BATMAN ETERNAL #1 (REVIEW)

Batman Eternal #1

Writer: Scott Snyder
           James Tynion IV
           Ray Fawkes
           John Layman
           Tim Seeley

Artist: Jason Fabok

Cover: Jason Fabok
          Tomeu Morey



The Rundown:
The story begins where it is set to end. Batman beaten and battered, tied to a broken Bat-signal, as the city burns around him. Flash forward to the present where Harvey Bullock is picking up a new recruit who was heavily sought after by Jim Gordon himself, Jason Bard, from the train station. Elsewhere, Gordon is in the middle of a gun fight with Pyg and his henchmen, protecting some children while waiting for Batman to make his entrance. Which he does just in time to save Jim and the kids from Pyg's gun totting airplane. Batman and Gordon pursue Pyg and his men, with Gordon taking the stray and Batman focuses on apprehending Pyg. Jim Gordon follows the man onto the subway tracks and has him cornered while ordering the perp to drop his weapon. After a count of three, Gordon fires a shot, but it passes through the man, hitting an electrical box behind him. This causes an explosion and a fire to start on the tracks, quickly followed by the derailment of the approaching subway train. Batman is able to save Jim Gordon, and warn Bullock and other officers who arrived at the scene.
The damage is massive, and the death toll will be enormous. Acting quickly, Hady calls for the arrest of Commissioner James Gordon. An act that is carried out by a hesitant Jason Bard who's on his first night on the job. But, is put at ease after Jim gives him his blessing to place him under arrest. Flashback to the "end" of the story, where we once again see a bound, broken Batman with a voice asking him if he can see the grand design in it all.

The Review:
An extremely well done initial issue for the new weekly Batman series. The story felt like it was the beginning of something huge and eventful. It left us with tons of questions and of course anticipating the next issue and how all of this plays out. From page one we are left wondering who was able to get the drop on Batman and engulf Gotham City in flames. Is it a new villain? A returning villain coming back in a huge way? Even the events involving Commissioner James Gordon left us with quite a few questions. Is Jim losing his mind? If not, then who is working him this way? And even with Jason Bard, are we about to watch Jim Gordon groom his future replacement? Or is he a part of what is happening? The appearance is given, but even Bard's backstory is very similar to that of Gordon.
The art work was top notch from start to finish. With almost every single panel telling the story nicely and being visually appealing. With it being a weekly title there runs the risk of having to speed through the work, here is hoping that upcoming weeks are just as good as this one was.
Overall, it was an amazing issue, with a team of writers (although three of them are consultants) that big it is expected that the story would be up to par, and in this case went above and beyond that. As did the art, and they complimented each other nicely. What is even better, is that we won't have to wait a month to see what happens next!

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GREEN LANTERN #30 (REVIEW)

Green Lantern #30

Writer: Robert Venditti

Artist: Martin Coccolo

Cover: Billy Tan
          Alex Sinclair





The Rundown:
Hal Jordan is admiring the peaceful view upon Mogo, when he is summoned to the gathering at the new Green Lantern Corps crypt. There Hal holds a ceremony to honor the memory of the Lanterns who have fallen, most notably Kyle Rayner, who gave his life so that they could all carry on. Afterwards, he holds court with his little council of advisers (Kilowog, Salaak, and Two-Six) before they head of to Sector 0571 to talk with the Emissary's of Port Oasis Bay. Hal takes them there to talk about the war between Lanterns and the rest of the universe, at the forefront of that group is the Khund. Who are also present for this meeting. Emissary Preegus decides that Hal Jordan and Captain Khu will fight each other. If Hal wins, he gets control of the Khund Warship, Drokkun. If he loses, then the Khunds will be given control the Green Lantern Corps. And the only weapon allowed is the Khund Throat Knife.
Before the battle, Hal and company take seat in a bar having some drinks. He invites Captain Khu and his men to join them, for which he gains a touch of Khu's respect. While sharing some Khund Ale they exchange their point of views on their pending war between each other that will follow after this battle. Flash ahead to the fight, and Khu is mainly getting the upper hand on Hal Jordan. Pummeling him, and nearly skewing him with his blade. With both skill and some luck, Hal is able to defeat Khu with his own weapon. Bleeding out on the ground, Hal tries to get Khu to the infirmary for help when he is stopped by the other Khund warriors, who finish the job and strip their former captain of his belongings. They then tell Hal and others that they can dispose of the body as they wish. Striking a nerve with Hal who see's this as disrespectful, the other Khund tell him that it is he who has disrespected them by looking at their ways, and their traditions as he does. They also tell Hal to take their ship, but that they will be coming to take it back soon enough.
Back on Mogo, the shape shifting traitor amongst the Corps is weak and losing both power and shape. He is confronted by Green Lantern Mukmuk (giant fish), who fries the traitor with a blast from his ring. Mukmuk also lies to another Lantern when explaining what happened. Ending the story with a devious look.


The Review:
It was an okay story, felt more like a filler story despite their being a casualty. Although it is hard to really say what is a filler, when the titles New 52 history has been almost none stop grand events. There were some nice points that were brought to attention, with how some species/people have different traditions and ways of life, that may appear as illegal or wrong to the Green Lanterns, it isn't viewed that way by others. Something Hal and his crew will have to take into consideration trying to police the universe without those all-knowing Guardians who may or may not have taken certain things into consideration.
The art wasn't too bad, story was told well, and didn't require anything over the top as the story didn't really call for any. Would have been nice to see some constructs in the battle to the death, but again, story didn't call for it, but the art gave us the idea of how Hal pulled it off nicely. The landscape upon Mogo was done very well also, the crypt even looked like a calm, peaceful place as opposed to the traditional dark, creepy type crypts. White tombstones upon green foliage was factor in that I think.
Overall, it was an okay issue. Again, it felt more like a filler story, but filled with some key content as mentioned with Hal needing to learn how the rest of the universe works before he and his fellow Lanterns can truly be the authority. I also found myself curious as to where Saint Walker is during the issue, as his journey has been quite intriguing so far being the fading blue light amongst the sea of green. Looking forward to seeing where this "traitor amongst them" storyline goes. Now that the initial traitor is dead, who is this new one? Possessed Lantern maybe? Always been a spy? If so, how long has this been going on? Again, looking forward to seeing how all this plays out in the upcoming issues.

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DETECTIVE COMICS #30 (REVIEW)

Detective Comics #30

Writer: Francis Manapul
           Brian Buccellato

Artist: Francis Manapul

Cover: Francis Manapul





The Rundown:
Story begins with two females on the pier as we read "Welcome to Gotham City. This place has the potential to be great...for both of us." Batman is prowling the rooftops at night. In pursuit of a group of thugs using children to deal their drugs. He is able to save the kids, but one of the thugs gets away ironically with the gang that he recently stole drugs from. Batman pursues them, but is unable to catch them.
At an Extreme Motorcross event, Bruce Wayne talks business with the woman from the pier, Miss Elena Aquila. Her daughter, Annie, is a four time champion and is participating in the event. Elena pitches her proposal of Bruce and his company joining her in re-developing Gotham City's East End Waterfront. She gets him to agree as it is an attempt to restore hope to a decaying part of the city he loves. As news of the venture spreads, it appears that it will receive some corrupt political pressure. Down at the Waterfront, Mr. Squid, is dealing with the thug that stole from him and escaped Batman earlier. We get an idea of his namesake as he hoists his victims by the chain around their neck using a crane and then drops them into a tank with what appears to be a man-eating squid.
Back at the Batcave, Bruce is working on Damian's motorbike as he converses with Alfred. Discussing how he misses his late son, and how much Damian loved his bike. The alarms begin to sound as an intruder makes their way onto the grounds of Wayne Manor. As Bruce rushes to face to assailant, he discovers that it is Elena Aquila. She is engulfed in flames, and falls into his arms to the ground.

The Review:
Detective Comics has a new creative team, and after this issue, they are a welcomed addition. The first part of the story arc "Icarus" was a very nice beginning, taking things back to a detective based story. Which of course leaves questions to be answered. What is this new drug hitting the streets of Gotham? Who is this Mr. Squid character? Is he a main player or just another pawn? And what of the Aquila Family? Is Elena dead, critically injured or is it all a rouse? Some of you may even wonder if we were witnessing the beginnings of a future Bat-Family member. With what has been presented in this issue, Annie Aquila is in a very similar situation as Batman and some of the other Bat-Family characters. All of these questions will likely be answered in the upcoming issues, but it is definitely a sign of good writing.
The art, although usually not fan of that style, was done well and added to the required tone of the story. It also added to some of the mystery with only giving us a small glimpse of Mr. Squid's killer pet. How large and grotesque is this thing, we will have to wait and see, but am intrigued. Usually I would mention how it told the story well, and it did, however that is almost expected when the artist is also the co-writer. A skill in itself, but who better to translate your words to pictures?
Overall, it was a really good issue. The new detective focused direction is nice to see happen, given the title and all. Hopefully, fans of The Flash were given equal talent to follow the work of Detective Comics new creative team. As although only an issue into their run, things are looking to be really good. With it being the Year Of The Batman, that is another thing that is nice to see happening.

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RED LANTERNS #29 (REVIEW)

Red Lanterns #29

Writer: Charles Soule

Artist: Alessandro Vitti

Cover: Stephen Segovia
          Gabe Eltaeb





The Rundown:
Skallox and Zox are testing both their weaponry and the powers of the new Red Lantern, Supergirl. Something that Kara requested. She holds her own pretty well using both her Kryptonian and her ring abilities to take out the missals. She somehow manages to crash the teams bar onto the missal launcher, and are about to share a drink when Guy Gardner steps. He stops Kara, claiming that she is too young to be drinking. Something that Kara doesn't take to kindly to as she causes the glass to break and cut Guy's hand out of small fit of rage. Controlling his own anger, Gardner informs them that they are heading out on patrol. While in space, Guy has Kara do a sweep of the moon while he asks Skallox and Zox to keep her busy while he seeks help with the situation.
Superman is in the middle of a rescue, and almost misses some people when Gardner swoops in with an assist. Guy introduces himself and goes on to explain the Red and Green Lantern situation and his arrangement with Hal. Superman is about to leave when Kara and the other Reds arrive. He immediately blames Guy and is about to remove Kara's ring when Skallox informs him of what would happen. Supergirl also learns that the situation is likely permanent, to which he loses her mind succumbing to the rage within. She begins to fly away when Superman opts to try and talk to her, to which she replies by hitting him with a baseball swing using a massive ship from the sea. She then vaporizes an approaching tidal wave with her heat vision, giving her the release she needs to calm down. Supergirl informs everyone that she is not a piece of luggage to be passed around, and is her own person. She tells Superman that perhaps this is what is best for her as the Reds don't repress anything. Superman doesn't agree with her choice, but he agrees it is hers to make. He just hopes she is happy with it in the end. Superman tell Guy that he appreciates the effort in attempting to help his cousin, but it is on him to look after her, so to try harder at doing so.

The Red Lanterns return to Ysmault to discover a large crater on the planets surface. As the team begins to approach, it is revealed to be a broken and battered Bleez. The Red Lantern Corps member is barely able to utter "Atrocitus". Guy Gardner is completely stunned having thought the former Red Lantern leader was dead.


The Review:
The story was decent, with Superman's reaction to his cousin being the newest member of the Red Lantern Corps. Although I would have preferred more of an action sequence before Superman learned of the situation as a whole, I did like Kara getting the upper hand on him showing the ring has added to her power level. I also enjoyed her reaction to learning that this is possibly a permanent thing and not an "okay I am done being angry now, see you later" type situation. Even though as a reader we know this will likely end at some point, unless overly popular.
The artwork style isn't one of my preferences, it did however, tell the story as it is supposed to. There were also the panels with Supergirl using her powers which were done very well, and popped off the page. As well as the shot of Bleez at the end, it didn't jump from the page, but was done well.
Overall it was an okay issue, I would rate it 2.5-out-of-5. Like I mentioned, I was hoping for more with the original Superhero making his appearance within the title. Superman man is a powerhouse so it presented an opportunity to load up some action sequences. I am liking the direction of the title as of late though. Was unsure of Guy Gardner's addition to the team, but he's grown on me. Zero offense to the current artist, but would like to see the title get a big name artist for a run or two.

You can find the review for the combo issue Green Lantern/Red Lanterns #28 HERE. For other Reviews, News and more! Be sure to head over to The Non-Geeky Nerd to check things out!

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BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT #29 (REVIEW)

Batman: The Dark Knight #29

Writer: Greg Hurwitz

Artist: Jorge Lucas
          Ethan Van Sciver

Cover: Ethan Van Sciver
           Hi-Fi




The Rundown:
Things pick up where last issue left off (find review for #28 HERE), with Batman plummeting from the sky. Falling towards the city streets below after a battle with the Abraham Langstrom's version of Man-Bat. Although nearly ripping himself in half, Batman is able to save himself from certain death. He makes a quick stop at the Batcave and Jim Gordon's office before heading to Langstrom Mansion, to confront Abraham who is back in human form enjoying a meal. Purposely keeping his words in a theoretical manner as to not implicate himself, Abraham explains to Batman why he chose homeless people as his victims. Stating that nobody would miss them, to which Batman replies, that he misses them. Batman then heads to Kirk Langstrom's Lab to ask for his assistance in stopping his father, already having the antidote, he needs help administering it. Batman says that he thinks he has learned something from Kirk's actions in Detective Comics #19.
Abraham awakens and injects his form of the Man-Bat serum, transforms, and heads out into the city. He smashes his way into a homeless shelter looking to feed, when one of the homeless men takes charge and directs everyone out of the room to safety. Man-Bat attacks the man, sinking his fangs into the persons chest. While he feeds, it is revealed to be Batman, who has apparently ingested the antidote and sacrificed himself so that the antidote would make its way into Abraham's system. Batman is barely able to hang on long enough for the antidote to take effect, and reverts Abraham back to his human as the police arrive to catch him red handed.

At his trial, Abraham Langstrom is let go after pleading temporary insanity. He is proud om himself, joking with the media until a homeless child tells him that he killed her father. Abraham's demeanor changes quickly as he says no more questions and returns to his home. While home, Abraham Langstrom tells us of how he now waits and watches to make his move. While the city (Batman) watches him right back.

The Review:
The long story arc of Man-Bat, or Man-Bats, was brought to an end nicely. Using the events from Detective Comics #19 brought things around full-circle. At times it felt as though they were over saturating the Man-Bat character with the addition of She-Bat and an alpha form of Man-Bat. However, with a pretty good story by Greg Hurwitz, it all made sense  and added to the character of the New 52 version of Kirk Langstrom and Man-Bat. It helped that they kept the Man-Bat serum within the Langstrom family (with the exception of the al Ghul's army of them) and not some random character, as now there is room for future stories involving Kirk and Abraham, their father-son relationship problems and now Man-Bat issues.
The art was done by two artists, with Ethan Van Sciver continuing on his work from last issue in the first five pages, and Jorge Lucas taking on the rest of issue #29. Ethan's work was top notch, and preferred of the two. The title page was double-paged, and looked amazing. Almost looked 3-D. Now, Jorge's work wasn't bad, it was a touch rough, but it did its job and told this story well. It didn't help that the two styles were very different and did not transition into each other well. His final panel on the last page was top notch itself.
Overall, it was a solid issue getting a 4-out-of-5, and was a good ending to the Man-Bat story arc which I'd give 3.5-out-of-5. It will be interesting to see how soon they choose to involve the character, or even the newer version in Abraham Langstrom's Man-Bat, after almost over using the character within on story.

I thought that the series was ending on issue #30, however it looks as though this was the last installment of Batman: The Dark Knight. Perhaps it was simply a mistake over on DC Comics and there will be an issue 30. If not, they ended this story arc in a manner that works as a finale for the title. I don't really consider it the end, as more of a renaming with it is simply making room for the new Batman Eternal series. But overall, it was a decent title and was great for giving us some of the new origins for Batman's rogues gallery. Hopefully something that the other Bat-titles will continue on. For more Reviews, News and more on Comics, Movies, TV, Games and Wrestling be sure to check out The Non-Geeky Nerd! Until then...

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BATMAN AND ROBIN #29 (REVIEW)

Batman And Robin Aquaman #29

Writer: Peter J. Tomasi

Artist: Mick Gray
          Patrick Gleason

Cover: Mick Gray
           Patrick Gleason





The Rundown:
The story begins with Batman and Alfred referencing the events in the past few issues (find out what happened...HERE) as Batman is underwater looking for Ra's al Ghul and the bodies of Talia and Damian based on the coordinates Damian had left them. On the way, the chained corpses of Damian's former teachers from his time with his mother are swaying in the water. Then, Batman is confronted by fellow Justice League member, Arthur Curry aka Aquaman, who has been following the screams of marine life coming from the same location. Ra's al Ghul is aware of their presence and disperses his men to attack them under the waters surface, and begins moving the bodies of Talia and Damian now that the Dark Knight has shown up ahead of schedule. Bruce and Arthur fight through, storming the beach and taking down a group of assassins and Man-Bat's. Aquaman locates the source of the screams, sperm whales that Ra's is using to create super-soldiers in the manner Talia had done before her death.

Ra's has the computers and all their contents wiped and destroyed as Bruce and Arthur infiltrate the base. They are soon confronted by an assortment of mutated, failed clones of Damian. Batman quickly overcomes the initial shock and asks Arthur to use his powers to control them. A task he is willing and capable of doing with them being half aquatic since being born within the whales. Aquaman has them march into the ocean where they are swallowed up by a massive whale being commanded by Arthur. Batman fights his way to al Ghul's jet as it takes off into the air. While on the outside looking in, he sees the sucoficises of Talia and Damian. Ra's informs his minion that they are enroute to Paradise Island, home of the Amazons. Still outside the jet, Batman makes his way to the front window and demands Ra's give back his son. To which Ra's reminds Bruce, that Damian is also of his blood and he will do no such thing before tilting the jet causing the dark knight to begin to plummet from the sky. Aquaman is able to catch him before he crashes into the rocks on the ground. Bruce promises to make Ra's pay, to which Arthur has no doubt. Aquaman informs him that the clones are still alive and kept at Atlantis for safe keeping as the two part ways. 

The story ends in London, England with Batman locating Wonder Woman who is in the guise of her secret identity. Bruce asks if the glasses were Clark's idea before then asking for help getting to her homeland, Paradise Island. The hunt for Robin has begun!


The Review:
I really liked how they at least referenced Two-Face after the events of last issue (rundown and review found...HERE). It wasn't just pushed to the side as if it didn't just happen, and quickly forgotten. I admit, that I wasn't looking forward to Aquaman being in this issue, as I couldn't think of "why" he would be. Tomasi not only made me like that Arthur was in there, but he made it work and make sense. Didn't dawn on me before that the method used by Talia and now Ra's would cross a line with the character. He also made for a good "storage space" as other than killing them all off, what else would one do with the mutated Damian clones? The obvious answer would've been to have them just begin to breakdown and die, but liked that they didn't go that route, and again, made sense. Of course, it would've been nice if he was around when D' was getting killed by the initial "whale baby" clone.

The art was okay. It told the story very well and I liked that there weren't too many panels needed to do so. I really liked the various mutated Damian clones. Wasn't too sure what a fetus would do in a fight, but it is a "super-solider" clone so I guess it could do something. If anything it added to the weirdness effect of the group. Of course the full-page panel with the massive whale swallowing them up too. It gave Aquaman his classic "look what I can do" moment.

Overall, the issue was good, but as a starting point for a bigger story it was very good. I was hoping that the Damian clones would have thrown Batman off his game for more than a single panel, but understood that with how they looked and his awareness that they aren't him made it easier for him. Also, I am thinking that there will likely be more clones to come, and with at least one being a spot on carbon copy. One that will truly mess with Bruce's mind. Personally, I hope they bring him back at the end of this. My argument is that his being half an al Ghul gave him that pass the moment he arrived. But, I am also on the fence as to whether his come back is a tad early yet.

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HARLEY QUINN #4 (REVIEW)

Harley Quinn #4

Writer: Jimmy Palmiotti
           Amanda Conner

Artist: Stephanie Roux

Cover: Amanda Conner





The Rundown:
Story begins with Harley covering her bleached white skin with some flesh toned make-up while getting ready for her new job at the nursing home. On her way out she bumps into Tony and they work out a deal where he builds something for Harley, she will let him live rent free for four months. At the nursing home, Harley is having a session with a lady named Mrs Rubenstein, who is telling Harls about how her family never comes visit her. Ever the softy, Harley is choked up a bit by the story. Harley has her next appointments rescheduled to later tonight and proceeds to leave the nursing home.
At a home in the suburbs, a young boy is playing video games and his father is in the basement playing with his train set, while the wife and mother is holding a "Pleasure Party" showing off various "toys" to her female companions. Harley Quinn crashes the party, through the wall riding a bulldozer, and then proceeds to roughly bind the family. She then throws them in the trunk of a car before driving off. While making a stop at a diner to grab herself a meal, Harley is confronted by yet another assassin looking to cash in on the bounty of HQ's head. Before stabbing him in the heart with her fork, she learns that is "Bubba" who set this all up because of her botching a job she was hired to do for him.

Later on, Harley arrives to the the roller derby late, missing her teams game. After asking how she could make it up to her teammates, one sarcastically says crippling the team that beat them would do the trick, HQ takes her seriously and proceeds to run the other team down with her car before driving off. The thumping noise reminds her of the "junk in the trunk". While at the end of a pier, Harley proceeds to tell the family about what Mrs. Rubenstein told her, as she proceeds to kick the son and wife of the edge. She allows the husband to speak and he informs her that they do visit his mother and it is due to her Alzheimer's that she doesn't remember the visits. Harley quickly realizes her mistake, having forgotten to read her patients files. She unties the man, who attempts to save his family from drowning, diving head first of the edge. Turns out it was low tide, and the family is on the beach below safe and sound.
Back at the nursing home, Harley's rescheduled appointment shows up, a man named Sy Borgman. Who informs her that he knows who she really is and how she got the job here. He also tells her about his younger days when he was named Syborg and worked for the Government. He and the country needs her help to finally finish his mission. Harley Quinn agrees to help the old man out as the story ends.


The Review:
Another issue keeping with Harley being a light amongst a dark DC Comics universe. She may be a villain, she is still a bubbly, big heart gal who just happens to be crazy as hell, and has a definite mean streak if provoked. Jimmy and Amanda delivered exactly that, and the innuendos were quite funny and well done. As really, only adults reading the "Pleasure Party" panels really had an idea of what was for sale. Very much like 60's Batman television show was. It may have been just me, but also keeping with the origin of Harley and how gullible she is with her patients and their stories, and seemed to be a reference to her relationship with The Joker. I am hoping this "Bubba" character turns out to be either a bigger named villain or if it is a new character, then someone who is displayed as one and not some throwaway bad guy. Series is only five issues deep, but would like to see Harley develop her own little section within DC Comics. Her own villains for sure. I did like the swerve involving her "killing" the family when she dumps them off the end of the pier. I get more than I prefer in the "child killing" depictions in AMC's The Walking Dead.
The art wasn't great, but it was extremely far from being bad. The story didn't really depict the need for more dramatic panels, and did okay with what action there was. I did like the roller skate being the only thing we see from Harley's retribution for missing the game. I also liked the "Pleasure Party" panels art wise also, as Roux could have went other places in the "toy" department. It was again very much like how things were with 60's Batman television.
Overall, it was a good issue. It has set-up the next issue nicely, with my being a bit intrigued by the retro-cyborg, Syborg. Really like how even Harley's bad girl moments come across as more funny and lighter toned, as people are right, DCU is a dark place, which I like, but comic books like this make for a great break from it. Although it is nice to see her on her own and it is still early, there needs to be more characters either making appearances like they did with Ivy so far.

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