DC Relaunch: Frankenstein: Agent of SHADE

The thing that's kind of cool about characters in the public domain (aside from the fact that you can really do anything you want with them) is that somewhere, there's a story for you featuring that character. Whether it be the original, or the comic book version, there's an option for you. What's even better is when it's not just a cool reimagining, but a REALLY cool remimagining that takes the character to whole new levels. And then there's when Grant Morrison does that and totally blows us all out of the water.

Frankenstein: Agent of SHADE comes fully loaded with a supporting cast that may not have been plugged in at first, but in the end just makes sense. First with Frankenstein's monster, who has taken his creator's name, you have this amazing, badass agent that rivals Hellboy, with a swagger that'd make the hardest of men cry. While a leader, he's reluctant in what he does, but he knows it must be done. It's notable when you can somehow make Frankenstein stand out from how he's appeared before, and on top of that look just plain awesome without trying.

Frankenstein is joined by the Creature Commandos, who are looking a bit different these days than they used to. As always, his partner in SHADE is The Bride, who looks very much like the classic Bride of Frankenstein, except for being loaded down with both guns and extra arms. Rounding it out are a number of monsters similar to the classic Universal monster line, and a little girl who I think may be Black Alice? Unconfirmed of course, that's just me trying to figure stuff out from the images that have been released.

DC Relaunch: Demon Knights

Jack Kirby, often referred to as "The King of Comics," who assisted or single-handledly created most of Marvel's staple characters, came in and left the DC universe with a wonderful smattering of characters during a time that many consider to be him at his peak. One of these odd little characters was the Demon, Etrigan. An odd little turn around on a Jekyl and Hyde scenario, the Demon was actually a cruel meddling of the wizard Merlin in a last ditch effort at Camelot. And the he leaped into the present day. The DC Universe has had many other characters running around the Medieval times, and so its appropriate that someone would want to put a band together...

Enter the Demon Knights. Cause who best to save the world in dark times such as those? Along with Madame Xanadu (who has managed to sneak her way into two books, kudos m'lady), the Shining Knight, and whoever else might be around (no doubt we'll be surprised), the curiosity may lay less with its members and more with its missions. Because what exactly would you be doing if you're being led by a demon (and one that rhymes at that).

An aspect of the character that I've always liked is the other side to the coin. I mentioned Jekyl and Hyde earlier, and while Etrigan may represent the Hyde side, the Jekyl, Jason Blood, is no slouch. A childhood friend of Merlin's, he is an immortal mage, forever tied to his destiny of chains with the demon. He is often ruthless, which may be the influence on his back. But the modern Blood is less active, he is reclusive, resigned to his position (most often, anyway). So I am interested to see how this plays with the demon being a more recent inhabitant.

DC Relaunch: Justice League Dark

The DC Universe has had its share of supernatural heroes, and but a few supernatural or magic based teams. The previous magic go-to-guys was Shadowpact, and more often than not they were kind of considered a joke (at least until things got way out of hand and you needed to fix it quick). But with more emphasis on the magic/mystic/peculiar side of the DC universe, it's time to take these guys seriously again. And this time, they've brought out the big guns.

Will they actually be called Justice League Dark? I don't know, but the fact that they're finally regarded as Justice League worthy is important, I think. These folks have certainly saved the world enough times over. Deadman? Oh yeah, and you never knew because you couldn't see him! John Constantine? Buy him a beer and a pack of silk cuts and he'll tell you a tale or two, and how he got snubbed every time (though that last time was with good reason). Zatanna has been on the Justice League (or she was in the last continuity), and Madame Xanadu has been knocking around so long that I'm gonna be talking about her and the Demon hanging out tomorrow back in just post-Camelot days. What has Shade done? Good question. He's the least magical of all of them, being an alien being projecting into unused identity (read:dead) and wearing an M-vest that does a number of things, and depending on the day, the M can stand for damn near anything.

So here they all are, purveyors of weird, ready to take on whatever is thrown at them, which alot of that is going to be the biggest hurdle: they have to get along the whole time. Constantine more tolerates Deadman than anything, and him and Shade get along okay, though everything goes weird. Xanadu has seen every Constantine, Zatara, and avatar of Nanda Parat (Deadman), and she's likely not that impressed. And Constantine and Zatanna dated once (awkwaaaard). And thrown into all of this is the Enchantress, who just can't seem to figure out if she wants to be bad or good. It's a toss up.

DC Relaunch: Animal Man

Every once in a while, you get a character that no one really cares about or acknowledges. They stay to the back of our mind, if that, awaiting a time to be mocked in lew of a positive building on the character and his/her abilities. And then that one story comes along and changes everything. Despite an appearance during Crisis on Infinite Earths, Animal Man was a nothing character, and Grant Morrison was given the character to do with as he willed. The run itself is legendary, overshadowing other works starring the character. All the same, Animal Man is just a simple guy.

Buddy Baker, or Animal Man, had powers bestowed upon him by aliens to be able to tap into any animal and gain its abilities. While at first, this was limited to nearby animals, soon Buddy Baker learned how to tap into the larger network of animals, into something called The Red. Much like the Green for Swamp Thing, the Red is like an index and interconnected network of all animals in the world and the universe as well. Through this, Buddy is able to use the abilities of not only animals that are nowhere in his vicinity, but also animals he may have never had contact with. However there have been numerous times where his connectedness to the Red has either rendered bad situations or problems in his ability to connect to this.

Buddy is a family man. One of the things that have been unique about his stories has been his connection to family. Buddy has a wife and two young kids. Throughout the years, and even in his first stories, he has been relentlessly devoted to them, which is impressive considering the Amazonian like superwomen he often shares ranks with. His children have run up against the superhuman community as well, and writer Jeff Lemire promises no changes from past habits with that regard. Animal Man is about the superhero struggle and how that affects and envelops the family.

DC Relaunch: Batwing

One of the major concerns as news and solicits rolled out for the Relaunch was whether it was a full on reboot or what. Relief hit upon this title (as with a few others), because of its close ties to the current continuity and Batman Incoporated. On the other side of that, many people thought it odd that of all the titles to come out of Batman Incoporated, why this one? At the time, the character had made very few appearances. However, the more that Judd Winick talks about it, the more excited I am for the character and the book.

Batwing is generally considered the Batman of Africa. At the the same time, he has his own city and is established there. Just like Batman may go where adventure/crime takes, so it does for Batwing. It's interesting, the design is based off an old Batman story (that I have somewhere in an oversized collection), and somehow this has been pulled up out the dregs by Morrison & company. Since the character is new, I'm a bit behind on posts, and the writer taking this new direction is Judd Winick, I thought I'd direct you to where he's talked about it some with the comic sites:

with CBR
with Newsarama

Ben Oliver will be joining Winick on art. He's previously made his mark on Robert Kirkman's run of Ultimate X-Men, Christos Gage's issues of Thunderbolts, and The Ten-Seconders with Rob Williams (serialized in 2000 AD).

Later today, we get more of the Dark. Tomorrow, more of stuff in general!

DC Relaunch: Looking Around 7/18

I wanted to throw a couple of things at you this afternoon.
First of all, Red Hood & the Outlaws has been discussed with Scott Lobdell
At Newsarma

and CBR

 

 

 

And Scott Snyder about Swamp Thing at the Washington Post & Newsarama.

Both with the covers to #2.

Additionally, today was when DC released the FULL solicits for October 2011

DC Relaunch: Swamp Thing

And now we venture our way into The Dark. It was an interesting idea, for DC to separate the books into "families." I think it works out pretty well. For a long time, the character that inhabit the "Dark" region of the DCU were pretty limited to the world of Vertigo Comics, DC's mature readers imprint. They weren't even seen anymore in the regular world of DC, which was even sadder considering some characters, such as Swamp Thing and Animal Man, had long since had their series ended. And then slowly, the characters trickled their way back into the regular books. And then, the flood officially came rushing in when in the last few issues of Brightest Day, Swamp Thing came stumbling through the brush.

Swamp Thing runs multiple fields, and is a complicated beast. At first glance, here's a swamp monster in the same vein as Man-Thing, the Heap, and more recently Aaron Lopresti's Garbage Man. What more is there? Well, how about that he's the represenative of the Green, the life force of all plantlife of on Earth and beyond. There's also the man behind the plant, Alec Holland. Previously, he was believed to be dead, and that his memories were merely imprinted on Swamp Thing. Now the two are one being, and on top of everything being the one representative of the white energy of the light entity on earth, the sole White Lantern. Yes, it's busy being Swamp Thing.

The thing is, Swamp Thing has always wanted much less out of life. To live without much complication. He has usually kept to the swamps and only traveling outside of when needed. The powers he has becomes extremely impressive as you learn about the Green. Like a giant network, Swamp Thing can travel it, from one place to the other. He can create a new self out of any plant life, even alien life. This new direction, of him being between the Green and the white energy, will prove interesting.

DC Relaunch: Red Hood & the Outlaws

So you're the Red Hood. Life hasn't just been tough; it's been weird. First of all, you've got some bad beginnings on the street. A man comes along and tries to lift you up and brighten your life. That man is Batman. Somewhere you can see where that might go wrong. Oh and then you're brutally murdered, resurrected and trained by assassins, and decided to execute your own justice on the city you call home.
Now, you've got a couple of other people who are sitting on the wrong side of the fence of their own people, and they seem drawn to you. Exactly what you wanted.

Red Hood & the Outlaws is one of those series that none of us saw coming, but it doesn't leave people unintrigued. Jason Todd has been gaining popular since his reemergence as the Red Hood, despite the previous years of phone call ins regarding his death. Jason is generally not good at working with others, and usually prefers to do things his way. Compromise and consideration are not appropriate descriptives. Recently, fellow Outlaw Roy Harper has fallen on hard times and back into drugs. On his good days though, he's one of the best in the world with a bow and arrow, and just about any other weapon for that matter. He's hard-headed, which he gets from his mentor, the Green Arrow, and he seems to have picked up some of that ladies' man charm as well. Starfire has recently been in some odd places for her, after years of being on Earth being off world and working with REBELS. She expresses herself very openly, and her level of personal intimacy is much less guarded than most people. She's also one of the most powerful beings on Earth.

Diversion: The Gathering

When I was a kid, up until someone thought it would be a great idea for me to take art lessons, I wrote and drew stories. Not always comics, as I didn't have access to alot of comics at the time, but generally the process of storytelling with art. As we are want to do when we grow older, I did fall out of reading comics in general, but I continued to sketch and continued to write. Over the years I've infrequently maintained a webcomic, and I've plotted and scripted a number of ideas, but outside of internet self-publishing, I had no idea how I'd ever have a story published.

Enter The Gathering. The Gathering is literally a group of people, friends, collaborators, who came together on forums and decided that they were going to do it this time. They would self-publish their own print comic. What they are doing is publishing a themed black and white anthology comic (quarterly) for a reasonable price (cheaper than that 20 page Avengers story you may have purchased this week!), with up and coming writers and artists who are finally getting that chance to put out their stories and art. It's a beautiful thing, both the community that's developed and the opportunity it affords for newcomers. To actually be able to say, "Yes, I have had something published," instead of being completely unproven.

Right now, GrayHaven Comics, which publishes The Gathering, is raising money to help put out the Horror-themed fourth volume, "Into the Abyss." There's even a story in there written by me. You can help out by contributing through Kickstarter here, and you can purchase that volume here. There's some pretty cool incentives if you contribute to the Kickstarter campaign, so take a look at those as well.

Help participate in something different. Help support small press comics. Enjoy new and original stories.

Your support is appreciated.

DC Relaunch: Nightwing

As people, one of the more difficult things we often have to accept in our lives is that we have outgrown something. Whether it be something as simply watching a show that's not quite our age level as we progress up, or something more complex, where we feel embarrassed for our old attachments.  But we move on, and create new pieces for ourselves, new molds for us to grow in. In comics we often want our heroes for freeze in time and stay that same age we remember forever. But what ended up being a surprise move was the day that Dick Grayson grew up, threw off the pixie boots, put on some damn pants, and became Nightwing.

Nightwing is the Dick Grayson coming into his own. While many people may argue that his brief tenure as Batman would be this, I would say that his time as Batman is him holding up the mantle, waiting for the true bearer to come pick it up so he could go back to the life he felt he should be living. Nightwing represented Dick's freedom from the Bat, no longer being the necessary sidekick to the bat and cowl. And while at the time of the original self-transformation, there was an argument between him and Bruce, Dick has maintained his friendship with his old chum .

Usually as Nightwing, Dick Grayson has stayed somewhere other than Gotham for his personal adventures. Often early on this was wherever the Titans were. As time went on, he established himself as protector Bludhaven, and later in New York City when Bludhaven fell under a nuclear attack. This time he'll be staying in Gotham, and the dark mirror than was placed under him as Batman will only warp slightly in image. Despite these new villains, Dick's personality always shines through. Extremely friendly and light in mood at just about all times, Dick has been there as adopted son, surrogate older brother, mentor, and even lover. So now Nightwing dons again the shoes that feel most comfortable, albeit with a slightly different design, and returns to us as Nightwing.

DC Relaunch: Looking Around 7/14



Batwoman was originally scheduled to run this Spring, but was held off. So there's some interviews about the characters and process (plus a sizable lead time!) from around then.

Here's a couple from when the series was first announced last year:
A few talks from JH Williams III about the series at CBR and Robot 6...
And one with Amy Reeder at Newsarama.

More recently, Williams has talked to The Fandom Post about the series with regards to the relaunch...

Above is the cover for Batwoman #2. DC has had a few additional announcements today as well, and more October solicitations...

DC Relaunch: Batwoman

As I've mentioned before, the world of Gotham is a big place, ever expanding. Very few villains go away, and new ones pile up all the time. So it's no surprise that there's some counter action to that as well. In the weekly year long series 52, we were introduced to Kate Kane, and her beginnings as Batwoman.

Batwoman does not handle the same type of adventures that Batman does. No, hers are much more surreal,  more dreamlike, and more deadly. Her primary opponents are those who follow the religion of crime, under The Crime Bible, and they've nearly killed her. Like Bruce Wayne, Kate Kane not only comes from money, but from old money, being one of the legendary families of Gotham. She is very hard-nosed, and still very new to the business of the superhero. In our brief looks into her world, she's taken some heavy hits, and has uneasily balanced her life as Batwoman and her life as Kate Kane. As she becomes enveloped in more of the former and less of the latter, both worlds become stranger.

I've made it this far and surely there's at least one person reading who has been adding to the end of every sentence he reads, "...and she's a lesbian." Well congratulations, here's your paragraph. Yes, Kate Kane is a lesbian. It's been handled rather gracefully, I think. Whenever the character was first announced, that was pretty much all some people caught. You'd wondered if they bothered to read the comics in the first place. "DC Introduces Lesbian Character, Batwoman," they'd read. And that was mostly it. It tells us about as much about the characters as does saying, "Batwoman likes pie." In both cases, we know what to expect. In the first, we do expect that at some point Batwoman will develop a romantic interest that will likely be a woman. In the latter, we expect Batwoman to be eating pies. In both cases, we are given background information, but nothing real about the character. DC and its writers have treated Batwoman better than that, and have portrayed not a stereotype, but a real person dealing with their life.

DC Relaunch: Looking Around 7/13

While today we were taking a look over at what's up with Batgirl, Gail Simone has spoken some about it online already.

Over at DC's blog The Source, they published a short blurb of Gail talking about Barbara Gordon as Batgirl, while over at Newsarama they had a much more extensive interview.

And here's Adam Hughes' cover for Batgirl #2, on sale in October!

So today, DC released their October soliciations for their Green Lantern books. It's very exciting. Also, there's some spoilery stuff about the War of the Green Lanterns. If you don't care, go right ahead, but otherwise, you may want to hold off until you read the issue. 

Link after the jump, along with some more DC Relaunch goodies...

DC Relaunch: Batgirl

Many times, we as people give up on the small things. Something simple that we become frustrated enough with that we throw our hands up in the air. It's not worth it, right? And at the same time, we see these stories of people with huge problems that it is totally okay to throw your hands up about, and yet they persevered. They overcome, they move on. Barbara Gordon has rode the high, had the lowest of lows, and brought herself up out of it all to overcome all the odds, all while not moving physically from the place she was brought to. And now she gets to stand once again where she started, as Batgirl.

Barbara Gordon started her career as Batgirl. There's something that's intriguing about the Batgirl persona, no matter who's behind that particular cowl. Many people have expressed their devotion for every incarnation of the character, the very first one being an exception. She is unique in that she is allowed to carry the title/mantle of "Bat," something Robin does not do. Additionally, Batgirl grabs us as a reader because of the types of adventures she finds herself in. We frequently find the character of Batgirl in over her head. Whereas the story may start off as something well within her control, some element in that reveals itself, a snake revealed to be the head of a gorgon, which presents Batgirl, whichever one she may be, with the new and unprecedented challenge.  And without assist, Batgirl does the job. She leaps in headfirst. I think it's a great quality for the character to have, and I think it makes the dynamic between her and Dick Grayson, former high wire act, all the better.

Now, Barbara has been through alot. She was Batgirl, stepped down of her own free will, was paralyzed by the Joker and forced into a wheelchair, not only became the super info-source/hacker Oracle, but became perfectly capable of defending herself without any help whatsoever. It's another Batgirl story, just told in a different fashion, and in long form. We see with her return as Batgirl yet another step in that journey, and thankfully one of Barbara's biggest fans is guiding us.

DC Relaunch: Looking Around 7/12

So Rich Johnston over at Bleeding Cool posted some worth noting, especially with our coverage of Batman: The Dark Knight being mere days ago (Sunday!). You can go take a look, but what seems to be going on, and what seems to have been left off of the September solicitations, is that writer Paul Jenkins (set to work on DCU Presents: Deadman, will be co-writing the book with David Finch. The two work down the plot, Jenkins scripts, and Finch works on the art along with Jay Fabok. Teamwork!

Additionally in the news is the long rumored The Shade 12 issue mini-series by writer James Robinson with artist Cully Hamner (who helped with many of the redesigns along with Jim Lee and others). Comic Book Resources got the break on that one...

Additionally...

DC Relaunch: Catwoman

Bruce Wayne is bad with women. I make a point of saying Bruce because it’s not just in the day job, it’s at night too, as Batman. He either can’t keep them around because of the problems of being Batman and not being able to devote the time necessary as Bruce to warrant a relationship where his secret identity is not known, or he meets them in his time as Batman. Which means that at some level or another, they’re a criminal. There’s almost a complete disregard for his fellow female heroes, relationship wise. But the bad girls, he can’t stay away. Enter suspect number one: Catwoman.

Catwoman has been hanging around Batman for some time, and has been popular enough as a villain to get in the shows and movies multiple times, and even to get her own non-canonical and terribly received movie, of which will speak no further. Selina Kyle (Catwoman, if you didn’t know) has in recent decades turned over a bit in terms of her criminal tendencies. Really, she’s still got a thing for diamonds. That’s not changing. But for the most part otherwise, she does what she wants in the range of the white hats. That doesn’t stop her from being seductive, and her on-again/off-again with Batman comes and goes. And while he may not approve of all her activities, she does enough good for him to keep a blind eye on those. Selina is also extremely sly, and does much more back and forth between the catsuit and the dress than Bruce between the tux and the cowl.

Judd Winick is good fit writing for the book, just as a personal opinion. He’s spent a fair deal of time at DC, working on Green Arrow for a long stretch, The Trials of Shazam! maxi-series, Green Lantern, The Outsiders, and Batman, where he wrote the story collected as Under the Hood, bring back dead Robin Jason Todd. He also worked for Marvel writing Exiles, and on his own creator owned stories in Barry Ween and the autobiographical graphic novel Pedro & Me.
Artist Guillem March has been working with Judd Winick lately on their 3 issue run on Batman & Robin. He’s been doing lots of cover work for the Batman books of late, and was doing interiors for Gotham City Sirens, which featured Catwoman alongside Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn, and Azrael with writer David Hine.

Catwoman has had a number of series over time, though for me Brubaker's is tops. It’s worth noting that Batman: Year One serves well as a Year One for Catwoman as well…

Catwoman: The Dark End of the Street by Ed Brubaker & Darwyn Cooke
Catwoman: Crooked Little Town by Ed Brubaker, Brad Rader, & Cameron Stewart
Catwoman: Relentless by Ed Brubaker, Cameron Stewart, & Javier Pullido
Catwoman: Wild Ride by Ed Brubaker, Cameron Stewart, & Guy Davis

Tomorrow we visit an already controversial subject despite the book not even having launched yet, the return of Barbara Gordon to Batgirl!

DC Relaunch: Birds of Prey

Gotham is a big city. There’s a lot going on there, and it’s been a long time since JUST Batman patrolled its streets. It’s complicated, movement throughout multiple networks going in and out, legal and criminal, and as you might imagine, Batman can’t handle everywhere and everything. So if the Birds of Prey are handling things on the covert-ops side of things in Gotham, that just makes his job all the easier.

Birds of Prey hasn’t always been covert ops, but it has always been mission based. Whereas before, Oracle ran the missions with Black Canary, Oracle seems to be gone (to be explained both in Birds of Prey and Batgirl, or so we’re told) and Black Canary is running things with a new partner, Starling. The name “Birds of Prey” was given to the book at its inception, but it should be noted that the team has never used the name except in a joke or two, and that only occasionally has Oracle referred to them as her “birds.” Black Canary has gone through a lot in her life, and while she has the super-power of a sonic scream, she really prefers not to use it. She is an extremely skilled martial artist, ranking among the best. Little to nothing is known about Starling at this point, she appears to be a new character.

Rounding out the group on this first cover is what appears to be Katana, an expert swordswoman and bearer of a blade containing (from the solicit for issue 2), the soul of her dead husband. And apparently she’s able to talk to him. Also on the first cover is Poison Ivy, a long time Bat-villain who has strayed into greyer and greyer areas in recent years. Her involvement is difficult to say just yet. The new mixture of covert ops and the new takes on familiar characters should bring a new dynamic to this fan favorite series.

Duane Swierczynski will be writing the book with Jesus Saiz on art. Swierczynski has mostly done work for Marvel in the past, completely well received runs The Immortal Iron Fist, Cable, and two stories for Punisher: Frank Castle. He’s also a rather established crime and mystery novelist. Jesus Saiz has most recently been the new artist on Birds of Prey, and has previously worked with J. Michael Straczynski on The Brave & the Bold, and Checkmate with Greg Rucka.

Gail Simone’s long run on Birds of Prey has been the most notable, and so I can’t help but note the favorite of mine within those collections:

Birds of Prey: Of Like Minds by Gail Simone & Ed Benes
Birds of Prey: Blood & Circuits by Gail Simone & Paulo Siqueira
Birds of Prey: Dead of Winter by Gail Simone & Nicola Scott
Birds of Prey: Endrun by Gail Simone, Ed Benes, & Adriana Melo

Many have wondered where Huntress went to. Much like the Penguin mini that was revealed at Comic Book Resources, Newsarama hit on a pretty big exclusive with the reveal of the The Huntress 5 issue mini. This will be written by Legion of Super-heroes scribe Paul Levitz, with art from Marcus To & John Dell. That all is here, at the bottom of the October Bat-solicits. http://www.newsarama.com/comics/dcnu-october-2011-batman-titles-110711.html

Tomorrow! Moving along with more of the women of Batman, we’ll be taking a look at Catwoman.

DC Relaunch: Looking Around

I'm running a bit late on today's post (shooting for 5pm CST instead of my normal 12, which I'm 10 minutes past as it is). For a while I've been wanting to point people around to the rest of the internet, and what they're saying. More importantly, what the writers and artists have been saying about this new work. What I'd like to point out is that over at Comic Book Resources, they've just posted covers and solicitations, not only for issue two of Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo's Batman, but also for a mini-series, Penguin: Pain & Prejudice, by crime writer Gregg Hurwitz (Punisher, The Vengeance of Moon Knight), and Szymon Kudranski (Spawn, Repulse). Go take a look... http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=33191

Apparently all the ongoing Bat-solicits for October have been released, on DC's blog. Couple of books we haven't hit here yet, of course, and hopefully give you a better feeling on them as well.

http://dcu.blog.dccomics.com/2011/07/11/with-all-these-new-villains-arkham-asylum-is-going-to-need-a-new-wing/

DC Relaunch: Batman: the Dark Knight

Batman has had multiple titles for a long time, whether you're referring to the original solo feature, to the various additional series throughout the years. When Bruce Wayne made his way back to Gotham, two new books were the ones that put him in the driver's seat. One was the Grant Morrison written Batman Inc. The other was David Finch's self-written and drawn Batman: The Dark Knight.

Batman: The Dark Knight was originally the Batman that could not get away. While he ran the globe with Catwoman and checked in on long time Batmen of the world Mr. Unknown and El Gaucho in Batman Inc, Batman: the Dark Knight was the Bruce Wayne that could not get away from Gotham. That couldn't help but find himself drawn back in the darkness of the city. David Finch's artwork and storytelling is dark and detailed. There's a certain grainy and grittiness that cannot escape the work he does, whether it be interiors or covers. The Penguin played a large role in Finch's stories thus far, and alot has changed with him over the years. These days, the Penguin runs the Iceberg Club. A legal front for his illegal dealings, he has found his hands in many more pots these days that Batman would prefer. However, Penguin's connection to this world and his weakness in telling Batman exactly what is going on (or at least, to the best of his knowledge) allows Batman a certain in to the crimeworld.

David Finch has worked extensively for Marvel, providing art for Avengers during the Avengers: Disassembled storyline with Brian Michael Bendis, and also following that in New Avengers with Bendis as well. He's also worked with novelist Charlie Huston in relaunching Moon Knight to new audiences back in 2005. He also did the art for Jeph Loeb's Ultimatum event in Marvel's Ultimate Universe. Finch will be assisted by Jay Fabok, as you might imagine, writing and drawing is a tough job! Fabok has being doing some work over at Aspen.

If you're looking for some of David Finch's Batman work now, get thee to a comic book shop! Batman: The Return and the first two issues of Batman: The Dark Knight may still be there!

Tomorrow we getting to the anciliary Batman titles, beginning with the brand new Birds of Prey!

DC Relaunch: Batman & Robin

Most superheroes, somewhere down the line, have had sidekicks. It's an interesting dynamic that many books have tried to imitate over the years. Sometimes just a goofy tag along, other times actually involved in the crime-fighting, it varied depending on how the writer decided to approach it. The kid sidekick was ever more prevalent, to the point that entire team, the Teen Titans, is composed of them. But the original kid sidekick is, of course, Robin.

Batman and Robin are frequently referred to as the dynamic duo, and they've certainly earned that name. There is literally a dynamic between the two, in terms of a light/dark balance, and in terms of approach to the fight that makes it interesting. Now the Robins have varied over the years as has Batman's personality, and it seems to fit well enough if you take that into account. Currently, Robin is Damian Wayne, the son of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul, daughter of the R'as al Ghul, and involved heavily with her father's organization, the League of Assassins. Trained by the best in fighting, and learning how to live normally at a relatively slow pace, Damian has shown an incredible darkness that is markedly different than Robins of the past. And yet, there is a certain lightness all the same. Damian became Robin under the batwing of Dick Grayson, and now with Bruce back in the role as the only Batman, the dynamic changes again. Perhaps it is time for Bruce to change against the darker Robin, whether further down the spiral wil just have to be seen.

Pete Tomasi will write along with long-time partner Patrick Gleason on art. The two had worked together previously on Green Lantern Corps, and have also had a 3 issue run on the previous Batman & Robin title, where they introduced an odd new adversary. Now they take the reigns of Bruce along with Damian, and hopefully continue that amazing dynamic of their own. Pete Tomasi has worked with the Bat family previously, crafting a great run on Nightwing. He also co-wrote the year-long Brightest Day along with Geoff Johns.

Damian has really grown alot in the past few years. There's very little of the previous Batman & Robin series that's not worth checking out:

Batman & Son by Grant Morrison & Andy Kubert

Batman & Robin: Batman Reborn by Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, & Philip Tan

Batman & Robin: Batman vs. Robin by Grant Morrison, Andy Clarke, & Cameron Stewart

Batman & Robin: Batman Must Die! by Grant Morrison, Frazier Irving, & Cameron Stewart

And then tomorrow we'll look at David Finch's take on the Bat, in Batman: The Dark Knight

DC Relaunch: Detective Comics

One of the longest running DC comics is restarting. It's not the only one, ind you, but still. Detective Comics, a new number one. Who thought that would happen? And while it didn't start with him, and hasn't always been just him, it's still running with Batman in the lead. In recent years, DC has done a pretty good job of maintaining themes slightly separate from that of the Batman title and so on. In the past few years, we've seen Paul Dini's done in ones, as well as his more overarching Hush epic, Greg Rucka and JH Williams' masterful Batwoman stories, David Hine's bizarre dealings of Jeremiah Arkham, finally bringing us to Scott Snyder's exploration with Jock and Francavilla of the Gotham as mirrored against a Dick Grayson'd Batman.

Likewise, Detective Comics as written and drawn by Tony Daniel promises to be different from Scott Snyder's Batman, and no doubt will be different from the other two main books. Whereas Snyder promises to explore the ways that Gotham has changed in Bruce Wayne's absence at the primary Batman of Gotham City, Tony Daniel's exploration will be of darker matter altogether. And part of his exploration will directly involve the Joker. As Batman changes through the years depending on the writers, so too does the Joker to reflect that Batman. He can be deadly and psychotic, and he can be playful, annoying, and goofy. He definitely tries to cover any bases that the phrase "evil clown" could possibly garner. The Joker has never made his longstanding relationship easy for Batman, even going so far as to kill one of the Robins.

The Joker's relationship to the Robins is interesting with regards to his relationship with Batman. As his relationship with Bruce Wayne as Batman is directly oppositional, he is different with Dick Grayson as Batman. With Dick, he recognized that he was not his Batman. And rather than be directly antagonistic, he provided support, in his on sort of way. With the Robins, I feel like the Joker often sees them as bait. They aren't who he's fighting, he's fighting Bruce Wayne. The Robins are just part of the whole thing. But Dick made it all fun. It was a joke, it was a dance, it wasn't all grim and serious and deathy. Likewise, Jason Todd as Robin just didn't fit to him. And so he beat him to death with a crowbar. Tim Drake is very much a detective like Bruce. There's something about Tim's demeanor, his defiance of being just a leadup to Batman, and his association with friends that give him another response from the Joker, one of almost admiration and respect, despite him still being, in general, a potential hostage. Damian, I don't think he took seriously at first, and he made a mistake. He underestimated him. His interest in Damian outweighed that of Dick as Batman. I think there's a certain level of fear involved in that too. And that leads into tomorrow, with Batman & Robin.

Tony Daniel leads this along on both scripting and art. The cover indicates to me a new style he's experimenting with that may go hand in hand with the dark story he wishes to tell. Usually, Tony Daniel has very clean lines, and his recent Batman stories allow a certain level of colorfulness to the odd world around Batman. As we saw in his run on Batman with Grant Morrison as writer, the colorfulness can be even more disturbing, depending on the subject matter.

Here's a few of Tony Daniel's work with Batman and an excellent Joker story as well:

The Man Who Laughs by Ed Brubaker & Doug Mahnke
Batman: The Battle for the Cowl by Tony Daniel
Batman: Life After Death by Tony Daniel
Batman: Eye of the Beholder by Tony Daniel

Tomorrow we investiage the Batman & Robin dynamic, and the current Robin, Damien Wayne.

DC Relaunch: Batman

I don’t feel like I should have to explain who Batman is to you. You’ve likely seen one of the movies, maybe the old Adam West TV show, one of the myriad animated series over the years, maybe your only experience is through Superfriend or the movie Batman & Robin. I couldn’t say. But if you’ve experienced Batman in more than one medium, then at some point you’ve noticed how different those Batmen were. And that is the case, that over time Batman has changed, and has been defined by those who write him and their motivations at the time. For the past few years, Batman and his vast gallery of rogues have gone through numerous changes which were reflected through the pens of Grant Morrison and Paul Dini. As we move on into a new era, and only the second Batman #1 in existence, I can’t help but feel that this book will set the bar for the other surrounding titles.

Batman, as you may well know, is the defender of Gotham City. Sometimes in shadow, sometimes in the light, he waffles between paranoia and clarity of mind, between a ruthless vigilante and a hopeful optimist. And the question every writer faces is how much of Bruce Wayne is still there? Is there only Batman, Bruce merely an act? To me, the juxtaposition is what makes the comic, just as the Joker provides the absolutely madness without an end goal, the far end of the scale. The Joker is scheduled to appear in Detective Comics, so I’ll talk more about him tomorrow.

I’d like to put a little more focus on the writer, Scott Snyder. Currently the writer of Detective Comics and weaving a great story involving the changing face of Gotham under the wings of Dick Grayson as Batman, and flipping the story to show James Gordon’s separate but related investigations that lead all paths together. The story, called “The Black Mirror,” has shown how the city of Gotham begins to reflect the charm and swagger that Dick Grayson brings to the Batman role, and spits back his muddy reflection of crime. Now Bruce Wayne is forced to confront these new elements as he make his return as sole Batman of Gotham.

Synder will also be writing Swamp Thing in the relaunch., He has been writing American Vampire, which feature contributions from Stephen King and art from Rafael Albequerque. On art will be Greg Capullo, who has been doing work for McFarland studios, working on Spawn and most recently Haunt in collaboration with Robert Kirkman.

Where to begin with Batman in the comics? I’d avoid the recent Grant Morrison epic until you’re read to experience some really weird Batman stories. So here’s the most basic, with Scott Snyder’s recent contribution included:

Batman: Year One by Frank Miller and Dave Mazzuchelli

Batman: The Black Mirror by Scott Snyder, Jock, & Francesco Francavilla

Tomorrow we'll look at Detective Comics and the Joker!

DC Relaunch: Red Lanterns

We’ve all experienced rage at one time or another. Whether it be something someone said that completely threw you into a frenzy, or perhaps watching someone become unbelievably enraged by any number of things. Now, imagine that rage you or they experienced. Imagine it concentrated to the
point that swells up in your body to the point that it bursts forth creating vengeful constructs as red burning energy spills from your mouth like bile. Welcome to the Red Lanterns!

Red Lanterns was announced last year, way before we got our first look at even Flashpoint. The popularity of the characters in the Red Lanterns had proven to be strong, beating out other strong contenders in the various corps. Atrocitus leads the Red Lanterns, hailing from a nightmare world destroyed by the failed experiment of the Guardians, the Manhunters. His world is one filled with revenge and swift justice, with blood and prophecy. The Red Lanterns have suffered great loss,
and their rage fuel their desire for justice by death. The characters we’ve been given, such as Bleez and Dex-Starr, are already compelling, each one having fallen so far before finding the rage that brought them to the Red Lanterns. Each Red Lantern’s ring is tied directly to their heart. To simply remove the ring would kill them. The journey they take in their own series will be interesting, as despite their intentions, the Red Lanterns walk way off the line.

Peter Milligan will be writing with Ed Benes on art. Peter Milligan has been in the industry for sometime, working on the Batman books before getting on the ground with Shade the Changing Man for DC’s mature readers line, eventually becoming the Vertigo line. He also followed up Grant Morrison’s critically acclaimed run on Animal Man with a six-issue story. He’s written numerous other works for Vertigo, from the strange to the stranger, always exploring new regions of story. He wrote for the Marvel’s X-Men line
with X-Men with Salvador Larocca, X-Statix with Mike Allred & Darwyn Cooke, and Namor: The Depths with Esad Ribic.

Ed Benes has worked on a number of books, most notably having long runs on Birds of Prey with writer Gail Simone (returning with her to that title during Brightest Day), Justice League of America with Brad
Metzler and Dwayne McDuffie. He also worked on the latter part of Peter David’s run on Supergirl.

Clearly, the Red Lanterns are new to the universe, so there’s not too much to explore. Check out the previously mentioned Green Lantern booksSecret Origin, Blackest Night, and New Guardians, and also take a look at:

Green Lantern: Rage of the Red Lanterns.

Next we’ll look at whatever will happen to the caped crusader, beginning with Batman!