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Posted: October 8th, 2008, 6:45pm CEST by e-man
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La gran masacre - Sin City - Frank Miller Spanish | CBR | 250 Mb Aquí os traigo la obra maestra de Frank Miller que es Sin City, comenzando por la gran masacre que ha sido a mi gusto lo mejor de la serie y siguiendo con todo lo demás. Aquí va La Gran Masacre, son 4 entregas http://rapidshare.com/files/132878228/Sin.City4-01_LA_GRAN_MASACRE.cbr http://rapidshare.com/files/132882794/Sin.City4-02_LA_GRAN_MASACRE.cbr http://rapidshare.com/files/132888045/Sin.City4-03_LA_GRAN_MASACRE.cbr http://rapidshare.com/files/132900014/Sin.City4-04_LA_GRAN_MASACRE.cbr http://rapidshare.com/files/132906314/Sin.City4-05_LA_GRAN_MASACRE.cbr Y [...]
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Moon Knight Vol.5 No.22 Marvel Comics | November 2008 | 25 pages | PDF | 10 Mb Download Buy me a CoffeeShare This
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Moon Knight Vol.5 No.22 Marvel Comics | November 2008 | 25 pages | PDF | 10 Mb Download Buy me a CoffeeShare This
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Moon Knight Vol.5 No.22 Marvel Comics | November 2008 | 25 pages | PDF | 10 Mb Download Buy me a CoffeeShare This
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Punisher War Journal Vol.2 No.23 Marvel Comics | November 2008 | 25 pages | PDF | 14 Mb Download Buy me a CoffeeShare This
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Punisher War Journal Vol.2 No.23 Marvel Comics | November 2008 | 25 pages | PDF | 14 Mb Download Buy me a CoffeeShare This
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Punisher War Journal Vol.2 No.23 Marvel Comics | November 2008 | 25 pages | PDF | 14 Mb Download Buy me a CoffeeShare This
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Robin Vol.3 No.178 D.C Comics | November 2008 | 23 pages | PDF | 11 Mb Download Buy me a CoffeeShare This
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Robin Vol.3 No.178 D.C Comics | November 2008 | 23 pages | PDF | 11 Mb Download Buy me a CoffeeShare This
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Robin Vol.3 No.178 D.C Comics | November 2008 | 23 pages | PDF | 11 Mb Download Buy me a CoffeeShare This
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Scalped Vol.1 No.21 Vertigo Comics | November 2008 | 25 pages | PDF | 26 Mb Buy me a CoffeeShare This
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Simon Dark Vol.1 No.12 D.C Comics | November 2008 | 24 pages | PDF | 9 Mb Buy me a CoffeeShare This
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Simon Dark Vol.1 No.12 D.C Comics | November 2008 | 24 pages | PDF | 9 Mb Buy me a CoffeeShare This
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Simon Dark Vol.1 No.12 D.C Comics | November 2008 | 24 pages | PDF | 9 Mb Buy me a CoffeeShare This
Rokk's Comic Book Revolution
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Posted: October 10th, 2008, 5:11pm CEST
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The Revolution continues to find Invincible Iron Man completely and totally unimpressive. Fraction is delivering a pedestrian read that is nothing more than a standard issue comic book story. Iron Man is by far and away my favorite Marvel character so it pains me to see a writer who is clearly of limited ability writing this title. And it makes it even harder considering that I got spoiled by such incredible writing from the Knaufs leading up to Fraction taking over writing Iron Man.
I can only hope that sales numbers slip enough to warrant Marvel placing a different writer on this title. Personally, I think Marvel should have given Invincible Iron Man to Christos Gage. He always did a fantastic job filling in for the Knaufs. Let’s go ahead and do this review for Invincible Iron Man #6.
Creative Team
Writer: Matt Fraction
Artist: Salvador Larroca
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 3 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 5.5 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: We begin with Ezekial Stane gloating about doing what nobody else has been able to do: Kill Tony Stark. Stane 2.0 then spits on Tony’s body and says that Tony is “Dead as hell.” (Brilliant writing.) Stane 2.0 rips open Tony’s armor stating that he wants to see what is left of Tony. Stane 2.0 then is stunned to realize that Tony’s armor is completely empty. (Shocking. Not. Everyone including my senile abuelita saw this coming.)
We see Tony in his armor radioing Stane 2.0 and telling him that he is twelve minutes away from the Stark facility in Long Island. Tony follows that up with the witty banter of “Checkmate, brat.”
Ezekiel contacts his girlfriend and tells her that Tony sent in Iron Man armies in to stop him and the other bombers. Stane 2.0 tells his girlfriend to go ahead and activate all of the bombs. We then see a bunch of older suits of Iron Man armors surrounding Ezekial.
We cut to the other Stark facilities where armies of older suits of Iron Man armors have arrived on the scene and are helping to clear the facilities of all civilians and employees. We see several of the suits of armor surrounding the bombers in the Tokyo facility and telling them to surrender. The bombers refuse to do so.
Maria and Pepper then contact Tony and inform him that all of Stane’s bombers have gone online. Tony promises that the bombers will not reach critical mass and that his Iron Man armors will take the bombers out.
We see Tony manage all of the fights between the suits of armor and the bombers at all the various locations. (Talk about multitasking.) While the bombers are powering up, the suits of armor move in to take them down. Tony states how the human bombers need time to power up and Tony is going to use that to his advantage.
We cut to Tony arriving at the Long Island facility and smashing Ezekial into the ground. Tony gets on top of Stane 2.0 and places his repuslor glove to Ezekiel’s head and orders baby Stane to call off the bombers. Tony thinks how he has the perfect kill shot on Ezekial at the moment.
Tony then proceeds to fire up a massive electromagnetic pulse. Suddenly, all Starktech across the globe goes dead. We see both Maria and Pepper’s computers go dead. Stane 2.0’s bombers also go dead.
Tony the steps out of his suit of armor. Tony states that so much of Stark’s technology has weapons applications or could be weaponized. Tony asks if Ezekial was so dumb to not think that Tony would have created an off-switch in his technology. (So why didn’t you use it earlier, genius?)
Tony reveals that his EMP (the ultimate in unoriginal and hackneyed plot device to render technology inert.) destroyed all of Stark’s technology across the globe. Ezekial is stunned at what Tony just did. Tony then says that it is just Tony versus Ezekial. No armors.
Tony proceeds to take Ezekiel back behind the wood shed and gives him one hell of a bloody beating. Tony says how Stane 2.0 could have used his brilliant mind to help save the world. Ezekiel spits up blood and says that he is the face of the future. Ezekial calls Tony yesterday’s hero. Ezekial rants that Tony is a pig. A fascist. An oppressor. A capitalist war monger. A death-profiteer. (This is riveting stuff, people. Clichéd does not even begin to describe it.)
Tony then snaps “You think I haven’t heard that before? You think I give a damn what people think of me? I’m trying to save the world even when it doesn’t see it. You’re just trying to kill people and get rich.” (Hot damn! That is the best dialogue that Fraction has given us so far in his entire run on this title up to this point.)
Stane 2.0 then tells Tony to shut up and kill him. Tony responds that Ezekiel’s dad was harder to beat and smarter than Ezekiel. We see SHIELD agents arrive on the scene and then arrest Ezekiel. Tony thinks how Stane 2.0 is right that he is the future.
We cut to that night with Tony in his office on the SHIELD Helicarrier. Pepper and Maria enter his office and inform him that Ezekiel is locked down to Tony’s specifications. Maria informs Tony that all of the bombers died once Tony neutralized all of the Starktech with the EMP. Evidently, Ezekiel wired the bombs directly into their hearts. Therefore, when the EMP took down the tech it also shut off their hearts and killed them. (Sweet. Way to go Tony.)
Tony then waves his hand and turns his back to Pepper and Maria and tells them curtly that they are dismissed. Pepper tries to talk to Tony. Tony simply responds by yelling “Go! Please…” Maria and Pepper then exit Tony’s office.
Tony stares out the window into the black starry night skies and thinks how he had five nightmares. And now Ezekiel Stane has given Tony a sixth nightmare. That Ezekiel has shown Tony what kind of man he has to become and what kind of things that he has to do in order to keep his nightmares from coming true. End of issue.
Comments
The Good: Invincible Iron Man #6 was exactly what I expected: predictable and unoriginal. Once again, Fraction delivers another pedestrian read. Of course, there were several rather positive aspects to this issue.
Fraction served up plenty of kick-ass action. It was awesome to see Tony just beat the bloody hell out of Stane 2.0. I have found Stane 2.0 to be one of the most annoying villains ever and not in a good way. So, obviously, I took great satisfaction in seeing Tony turn Ezekiel’s face into ground meat.
I was stunned that Fraction actually turned in some excellent dialogue by Tony in his retort to Stane 2.0’s rant during the scene where Tony beats him down. That was quite the rare moment of finely crafted dialogue amid a sea of hackneyed and uninspired dialogue.
For the first time in the past six issues, Fraction momentarily displays a good sense of Tony’s character. The fact is that Tony does not care how other people view him or think about him. Tony makes the decisions that others cannot or will not. Tony does what must be done that other people lack the intestinal fortitude to carry out.
Fraction properly encapsulates the fact that Tony willingly accepts this heavy burden even though it might make him look bad to people on the outside. Protecting the world and doing the right thing is far more important to Tony than how people may perceive him. It is obvious that Tony will sacrifice himself for the greater good.
Salvador Larroca’s artwork is just gorgeous. Larroca’s artwork is what carries this issue. It is too bad that we do not get a writer on this title that is capable of giving Larroca more to work with than the meager story that Fraction has put forth. Still, Larroca does his best with what Fraction gives him to work with.
The Bad: Iron Man #6 has all the same defects as the previous five issues. Fraction mindlessly cranks out more pedestrian dialogue. The dialogue ranges from resolutely average at certain points to downright cheesy and dumb at other moments. Some of the dialogue is actually painful to read. I continue to feel like I am reading a rough draft of the dialogue rather than a final polished professional product.
Fraction’s character work continues to be paper thin. Stane 2.0 is nothing more than your standard issue maniacal comic book villain. This has been one of the biggest weaknesses of this current story arc. A story is only as good as the villain that it features. And Stane 2.0 has been so bland, unoriginal and annoying that it has robbed me of any interest in this story arc.
Fraction’s handling of Tony continues to be shockingly poor. Especially coming right on the heels of the Knaufs flat out phenomenal character work that they performed on Tony’s character. Fraction gives Tony as bland a personality as possible. This is such a dull version of Tony. Fraction’s Tony lacks the fun playboy personality of version of Tony from the Iron Man movie. And Fraction’s Tony lacks the complex and intriguing personality that the Knaufs gave us on Iron Man: Director of SHIELD.
I get the strong sense that Fraction simply knows nothing at all about Tony’s character. It is painfully clear that Fraction has absolutely no feel at all for Tony’s personality. Usually, professional comic book writers conduct a certain amount of research on a specific character before writing them. Usually, the writer will at least skim over back-issues to familiarize themselves with how the character acts and thinks as well as to properly understand the character’s past. This enables the writer to better understand the character’s view of life and what motivates them.
I see nothing in how Fraction has written Tony that tells me that he has read a single Iron Man comic book. Instead, it seems that Fraction simply watched the Iron Man movie and then decided that he had done enough research on Tony and was ready to write this title. I know that conducting research can be hard work and is not always fun, but it is what professional writers do when they are truly dedicated to their craft.
This initial six issue story arc was terribly unoriginal and predictable. Invincible Iron Man #6 completely failed in delivering an exciting ending to this plodding story arc. Instead, we got a “paint by numbers” final issue that lacked any originality. It almost seems like Fraction is writing this story based off an instructional “How To” book on comic book writing. It reminds me of the type of work that you see novice writers in college creative writing courses when they are trying to learn the archetypal structures and themes that are present in certain forms of writing.
Absolutely everyone knew that Tony’s armor was empty. We all knew that Tony was controlling the armor remotely. This is something that is so unoriginal and we have seen a zillion times before.
Tony resorting to the most common Iron Man deus ex machina in the form of an EMP to stop Stane 2.0 and his bombers was so unoriginal. Uggh. EMP’s have been the default stock answer to solve any technological problem that Iron Man might encounter.
The EMP is also the most unoriginal, over-used and common way to defeat Iron Man. I found this “solution” to the threat presented by Stane 2.0 to be very uninspiring and uncreative. It was also way too convenient to unleash this EMP that takes offline every piece of Starktech across the globe.
Fraction’s use of the EMP also lacks internal logic. Fraction has Tony state that he created this “off switch” a while back as a precaution in the event that someone stole his tech and tried to use it for nefarious purposes. If that is the case then why in the hell didn’t Tony use this “off switch” the very moment that he first discovered that Stane 2.0 was using Starktech to create his suicide bombers? It was irrelevant where Ezekiel Stane was hiding since this magical EMP evidently has a global reach.
And even if the argument is made that the EMP only reaches as far as wherever Tony’s suits of armors are located then why in the world did Tony not immediately employ all of his suits of armor to each of his Stark facilities the minute they were threatened? That would have prevented the facility in Valencia from being blown up.
The ending of Invincible Iron Man #6 was so cheesy and way too melodramatic. Tony’s heartache over the fact that his EMP ended up killing the suicide bombers was just way too much.
Again, did Fraction even bother to read the Knaufs run on Iron Man: Director of SHIELD at all? The Knaufs put Tony through situations that were much worse than this one. The Knaufs had Tony face moral dilemmas that were far more intense and difficult than this one. And the end result was that the Knaufs molded Tony into a character who became quite hardened. This ending in Invincible Iron Man #6 was no where near as traumatic as some of the consequences of Tony’s decisions during the Knaufs’ run.
I am not saying that Tony would be jumping up and down out of joy over what happened. But, after all that he went through during the Knaufs’ run, Tony would certainly not be wracked by this overwhelming melodrama that Fraction gives us in this ending. The Knaufs has groomed Tony into a character that possessed a realistic and pragmatic view of his job as Director of SHIELD and what he had to do to protect the world. Tony made his decisions confidently and then moved on. There was no time for regret since Tony even pointed out that his job does not afford him that luxury.
In the final two pages, Fraction has Tony drone on about Stane showing Tony what kind of man that Tony has to be in order to keep his nightmares from coming true. Dude, seriously? Once again, I have to ask if Fraction even knows about the Knaufs’ run on Iron Man: Director of SHIELD.
The Knaufs already did this with Tony’s character about making him perform some soul searching in the face of the realization of what kind of man he will have to be to make the hard and difficult decisions that the Director of SHIELD must make. And the Knaufs did it in a fashion that was vastly superior and much more in-depth and complex than what Fraction has given us.
Again, Tony has already done this soul searching and reached acceptance over the kinds of terrible and difficult acts he will have to perform in order to protect the world. Fraction is merely re-treading well worn ground and is doing so out of ignorance and giving us a much more shallow and inferior story in the process.
Overall: Fraction’s Invincible Iron Man is simply an unintelligent read. And Invincible Iron Man #6 clearly continues that trend. The Knaufs gave us a thinking man’s Iron Man and now Fraction is following that up with a story that barely passes as mindless entertainment. Fraction’s opening story arc has been derivative and predictable.
At no point do I feel like I am getting a polished professional comic book which is inexcusable considering Marvel is the number one comic book publisher. There are so many independent titles that have a much more polished and professional story compared to what we are getting on Invincible Iron Man.
I would only recommend Invincible Iron Man to die-hard Iron Man fans, Fraction fans and readers who just want pretty art and some mindless action. If you do not fall into one of those three categories then I would suggest that you spend your hard earned money elsewhere.
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Johns continues to impress me with his excellent work on Action Comics. Johns is one of the better world builders in the industry. And Johns is certainly doing a fine job updating Superman’s continuity by mixing in more of Superman’s pre-Crisis history. I am sure that Action Comics #870 will be another well crafted read. Let’s do ahead and hit this review.
Creative Team
Writers: Geoff Johns
Pencils: Gary Frank
Inks: Jon Sibal & Bit
Art Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8.5 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: We begin with Brainiac stating how Superman led him to Earth. Brainiac says that now that he has Metropolis in a bottle that he will go ahead and destroy Earth. After all, Brainiac refuses to share any of the knowledge that he collects by capturing the various cities from across the universe.
Brainiac continues that he thought that Superman was an intelligent creature. A man born of many worlds just like Brainiac. Brainiac then states that he was wrong about Superman. That Superman is a threat to no one. That Superman has dedicated his life protecting a planet that has offered Superman nothing.
Brainiac continues that Earth lacks Krypton’s science and that Earth’s weapons are primitive even compared to barbaric Rimbor. Brainiac states that Earth is devoid of any quantifiable value.
We cut to Ma and Pa Kent looking at the brewing thunder storm. Jonathon Kent states that their boy must be in the middle of this storm. We slide back to Brainiac concluding that Earth is not necessary to his continued evolution. That Earth’s culture is useless.
We see Lois still on the roof of the Daily Planet’s building. Lois sees Superman trapped in Brainiac’s bio-pod. Lois screams out that if this is the end then she wants Clark to know how much she loves him. Superman’s super hearing picks up Lois’s tender statement of love.
Brainiac stands in front of Superman and asks what this vacuous world could possibly provide to Superman. Superman, clearly inspired by his love for Lois and his family and friends on Earth, grits his teeth and powers up and breaks free from Brainiac’s bio-pod. Superman goes to punch Brainiac, but Brainiac catches Superman’s punch.
Brainiac says that Earth has robbed Superman of his potential. That Superman is far from being a Kryptonian. That Superman is nothing more than a simple brute. Superman answers back “When I need to be.” Superman then proceeds to beat the crap out of Brainiac.
Superman then grabs the bottled cities of Kandor and Metropolis. Superman then calls out to the rest of the bottled cities that he shall return and free them as well. We cut to two Brainiac robots strapping Supergirl down to an operating table. Suddenly, Superman blasts the two robots to pieces with his heat vision.
We hear Brainiac calling out to Superman stating that Superman’s physical attacks are futile. Brainiac states that he is control here. Supergirl is scared of Brainiac. Superman tells Supergirl that she must go intercept and destroy the weapon that Brainiac fired at the sun or else Earth will perish. Supergirl replies that she is not fast enough. That she cannot do it. That she is scared.
Superman replies that Supergirl can do it. Superman then adds that it is okay to be scared. Supergirl’s expression of fear then hardens into an expression of determination and resolve. Supergirl then blasts off toward the sun.
Brainiac appears on the scene and says that Supergirl’s actions are futile. That Supergirl will be incinerated along with the Earth. Superman responds “We’ll see.” Brainiac shoots back “No. I will see. You will die----Earthman.” Brainiac adds that he controls life.
Superman responds that life cannot be controlled or bottled. That with all this knowledge that Brainiac still knows nothing about life. Superman says that Brainiac’s ship is not life. That this ship is Brainiac’s bottle. Superman then blasts a hole in Brainiac’s ship and blasts Brainiac out of the ship. Brainiac falls to the ground and lands in a pond in a swampy area.
Brainiac stands up and screams for everything to get away from him and to get off him. We see all the bacteria from the natural surroundings all over Brainiac. Superman states that Brainiac cannot face things that he cannot control. Superman says “Welcome to Earth, Brainiac” and plows Brainiac into the ground.
Brainiac sputters that Superman cannot remove the bottled cities from his bio-sphere. That their containment fields will not hold. We see the two bottled cities in Superman’s hands beginning to crackle and glow with energy. Superman says “Thanks for the tip” and flies off.
Brainiac begins to stand up and mutters that he downloaded where Superman’s true home is. Brainiac says that as Superman took Brainiac’s home now Brainiac will take Superman’s home. We see a missile being fired from Brainiac’s ship.
We cut to Superman placing the bottled city of Metropolis in the middle of the crater left behind after the city was stolen by Brainiac. Superman then flies off with the bottled city of Kandor. We shift to Supergirl still racing after Brainiac’s missile that is heading to the sun.
We slide back to Smallville where Jonathon and Martha Kent are standing outside of their house. We see Brainiac’s missile streaking toward their house. We cut to Superman flying to what appears to be the Arctic. We cut back to Jonathon Kent diving and rescuing Martha from the missile as it whizzes past her and blows up their home.
We cut to Supergirl catching up to Brainiac’s missile and grabbing it and throwing it away from the sun. We shift to Superman arriving next to the Fortress of Solitude. We hop back to Jonathon holding Martha as they walk away from their burning home.
We then cut back to Supergirl watching the missile explode harmlessly far away from the sun. We shift to the bottled city of Kandor suddenly erupting in a massive energy spike and Superman falls to the snowy ground. We cut to Brainiac either dead or unconscious in the swamp.
We slide back to Jonathon telling Martha that everything is going to be all right. We cut back to Superman watching the energy erupting from Kandor getting larger and larger. We hop back to Jonathon clutching his chest and having a heart attack.
Martha screams out “Clark!” We cut back to Superman mesmerized by the energy crackling from Kandor as the ground shifts and changes. We hop back to Martha screaming “Clark!”
We cut back to Superman standing there and seeing the city of Kandor fully restored. Superman is stunned and amazed seeing a real-life Kryptonian city. We hop back to Martha screaming “Jonathon!”
We cut back to Superman finally hearing his mom. Superman says “Pa?” Superman then streaks off flying as fast as he can.
We cut to Superman landing outside of his parents’ house. Martha is holding Jonathon’s body. Martha is crying. Superman exclaims “Pa!” Superman then kneels down beside his mother and grieves. End of issue.
Comments
The Good: Action Comics #870 is another technically sound and sharply crafted issue by Johns. This issue moves along at the prefect pace as Johns begins with a steady pace before Superman breaks loose of the bio-pod. At that point the story shifts into a frenzied pace that crackles with kinetic energy. This issue had a pleasant flow that made it enjoyable to read.
Action Comics #870 was well plotted. And that should be no surprise considering that Johns’ greatest strength is his ability to craft complex plotlines that unfold in an organic fashion. This story arc has stayed on track as Johns has kept his focus by delivering a tightly plotted story.
Johns treats the reader to tons of quality action scenes in this issue. I loved the scene where Superman is inspired by his love for his family and friends on Earth which lets him “Hulk up” and proceed to kick some serious ass on Brainiac. Superman has taken a beating so far in this story arc so naturally the reader is excited to finally see Big Blue dish out some punishment.
I liked the neat twist with how Johns has Superman defeat Brainiac. I have to say that I am inclined to believe that a character as intelligent and powerful as Brainiac would have some type of immune system defenses against alien bacteria. Having said that, it was a cool concept to have the germs and bacteria born from real life take down Brainiac who has kept himself sealed up in his bio-pod for all these years.
Johns pulls off plenty of fine character work. Johns continues to do a nice job handling Supergirl. I will probably never be a fan of Supergirl. It just is not in my DNA. However, Johns is pretty much the only writer who has gotten me to not actively hate Supergirl’s character. I loved the scene where Supergirl swallows her fear and displays the grit and determination of a true hero.
I enjoyed how Johns played with the similarities and contrasts between Brainiac and Superman. Both characters are the product of more than one world. However, Brainiac has never forgotten his roots and clearly views himself as Coluan and superior to every other species in the universe.
On the other hand, Superman has embraced Earth culture just as much as he has his Kryptonian culture. While Brainiac represents the traditional view that aliens have of a backwater planet like Erath, Superman does not. Brainiac views Earth culture as empty and useless while Superman sees the good in Earth’s culture.
And this leads me to the next theme that Johns plays with which deals with the duality of Superman’s character. Johns answers the question as to how does Superman view himself: Kryptonian or Earthling? To be sure, Superman understands that he is a Kryptonian and has great admiration and love for his home world and root culture. Still, in the end Superman is a man. An Earthman. That is how Superman acts and reacts. That is how Superman views himself and it shapes his view of life and the universe around him.
Johns does an excellent job re-enforcing the fact that Superman is who he is not because of his incredible Kryptonian powers, but because of his human parents and the wonderful upbringing they gave him. Johns hammers the point home by having Brainiac call Superman an Earthman. And Brainiac is correct. Superman, despite his biology, is indeed an Earthman.
Superman is not a super-powered alien who represents everything that Earthlings are not. Superman does not represent everything that Krypton is and that Earth is not. Instead, Superman represents everything that Earthlings can be. Superman embodies all the positive aspects of mankind. Superman is more human than many indigenous Earthlings and that is what makes him the source of inspiration that he is. It is not his Kryptonian powers. It is how Superman has fully embraced Earth and its people and culture.
The final nine pages were spectacular. Johns does an impressive job handling the cutting back and forth between the various scenes. This was a strongly plotted portion of the issue and was meticulously laid out. The quick and sharp scene cuts create incredible tension and excitement in the reader and help to increase the intensity of this already powerful ending.
I am curious to see what Johns does with the City of Kandor. The restoration of the City of Kandor on Earth has to be a very short lived story. There is no way DC allows an entire city of Superman powered Kryptonians to roam around New Earth. That would make Superman much less unique. But, it certainly has plenty of potential to be a rather interesting plot for Johns to investigate.
Brainiac deciding to rob Superman of his home after Superman robbed Brainiac of his home was logical. Jonathon then having a heart attack after saving Martha was also logical. I may not have liked it for other reasons, but Johns did a fine job making sure Jonathon’s death was not forced or random at all. The death worked well within the context of the story.
The ending was fantastic. It was incredibly emotional and touching. The reader has to have a heart of stone to not feel a tinge of sadness when we reach the final page of this issue. Johns creates an ending that has a massive impact on the reader.
Johns wisely eschews having much dialogue at all in the final four pages. Instead Johns relies on the moment itself and Frank’s powerful art to tell the story. The final splash page simply wrenches the reader’s heart and has more impact than any narrative or dialogue could possibly have.
Frank and Sibal deliver some incredible artwork. Frank’s work on Action Comics has been simply fantastic. Frank is equally as adept at drawing furious action scenes as he is dramatic poignant scenes. Frank is able to bring to life each character and pour so much emotion into each facial expression. Frank brings Johns’ story to life like few other artists could. Frank’s emotional and detailed artwork is just as responsible for the power and weight of this ending as Johns’ writing is.
The Bad: The death of Jonathon Kent just did not work for me. I know that pre-Crisis Superman lost both Ma and Pa Kent when he was still Superboy. I think they died from some rare tropical disease or something that Superboy failed to save them from.
At any rate, the fact is that I do not see this move by Johns as trying to re-instate more of the Pre-Crisis Superman mythos. If that was the case then both Ma and Pa Kent would have died together once again and left Superman alone with no parents. Instead, this move by Johns seems like yet another effort to make Richard Donner’s 1978 Superman movie official cannon rather than Superman’s comic book continuity.
We already have Frank drawing all of the characters in Action Comics exactly like the actors from the 1978 Superman movie. The Fortress of Solitude that Johns gives us is not the Pre-Crisis version. Instead, it is the version of the Fortress of Solitude from the 1978 Superman movie. The general personalities of all the supporting cast as well as Lois and Clark perfectly mimic the personalities of characters as they were presented in Donner’s 1978 Superman movie. This move by Johns to kill off Pa Kent also tracks the 1978 Superman movie where Jonathon Kent died of a heart attack.
I know that Johns used to work for Richard Donner and clearly thinks the world of him. And I know that Johns views the 1978 Superman movie as the definitive interpretation of Superman. And I know that Johns views Christopher Reeves as the iconic version of Superman. And that is great. I do to.
Richard Donner is a fantastic movie director. And Donner’s 1978 Superman movie is one of my all-time favorite comic book movies. And, yes, for me Christopher Reeves IS Superman.
However, the fact remains that a huge percentage of current comic book readers were not alive when Donner’s Superman movie was released and a huge percentage of comic book readers have never seen Donner’s Superman movie. And a good percentage of current readers do not view Christopher Reeves as THE definitive version of Superman.
By aping the 1978 Superman movie so much. Johns runs the risk of alienating a good number of comic book readers. Also, it is becoming painfully obvious that Johns does indeed view the 1978 Superman movie as cannon. That the 1978 Superman movie is just an important part of Superman’s continuity as any back-issue from the 1960’s or 1970’s. It is obvious that the 1978 Superman movie is a substantial source material for Johns.
I strongly dislike using a movie as a source material for a comic book. The Superman comic books should stand independently from the movies. By using the 1978 Superman movie look and feel, Johns is taking away the timeless and iconic nature of Superman.
Another problem that I have with Johns killing off Pa Kent is that it takes away part of what made Superman so special and unique. Almost every single super hero either has lost either both their parents or one of their parents. And the few super heroes who still have both parents generally have horrible parents. Superman was the exception.
Superman still had both his parents and they were fantastic, loving and wonderful parents. What a breathe of fresh air in comic books today. That was such a rarity. And the fact that Clark had such a strong bond with his parents added to Superman being the embodiment of love, hope, truth and justice.
It is part of what made Superman such a positive character in a comic book world full of hate, death, misery, tragedy and trauma. Superman already has suffered loss in that of his original parents and his home planet. That is enough for one character.
If Johns thinks that all super heroes must have some sort of “trauma” in order to give them the “proper” gravitas then losing your biological parents and your entire home world should be more than enough to accomplish that job. I think that Superman deserved to at least have his adoptive parents alive and well.
Another aspect that I disliked with Jonathon Kent’s death is that it adds an unnecessary layer of angst and guilt on Superman’s character. Now we get to see a Superman who will be wracked with guilt over the fact that he did not hear his mother soon enough for him to race onto the scene and save his father. This is something that we get more than enough of on just about every other single title currently being published. I do not need it also on Superman’s titles.
Again, part of what made Superman so special and unique is that he did not have this seemingly requisite guilt and angst that writers are possessed with saddling on every single comic book hero. I have Batman to read if I need to sample a hero who is angry over his parents’ deaths. I have Spider-Man if I need to sample a hero who is feeling overwhelmed with guilt over causing his Uncles’ death which ultimately fuels his belief that with great power comes great responsibility. I do not need this also on Superman.
Jonathon’s death also fails to serve any other purpose other than cheap “shock” value. Superman is already a grown and experienced hero. This is not a fledgling super-hero like Peter Parker was who used Uncle Ben’s death as his motivation and inspiration to be a super hero. This is not a young boy in Bruce Wayne who uses his anger and loss to fuel his commitment to his war on urban crime in Gotham.
Superman already has the proper motivation and outlook on life. Superman already knows right from wrong. Superman already has a strong moral compass and a keen sense for Truth, Justice and the American Way.
The death of Jonathon Kent does nothing to grow Superman’s character or somehow make him a better hero or to get him to reassess how he operated as a hero prior to Pa Kent’s death. No, all Jonathon Kent’s death can do is to “shock” the reader and then serve as a source of the same predictable, unoriginal and ever-present guilt and angst that we get on almost every other comic book on the market.
I know that Johns believes that by killing off Jonathon Kent that he is moving Superman closer to the iconic version of Superman that we knew prior to the 1986 Crisis retconning of Superman. While iconic is great, what this move by Johns will ultimately do is make Superman less connected to his humanity. And Superman needs all of the connections he can get.
Overall: I refused to dock my grade for Action Comics #870 due to my personal bias against Johns killing Jonathon Kent. The fact is that regardless if I found Pa Kent’s death to be a wise move or not, the fact remains that Action Comics #870 was a technically sound issue. Johns crafts a fine read that offers the reader an excellent blend of action, and drama. Action Comics #870 is a powerful and emotional read that is sure to have an impact on the reader.
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I want to thank everyone for their comments on the first edition of Revolutionary Reactions. A change you will see in my second column will be the addition of links to the source of the story I am discussing. Click on the heading of a section and it will take you to the source of the story.
The news is pretty slow this week, so the column is a short one.
CORY WALKER WILL BE WRITING/DRAWING NEW SERIES
As a long time fan of Image Comics' Invincible, I am curious about Cory Walker's new series. Cory did a great job on Invincible. Time will tell if he can help start another successful series. If I remember right, he left Invincible because of deadline problems.
BLACK LANTERNS ARE DEAD SUPERHEROES AND VILLAINS
Ethan Van Sciver received a list of dead superheroes and villains from one of his editors. He is giving each of them a new look. So the possibility exists for the appearance of zombie versions of many dead characters. The book will look great with Van Sciver drawing it. Kind of makes you wonder what a zombie version of Bizarro or Solomon Grundy would look like...
NEW IDENTITY FOR WALLY WEST?
In the same article, Van Sciver talks about establishing a unique identity for Wally. It sounds like Barry Allen is staying alive. This makes sense. Geoff Johns was one of the main people behind bringing Hal Jordan back. How long until the protests start? I'm sure some fans will be rallying to keep Wally in the Flash costume. I will be curious to see how they divide up the Rogues Wally inherited from Barry.
LEN WEIN RETURNS
Len Wein is writing next year's Superman/Batman Annual (drawn by Chris Batista). This is good news for old time comic fans like myself. Len was the writer of many comics when I was growing up. He is best known among younger fans for 2 things. Creating Wolverine and being Grant Morrison's favorite comic book writer.
The annual will feature the modern version of the Composite Superman. He looked like half Superman and half Batman. He possessed the powers of the Legion of Super-Heroes.
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DC COMICS
ACTION COMICS #870
DETECTIVE COMICS #849
FINAL CRISIS REVELATIONS #3
GREEN LANTERN #35
GREEN LANTERN CORPS #29
LEGION OF SUPER HEROES IN THE 31ST CENTURY #19
TRINITY #19
MARVEL COMICS
AVENGERS INVADERS #5
BIG HERO 6 #2
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #6
SECRET INVASION INHUMANS #3
Normalcy returns this week after an incredibly small shipment of comics last week. We have 11 titles headed to the Bunker today. It is a bit heavier with DC titles than Marvel titles. There are several titles this week that have the potential to be real gems.
Which DC comic book am I most looking forward to reading? Detective Comics #870 should be another solid read. Dini has done a fine job with this current story arc. Of course, I have no idea why these issues are being billed as RIP tie-in issues when Dini’s story arc has absolutely nothing at all to do with Morrison’s RIP story. Having said that, Dini is still crafting an interesting read and I am excited to see how he wraps up this story arc.
Still, I had to go with Action Comics #870 as the DC comic book that I am most looking forward to reading. Johns has done a fantastic job with this story arc involving Brainiac. Johns has managed to gently integrate much of Superman’s Silver Age continuity back into existence.
Having said that, I feel like I am going to have a huge problem with this issue since it is obvious that Jonathon Kent is going to die of a heart attack in this issue. I find that to be incredibly lame. First, I hate it when the comic book follows a movie or TV show. We saw Jonathon Kent die of a heart attack on Smallville and I see no reason for Action Comics to follow that same path.
Second, what made Superman so special is that he actually had two great parents. Almost all of the super heroes these days have either no parents or just one. It was cool to see Superman buck that trend. It is part of what made him special. I guess Johns cannot resist his natural urge to make a title a grim and dark. Plus, Johns loves to kill off characters.
Which DC comic book am I least looking forward to reading? That would be Trinity #19. This title has not been terrible. This has just been a resolutely average read.
Which Marvel comic book am I most looking forward to reading? Avengers/Invaders #5 should be another solid read. Krueger has done a nice job delivering a story that has plenty of kick-ass action in addition to quality character work and sound dialogue.
Secret Invasion: Inhumans #3 should be a blast to read. I owe a debt to several of the Followers of The Revolution for turning me onto this title. I am glad that I gave it a try because this has been a high-octane adventure. And the artwork is simply gorgeous.
In the end, I had to go with Big Hero 6 #2 as the Marvel comic book that I am most looking forward to reading this week. I love manga and Chris Claremont did an excellent job of delivering a story that is true to its shonen manga roots. Also, it is enjoyable to read a comic that is just pure fun.
With all the Death Porn and Torture Porn that I seem to be getting on a weekly basis from Marvel and DC, it is nice to read a comic book that remembers that it is okay for comic books to just be fun. And since it appears that DC has even more death slated for me this week, I think I will enjoy a fun title like Big Hero 6 even more than usual.
Which Marvel comic book am I least looking forward to reading? No surprise here. I am going with Invincible Iron Man #6. Fraction is serving up a story that is just flat out dumb. And, again, I hate it when a comic book looks to a movie for its source material rather than the comic book’s past issues and continuity.
As always, I’ll try my best to start posting reviews as soon as possible. I hope everyone enjoys their new comic books for this week.
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The Followers of The Revolution voted overwhelmingly for Batman #680 to win the Che for the best read of the week. It was not even remotely close as Batman #680 absolutely destroyed the competition this week. This is the most lopsided poll that I have seen for the Che. Here are the results:
Batman #680: 71% (76 votes)
Justice League of America #25: 13% (14 votes)
Nightwing #149: 10% (9 votes)
Eternals #5: 1% (2 votes)
Trinity #18: 1% (2 votes)
Terror Titans #1: 1% (2 votes)
Sub-Mariner: Depths #2: 0% (1 vote)
The Followers voted for Sub-Mariner: Depths #2 to win the Sequential Methadone Award for the worst read of the week. It was a pretty close battle just edged out Terror Titans #1 by four votes. Here are the results:
Sub-Mariner: Depths #2: 29% (19 votes)
Terror Titans #1: 23% (15 votes)
Batman #680: 16% (11 votes)
Trinity #18: 10% (7 votes)
Justice League of America #25: 9% (6 votes)
Nightwing #149: 6% (4 votes)
Eternals #5: 4% (3 votes)
All right, let’s go ahead and dish out The Revolution’s weekly awards.
The nominees for the Che for the best read of the week:
Batman #680
Nightwing #149
The Winner: Batman #680
We got a pathetically small shipment of comic books here at the Bunker last week. However, there were certainly a couple of nice gems. Nightwing #149 was an excellent read. Tomasi continues to impress me with his work on this title. Tomasi has managed to take a title that was on life support and mold it into a comic book that offers a solid and dependable read each and every month.
Nightwing #149 appealed to me because the hero lost. I am a sucker for a story where the good guy comes up short. Tomasi gave us an emotional read and the page where Carol dies was incredibly powerful. Tomas does a fine job with Two-Face’s character and sets up what should be an amazing showdown between Dick and Harvey.
Still, in the end, Batman #680 was not going to be denied the Che for the best read of the week. Morrison turned in another brilliant issue with Batman #680. To be sure, this title has been a love it or hate it story. I am obviously on the love it side.
And now the nominees for the Sequential Methadone Award for the worst read of the week:
Sub-Mariner: Depths #2
Terror Titans #1
The Winner: Terror Titans #1
Sub-Mariner: Depths #2 is a fine example of an excellent concept that has been terribly executed. The idea of fleshing our Namor’s origin in the 616 Universe is a fine one. And the idea of having Namor first being viewed as nothing more than a mythic imaginary character born from the minds of sub-mariners is also rather interesting.
Unfortunately, the story itself is dry, dull and painfully slow and repetitious. Over the course of the first two issues, Milligan has failed to progress this story at all. Issue #2 basically just re-states and recycles the same dialogue from the first issue. This story seriously needs to pick up the pacing and have the plot tightened up a lot.
However, in the end I had to break with the followers of The Revolution and award the Sequential Methadone Award for the worst read of the week to Terror Titans #1. Terror Titans #1 was simply an abysmal read. Not even my devotion to my girl, Ravager, could get me to enjoy this issue.
McKeever foists some truly cheesy and campy dialogue on the reader. There is absolutely no character work performed in this issue. All of the Terror Titans have the same generic villainous personalities. There is also a startling lack of chemistry between the various characters.
Ravager was poorly written. I love Rose and I was immensely enjoying all the incredible character work that Johns pulled off with her character. Johns managed to evolve and grow Rose’s character beyond that of a boring and lame derivative character into an intriguing character with a unique personality. It is an absolute shame to see all of Rose’s character growth from Johns being totally ignored by McKeever.
Rose’s character has completely regressed under McKeever’s direction. McKeever gives us a pathetically shallow and stereotypical take on Ravager. It is sad to see Johns’ complex version of Rose being stripped down by McKeever as he reduces Rose to a one-dimensional brawler character with a bad attitude.
McKeever also failed to get me to buy into why in the world Ravager would leave the Titans and go join up with Clock King and his Terror Titans. I mean, seriously, just because Clock King has a similar power? That is it? That is just lame.
Terror Titans #1 also is chock full of mindless violence and killing. Honestly, it seems that McKeever lacks enough writing talent to establish a character as a villain without having them slaughter a hero. Rather than perform actual hard work and craft a sinister villain through quality character work, McKeever goes the cheap route by having the Persuader butcher Molecule.
The level of violence and killing increases as McKeever has one of the Dark Side Club soldiers put a bullet in Fever’s head after Rose refuses to kill her subsequent to winning their fight in the Dark Side Club’s arena. Again, McKeever uses death as a cheap way to try and shock the reader. Hey, DC, here is a little tip for you: It does not work.
DC has given the reader so much gratuitous death and killing that it has bordered on death porn over the past couple of years. The reader is so completely desensitized to killing that deaths of characters have absolutely zero impact on the reader. How about instead of throwing killing after killing at the reader DC instead just tries to give us well plotted stories with solid dialogue and quality character work? Just an idea.
Also, killing characters that the reader has no connection to or no knowledge of robs the deaths of any impact. How about instead of using these new characters as nothing more than cannon fodder, DC goes ahead and tries to develop them and grow them into useful characters that can contribute to the tapestry of the DCU. Or at least give their deaths some meaning.
I have no idea what the point or purpose of the Terror Titans is other than to overwhelm the reader with enough mindless blood and guts scenes. I guess this is DC making an effort to show that they are more “hardcore” than Marvel is.
So congrats to Batman #680 for winning The Che Award of the week and “congrats” to Terror Titans #1 for winning the Sequential Methadone Award for the week.
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Justice League of America is a title that has had numerous problems ever since Meltzer left. Last time I checked, the JLA was supposed to be DC’s premier super team and its flagship team title. Unfortunately, the fact remains that the Justice League of America is hardly DC’s best team title. Having said that, McDuffie has done a much better job on this title with the past couple of issues. Hopefully, that trend will continue with Justice League of America #25. Let’s do this review.
Creative Team
Writer: Dwayne McDuffie
Pencils: Ed Benes, Doug Mahnke, Darick Robertson, Shane Davis, Ian Churchill & Ivan Reis
Inks: Ed Benes, Christian Alamy, Darick Robertson, Rob Stull, Ian Churchill & Joe Prado
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: We begin with the JLA’ers working hard at repairing the damage that the Hall of Justice took during the fight with Amazo. We get some banter between Hal and Wally about how the “garish” qualities of their costumes. Red Tornado then takes a moment alone with Kathy. Reddy drops to one knee and asks Kathy to marry him. Kathy excitedly says “Yes.”
The human mood killer known as Batman stalks onto the scene and informs Red Tornado that he has the information that Reddy has been looking for. Batman says that it is a good lead and asks Reddy what he wants to do. Reddy responds that he wants to end this once and for all.
We cut to Buddy Baker’s backyard where Black Canary, Vixen, Red Arrow and Firestorm are on the scene. Buddy spits out the chicken leg that he was eating and exclaims that he does not eat meat. Vixen answers that she also isn’t supposed to mimic powers from metahumans. And that Buddy isn’t supposed to mimic powers from extraterrestrial animals.
Buddy’s wife, Ellen, asks Buddy if it could be the work of “them.” Buddy responds that he thought Ellen did not believe that “they” existed. The JLA’ers ask Buddy to explain what he is talking about. Buddy answers that he will tell them, but that they won’t believe him.
Buddy explains how the two yellow aliens (From Morrison’s classic run on Animal Man and later in 52) gave him his powers. The JLA’ers do not believe Buddy’s story. Buddy then asks Vixen if she remembers when they fought Hahmed Ali in Zambesi. Vixen responds that she cannot remember anything about that adventure. (Morrison’s story that took place in Animal Man #10-12.) Buddy says that is because the yellow aliens erased her memory.
Buddy continues that the yellow aliens fix mistakes in the space-time continuum. That the yellow aliens have altered Buddy’s powers as well as details of his history and his life. That their adventure in Africa was one of those times that they yellow aliens changed everything. That is why Vixen cannot remember anything about the adventure.
Vixen dismisses Buddy’s story and says that she came here for help not conspiracy stories. Vixen says that it is not aliens. That the answer lies in the Tantu. Vixen holds the amulet around her neck. Suddenly, the amulet glows and Vixen is sucked into the amulet.
We cut to inside of the Tantu and see Vixen trapped in a spider-web and face-to-face with the giant spider god Kwaku Anansi.
We zip up to the Watchtower where Hawkgirl is on monitor duty. Black Lightning enters the room. Jeff comments that he was surprised that Kendra did not go with the team to Africa. That Red Arrow and Kendra have been attached at the hip.
Kendra responds that it must not be a secret that she and Roy are a couple. Black Lightning says that all the JLA’ers know that they are dating. And that all the JLA’ers know that Roy and Kendra have been having some problems lately.
Kendra states that Roy does not know how to open up. Jeff counters that Roy is trying. Jeff asks Kendra if she misses Carter. Kendra answers that sometimes she does, but that Carter is the past and she hopes that Roy is the future.
Jeff then says that he came here to take over monitor duty for Kendra. Jeff continues that over the last twenty years that his only regret is that he did not spend more time with his daughters. Jeff tells Kendra to take the day off and spend it with Mia.
Kendra is stunned. Jeff says that he knows that Mia is not dead and that Kendra faked Mia’s death in order to protect her. Kendra asks if the whole team knows about Mia. Jeff answers that no one else knows and that he promises to keep Kendra’s secret safe. Jeff then adds that if it where him that he would tell Roy about Mia. Kendra thanks Jeff and adds that she is also not so good at opening up. Kendra leaves and we see Jeff calling up his daughter Jennifer just to talk.
We slide over to Dubai City where Professor Ivo is hard at work in his laboratory. Red Tornado arrives on the scene. Reddy says that Ivo has threatened the JLA for the last time. Ivo then unleashes one of his robots on Reddy. Suddenly, the robot overloads and collapses to the ground. We see Batman standing over the robot with a device in his hand that shut down the robot.
Ivo then exhibits super strength and punches Batman across the room. Ivo lunges to attack Reddy. Batman is back up and uses his cable gun to tie up Ivo’s arms and legs. Ivo’s face hits the floor and we see that he is actually just a robot.
Reddy picks up the robot Ivo and the robot tells Reddy that Ivo can hear and see Reddy through the robot. Reddy then tells Ivo that he has a message for him. Reddy tells Ivo to look behind him.
We cut to Ivo in his secret location watching Reddy on a video screen through the robot’s eyes. Suddenly, Zatanna teleports behind Ivo and teleports Ivo to prison. Zatanna radios Reddy and tells him that she sent Ivo off to the Feds. Reddy thanks Zatanna for her help. Zatanna then adds for Reddy to tell Batman that this does not count as the night on the town that Batman promised her.
Batman replies that he is on the line and she can talk to him. Zatanna answers that she is not talking to Batman until after dinner and dancing. Zatanna then says good-bye to Reddy.
Red Tornado then thanks Batman for his help. Reddy then asks Batman to tell Black Canary that he is going to take a leave of absence. Reddy says that he needs to take care of a number of personal matters. Batman wishes Reddy good luck and tells him to call the JLA if he needs anything.
We shift back inside the Tantu totem with Vixen caught in a giant web. Anansi goes on about he is a liar and will say nothing but lies to Vixen. Anansi then adds that Vixen has no powers while she is trapped inside the Tantu totem. Anansi says that he will need the other one in order to begin.
We cut to outside of the Tantu totem with the JLA’ers all standing around the totem that is lying on the ground. Black Canary does not want anyone touching the totem. Black Canary contacts Black Lightning to coordinate for a support team. Buddy then reaches down and picks up the totem. Suddenly, some red goo shoots out from the totem and pulls Buddy inside of the totem.
Black Canary decides that they can no longer wait for backup. Black Canary tells Ellen to tell the other JLA’ers that they have gone inside of the totem. Firestorm whips up a metal pedestal around the totem. Black Canary, Red Arrow and Firestorm then enter the Tantu totem.
We slide back inside of the Tantu totem where Buddy is now trapped in the web next to Vixen. Vixen tells Buddy that they are dealing with Anansi, a West African spider god who gave Vixen her powers and also gave Buddy his powers. Buddy responds that the yellow aliens gave him his powers.
Suddenly, Anansi transforms into the two yellow aliens. Anansi asks “You mean us?” Anansi then says that some of the JLA’ers have entered the totem and that he is not ready to deal with them just yet.
Anansi tells Buddy that he should not trust Anansi. That everything that Anansi has said to Buddy has been a deception. Anansi transforms back into his demonic form and comments that there was no such thing as the yellow aliens. Anansi says that Buddy can trust him. That Anansi never lies.
Anansi says that he is a trickster god and part of his job is confusing people. We learn that Anansi’s father is the sky-god, Nyame. We learn that Anansi owns all stories. Every single one. (Dios mio. I am already getting bored.)
Anansi drones on about all the contrary histories of Buddy Baker, the many versions of simple children’s fairy tales, the inconsistencies between the memories of two witnesses from the same event, the rift in the bleed and the potentially catastrophic divergences that leave the Multiverse in constant crisis. Anansi says that he is the lie that reveals the truth. That he owns all stories.
Anansi says that Vixen’s life has been a web of deceptions, but also a single, grand narrative. Precisely what Anansi needs to reassert his control. We then cut to Black Canary, Red Arrow and Firestorm appearing inside of the totem. Anansi says that the JLA’ers are now in his world. His story.
A bunch of spiders attack the JLA’ers. Anansi says that the spider spins his web. Anansi says that Roy was once a heroin addict and has unfortunately fallen off the wagon. That this has affected the sureness of Roy’s aim. We see Roy fire an arrow at a spider and miss and the arrow hits Black Canary in the back.
Anansi then says that before Black Canary dies, she lets out a final death scream that kills Roy and injures Firestorm. The injured Firestorm is then devoured by Anansi’s giant spiders. Anansi then tells Buddy and Vixen that no one came to rescue them.
Vixen freaks out. Anansi tells her to relax and maybe he will be persuaded to tell the story differently next time. Vixen suddenly breaks loose from the web and attacks Anansi. Anansi comments that Vixen was clever to borrow Animal Man’s powers. (Yeah, so Vixen could not have done this earlier before this demonic spider-dude killed off her teammates?)
Anansi then says that spider spins his web. (Does he have to say this annoying catch phrase every time before he uses his tale bending powers?) Anansi says that bored by science fiction, Anansi denied Animal Man’s power to draw upon the abilities of extraterrestrial animals. Buddy’s morphogenetic abilities are repaired and Buddy is now powerless in a dimension where there are no Earth animals to draw upon. Therefore, Vixen is rendered powerless although, ironically, her original power to channel the ability of earthly animals has been restored.
Vixen replies that Anansi is who screwed with her and Buddy’s powers in the first place. Anansi says that he did so in order to draw Vixen here. Anansi adds that Buddy’s problems were merely a side effect of Anansi’s manipulation of the Earth’s morphogenetic field. (I hate this like poison.)
Vixen asks why Anansi would do this. Anansi answers that Vixen is an untempered sword that he can ready for future use. Anansi then says that perhaps he is lying because he thinks this would make a good story. Anansi then tells Vixen that more rescuers have arrived in the totem. We see that Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Black Lightning, John Stewart and Zatanna are all inside of the totem.
Anansi asks Vixen if she would like to hear the tales of her teammates. Anansi says that first the heroes would have to overcome Anansi’s spiders that killed Black Canary, Roy and Firestorm. Anansi then hesitates and says that maybe the three JLA’ers are not dead. Maybe it would be more dramatic to bring them back later. Anansi says that he can do that if he wishes. This is his story. (Yeah, I got that already. Move on.)
Anansi then says “Spider spins his web.” (Of course. Didn’t see that coming.) Anansi re-tells the fateful night that Bruce’s parents were killed. Only this time after the killer shoots and kills Bruce’s parents, the killer looks into Bruce’s eyes. For some reason, the killer is frightened beyond all reason, drops the gun and runs. (Umm, okay.)
Bruce picks up the gun and kills the killer. Forged in a crucible of vengeance, the boy became a man who became a legend. Bruce became the Paladin. It is sort of a cowboy version of Batman and the Paladin uses a gun to kill any criminal who attempts to ply their trade in Gotham City.
Evidently, the Paladin spent much of his time avoiding the law and dispensing his own deadly justice. Therefore, Bruce never joined the Justice League of America. Still, the JLA formed even without the Batman.
Anansi states that due to a spell unspoken, the power ring found its way to Daniel Kim who was truly the most worthy man on Earth. Anansi says that the fastest man alive was a boy from the future. (Bart.) That upon achieving the destruction of his life long enemy, Arthur Curry, Orm, son of Atlan, realized that he inherited the responsibilities of the people of Atlantis and of those above the water. 
Anansi states that many of the heroes of this world first met at the wedding of Superman and Wonder Woman. (Personally, I have always thought that a Batman/Wonder Woman pairing would be completely intriguing.) This is where the Justice League of America was formed.
But, Anansi says that the spider spins his web. (Yet again.) Anansi says that after Superman sacrificed himself to save the world from Doomsday that Wonder Woman left the JLA. Without Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, the JLA quickly fell apart.
Anansi says that with no JLA, there is no rescue. We see Vixen, Buddy, Black Canary, Roy and Firestorm bound in the spider-web. We see small mirrors surrounding them containing the world of the story that Anansi just told Vixen.
Vixen then spits that Anansi made a big mistake. That he underestimated her. Vixen jumps into one of the mirrors to the world of Anansi’s story. Anansi watches Vixen running through the world via one of the mirrors. Anansi states that he hopes he is wrong about Vixen. Because if he is right then all is lost. That the story is no longer his.
Anansi tells Vixen to surprise him and find a way to win. For only in losing can Anansi achieve victory. Anansi then says he does not believe he will lose. Anansi then says “Spider spins his web.” End of issue.
CommentsThe Good: Justice League of America #25 was an average read. McDuffie delivers an issue that started off at a nice pace as we got a good blend of action and drama that moved at a lively speed. The first half of this issue had a pleasant flow to it.
Justice League of America #25 is not packed with action, but McDuffie properly inserts enough action throughout this issue in order to keep it a lively read. This issue was well plotted as McDuffie used this issue to conveniently wrap up Ivo’s plotline, gently move along the Kendra/Roy plotline and finally crank up Vixen’s long simmering plotline to a heavy boil.
McDuffie whips up some solid dialogue. The beginning of this issue sported some enjoyable casual banter between the JLA’ers. The dialogue between Jeff and Kendra was spot on. McDuffie’s dialogue will never blow the reader away, but it is always soundly crafted and very dependable.
I was happy to see Red Tornado getting some much deserved joy and happiness after all he has been through since the end of Infinite Crisis. I am glad that Reddy is finally getting married. It was also nice to see him get some closure with Ivo finally getting captured and thrown back in jail. Even though I am a big fan of Reddy and want him to stay an active member of the JLA, his leave of absence made sense and was not a forced or contrived move by McDuffie.
McDuffie continues to impress me with his wonderful handling of Batman. McDuffie just gets Batman’s character. McDuffie gives Batman the proper attitude and take-no-shit demeanor. McDuffie’s Batman is a brilliant strategist who always has a plan for any given situation. Absolutely nobody gets anything over on McDuffie’s Batman. Yet, at the same time, McDuffie prevents Batman from being more of a caricature than a character by giving Batman a wonderful dry sense of humor.
I enjoyed how McDuffie handled the relationship between Zatanna and Batman. It was nice to see the relationship that Dini has cultivated between these two characters over on Detective Comics being carried out in other titles as well. Having Zatanna refusing to talk to Batman until he takes her out for their night on the town was perfect. Nobody else in the JLA is able to see past Batman’s persona like Zatanna does.
The scene with Jeff and Kendra was excellent. McDuffie does a fine job with both characters. McDuffie understands what it means to be a parent and I found Jeff’s sole regret in life of not being able to spend more time with his daughters to be a rather powerful moment.
I enjoyed the alternate reality that Anansi weaves near the end of this issue. Of course, that should come as no surprise since I am a huge fan of the Multiverse and all the wild and interesting different versions of New Earth’s characters. The character that I found most intriguing was the Paladin. This was a pretty cool alternate version of the Batman.
The Bad: Justice League of America #25 started off nicely paced, but it tailed off around the mid-way point and really bogged down heading toward the end as it seemed that Anansi was determined to talk the reader to death.
I have to openly admit that I have always found Vixen to be a dull character. I have never felt that she deserved a roster spot on the JLA. For me, the JLA is reserved for the A-listers of the DCU. A character like Vixen should be on a team like the Outsiders.
And McDuffie does absolutely nothing to get me to change my opinion on Vixen. She is still a generic character that simply fails to hook my interest. McDuffie worked incredibly hard in order to put Vixen over with the reader. I think it was a bit too much and it definitely did not work for me.
Anansi is such a terribly dull villain. I will openly admit that I am not a big fan of any sort of obscure mythology. If it does not pertain to Greco-Roman, Norse or Egyptian mythology then I really have a hard time mustering up much interest. I will also admit that I rarely enjoy magic based stories. Having said that, I can still appreciate a quality magic themed story when I read one.
However, I simply do not find Anansi to be a quality villain. He comes across as a generic magic based villain. And as a result much of the dialogue de-evolves into a bunch of nonsensical magical mumbo jumbo. McDuffie completely failed to get me interested in Anansi’s character.
The story involving Anansi and his plans, his use for Vixen and his motivation were poorly crafted and miserably executed. The entire story involving Anansi and Vixen comes across muddled, pointless and unnecessarily convoluted. It almost seems like McDuffie manages to confuse himself with this story. McDuffie certainly seems to have lost a bit of focus once we enter into the second half of this issue. Quickly, the strong plotting and pacing breaks down as McDuffie seems to get stuck in a quagmire of his own making. The reader feels about as trapped in a web as our heroes are in this issue as Anansi’s story gets bogged down.
The concept that some obscure and campy spider-god is behind every single story in the DCU, the rift in the Bleed and the Multiverse’s continual crisis is just way too much for me to buy into. McDuffie overplays his hand trying to artificially increase Anansi’s standing in the DCU as a way to impress upon the reader what a big bad villain we are dealing with.
Anansi simply does not have enough credibility or stature within the DCU in order for the reader to buy into what McDuffie is trying to sell us concerning Anansi. Hopefully, the fact that McDuffie mentions that Anansi is a trickster means that Anansi is simply lying about the scope and breadth of his powers.
Anansi’s dialogue was so boring and monotonous that I almost slipped into a catatonic state while reading this issue. It was extremely repetitive which gave the reader the feeling that McDuffie was trying to burn some panel space in order to stretch the story out in order to fill up this double sized issue.
McDuffie kept pounding the same simplistic themes concerning Anansi over the readers head. I understood that Anansi owned all stories the first time McDuffie mentioned it. It was not that complex of a concept and did not bear the constant repeating. In addition, the annoying habit of Anansi constantly says “Spider spins his web” grated on my nerves.
Buddy’s insertion into this story was completely pointless. Buddy’s appearance serves no other purpose other than to have McDuffie stomp all over Morrison’s absolutely brilliant work with Buddy’s character on Animal Man and 52. In the interest of full disclosure, Morrison’s run on Animal Man is probably one of my favorite runs on any comic book. Morrison pulled off such phenomenal character work on Buddy.
Unfortunately, McDuffie decides in this issue to take the wonderful story about Buddy that Morrison gave us on Animal Man and 52 and just ruins it. McDuffie’s “additions” to Buddy’s origin is wretched. My only hope is that Anansi is indeed a trickster who is completely lying about the yellow aliens and the entire origin that Morrison gave us about Buddy.
And on top of it all, Buddy serves no point or purpose in this issue. Buddy is nothing more than yet another helpless victim along with the rest of the JLA waiting for the Vixen to eventually save them. Honestly, there was no need to shoehorn Buddy into this story and I would have been happy if McDuffie had just left Buddy well enough alone.
The ending to Justice League of America #25 was a hot mess. McDuffie gives the reader some totally incoherent babbling from Anansi that completely fails to hook me into coming back for the next issue. At this point, I just want this story involving Vixen and Anansi over so that we can move onto something more interesting.
Overall: Justice League of America #25 was an average read. My interest in this issue was greatly diminished by the fact that I am not much of a fan of Vixen and that I found Anansi to be a terribly uninteresting villain. However, if you enjoy Vixen and you love magic themed villains that you might want to give Justice League of America a try. You will probably enjoy it much more than I did.
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In an effort to review more of a variety of comics, I found this one published by Avatar Comics. No Hero consists of issue 0 and the rest of the story is serialized in seven parts. The summary of issue 0 tells us that the story begins with a super group in 1966. They are guided by the man who developed drugs to give people super powers. The group fought crime and corruption as the Levellers. Now in their fourth incarnation, they are known as the Front Line. And their luck has finally run out.
Creative Team
Writer: Warren Ellis
Artist: Juan Jose Ryp
Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7.5 Night Girls out of 10
Summary: The story starts with a CNN broadcast. Carrick Masterson(the man with the super power drugs) is going to the funerals of Judex and Doctor Shift. The blast that killed the Front Liners equal to 11 tons of TNT. Masterson tells them to get rid of the TV crews, it's disrespectful at a funeral. And to start looking for replacements.
A replay of a news clip has Judex saying that the homeland security people are interested in is the fact that 17,000 people were murdered in America last year. The explosion took place on the 45th anniversary of the founding of the Levellers.
Masterson is commenting that based on the feed from Shift's suit, someone knows way too much about how FX7 enhances the body. Doctor Shift is shown in a video clip. He is saying that Masterson changes FX7 for each person. It is not even given the same way.
CNN is showing the funeral. Masterson says this is not a power trip. This is done out of love. A man is shown watching in his apartment. The reporter says the Front Line is down to four members. How do they recruit new members? The man says they watch and listen.
People are being interviewed. A lady says "Josh Carver?" She was not surprised. There was always something wrong with him. A man only knew Josh for 6 months. He hopes he is dead. A police officer cannot comment on missing persons cases. A woman in the park can't believe he is gone.
A map of the city shows an area circled and marked Patrol Route 1. A man is jumping from a roof to a fire escape and then to the ground.
Masterson askes who is the favorite option. Another comments that a young man in Manhattan is doing everything except sending up flares to get their attention. He got sloppy and was knifed a couple of months ago. Now he doesn't go out without a stab vest.
A couple is being held up by a three guys with a gun. If they want through they have to "pay the toll". The man we saw earlier jumps backwards off the roof of a building. When he grabs the railing, the place he touches turns into what appears to be sand.
Masterson is being updated that the candidate is sticking to 3 patrol routes. He doesn't use weapons and only hits people who deserve it.
The man is coming down on top of the guy with the gun. The guy collapses in a rather gruesome mess. He makes short work of the rest of the gang. He looks at the couple and says he wasn't here and neither were they. The couple runs off. He picks up the gun and points it at someone sneaking up behind him. Masterson is behind him.
Masterson tells him he did well but he could do better. Joshua Carver recognizes him. Masterson wants to know what he is doing. Joshua says there are not enough police on the street. The ones who are there spend most of their time doing paperwork.
Masterson thinks this is the first man Joshua has killed. Joshua never jumped on someone from that high up. Masterson wants to know what he is really doing. Joshua wants Masterson to notice him. Masterson knows that Joshua wanted to show him he has the right stuff to join the Front Line. Joshua is to follow him. They approach a Hummer limo. Joshua said it wasn't there before. Masterson says it wasn't there until he wanted him to see it.
Masterson invites him into the limo for a drink. A woman in green and black is inside. She is The Operator, a five year veteran of the Front Line. Joshua is visibly shook up. The Operator wants to know what is wrong. Joshua says he never killed a person before. She asks what he thought would happen when he jumped on someone from three stories up.
Masterson says Joshua just over did it trying to get his attention. The Operator also overdid it to get Masterson's attention. She stole all his money for 12 hours. He wants to know what Joshua wants. Joshua wants to join the Front Line. People are not supposed to live in fear. He wants to wait for the people who instill fear and beat the crap out of them.
Masterson asks if he wants to be a hero. Joshua says no. He killed a man. Heroes don't kill and get over it that quickly. He wants to stand up for what is right and punish those who are wrong. Masterson wants to know how bad he wants it. Joshua says to tell him what he has to give up and he will do it.
Masterson tells The Operator to disarm it. She is holding a cell phone. If Masterson did not like what he said, she would have shoved it into his head and interfaced with Joshua's brain. Then she would have erased his personality. What happens next? Masterson is taking him home to begin his induction into the Front Line.
As the limo leaves, they drive over the gang members. Blood is trailed behind them.Comments
The Good: Fans of Scott Kolins European inspired art will like Juan Jose Ryp's work here. It is very detail oriented. The other artist he seems influenced by is Geoff Darrow. If his art continues to progress, he can look forward to a very bright future.
Ryp is very good at designing the look of the Front Line members. Judex and Doctor Shift are very distinctive.
Fans of Warren Ellis' scripts will like this series. It is tightly plotted, builds naturally, and has the mystery of who is killing the Front Line at the heart of the story. I am curious to see how Joshua goes through the process of joining the Front Line. The mystery of who is killing the Front Line has my interest.
If you like violent stories that are well written, give this series a try.The Bad: On occasion the characters look unnatural. Most of the time they look right but the occasional akwardness does detract from the story.
If violent comics are not your favorite, stay away from No Hero.
Overall: A good start to the story. I am interested where the story goes from here. Ellis and Ryp have my attention for at least another issue.
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Peter Tomasi has made Nightwing one of the favorites in the Bunker. He has portrayed him as a cross between James Bond and Batman. Nightwing shows that he is similar to Batman but is still his own person. Where Batman is a creature of the night and likes to work alone, Nightwing is more of a circus performer with a heart of for the average person. Tomasi manages to effortlessly blend his training by Batman, his past as a circus performer, and the person he has grown to be.
Creative Team
Writer: Peter Tomasi
Pencils: Don Kramer
Inks: Jay Leisten
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8.5 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: As Nightwing jumps through the safehouse window, he can smell the villains before he sees them. After all these years he knows the smell of each of them. Joker, Scarecrow, Mr. Freeze, Killer Croc, the Penguin, Poison Ivy, and Two-Face are waiting for him. Due to Scarecrow's venom, Nightwing knows that all is not as it appears to be.
Two-Face says he hopes Nightwing does not mind that they started without him. The villains are standing in a pool of blood. Each of them is holding Two-Face's former love-Carol. Nightwing was recruited by Two-Face to protect her. At times like this, he misses being Robin and standing by Batman's side as he signaled who to hit first. He leaps and tears into the gang.
Killer Croc bites Carol. Carol says that Nightwing lied when he said he would protect her. As Nightwing jumps into action, he thinks that he needs to stay focused on who is after Carol. As he takes out Croc, Penguin hits him from behind. Next he disposes of Penguin.
As images of his enemies swirl around him, Scarecrow steps up holding Carol. With an innocent life on the line, Nightwing lashes out. He holds Scarecrow's head under the pool of blood.
Poison Ivy gets him from behind. She traps Nightwing. She wants him to breath deep. Smell her flowers. Nightwing says he likes the smell of cut grass. She gets mad and slams him into the ceiling. She wants him to apologize. He cuts his way free. Next, he tasers her.
Ice forms all around him as Mr. Freeze attacks. During the fight, he shatters Freeze's helmet. He shoots Freeze with his own freeze gun. The Joker starts hitting Nightwing with a crowbar while reminiscing about killing Jason Todd. Joker says it was a bad day to be a Robin. Nightwing grabs the crowbar and hits Joker. He says it is always a bad day to be the Joker.
Two-Face is impressed with the way Nightwing went through his "hired help". He should have put more of Crane's fear serum in the bullets he shot Nightwing with. But with the price he was charging, he couldn't afford more of the serum.
Nightwing can't believe that Two-Face shot him after asking him to protect Carol. Two-Face took sharpshooter lessons from Deathstroke. Always learn from the best. Two-Face has a gun pointed at Carol's head. Nightwing wants to know what he is doing. Two-Face is honoring a contract. He says if Nightwing had kept his bargain and protected Carol, they would not be in this position.
Nightwing calls him Harvey. Two-Face says Harvey is not here. Two-Face can tell by the way Nightwing is moving that he is still feeling the effects of the serum. Nightwing says that Two-Face doesn't want to kill Carol. He has a choice. Two-Face flips his coin to see what to do. The coin hits Nightwing and he feels an explosion. He thinks his parents are falling with him.
Carol is talking with Two-Face. She thought he was her guardian angel. He says if she wants to see angels he can take care of that. She wants Harvey to fight Two-Face. She slaps him. Two-Face shoots her.
Nightwing imagines he saves his parents. He knows it is his imagination but it still feels good.
Carol askes Two-Face if he is just going to stand there and watch her die. He says of course not. He will walk out slowly so he doesn't slip in her blood. He is going for a drink.
Nightwing gets to Carol. He tries to revive her but it is too late.
Nightwing watches the funeral from outside the church.
Two-Face is speaking to someone in a limo. The man thanks Two-Face for killing Carol. He mutters that Nightwing was supposed to save her. He snaps and blasts the man with both of his guns.
Comments
The Good: Peter Tomasi was born to write this book. He has made this a must read book. This is very possibly the best writing Nightwing has had. He continues to work in Nightwing's history into each story. The segment where he imagines he saved his parents lives was a good addition to take the story up a notch. I liked how the Joker described killing Jason Todd to Nightwing while he was beating on him with a crowbar.
Tomasi includes little sarcastic comments to break the tension. I loved Nightwing's comment to Poison Ivy about liking the smell of grass after a lawn mower cuts it. It added a touch of humor and served to distract her. Another great remark was the one about it always being a bad day to be the Joker.
Nightwing knew that he was suffering from the effects of the fear toxin but kept fighting through it to get to the real person behind it.
It makes sense that someone like Two-Face would hire Deathstroke to teach him to be a sharpshooter. Little touches like this add to the story.
Don Kramer and Jay Leisten rose to the occasion with their art this month. Rumor has it that Don is now the regular artist. This is good news. Don raised his art to a new level with this issue. You can see the insanity in Two-Face's face on the final page.
Tomasi shows that Two-Face and Harvey Dent are 2 separate personalities. This is not how it has always been portrayed. It does make sense that Two-Face has 2 different personalities. If you have the chance watch the BBC show "Jekyll". I see a lot of similarities between the way Jackman/Hyde and Harvey/Two-Face are shown. In the show, Hide is a completely different person. He even changes physically. This shows what a split personality is like when one of them is violent.
The Bad: I didn't see anything bad this time. If you want the hero to always win, then you won't like the death of Carol. In this respect, Nightwing failed. I think this is realistic. The good guys don't always win.
Overall: Another great issue in a great series. Next issue should be even better as we see Two-Face go after Nightwing.
I don't see the connection between this story and R.I.P.
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The Revolution continues to enjoy Morrison’s Batman RIP. This has been such a strange ride and I am curious to see how Morrison is going to wrap up this tale. Batman #680 is the penultimate issue so I expect Morrison to deliver an intense read. Let’s not waste any time and go ahead and hit this review.
Creative Team
Writer: Grant Morrison
Pencils: Tony Daniel
Inks: Sandu Florea
Art Rating: 10 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 9.5 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: We begin with all of the rich and powerful guests arriving at the Black Glove’s Danse Macabre at Arkham Asylum. Batman of Zur-en-arrh watches from the roof of Arkham Asylum. Dr. Hurt welcomes the guests to a giant round table surrounded by multiple video screens. Dr. Hurt says that he has in store for them a gamble of life and death.
Dr. Hurt points to one screen where we see Jezebel Jet tied up with a ball gag in her mouth. Dr. Hurt says that they have the damsel in distress. And they have the broken, but not yet defeated hero. And they have the hero’s ultimate nemesis. Dr. Hurt asks the guests if they are willing to bet that good triumphs over evil.
We cut to Le Bossu standing in front of Joker’s cell. Le Bossu strips off his clothes and slips into his costume and puts on his mask. Le Bossu comments how the Joker is so perfect and so complete. That the Joker is the product of random circumstance. Le Bossu says that he envies Joker.
Le Bossu says that he is a respected neurosurgeon with a wife and two beautiful daughters. That no one knows the ugliness inside of him. No one knows what he does to others or what he dreams about doing to his family. That polite society does not allow him to be the man he truly is. In order to express the true person that he is, Le Bossu is forced to wear an elaborate disguise. Le Bossu says that inside he is broken, perverse, grotesque and violent.
Le Bossu states how many of his peers have been inspired by the Joker. That they all revere the Joker’s flamboyance and his dedication to his art. Le Bossu is thrilled to be by the Joker’s side on this night. Le Bossu tells the Joker to pick his partners. That the Dance of Death begins. Joker stifles a small yawn at Le Bossu’s long winded soliloquy.
We cut to Blue Venom in a hot nurse’s outfit demanding to know where Le Bossu is. She tells the gargoyle thugs to go find Le Bossu so that they can begin the lobotomy on Nightwing.
We shift to Batman of Zur-en-arrh on the rooftop of Arkham Asylum. Bat-Mite reminds Bruce that the Batman of Zur-en-arrh was only designed for a short period of time and that Bruce cannot run at this speed all night. Bat-Mite comments that Bruce’s Technicolor outfit is probably unwise. Bruce responds that it worked for Robin all these years. Bruce says that the colors demonstrate total confidence.
We see Sombrero outside on a balcony looking through binoculars at Batman. Sombrero informs Dr. Hurt that Batman is at Arkham. Dr. Hurt tells Sombrero to come and join the party. Suddenly, Joker appears on the scene and kills two of the gargoyle guards standing with Sombrero. Joker then comments how there is something about sombreros that makes them naturally funny.
We slide back to Bat-Mite telling Bruce that all of the hired muscle outside of Arkham is just a warm-up for Bruce. That the really dangerous villains are all inside of Arkham. Bat-Mite counsels Bruce to save his energy. Batman of Zur-en-arrh responds that it is the Black Glove who he is after. Batman of Zur-en-arrh then attacks the thugs guarding Arkham.
Batman of Zur-en-arrh enters Arkham Asylum. At this point, Bat-Mite says that this is as far as he can go. Bat-Mite says that he is the last fading echo of the voice of reason. And that reason will not fit through this door. Bat-Mite says that Bruce will have to face it on his own.
Bruce then asks for one straight answer. Bruce asks Bat-Mite if he is a figment of Bruce’s imagination or if Bat-Mite is really an alien hyper-imp from the 5th Dimension. Bat-Mite responds that imagination is the 5th Dimension. Bat-Mite says “They hurt you and they’re not done yet. Batman. Beware!”
We cut back to the round table where all the guests are watching Batman of Zur-en-arrh viciously plow his way through all of the gargoyle thugs inside of Arkham Asylum. Some of the guests complain that this is not the real Batman. They accuse Dr. Hurt of hiring an actor to pose as Batman.
Dr. Hurt replies that they are all looking at what is left of the Batman. Dr. Hurt reveals that it has taken years, but that his carefully prepared scenarios and post-hypnotic suggestions have split apart the Batman’s already fragile psyche. Dr. Hurt states that he owns the keys to the Batman’s mind.
Dr. Hurt asks if the ultimate noble spirit can survive the ultimate ignoble betrayal. Dr. Hurt tells the guests to place their bets now.
Suddenly, Sombrero comes crashing through the window. The Joker then steps through the window and introduces himself to Dr. Hurt. Dr. Hurt tells Joker how extraordinarily inevitable the Joker is. Dr. Hurt says that he knows the Joker will be disappointed to hear this, but that Robin has managed to elude them up to this point.
Dr. Hurt then asks the Joker to allow him to introduce himself and to explain to the Joker what they plan to do to the Batman at midnight. Dr. Hurt adds that he knows that the Joker will want to stay and watch.
We shift to Wayne Manor where Commissioner Gordon has managed not to set off any of the Black Glove’s booby traps. A voice says that it is time for a challenge. That Batman’s red phone at the top of the stairs is a hotline to the police. That the police have been alerted to a call. That the phone will ring exactly five times and if Gordon fails to pick it up by then a bomb will go off and destroy Wayne Manor.
The phone begins ringing and Gordon breaks into a run. In doing so, Gordon sets off one of the booby traps. A suit of armor springs to life and points a gun at Gordon. Suddenly, an arrow hits the armor and blows it up. We see Damian and Talia on the scene along with several ninjas. Talia mentions how her beloved has spoken warmly of Gordon. Talia asks Gordon if he will team-up with her to find the Batman.
We cut back to Arkham Asylum where Batman continues to plow his way through the gargoyle thugs. One of the thugs radios Dr. Hurt and screams that they did not get their shipment and that they are out of ammo. Bruce makes his way down a padded hallway full of video screen. The Joker appears on the screens and comments that some very rich people got together to throw Batman a party and the Batman ar