#Out of these comics--I recommend not reading RHatO or King's Batman run. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

blanddcheadcanons · 5 years

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I need some comic recommendations and I figured you (and your followers) was probably the best way to turn. I started reading some of RHATO (bc I love Jason), and the first issue of HIC, but DC have a lot of comics and I need pointing in the right direction. There are characters (like the Riddler and the Batfam) that I have a soft spot for. Really though, I just need some good comics to get me going - 🛸

OK I’m so glad you’re getting into comics and you’re in for some mind-blowing stories. Full disclosure I did not like the ending of Heroes in Crisis. But it is worth reading and my experience was subjective and honestly a new fan won’t be as emotionally hurt by the deaths like I was. (death isn’t a spoiler btw) The reason I recommend you finish the series is the fucking great spinoff series Flash Forward by Scott Lobdell. Scott Lobdell writes RHATO and in my opinion his writing can be hit or miss. But the first issue of Flash Forward has been some of his best work. I won’t spoil it but it has the Tempis Fuginaut doing cosmic multiverse weirdness in a really cool way.

All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison is always good. I also believe it is a good “rite of passage” for new DC fans to read 1985′s Crisis on Infinite Earths. It literally invented comic book events. (prompted Marvel to do Secret Wars) The reason you should read it is how it features almost every single character from DC at the time and almost every place in the DCU multiverse. This way you can see some character who looks cool and then look up all the great books they’ve been in since then.

All of the Earth One books are good. They’re stand alone graphic novels that DC puts their top creators on. Superman was the only one that finished the trilogy. Batman, Wonder Woman and Teen Titans put out 2 books so far. Green Lantern just got one book so far.

If you like spooky and creepy stories you should read House of Mystery 2008 by Lilah Sturges (credited as her dead name Matthew) The entire run is available on DC Universe. Batman Incorporated was the best part of Grant Morrison’s Batman run. Except maybe Batman and Robin 2009. That shit was awesome.

Kingdom Come is essential. Shazam and the Monster Society of Evil is good. Ambush Bug is great. If you don’t know he has the power of unlimited teleportation and he knows he is fictional. I like to say he’s the fictional mouthpiece for writer Keith Giffen to express his hatred for his boss Dan Didio. And as a DC fan you’ll learn to hate Dan Didio too. Bug! The Adventures of Forager is a pure Jack Kirby homage drawn by Mike Allred. it’s amazing. Cosmic Odyssey is also essential reading. DC New Frontier, essential. Prez 2015 is Mark Russell’s best and funniest satire. Seven Soldiers 2006 is really dense and weird but worth reading through. Not enough people talk about Star Spangled War Stories featuring G.I. Zombie from 2014. I loved that series. Tom King’s Omega Men is one of his best works at DC. Anyway sorry for ranting. I hope this helps you.

#Anonymous

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kierantc-blog · 7 years

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DC Rebirth In Review - The Batman Family

With Doomsday Clock just around the corner and with the Rebirth branding ending too, i thought i would look back at how Rebirth has done for each and every on-going that has come out.

So here’s the next chapter in the series, the previous chapter on the Superman family can be read here, but in this chapter we will be talking about the Batman Family of comics.

Batman - I am a fan of Tom King, his work on Vision, Omega Men and Grayson are amazing, but i am not a fan of Tom King on Batman. His story telling feels muddled at times with what is going on on the page, take the I Am Suicide story for instance, was Bruce and Selina telling each other how they feel really the right back drop for a prison escape plot? It also feels like King likes to tell rather than show, which is the wrong attitude to have in a comic book. The War Of Jokes & Riddles was hit and miss at most when the potential it had was immense, and that seems to be the trap that King is falling into right now. Can’t fault the artwork on this book at all, Finch and Janin provide some of the best and most consistent work for a bi-monthly book, but it’s a shame the writing isn’t doing it justice. - 6/10

Detective Comics - For me, Detective Comics is the definitive Bat-family book of Rebirth, Tynion has managed to turn the long running series into a team book with relative ease. The first issue of the series sees Bruce reveal himself as Batman to his cousin Kate Kane AKA Batwoman, to which she laughs and says she always knew. Together they recruit Tim Drake (Red Robin), Stephanie Brown (Spoiler), Cassandra Cain (Orphan) and Clayface to form a team and set up a new base called The Belfry, which stands in the middle of Gotham. The premise alone is worth the buy but the characterisations are fantastic too, particularly with Clayface. Traditionally a villain, Basil Karlo joins the team with the promise from Bruce that he can get his life back, and its his ascendance from a villain to a hero in his own right that shows what this book is capable of doing. Tynion is onto something with this series and i hope he is on it for a long time to come. The only downside is that inconsistent art teams on the series, Eddy Barrows and Alvaro Martinez provide artwork for the first dozen or so issues but on an inconsistent basis that makes it jarring if you read in trades. - 9/10

All-Star Batman - I really enjoy Scott Snyder’s work, he likes to tell big stories and isn’t afraid of rocking out in the process. The first story revolves around Bruce and Duke trying to transport Two-Face to a location for a cure to his mental illness but being stopped along the way by all manner of criminals looking to collect on a bounty put up by Harvey’s bad side. The back up story about Duke is rather interesting because it reveals for the first time that Duke is in fact a meta-human, the story ended but is going to be picked up in Metal at some stage i believe as well as the upcoming Batman: The Signal mini-series. The artwork of the series has been surprisingly experimental in places but it’s also been very good. A very good series, any time Snyder writes Batman you’re in for a treat but the series did feel like it had ran out of steam a little bit with the last arc. Still, a must-read for Batman fans, especially those who loved the New 52 series. - 8/10

Batgirl - A so-so series thus far, Hope Larson falls into the trap of having to serve up Barbara Gordon a love interest in each arc and it becomes predictable when a single young male turns up on the scene that Babs is going to have feelings for them. Was not a fan of Albuquerque on art, it felt very rushed, but Chris Wildgoose stepped up and brought a sense of the familiar when Batgirl returned to Burnside. There’s lot of work to do to get this series to be a must-read. - 5/10

Nightwing - The book picks up from the end of Grayson as well as Robin War with Dick Grayson returning to his classic blue Nightwing costume in order to go undercover at the Court of Owls, and later he returns to his pre-Flashpoint home of Bludhaven. Writer Tim Seeley takes on Dick Grayson minus his Grayson cohort Tom King and he brings a sense of stability to the series that some will find comforting if they’re moving over from Grayson to this book. Seeley hasn’t been afraid to take risks with Nightwing and it pays off with some really personal story telling later on in the series that will call back to the days of Grant Morrison’s Batman & Robin run. Coupled with the nice artwork from Javier Fernandez, Marcus To and Minkyu Jung, Nightwing has been one of the more consistently enjoyable books of Rebirth and is well worth checking out. - 8.5/10

Batgirl & The Birds Of Prey - In stark comparison to the other Batgirl title, this one is incredibly well written by the Benson sisters (who are also writers on the excellent TV show The 100) and while the artwork hasn’t been the best, it’s still perfectly serviceable and doesn’t spoil the book at all. The writing almost makes me feel like the Benson sisters are acting out the script of each issue because the conversations between Barbara, Helena and Dinah feel so natural and funny too. This book is easily one of the most underrated of Rebirth, it should just be Birds Of Prey though. The recent additions of Catwoman and Poison Ivy to the line up has been refreshing to the series too, so hopefully the Bensons are free to be a bit more liberal with the line up. - 9/10

Red Hood & The Outlaws - If someone told me in January 2016 that i would be recommending a Scott Lobdell series i would have laughed in their face, but here we are and i’m about to eat some serious humble pie. RHATO is not only one of the best written series in Rebirth but also one of the best looking ones too. Pairing Jason Todd with Artemis (not the one from Young Justice) and Bizarro was a stroke of genius. Artemis challenges Jason to be a more moral man and Bizarro brings out a side of Jason that can only be described really as fatherly. Their moniker of the “Dark Trinity” is not very accurate as there’s not much dark about them, except that they are willing to do things that the classic Trinity are not. Lobdell strikes a great serious tone with a funny one too but he doesn’t overdo it like he has with his other works. Perhaps the only complaint i would have is that he’s yet to have that big storyline just yet that makes you go “fuck yeah!” but i’m sure it’s coming. The artwork by Dexter Soy and colourist Veronica Gandini is so incredibly well done too, with fantastic detail and colour and an almost anime feel to it. Just like New Super-Man, this book flies under the radar for most people but it is well worth reading. - 9.5/10

Batman Beyond - My first big exposure to Batman Beyond was via the Futures End series so some of the references and characters are a little lost on me. The story telling beats are solid though and the art is very nice. Probably one for the die-hards though. - 7/10

Batwoman - This was one of the first Wave 2 books and is only a handful of issues in, but so far i really like it. I’m not sure how the writing duties work with Marguerite Bennett and James Tynion on the title but it’s clear the book is well plotted. Steve Epting on art duties provides a moody backdrop to the series that suits it well, but i wonder how it would translate to other locales. Solid so far, can’t wait to see where Kate Kane goes from here and teaming her up with Alfred’s daughter Julia is a big plus too. - 7/10

Conclusions

The Bat Family of books have always maintained a high level of quality and that continues into Rebirth. It’s strange but the only two books i have problems with are the ones that were very popular in the New 52 era, Batman and Batgirl. I don’t see changes happening any time soon though, Batman is still DC’s biggest selling comic and Batgirl is still popular in her Burnside guise too, but i would like to see a change in writer for each book to change things up a little bit.

Just like with the Superman Family of books, the big winners from Rebirth are the ones who were let down by the New 52 era such as Tim Drake and Jason Todd. A real sense of legacy is coming out of these books right now and it’s a great time to be a Batman fan.

Thanks for reading!

Next up: The Justice League!

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