Batman #708

        I go on and off with this series. Sometimes I pick it up just because, but other times I won't pick it up because Bruce Wayne isn't in it. This time I was walking out of the comic store and this one caught my eye  so I grabbed it. Dick Grayson being Batman was something that I opposed strongly at the beginning, but now with the combination of Detective Comics and Batman, I'm starting to like him more.
       In this issue Batman takes down a minor criminal. He then flash backs to when he was beating up a circus kid named Prodigy. He flashed back because Azrael stabbed him with the sword of sin. The scar has turned into the shape of a bat. Batman then goes to fight someone called the crusader who is attacking people in Devil's square. Batman is joined by Catwoman and Red Robin. Azrael tell the Crusader to stop. He leaves Batman with a test. For Batman to find one truly righteous person in Gotham, or else he will destroy the city.  Then somewhere else Ra's Al Ghul loads up Fireball with electricity, also so he can blow up the city.
       This issue was incredibly enjoyable. I wouldn't say it was a great comic, but I did enjoy it very much and would recommend it to anyone. Azrael is a cool and interesting character, and I'm glad he's in this. The Sodom and Gomorrah plot could be really great, but I'm curious  how it's going to work. I really hope this arc doesn't solely consist of Dick Grayson walking around in broad day light looking for a truly righteous person. I also have my concerns about Ra's Al Ghul's plot with fireball, not because it looks bad, that could be really great, but it makes me think that Hine through that in to avoid Dick Grayson walking around in broad day light looking for a truly righteous person. Grayson walking around with the Fireball thing wouldn't be as bad if it were just Dick Grayson walking around, but the Sodom and Gomorrah thing could be really good if Hine does this right. I have to compliment the art in this issue. It was outstanding. Guillem March was incredible. The art alone is a reason to pick up this issue.  I did have one complaint, and that is making Dick Grayson very dark. I have said over and over again that I'm glad that Dick Grayson isn't exactly like Bruce Wayne. While he wasn't like that in this issue he came pretty close, and I hope it doesn't progress. But overall this was a pretty good issue and I recommend it. I enjoyed it very much.




Grade: 7.5/10
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Bruce Wayne the Road Home: Ra's al Ghul #1

              I've wanted Bruce Wayne to come back since the moment he was gone, I will admit that I've been a little biased against Dick Grayson being Batman, but that's because He's Not Batman. There are a couple things in the comics world that should never change, the secret identity of Superman, getting rid of the Guardians, and killing (kind of) Batman. I'm happy that when Dick Grayson was Batman, the writers didn't try to make him like Bruce Wayne, they made him his own Batman, but sometimes they tried a little to hard, like getting rid of the Bat-Cave, and instead having a Bat-Bunker, and also changing the Bat-Mobil, things like that, which are harmless, sometimes seem like DC is trying to hard to make Dick Grayson his own person. Although, I do like the new Robin, as I said in my review of "Superman/Batman #77" I really think that Damian Wayne is a good Robin, and in the direction that the writers are going. Damien Wayne is the perfect way to give a new Batman a new Robin, and still have both of the characters have Bruce Wayne lurking the back of there minds.
            In this issue Ra's al Ghul sends the new Gray Ghost out to kill Vicki Vale, but he's stopped by some robotic Batman. When Vale finds some cops, she also finds that they've also been paid by Ra's to kill her, but they are also stopped by the robotic Batman. When Vicki Vale finally gets back to her apartment Ra's al Ghul is waiting for her, with a sword in his hand. The robotic Batman gets there and steps in front of Ra's, and takes off his helmet revealing that he's Bruce Wayne, Ra's goes away for reasons I can't fathom, and then there is a whole shtick with Bruce and Vicki.
            This issue has been titled wrong, it should not be Bruce Wayne the Road Home: Ra's al Ghul, it should be Bruce Wayne the Road Home:Vicki Vale. To be honest I had no idea that Bruce Wayne was actually going to be in the Road Home one shots, so I only bought Ra's al Ghul because I like his character, especially his sophistication, I got no Ra's, but I did get Bruce, which is better. I thought DC was waiting for the new Dark Knight series to really bring Wayne back, but I guess not. I don't think Scott McDaniel was the right choice for the art in this issue. He does work in the most recent Detective comics arc because it reflected what happened in the story, but for this issue I would have picked, someone more like David Finch, who has a darker drawing style.
             Even though I thought the reason Ra's left was (to be perfectly frank) bogus, Nicieza really did a good job with the character, he was just smart, tough, and "gentlemanly" enough to be a good Ra's al Ghul. Several times writers will make him too much of an action hero, or too much of a wise guy, but this was a happy medium.






Grade: 7/10
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Red Robin #12

                The whole Batman family is having a very good thing going with their comics. I didn't like it very much when Bruce Wayne was sent back through time, but recently I've barley noticed. (I still wan't Bruce Wayne back) In this comic Red Robin tracks down Ra's Al Ghul and fights with him, and Ra's also finds out that the plans he made to have everyone Bruce Wayne loved was killed, had been thwarted. Drake had people like Huntress and Man-Bat (who I thought was a villain so that was confusing) defend people like Alfred, Vicki Vale, and Lucius Fox. After a fight that was nothing short if epic, Drake revels what he had done to Ra's. He explained that Wayne had left a will giving all his shares to Wayne enterprises to Tim, so Hush didn't have control and Ra's was ruined. To be honest I was confused with Ra's's motives, did he want control of the compony? Anyway after Ghul kicks Red Robin through a high up window Batman saves him and brings him back to the Bat Cave, where there is a big emotional scene. The last page of the book showed a picture of a boy sitting on the ground saying this isn't happening with a picture of one of Bruce Wayne's ancestors (or even Bruce himself) and he said "He's alive,"  Which confused me.
                  As I said earlier this comic was good, not perfect like the most recent issue of Detective Comics, but it was good. I was confused by the plot, but I liked the appearances of Drake's friends, and the battle between Ra's and Drake was so cool.
                  I have to say one last thing. People don't like Damian Wayne. People say he isn't a good Robin, I disagree. He's now Dick Grayson, but he's pretty good, and his retorts are always funny.
                   Also: good bye Chris Yost, you were good, but it's time for something new.



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

Red Robin #10

ugh can't these guys get a good story out anymore? This was a bad book! Not kinda good but mainly bad, just bad! First of all this story expected you to read Bat Girl #8 (which with my schedule I will never be able to do) to just understand the beginning of the first scene. Even with that though the story would be very out of sink. All of the sudden Spoiler is the new Bat Girl, and the League of Assassins want to kill her and Red Robin? Plus even after that after a big dramatic scene with Pru (which was never explained) and the "big bad guys" come out(who work for Ra's al Ghul) they look just like the Council of Spiders. Great it worked for a little while, but don't bring them back. Especially not in the next story arch. Plus during all this Vale, who you can tell Yost is trying to make the next Lois Lane is trying to find out where Tim Drake has been. Nobody ever did that with Spider man, and I was glad they didn't. "Yost: You were great for a while, now you suck."

Grade: C-

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Grant Morrison's Batman and Robin issue 7 (and others)

I subscribed to this series thinking it would be about either: Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson, or Bruce Wayne and Tim Drake. This made me very exited, I really wanted (and still want) a return of Bruce Wayne. I did not look to see who the author was. If I had seen Grant Morrison's name written I would have immediately have known it was going to be Dick Grayson and someone else, and I would have not subscribed. I have been putting these comics aside to collect dust until today. I picked up issue 7, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that I enjoyed it. It was a story about the potential resurrection of Bruce Wayne, and it featured the Knight and the Squire. (see Grant Morrison's The Black Case Book to be as exited as I am) I will give any readers a fair warning: I was a little confused, but the comic explains the plot later on.

After reading this issue, I went back to my comic collection, and pulled out others in the series. These were also very good, some were even better than number 7. I do hope that Bruce Wayne returns to a full series, but this is a good space filler. (for the time being)

Before issue 7, the stories were about Jason Todd. (Aka: the Red Hood) His returns are

always dramatic, but never as serious as this. He took the name as the "Red Hand of Justice" and the motto "Let the punishment fit the crime." With his guns and knives he runs around the streets killing all major, and minor criminals.

These early issues go into: Jason Todd's resentment toward Batman, Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson and even him self. He toys with the new Batman and the new Robin, until he goes [even a little more] insane [that he already is]. I thoroughly enjoyed every issue of this series [that I read], and do recommend buying it at a comic store. I do not recommend subscribing, I do not think these are the best comics I've ever read, and will probably get board with them relatively quickly.

Issue Grade: B

Series Grade: C+ (issues 1 through 3 lowered the grade)

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Red Robin #9

When the Red Robin series first came out, I was nothing but optimistic. The stories were good, the fight scenes were good, even Tim Drake's new costume was cool. Once they hit around issue 6 the stories became C+ worthy, but suddenly issue 9 was infinitely better. This was a pretty good story. It featured Bruce Wayne (who I like allot and hope he becomes batman again) The killer Moth, and Superboy (along with other minor characters and the normal Red Robin ones.

This comic shows how the DC world is recovering from the Blackest Night (which I barley liked) Bruce Wayne is back, characters are returning, and all is well until Ra's al Ghul comes into play, and threatens to turn Tim Drake's world upside down. Along with another cliff hanger at the end the book leaves you in suspense, and praying for the next issue.

Grade: B+

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