Superman/Batman #86

         This series is constantly on and off. Sometimes it's great, and sometimes it's lousy. I wasn't a fan of the last arc until after I finished it. I'm still not a fan of it, just in my mind it went from being terrible to being okay. The reason I keep coming back to it is because it's one of the few series now a days that still has a classic feel. Granted most of this is probably because Bruce Wayne is Batman, but I enjoy new stories every arc opposed to one story broken up into many little arcs.
        In this issue Batman is looking for the man that killed the reporter that was doing the story on Batman's secret identity. He goes to Martin Mayne, the editor in chief of the Gotham Gazette to get answers. Mayne goes through the "who elected you" schtick but eventually gave the name of a bar that the reporter went to a lot. Meanwhile Superman, as Clark Kent, goes to Wayne tech to get answers from Mr. Fox and continue the story. Fox says that things were stolen but due to the fact that Bruce Wayne did something else, they lost no money at all. Later on Bruce Wayne goes to the bar as Matches Malone and gets someone to talk about who killed the reporter. Someone named "The Box." Kent goes to Mayne and tells him that he will continue the story, Batman goes to the Box and finds out that the Box is the Joker, and in the mail box of the Joker's hide out is a tip from Mayne saying that Kent is continuing the story. The comic ends with the Joker trying to kill Kent with a hammer.
      Especially after the disappointment with Detective Comics issue 880, and the lack of the Joker's involvement, this was most enjoyable. This comic had a ver classic feel, but with a modern twist. Opposed to many other Batman stories that are being published, this one really felt like Batman a detective and not just a superhero, which was also really good. The only real problem I had with this comic had nothing to do with the comic. I really don't like Mayne. For starters his name is the same as Wayne just the first letter is flipped, and also he looks and acts to much like Perry White. Besides that one character though I loved this comic. I've always been interested in the Jokers fascination with Batman and how he doesn't want to know his secret identity. This has taken that to the next level. When I first heard this plot I assumed it was either going to be someone in the Bat family, or someone trying to do the right thing because they were saved by Batman. I never suspected the Joker. I would pick this comic up in a heart beat if I hadn't already.




Grade: 9/10
Buy at: www.mycomicshop.com

Detective Comics #869

           I really liked the first issue of this arc, but I didn't know what to think about the issue after that, I will admit that I was misinformed about what Winslow Heath was putting the knock off Joker gas in. I thought it was day to day products, which would have copied the Batman movie, making the plot unoriginal.
           In this issue some cops come back to work after they have apparently been out with food poisoning, but Bullock is suspicious that they are working for the Guardian Bats. Also when Heath's chief scientist enjoys watching people kill each other Wilson is not amused. He then opens a fair and resizes tones of Joker gas to the people who are attending, all of which are previous gas users. The Guardian Bats rally, where the leader of the Guardian Bats throw a "Guardian Robin" off the roof. Also somewhere in the middle of the issue, when the Impostor Joker was in a comma, he was actually awake for that entire time.
          I almost didn't pick up this arc because of the art work, but now it is continuously impressing me. It is ridiculously cartoony which reflects the insanity of Gotham, and the Jokerz. I also like that this "Impostor Joker" has a sole, if he were exactly like the Joker (which is one of the better characters ever made) the series would be boring, because even though it would be pleasantly violent, and twisted, the entire time I would be thinking" this isn't actually the Joker."
          I especially like the idea of the Guardian Bats. This rash and violent militia is what would happen in a situation that was this scary, this publicized, and this out of control. That is why I like this arc, between addiction, the violent militia, and the crazy art work, this arc does exactly what Batman is supposed to be, realistic, and twisted. DC has been doing a great job with Batman in that way, the only problem is that would be much better if this was Bruce Wayne, which would then be the person who was supposed to be Batman, being who Batman is supposed to be. Regardless, pick this issue up, it's fantastic.



Grade: 9/10
Buy at: www.mycomicshop.com

Batman and Robin #14

          I thought my subscriptions had ended for this series, but then this arrived in the mail. I absolutely hated the previous issue, It was one of the worst things I've ever had the misfortune of reading. I hated the plot, the art the writing, I vented to one of my friends about it for an hour straight. I didn't like that Pyg was in it, I didn't like defacing Thomas Wayne, and even suggesting that Joker wants to repent and become a hero was just distasteful.
          In this issue, you find out that "Thomas Wayne" is actually the "Black Glove" (whoever that is) and he tortures Pyg into joining his side, against Batman the Joker kidnaps and beats Robin. Joker puts Robin up for ransom, so that he can have Batman stop Pyg and the Black Glove. Pyg and BG capture commissioner Gordon and are giving him a contagious narcotic when Batman comes in and joker gas' some people.
          I hated the last issue, but I loved this one, and I now understand the last one. Morrison and Irving are doing something really good. They are showing Gotham in as realistic a way as possible. It's villains, and the heroes. This has been tried before, several times. It has never worked out perfectly, Frank Millar's Daredevil did it pretty well, you can argue that Batman the Dark Knight Returns, and Strikes again did it well to, but this is done particularly well. I didn't like his work with Arkham Asylum, it looked like he was trying too hard, but he's doing a much better job with this one.
         He did a great job with the Joker in this issue, especially when he said he liked a Robin that brought his own crowbar. That and Morrison of course made him more realistic. So now that I understand what Morrison is doing with this arc, I like it a lot. This arc is a must buy.




Grade: 9/10
Buy at: www.mycomicshop.com

Detective Comics #868

          I've said it a thousand times, but I'm going to say it again, I love the Batman villains. So naturally copycats interest me. The previous issue was pretty good, it wasn't the best thing I had ever read, but I'm glad I picked it up. So I wanted to continue with the story arc.
         In this issue the Jokerz are still  in the streets. But where there are copy cat Jokers there are copy cat Batmen. So now there is a war between the Guardian Bats (who use guns) and the Jokerz.  Batman tries the Joker gas so he can see how it feels, and then the head of the Jokerz announces free money day. Then we find out a plan that the Jokerz have to hide the gas in pharmaceuticals.
        Free money day, and hiding the gas (in what I think was) pharmaceuticals, that is exactly what the Joker did in Batman. (the one with Jack Nicholson, and Michael Keaton) If that was done on purpose I think that is pretty cool, because it's a copy cat Joker, lets have a copy cat Joker crime. But if that was done by accident, then that ruins the comic, if it's just a complete copy off the movie then I've lost all respect for David Hine. I thought the Guardian Bats were okay, I've seen things like that hundreds of times, but when there's a copy cat Joker, there is a copy cat Batman.
        The scene where Batman tries the Joker venom was fantastic, he's been fighting the Joker for years, trying to get inside his head, and now he knows how he feels, the only thing that would have made that better, is if Bruce Wayne was alive, and he's the one that went through that. Plus it would be cool to see that done in more serious art. But for the most part I really like the art.
         Scot McDaniel's pencils and Guy Major's color were both great in this issue, they captured and enhanced the insanity that was shown in this comic. You have people dressing up as clowns and going on crime sprees, and then you have people dressing up as bats, and killing the clowns. That is just plain crazy, and the art really magnified it.
        I can't really grade this comic because I don't know if what David Hine did was on purpose or not, and just hearing that would be the difference between a great comic and an awful one, so I can't grade it, but I'll recommend buying it.



Grade: N/A/10
Buy at: www.mycomicshop.com

Detective Comics #867

               I wasn't going to by this issue because of the art, but a friend of mine convinced me to pick it up. I didn't see the writer until I got home and started reading. I have liked David Hine recently, mainly because of his work with Arkham Asylum and the Batman villains, (like I have said countless times before) which is my favorite part about Batman and maybe the whole DCU. (I do like it for countless other reasons, but this is a big part or it) In this issue someone has been making a Joker gas knock off that is only temporary but is addicting so the victims use it again and go on crime sprees. It is revealed in this comic of who is responsible, but this is not a spoiler blog. At the end after many fights with these "Jokerz"  someone makes an imposter Batman and tells people to grab guns and go kill the impostors.
           I really liked this issue, even the art. (After reading it you relize that the art works with the story) I like the idea of the knock off Joker gas, the problem was that is the second time I've seen that in just a few short months. In April and May Batman comics had a "copy cat villain" who went around killing people just like the Batman villains do, and eventually he sprayed Riddler with a fake Joker gas. So DC should have picked one or the other, and they should have picked this one, this story was much more exiting, intresting and compelling than the other.
           I did like how the Joker gas didn't just infect street rats, but instead infected even model citizens. It makes the story much more dramatic and emotional. So overall I liked this comic a lot, there were some not so good moments, but there were a lot of very good moments that made up for those, this arc looks very exiting and I really want to see where it is going. I also wonder if this arc is going to be just another story arc or will affect the DCU even more. It's a long story arc, so I hope it affects something.



Grade: 8/10
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Batman and Robin #13

                 13 is an unlucky number, even for Batman and Robin. All right, I know I usually have an introduction about the series right here, but I have a lot of angry venting to do so I'm going to dive right into the synopsis. Joker reviled himself to be Osborne Sexton. That is what happened in issue 12 that is very important to know. This issue started off with Thomas Wayne coming back, apparently he hired someone to kill his wife and then he disappeared and then came back and killed Dick Grayson. The comic then flashes back to three days earlier. Commissioner Gordon and Batman apprehend the Joker after through a monologue about how careless he was in leaving his clues, which he apparently likes to do. Okay clues are Riddlers thing. Turns out that Joker killed Osborne Sexton and took his identity so that he could help Batman, and be a good guy? You can't do that to the Joker it just doesn't work, unless you have some devious plot for later on. Then there is something with Professor Pyg doing something with addictions. But back to Joker, he asked to see Robin. Robin is not convinced that Joker is on the straight and narrow, so he tries to beat the truth out of him with a crow bar.
               I like the crow bar thing, beating Joker just like Joker beat Jason Todd, but that was the only good thing about this issue. If Morrison makes Thomas Wayne come back, he would have killed off the real Batman (Bruce Wayne) and ruined what Batman worked for. (avenging his parents) So if you put those things together: No more Batman. Grant Morrison would be responsible for finally killing Batman. My main problem with this book is the art. I do not like Frazer Irving. I think he should draw horror comics, not Batman. I had the same major problem with Bruce Wayne Returns #2 and guess what, it was also drawn by Frazer Irving. I liked the old artist Andy Clark, he made this series different, but his art was still good. I also like Frank Quitely, If it weren't for his cover I doubt this issue would have sold more than a hundred copies (an exaggeration I know). If I were buying this series at a comic store this would be my jumping off point, unfortunately I have to wait for my subscription to end, which will be soon.  I have read other reviews of the same comic, and I know I'm in the very small minority (if it even exists beyond me) but I stand by what I said. At IGN they loved the art and said it made it creepy and powerful, I thought it looked like it was being forced to be creepy. If it is over done, it looks fake, and it did. There were a couple pannles that I thought were really good, but the rest of it was contrived.

Grade: 1/10
Do Not Buy at: www.mycomicshop.com

Joker's Asylum 2: Harley Quinn

              This issue stared Harley Quinn. Harley was created only 18 years ago, and she gas had more success than many characters have had in their entire existence. For instance, if you go to an amateur comic collector and ask them which villain they like more, Harley Quinn or Dr. Sivanna they will without doubt pick Harley Quinn, probably because they have never heard of Sivanna. This is not some stroke of luck, that the character had, but because the character is very, very good. She is funny and (much like the Joker) kills people in the most joyful way possible, which just makes her fun to read about.
            In this issue Harley escapes from Arkham on Valentine's Day to go see the Joker, but when she gets to his hideout she finds several dead henchmen, and no Mr. J. She finds out that some people came and took him, from a wounded henchman named Spider. She then sends him out to get chocolate for the Joker's Valentine's Day present. She then finds that he was now in an auction, and people who had been effected by the Joker were trying to buy him. Harley kills all of them, and finds out where Mr. J is and goes there. When she gets to the location she finds ____. (I'm not going to spoil it)
            I was very happy to see Harley Quinn in this comic for reasons that I mentioned above. Although I was a little worried because of the disappointment caused by Joker's Asylum: Mad Hatter. This comic met my expectations. Okay, not great. The problem that I had was that I thought the Joker should have been in it more, besides his little narration's, he was only at the very end of the story. I would have preferred that when Quinn got to the hideout she would have found Joker and the two of them would have gone of a romantic crime spree. But this was good too, just not as. I really liked the art, I thought it fit the boisterous, and happy personality of Harley. Although it did not work with the Joker, I don't know why, he just wasn't drawn that well, he looked a little too human. Lastly I really liked Joker's introduction and conclusion. He was the funny/twisted Joker that he always is. So overall a pretty good comic.


Grade: 8/10
Buy at: www.mycomicshop.com

Joker's Asylum 2: The Mad Hatter

                Again, I love the Batman villains, absolutely love them. So Joker's Asylum is perfect. Of all the villains that  Joker' Asylum has done this is by far the most unknown. In this issue Jarvis Tetch is psychologically weak, and was trying to stay on the strait and narrow. If he wore hats or drank tea, he would probably go back to his murderous ways. So he goes along stalking a girl that works at a convenience store. She looked like Alice and Tetch wanted her to be Alice, he doesn't know her name. After a while a being really creepy and stalking this girl, he starts to write a book about him marrying her and living a happy life. He then goes to talk to the girl (buy something at the convenience store) and he finds that her name is not Alice, since he had got himself so worked up about this girl that he went insane. He drank the tea, and wore the hat, he took over the girl's mind and started to have a tea party, when of course Batman came and stopped him.
            So the art was bad. I wasn't rolling on the ground crying because of it, but it bothered me. I wish Bill Sienkiewicz did the art. (He did the cover) Also, the Mad Hatter is a noteworthy Batman Villain,  Landry Quinn Walker did do a good job of including that he fallowed someone, but she made him seem, not like he was obsessed with Alice and Wonderland, but it made him look like a pervert. I did enjoy one or two things about this book. Walker did a good job of making the Mad Hatter sound as if he had been written by Lewis Carol, I thought that was cool. I had gotten exited about the 2010 Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland, because I thought it would be creepy, and a creepy Alice and Wonderland would be pretty cool. I was disappointed. This comic was creepy and sort of Alice and Wonderland, so I sort of liked it.  So the Mad Hatter was messed up, the art sucked, the story was just about  the Mad Hatter which was messed up. What a shame.

Grade: 3/10
Buy at: www.mycomicshop.com

Detective Comics #865

                At the comic store I had to decide between this and Gotham City Sirens. I made the wrong choice. This comic was only okay, but because its prequel was so good it was a massive disappointment. After killing his beauties Jeremiah Arkham blames Batman for not stopping him, only then  did he find out that the beauties were only a figment of his own imagination. He had been delivering food to and visiting an empty room. He then resized the knife he used to slaughter his beauties was actually the Jester's marotte, it was completely filled with the false face  gas which was slowly going into Arkham's system. Also the Jester is just one of the Joker's games. Once finding this out, Arkham goes to the hospital section of Arkham, where Alice Sinner changes sides again. Also Mr. Zsasz goes into his room and threatens him, but Arkham removes his eye with a knife. Then there is more Alice Sinner stuff, then it ends.
              So now Black Mask is back (at least probably) and Alice Sinner is evil again. So everything done in around five comics  has been undone in one disappointing issue. Hine was doing so well, and now, not so much. I do hope he redeems himself very soon. Jeremy Haun was good until he showed the Joker who he made look really old. Although he made up for that when he showed Hugo Strange, who was drawn just perfectly. The main disappointing thing was the undoing of much story development. I do wonder if Mr. Zsasz is going to have one eye missing in other comics or if it was just a one time thing. I do hope it will appear in future comics.

Grade: 6/10
buy at: www.mycomicshop.com

Joker's Asylum 2: The Riddler

                My favorite hero is Batman. I do like the character, but what really gets me are his villains. I love them, absolutely. My favorite of course is the Joker. So naturally a series about his villains narrated by my favorite one appealed to me. I read Joker's Asylum one, and it was okay. This one was very good.
In this issue the Riddler is in the middle of stealing a painting (this is before he became a private eye) when a girl says "What do you think you're doing?" Riddler begins to fall in love with this girl. But then of course, there couldn't be a story with a Batman villain, without the Batman. So Batman brakes in and stops the crime. Riddler finds out who this girl is via the internet. Her name is Jessica Duchamp. Riddler sends her all sorts of gifts, but she is a respectable girl and sends them all back. So Riddler tries to reform, this still doesn't work. Villains come to his door asking for help in various plots, he turns them all down. He sits and drinks his passion for this girl away. Some undefined guest shows up at his door. We do know he or she is a villain of Batman's, we do not know his/her identity (I have a guess: Black Mask). So he/she goes to her and makes her pretend to fall in love with Riddler. He thought he had cracked the riddle of her heart. Turns out he was in love with the riddle of why she didn't love him, not the girl him self.
            In order to keep the guest's identity secret, Calloway made many villain visit the Riddlers door, he mastered the voice of all of them. It was perfect. Harley sounded like Harley, Bane sounded like Bane. The only voice he didn't get quite right was the voice of the narrator, the Joker. There were some on and off moments, sometimes the voice was good, sometimes it wasn't. I also didn't care for the plot, but the ending made it all worth it. Lastly the cover art made the riddler look like a different crazy then he is. He is an intellectual who is obsessed with riddles, not a... a... just look at the cover and you will know what I'm saying. So I was happy with this comic over all. I'm very exited for the next Joker's Asylum 2 books coming out this month. Killer Croc, Harley Quin, Mad Hatter, and Clay face.

Grade: 8.5/10
buy at: www.mycomicshop.com

Justice Society of America #38

           This entire story arc has been amazing, and I read this at the same time that I read Captain America's the Two Americas, so it's been a whole blast of patriotism here in the USA. In this issue there is more blood shed and conspiracy to end the reign of the fourth reich. Mr. Terrific is posing as Nazi sympathizer and is planing the down fall of the fourth reich. As the Führer (Karnevil) comes and the world celebrates, there is a party which consists of the Führer and many old defeated superheroes watching and the execution of Batman and the Joker. I have only been legitimately sad because of comics on four occasions. When Alfred killed himself in Batman the Dark Night Returns, When Captain Marvel dies in Batman the Dark Night Strikes Again, when Rorschach dies in Watchmen, and when Batman and the Joker died in this issue. Not only that but the Jaime Reyes picks a fight with Mr. Terrific so that the Nazis would be forced to defend him and sympathize with him more, and the shoot Reyes right in the head.
          This story arc has been great, I love every part of it. The way Bill Willingham illustrates the concentration camps, with out it being devastatingly real (MAUS, Schindler's list ) is very well done, and incorporating Superheroes into it makes the reading effective as I watch helplessly as my heroes get picked off one by one for just plainly evil reasons. I also like how he voices each character, how he makes it that if you met each character you would think they would sound exactly like they do in the comics. The "campy" heroes are not as "campy" as usual but that is really good. I hope Willingham stays on the Justice Society of America for a long time and does many great story arcs like this one. I thought this was going to be the concluding issue for this story arc, and I was kind of disappointed when I found that it wasn't but this issue was so good that I'm glad it wasn't.

Grade: 9/10
buy at: www.mycomicshop.com

The Brave and the Bold #33

           In my entire comic collecting career the best thing that I have ever done was subscribed to the Brave and the Bold. One thing that I like about this series is that it is secluded from what is happening in the rest of the DCU, Batman is Bruce Wayne, Aquaman was alive, stuff like that. This comic is the only comic that featured something that has happened already, and they made it work.
            This comic wasn't the usual "heroing" around, but it was a girls night on the town. It showed Wonder Woman, Zatanna, and Bat Girl going around to parties. Nothing really happened at these parties (so forgive me for my short review) but afterwords, when everyone is tired, Wonder Woman begins to talk about Oracles. After a while everyone goes home, and Zatanna starts to cry, this is when the comic is explained. Zatanna saw in a vision the unfolding of the "Killing Joke," and made this girl's night out so that Barbara would remember dancing.
             One thing that I thought was pretty cool was that the comic used the same panels as "The Killing Joke" just put it into the art style of Cliff Chiang. Also it was a gutsy move by J. Michael Straczynski, explaining the "Killing Joke" but he did it very well.

Grade: B+
buy at: www.mycomicshop.com

The Brave and the Bold #31

The most unusual combination I and probably anyone else could think of is featured in this comic. The Joker and the Atom. When the Joker is dying will the worlds smallest heros save or kill him, and if he does save him how can he live with that on his conscience?

This is one of the best comics that I have ever read. It shows some of the Joker's memories (which I and most people have always wanted to see) and gives a pretty accurate mental analysis of the Joker given by himself. I would definitely buy it if I hadn't already.

Some of the Brave and the Bolds I have not liked. (Batman and the Geek #29) Some have been Ok. (Dr. Fate and the Green Lantern #30) But this one it amazing

Grade: A

To buy go to: www.mycomicshop.com