Veteran's Day Reads

Yes, new comics DID come out today, even though it's Veteran's Day!


Realm of Kings: Imperial Guard #1 - Not bad. I haven't kept up with Marve's cosmic stuff as much as I'd like, but I'm enjoying Gladiator as the new Shi'Ar Majestor.

Dark X-Men #1 - Oh, well. Okay. Let's just re-introduce a whole bunch of forgotten X-Men family characters, like the Mimic, Weapon Omega, and... The X-Man?

Green Arrow/Black Canary #26 - Wait, what? Two Ollie Queens? ...did I miss something? I thought I've been reading this series since #1.

Deadpool #17 - Deadpool continues to try and join the X-Men. Good fun, but Daniel Way uses too many censored swear words (#&%@!). More than once per issue is really distracting, and takes me out of the story.

S.W.O.R.D. #1 - A solid start for the SWORD series, but what's up with Beast's face? I'm not sure if this series is necessary, but more info on Abigail Brand is certainly needed for casual Marvel readers.

Amazing Spidey #611 - The banter between Spider-Man and Deadpool is always exquisite!

Strange #1 - Quite fun. Emma Rios & Christina Strain KILL on the artwork chores. I wish more comics were like this; everything is far too epic and crossover-y, right now. I like simple, fun, one-off adventures.


Batgirl #4 - Ah, yes. This is what I was waiting for the last three issues to get to. Stephanie with Oracle backing her up. Wonderful issue.

Batman & Robin #6 - Wait, whaaaat? So, is this out-of-continuity? Or are the DC editors just THAT out of touch with each other...?

Red Robin #6 - I read about half the issue and gave up. I just don't care. Glad to see Marcus To getting work, though.

Batman #693S - Intriguing.

Red Robin #1

Red Robin #1
Written by Christopher Yost
Pencils by Ramon Bachs
Cover by Francis Manapul
$3.99
DC Comics

It's a regular Bat-o-Rama around here, lately.

So when your mentor dies, the closest thing you have to a brother gives your identity to your mentor's estranged son, and you've got nowhere left to turn, what do you do?

Apparently, you go to Madrid and take over the mantle of the guy who tried to kill you...?

Tim Drake-- excuse me, Tim WAYNE is the new Red Robin. And he's in Spain, trying to find Bruce Wayne, the Batman. And Tim is 100% sure that Bruce is still alive. He just has to be. Because... Tim wouldn't know what to do, otherwise. Tips lead him to Prague, and while Tim is hanging out in his hotel room, somebody has him in their sights. And it's somebody BIG.

This was a pretty solid first issue. One of the nice things about never having been a huge Batman fan in the past is that I have very little knowledge of who many of these characters actually are. I don't know their personalities, or very much of their history... I just know their names, and how they're all related to Batm--Bruce Wayne.

So, for me, it's fun jumping into this world that has semi-familiar faces. DC is making it pretty easy to keep track of everything. I understand that Tim's upset about Damian becoming the new Robin, and I even get an idea as to why.

For the first time in the last several years, I know what the hell is happening in a DC book, when I pick it up! There's no need to go back and read stories from when I was in diapers, or to understand the entire history of a character. I just have to know who Batman is, understand that there have been three Robins, pick up that Bruce had an illegitimate child, and be aware that Bruce Wayne is dead. From there, I can just jump right in. And, so far, all three titles in the new Bat-family have been quite enjoyable.

If you're going to pick up one Batman book this week, make it Batman #687. But if your budget allows for it, grab Red Robin #1, too.

Batman and Robin #1

Batman and Robin #1

Written by Grant Morrison

Pencils & Inks by Frank Quitely

DC Comics

$2.99

So, after just a few months, Grant Morrison is back at the helm of writing Batman. After the debacle of last year's "Batman: RIP" storyline and its less-than-stellar reviews, how's he doing this time around?

Well, it's definitely just the start. This is Part One of "Batman: Reborn," but we're not told how long this particular arc will last. But, for a first issue, we've got all the essential elements for a good Batman story: A new Robin, a new Batman, new villains who are working for somebody Batman's never heard of and must use his detective skills to find, and the new villainous boss is somebody sadistic and twisted.

Frank Quitely's art is as visually stunning as ever. The storytelling is clear, the details are prevalent, and everything looks like it should. While I haven't gone through all of Quitely's back catalog, this may be the best work I've seen from him, yet.

But as far as the story goes? It doesn't really grab me. As somebody who doesn't read Batman very frequently, I feel like the new Batman is the most obvious choice, the new Robin feels sort of shoehorned in (I've known about this character's existence, but am not familiar enough with him to really care), and there's a lot of "Well, now that Bruce is gone we can do THIS!" sort of stuff.

Don't get me wrong, a flying Batmobile is cool, and it's certainly a vehicle that's reminiscent of Terry McGinnis's Batmobile in the Batman: Beyond animated series. But nothing about this new Batman really grips me as being A Very Big Deal.

But, I'll give Morrison the benefit of the doubt. His run on New X-Men was spectacular and really shook up the status quo of Marvel's Mutants (which was, unfortunately, then promptly shut down by the events of House of M), and I'm interested to see what he can do with the Dark Knight Detective.

And, hey. At least everything in this comic made sense! That's got to count for something, right?