the mechanics, etc.  But makes up for it with its coolness.  Ed Boon is bringing that same magic to this game.

Incidentally, the oldest SpartanSmurf in this house thinks this game is AWESOME!

So I am going to grade this game 8\10.  It looses a mark for being expensive.  (But paying out IS optional, it will just slow you down big time if you don't.)  And it loses a point for lack of depth as a fighting game.  Everything else is solid.  Especially the graphics.

So what is your rating?

Back to my fully restored NES!

Follow up, Follow Up! Follow Up!! to Robin Laid an Egg!

My issue came and I finally got to read it!  This issue does feature Carrie in the Robin costume, and it also features other partying friends dressed as Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman, Aquaman, (Basically a Justice League costume party).  If you have been reading this story, then you probably read the "Batman and Robin Annual."  In that book, Bruce tells Damian that he needs to work on his "Green Screen" skills.  And we see Damian trying to trick Batman into thinking he is in different locations with a Green Screen.  So this indicates that Damian either went and hired Carrie to teach him those skills, or he was already taking classes from her.  Filmography must have been an ambition of Damian's.  Damian was 10.  This girl was driving, and seems to be at least 17 years old.  So he wasn't "dating" her.  (I guess that should read "she wasn't "dating" him!)

Other details about the book....I won't spoil those, but lets just say this one went somewhere I totally didn't expect it to go!  Batman has gone nuts!

Death of the Family review

DC Comics did it right when they began the New 52 with the Joker having his face cut off......and then keeping us in suspense for a year!

Along the way, Gotham policemen pranked each other with it, Harley Quinn tried to steal the face, and had a twisted moment with it and her new boyfriend, Deadshot.

And then the Joker returned, and he didn't disappoint!  Right away he kills an entire station of Gotham policemen.  When we see him, he has his face horrifically strapped to his head, and stretched into a gruesome smile.  He spends no time catching up with Batman, and having some famous dialogue about how his "bat-family" makes him weaker.

This was also a cool trip through the New 52 origin of the Joker, (and Harley Quinn, too.)  DC portrayed the Joker as remixing his original crimes.  All of this echoed stuff from the old DC universes. Now it seems there is a solid origin story.  Batman knocked The Red Hood into a vat of chemicals, and it made him into the Joker.  That whole bit about him being a chemist also still seems to be true.

The Joker slowly picks off each Bat-Family member.  He does the biggest number on Batgirl, capturing her mom, removing her finger, and using it to propose to BatGirl.  Of course, she has to play along, or her mom will get blown up!  NightWing has his circus scared away because one of the clowns was killed for resembling the Joker.  Red Hood, Red Robin, and Robin (Damian) all get captured and thrown together in a cell.  (Damian's book was really gruesome.)  Also, Alfred was attacked and Joker Gassed.  Every Bat Family member's story ends with a suspenseful panel of the Joker holding a giant dinner platter about to open the lid....

The Bat Family is disenfranchised because apparently Bruce knew that the Joker might have figured out his identity, and thus was able to figure out everyone else's.  It is never clear exactly how he figured out all of the personal details of how to get at the family members.  But Bruce seems to think that the Joker doesn't want to know, and also blinds himself to what must be obvious to someone as brilliant as him with his insanity.   This detail is reinforced a couple of times if you think back.  In "Red Hood and the Outlaws #0" the Joker quickly cuts off someone who is trying to point out Batman's identity, etc.

I suppose that the Joker really does need Batman and Family to keep him busy.  Otherwise he could have easily killed them all off in the end.  Instead he "plays a joke" on Batman by presenting their severed faces on a platter.  (not their real faces)

How is he defeated?  Of course Batman had no trouble saving the family members.  Then when he chases down the Joker and threatens him that he has figured out his identity, Joker won't hear of it and throws himself down into the sewer, dropping his face in the process.

So far, the Bat Family members are rather irked at Bruce.  It is a wonder they won't answer his calls and stuff....Damian was just killed.  They are not helping their mentor mourn.  They are THAT MAD.

Where will this go?  I wonder about the Joker's face.  Is he going to appear as someone else, with a healthy face next?  The future is wide open on the part of the Joker.  He kind of always comes and goes, and now this won't be much different.  I wonder if a whole "Joker in disguise" storyline might be coming up.  Or maybe he will grow his face back?  Or something else?  Anyone else out there have any theories?

I think maybe DC was trying to create some space around Batman.  Give him more room.  Isn't this kind of process always going on?  Now he doesn't even have an official Robin.  Batman is working alone for the most part.  It won't be long though before the family is close again, so.....

So what do you think, Hub City Geeks?  Comment!  Join the show!  Make my little blog grow!  Increase the traffic flow!  Come on nerds Disco! (DISCO, DISCO DUCK!)

Robin Laid an Egg follow-up.......

A friend recklessly spoiled who the new Robin is to me....before I got my book in the mail.  And my guesses were entirely wrong.

I should have seen this coming, though.  Didn't they recently release "The Dark Knight Returns" on video?  I haven't seen it.

So welcome to the New 52, Carrie Kelly.  I suppose that wasn't too much of a spoiler for anyone.  It is Thursday, after-all.  Maybe if ANYONE OUT THERE EVER READS THIS, I might receive a comment, even a complaint!

 Follow up to the follow up, I read some more news.....It seems that Carrie actually MIGHT NOT be Robin after all.    I guess we gotta keep reading.  I can't wait until my issue comes in the mail!

Robin Laid an Egg.....

So who is the new Robin going to be?  We know that there WILL BE a new Robin.....after all, they haven't announced a cancelation of the Batman and Robin title.  Lots of speculation flying around.  Here are the leading theories, in no ranking order, but starred for clarity.  Pro's and cons after each one.

*     Tim Drake.  Lots of fans love Tim!  He was Robin for like, 20 years!

Pro.  Lots of fans like Tim.  Pro.  The current Teen Titan's is a crappy title.  Keep Tim around.  reassign the others.

Con.  Same ol'  Same ol'.


*     Stephanie Brown.

Pro.  The writers have pretended to forget Stephanie.  It's like she hasn't happened in the New 52.

Con.  I don't see a con to this one.  A blond girl Robin.....I LOVE IT!


*      Harper Row

Pro.  She's "current...."

Con.  Is she really a "fan favorite?"  Or is that a load of hype?


*     Harper Row's brother  (Andy?  Don't have the book handy for reference)

Pro.  Once again, he's "Current"

Con.  I see no appeal so far.  He hasn't done anything except be a victim.


*     Damien Wayne

Pro.  I miss him already.  So do other people.

Con.  Can the story grow?  How soon?  Will the rest of Batman and Robin for the next year be devoted to his resurrection?  That would be fitting for Damien.

Con.  The writers say they don't have current plans to bring him back.


*     Jason Todd/ Red Hood

Pro.  This would be interesting.  It would be a way for Batman and Jason to BOTH get one over on the Joker.

Con.  Would we lose the Red Hood?


My thoughts.


Of the above, I hope the whole Harper Row and her brother thing becomes it's own separate story arc.  But neither of these seem to be Robin worthy.  I hate Harper's design.  I don't care for the Bull Nose Ring she has adorning her boogers.  Hey, I had pink hair once.  But her purple hair (his too) just detracts from the character.  It is distracting.  An even worse move would be to make her brother into Robin.  This would SURELY grab headlines.  A gay Robin.  Oh yeah.  This is EXACTLY what I am afraid they are going to do though, for shock value, and publicity.  They are going to hurt Harper, or kill her, and Andy will step up and avenge her by becoming Robin.  He has been a victim so far, so they have plenty of room to develop him.  Think I am being unfair?  Just look at what happened with Miles Morales.  They chose an "ethnic" Spider-Man for the headlines.  But the Gay angle might not even work out as well.  We already have a gay Green Lantern in Earth 2, and a Batwoman. (Look how well these two are loved...they aren't) Harper has a real Lesbian vibe, this hasn't been explored, but so far the brother has been confirmed homosexual.  I like their two stories.  I even like their characters.  I just don't want to see either one of them fill the hole that is left behind after the great job Damien did.

Most of all, I hope they bring Jason Todd back as Robin.  Again, this would be a great joke on the Joker!  Maybe he wouldn't even have to stop being the Red Hood.  He has already put on a "Wingman" costume, apparently in Batman Inc.  He would slide right into the role, with demons to fight similar to Damien's.  He would be edgy as well.  Batman would try and reign him in, and probably be successful.  Did anyone else read "Red Hood and the Outlaws" #18?  I read that thing three times.  Bruce's fatherly embrace of his adopted son was heart wrenching.  Here we have two family members torn apart by tragedy, being brought back together by more tragedy.  And Bruce was showing real love here.  He could have only learned that by raising Damien.  He could only show this in the context of losing Damien and having a severely wounded Jason.  This would be a true continuation of Jason Todd's story.  And maybe many people who were so torn up about this back in the early 1990's would come back and listen.  We could see a Batman who has grown from losing two Robins, both of them his sons.  But he gets a second chance with one.  For real.

What about the others?  I don't know why the writers are so allergic to Stephanie Brown.  I fear it is because she is the "anti-Harper," if Harper is to become the next girl Robin.  This could be a chance to bring her up to date, though.  They could have retconned her existence for a reason...They wanted a re-do.  Like all of the other heroes pretty much got.  She's cuter than Harper.  She doesn't have an innocent background, though, with the whole "teenage pregnancy" scandal.

And what about Tim.  I just don't see it happening.  I see Tim becoming like Dick.  He will be his own hero.  Sort of like he has been as Red Robin.  I think some people would like it.  I liked Tim as Robin, in the few books I had of Robin back in the 1990's.  I also liked him in the cartoons.

Hey, it could be somebody else.  Who knows.  Maybe more flashpoint timewarps will happen, and Dick will be it.  Maybe all the other Bat Family will disappear into a fog.  I don't want to see this.  But hey, it's comics.

So in order, my favorite to least favorite picks for a new Robin

1.  Damien Wayne
2.  Jason Todd
3.  Stephanie Brown
4.  Tim Drake
5.  Harper Row
6.  "Brother" Row
7.  A combination of the twin Rows, both as Robins.  (Didn't mention this above.  It could happen.)

So we begin,,,,at an ending

I figure I will start with thoughts about Requiem, the current Bat story arc.  This is still ongoing, and I will cover it as more is revealed.  When I have nothing to say, I will cover back issues and such.

I have followed Damien and Batman for 18 issues....That is a year and a half.  And have grown sort of attached to the little guy.  At first I was like, "Hmmm......This new Robin is Batman's son."  At first I thought this was a New 52 change, but learned later that what changed was not Robin, but Batman, back into Bruce Wayne.  Prior to Flashpoint, Dick Greyson was Batman in the "old 52."

Anyway, I like seeing Robin act darker than Batman.  This was a twist!  And I followed them and looked forward to this book even more than the other Bat books.....next closest good story on the shelf was the TMNT reboot.

And we saw Damien grow more docile.  He gained more control.  He acted...less...bratty.  He still disobeyed and left the house constantly....Isn't that what Jason and Tim did too?  (and Stephanie Brown....OOPS, I said the "S" word!.  DC's gonna shut down this blog!)

Kidding aside, After I read Batman Inc. #8 in digital form... (I mentioned earlier that I missed the issue. Go back and read lazies......)   After seeing the manner in which they killed him off, it was way too easy.  Robin deserved a few issues worth of a death scene.  Didn't Jason get that?  And a fan vote?  Even Stephanie's death was over one issue.  They give Damien a few panels, a death scene with a psycho crying mom and Batman dad both in tears.  And that's it.  BAM.  Batman is in a rage in the other issues we read.  There is a very small funeral.

Here's what irks me.  TO NO END.

We had that HUGELY ANTICIPATED "Death of the Family" story.  A years worth of suspense concerning the Joker.  A huge crossover event.  A game changer!  Highly publicized.  Highly advertised.  Highly effective.  Highly emotional.  Epic story.  Epic ending.

No mention of a Death of Robin.  No "A Death in the Family," like Jason had.  No gang war like Stephanie had.  Just a big guy with a sword.  Stab.  That's it.  RIP Robin.  This is wrong. wrong in the worst way.  And the art in that book TOTALLY STANK.  (One of the reasons I wasn't reading Batman Inc.)

It reminds me of the hollow ending of Spawn #100, all those years ago, when Spawn beheads Malebolgia.  You had 100 issues of this all powerful bad guy.  And Spawn steals an angel's (Angela's if I remember correctly)  weapon and does the deed in like, one page.  The end.  Thanks for your business.

It reminds me of....Almost nothing else!  It was horrible treatment of a great character.  Which deserved a lot more grandiose of a send off.  Or NOT!  Why not keep him?  We still have Tim!  He never died!

And how many more Robins are they gonna kill off?  Isn't this getting old?

So Damien could come back to life.  That isn't the current plan.  We already Lazarus Pitted Jason Todd.  (I am warming up to this....I was pretty resistant at first, but the character of Red Hood has grown on me.)  Something else freaky could bring him back...This is comics after all.  But I think something else is going to happen entirely, and I am not going to like it.  So I am following this post with another post about conjecture for what is going to happen next....Since I am on a roll, I will go ahead and do that today!  Thanks readers, and Reeders!

SpartanNerd

How I see comics......

          The SpartanNerd is a bit of a cheapskate.  So his comics come by the old fashioned snail-mail.....(I save a little money that way.)  Such is the way of a breeder.  What does this mean for a blog about comics?  Well, it means that after ComicVine, Pop Culture Network, and whoever else has already reviewed them, I will have my two cents to add....Literally two cents.  On a RARE occasion, I will get a book on the Wednesday that it comes out.  Sometimes, I get them over two weeks late.  This sucks pretty bad....

          So what books am I subscribed too?  I jumped on DC Comics The New 52 wagon when all that news dropped.  I began buying the digital books.  This was OK, but I missed the nostalgia of owning the actual paper books I stockpiled as a kid, thus the subscriptions.  I started here because 1) Marvel messes around too much with Spider-Man, who I love just as he was in the 1990's pre-clone          Todd MacFarlane era, 2. Big Iconic characters that used to be too intimidating with a 50 year back-story...such as Batman and Superman, would now be more accessible.  3.  It seemed like a good place to start with stuff I wasn't SOOO familiar with in the first place.  So I subscribed to five titles that I read the most.  Detective Comics, Batman, Batman and Robin, Action Comics, and Justice League.  I have since dropped Justice League (too much Shazam) and picked up Aquaman.  Why no Batman: The Dark Knight?  I didn't care for the art, but I have picked up a couple of the books.

           It also turns out that here at the edge of the world there are a couple of fine establishments that sell comics, closest to me is Mad Max's Comics and Games, but also on the west side of Sparkle City there is the highly regarded and established Tangled Web.  I STILL find myself darkening comic store doors on Wednesdays and weekends.  What books do I pick up?  Believe it or not, Batgirl!  I started reading Justice League of America.  I bought Ninja Turtles for awhile.  I picked up every Masters of the Universe comic I could.  I also bought a major haul of books from a Tangled Web recently in a doorbuster sale.  I grabbed almost every associated title that went with "The Court of the Owls," and "Death of The Family" when those stories were hot.  I also began reading the new Thor book, which has been pretty cool so far.

           Part of my thinking in this was of course that I would not miss any important details.  So How did I miss THE DEATH OF DAMIAN WAYNE/ROBIN?  DC really ticked me off on this one.  Here I am a near hardcore fan of Batman, loving the whole New 52 take on Robin....And they kill him off in the one book I haven't been reading.....Batman Inc.  AND I find out by reading Batgirl...which I picked up at the store thinking it would be spoiler free (even though it said "Requiem" on the cover?  That was cold, DC Comics.)

          In the next few posts over the next few days, I will try to bring anyone who cares.... (anyone out there?)......up to date on what I have thought about each of my regular titles.  I might just distill the Bat books down into their story elements of Court of the Owls, Death of the Family, and Requiem.  I'll address Justice League, Superman, and some of the other books I have picked up as well.  Stay tuned, Hub City Geeks!

SpartanNerd