Forever Evil and Nightwing Un-masked!

So I've been away for a long, long time. Since I've last posted: 

The Dark Knight Rises came out -- it was awesome, though sort of out of place.

Damian Wayne died -- sad, but predictable.

Bat-cow happened -- I don't think it's as cool as everyone else.

Nightwing moved to Chicago -- since the writer is from Chicago. 

Gail Simone was fired -- and then re-hired, as the Batgirl writer.

Batman: The Dark Knight still sucks -- though I hear 'Tec has been better!

We have a new Owlman -- meh. 

Ben Affleck was cast as Batman!! - Batfleck!!!!!

That aside, things also changed outside the Bat-universe as well. This thing called "Trinity War" happened. No one really cared. Apparently it didn't suck. But sadly, it was another Geoff Johns event comic (like Flashpoint) that seems to serve the purpose of creating a new status quo for all of the on-goings. 

I know this kills my credibility, but I can't give you the exact circumstances. Anyways, something happened and the Justice League is "missing" and the Crime Syndicate from an alternate Earth has come to conquer the world. This is a fine plot and could lead to lots of fun, but DC will probably just make it lame by trying to make it too intense and too dark. That's what DC editorial does.

But I digress -- in issue #1 Nightwing is dropping Mr. Zsasz at Arkham when he gets kidnapped by the Crime Syndicate -- who decided to reveal his identity to the world. Lots of people have pointed to the Spider-Man parallels. To me this is not the largest problem. To me, the biggest crime is against the Dick Grayson character and fan-base. DC Co-publisher Dan DiDio has long had a penchant and reputation for hating Robins -- once trying to kill Dick Grayson previously in Infinite Crisis. 

Nightwing is a masked super-hero with a secret identity. Super-heroes have secret identities to protect those around them. If a super-villain knew his identity, it would put the lives of those close to him in danger. DC literally just published a story in Batman about this. In fact, Nightwing was a part of this crossover.

You cannot re-claim a secret identity by any reasonable means. To do so would involve some sort of retcon, by either magical or supernatural means. Therefore, this means there are two options going forward:

1.) Dick Grayson is officially "out" as a super-hero. This puts the entire Wayne family and Haly's Circus in constant danger.

2.) You have to retcon this fact later on. Do I have to explain why writing a story that has to be un-done almost immediately out of necessity is stupid? 

So it's a poor storytelling choice. You either ruin your own story, or ruin the Nightwing title. Maybe Geoff Johns has a way out of this. Maybe they're just performing character assassination and this is Dan DiDio's personal vengeance against all of his own fans lashing out against his previous attempts to kill the character. Maybe DC just has no idea what they are doing. Again, this is the company that fired Gail Simone and gave Scott Lobdell three titles to write.

Times like these makes it tough to be a DC fan. I strongly prefer the DC Universe to Marvel. But as DC continues to pull stunts like this in attempts to be "cool" and "edgy" it has driven fans away. If this story fails to create a universe where it can continue to write good Nightwing stories (that have sold decently well), and thus tanks the Nightwing title, maybe this will be the slap in the back of the head DC needs. (Obviously the best strategy for a comic company is ruining what is historically their fourth-most important character besides Wonder Woman, Batman, and Superman).  

Yes, this bothers me. The sad thing is that the Nightwing title was just starting to get to get good too.....

Night of the Owls

To save time, I'm going to make one long post on the Night of the Owls crossover this month. First off, Scott Snyder is nothing but brilliant with his Court of Owls story. This is a really cool tale, an all-time classic in the making. I love the Gothem he's created, my only regret is that he's working with such an established property, taking away the chance for him to truly build his own.

But that's what is great about of the Court of Owls. It allows him to establish a new part of Gotham, previously untouched significantly by other writers (Gotham certainly didn't have a blank history, but it was largely unexplored). He can build something from the ground up, allowing it to precede Bruce in Gotham. Something that's hidden ages before his birth is much harder to discover than something of his own time that he can see infiltrating his world as an adult.

The Night of the Owls was a perfect event for a crossover because it provided a legitimate reason for all the different Gotham vigilantes to get involved. One, when Batman (even if Alfred delivers the message) calls and asks for help, you answer. Second, zombie assassins are taking over the city, you better stop them. It's also perfect for the crossover because it adds a time-felt breadth to the event. It feels like a lot to read, as if a lot is happening, and this is because it is. If there are dozens of assassination attempts all over Gotham, the event should read as such!

In those cases, the event was a total success. There was some great individual pieces of work, and the pieces tied together well with no major hiccups or inconsistencies. Hell, even Judd Winick wrote some stuff that was pretty good (kidding, Winick has written many good things).

Quick overview: the good titles were Batman, Batman and Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl, Red Hood and the Outlaws, and surprisingly, Batman: The Dark Knight. The average ones were Birds of Prey and Batwing, and the poor ones were All-Star Western (tough to pick up for a one-shot) and Detective Comics (nothing new here).

If I were to give the whole event a rating, I think I'd give it a 8.7/10(B+). It accomplished its goals, there were some great moments (Tim Drake and Jason Todd had one particular amazing one in RHATO, Nightwing swordfighting, Batman doing the Iron Man thing, among others) and no huge flaws.

Sorry everyone who actually reads this blog.

I had a really rough semester, and the blog got away from me, I simply didn't have time for it. Luckily, my life is finally slowing down and I plan on starting it up again.

Stayed tuned!

Red Hood and the Outlaws #5

I've been a large proponent of this book since the first issue where half the comic world went crazy because she slept with Roy on a whim. It's been a great action book with fantastic art and a compelling story. I find all three characters very likable, and there have been some great moments that have surprised us all. Sadly, issue #5 doesn't quite live up to the quality of the first four issues, and leaves the reader with a somewhat anticlimactic conclusion to the fight scenes introduced in issue #4.

Issue #4 set up this great dichotomy between Jason's fight against the "Untitled" and Starfire's battle against the vengeful monster "Crux." Crux had depowered Starfire, and Jason was in a fight against a seemingly immortal creature where he dual-wielded swords. That was cool, which is an adjective underused when thinking about Jason as the "Red Hood," frankly, he's just cool.

Batman #5

The idea of a legend has always intrigued me. When does someone become a legend? How do we distinguish a legend from something very impressive? Who decides what's a legend and what's not? I used to believe that legends are always made after-the-fact. That you can never determine what is and isn't legendary until you've told their story thousands of times. The time frame after-the-fact can shift, sometimes it's the next game, sometimes it's years down the line (for instance, the day after Kobe Bryant scored 81 points in one game, I knew it was a legend, but I didn't realize until years down the line the true legend of Michael Jordan. Sure, we all knew he was great, but it wasn't until after he was gone and we realized no one could measure up, and as each year passes and Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Dwyane Wade, and LeBron James fail to measure up, MJ's legend grows.

Scott Snyder has challenged that notion for me. After reading Batman #5, I'm certain, we're living through one oft he greatest Batman stories, ever, a legendary one that'll be part of Batman canon forever. Scott Snyder is that good, while I don't enjoy this story as much as I did his previous one, "The Black Mirror," I certainly realize that this current story is a step above, and if it ends as strong as it starts, will be on every legitimate list of top five Batman stories ever.

Nightwing #5

Nightwing #5 is an interesting issue. The characterization and art are spot on, but the script is weird, and it's probably thus far the best example of Kyle Higgins' first five issues. Right now, Kyle Higgins seems interested in doing mostly one-off stories, which end with slight advancement of an ongoing plot. And that's fine, but there is something off about it, and after a lot of thought, I think I've put my finger on it.

The thing is, the main stories are rarely tying back into the larger story arc. If the adventure in issue five had much of anything to do with Saiko and the circus as a whole, that would be great. This story centers around a random circus clown with a vengeful ex that has somehow conjured a monster to come after him. The fight was cool, and Nightwing's actions int he story were spot on, but this begs the question "why the hell are you telling this story?" How does this matter, what's the point in telling this story?

Batgirl #5

The first four-issue story featuring the villain "Mirror" was a pretty decent start to the new Batgirl series. While maybe a little obvious, it was thematically relevant as Barbara's main issues are the ones she sees when she looks in the mirror, metaphorically that is. So far, the most difficult challenges for Babs have been insular, dealing with her recovery from paralysis, conflicted feelings about Dick Grayson/Nightwing, and now -- Mommy issues!

Although Gordon family history is somewhat convoluted (Babs is the niece/adopted daughter/possible biological daughter of Jim Gordon), what one needs to know is that the Barbara Gordon who has shown up mysteriously is Jim Gordon's ex-wife, the former adopted mother of Babs. Make sense? Good. Now I can actually talk about the story.