"Well, Bruce isn't here anymore, now is he?!?"

So I figured since Matt had a cool title for each of his posts, that I would get one myself. However, after a very long deliberation, and many options, I ended up going with another idea. That idea being, that I would just use a line from one of the comics I was reviewing.

Batgirl #5 ****
Well hot damn folks. I can say this much, that was pretty damn awesome. I can't say that I have loved the past issues, because I haven't. I mean, I've loved Barb, who is hands down my absolute favorite living female character. In all honesty, she's probably my favorite female ever. Jean Grey, as much as I love her, is more like number 1.2. This issue was great. Barb's interactions with Dick was awesome. Stephanie's interactions with Damian were highly amusing. I don't like where things are going with St. Nick. The ending cliffhanger was genius, because I did not anticipate it happening, at all.

Red Robin#7 ***
A couple of things about this one. I'm pretty sure I want this story arc to end. The Counsel of Spiders have the potential to be interesting, and I should add he the final pages did increase my level of interest. I did think that there was a slight moment in the issue where Tim may have begun to question his choice of actions, and I will welcome that realization at any point. Tammy Fox, I don't particularly care for her. She seems useless. Vicki Vale's role in the future might make things interesting for the Wayne clan, not so much the Bat clan, if you get my drift. All in all, I love Tim, love how he continues to kick ass and get his way everywhere. And so much has happened to this kid, that you just can't not like him. I just don't know where the writers are planning on taking this and I don't know if they're doing him justice.

World's Finest
The premise behind World's Finest amuses me. It's basically what would happen in the world, if all of the main Superheroes were gone, which they are not. Well, that could be debated.

1. This one came out a while ago. I enjoyed it. It had Red Robin and Nightwing (for those of you who don't know, Nightwing is Clark Kent's adoptive son Christopher.) I thought for just a one-shot this team up was fun. Nightwing and Red Robin worked well together as a unit, plus this reminded me that I was out of touch in all things Superman, other than Superboy. ***

2. This one involved Robin and the Gaurdian. I gotta say that while I don't like Damian, I do find it enjoyable when other characters pick on him. I wouldn't necessarily consider this a team up, seeing as for the most of the issue the Gaurdian was trying to arrest Robin, but their interaction was fun. There was a part in particular which showed Damian's dedication to his father, as well as a part that showed where Damian existed on the superhero totem pole (not high, kid.) ***


Adventure Comics ****
So I thought I would do a review of the series from the renumbering. Superboy is probably the only "Super"-person that I care enough about to follow. I don't hate any of the others, I just don't care to care. Now, I think that Geoff Johns is a fabulous writer. I am in awe of just how many things he has going on write now. The writing in Adventure comics has been great, the story has been cool. I totally dig the internal struggle of good and evil-Superman vs. Lex thing going on in Connor's head. I love that Connor is Tim's best friend and I like that Connor is taking a moment to just be a kid. The interactions between Con and Tim, Martha, Cassie, and even Krypto are just great to read. Frank Manupul is a tremendous artist. If nothing I've said makes you want to read this, the art alone should be enough. It's some of the most beautiful artwork you will see being produced on a monthly basis (at least for one more month.) Sadly, Geoff Johns and Frank Manupul will be leaving after the 6th issue. There haven't been that many, I suggest you all just go out and read these. Pronto.

p.s. Adventure Comics 4/5 are Blackest Night tie-ins and will be reviewed in my Blackest Night tie-ins part 2 post.

Berserker #3 **1/2
I thought the premise to this comic was pretty cool. The Berserkers being this ancient mythical race of Norse warriors who fought with an uncontrollable rage, and the comic following their modern day ancestors. I thought number 3 was a tad bit bloody and much more gore-y than needed. I also am beginning to prefer Farris' character to Aaron's. All in all, not bad. But I might have to let this one go, seeing as I can't afford all the comics I buy.

"Together again for the first time"

Many apologies for taking so much time between posts, in the future I will try and have my reviews up at a quicker pace. So as of right now Matt is not following the Bat-verse(Batman Universe) so I will be doing these reviews. It pains me to think about starting my reviews smack dab in the middle, so I will do a mega catch up review on each arc and then start with weekly issues. The best place for me to start would be with Battle for the Cowl, so I will.

Battle for the Cowl: *****
What can I say, this was a fabulous read. As an aspiring artist I'm going to go ahead and start by raving about the artwork. Can you say awesome? Tony Daniel is like a comic book deity. First of all, to those of you who do not know, Tony Daniel did all of the writing and the penciling for B.f.t.C., which basically means he is the reason I loved it. Now on to the actual story. Going into B.f.t.C. I couldn't possibly imagine how anyone other than Dick or Tim could even make a claim for the Cowl, and to be even more honest it was my opinion that it could only be Dick. Dick is pretty much, in my opinion, the heir of the Batman Legacy for a multitude of reasons: He was the original Robin, he continued to follow Bruce's teachings as Nightwing, he was the closest to Bruce (even through all of the problems they had), he's Bruce's son in all the ways that count, it just had to be. B.f.t.C. did a great job in telling this story, showing both Dick's struggle with Bruce's wishes and the needs of Gotham. Ever since Infinite Crisis we've seen some major changes in Tim, the biggest shock was probably when he gave being Robin. However, since then there has been a drastic change within him, that I feel plateaued here. During the early stages of being Robin, Tim always insisted that his crime fighting days would be a short time thing and that eventually he would move on and get a stable job. In B.f.t.C. Tim is the one who is insistent on keeping the Batman alive, even if he was the one to take up the cowl. I welcomed and hoped for this change in him (mostly because I did not want to see him leave.) Nightwing's "Network" was a great touch. The biggest difference between Bruce and Dick was their willingness to befriend and remain in contact with others and the Network showed us this. Dick is by far the most liked character in the DC world (by the other characters), and their willingness to help him out exemplifies this. As a side note to it all, I want to like Jason Todd (if he weren't so damn crazy,) and getting some insight into his personality was a nice touch. Catwoman, I love that she cares about Bruce and is loyal to him even after his departure. Damien is annoying.
Basically, all of you should read this. It's pretty much a great read, has great art, and makes me feel good. Know this though, Battle for the Cowl really ends in Batman #687.

Batman 687-693:
As I just mentioned Batman #687 is really the conclusion to Battle for the Cowl. I know that we have star ratings here at Phoenix Lantern Corps, but since there are so many issues I don't think that that would work out so well. I can say that #687 is definitely a 5 star read, so pick it up right after Battle for the Cowl. Batman follows the trials of Richard Grayson [Wayne] in his attempt to take on the Cowl. He faces all the usual problems that seem to gravitate towards Gotham. Two-Face and Penguin are still fighting, Black Mask is still gaining leverage, and Arkham has been rebuilt. Dick also now has to face the problems that arise from his taking on the mantle: fighting with a cape again, the physical differences between Bruce and him and the way they moved, fought, etc, Dick also has to deal with all of the new pressure that falls on him because he is now Batman. In case it hasn't been apparent, this arc tends to focus on Dick's acceptance of the role as well as everyone else's acceptance. Nobody knows that Bruce has died or that the original Batman has died, but people do have their suspicions that something is up. The writing has been pretty good with Judd Winick at the helm and nice art with Mark Bagley. Tony Daniel has even made a return to writing and doing the artwork starting on number 692.

Batman and Robin 1-6:
Grant Morrison is a great writer, regardless of the flack he received for Final Crisis. Batman and Robin has some great writing, nice one-liners, and is just a great read in general. Starting up from Battle for the Cowl, Dick is now Batman and Damien is now Robin. This arc follows the struggles that Dick and Damien go through now that they have teamed up together. Dick is struggle with his new role as the leader, Damien still believes he should be Batman, and Alfred is pretty much amused with the whole situation. The story is bound to give some of readers the creeps, what with a gang of pig-faced criminals that replace your face with a monsterous or Flamingo, a crazed freak who eats people's faces, literally. Jason Todd returns, and I've got to say that I am still rooting for him to turn good some time in the future (although I know this to be unlikely.) All in all I have been greatly impressed with the writing, but unfortunately not so much with the artwork. Frank Quitely is fairly renowned for his artwork, but it doesn't as much for me. Personally, I prefer Philip Tan's artwork, which started with the fourth issue. This is a definite must read, I've even got Matt to give it a chance.

Red Robin 1-6:
This definitely a must read for fans of Timothy Drake Wayne (and who isn't right?) So Red Robin starts of with "The Grail", which is basically Tim's journey to prove that Bruce is still alive, even though everyone seems to disagree with him. I think the biggest problem I have, and it's more of a personal thing, is that Tim and Dick are having problems. Tim is mad that Dick made Damien the new Robin even though Dick explains that he doesn't see Tim as a sidekick but as an equal. Tim's decision to isolate himself from his family and friends is pretty much just another emulation of Bruce, which is not a bad thing mind you, it can just get tricky in the future. I don't know how I feel about Tim shacking up with Ra's Al Ghul and the League of Assassins, even if he says it's about taking them down. I love the cover artwork done by Francis Manapul, the writing by Chris Yost has been pretty good (even if I question the direction it is going) and I preferred the original artist, Ramon Bachs, to the new artist Marcus To, who took over starting issue 6. If you are a hardcore fan of Tim's definitely pick this up and read it. If you aren't a hardcore fan, you will probably want to catch up on the rest of the Bat-verse first.

Streets of Gotham 1-6:
Streets of Gotham ties most closely with Gotham City Sirens. Paul Dini takes the reigns in writing for both Streets of Gotham and Gotham City Sirens, which would explain the fact that they are so closely related. This story arc follows pretty much follows Gotham City and everything that goes along with it. Hush has broken out of his prison and is now galavanting around Gotham pretending to be the Bruce Wayne and has promised Gotham billions of dollars, Bruce's dollars. Black Mask is still terrorizing Gotham. Streets of Gotham also has more guest stars, including Huntress and Man Bat. Dustin Nguyen does the cover art as well as the pencil art, and let me tell you, the cover art is just beautiful and the artwork inside is great as well. In fact, Streets of Gotham has the best looking Damien out of all of the arcs. If you've read the others, you should definitely pick this one up. It has great tidbits of what goes on in Gotham when the Bat and the new boy wonder aren't watching.

Gotham City Sirens 1-6:
What a great idea this was. This follows the story of Catwoman, Poison Ivy, and Harley Quinn as they have now decided to live with each other. First, let me just get this out of the way and say, Goddamn that's some great art. Guillem March, man can he make a guy want to be with Catwoman. Paul Dini is doing great work with the Sirens as well as the Streets, but there is just a whole 'nother level of awesome brought by Guillem's artwork. I loved the second issue which surrounded Ivy and Harley's desire to get Batman's true identity out of Catwoman, with the use of some of truth serum. It is revealed that Talia came to Catwoman for this very reason. Talia taught Catwoman some secret techniques to push her knowledge to the deep recesses of her mind, where it would remain untouched by everyone else. Love it. The Riddler has also made appearances throughout (even had a single issue revolving around him) and I reckon we haven't seen the last of him. I thought the return of Gagsworth A. Gagsworthy aka Gaggy was also a nice touch. Overall, this has been a great read, definitely need to check this out. Of course, it helps if you actually care about these three characters.

Batgirl 1-4:
So I really just started reading this series in honor of my favorite Comic Female, Barbara Gordon. I've gotta say that I'm less than impressed with Stephanie Brown, who I just don't like in general. The artwork isn't so bad, some parts better than others. I'm not too sure if Lee Garbett and Trevor Scott switch off, or how that works, but it's overall ok. Sometimes they look weird, sometimes they don't. The writing isn't too bad either. My favorite parts are when Barbara is on (not that this is TV.) I love the Barbara and the Commissioner's scenes and the parallels that exist there. I also am loving Barbara's role as a leader, she's kinda the Batman to Batgirl's Robin. I love Barb, now if only she and Dick would get it together.




***Just in case. I obviously own nor claim any rights to these images (I wish I were that great.) Anyway, all artwork is done by and owned, I presume, by those that I have mentioned in the pertaining reviews.

Blackest Night part one

A little note before I start. I have a habit of just liking things in general, especially because I haven't particularly ever needed to review anything. I will be following Matt's guidelines for ratings (which can be found to your right), however it needs to be kept in mind that we do have different tastes (rare, but it happens). I will most likely become a tad bit more critical as this process continues. To begin, I will be covering a fairly large realm of comics: Blackest Night Tie-Ins. Blackest Night is a pretty big deal, if you haven't noticed, and the tie-ins can be a nice addition or a waste of time. I will attempt to lead you in the right direction. As Blackest Night is separated into three parts, I will do the same.

Forgive me if I leave anything out.

Part One:

Blackest Night: Batman ****1/2
Over all I thoroughly enjoyed this miniseries. Although I am a big fan of the Bat-verse, I am not being biased.
I gave it 4.5 stars because I feel if you are a fan of Batman, then you definitely need to read this. However, if you aren't a fan (who isn't, though) then there isn't a necessity to read this, although it will inevitably bring you joy and pleasure. It's fun, the story line is pretty good, the art is nice, and it does what it set out to do: bring Blackest Night to Batman. Blackest Night Batman #1 does what the first issue of any miniseries should, it lays our the foundation of the series as well as generating enough interest to further read the series. The whole series will focus on Batman, Robin, and Red Robin's reaction to the reanimation of their loved ones. This plays along with the rest of Blackest Night, with the resurrection of dead loved ones, but it also toys with the recurring theme in Batman, which is the death of one's parents igniting the course of action. The scenes/panels/pages, call them what you will, that displayed the relationship that Tim and Dick have as well as their relationships with their parents were good. The scenes portraying the dynamic of the newly formed "Dynamic Duo" were also done very well. Blackest Night brought back guests, such as Boston Brand, aka Deadman, as well as brought recurring cast members, Commissioner Gordon and Barbara aka Oracle. Deadman was an unexpected guest, but was thoroughly amusing. As a long time fan of Barbara's, I can't say that I'll ever not appreciate a cameo on her part. You won't leave this miniseries knowing more about Blackest Night, but that's ok because I don't think you are meant to. There are bits and pieces of information that you can carry on to the main Blackest Night series, but the story is pretty self-contained, which isn't a bad thing mind you. I personally enjoyed the story very much and urge you to read it as well.

Blackest Night: Superman ****
I will be honest and say that I've never been a huge Superman fan. I like him fine, but personally I don't see any reason why the DC universe needs to him to be its savior. That being said, I did like this tie-in. I am a huge fan of Superboy and while I haven't read much on Supergirl, I do like her. On to the story. I did not know that New Krypton existed, so that threw me off for second, a short second I promise. Other than that, I liked seeing the interaction between Superboy and Superman. It's nothing like a Batman and Robin moment, but it's almost like watching two brothers interact when one is living in the other's shadow. I thought that choice for the antagonist was interesting and somewhat unexpected. I personally would have thought it would have been Pa Kent, shows how much I know. The most interesting thing to take from this, in my opinion, was the machine that the Kryptonians built to repel the power of the Black Rings. I know that they are an advanced race, but man, who knew. The possibilities. If they weren't so obsessed with themselves they could probably save everyone by trapping the Black Lanterns in the same sort of force field on their home planet (whatever that is.) Besides that, it was nice seeing Supergirl interact with her mother (Who, again, I did not know was alive.) Moving on, I never knew that one person could be feeling as many emotions at once as both Superman and Superboy did. What a display of, hmm, I don't know if I would consider a lack in controlling one's emotions or a complete control of one's emotions. Either way, the resulting artwork is fantastic.
Overall, nice tie-in. It had a little bit of everything you need in a good read. Some nice writing, great artwork (which I feel most people ignore comics, but some of the greatest artwork I've come across in recent years can be found in comics), a strong leading cast, as well as a likeable supporting cast, like Ma Kent and Krypto. Stop reading me, and go read it! Along with Batman!

Sidenote: I find it a tad strange that my spell-check finds nothing wrong with Superman, but throws red flags when I type Superboy or Supergirl.

Blackest Night: Titans ****1/2
This tie-in is probably the most revealing of all the Tie-ins I've read. Even if you haven't been following the Titans I'd suggest reading this one if only for the understanding that will come with reading it. While the other tie-ins (Superman and Batman) were great, they didn't particularly tie into the main story nor did they enlighten readers with further knowledge. This, to reiterate, is not the case with Titans. The non-regular readers will need to look up characters, that much at least is to be expected. Also, just like the other tie-ins this one does follow its own story, why wouldn't it. But, and that is a big but my friends, there are two things that happen in Titans that I found to be very important. The first was that Don Hall, the original Dove, did not rise when summoned by the black rings. The Black ring circled his grave, but alas, Don Hall did not rise because he was "at peace." This gives the reader just the slightest insight into the powers of the Black Rings. It should be mentioned that the being who bears the name "Dove" is usually an embodiment of peace. Furthermore, later in Titans, the current Dove (Dawn Granger) encounters some Black Lanterns, one being her now deceased sister. During their tussle, it became appear to us all (us being the readers) that the Black Lanterns could not "read" Dove as they do all other sentient beings. In a scene that seems to have shocked even Dove, Dove's peace (personified by her light) repelled the darkness of the Black Lantern and severed the Ring's connection to its body host. This lead my fellow comic book aficionados and I to conclude that Dove, and all her white Light, was the embodiment of all of the emotions (and colors of the spectrum.) Which goes along with the path that Indigo has taken Hal (combination of Lanterns and spectrums.)
This was a pretty good read. I knew the Titans well enough to know who was who, but even beyond that this tie-in brought with it the most twists and information. It is definitely a must read, even if you just read it once.

Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps ***
I wouldn't particularly consider this a tie-in, mainly because it's more of a history lesson. If you want a brief overview of the different Corps, this is where you'd go. I thought the writing is great (as I've come to expect from Geoff Johns.) I will admit that it was a fairly interesting read. I can't say for sure why, but the story of Hope slightly disturbed me (blind faith tends to have that effect on me.) The story behind Fear didn't impress me any. It made it's point but nothing stood out in a good or bad way. I will admit that I allow myself to get a bit sappy when it comes to fictional characters (especially comic book characters) so the story behind Carol and her love ring did pique my interest a bit. I also would like to learn more about these supposed Violet Lanterns. Enough that I'll probably end up going back and reading her journey and interaction with Hal. I don't know if I like that the Orange Lanterns aren't "real." The Red Lanterns do intrigue me. I won't lie, I was fairly pleased when Bleez turned and killed the Yellow Lantern, I only wished she caused him a tad bit more pain first. What I found to be the most confusing were the Indigo Lantern. I didn't particularly perceive their actions to be all too compassionate. To clarify, I mean what they did to the Yellow Lantern wasn't compassionate, what they did to the Green Lantern could be perceived as putting him out of his misery (if he was not healable at least.) The stories behind Kilowog and Arisia, I thought, were touching. I didn't know too much about either and this story did a good job in getting me somewhat emotionally attached to the both of them.

I'm not sure if I should add a short review on Blackest Night #0 with Director's Commentary. I figure Geoff Johns and Adam Schlagman did a great job covering the issue. I always like reading commentary because it just gives you the slightest bit of insight.

Overall I thought the tales were a nice little insert thrown in, but not completely necessary to read. They're good to read if you enjoy absorbing the history and every aspect of the the story (Blackest Night) but not needed to follow Blackest Night.

Stay tuned for Part Two next month. In the following weeks, I will be reviewing individual issues. Read long and hard folks!