BATMAN EARTH ONE VOL. 2

Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Gary Frank
Publisher: DC Comics
Reviewer: Optimous Douche

BATMAN EARTH ONE VOL. 2 continues the trend of keeping this universe as the great untouchable from the madness that circles the rest of the WB/DC multimedia machine. No mandates of overly youthful visages, convergences of rock-faced men to steal the other guys’ thunder, and not one ounce of crossoverness to spoil the distance Bats, Supes and the Teen Titans keep from one another. In all honesty, this solitude makes the world feel more real and gives us time to meet these people before they have to go and untangle Gordian knots carried over from the last universal implosion.

To be fair to the floppies, we must recognize that the four to five issue heft of EARTH-1 hardbacks give these titles instant gratification in completeness of story and breathing room for panels of personality we oft see sacrificed these days for splash images of heroic posturing. Johns and Frank are the dual masters of moment-to-moment intimacy; they delivered in VOL.1 of this title, SUPERMAN: SECRET ORIGINS, and a host of other individual works. That talent foundation atop the extended graphic novel-style delivery bedrock allowed for moments like the honest and truest answers I’ve heard for why Batman doesn’t use a final solution on criminals. The answer as told to Alfred (the bodyguard, not butler) while Bruce is warming up on street thugs before we meet this issue’s big baddie is simply “because they could have kids and families.” Call me a sap, sentimental or fangeezer, but for a kid that didn’t have parents growing up, I like that pathos over “I’m the goddamn Batman.” These opening panels are simply the start of meeting a character who is being built as much as Bruce Wayne as the Bat.

Meeting familiar faces is also a refreshing change in EARTH-1; each new villain or ancillary support entry is given an escape hatch of infinite possibilities or permanence. We are running into a sameness of sex-changing some villains, but the fanboy in me does giggle at the visit to literary Sweden. Cynics can feel free to use a shenanigans penalty for the fact both Johns and JMS doubled their baddies and then offed them just as quickly. Johns does get a slight bump, though, since he doublemint twins the persona that we all know as Two-Face. That’s right, just like Lex lost the permanence battle to his wife over in Metropolis, forming in her a deep and misguided xenophobia, Gotham has the Dent twins, a dynamic duo of sibling city hall clean-up. Harvey is the DA, Harvette is an old flame of Bruce’s and the mayor of fair Gotham. She ends up with a fucked up face. He ends up worse. While I truncate the events with an air of malaise to avoid spoilers, rest assured the reasons for the collision of these three is well-crafted Johns material, rife with his patented deep-seated psychological misapprehensions of self (neurotic is a compliment in my world).

The Dents, though, are truly villains for a later book. For now they, along with killer Alfred (remember, Mayor Cobblepot was his first sacrificial lamb to save Bruce’s bat bacon in VOL. 1) and Lucius Fox’s team of whiney millennial lab assistants, are all coming together to answer the cataclysmic conundrums of The Riddler.

Yes, it’s the same Riddler that was just part of “Zero Year” over in Earth-Prime’s Batman. The difference is that this Riddler is a temporary respite in Bruce’s larger story. Snyder had to divert his mythological slathering of Batman and Joker impetus to support the wildly out of control here and now that was happening in crossovers. I can’t give one question mark-wielding Quixote marks above the other, because the puzzles were perplexing and the character had no permanence of place in either world. I can recognize the difference in a Bat dealing with the same problem, but unfettered from worrying about Owls, face-offs and impending cataclysm for the privilege of being a JUSTICE LEAGUE character. The Earth-1 Batman is striving to be a detective instead of a totem or surreptitious snake of deceit. It is actually this desire to punch less and think more that deepens the bond between Bruce and the man who would one day be commissioner (Gordon only gets a slight pay raise by the end of this volume).

To say more about the book would give away too much. I will say, though, that Bruce crashes into the window of VOL. 3’s villainess in the aptly named apartment 77.

We readers are rapidly facing a tipping point in this hobby where we are no longer going to be rewarded for reading everything at DC or Marvel. The construct of floppies for movie script fodder is going to penalize any efforts at fanboy service for past comic collecting. I say stop trying to match up incongruent parts, idiots. This lambasting is to fans who bitch about shallowness of universal substance, and also to the publishers creating that shallow content to meet some magic formula of gravitas equals sheer volume of books published. Like mother told me about applying makeup, more is less. EARTH-1 on a slightly faster delivery schedule could meet the nirvana I have professed for DC since FINAL CRISIS: creators marrying a title for a long haul series of impact delivered in complete arcs with a premium specialness of print that warranted the physical copy versus an app slap through an eComics.

I want to simply enjoy EARTH-1 as DC comics, and I hate to keep hating in my reviews each week. I do it as a service to keep comic budgets well spent for fans, but also to ask for a comic experience that kids must mature a little to understand and we adults must let loose a bit on reality to enjoy. EARTH-1 is the closest I have to that nirvana. It is my DC universe and my continued pleasure to see sustained commitment in its organic versus the competitively contrived growth of those other earths.

When Optimous isn't reviewing comics he is making the IT words chortle and groan with marketing for MaaS360, Enterprise Mobility Management. He also has a comic coming out sometime soon, for updates head to robpatey.com.

FANTASTIC FOUR #645

Writer(s): James Robinson, Karl Kesel, et al
Artist(s): Leonard Kirk, Joe Bennett, et al
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: Humphrey Lee

Though they have quite a bit of an impressive run in print lately – with such high profile writers as Jonathan Hickman, Matt Fraction, and now the industry vet James Robinson on their title – AND have a return to the box office slated for this summer, Marvel’s “First Family” still just cannot catch a break in both the real world and the fictional. Their current, make-believe domicile has been shattered for the past year and a half. James Robinson came on with Leonard Kirk and tore the group apart, which has been known to happen time and again, and was on a slow burn to bring them back together and reveal some dastardly machinations behind their sundering. It’s been an emotional and action-packed ride for the Foursome whose main toll to be paid has been, quite frankly, the real life impact of their return to the silver screen, for which this current run paid in longevity due to some pretty base pettiness out of the Marvel head office. Despite everything being gold when it comes to global box office grosses for their movie studio and the billions it is bringing in, I guess the real war is fought one 30,000 issue-selling comic series at a time.

Not that I want to make that not-so-little tidbit the crux of this review – it is THE END OF THE FANTASTIC FOUR!!! after all – but it is kind of the obvious reason that this end fell a bit flat. We’ve known for several months now that because the FF are now a rival property movie-wise that this was going to cause this book to go away for a bit, and sadly I just do not think that was enough time for our creative team here to execute the story they wanted, at least not put up against the precedent set in their first year on the title. The demise of the FF was set to be a slow and arduous task that really made you feel their pain while also remaining piqued as to who was able to pull at the fabric that made them the cornerstone that they were. The discrediting of the group as a whole and the individual targeting worked really well because it played into the emotional tendencies of them all, showing an understanding of the characters that made Robinson and Kirk a proper fit for the team and title. It’s a shame they did not get to fully realize their own machinations and that of the cavalcade of villains old and new they threw in the mix to “forever destroy the First Family!” as it goes.

That is the real culprit as to why this “End” issue for both this creative run and the FANTASTIC FOUR title itself for the foreseeable future (“foreseeable future” being codespeak for waiting to see if the new “Fantastic Four” movie fails enough for Disney/Marvel Studios to leverage the franchise back): it’s the culmination of something that did not get to germinate long enough. The elements were there as far as being a return to a traditional run for the characters after the last two creative jaunts. Where Hickman went all high sci fi with the team and Fraction followed by sending the original team all “Lost in Space” as an excuse to make a new, eclectic and ginchy group in the secondary title, Robinson and Kirk really just wanted to focus on what happens when the happy go lucky on the outside, inventive and inspiring foursome gets picked apart at their fabric. And it was really working by incorporating villains like Psycho Man start creeping in at Invisible Woman’s psyche, or Ben’s temper and how it gets him in trouble. Admittedly, things were getting dark – which is apparently a big no-no in today’s superhero climate as everything has to be bright and shiny and exemplify the heroic, as I’ve derived from internet comments – but it had a balance to it as other Marvel Universe characters were inserted to help remind the fallen teammates who they were so that it never felt overbearing as the divided team attempted to conquer what was in front of them. Their rise back to prominence and as a united family should have been infinitely more triumphant than it was for the team and some of the secondary characters that helped them along the way, and it’s a shame that things did not work out that way.

All that said, if there is any positive to this, it is that maybe this opportunity of hiatus will give the Marvel Bullpen an opportunity to decide on a fresh direction for the property when someone upstairs eventually realizes what little significance shelving a 30k selling bundle of paper held by staples has on the development of a fucking $100 million plus motion picture. The last three runs, including this one here, have all been a variation of “team falls apart then rebuilds.” Hickman went with Reed playing god and how it all crumbled under his hubris; Fraction took that fallout and gave the team a break but that was really a disguise for them literally falling apart at the molecular level. Then we get to this Robinson/Kirk affair and, like I said before, it’s traditional in that “shadowy forces” vibe that eventually led into the reveal of the Quiet Man, the guy who could have been Reed Richards if he weren’t so petty. There has to be a grand adventure somewhere in their crew that does not have to break them apart to realize it and get the book beyond a sales standpoint that could actually justify their not being on the stands for an extended period, even though there is no real excuse for such shenanigans.

The Fantastic Four and what they represent are the heart of superhero comics. They are the celebration of exploring the unknown while holding dearly onto what makes us human. The day that has no place on a comic book shelves is the day we admit these oh so human superheroes are over and done with, and last I checked those billions and billions of dollars at the box office probably say we’re in a bit of a renaissance for the acceptance of capes and tights stories. Robinson and Kirk’s short-lived era may have simply suffered from not having the boldness of a Hickman run that, let’s face it, may be one of the three best this title has ever seen, but it never did anything wrong on its own to deserve this premature fate. Marvel may be the rightful King of the Box Office right now, but when it comes to its publishing line between its nonstop, overbearing events and now executive moves like this it still enjoys slicing off its nose to spite its face as much as it ever has. That the biggest victim of these politics is one of the most important comics properties to ever be created just makes it all the worse.

Humphrey Lee has been an avid comic book reader going on fifteen years now and a contributor to Ain't It Cool comics for quite a few as well. In fact, reading comics is about all he does in his free time and where all the money from his day job wages goes to - funding his comic book habit so he can talk about them to you, our loyal readers (lucky you). He's a bit of a social networking whore, so you can find him all over the Interwebs on sites like Twitter, Facebookand a blog where he also mostly talks about comics with his free time because he hasn't the slightest semblance of a life. Sad but true, and he gladly encourages you to add, read, and comment as you will.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #40

Writer: Geoff Johns
Artists: Kevin Maguire & Jim Lee (plus pin-ups)
Publisher: DC Comics
Reviewer: Masked Man

Ah, the New 52: it started with such promise--promise that led us to FOREVER EVIL, which in turn led us to this DARKSEID WAR. And you can bet your bottom dollar DARKSEID WAR will probably just lead us down the rabbit hole even farther--it will probably cost your bottom dollar as well!

First, I want to express my complete dissatisfaction with the comic book industry as a whole. As you probably know, DC (and everyone else) has been trying to get us all to buy more than one copy of an issue with variant covers, which I have no interest in. Comic book stores, in turn, will take the variant cover issues and jack up the price on them the frick'n day they come out, because they want more money too. Well, this issue of JUSTICE LEAGUE has perhaps the worst variant cover ever with its MAGIC MIKE homage, which I 'had' to buy, because EARTH 2 in Los Angeles (a store owned in part by Geoff Johns himself) only had a ton of the 'Magic Mike' covers on sale at the cover price of $3.99 (I assume the regular covers had all sold out in the three hours before I got there, because no JL fan wants a Magic Mike cover--go fig). The other variant cover, by Alex Garnerk, was already bagged and price tagged at $9.99. A six dollar mark-up--more than double! So thank you EARTH 2, thank you DC, and thank you comic book industry, for shitting on my participation in your livelihood. To be clear, I don't want a free comic book; I just want a comic book with a cover that reflects material inside (you know, the product I want), at a standard price, on the day the comic is published. Sorry if that seems unreasonable, and sorry if I finally decide my life would be better off without participating in your livelihood.

Ok, back to the issue at hand. Three words: set up issue. For a while there I was beginning to think the set up issue was a thing of the past, because I really hadn't read one in a while, but Johns wanted to make sure this art form isn't dead. The issue starts with a kind of Grant Morrison-like scene, showing the contrast between real life and comic books with Metron observing it all. Next Metron explains the basic set up of the New Gods and how he brokered a deal between warring New Genesis and Apokolips with a truce based on swapping sons Scott and Orion. Next we get a quick history of the many reboots of the DCU, with guest artists making the pages look pretty great. Then on Earth 3, former home of the Crime Syndicate, Metron meets up with Mobius (aka the Anti-Monitor). It seems that Mobius used to have Metron's job, sitting in the Mobius Chair and observing the all of creation, before becoming the Anti-Monitor. Metron tries to tell the Anti-Monitor that the all of creation can't withstand another reboot, which the Anti-Monitor is about to start with his war on Darkseid. The Anti-Monitor isn't interested in any deal Metron has to offer, and then Darkseid's daughter slaps him out of his chair. Darkseid has a daughter?!? Yup--apparently Darkseid got busy with an Amazon (as told in FCBD's DIVERGENCE) and she wants to see Daddy dead. I'm guessing that she is also the “she” Darkseid was looking for when he attacked Earth (back in JUSTICE LEAGUE #1-6).

Artwork-wise, it's very nice and a bit surprising to see Kevin Maguire back at DC, since he was once considered unfit for the New 52 and fired. As always his pages are great to look at. Jim Lee to does a fine job with his pages, but for some strange reason the Anti-Monitor isn't sporting a v-neck collar--oh well. The pin-up work by Phil Jimenez (doing his best George Perez), Dan Jurgens, Jerry Ordway, Scott Kolins and Jason Fabok, showing off the DC Crises, is all very sweet as well.

Storywise, it's rather interesting that Johns again seems to show that he is a man caught in the middle. He's clearly a fan of the classic DCU, and not crazy about all of DC's reboots in hopes of somehow outselling Marvel, even though he is often tasked with doing the reboots! This whole issue is stating, enough already with the reboots, but then I wouldn't be surprised to see a reboot when it's over. Now, as a boring set up issue, this was nice enough, as it explains some of the New 52 universal status quo—which, on the other hand, is very odd because just as CONVENRGENCE is doing, DARKSEID WAR is pretty much ignoring everything Grant Morrison set up in MULTIVERSITY. For all their talk, the bottom line at DC about their universe is: don't know, don't care, just help us outsell Marvel.

The one thing DC does seem to be very clear about in the New 52 is everything must be different, as they continue to rewrite Jack Kirby's New Gods, having the famous New God Pact now be Metron's idea. Also, Metron no longer seems to be a New God, nor did he build the Mobius Chair, and instead of being a cosmic seeker of knowledge, he's now the Watcher of the DCU (ala the Marvel U). Finally, just what the hell is the Anti-Monitor now? Is he the same character we saw on page 10 of the original CRISIS?

Trying to pretend I never read a story by Jack Kirby, Gerry Conway, or Marv Wolfman, I am very curious who this atomic farting Darkseid (see JUSTICE LEAGUE #4) is. And just what is the relationship between the New Gods and the Anti-Monitor (and is there a Monitor?). But overall I just want to read a good story with Darkseid and the Justice League. His clone, Thanos, at Marvel has become one of the best comic villains ever. Meanwhile DC does nothing with Darkseid, aside from having him knock up an Amazon.

THE FUSE #12

Writer: Antony Johnston
Art: Justin Greenwood
Publisher: Image Comics
Reviewer: Morbidlyobesefleshdevouringcat

I remember back in February of last year when I decided to explore my LCS and bought the first issue of Image’s THE FUSE. The boy at the counter had his eyes pop out upon seeing my purchase, then proceeded to divulge that he had subsequently bought five copies after reading it. Resembling a STAR TREK meets THE WIRE mash up, there is a definite reason THE FUSE is a fan favorite. Unfortunately, the latest issue doesn’t bode well with the rest of the series, and ultimately falls flat in comparison.

The second arc, “Gridlock”, thrusts Klementina and Dietrich into a fast-paced homicide involving gridlockers: adrenaline junkies who engage in a form of extravehicular activity, or EVA as it’s more commonly known, except instead of spacewalking, gridlockers risk their lives by racing across the magnetic strips lining the outside of The Fuse, and of course filming it for the enjoyment of modern citizens.

Catherine Kuang, the Gridlocking League Spokesperson, is actually the number one gridlocker known as Starlight, whose body has been found on the racing track. Completely frozen to death and suit smashed to pieces from a meteoroid burst, Cathy’s rigid body clings tightly to a box crammed with heroin, leading the detectives to believe that she’s simply another causality of drug gangs. But that’s just too easy an answer, isn’t it? Everything finally comes together in this release.

Beginning with the wrongful arrest of Felix Jurado, issue 12 leads Stu Langston into believing that he’s no longer on the suspect list, evidently allowing Dietrich to trail him right to the drugs. During this confrontation everything is explained, from Catherine’s murder to the death of her little sister and why Langston got involved with the drug trade in the first place. After the standard “criminal attempts to flee, cops catch him” scenario, all action-packed and exhilarating, the issue ends with an introduction to the next arc.

I think it’s fairly evident as to why this issue fizzled. THE FUSE doesn’t hold your hand, one of the numerous reasons why it’s a fantastic series, but for some reason this issue decided it wanted to. The standoff between Dietrich and Langston where the criminal is caught red-handed and then everything is explained in one go is a fairly standard method in crime narratives, and frankly, it’s boring. That scene was just really anti-climatic.

Aside from the ending of the arc, the characters are still compelling and intelligent. They're all rooted in certain tropes usually played out in the crime genre, but don’t particularly pander to them, either. The art is still at its prime, Greenwood and Chankhamma continue to dish out fluid palettes and compositions, and the intro to the next arc is also just as intriguing as the series continues. This issue may have faltered, but that certainly doesn’t mean I’m not looking forward towards the rest of the series.

THE AVENGERS #44

Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artists: Stefano Caselli and Kev Walker
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: Masked Man

Gird your loins, Hickman fans: one not of your own cult has dared to read one of his comics! For everyone else, this it: the Secret Wars are upon us—well, almost. Just as Rick Remender kicked off AXIS from UNCANNY AVENGERS last year, Hickman kicks off SECRET WARS from THE AVENGERS now, and each one spent years setting up these main events, although Hickman seems to be ignoring Remender's work.

So wow, what an issue, and what a run up--and I'm purely speaking volume here. There is so much going on in this book, the “Previously in Avengers” page and character identification page are pretty much worthless because they barely explain anything. I'm not sure why it's so hard for Hickman, or perhaps it's Tom Brevoort, to explain the context of the events in this book. As I said before, I've not read all 44 issues (maybe about half) so as always, do Hickman a favor and add anything I'm missing in the talkback, because I'm starting to get the impression that the reason I'm having such a hard time appreciating the impact of these scenes is because Hickman himself hasn't fully explained everything. As a passive reader, I see “oh, they are going to planet X”, and a more active reader is seeing- “holy crap, they are going to planet X!!!”, meaning things that don't seem important really are, because Hickman has been so stingy with plot points.

In broad strokes, an incursion is heading towards our Earth (i.e. our universe), which, as it has in other universes, will destroy the entire universe, so everyone in the Marvel U has been making a mad scramble to stop it, avoid it, or survive it. An alien armada lead by the Shi'ar Empire attempted to destroy the Earth, leaving no target for the incursion and hopefully avoiding it all together. But Tony Stark says no and saves the world for incursion (as Tom Lehrer sang, “And we will all go together when we go”). But as we can all now guess, once Convergence takes—er, the incursion takes place, the universe(s) will just be put on pause as the Battle World is constructed and the Secret Wars commence (The Beyonder(s) do seem like a more plausible villain than Brainiac-Prime, or whoever he is).

Most of the sizzle of the story has been what each character has been willing to do to save the world, themselves, etc. from incursion. Deals have been made, and there has been a lot of hand wringing about the bad things people are willing to do. It's all well written, if overly cryptic as well, in trying to increase the sense of awe and mystery, although not as bad as a Geoff Johns “hide the plot” story.

The most curious thing about it all is the main focus of the book: Captain America and Iron Man fighting each other. It seems The Illuminati built a massive weapon (the one Iron Man used to destroy the alien armada) against the wishes of Captain America, so they mind-wipe him from knowing about it (ala DC's IDENTITY CRISIS). Then Iron Man somehow used Cap and The Avengers (starting in issue #1) to build the weapon (kind of reminds me of the Nick Fury reveal in ORIGINAL SIN). Cap is very upset about this, and wants to beat the crap out of Iron Man as the universe ends with the incursion. Most of this is lost on me, because the betrayal doesn't seem that bad to me, and Hickman never really spells out why this cuts Steve so badly--or at least he hasn't in the past three issues leading up to this fight. But one weird thing has happened between issues #1 and now: Tony Stark has come under the influence of the inversion spell--the whole SUPERIOR IRON MAN thing--meaning he is an amoral prick now, but if Tony was an amoral prick back in issue #1, did the inversion spell happen or not???

Soooooo, now the big question is, did this story really need a 44 issue build up (not to mention all the NEW AVENGERS issues)? I'm going to go with no. With the climax turning out to be a fist fight between Captain America and a possibly inverted Iron Man underneath the creation of Battle World, I think 12 issues would have been just fine. It's no wonder many people found Hickman's run to be a bit boring. That said, I'm curious about the main event, SECRET WARS. Hickman did an OK job with INFINITY a while back, so I'll check out the first few issues. If it turns out as pointless and empty as CONVERGENCE, well then forget it, Marvel (which may have been DC's plan all along--sabotage SECRET WARS with a worse version of it!). Overall, we could really use a good (i.e. well produced, good story) event right now in comics, and hopefully this will be it.

Free Comic Book Day Round Up

Writer: Various
Art: Various
Publisher: Marvel Comics and DC Comics
Reviewer: DrSumac

THE ALL-NEW, ALL-DIFFERENT AVENGERS
Writer: Mark Waid
Art: Mahmud Asrar
Publisher: Marvel Comics

So there are a few fun characters they put on the team, namely for me Ms. Marvel, fem Thor, and Miles Morales. That said, Kamala and Miles are still in their mid-teens, as is Nova, I believe. I would love if those three were on a Young Avengers lineup, because they really feel out of place here. Also, fem Thor is the most successful character on the entire team based on solo title sales, yet she is stuck in the background of the cover and barely does anything in this half an issue. Obviously there would be more in a main title, but this doesn't seem like a great start.

Meanwhile, I've never read the Falcon America comic because I wouldn't spend money on anything Rick Remender is attached to, but for the team leader he isn't very interesting in this issue. Honestly, I think his costume really needs an update--the bright red wings on the classic Cap uniform only serve to show how ridiculous both of them look. I find it surprising that they haven't modeled him after his movie counterpart that actually looks cool.

Honestly while it's great that the team is very diverse, there is something a little condescending to me about “All-Different” being in the title. Personally I'd rather just see Kamala have a team-up with Miles or, as I said, a Young Avengers group with the two of them, Nova, Kate Bishop, and maybe one or two from the old team. That said, I do plan to pick up the first issue to give it a shot and will likely review it at the time.

THE UNCANNY INHUMANS
Writer: Charles Soule
Art: Brandon Peterson
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Marvel is clearly making a big push for The Inhumans as they move away from mutants, and the fans are understandably upset by it. While Madam Medusa and the lot have some fans, they pale in comparison to the X-Men and their various spin-offs. Skepticism aside, this part of an issue was actually kind of fun. I'm not entirely sold yet, but this preview does spark my interest, which is the point of these comics.

MAX RIDE: FIRST FLIGHT
Writer: Marguerite Bennett
Art: Alex Sanchez
Publisher: Marvel Comics

We only got essentially two pages of this here, but again they did manage to spark my interest. Best of all two issues are already out and available. I'm definitely going to look for them when I head to the comics shop next week. With luck Marguerite Bennett finally got an assignment that allows her to flex her creative muscles some. My only concern is that it's another adaptation of another writer’s work, much like BUTTERFLY, and that didn't work out so well for her last time.

SECRET WARS
Writer: Jonathon Hickman
Art: Paul Renaud
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Not a lot happened here. Valeria Richards organized her team of young scientists to build a ship that is supposed to act as some sort of life raft that can save 60 people from the end of the world. Honestly, this just served as a reminder as to why I avoid event titles. I get that they are wiping the universe for a soft reboot, but if the premise is that some people from different dimensions are going to Battle World, then why exactly is the world ending? There seems to be a disconnect for me. Maybe it would make more sense if I had read Hickman's AVENGERS, but that's all the more reason not to read the event. If this was supposed to excite readers, it just plain failed. On a positive note, there was an ad for an all-female Avengers team called A-FORCE written by G. Willow Wilson that looks like it could have a lot of potential. Definitely going to check that out. The back of this issue also had a comic that features The Avengers fighting the Titans from ATTACK ON TITAN. I could never get into ATTACK ON TITAN, though, so honestly I skipped it, but if that's your thing might be fun for you to track this down.

The following three stories came from Divergence.

BATMAN: THE ROOKIE
Writer: Scott Snyder
Art: Greg Capullo
Publisher: DC Comics

The contents of this story were spoiled about a month ago, but the bottom line is that the Batman we know is gone and Gotham has a new Batman: Commissioner James Gordon in a bad haircut and a mecha suit. I get that some people probably didn't like when Batman last died and Dick Grayson took over, but at least that made sense and wasn't completely ridiculous. Even worse, that story wasn't all that long ago. Batman “dying” feels like a bad joke now, and I don't see how this could be as good as the last time, which makes it pretty scary. Scott Snyder is still at the helm, though, and hasn't been a letdown yet when it comes to the main BATMAN title, so we'll just need to have hope. Actually, what I really liked about this was that it set up Powers International, which is surely the company that eventually merges with Wayne Industries by the time of the Batman Beyond setting. With a new BEYOND title on the way, this gives me hope that the two titles will somehow interact. Maybe we'll get to see a Young Derek Powers, who will one day become the supervillain Blight?

SUPERMAN: EXPOSED
Writer: Gene Luen Yang
Art: John Romita Jr
Publisher: DC Comics

Admittedly I have no idea what's been going on with Superman, but apparently Lois Lane outed Clark as The Man of Steel. It's certainly something different, which is largely what they've tried to do with most characters since the New 52. The city seems to hate him and be generally alienphobic, which has the potential to touch on some modern issues form the real world if they choose to take it that way. Guess we'll see.

JUSTICE LEAGUE: DARKSEID WAR PROLOGUE 2: THE OTHER AMAZON
Writer: Geoff Johns
Art: Jason Fabok
Publisher: DC Comics

I'm a bit bummed that they have completely thrown away the original Wonder Woman origin, but Geoff Johns is at least trying to put an interesting spin on it. Apparently another Amazon child was born on the same night as Diana--that is, the daughter of Darkseid. The premise itself is a bit out of the box, and I think Myrina the mother and Grail the child both have the potential to be interesting new villains, or characters in general. I actually haven't read any of the New 52 JUSTICE LEAGUE or WONDER WOMAN, but this definitely has my interest piqued.

Editing, compiling, imaging, coding, logos & cat-wrangling by Ambush Bug
Proofs, co-edits & common sense provided by Sleazy G
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