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.

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.

Bit of a low-key comics week for me this week, although I noticed how I picked up more Marvel than DC titles for the first time in a while (3 Marvel vs 2 DC). Sadly Phantom: The Ghost Who Walks #1 which I was really looking forward to, didn’t seem to make it to my local comic shop.

The biggest issue this week for me was probably Ms Marvel #37. It represents a huge gamble by Marvel, and I must admit, I’m quite surprised and unsure of this direction. The final issue of the End of Ms Marvel arc sees Carol, who’s powers have been increasingly unreliable, forced to push herself to her limit against her opponent. Doing so however pushes her powers over the edge, and unable to control the energy, she explodes and dies.

While I’m not a regular reader of the Ms Marvel title (just picking up the odd issues that look interesting), I’m finding this move a big gamble by Marvel. With Carol dead, Moonstone will become the title character of this book. Carol had only really recently been brought back to the fore-front of the Marvel Universe as Ms Marvel, so to replace her at a point where she’s just regained popularity seems a strange move. Granted we don’t know quite where they’re going with this plot (other than Moonstone taking over the book), but I can’t help but think this has the potential to backfire badly. The next issue stands to lose the Carol fans unless there’s a big twist ahead (while Carol exploded, we’ve seen energy-based heroes come back after dissipating before).

Of course, its also likely that that this is exactly the kind of thing they’re planning, and by using Moonstone and Dark Reign as a focus point in this way, they’ll attract a lot of attention to the title before Carol comes back.   Heck, I’m blogging about it, and I won’t be the only one

On the DC side of things, I picked up Oracle: The Cure #1, and Wonder Woman #30. Again, I’m unsure where DC are going with Barbara Gordon and Oracle at the moment, so that means I’m approaching this series with a degree of trepidation, however its a solid first issue. With only three issues in this mini, I would have perhaps expected a faster pace in the first issue and a bit more happening, but nonetheless its always fun to see the Oracle/Calculator rivalry. I’ve mentioned before how much I love just the concept of Oracle, and so the Calculator as the villain’s equivalent has always been something I’ve really enjoyed. Here we see them both attempting to track down the remains of the Anti-Life Equation from the internet. While Barbara’s motives aren’t clear (possibly she’s after it to make sure no one else gets it), the Calculator’s seem to be tied in with his daughter being in hospital. I’ll definitely be picking up the remaining two issues of this series to see where it goes (indeed, this is probably the only Battle for the Cowl tie-in I’m picking up).

Wonder Woman #30 continues the Rise of the Olympian storyline. While I freely admit I’ve just been buying Wonder Woman for this story, which sounded interesting, I’m very much enjoying it. Unsurprisingly Gail Simone brings her usual excellent grasp of the characters as she turns Wonder Woman’s world upside down. In this issue, the focus is very much on Wonder Woman’s rage at what the society have done by unleashing Genocide, and her fury is brilliantly captured as she tears through the Society’s headquarters (the highlight of the issue for me was probably the image of Faust putting on his coat the minute he saw Diana approaching on the security cameras ). While not appearing in this issue, I’ve been enjoying Gail’s handling of Diana, Donna and Cassie in this story. Its nice to see the three of them together.

My Marvel purchases are rounded off with War Machine #4 and Captain America #48. War Machine’s a series I’ve been enjoying a lot, although it has to be said, some of its been a bit daft so far, with Jim’s new ability to rebuild himself from nearby machinary (the half-tank War Machine was so over-the-top it worked, but I think I’d like to see this ability used in moderation throughout the run).  There’s heavy Dark Reign influence here as well, with Ares forcing Jim to examine his motivations for his recent actions in probably the most effective scenes of this series so far.  While it would’ve been easy to just through in Ares as an obligatory Dark Reign tie-in, Greg Pak really makes great use of him, as we see him break through to Jim in a way none of his friends have been able to since Jim became a cyborg.  Jim’s conversation with Bethany where he says he’s ready to become human again works well, as it contrasts nicely with his denial of his humanity throughout the opening issues.

Captain America continues to be one of the best comics on the market.  The finale of the recent storyline sees Bucky, Black Widow and Namor teaming up to rescue the body of the original Human Torch, who’s been turned into a bioweapon by an insane scientist, determined to reduce Earth’s population.  Again, like War Machine, its the character moments that probably best define this issue, with Bucky determined to try and face some of the actions he committed while the Winter Soldier.   Saying that, I’ll be glad to see him back and continuing to establish himself as Cap in future issues.  I’m really loving the pairing of Bucky and Black Widow in this title as well.  These two characters work well together, and I similarly love the way Ed Brubaker has weaved in events from World War II throughout his run.  Its really given the title a sense of its history and helped give it a unique voice.

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.

So, with the upcoming Battle of the Cowl solicits, and in particular the Oracle mini-series, cancelling of Birds of Prey, and DC dodging the question of who’ll be Batgirl after Battle for the Cowl, its led to a lot of speculation that Barbara will be regaining the use of her legs, and reclaiming the Batgirl identity from Cassandra.

Now, while I’m not keen on this potential development (after all, it could be one big misdirection), I got to thinking about the character of Oracle.   

I’ve always been a big fan of the character, and especially the idea of Oracle.  The idea of a character who’s a central knowledge base for DC’s main heroes.  If they’re stuck and need information, then they contact Oracle.   And also as a mythical bane of the non-super villains, striking them through cyberspace.  Its been a great concept and worked really well (and may continue to do so if the Batgirl stuff is misdirection).  Granted, this is partly due to the great use of Barbara in the role, showing her continuing the good fight, but in a new way.

However, I was thinking.  Let’s assume for a moment that the above does come to pass.  Barbara becomes Batgirl once again.  But what about Oracle?  A concept like that is too good to waste.  But its also an opportunity to decouple the identity from the Bat-franchise.

But who could be the new Oracle?  Well, I was thinking (wait for it)…

Ted Koord.

We know Ted’s back from the dead.  Now, granted there’s an element of confusion, with convention hints pointing at him being a Black Lantern, but the events of Booster Gold (and comments by writer Geoff Johns) indicate he’s clearly alive after all the time travel mucking about of the Blue and Gold arc.   However, let’s just assume that regardless of the route, he’s back.

Ted’s good friends with Barbara, and helped her out during the Birds of Prey series.  Countdown to Infinite Crisis put a lot of emphasis on Ted’s detective skills and really brought out that element of his character.  Something that could serve him well as an information broker for the hero community.   Ted also has contacts and friends across the entire community from his days on JLI, so he could provide a broader-ranged Oracle, unlike Barbara who often only showed up in Birds of Prey and the Bat-titles (although Grant Morrison did use her during his JLA run).   By this I’m meaning, Ted’s Oracle wouldn’t necessarily be in a regular book.  Rather a resource other writers could use as and when they wanted.  And finally, Jamie is currently the Blue Beetle, and that’s a great character I don’t think should be torpedoed by Ted’s return.

Of course, the problem with this is that you’re breaking up the Blue and Gold team.   With Booster serving as the DC’s resident time travelling superhero, it wouldn’t really make sense to have them as a permanent team.  Rather, we’d have to settle for Booster dropping in on Ted time-to-time for chats and team-ups.

Ted could also form quite a different Oracle. Whereas Barbara relied heavily on cyber-sleuthing, Ted could be more of a traditional detective when it comes to his information gathering. There’s not a lot of point having an Oracle that’d be a carbon copy of Barbara in the role.

Anyway, that was just a mad idea I had. It’ll be interesting to see what happens during Battle for the Cowl to Barbara and the Batgirl and Oracle identities, but with DC’s move to focus on the more recognisable interpretations of characters, then I think Barbara becoming Batgirl again is going to happen.

Of course, with that being my mad theory for who could be a new Oracle, the next question would be what would happen to Cassandra if she’s not Batgirl anymore.

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.