Batman #18 Review

So, Death of The Family has finished, so lets see what Synder and Capullo had for us in #18. What we saw was another appearance of a couple of new characters that Scott introduced quite a few issues back now. I was very pleased to see Harper back in a Batman issue, and I think the way her character devloping is very intriguing indeed. If you read a lot of reviews on this then you may be tempted to give this issue a miss; but I really highly recommend it a go. Why is that I hear you ask? Will carry on reading and I will tell you.

As mentioned in the intro, we got to see more of Harper in this issue; which is an amazing thing. When she was first introduced a few issues back I really didn't think that we would be seeing her any more. However, when I opened up this issue I was very pleasantly surprised to see her on the first page. We get told what she has been doing for the last few months; which by the way is something that I really liked. It was a great way of showing you just how she has changed over the last few months; meaning we saw exactly how much of a bad ass she is becoming.
I also like the introduction of her and her brothers father in this issue. It adds another layer to the family, and also goes to show just what they have been up against their lives. They are both youngish guys who seem to have some deep personal demons. One of these demons was shown here, and I am really hoping that we will be seeing more of him in the future.

Batman in this issue was also something else. He is still adjusting to the fact that Damian is not in his life anymore; meaning that the bad guys are having a bit more of a harder time than they are used to when dealing with him. I like the way Snyder wrote Bruce here. Admittedly we have seen this before quite a few times, but it is still something that I do enjoy reading. An angry Batman not thinking straight is always good fun.

The last part of this issue saw Harper trying to make Batman change his ways; as she could see that he was destroying himself. Her little speech was rather cheesy, but I think it still fit in quite nicely. It was clear that it gave the caped crusader something to think about, which will mean we will be seeing a different kind of hero next issue no doubt.

I really really enjoyed this issue. Harper is absolutely fantastic, and I am hoping that at some point in the near future Batman will take her under his wing. He mentioned in this issue that it is something he will not be doing, but I am hoping that something will change his mind soon. I am not sure of what Synder's plans are for Harper and her family, but I cant see him developing her for no reason. I guess we will have to see.
This issue needed to be done to show how Batman was dealing with his loss, and I do think everything was handled very well. I am, like everyone else, very excited for #19 where we will be kicking off a brand new arc. Don't be put off by mediocre reviews surrounding this book. Pick it up!

Rating:  8.7 / 10

Katana #1 Review

I am going to be honest here; I know pretty much nothing about this character. I understand that she will be in the JLA book coming out, and I thought she looked pretty badass so I decided to pick up this #1 issue of her new series. I was not too sure whether I would purchase any more issues past this one, but now after reading it, I know I am definitely in for at least one more.

One thing that hit me while reading this issue was how much history this woman has. I have not heard of her before as I mentioned, so was kind of expecting a weak back story, but ended up being very pleasantly surprised. She has a background which would liken her to a Japanese Punisher kind of character. If you guys read this blog regularly then you know that this already is right up my street.
What this book does with the backstory is very clever. It gives us bits and pieces and leaves out the rest. It is designed to make you want to pick up more issues to find out more, and for me it has pulled off very successfully.

It is not just the backstory that impressed me in this issue, but also the way it set everything up. I do not know how often some of the characters featured in this particular issue will feature in the future, but their appearances in this book sat with me well. I really hope we will be seeing more of her landlord type character, as well the girl Shun; who has old Japanese legends drawn all over her body. I have a feeling we will definitely be seeing more of the latter.

The overall bad guy in this issue, Coil, seems pretty interesting too. He has a sword that is just crazy as it acts like a snake for some reason. It wraps itself round his opponents and squeezes and cuts them. I don't think I have seen anything like it previously in comic books. This issue has teased what group Coil is part of, but I am sure we will be learning more about that in future issues. You see what it is doing here now? Giving us a bit and making us want to come back for more.

Overall, I really enjoyed this issue, a lot more than I thought I was going to. I originally bought this issue believing that it would be my only one of this series; oh how wrong I was. I hope the next issue does a good a job at answering some questions about certain characters for us, while also throwing new questions at us about them and the future. This could turn out to be a very interesting title. I do not think that it will ever become essential reading, but I think if you want to read a decent story with a very intriguing character, then you should check in right here.

Rating: 7.3 / 10

Detective Comics #17 Review

Since the new creative team came on this book a few months ago; we have seen a major increase in quality of the overall product. Detective Comic used to be rather boring. In fact, I did not care for it much at all. Now, although it is not at the top of my reading list each week, I know that it will be an above average read every month; this month is no different. This issue is stepping away from the "Death Of The Family" tie ins, and because of this we get a very interesting little one shot story. I say it has stepped away from tie in territory, but there is still a Joker presence lurking in this book.

In this issue we become aware of a group of Joker followers called "The League Of Smiles". The name is pretty lame, but I strangely like it. This group of baddies are being led about by someone called the "Merrymaker". It was obvious throughout the issue who this was going to turn out to be, but as I said earlier it was still enjoyable nonetheless. We knew who the ringleader was going to be all the way through, but we did not know exactly why. I thought the explanation for why was pretty clever, and it was an explanation that I did not think of.

It was just a one shot issue here so there was nothing ground breaking in it; but it is always great to pick up a book and finish the story in one issue. At the end of the main story we also got a little bit of back story about the ringleader of the group. This was something I was not expecting at all, so I was very happy to see it included. It was just a one issue story line, but it is great to see just how detailed an issue this turned out to be. It also leads us to believe that maybe we will be seeing more of the "League Of Smiles" in future issues. Hmmm.

The one thing I did not like about this issue was how Batman seemed to connect everything up so quickly. He told the GCPD to arrive at a certain building as he knew that there was where everything was going to go down. I am not too sure he connected the dots so fast, and that was never really explained. It is one of those things which you just have to accept. Of course this is not a major gripe with the issue, and overall I am happy to accept a detail as small as this one.

So as I mentioned this was yet another fun issue in what is turning out to be a great run this new creative team are putting together. If you want to read good Batman stories, as well as seeing some top drawer art, then I highly recommend this series. Obviously the main Batman book is kicking ass all over the place right now, but who can ever have too much Batman?

Rating: 8 / 10

Batman #13 Review

It is quite rare nowadays to be able to give somebody who doesn't read comic books, a single issue in order to get them interested in the medium. However, I have already pushed this on to one of my friends and his feelings towards this book are pretty much identical to mine on this one. It is incredible. There is absolutely no denying it, the return of The Joker has certainly lived up to the hype.

Scott Snyder has consistently been knocking it out of the park writing Batman in the New 52. In fact, off the top of my head I really do not think that there has been a bad issue. This is the reason so many people have been looking forward to this new take on Batman's mightiest foe. If there is one current writer at the moment who I would feel comfortable in writing a Joker story, then he is the man. Although this is only the first issue of a story arc that is running all the way into February, the foundations and the tone have already been set in this issue.

The scene where The Joker infiltrates the GCPD headquarters to steal back his face is executed to absolute perfection. There is a real horror story vibe about it. This is done not only by The Joker's actions, but also the wonderful art, that builds up a real sense of tension and claustrophobia. Seeing Gordon shining the light on areas that The Joker has just been, killing of his men one by one, is something right out of a horror movie. However, it works so well, and really feels like the perfect introduction for everybody's favourite psycho.  Add Gordons' facial expressions into the mix and you really feel like you understand just how terrible an ordeal this is for him, as you feel The Joker closing in on him.

The Joker manipulating a man into reading out some of his deadly intentions on live TV is also something that is not new. However, it feels so much like something that he would do ( and probably has done in the past ) that you just have to embrace it. The way he saw off the Mayor's men when everybody thought he was going to the kill the Mayor himself, also showed a stroke of genius that we know he is capable of. What was also interesting here was the different effect the famous toxin had on these individuals faces who died at the hands of The Joker. It added to the feel that Scott Snyder is trying to get across. Yes, he is The Joker, but he has come back as something more terrifying than we have ever seen. This was confirmed by the appearance of Harley Quinn as she shared these thoughts with Batman.

It is not quite clear what The Joker's true intentions are just yet. He described going after everybody associated with Batman at one stage in the book, as well as the title of the arc also nodding towards something similar to this. I do think this will take centre stage in the story, but I also get the feeling that there will be a lot more typical Joker mayhem that will have a larger affect on the world he is written in. He may have even got his hands on one of Batman's associates right at the end of the book, so we may even get a key death which will certainly shake things up a bit. However, it may be one I am not quite ready for.

The back up story featuring The Joker and Harley Quinn, showing Harley's first interaction with her idol when he returned from his brief hiatus was also a great little read. It showed how she got involved in the events in the main story, and confirmed just how maniacal this Joker seems to be.

I have only received this book today, so I have been hiding from all reviews on this book all week and I am still yet to have read one. I was also slightly worried that I might be left feeling disappointed, even though I have total faith in the team of Scott Snyder and Gregg Capullo considering their portfolio. However, I never had any need to worry, this is just fantastic. It is the story that a lot of Batman fans having been waiting months for, and even one issue in, it looks like it is going to be a truly thrilling ride throughout.

Rating: 9.5 / 10

Suicide Squad #13 Review

 It's funny because this used to be at the top of my reading pile no matter what week it came out. However, now it has dropped right to the bottom of it due to the last two or three issues. In fact I nearly dropped the book altogether this month, but I am now glad that I didn't having read this issue.

The book starts with us joining the team on the hunt for Regulus in a Basilisk base. Deadshot shoots what he knows to be a fake Black Spider in the head, as he had already figured out that the real one will be wherever Waller is. We then skip over to Waller's Nana's house, where we see that Black Spider has taken her hostage. Waller and her Nana end up getting away from Black Spider by hiding away in the safe room located in the house. Heading back to Deadshot and Harley, we see them in a battle against their own squad mates. However, their squad mates have been taken over by Basilisk so have no control over their own actions. Deadshot and Harley help them regain their control, and then go on to team up with Boomer and his small army against the agents of Basilisk and Regulus himself. Back in the safe room with Waller and her Nana, we get a glimpse of Waller's past growing up. Her Nana threatened her with a gun in order to get her out of the neighbourhood so she would receive a better upbringing than the one she was getting there. Right after this has been shared, Black Spider comes through the door which ends up falling on top and crushing Waller's Nana, possibly to death. This is the last we see of these two as we go back to the battle against Regulus for the final time. Regulus grabs Deadshot from behind thinking he has got him under control. However Deadshot puts a bullet through his own chest in order for it to hit Regulus. Which it does. Deadshot then falls to the ground, where he is held by Harley as this issue ends.

There was a lot happening in this book, however it never felt like there was too much to keep up with. That is always the sign of a good issue. This is what many of the earlier Suicide Squad issues that gained critical acclaim, as well as a couple of sold out first printings felt like. Full of action, yet never leaving the reader feeling confused about anything. That is exactly what this issue does really well. These books have never been about deep story telling, but instead about just being  fun easy books to read that make you want to read more. This issue certainly delivered in that respect. I am now very eager to get my hands on next months issue, which is a feeling that I wasn't sure Suicide Squad could make me feel again.



Rating: 7.5/10




Image From ifanboy.com

Batgirl #13 Review

Here is my first review of this weeks comic books! I actually only have a couple of books at the moment due to a late delivery with my other books. However, I am anticipating them coming tomorrow, so there will be 2-3 reviews put up for tomorrow afternoon. Enjoy!

Firstly, let me just say that this cover is incredible. It acts as a handy check list for all the "Death of the Family" books, and it just looks so so cool! The Joker really does look like a total badass. However, the main man himself is not included in this book, most probably due to it being a prologue for the forthcoming story arc.

The first thing we see is a bloody and beaten Batgirl crawling along the floor as Knightfall stands over her triumphantly. We then get a brief back story explaining why Knightfall punishes criminals for their actions, followed by a pretty intense fight between the two women. After this, Knightfall gets escorted away and all is well and good. As you can see, not much has happened yet to set up the big story arc, and while reading it I was starting to feel a little frustrated as I only really bought this issue due to the fact that it was a prologue. Don't get me wrong, Batgirl is a great title, and I am collecting it in trade format. However, I was expecting this issue to be more orientated towards The Joker, but I guess that is just personal preference.

The last few pages do go on to set up the forthcoming events with a couple of nice set pieces. Firstly, we see Barbara get a terrified phone call from her mum, as three men with joker masks storm through her front door. We then see Batgirls' first three villians of the New 52 era being released from their respective prisons with one mission in mind: Kill Batgirl...

As you can probably gather I was not really amazed by Batgirl #13. I was expecting it to be tied a bit more closely to the "Death in the Family" story arc, but oh well! If you have been reading Batgirl all the way through from the start, then this issue will obviously slip really nicely into the ongoing story. However, if you are collecting the trades like myself, or just picked it up due to the very heavy advertising campaign, then you may be left feeling a little disappointed.

6.5/10

New Comic Book Day 10/10/12

Here is a list of titles that I am picking up this week. I will be reviewing 3-4 of these, if anyone wants particular issues reviewed then please let me know :)

DC: Batman #13, Batgirl #13, Punk Rock Jesus #4, Suicide Squad #13
Image: The Walking Dead Michonne Special, Happy #1 ( Think this came out a couple of weeks ago)
Marvel:  AvX Consequences #1, Captain America #18, Secret Service #4, Uncanny Avengers #1, Wolverine and the X-men #18

 I dont actually pick up my weekly books until Friday / Saturday usually, so there will be no new book reviews until the end of the week. However, I will be publishing a couple more reviews from LAST weeks books in the next couple of days.

Hope everyone is having a great new comic book day :)