The Bat-Thread

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Re: THE BAT-THREAD

Post by mkb28 »

Tuga:

If you enjoy Tom King, I highly recommend his "Sheriff of Babylon" two Volume TPB's. Excellent story and artwork! :thumb:

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Re: THE BAT-THREAD

Post by ShadowTuga »

mkb28 wrote:Tuga:

If you enjoy Tom King, I highly recommend his "Sheriff of Babylon" two Volume TPB's. Excellent story and artwork! :thumb:

Michael
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Thanks for the tip, Michael- I have read good things about this, very good, actually. The artwork is also very good, from what one can see in previews. That cover for issue 4 is really dope!
:high-five:
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Re: THE BAT-THREAD

Post by ShadowTuga »

ShadowTuga wrote:My Bat-reads of November:

Batman Annual #1
This was a fun read, for an annual. Lots of talent working here (Adams, Snyder, Dini, King, etc, etc) and that leaves to some stories being better than others unlike a 40 page one-shot, that I was expecting. Best of this book is the very first story by King that shows the return of ACE. Yes, ACE!!!! And in such a great, heart-filled, simple and funny way. I do wonder if Titus (and Alfred The Cat and Bat-Cow) is still alive in this Rebirth era. Nobody mentioned that poor dog. :hm:
But seeing Ace full-on Bat-Hound is hilarious. And his backstory is really, like really well done here. It's so good. I loved this story.
The others are fun, some more than others and overall, it's a good Batman "large issue" with the small story of Ace as one of those you just got to love.
Not to clap myself on the back for my exquisite Bat-taste :P , but "Good Boy" the Ace story I was all over, just won the Eisner for best short story of 2016.

Apparently, it is now available for free online, here:
http://batman-news.com/2017/06/14/read- ... -good-boy/

It is really worth the litlle time it takes to read it. :thumb:
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Re: THE BAT-THREAD

Post by ShadowTuga »

I just went for a re-read of "All-Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder", after DKIII reminded me that a story in this universe can still be great, even after DKSA and this; while this book has some of the worst stuff that Miller did (the Canary arc is all too weird, senseless and kinda stupid, really- not to mention the sex-scene on the roof which is just wtf?!), I actually am on the camp of the fans of this crazy-a** Batguy. Gotta love the yellow room scene, and how this Bruce completely despised ALL of the tights, only to understand that his ward almost killed a Good Guy because of his crazy methods (I just find a sadistic pleasure in watching one of my childhood icons being an a**hole to everyone, even Alfie). The art is absolutely perfect, and like many said, it is a shame it was wasted of sorts in such a convuluted comic, that I love, but it's because I see it as a satyre, almost. To think that Miller wrote this seriously is disheartening; but he did. In many ways this is the worst of FM, but even his worst stuff has its moments where you go "this was crazy cool". Like the scene in the yellow room as I mentioned, or how he made Dick eat rats for weeks. Rats. :lol: :lol: :lol: Or the fact that he scares the *SQUEE* out of everyone criminal with a *SQUEE* laughter, of all things. I admit, it's as far from Batman as it gets, but in DKR-Millerverse, I buy it and ask for doubles. It's plain fun. And in the back of my head, DKR is a stand-alone tale that has sequels (and prequels) you might as well ignore, if one does not like it, it does not take that story away from me.

Now, the fact that this book *SQUEE* on continuity within its own universe on so many levels (E.G. wasn't the Batmobile something a kid would call? and where the *SQUEE* came teen Babs if this is year one and a half? And some more if I search deep enough.) might letdown a lot of fans of the original mini- and Year One- if there are any who haven't yet read this. I get that, but read it as a Millerverse crazy, fun and so wrong on so many levels, it becomes entertaining type of book.

Lee's artwork alone is worth the price for any Batfan. Best Jim Lee Batman is here, imho.
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Re: THE BAT-THREAD

Post by ShadowTuga »

So, yet another installment of "ShadowTuga annoys the hell out of Vfans with his bat-gushing. Lame!!!!" :P :kidaround:

I haven't posted in a bit so these "reviews" include 3 or so months of comics. Hope that any of you reading this, still find it entertaining- i'm really just trying to make a corner for us bat-fans to worship the Cape and Cowl. Cheesy much? :lol:

Batman #26-33:
Starting with the current main ongoing, and really the book that even non-fanboys like this one 'tuga should try. Tom King is going to be BIG. His Vision, Batman and Mister Miracle books all critic hits. And sales' hits. This is a great, great *SQUEE* scribe, and I hope that DC locks him for many years. He has Geoff Johns potential, as in, he can seriously reboot a character from the go and be great at it. I dare anyone to read Mister Miracle's preview for #1 and not wanting to read it asap. So, yeah- I love King.

But there is some stuff going on in his Bat run that I do have a wee bit of a problem, but we'l get there in a sec. First I really want to say:

"KITE MAN, HELL YEAH!!!!!"

I have read a ton of Bat books in my life and am well acquainted with the "Let's pick this lame Silver Age dude and make it cool for the modern crowd". Think Catman by Gail Simone. Or Loeb's Calendar Man.
Carles "Chuck" Brown is the new star of this bunch of Z-listers to make it BIG. He rules. I lost it when it was finally revealed what drove him to such a stupid gimmick, it's one of those "i'll never forget this comic stuff" moments. Kite Man will fly his way into your heart, for a really corny metaphor.
As for the story that ocurred between 25-32, "The War of Jokes and Riddles" is, absolutely the best King Batman story so far, and dare I say, an "instant classic". You really can't forget this story. I was expecting a brawlfest between the 2 factions, but what I got was an intriguing tale about how really, and I do mean really, these lunatics don't give a rat's *SQUEE* about the regular Joe. It's villains killing innocents caught in the misdt of a stupid war, and when the reason for all of this is revealed, all hell breaks loose: and that's the first time I went "Hmmm..." regarding Tom King.
Batman does a really messed up thing in this story, in the last few pages. The page where it happens, I was open mouthed. I could not flip for a good few secs... and then the twist. I NEVER saw that coming, and I really don't know yet how to feel about it.The Joker basically saving Batman from becoming a murderer (and yes, I know this is EARLY wet in the ears Bats), by stopping a knife with his bare hand, a knife that was directed to Riddler's stupid face. Yeah, Batman was SANE, in control of his emotions, knew what he was doing and all that: he really wanted to kill Riddler on the spot. With Knife in the face. And the Joker stopped him. Because funny.
This was in the past, and Bats is telling this story to Selina because he proposed to her- and he wanted her to know this fact. She doesn't care and says yes, of course.
Batman is engaged, people.
Now if they would stop calling themselves Cat and Bat, even out of costume... that reads weird. I'm not a Bruce-Selina fan (I'm a Talia guy, just like Grant Morrison :D ), but hey, it has been done before (Earth 2) and with Doomsday Clock approaching... I would not be surprised if this is undone next year or so.
Extra points for giving us Knightmare Batman from BvS in ish #33 (where Talia is back)- I freaking love that outfit, impratical as it may be. :thumb:

Detective Comics #960-967:
This includes more than one story arc. The Ascalon stuff was cool, but like I predicted, felt a bit unimportant. Azrael is back, but this time in control of the suit. And we got AzBats for a bit. Yay. :)
The Clayface issue was really good and it build a great bit on the story of Basil. I really liked this dude being the good guy, his relationship with Cassandra is really sweet stuff and his struggle hits the feels enough for you to care. Go Clayface!

And then, Lonely Place of Living (I really hate these riffs on previous titles- feels lazy): Tim's back but we are now seeing something I did not see coming; Titans Tomorrow Tim Drake using a gun and now fighting his younger self, all the rest of the Robins and Bats himself. And he has Brother Eye on his side. Future Tim Drake is a very violent Batman. And *SQUEE* smart as hell.This has been a fun arc, like always James Tynion IV delivers the goods.

All-Star Batman #12-14:
The final issues of the First Ally arc and the series' ending. Can't say I'll miss it that much, Snyder wrote way better material before, but it was still fun. And the final status quo for Alfred is unexpected (he has a younger clone that was trained by his own first handler, during his military/secret ops days- so, yeah, an Evil And Bada** Alfred Jr. is on the loose). I'm way more excited for the future Snyder/Sean Murphy series, whenever it comes.

Dark Days: The Casting, Dark Nights: Metal #1-3 and every Tie-In and Crossover:
Man, what can I say... this is so far, my favorite comic book event of the year, probably of the last 5 years or so. I am loving this. The crossovers (The Gotham Resistance and Bats Out Of Hell) are entertaining enough, the latter still going on and actually adding to the main plot some important tidbits.
But let me tell you about the one-shots about each one of the Dark Knights so far.
This sounds stupid and lazy on paper (evil batmen with JL power, wow :| ) but when you actuall read what these guys are about and how they came to be... that's awesome comics' territory. Every single one of these one-shots has been great at worst and magnificent at best. The Murder Machine is one messed up story, I never saw that coming. The Red Death builds Flashmobiles (hell yeah!!!) in seconds, there's a Doomsday-on-will Bats around that easily killed Superman in his own Earth. And he's Doomsdaying all of the peeps he can so this world will see with their now hardened hearts how Supes is a fake. It's crazy. The Merciless is a God of War Bruce Wayne- who unleashed an army of undead amazons on Diana just last week. How can a DC fan not like this stuff?!

Barbatos' interest on Bruce is well explained, but when you get to issue #3 of the series, you'll find out how duped you were. Supes (not Bats) is the real door for the demon to take on the multiverse. It was a trap, set thousand of years ago. Barbatos knew that Supes would travel to the Dark Multiverse and he's now on an S shaped crazy thing that will channel his power through his cells or something. Basically, taking advantage of the big blue's cells relation with our sun.

Now, one thing must be said- the Knights are way over-powered and make the rest of the DCU look like *SQUEE*. I hope by the end of the series, all of them are dead/gone. The Joker is an actual joke compared to the Batman Who Laughs.
I mean...

Image
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Re: THE BAT-THREAD

Post by ShadowTuga »

Just wanted to give my 2 cents regarding the last few issues of "Metal" and its tie-ins. These are game-changing books.

Batman Lost #1:
Ok, so this is where things get a bit confusing. Barbatos says to the real Bruce (who's now free from many years of tripping in the dark multiverse, but his "freedom" is actually being conscient while his body is attached to one of Barbatos super people-towers. Comics.) that he's nothing but his pawn.
Barbatos claims he is "the bat" as in the bat who entered Wayne Manor and changed Bruce's life. He made him succeed on the Bat-Man's very first case (the 'Tec #27 debut story "The Case of the Chemical Syndicate), just to make Bruce think he's a good enough detective to continue his career. Basically, every case that Batman solved was a test of sorts thrown by the Bat-God.

This is a time-loop.

If Barbatos actually created Batman by influencing his life in every aspect, then it clashes with time-travel laws. If Bruce had not been Batman, he would not be thrown back to the dawn of men, so Barbatos could "discover" him IN THE FIRST PLACE and set his plan in motion.

Barbatos is fuill of BS. He may have influenced Gotham City's growth and apparently dark energies that attract the loonies (a point that was made in Milligan's excellent "Dark Knight, Dark City" arc in '90, years before Morrison, to the point that the Genius himself actually picked on elements of that story, a fact that many media outlets don't know- they think Barbatos the DC demon is a Morrison creation facepalm) and in a way, there are Bats involved since well... that's his animal/totem *SQUEE*. The demon trapped in Gotham when "Dark Knight..." flashback tale happens, is a giant Bat whose bones got buried in that basement.

So, yes, there's a connection to Batman, but I do strongly believe he's messing with the Big Guy on this. Nevertheless, the pages where Bats realises this and refuses to believe it are powerful stuff. He really is helpless, like I don't think I ever saw Bruce Wayne that desperate and begging to his enemy to just stop.

Which is a great intro to my next "review" of sorts...

The Batman Who Laughs #1
I just read this, bought a digi cuz I could not wait until my physical copies arrive.
What a book. Delievered on the hype and then some. THIS is the guy that everyone is in awe on this event. He looks cool af, despite the weird helmet thing (my guess is that it works similar to the Red Hood) and he is way worse than we could think. This guy made Supes and Jon kill Lois with their hands. He jokerized his own son, then picked 3 more jokerized orphans and made this super-creepy family. The way that this issue reveals how this guy came to be is fantastic. Batman actually kills the Joker, but the joke is on him: you see, Joker's body (his heart) was filled with a toxine that even the clown could never access to weaponize it. As soon as he draws a final breath, that toxin left his body and entered the bloodstream of the closest person. The guy who just broke his stupid neck.
So from there, there's some "off" moments like Bats releasing a little laugh when he hears from Kal that a jokerized kid tried to bite a doctor's throat. Batman smiles and says "Ha". Creep.


But when we get to the Bat-cave and the family,holeee squeee. Be prepared. He kills his entire family, except Damian, with guns. RATATATATATATATATA, end of the Bat-family. I did not see it coming, despite expecting the worst from this guy.
It's shocking, but awesome comics.


As for the Bats out of Hell crossover, it was fun, but nothing to be in awe, unlike the Nightmare Batmen one-shots and the terrific main series. Still, JL #33 highlighted one aspect of a certain leaguer that, to me, as always, first and foremost, defined this character.
Last edited by ShadowTuga on Fri Nov 17, 2017 3:40:37 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: THE BAT-THREAD

Post by geocarr »

I just want to thank ShadowTuga for his time and passion in writing these reviews. :clap:

I have really enjoyed reading many of them this morning and hope to be able to read some of the Batman stories because of your reviews. :thumb:

I also hope my boss doesn't realize how much time I've spent this morning not doing my work. :oops:

Thanks again and keep up the good work!
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Re: THE BAT-THREAD

Post by ShadowTuga »

geocarr wrote:I just want to thank ShadowTuga for his time and passion in writing these reviews. :clap:

I have really enjoyed reading many of them this morning and hope to be able to read some of the Batman stories because of your reviews. :thumb:

I also hope my boss doesn't realize how much time I've spent this morning not doing my work. :oops:

Thanks again and keep up the good work!
That's really kind of you, many thanks bud- I hope you enjoy these comics, and let us know what you think. :thumb:
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Re: THE BAT-THREAD

Post by ShadowTuga »

3 of my favorite things in the world mixed together in one package of awesome:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mVTKEc-mu8

and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QF031DwMffQ

I'm a Mega Batfan who loves Anime and everything related to Feudal Japan, specially Ninja and Samurai lore. Officially starting now, this is my most anticipated movie of 2018. Seeing Red Hood with a komuso-like helmet was something I never expected to see and now I want an action figure of it. :lol:
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Re: THE BAT-THREAD

Post by Cyberstrike »

ShadowTuga wrote:3 of my favorite things in the world mixed together in one package of awesome:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mVTKEc-mu8

and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QF031DwMffQ

I'm a Mega Batfan who loves Anime and everything related to Feudal Japan, specially Ninja and Samurai lore. Officially starting now, this is my most anticipated movie of 2018. Seeing Red Hood with a komuso-like helmet was something I never expected to see and now I want an action figure of it. :lol:
There was an Elseworlds graphic novel that had the JLA in a Seven Samurai story and there was also another one with Robin as a ninja.
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Re: THE BAT-THREAD

Post by superman-prime »

the elseworlds stuff is almost all amazing

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Re: THE BAT-THREAD

Post by ShadowTuga »

Cyberstrike wrote:
ShadowTuga wrote:3 of my favorite things in the world mixed together in one package of awesome:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mVTKEc-mu8

and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QF031DwMffQ

I'm a Mega Batfan who loves Anime and everything related to Feudal Japan, specially Ninja and Samurai lore. Officially starting now, this is my most anticipated movie of 2018. Seeing Red Hood with a komuso-like helmet was something I never expected to see and now I want an action figure of it. :lol:
There was an Elseworlds graphic novel that had the JLA in a Seven Samurai story and there was also another one with Robin as a ninja.
Yeah, there's a Tengu-Robin and Bat-Ninja appearing in Annual #3 of the 90s Robin book- "Narrow Path" is the tale. It's actually a very cool story, imho. :thumb:
But I do have yet to read "Shogun of Steel", the JLA/Superman Elseworlds story, which I'm assuming is the one you're referring.
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Re: THE BAT-THREAD

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superman-prime wrote:the elseworlds stuff is almost all amazing
Some of the best Batman stories are Elseworlds stuff. Gotham by Gaslight, Holy Terror, Thrillkiller, Leatherwing, Year 100, the Moench/Jones Vampire trilogy are all fantastic, among many others. Not to mention Kingdom Come, if you consider it an Elseworlds' tale.
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Re: THE BAT-THREAD

Post by grendeljd »

ShadowTuga wrote:
superman-prime wrote:the elseworlds stuff is almost all amazing
Some of the best Batman stories are Elseworlds stuff. Gotham by Gaslight, Holy Terror, Thrillkiller, Leatherwing, Year 100, the Moench/Jones Vampire trilogy are all fantastic, among many others. Not to mention Kingdom Come, if you consider it an Elseworlds' tale.
I haven't read many Batman elseworlds stories.... but I *love* Batman Year 100. Paul Pope is DOPE!

I've always meant to read Gotham By Gaslight.
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Re: THE BAT-THREAD

Post by ShadowTuga »

Double post. Apologies.
Last edited by ShadowTuga on Sun Dec 03, 2017 12:11:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: THE BAT-THREAD

Post by ShadowTuga »

grendeljd wrote:
ShadowTuga wrote:
superman-prime wrote:the elseworlds stuff is almost all amazing
Some of the best Batman stories are Elseworlds stuff. Gotham by Gaslight, Holy Terror, Thrillkiller, Leatherwing, Year 100, the Moench/Jones Vampire trilogy are all fantastic, among many others. Not to mention Kingdom Come, if you consider it an Elseworlds' tale.
I haven't read many Batman elseworlds stories.... but I *love* Batman Year 100. Paul Pope is DOPE!

I've always meant to read Gotham By Gaslight.
Bro, Gotham by Gaslight IS right up YOUR ALLEY, I'd bet. It's Mignola at his best. And the story by Augustyn is nothing short of great, but the art, man oh man- it is a page staring book. You are into steampunk and victorian stuff, right? This has a lot of cool imagery I think you'd like a lot.

There's an animated version coming this year, the actually expanded the story a lot by adding at least 2 other subplots that I can tell. The art looks ok, but it does not hold a candle to the comic. Nobody draws "shadows and a wee bit of opaque colors" (my amateurish definiton :P ) stuff like that dude.

I mean:
Image

And one of my all-time favorite Batman covers:
Image

There's also this litlle tale called Batman: Sanctum, that goes full HPL and weird. It's fantastic, absolutely fantastic art with a story (co-written with Dan Raspler) that tickles the creepy bone.

Image
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Re: THE BAT-THREAD

Post by superman-prime »

did ya read at earths end one shot sups batman stuff fun read

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Re: THE BAT-THREAD

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superman-prime wrote:did ya read at earths end one shot sups batman stuff fun read
I haven't read most of the linewide crossovers/minis of the new 52 (Future's End, Forever Evil, Convergence, Morrison's Multiversity facepalm, Darkseid War, etc); I might check that issue by Greg Pak (his Batman/Superman comic was awesome), if I find it on the bin, as i am doing with some of the nu52 stuff I passed on (like the crazy villain's month and its covers).
Thanks for the heads up, 'prime! :thumb:

I read the Batman Annual #2 tonight: this book is going to be a hot issue. Already climbing on ebay, easy to understand why. I loved it, so much better than the current issues by King- 34 and 35 were the most Bendis-style comics I read in a long time, I did not see that coming from King: weird, slightly "off" dialogue, decompressed story, the whole deal. Art was amazing, though. I mean, seriously amazing storytelling by Joëlle Jones- I am a new fan of this lady for sure.)

While in Detective Comics, Tim is back and all is well. His future self gone, house cleaned. Let's move on. Not a great story, but it entertains.
So, yeah, November's "Regular" Batman (Dark Nights: Metal continues to be awesome comics, though) could have been mediocre, but the Annual is out of this world great for any Batman fan. Let me correct that, any hardcore Batman fan. I admit, even with all the "hmmm... what is this about? More romance stuff? *SQUEE* on the roofs?" I mean I just had read those 2 issues I mentioned and wasn't impressed at all with King, for the first time in his run. But this makes up for it, and in a way, it is perfect for what he intended to do here. A look at the Cat and the Bat life, until death takes one of them- yeah, Batman dies in this book, like a normal human he is. It's really moving when you see/understand that he is losing it. Alzheimer or something like that; then a heart attack.
*SQUEE*, of course I teared up. I do think it is the most accomplished comic yet by Tom King. It is beautiful, touching and a love letter to annoying peeps like me. :P
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Re: THE BAT-THREAD

Post by superman-prime »

its at least 10 years plus old non new 52 true elseworlds
much like gothom by gaslight truly independent even hitler shows up

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Re: THE BAT-THREAD

Post by Cyberstrike »

ShadowTuga wrote:
grendeljd wrote:
ShadowTuga wrote:
superman-prime wrote:the elseworlds stuff is almost all amazing
Some of the best Batman stories are Elseworlds stuff. Gotham by Gaslight, Holy Terror, Thrillkiller, Leatherwing, Year 100, the Moench/Jones Vampire trilogy are all fantastic, among many others. Not to mention Kingdom Come, if you consider it an Elseworlds' tale.
I haven't read many Batman elseworlds stories.... but I *love* Batman Year 100. Paul Pope is DOPE!

I've always meant to read Gotham By Gaslight.
Bro, Gotham by Gaslight IS right up YOUR ALLEY, I'd bet. It's Mignola at his best. And the story by Augustyn is nothing short of great, but the art, man oh man- it is a page staring book. You are into steampunk and victorian stuff, right? This has a lot of cool imagery I think you'd like a lot.

There's an animated version coming this year, the actually expanded the story a lot by adding at least 2 other subplots that I can tell. The art looks ok, but it does not hold a candle to the comic. Nobody draws "shadows and a wee bit of opaque colors" (my amateurish definiton :P ) stuff like that dude.

I mean:
Image

And one of my all-time favorite Batman covers:
Image

There's also this litlle tale called Batman: Sanctum, that goes full HPL and weird. It's fantastic, absolutely fantastic art with a story (co-written with Dan Raspler) that tickles the creepy bone.

Image
Some others:
Batman: Master of the World a sequel of sorts to Gotham by Gaslight with Batman fighting the Jules Vern character who builds an airship.
Batman: Digital Justice basically it is Batman as a computer program fighting the Joker in a Tron style world while technically this isn't an official Elseworlds since came out before Gotham by Gaslight it is a cool story but the CGI artwork hasn't aged well.
Batman/Dracula Batman fights Dracula and becomes a vampire has 2 sequels.
Batman: I, Joker Joker becomes Batman.
Superman: Speeding Bullets Superman is Batman
Batman: Emerald Knight Batman becomes the Green Lateran of Earth.
Batman/Superman: Generations Batman and Superman age in "real" time and becomes heads of powerful superhero families also has 2 sequels.
Batman: The Blue, The Grey, and The Bat Batman as a cowboy.
Batman/Harry Houdini: The Devil's Workshop Batman teams up Harry Houdini.
Batman: Castle of the Bat Batman as Frankenstein's Monster and the Joker is Dr. Frankenstein.
Batman: Nosferatu Batman as the vampire from the silent film classic of the same name.
Catwoman: Guardian of Gotham Catwoman is the crime fighter and Batman is a thief and a sadistic murderer.
JLA: Act of God A mysterious event wipes out all the superpowers of the heroes and villains still there are alien invaders, evil cyborgs, and other threats while Superman turns to booze, Wonder Woman turns to God, The Green Lateran becomes obsessed with beating Sonar, while Batman and Robin must retrain the rest of the now de-powered DC superheroes as human beings.
Know this: I would rather be hated for being honest for my opinions, than being loved as a liar!

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Re: THE BAT-THREAD

Post by ShadowTuga »

Dark Nights Metal #4:
Continuing this event in a very solid and damn amazing to look way. After the crazyness of issues 1 and 2, and after the breathing room we had in #3, its a full balanced comic that takes time to read and appreciate all of its amazing art. In this ish, there's a sense that this story is really trying to bring something new to the DCU cosmology, with all that Forge stuff and the Dragon (Barbatos). Its crazy entertaining if you're into mythology and all that, and the last page is a cliffhanger that makes you want to read #5 yesterday. We spend a good bit of time with Dream/Daniel (yeah, Sandman is here again and this time we actually see wtf is worrying the guy and why this event feels so BIG with the library and its importance to the DCU being at the center of the... crisis 8-) ) , but there's also great stuff from the teams' efforts on trying to defeat thee baddies. Deathstroke riding Imp, the freaking Aqualad seahorse. :lol: Bats facing a small group of alternate evil Supermen, and then saying the following, when he manages to get one of his toys from the dudes:

"I call this gauntlet the Five Finger Death Punch. It has every color Kryptonite from gold to periwinkle. I think one of them makes you sparkly. Another makes your flesh dissolve. I barely remember. So I guess the question is: how super are you feeling today, farm boys?" :headbang: :headbang:

Then, Snyder writes a just beautiful moment between Clark and Bruce and we get to see a doubtful Bats being pulled from the darkness and despair with the help of his bud. Great character moment, would be the best of the month if Tom King did not write Batman #36 an #37 (we'll get there). But it is an inverted situation of sorts with Bruce being the guy who needs the pat in the back, opposite of what we saw many times before- doubtful Clark, Bruce shakes him into reality. This time, Clark is the cold thinking guy who makes Bruce see beyond current events. Its Superman giving Batman hope. Corny as it sounds, it is a great moment, IMHO.

There's also a huge twist with Kendra Saunders becoming, maybe, a villain? and right now, the whole thing still feels exciting to me. I have 0 idea on what will be the repercussions of this series. That is so awesome.

Batman/TMNT II #1 & 2:
The sequel to last year's fun fest. Not quite the splash it made on the first series, of freaking course, not even close to the BTAS/TMNT Nickelodeon which I LOVED, but this is more of the same light and cool-looking (seriously) comics. In a short, Donnie gets his a** kicked, he decides to search Batman for training (my geek levels are at max just by typing this :lol: ) and ends up bringing Bane to NY, where he just owns the Foot and everyone else. Its time for Bats, Robin and Barbara to go get the baddie and end all the nonsense, so this time we see the heroes in turtle territory. I loved these series, am a huge turtle guy so if you're like me- :thumb: .

Detective Comics 970 & 971:
I'm piling these up until the current storyline ends, because my LCS did not receive a copy of 969. But I know about Savior and all I can say for now is this: not my choice for the character, but it makes sense. And maybe we are starting to see the editorial making changes for real. Tim Drake is kinda lost right now, and he hinted many, many times that his superheroing days are soon to be over, and he even wanted to call it quits for good, before he "died". Something like that. Thing is, he's not "junior partner Robin", he's not the "black sheep" Jason, nor the "prodigal son" Dick. Duke (Signal) is a real smart kid (Tim's greates asset was/is his intellect), and he's the "guy in training" now. For real, the cave is filled with people these days and let's not get into the Gotham Knights themselves. I like the Bat-family growing, as long as it is entertaining to read the different dynamics. Tim is getting the middle finger from writers for years now. Maybe this will be good, if he becomes more of a DC guy rather than a bat-character. He never found his footing after the New 52 put Bruce and Damian as the Dynamic Duo.

Batman #36 & #37:
Google these issues and find out why the buzz. I find myself in a ridiculous place if I come to say that "these" are indeed the best King issues EVER. They are. You like Superman and Batman you will tear up reading this, I have no doubt. To say that these issues are instant classics and that they are the best "downtime" superhero books I ever read, would still mean nothing if you have not read this. Honestly, even if you are not reading Batman, you should read this. I read and reread both on the night I got them and one more time since. I picked these books last week. That great. The dialogue is tight, smart, not Bendis-weird unlike previous issues, and it makes these characters absolutely real. The bit where Bruce and Clark exchange clothes is hilarious, (It stands for a bat. :lol: ), but my fav moment is split between Lois and Selina getting wasted and forging a real bond and that. Intro. With opposite dialogue. Man, I am not ashamed to say that I just teared up immediately when reading those 3 pages with Bruce and Clark describing the other to their ladies. He's Batman, He's Superman. :cloud9: x 10000000
Tom King, you are a freaking master.

And if you're still thinking "here we go, 'Tuga's kissing Batman *SQUEE*, YET again", Google the reviews and then, buy these and read them. I'll give you your money back if you do not like them. :P
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Re: THE BAT-THREAD

Post by ShadowTuga »

Another great month for DC's cowled avenger, you lil' f****** chums. 8-) :P

Batman/TMNT II #2:
Rocksteady and Bebop on Venom is just the kind of stuff I expect from a book like this. Superb art, story did not go anywhere but I enjoyed Raph and Damian's rivalry turning ugly in a sec. Its fun, I dig it, and as always I reccomend this to Batman and TMNT fans.

Dark Nights:Metal #5:
Almost finished and I already have the Metal... blues. :hm: I will miss this tale, all the crazy comicbook shenanigans and overall great joyride of face-melting fun, for an overused definition.
Things are looking grim for our heroes, Supes and Old Bruce are "dead" in the Forge (gone, at least, drowned in cosmic lava type of gone), and Diana and Kendra (now herself, but still rocking those duds) find an army of gone-wrong WWs and other DC characters. They end the issue Yelling (!) as they take the hordes of Barbatos. The Nightmare Batmen tricked everyone, the nth metal is apparently now used against the heroes who put everything in place for Barbatos, the dumb *SQUEE*. facepalm (oh, that first page with Barbatos and Joker Dragons!!!!! :headbang: :headbang: :headbang: :headbang: :headbang: ) Things must be solved in one issue (max 2 with the Wild Hunt tie in), I am more than pumped for the finale. This is just a great superhero event, fun where it really matters.

Detective Comics #969-#973 + Annual #1:
I finally read the Falll of the Batmen story, it was cool ( and no sign of Savior here, I was wrong in my assumption that he was already in the bat-books) but I felt like I had more fun reading Tynion's 'Tec run. Not bad, at all, but when King is writing Batman and Metal is rolling, the book feels "ok". Solid read, though, no mistake there. One RANT, though: it is mentioned that "Brother Eye was something that a Batman from another Earth built". Hmm. So, Infinite Crisis is now gone? I get that Identity Crisis (that precipitates Batman's actions later) is something that current DC wants erased from canon a la Killing Joke back in the day. But Batman not building Brother Eye and dealing with his own mess was a part of the character's history. My head-canon. NOT COOL.
The Annual itself was a surprisingly awesome story, actually. New Clayface origin, honestly better than any other I've read/seen. A nod to BTAS (Renuyu by Dagget!) and overall, a terriftic comic. It shows how messed up Karlo was even before the becoming-a-freaking-monster bit. It reminded me of Den't split persona from Long Halloween. And check this AWESOME cover that looks like an old horror movie poster folded and found on some "Pickers" episode:
Image

Batman #38-#39:
Issue #38 is a break between the Superman and Wonder Woman portions of "Superfriends". This book is the grimmest, darkest of All of King's Bat books so far, by far. It is sort of about Bruce, but not at all. It is a scary, uncomfortable subject and the visuals sell it, it is not the happy, lightheart feeling we got from the prev issues and current arc. I dunno if this will be collected, actually, it is an out-of-the-blue tale. All topped up by this incredibly looking Tim Sale cover.
Image

Now, issue #39 is another proof that Tom King is got to be in the talks for the most innovative supehero stuff writer of his generation.

Batman is now officialy an indie book. From the Big 2, with tights.
This current arc, with all the relation stuff reads unlike anything I've read from this character. So many great, Great, AGAIN Great character bits, like Diana washing herself in one page, in a clearly post-battle scenarion and when you turn the paper, you see Bruce in the grip of a giant monster thing. She says something like "Oh. Sorry. Need my help?)". I laughed real hard at that. Just like when Selina sees Bruce's weird magical armor. Joelle Jones freaking owns expressions. Selina's "You look ridiculous" line is just pure gold.

40+ issues in, Tom King can certainly be named one of the best Batman writers of this century, worthy of being named in the same sentence as Snyder, Rucka, Brubaker or GrantNumberOneWriterMorrison.
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Re: THE BAT-THREAD

Post by ShadowTuga »

Ok, I still have to read my February books, but I could not help to let you guys know - and show you - what will be, possibly, an Eisner award nominee, at least. "White Knight" from artist/writer Sean Murphy. I love this dude's artwork, he kicked a million butts when he did "27" with Snyder, but you guys seriously have to check this mini (8 issues).
Premise: Joker gets cured. Batman is seen as a brutal vigilante, and a bit of a guard dog for the 1%. The rest I leave to you to discover, but this is already a huge hit, so you might have heard about it. Just check out the preview pages for #1, and then another page where Murphy shows how good his stuff is.

EDIT - Sorry for the huge size of the pics. Looked smaller in the preview.
Image

Image

Image

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Re: THE BAT-THREAD

Post by grendeljd »

That really cool "Curse Of Clayface" cover reminds me - a good friend of mine just had a gallery showing in Austin Texas for a huge series of Batman posters that he did based on episodes of The Animated Series. You'd probably dig them, 'Tuga!

Here's a link to an interview with him on iO9 about it - there's photos of several of the posters throughout the article;

https://io9.gizmodo.com/the-best-batman ... socialflow" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I like to draw stuff... http://grendeljd.deviantart.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

My wife likes to draw stuff too, and she is better than me! [I'm very proud of her]... https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sara-Dec ... ref=stream" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Re: THE BAT-THREAD

Post by grendeljd »

The remaining posters will be available to purchase from his own website tomorrow, I think, if anyone is interested.

http://phantomcitycreative.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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My wife likes to draw stuff too, and she is better than me! [I'm very proud of her]... https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sara-Dec ... ref=stream" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


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