Reilly2040's Blog

And so, Battle for the Cowl comes to a close, finally revealing what everyone guessed months ago, that Dick Grayson is the new Batman.

Of course, since most people had Dick pegged as the new Bat from the beginning, really this series was more about the journey and seeing him get to that point. And from that point of view, the series kind of worked.

I say kind of, as Dick finally taking on the mantle of Batman at the end seemed a little rushed. To be honest, from the end of issue 2, I expected Dick to be in his new costume for this entire third issue. I guess they’re saving his proper debut for Grant Morrison’s new Batman and Robin title and really, this series was more about moving the characters into the places they needed to be for the start of that series.

On the whole, I’ve really enjoyed this series, and Tony Daniel’s done great work.  His art has been excellent and while his writing is a bit more variable, he still did a great job in telling this story (really my only complaints were Damian in the first issue, and Tim’s very stilted conversation with himself in this third issue, explaining how he survived for the reader’s benefit).

There’s some very interesting setup, with the new Black Mask being revealed to be someone new wearing a mask.  Of course, we don’t get it revealed who it is, but it provides some interesting ground for the new series to cover, with this new Black Mask shattering Two Face and Penguin’s empires providing an opening for him to move in as the new boss of Gotham.

Tim’s status is also left open at the end of this series.  Its obvious that Damian will be moving in to the Robin role, and of course we’re assuming Tim becomes Red Robin, but none of this is actually covered here, and I think that’s a bit of a shame.  It would’ve been nice for this all to have been put in place in this series and the new status quo established.  Instead we’ll obviously have to pick up the new books in order to find out what happened.   Given that this series was all about setting up the new status quo, this was one aspect that I felt could’ve been better covered (even if it had been more explicit about Tim handing over the role of Robin to Damian and left Tim becoming Red Robin until that series).

I liked the idea of the last messages Bruce had left for everyone in case he should die, and I really liked the idea that he had such faith in Dick and Tim that he felt they’d be able to carry on without him as Batman.  Its nice that he felt that level of pride in their accomplishments, even if he was undervaluing the importance of Batman to Gotham City’s psyche.   We also discover that Bruce’s message to Jason referenced some here-to unheard of childhood trauma that was what pushed Jason over the edge.   And here Jason has truely gone off the deep end.  This series does provide what could be an ending to the character, however from his “fall to his doom” and his parting words, its a safe assumption Jason will be back fairly soon.  He’s worked well as a villain for Dick here and while it really didn’t work during Bruce Jones’ run on Nightwing, I think this is a rivalry that could be interesting if explored by the right writers.

Overall I’m very excited to see what the next few months of Bat-titles brings.   Much like Bucky replacing Steve Rogers as Captain America, if done right, the pairing of Dick Grayson as Batman alongside Damian as Robin is one that could have some legs (even if you know eventually the original will be back).  Of course, once Bruce does return, it’ll be interesting to see what that brings to the status quo.  Bruce as Batman mentoring his son Damian as Robin could be interesting, with Dick reclaiming his Nightwing identity from the Superman family once again.  However, for now, I’m very excited for Grant Morrison’s return in Batman and Robin.

IGN have released solicits for the August round of Blackest Night titles, including the first issues of the various tie-in miniseries.

It all looks excellent.  Green Lantern #45 will be dealing with the war of light, with Sinestro getting around to dealing with the Zamarons (who have been converting members of his Sinestro Corps to Star Saphires), only for all sides to find themselves under attack by the Black Lanterns.

The tie-ins look suitably disturbing.  With Batman (now with Dick Grayson under the cowl) facing off against the Black Lantern Flying Graysons, while Earth-2 Superman is in Smallville digging up Jonathan Kent.  Very pleased to see Peter Tomasi writing the Batman tie-in.  After his great Nightwing run, it’ll be very interesting to see how he approaches Dick’s new status quo.  

I’m still not keen on the whole Earth-2 Superman thing, although the solicit’s wording is interesting saying that he’s unearthed Jonathan Kent’s grave.  So Jonathan has not yet risen as a Black Lantern.  Does this mean that there’s a chance Jonathan will be spared turning up as a zombie somehow?   Presumably Clark will still be tied up with New Krypton at this point, so I wonder how he’ll play into this event (and will New Krypton find itself under attack from the rest of Krypton, brought back as Black Lanterns?).  As for the cover to Blackest Night: Titans #1…ewwwwwwwwww.

Meanwhile, Oa continues to take a kicking during Green Lantern Corps #39.   Having only just suffered the Sciencell riot, the Black Lantern rings start arriving and raising all the dead Lanterns from the Crypts as Black Lanterns.  I love this idea of Oa taking a real beating lately.  From the initial assault from the Sinestro Corps, through to the Sciencell Riot and now the Black Lanterns, Oa has been a real target lately, and I like the idea of seeing how the Guardians and Corps will react to it.   The last time this happened was back in Recharge, however the jump to one year later stole any real storytelling opportunities based around Oa’s vulnerability away (aside from the great scene of Guy viewing the new armour built around Oa).

The cover also gives front-and-centre to Katma Tui.  The Green Lantern #45 solicit mentions John confronting her and here we see her rising along with many familiar faces as a Black Lantern.  As I’ve mentioned before, I like these little pieces of interconnectedness between the two titles (such as Sinestro saying he has to find his daughter in GL, and then confronting Soranik in GLC), so the idea that we’ll see Black Lantern Katma Tui in GLC, only to setup her confrontation with John in GL appeals to me a lot.   And, of course, it’ll be nice to see John hopefully getting some decent page-time again.   While I know he’s the JLA’s Green Lantern, he’s been sorely over-looked in the main titles.

Out of all these, the only book I’m not really bothered about is the Titans tie-in as I’ve never been as attached to these characters and their history.  Although we’ll see if completism sets in when I see it on the shelves

IGN have released a first look at the cover to Blackest Night #2 and what a great cover it is

While they note this is just a pre-release look at the image and it’ll probably have an extra layer of polish and inking done before the final version is revealed, I think the cover’s incredibly striking the way it is, with Hal being overwhelmed by Black Lanterns, but lighting the whole cover with his ring, and not looking too bothered about his imminent death-by-zombie.  Very Hal

Its also nice to see Hal front-and-centre on the cover, hopefully showing how the Green Lanterns are still going to be very much and the fore-front of this event, despite its switch in focus from GL to DCU-wide.

It looks like there’s at least one other Black Lantern revealed as well.  We can see Earth-2 Superman, Aquaman and J’onn, however on the left that looks like Ke’Haan.  I wonder if the rest of the Lost Lanterns who’ve died will make an appearance.

The second issue of Battle for the Cowl moves things along at a fair old pace. I must admit, one thing I’m taking away from this three issue mini-series (which I’m enjoying immensely), is that it could’ve easily been a bit longer.

Once again, Tony Daniel is firing on all cylanders here. Ignoring my pet-peeve that he’s drawing Huntress in the wrong costume (although at least its consistent), the art in this series is cracking, and I’m enjoying the story a lot.

Unlike last issue, this issue brings the focus very much onto the three Robins. The gun-toting Batman is quickly revealed as Jason Todd (to non-one’s surprise) and he and Nightwing immediately clash over Jason’s methods, with Jason determined that he is the true successor to Batman, doing what is necessary turning Batman into something to be feared, whereas Nightwing had just buried him. It all culminates in Jason shooting Damian in the chest, forcing Nightwing to focus on getting Damian back to the cave for surgery.

Its nice to see Jason back to his more brutal self. Its something that got a bit lost during Countdown’s various attempts to redeem him, however as I’ve often said, I’ve felt the only time the character’s worked since his resurrection was as the Red Hood, and this direction feels very much in tune with that take on the character. Again Jason is back to trying to clean up Gotham in his own way, and his brutal methods are taking him over the line.

All this forces Nightwing to question his own actions. Without Batman, things have gone from bad to worse in Gotham, and in talking to Alfred, Dick comes to accept that Gotham needs the symbol of Batman, but also that he needs to continue Bruce’s legacy. Its a nice page with Dick realising this, surrounded by the bats in the cave. Of course, when he goes over to the costumes, he discovers one is missing, having been taken by Tim.

As we saw last issue, Tim had already realised that one of them would have to take over Bruce’s role, if only to prevent someone else from doing it. He’s taken it on himself to track down Jason, and discovers that Jason’s built his own batcave under the city. Again, its a great piece of art when the cave’s revealed. Tim trips an explosive trap left by Jason, but is rescued by Catwoman, however before long they get jumped by Jason, returning after his confrontation with Damian and Nightwing.

A brutal fight between Tim and Jason ensues, with Tim seemingly getting the upper hand, managing to beat Jason down with a crowbar, in a nice nod to Death in the Family. However the issue closes with the reveal that Jason manages to stab Tim in the chest with a batarang, leaving only Nightwing in his way.

I’ll say it now, I can’t see them killing off Tim in this way. Throughout the recent big shakeups in DC’s big names (specifically Flash and GL), pain has been taken to respect all the characters, since you have to assume DC don’t want to anger readers to the point of dropping any titles. And if they were to kill off Tim I could see exactly that happening. Tim’s an incredibly popular character, but more than that, with Dick taking over the role of Batman, and Bruce gone, Tim fills the detective role in the team in a way no one else can (especially since we don’t know what’s happening with Barbara at the moment).

The final fates of Jason and Tim are probably the biggest mystery in this series. With it being fairly obvious from early on that Dick and Damian are the new Batman and Robin, where exactly Tim and Jason will end up is the question. There’s the Red Robin book coming out, but that could go to either character, however I’d really like to see Tim in that role.  Ideally, to be honest, I’d rather see Tim take up the Nightwing mantle, but for now that name seems to belong to the Superman family, so given the lack of it, Tim taking up the Red Robin costume, as a symbol of how he’s grown makes sense. Given this however, I’ve no idea where Jason will end up. Taking up his Red Hood guise at this point might be a step back for the character, but I’m unsure what identity he could take up, unless he ends up dead or in Arkham. Certainly I’m at least glad to see them have a decent grasp on the character again at any rate.

I just watched this great gameplay trailer for the new Batman Arkham Asylum game.   I really like the look of this gameplay, with it playing up Batman’s stealth and tactics, more than just jumping in and relying on button-mashing kung-fu to take down a group of villains.

There’s been some new Blackest Night #0 tidbits courtesy of Andrew NDB at the Green Lantern Corps Message Board, as he’s posted up the checklist for the first few months of Blackest Night.

There seems to be a heavy Secret Invasion influence in the way they’re carrying out this event. In that the tie-ins are taking the form of mini-series separate from the characters’ regular books (for example Blackest Night: Superman). I’m a big fan of this idea, as it prevents big events from messing with ongoing storylines for other characters (which especially in the case of Superman and Batman could be very disruptive indeed). We also now know thanks to a Newsarama interview with Doug Mahnke that the mini-series will be 8 issues rather than 7.

I like the look of some of the tie-ins as well.  Specifically the three Tales of the Corps issues in July.  Presumably these will focus on all the Corps (probably partly as a primer to those who haven’t been buying GL and GLC) and it’ll be nice to see stories focusing on them.

I find it interesting that one of the three non-GL tie-ins is Titans. Superman and Batman getting their own is a no-brainer, but you’d have expected Wonder Woman to complete the trinity. I presume she’ll get her own Blackest Night mini in the following months, and I suppose there are a lot of dead Titans around to tell a story with

The Superman tie-in should be interesting. I’m guessing Clark will still be on New Krypton at this point, so does this mean it will feature ex-Kryptonians returning to plague the new planet of survivors? Or will it deal more with the supporting cast of Mon-El, Nightwing, Flamebird etc?

And of course, everyone’s waiting to see if Zombie-Bruce will turn up in the Batman tie-in. Although I’m hoping not to be honest.

From this checklist I can see me picking up all of those.  At about 6 issues a month, it’ll dent the wallet, but its still reasonably contained compared to some events.  My only worry is that the scope of this results in some delays.  DC took a lot of flack for delays to Final Crisis, so hopefully they’ll have it well in hand, but the sight of two issues of GL in July worries me slightly, as this series doesn’t have the greatest track-record.  Although with Phillip Tan doing the Agent Orange storyline, I guess Doug will have a fair headstart on the Blackest Night issues.  And in complete fairness, Doug did get Final Crisis wrapped up in January so he’s obviously a fast worker.  

The extra tie-ins should also help this event keep its momentum as well.  Final Crisis’ delays probably wouldn’t have been perceived so badly if there’d been a few direct tie-ins being released in the gaps.  The main series might’ve stuttered, but the event as a whole would’ve kept going (although I still applaud DC’s attempt to make a more affordable, scaled down event, its just that in retrospect, the tie-ins do help a lot to give things that “event” feeling).

IGN have a new interview up with Grant Morrison regarding his return to the Bat-franchise on the new Batman and Robin title due to be launched after Battle for the Cowl.

It also includes the first colour picture of the new Batman and Robin by Frank Quitely, and looking at it, if Robin’s not Damien, I’ll be really surprised.

Morrison also describes the new team as a reversal of the usual roles, with a lighter Batman and scowling, moody Robin.  As well as that description fitting Damien to a tee, I’d say it adds weight to Dick becoming the new Batman.  Which makes me very happy indeed.

Of course, Dick’s the obvious choice.  He’s the only person DC can be sure could replace Bruce (temporarily) without the fans completely losing the plot.  Tim could perhaps get away with it as well, but if you had to pick one of them, it’d probably be Dick.    The last time Bruce was replaced (Knightfall), there was huge outcry over Dick getting passed over (of course, he had to be for the story they wanted to tell), leading to him getting a shot at the role during the Prodigal storyline (it’ll be interesting to see if this is acknowledged.  Infact, it could be picked up as part of his current unease at the thought of donning the cowl).

It works as well within the DCU, with most of the heroes already knowing and respecting Dick to a large degree, which means I can see him fitting into books like JLA without much grief.  Infact it’ll be interesting to watch the other heroes play off Dick being Batman rather than Bruce.

Over all, I’m really looking forward to this.  I enjoyed the first issue of Battle for the Cowl, and I can see me picking up this Batman and Robin series.  I think Dick and Damien should play off each other well.   I’ll probably also be picking up the Streets of Gotham series at least for a couple of issues just to see what its like, as it sounds like some of the Birds of Prey characters will be turning up there.

I wonder what’ll be the situation with Tim though.  Red Robin seems the current favourite, but I wonder what title he’ll be turning up in.

Well, the next big Batman event is upon us.  Following the events of RIP and Final Crisis, things have gone downhill sharply in Gotham.   Word of the Batman’s demise has spread and the gangs, both big and small, have declared open season.

Struggling to keep a handle on things, everyone is looking to Nightwing for leadership in the Bat-family.   Nightwing and co have put together a team they’re calling the Network, consisting of Bat-family members and a few others and are trying to combat the spiralling threat to Gotham, but without fear of the Bat to keep them in line, the gangs are running riot.   Things aren’t then helped when Black Mask turns up, and frees all of Gotham’s inmates, blowing up the Asylum, and forming them into his new gang via means of poison capsules injected into them.  Whether this is a new Black Mask, or the original back from the dead though, remains to be seen.

Meanwhile a new Batman appears to be operating in Gotham.  No one in the Network has spotted him yet, but his calling cards keep turning up.

This is a pretty good first issue, marred by a couple of niggles.   The setup and plot is fairly action packed, although the premise of Gotham going to pot without Batman seems a little familiar, as does the mass-escape from Arkham, which dilutes those events slightly.

More effective are the scenes showing Nightwing and Robin struggling to cope with what has to be done.  Robin is pushing Nightwing to assume the mantle of Batman, but Nightwing is adamant that Batman died with Bruce.  Of course, the fact that Nightwing’s so against assuming the role stands out to me as a marker that he will indeed by Batman by the end of this series.  Something I’m quite looking forward to, and I suspect DC would struggle to sell anyone other than Dick or Tim in the role.  

One area that stood out slightly was when they’re discussing the imposter Batman running around.  Tim notes that he’s obviously highly trained, and is also using batarangs and bat-ropes of Bruce’s design.  However the name Jason Todd is never once mentioned by either Dick or Tim.   It seems pretty obvious that that’s who it’ll be, so as an attempt to play out a mystery, it doesn’t quite work.   At the very least having Dick and Tim acknowledge Jason as the most likely candidate, but keeping their options open would’ve scanned better.

A big thing that didn’t work for me, was the scene with Damian.   Now, admittedly I’ve only read the Batman and Son trade, so if he turned up after that, I didn’t really see it.  But while he was bratty in that series, he was also supremely self-confident, arrogant and fearless.   Here he’s positively terrified when faced by Ivy and Killer Croc, up until Dick saves him.   This just stood out as a really bad bit of characterisation compared to what I know of the character.   Given his interactions with Dick though, I do think we could be seeing them as the new Batman and Robin (with Tim becoming Red Robin?).

As a really minor niggle, would someone please point out to Tony Daniel that Huntress stopped wearing that costume a couple of years ago?  It keeps annoying me to see her drawn in it, as her new costume is a much more practical variant, and the midriff-exposing section of that costume always struck me as a bit daft-looking.

Niggles out of the way, this was still a good read.  I really liked seeing Tim take the initiative, and don one of Bruce’s spare Batsuits for himself.   We also get to see him using his detective skills, as he’s the one who’s working to identify and trackdown the imposter Batman.  Alfred’s talk to Nightwing was good to see, and its fun watching the entire Bat-family working together.

However, the real star of this mini-series is without a doubt the art.  Tony Daniel’s art really is on top form here, and the final reveal of the gun-toting Batman was brilliantly realised.  

All in all, some niggles, but I enjoyed this first issue.  While I’ll be skipping most of the tie-ins and one shots, I can see myself picking up The Network based on this (alongside Oracle: The Cure, which I’m partly dreading).  I’m definitely looking forward to parts 2 & 3 of this.

Obviously I’ve talked at depth here about my feelings towards Final Crisis, the Blackest Night and (to an extent), New Krypton.   But what about the other big event going on at DC: Battle for the Cowl?

With Bruce Wayne’s exit (and now trapped in the past – paging Booster Gold) there’s a Bat-shaped hole in Gotham City, and one thing that’s always been true in the Bat-verse, is that without Batman things go downhill in Gotham fast.

In the various bat-titles we’ve already started to see the fallout, with Robin and Nightwing trying to keep  a lid on things during RIP and now with Bruce gone, DC once again is lining up a successor.

But who should it be?  Well, it goes without saying that its got to be either Dick or Tim as far as I’m concerned.  Back in the 90s, Knightfall came under heavy criticism for the perceived slight to Dick Grayson by Bruce choosing Jean Paul Valley to replace him (of course, that was necessary for the story they had planned) and I can’t see DC doing the same thing twice.  Its got to be either Dick or Tim.

I’d say I still think Tim’s a bit young for the role.  In my ideal world, Dick will become Batman (once again, having already taken on the role during the Prodigal), with Tim taking over Dick’s role as Nightwing.  However going by the various interviews etc floating around, I’m thinking the Nightwing identity is going to be found in the Superman titles exclusively, rather than having two Nightwings running around.   That being the case, I can see Tim ending up in the (over-hyped and Countdown-damaged) Red Robin suit instead.

But who would be Robin in this scenario?  Well, I’d like to see Dick and Tim take Damian under their wings, out of respect for Bruce, with Damian taking up the Robin role (something he was keen to do in Batman and son, seeing it as his birthright).  Damian would probably be pretty reluctant and rebel against them trying to look out for him, but it could work.

However, the teaser image shows Damian holding a bandage that’s wrapped around the leg of someone who looks like Bruce.  Most people are taking it as granted that this is Hush (having recently had plastic surgery so he looks like Bruce Wayne), so this leaves open the possibility that Tim will retain his Robin identity, while Damian works alongside Hush to go after his birthright in another way (Wayne Enterprises for a start).  I can see Damian attempting to undermine Dick and Tim’s attempts to live up to Bruce’s legacy, as I mentioned before Damian sees that legacy as rightly his, and being able to block anyone else from Bruce’s holdings would be a big blow to them.

About the only real problem I’ve got with this direction is that both the Nightwing and Robin solo books had finally found their feet after floundering around for several years.  We know that whatever the outcome of Battle for the Cowl is, that its ultimately going to be temporary.  So I just hope DC haven’t torpedoed those two books for this event.

I’m definitely going to be selective in what titles I pick up for this.  The 3 issue mini that launches the new direction I’ll be picking up, but most of the Battle for the Cowl one-shots I suspect I’ll skip (especially with me probably still picking up a couple of the New Krypton Superman titles).   Once Battle for the Cowl is over, I’m unsure what books I’ll continue to pick up.  Going by the NYCC announcements, the line of Bat-books is going to look radically different, so I’ll wait and see what the solicits look like I think.  Affecting this could well be the use of the Birds of Prey characters, as I’ve always had a soft spot for them.  A book with Huntress in it is probably something I’m going to be interested in.

This is it. This felt like the issue a lot of stuff had been building up to, with Batman’s last stand against Darkseid.

However, that only takes up a couple of pages in a packed book. The story focuses on the big fights as the survivors make their last stand against Darkseid, and while the Bludhaven fight goes in their favour thanks to the Marvel family, Mr Terrific is nonetheless forced to sound the retreat, and plans are put into place to relocate the population to another of the 52 Earths in the multiverse. However, there are dire warnings from Metron if humanity attempts to break through the barrier between worlds.

If I come out of this issue with one concern, its that issue 7 is going to have to cover a lot of ground for one issue.  There’s the Dark Monitor who’s been hinted at, but not yet seen, humanity has to be saved from anti-life, and the fate (and new status quo) of the New Gods has to be setup.  I hope its not going to be too rushed.  Unlike Secret Invasion which I felt was over-stretched at 8 issues, I’m wondering if Final Crisis couldn’t have been longer.  Of course, we’ll find out whenever issue 7 hits the stands.   Some of these big things (such as the Dark Monitor) may be red herrings, or simply thrown in as teasers for future series.

But the bit everyone’s going to be talking about, is Batman’s last stand.  Forget RIP, or him being MIA after the helicopter explosion, here Batman comes face-to-face with the living embodiment of evil, and shoots him dead.  Batman still having the bullet that killed Orion is a nice touch, and there’s a nice moment in Batman’s acknowledgement that he’s finally up against a threat that he’ll happily put aside his vow against guns for.  The whole scene plays out as Batman getting one over on Darkseid, right down to his final “Gotcha” right before Darkseid’s Omega Sanction hits him.   

And while RIP gave us the powerful image of Nightwing standing with Bruce’s tattered cowl, here we get a truely iconic image of Superman standing holding Bruce’s charred remains. Of course, its a clear homage to the image in CoIE of Superman holding Supergirl’s body, and I think its as powerful because, like that original image, there’s such a strong relationship between these characters.

In fact, the whole buildup to that moment was incredibly powerful. While he’s been separated from events for most of the series (and its more than a little annoying that delays have meant that Superman Beyond #2 is now arriving in stores after this issue rather than before), Superman’s return to the scene is an incredible two pages, from the moment where he’s sighted by Wonder Woman, to him laying waste to Darkseid’s armies as he flies to find Bruce.

And a lot of the kudos for these moments surely has to go to Doug Mahnke.   While I admit I wasn’t too sure about his art in Superman Beyond, its excellent here.  And the fact he produced something of this quality despite being a last-minute replacement is a great achievement.