A Peak Inside My Stechbook

It's been kind of a hectic few days, and what was supposed to be a more relaxed day turned out to be... not so much one. So as I'm preparing to head up to Morristown, NJ for Garden State Comic Fest tomorrow to hopefully add a sketch to my sketchbook from one of my all time favorite comic artists, I thought I'd put up a handful today.

I started this sketchbook on Free Comic Book Day back in 2011, and have constantly added new sketches at each FCBD and con I've gone to since. I've got over 50 sketches based around the theme of Batman, his allies, and his enemies (I know, what a surprise from me), and here are some of my favorites.

Here's the very first sketch I got, a classic Batman from Fernando Ruiz, best known for his work on Archie, Archie Vs. Predator, and his creator owned Die, Kitty, Die!

Art Baltazar, co-creator of Tiny Titans, does great crayon sketches, and back at NYCC, I got him to draw the three Robins, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, and Tim Drake, as well as his creator owned character Patrick the Wolf Boy dressed up like Robin. Some day, I'm going to dig up my Patrick singles and write up a recommendation on it, 'cause it's awesome.

Ryan Dunlavey, who's worked with Fred Vane Lente on Action Philosophers and Comic Book Comics, as well as the upcoming Action Presidents, did an appearance at Dewey's, and he gave me my first Mr. Freeze in his classic Batman: The Animated Series armor.

I've loved Jim Calafiore's art from the time he worked with Peter David on Aquaman, and have followed his work in Exiles, Leaving Megalopolis, and plenty of other comics. But my favorite work of his has to be Secret Six with Gail Simone, so I asked him to do Deadshot for me, and not only did he do it, but he rolled up the mask so we could see Deadshot's signature 'stache.

Tim Sale. Tim freakin' Sale. He has drawn some of my favorite Batman stories of all time, from "Blades" in Legends of the Dark Knight, to the Haunted Knight Halloween specials, Long Halloween, and Dark Victory. And when I got the opportunity to get a Sale, I was completely torn on who to choose, so I went with Scarecrow. With a little ink and a few brushstrokes, he was able to evoke his signature Scarecrow.

Joe Staton is a living legend, having worked with Paul Levitz on the '70s revival of the JSA, where he also co-created the original Huntress. But he also drew one of the stories from The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told, Brave and the Bold #197, "The Autobiography of Bruce Wayne," the story of how the Batman of Earth-2 and the Catwoman of that world finally got together, so his piece is  Catwoman of Earth-2

And the final piece for today is a recent addition, from Diane Leto, who co-created The Halloween Legion, as well a plenty of other work. I was really pleased to finally get my first classic Harley Quinn, here with her signature mallet and everything.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 3/30

Captain America: Sam Wilson #7
Main Story
Story: Nick Spencer
Art (Steve Rogers): Daniel Acuna
      (Sam Wilson) Angel Unzueta & Matt Yackey

I picked up this anniversary issue of Captain America for the back-up stories, not having much hope for the main one. I haven't read much else about Standoff, the current Marvel event, and the cover made me roll my eyes; I maxed out on hero vs. hero battles about a year and a half ago. But the cover was misleading; the various current and former (and future) Captain America's don't fight in this issue. Instead, we get two narratives. The first deals with Sam Wilson, the current Captain America, running across Bucky Barnes, the original Cap's former partner and a former replacement Cap, as they make their way through the S.H.I.E.L.D. prison called Pleasant Hill, a town where the spy organization used a reality warping Cosmic Cube to make the incarcerated super criminals think they were ordinary citizens. The other half of this story sees the original Cap, Steve Rogers, who has been aged to what his age should be since the removal of his Super Soldier Serum, travelling first to get medical help for head of S.H.I.E.L.D. Maria Hill, and then to find the Cosmic Cube fragments that have gained sentience and taken the form of a little girl.

It's  lot of story  forty pages just for this main piece, and I like the focus on the idea that these men who have all wielded the shield of Captain America are brothers. Right now, Steve and Sam are on the outs for a reason I'm unsure of, but they still both think of each other fondly, and I think that's an important thing. If you're a fan of Cap, you'll also see three of his main adversaries in this issue: Baron Zemo, Crossbones, and... a third I don't want to spoil. But most important is how Steve is fighting his way across Pleasant Hill, and how he keeps fighting, even though he is physically far from his best. That's part of what makes him Captain America, whether he has the shield or not: he never quits. He faces down Crossbones, who he is physically no match for, and even as Crossbones pummels him to death, even as he prepares to die, he thinks about his life and he's happy how he lived it. It's a beautiful scene, but this is superhero comics, so you know there's more that happens there, and the end of this issue sets up the already announced Captain America: Steve Rogers series. It's a good lead off story, one that I didn't feel lost in despite not having read this title or the crossover it's taking part in before.

Prsentation
Story: Joss Whedon
Art: John Cassaday & Laura Martin

Joss Whedon and John Casaday tell a story set during World War II, and tells the story of a the destruction of Cap's original shield, and a meeting with a group of  army officials and ad men as they look for a replacement. The story is a bit on the nose, as Whedon can be when he's making a point, but the point, the difference between a shield and a gun, is an important one to make, and the art from Cassaday is as stunning as it usually is. The story is a solid fit for an issue that celebrates the history of Captain America, and what it means to be a defender of the innocent.

Catch Me If You Can
Story & Art: Tim Sale
Colors: Dave Stewart

Artist Tim Sale does double duty, writing this mostly silent story that could serve almost as an epilogue for the recent Captain America: White series he did with his constant collaborator, writer Jeph Loeb. Full of big panels and splashes, including a gorgeous two page spread that follows Cap through a Hydra base, the story's only words are a flashback to Steve as a young boy at the kitchen table with his mom, receiving a last gift from his late father. It tugs at the heart strings, and is a sweet story, the kind you expect from a character like Cap; it's not down in the dark, but spotlights Cap's long life and the warmth of him personally

Pas De Deux
Story: Greg Rucka
Art: Mike Perkins & Andy Troy and Frank D'Armata

This was the story I bought this comic for. Greg Rucka hasn't written a lot of Cap, although he won an Eisner for a Cap short he wrote some years ago, so I was excited to see him back with the character. The story has Steve and Black Widow going to the ballet to stop a Latverian prima ballerina who defected from being assassinated, with Widow dancing in the company and Steve in the audience. While there's a little bit of action, as Steve stops a team of Latverian snipers, much of this issue is about Steve Rogers first time seeing real ballet, The back and forth between Steve and Natasha is charming, the banter between old friends. And more than that, it's a discussion I've had with people: the idea that ballet (or in my case theatre) is an expensive art form for the elite, and not something everyone can enjoy is a problem that isn't going away. Mike Perkins art is especially gorgeous, showing the parallels between fighting and dance, the artistry of motion in both Steve Rogers fight with the assassins and Natasha's dancing. But the panel on the fourth page, I read as Steve looking in wonder at the ballet speaks to the power of art, and makes me smile. On top of all that, this has one of my two favorite pieces of dialogue in comics this week:

Steve: I saw The Nutcracker once. Bored me to tears.
Natasha: That is like saying I saw Sharknado, therefore all movies are a waste of time.

Any story that gets that in there wins. That is all I have to say.

Faith #3
Story: Jody Houser
Art: Francis Portela, Marguerite Sauvage, Terry Pallot, & Dalhouse w/ Spicer

Faith continues on, three for three in issues released and issues I've reviewed. Everything I've said about the earlier issues remains true: the story is charming, with a delightful and fun protagonist who does her best to always do the right thing. While there's some classic, Marvel-style issues of a hero trying to balance her life outside of costume with the one she lives in it, this isn't a book steeped in angst, which is part of its charm. It's a flat out superhero comic. This issue, Faith's life takes some major surprise turns, as she resolves the hostage situation at her job by revealing herself to her boos, and most of the rest of her coworkers find our pretty quickly. I commented initially that these people were pretty broadly drawn, which made sense for characters that only appeared in a couple pages of the first issue, but this issue starts to give them some serious depth. It would have been easy to keep Faith's boos as the "Devil Wears Prada," stereotype, especially after she rewrote Faith's story last issue, but she turns out to be something a little more decent, even if she still demonstrates self-interest. We also get another adorable scene of Faith and Obadiah Archer of Archer and Armstrong video chatting, and I love how Faith brings out Archer's fanboy side. We also get to see the description of exactly what Night Shifters, the hit sci-fi show that Faith, Archer, and other characters love, and I gotta say, the premise is so delightfully bizarre I could definitely see it as a SyFy Channe; original series in a block with some of my favorites like Eureka and Warehouse 13. I now want an issue where Faith and Archer just watch an episode together, and we see the episode on panel and get MST3K-esque heads of our characters watching along with us. I will say I was surprised when I googled this issue and got the covers, as it turns out I got one of the variant covers (Cover B as it turned out) because the big last page reveal of the villains behind the kidnapped psiots that has been the big superhero thing that Faith has been investigating, is given away on Cover A, which is what I used for the post; maybe my Valiant knowledge outside of the Brothers Anni-Pada is still light enough that something I took as a mystery was way more obvious than I thought? Ah, well, you live and learn,and it was a big surprise to me, so that was pretty neat. One last thing: I have to give a round of applause to writer Jody Houser. As Faith is fighting the suited bad guys attacking her office and figuring out her coworkers now know her identity, in her head she spouts off various sci-fi/fantasy swear words. It would have been easy to just have her say "frak" over and over again to keep up the nerd cred. But nope! Houser tosses in a gorram (Firefly), frell (Farscape), fewmets (D&D and other fantasy RPGs), and a true deep cut, Grozit, from my beloved Star Trek: New Frontier novels by Peter David. Brava, Jody Houser, for getting how us geeks think.

P.S,: As I prepared to put this up, it has been officially announced that Faith will continue as an oging series in July, not surprising with how sales and acclaim has been. I am excited to see where Faith goes next, and will be on board for the ongoing.


And this week we have two reviews from Dan Grote...

GI Joe Deviations

Story: Paul Allor

Art: Corey Lewis

The villains of 1980s cartoons sought world domination with the tenacity of the cereal mascots whose adventures were recounted during the commercial breaks. And Cobra Commander may have been the most cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs of them all, forever seeking weather-manipulation devices and the DNA of dead conquerors in his quest to defeat the Joes.

But what would happen if the would-be demagogue got his wish? That’s the subject of this one-shot, part of IDW’s “Deviations” line, which lets creators tell alternate-reality tales featuring the company’s licensed properties.

The book opens where so many episodes of the cartoon ended, with one of the Joes – in this case Roadblock – giving children a public-service lecture, this time on the dangers of talking with one’s mouth full.

But before you can say “And knowing is half the battle,” an explosion rips apart the Joes’ base. Around the globe, strange weather events wreak havoc. Finally, Cobra Commander tastes his greatest triumph as a bolt from above kills Duke, the leader of the Joes.

Five years on, it turns out running a one-world government doesn’t suit the Commander. While he dreams of ways to mess with people by disabling every mobile device on Earth or giving statues laser eyes, his lieutenants – the Baroness, Tomax and Xamot, etc. – talk about practical matters like currency stabilization and STEM education.

“The problem with running the world is, you have to run the world,” the Commander says.

So what do you do when you want to restore chaos to the order you accidentally created? Call in the Joes.

Well, the ones left alive, anyway. Indeed, the onetime global peacekeeping force is down to four members: Roadblock, Scarlett, Jinx and Snake Eyes. The Commander sends Major Bludd to convince the Joes to launch one last desperate raid on Cobra Island. And of course they agree to it.

“So predictable,” an exasperated Bludd says.

The Joes cut a swath through some of Cobra’s lesser baddies, like Big Boa, Croc Master and Nemesis Enforcer (NEMESIS ENFORCER!). Saying anything about what happens beyond that would be a spoiler. Just remember that ultimately, this is a story about Cobra Commander and his addiction to chaos.

Paul Allor does a great job writing from the perspective of villains unsure of what to do with their lives when they can no longer vill. Roadblock aside, the Joes get very little page time at all, which makes sense considering they’ve been reduced to having the effectiveness of gnats. And artist Corey Lewis draws in a style that’s very much manga meets Adventure Time by way of Brian Lee O’Malley, which works given the story’s mix of post-Apocalyptic meets patently ridiculous. (Cobra Commander apparently has been redesigning everyone’s costumes to make them more glam, including his own, which finds a way to combine both his classic head-sack and metal faceplate looks. And spikes.) One of the best touches comes when Cobra Commander visits the Baroness and Destro, who now have children, one of whom has a metal head just like daddy.

If you haven’t been keeping up with the Joes in their regular monthly IDW adventures but still have a fondness for the property, this book will make you want to dig through your parents’ old VHS tapes for that version of GI Joe: The Movie they taped off Channel 11 for you. Yo, Joe.

X-Men ’92 #1

Story: Chris Sims and Chad Bowers

Art: Alti Firmansyah and Matt Milla

While the Secret Wars volume of X-Men ’92 introduced the animated mutants of the Extreme Age to concepts created after their time, such as Cassandra Nova, this new story is a nearly pure, unadulterated throwback to the second arc of the adjectiveless X-Men series that began in 1991. Omega Red is here, Maverick, too, the Fenris twins and hints toward the introduction of the Upstarts and their @Midnight-style points system for killing mutants.

(P.S.: Didja see Trevor Fitzroy and Fabian Cortez on the cover? It don’t get more ’90s than that, kids!)

But it’s not a one-to-one match, before you go dragging out your old copies of X-Men #4-7. Instead of a shirtless basketball game between Wolverine and Gambit, we open with the reopening of the Xavier School to students again. A harried, hairy Beast makes his way down the hall, interrupted at every turn by hijinks, to arrive late to his first class, a mix of students from Generation X and the X-Statix (check out the forehead drapes on Doop).

That’s when Maverick comes crashing through the window with the old “They’re coming for you!” message, and the X-Men are forced into a fight with Soviet superheroes the People’s Protectorate – co-led by Omega Red and featuring Ursa Major, who is an actual bear – on the front lawn of the school.

The story also introduces a mysterious new villain, Alpha Red, the apparent precursor to Omega Red, created by the Russians to be their Captain America during World War II. The X-Men did more than a few stories about the tenuous post-Cold War relationship between the U.S. and Russia at the time, so while the “We’ve unearthed another country’s super soldier” bit has been done before, it fits the book’s tone perfectly. Plus, we get to read wonky Russian accents and dialogue bubbles with * that point to narration boxes that say *“Translated from Russian,” just like the old days!

The team lineup has changed since the last series. Cyclops and Jean Grey are taking time off and have been replaced by Bishop, the bandana-wearing, big-gun-carrying mutant lawman from the future, and Psylocke, the telepathic ninja. So for those of you hoping for more of Scott being no fun at all and Jean yelling and passing out every time she uses her powers, better luck next arc.

And as much as I miss Scott Koblish on art (check out his issues of Deadpool if you feel the same), Alti Firmansyah is an A+ replacement. Her work on the Star-Lord and Kitty Pryde Secret Wars miniseries demonstrated her chops for drawing animated, nostalgia-drenched X-characters, including my favorite Gambit since the days of Joe Madureira and the Kubert brothers. I also appreciate her more light-hearted take on Omega Red, complete with “Who, me?” smile and shoulder shrug.

Sims and Bowers continue to nail the tone and voice of the characters both from the ’90s cartoon and the books of the time, with just enough tweaks to add something fresh while capitalizing on the familiarity of it all. If we’re lucky, we’ll get their vision of the Age of Apocalypse as well.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 1/27 Part 1

Lats week was such a big week of comics, and I liked so many, that I decided to divide up the reviews into two days! Today, there will be reviews of books from DC & Dark Horse, and come back tomorrow for books from Image and IDW...

Black Canary #7
Story: Brenden Fletcher
Art: Annie Wu & Lee Loguhridge

Black Canary is one of the best books to come out of DC's most recent wave of titles (the other one will be popping up in a review a bit farther down the page), and the final issue of this first arc is a great example of everything this book does right. The origins of the mysterious Ditto are revealed, and it's a crazy sci-fi concept that still feels perfectly right in a comic that is mostly grounded in some of the more real aspects of a superhero universe. The thing that keeps the book grounded are the relationships between the characters. Despite Ditto having a seriously wacky and awesome sci-fi origin, the fact that everyone cares about her so much that it keeps them all grounded. And when Dinah tells the others to leave, that she's the one who will stand to defend Ditto against what is coming, no one else goes because, to quote Lord Byron (the band member, not the poet), "We're more than a band now, Dinah. We're a team, for better or worse." That journey, to be more than just a group of people driving around in a van, has been the core of this arc. And it's Ditto that allows everyone to come to a peace not just with each other but with their enemy, Bo Maeve, who also cares about Ditto. The origins of the band, why they're together and who brought them together, makes perfect sense in retrospect, as well. It's nice when the mysteries at the foundation of a book come together so nicely, and the answer about how Maeve got her powers and why it seemed like the same people helping the band were also working with their enemies. I also have to stress how impressed I am that Brenden Fletcher found a way to make me really like Kurt Lance, a character whose appearances in Team 7 and Birds of Prey made me think of him as a convenient plot device more than a character. The relationship between him and Dinah makes sense after this issue; you see that he's more than just some spy guy, but a decent man who really cares about people and is clever. There is a good potion of the issue that is a battle of the band against a creature called The Quietus, a thing that eats sound, and so much of the issue is silent, and Annie Wu, whose work has been astounding so far, steps up with her best work on the book. The Quietus itself is a great design, a roiling maelstrom on feet, and the sequence where first the band fights the monster with music and when Dinah and the mysterious white ninja attack the thing more physically are great. You can follow the action perfectly without any guidance of text, and it's exciting to watch. Not like any other book on the stands right now, or any other version of the character, Black Canary is a great book that had an ending to its inaugural arc as exciting as everything that lead up to it.

Grayson #16
Story: Tom King & Tim Seeley
Art: Mikel Janin & Jeremy Cox

After a detour into the "Robin War" crossover, Grayson returns to its standard form, a wall to wall international espionage action with plenty of joyful cheesecake shots of its lead. I'm sure we'll get some answers in the future about Dick's role with the Parliament of Owls, but as much as I'm curious where that goes, I'm glad Grayson returned to tie up the threads about Dick's war with Spyral, his previous employer. The majority of the issue is Dick and The Tiger, also known as the former Agent One of Spyral, both of whom have gone rogue and know something is rotten in Spyral progressively taking down one Spyral agent after another and bantering. The bantering is mostly from Dick, granted, as the Tiger really doesn't banter, but is more talkative than Batman, who usually is the recipient of Dick's friendly banter, and his grumping back at Dick is almost as funny as Dick's jokes. There is some really phenomenal art in this issue, including a Dick and Tiger walking out of the water shot right out of James Bond movies, and the montage accompanied by Dick singing his personal theme song set to the tune of "Goldfinger" also intentionally evoke Bond, and that theme song will be caught in your head. For days. DAYS. The few scenes that aren't Dick and Tiger's excellent adventure are dedicated to Matron, Helena Bertinelli, the current head of Spyral, growing more and more frustrated by Dick and Tiger's exploits. There is also a meeting of the Syndicate, the best spies in the world, who we have seen hints of, but now who stand revealed, and who will go after Dick and Tiger soon, and they're a group of pretty big names who I'm excited to see in action. To stand against them, Dick makes a seeming deal with the devil, but I won't say who that devil is; you'll have to read the issue to find out. Grayson is getting more exciting with each issue, and I'm curious to see what happens when Dick finally faces down Spyral. Because after all, he's Grayson. Dick Grayson.

Hellboy Winter Special
Story: Various
Art Various

While nobody writes and draws Hellboy and his world like Mike Mignola, but one of the best things about the whole universe is the different visions we get from other artists and writers, and so these occasional Hellboy anthologies allow for some new visions. The Hellboy Winter Special features four stories (well, three and one two-page gag strip) that bring some new creators into Hellboy's world and lets them tell stories of the Hellboy universe's past.

Broken Vessels (Story by Mike Mignola & Scott Allie; Art by Tim Sale and Dave Stewart): One of the stories set farthest back in the history of the Hellboy Universe, the story finds the original wielder of a magical blade that has been featured in B.P.R.D. back in the ice age running a foul of a sorcerer talking about the mystical Vril energy and then fighting ghosts. It's the first time Tim Sale has drawn the Hellboy universe, and the story is well suited to his dark and moody style

Wandering Souls (Story by Mike Mignola & Chris Roberson; Art by Michael Walsh & Dave Stewart): The longest of the stories in the anthology, this story takes place right in the middle of the current Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: 1953 series of one-shot and minis. Hellboy and Agent Susan Xiang are on a mission in Wyoming to investigate a haunting. They follow the local sheriff, who is quickly possessed by the ghosts, and while Hellboy fights him, Xiang communicates with the spirits to learn about why they're haunting, and we see that this isn't a simple case of angry spirits who need to be smashed. Chris Roberson will soon be taking over as regular co-writer of Hellboy and the B.P.R.D., and if this is any indication, he'll it in just fine, and Michael Walsh is one of my favorite artists in comics right now, and I;m glad to see him working on Hellboy.

Mood Swings (Story: Chelsea Cain; Art: Michael Avon Oeming & Dave Stewart): Novelist Chelsea Cain steps up to tell a story about Christmas with Hellboy, Prof. Bruttenholm, and a teenage Liz Sherman. And the only thing scarier than a teenager is a teenager who can burn you alive with a thought. And when her Christmas present from the professor doesn't go over well, Liz runs into the woods, where a sweet gift of a ring of festive snowmen from Hellboy turns horrible when they're possessed. Michael Avon Oeming draws some really creepy monster snowmen until, well, just think about a pyrokinetic fighting snowmen. Guess who wins, and it makes me want to see more stories of teen Liz.

Kung Pao Lobster (Story & Art: Dean Rankine): A two page gag strip where Lobster Johnson orders Chinese food, and, well weird stuff happens. It's a funny little story, and that's pretty much what you can stay about it.

None of these stories require any previous knowledge of Hellboy and his world, so if you're a new fan, a lapsed one, or one of the faithful, this is a great one-shot to check out.

Scooby-Doo Team-Up #14
Story: Sholly Fisch
Art: Dario Brizuela & Franco Riesco

When telling Scooby-Doo stories, the trick to keeping them fresh is not changing the formula, but finding ways to play with that formula for fun effect. Sholly Fisch's Scooby-Doo Team-Up always finds a way to take the Mystery Inc. gang, have them meet superheroes, and make it feel fresh while not violating any of the tropes of either world. When the gang gets invited on a cruise ship because of monster problems, it turns out the monsters are, shock of shocks, guys in suits, and with the help of Aquaman, they easily catch the undersea robbers. But pretty soon, it turns out this was all part of a plot by Aquaman's arch-enemies, Black Manta and Ocean Master, to distract Aquaman so they can conquer Atlantis. There's an homage to a classic Aquaman story, with Black Manta having kidnapped Aquaman's baby son, Arthur Jr., but being this is an all ages comic, the ending is much happier than in the DC Universe. There are cameos by much of Aquaman's classic supporting cast, including Aqualad, Tula, Topo the Octopus, Tusky the Walrus, and royal adviser Vulko, who is drawn way more ripped than I have ever seen him; animation treats Vulko pretty well. There are the usual gags with Scooby being a coward and Shaggy having the munchies, but the best classic Scooby-Doo gag that gets twisted here is Freddy continually trying to unmask villains underwater, and Velma and Aquaman having to remind him that if he does, these people will, well, drown. Oh, Freddy...

We Are Robin #8
Story: Lee Bermejo
Art: Jorge Corona, Rob Haynes, & Trish Mulvihill

The other highlight of the new DC titles, We Are Robin, also comes out of "Robin War" with a clean playing field and a new menace on the horizon. The focal points of this issue are two characters, our normal series lead, Duke Thomas, and Johnny Bender, a young man leaving juvie who after a failed surgery to solve facial paralysis is left with a permanent grin. And it should surprise no one that a Gotham kid with behavior problems and a fixed grin is going to idolize not Batman but his opposite number. We do see the other principle Robins being watched over by Alfred (I especially like Andre working out his anger in Midnighter cosplay (I'm trying to think what Midnighter's junior partner would be. The Nooner? Kid 10 p.m.?), so it's still an ensemble, but we're mostly following Duke and Bender. Duke is still on the quest to find his parents, and SPOILERS, he does find them. This kind of caught me off guard, since the end of the last issue of Batman teased Duke finding his parents, but this is his home book at this point, I suppose. It's a bittersweet reunion, as they are still effected by the Joker's toxin and don't remember Duke. Joe Corona draws the scene with true pathos, as you can see Duke's joy turn to pain and you watch his heart break. Meanwhile, Bender's reunion with his parents is no better. They're clearly pretty terrible people, superficial and unpleasant, and it's easy to see why their son looks for someone else to look up to, and unfortunately it has to be Joker. His decision to kill his parents is not surprising, as his narration has been disquieting since page one, and the pages and story are structured to really set Duke and him as opposite numbers in their own right. Between Batman and especially here in We Are Robin, the character work on Duke Thomas has made him and engaging and worthy member of the Batman family, and so giving him an archenemy seems like the next logical step. This clearly feels like it's the beginning of the Jokers, a gang that has its roots in Batman Beyond (yes, they're Jokerz there, but that's such a '90s future thing), and since so many of the aspects of that show have been entering the DCU since Convergence, it makes perfect sense and seems appropriate in this title. This is the beginning of the second arc for We Are Robin, and a great place to jump on.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 11/11

Airboy #4
Story: James Robinson
Art: Greg Hinkle

Airboy has been a comic that I've been unsure how to classify and write about. After a well received first issue and a problematic second, the third issue was almost ignored critically, and this conclusion arrives a couple months late. It's part war hero comic, part introspective look at a writer's life, part deconstruction. It's not unique in its conceit of "creator meets the character he's working on" but is told from the point of view of the creator more than the character. After three issues of acting like a selfish ass, James Robinson, writer and one of the principal protagonists, and his artist Greg Hinkle, dragged along on this insane, possibly drug induced ride, are now in the comics of the character Airboy, and have been sent (well, forced) on a mission behind Nazi lines to blow up a bridge. It's good to see that Robinson, even in this life or death situation, still paints himself as a near-complete jerk. He and Hinkle start off commenting on how cool the SS uniforms they're wearing look (they were designed by Hugo Boss, after all), and we flashback to him doing coke with one of Airboy's colleagues before setting out. There, Robinson comments on how much he feels like his career is lost, and calls out the projects he did in Hollywood that were disasters (in all fairness, I really like Comic Book Villains, the movie he wrote and directed. I own a copy, and it introduced me to the excellent actor Donal Logue). Hinkle does a great job drawing the wreck of the city and the Nazi war-robots as well as Airboy's plane, showing off skills beyond much of what he's had to do throughout the series. The end of the surreal aspect of the comic has Robinson make a good choice, a hero's choice, but when he arrives home, he's still stuck in the same cycle of drugs, self-pity, and self-loathing that he was in on page one of issue one. It's Hinkle in the end who calls Robinson out on his b.s. in a way that gets him to listen. What's great is he doesn't come down on him about all the stuff that happened in what seems more likely a drug induced haze, but all the things that Robinson can change, and gives him a glimmer of hope that people still respect his work (I know I do). The end is a hopeful one, one where the protagonist makes the choice to break the cycle. If you know anything about addiction and self-loathing, you know that might not be a permanent change, as it's a daily battle, but the final images, of Airboy comics in color in a haze of discarded cocaine symbolizes to me Robinson coming out of the haze he was in. I've stuck with James Robinson's work through what he clearly considers a doldrums of his creative output, and I'll continue to stick with him, and I hope that the strength of Airboy is a sign of great things to come.

Batman #46
Story: Scott Snyder
Art: Greg Capullo, Danny Miki, & FCO Plascenia

Things feel like they're coming to a head in Scott Snyder's current arc of Batman. We're getting Batman meeting the villain, Mr. Bloom, Duke Thomas out and learning secrets, and Bruce Wayne engaged to Julie Madison. That's a lot of big changes, and I'm going to touch on each plot separately. The opening fight scene does a lot to make it clear that Jim Gordon is growing into his role as Batman. His plan to take down Mr. Bloom, while not successful, is clever and well in line with what you'd expect from Batman. And the rapport he's building with Julia Pennyworth is not only great character development for both of them, but it's smart; the original Batman never worked alone, and Gordon is really learning to work with his team. And again, I come to more and more like Geri Powers as she stands up to Bloom; I still don't trust any Powers very far, so I'm not sure of Snyder is setting the reader up to like her before a face/heel turn or if he's just slowly building her to be a good character against expectations of everyone who knows the Batman Beyond continuity. Whichever he's doing, it's working. Following the battle, there's a scene with a hall of Batman armors like something out of Tony Stark's dreams. Even after everything that went on in the previous issue between them, Jim is able to present Geri with a plan and goes after Bloom alone; so Jim hasn't completely lost his lone wolf mentality, but he has a plan and Julia in his ear. But it's not going to be that easy.

While Jim is dealing with Bloom's frontal assault, Duke Thomas continues to search for answers about Bloom, now sneaking into the Iceberg Lounge to find information that Penguin might have. Snyder continues to do great things to build Duke up as a competent, clever crimefighter. His entry into Penguin's office, and his knowledge of Penguin's methods, show he's clearly done his homework. And his surprise about the identity of Bloom makes me think he's a character we know already, and not just some new villain, but Duke doesn't make it out easy, as Penguin and a group of Gotham's more unusual mob bosses catch him, and he has to use some quick thinking and tech to escape. But the escape doesn't look clean, and we'll see what becomes of him next issue.

And Bruce. Oh, Bruce. He's so damn happy. It's absolutely killing me. The scenes with him and Julie, and the scene with him and Liv, a little girl at the Fox Center where he works, are painfully sweet. The coloring on those pages is even warmer than the rest of the issue, keeping things in a happier place. And the happier he gets, the harder the fall is going to be,

Thematically, Snyder is calling more clearly on the idea of symbols and how much the symbol of the Bat means to Gotham, and whether the idea of what Jim, Geri, and Powers Inc have done destroys that symbol, as Bloom believes, or has reclaimed it for the people. as Geri does. And as readers, knowing Bruce will be back, we're left to wonder what it will mean when he returns.

Descender #7
Story: Jeff Lemire
Art: Dustin Nguyen

Descender returns for its second arc with a first issue that takes everything from arc one and adds all sorts of twists and turns. Android TIM-21 has just encountered his twin TIM-22 and a group of robots who have come to save him on the planet Gnish. The robots are interested in TIM, and only TIM, but the robot insists on bringing his organic companions, UGC agent Telsa and his maker DR. Quon, along so they can help him find his human "brother" Andy. I'm curious to see if these robots are remnants of the robots destroyed after the Harvester onslaught, the attack of giant robots on the inhabited worlds, or if they have a deeper connection to the Harvesters. One way or the other, they have no love for organic beings, as they kill the ruler of Gnish with no compunction and for the reason of sewing chaos; it's benign looking TIM-22 who does the deed at the order of his "father," the robot Psius. The introduction of a robot world, or at least a resistance, is an interesting deepening of the mythology established before, adding another aspect and faction to the universe. The robots agree to take Telsa and Quon to get TIM to come with them, which is interesting; if they have a TIM of their own, why so desperately search for this one, unless their reasons aren't the same as everyone else's, the connection of TIM to the harvesters, or unless their TIM is not the same as TIM-21. But taking those three does, to use D&D parlance, split the party, leaving Bandit, the robot dog, Driller, the drilling droid, and Telsa's associate Tullis behind. And all of that only takes up half the issue. The other half follows a robot bounty hunter coldly going about his business. He destroys nonthreatening robots that were helping a colony survive without any compunction, and is clearly set up as a major threat. And when he goes back to the guy who provides his bounties and finds out about TIM, he tears off after him. And when he arrives at the mining colony where TIM was and finds a survivor of the crew who tried to destroy TIM, he reveals his identity. It's a major twist, one I don't want to give away, but it sets the trajectory for TIM's journey down a much darker path. And all of this plot with Dustin Nguyen's art, which continues to be the best of his already string career, lush, gorgeously colored, and beautifully designed. Descender is a story about what it means to be alive and "human," and the new path TIM is on will test his robot spirit and see how much "humanity" he has.

Star Wars: Chewbacca #3
Story: Gerry Duggan
Art: Phil Noto

Sometimes a fun comic comes along, and you just miss out on reviewing it. That has happened, and I intend to remedy that right now. Gerry Duggan and Phil Noto's Chewbacca mini-series has been excellent all the way through, and it's been getting better with each issue. Having crashed on the planet Andelm IV, Chewie has spent the past couple issues working to liberate slaves from a gangster with the help of Zarro, a young escaped slave herself. Now trapped in the mines with Zarro and her father, Chewie has to avoid killer beetles and other hazards to get out with the slaves. Duggan does a great job of letting other characters speak with Chewie without giving him speech bubbles; everything out of Chewie is a Wookiee roar. With that being the case, Noto's work on Chewie is even more important, letting the Wookiee's body language and facial expressions do most of the communicating. The sequence where Chewie has to climb through a narrow passage, digging at it to make it wider, so he can drop a rope down to the trapped miners, is one of the most visually striking scenes I've come across in a comic lately. Outside the mine, the designs of the various aliens  and character are equally engaging, from the gangster Jaum, who exists in a suit with a clear helmet to allow him to breathe to his right hand Shistavenan (the werewolf people), to Sevox, and old man whose body rejects cybernetic implants so he's designed a way to see through the eyes of his droid. Great concepts from Duggan and excellent execution from Noto. I like that the stakes of the mini-series are so comparatively little, not the fate of the Rebellion but just a small group of people, but it still feels so big because Zarro, her father, and the others are interesting characters and the reader cares, and that, as a former slave, Chewie is invested; he could have left any number of times, but he stays because it's the right thing to do. Chewbacca is one of the most noble characters in Star Wars and this mini-series spotlights all of his best qualities.


Dan Grote goes back to WW2 to spend some time with Cap, Bucky, and the Howling Commandos in Captain America:White...

Captain America: White #4

Story by Jeph Loeb

Art by Tim Sale

“You know better than anybody that underneath this uniform, I’m just a man who can make mistakes.”

World War II Captain America stories are a dime a dozen, it’s true, but there’s something about a young, fallible Cap, less the symbol of freedom and liberty all other heroes measure up to and more a hero in the mighty Marvel manner, that makes this one seem fresh.

The Steve Rogers of Captain America: White makes mistakes, is filled with doubt, a master combatant but not a seasoned veteran, still a skinny kid from Brooklyn in his own mind. Put simply, he’s not Marvel’s answer to Superman. He’s also preoccupied with Bucky, the young ward he trained and brought to war with him, and wracked with guilt every time his sidekick ends up in harm’s way.

This particular mission finds Cap, Bucky and the Howling Commandos deep in Nazi-occupied France, where top SS-ers the Red Skull and Baron Wolfgang von Strucker are currently overseeing things. Aiding the Howlers is a group of French freedom fighters, led by a woman named Marilyne who will have none of Cap’s white-hat, Americo-centric patriarchy. “It is the French who will free France!” she tells him at one point.

It is also the French who will betray France, as one among their number, a purple-clad, pointy-mustached man named Olivier Batroc – an ancestor of everyone’s favorite Leaper – sets them up to be captured by Strucker while the Skull plots mayhem elsewhere.

Cap’s sexual inexperience remains a theme, as a request to Marilyne to fix the straps on his shield is played for its innuendo, while Bucky and Reb Ralston, the youngest Howler, peep the action through a keyhole. When Cap realizes he’s being watched, he gets spooked and throws his shield through the door, giving Bucky a black eye. Cap apologizes, using the line at the top of this review, but the damage, both physical and emotional, is done. Bucky believes Cap has lost faith in him, and so he goes off to fight the Skull on his own, instead getting captured and strapped to all manner of explosives.

Now, the reader knows Bucky survives this one. This isn’t Baron Zemo’s rocket that turns Steve into a Capsicle and Bucky into a Soviet-sponsored killing machine with a cybernetic arm. But for Cap, at this point in his nascent superheroing career, this is his worst nightmare given form, the idea that the only person with whom he shares any sort of bond could die.

Yes, White is a pure nostalgia trip: a Silver Age-style story set in the Golden Age by a creative team best known for its ’90s work. But if you’re a fan of old Marvel, of Steve Rogers as Cap and pre-Winter Soldier Bucky and a Nick Fury that was essentially a John Wayne-meets-Patton homage, it’s a trip worth taking.

Trick-or-Treating in Gotham- Batman: Haunted Knight

We hear at The Matt Signal (and by we, I mean, well, me) love October, and especially Halloween; candy, monsters, and something spooky around every corner. I imagine this is surprising to anyone who has never read this blog before and has no idea about my love of Batman and horror comics, but we're all old friends here, so let's gather round the fire and I'm going to tell you about some of my favorite Halloween themed Batman comics.

When most readers think about Batman related Halloween comics, the stories that spring to mind are Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's two maxi-series, The Long Halloween and Dark Victory. And can I blame them? Heck, no. Frankly, The Long Halloween is one of, if not my all time, favorite Batman stories, even if the ending isn't perfect. I remember reading the series as it came out, issue by issue, piecing together the mystery of who is Holiday. But Loeb and Sale had a history with Batman before that.

For three Halloweens before those series, Loeb and Sale created prestige format Halloween specials, under the banner of Legends of the Dark Knight, the title that was being released at the time that was a creator showcase for Batman stories that were out of continuity or tales set in the past. Over the course of the three specials, they touched on many of the great Batman villains, as well as his allies, and fleshed out the early years of Batman. These stories were collected in the trade, Haunted Knight, and I think they don't get as much credit as they're due. So here's a little discussion of each of them.

Choices (or alternately Fears) is a story featuring the perfect Batman villain for Halloween, the Scarecrow, the master of fear. On one of his early rampages, Batman is pursuing the Scarecrow, while Bruce Wayne has a new love interest. While Batman duels with Scarecrow, the slowly revealed revelation of the black widow planning to take everything from Bruce makes for a great parallel. There are some amazing visuals in this story, especially as Batman attempts to find his way through a maze of thorny hedges poisoned with Scarecrow's fear toxin. Fear is central in all Scarecrow stories, but this one really uses the idea that as terrifying as Scarecrow is, it's Batman who is the truly frightening one, and that Scarecrow has something to fear when he confronts Batman. Jillian Maxwell, the black widow killer, has her own fears, and the final page is a great moment showing exactly how far the fear of the Dark Knight can reach.

The second special, Madness, is my favorite of the three stories. A story of not only Batman, but of Jim and Barbara Gordon, this is set firmly in the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths continuity where Barbara was Jim's adopted daughter, the biological daughter of Jim's brother. Shortly after Barbara is adopted it's Halloween in Gotham, and the two fight over whether Barbara can go out on her own, and the teenage Barbara storms out, only to be abducted by the Mad Hatter, making her his most recent Alice. Batman pursues the Hatter, as does Jim, and the two rescue Barbara. I love how spunky and tough young Barbara is, foreshadowing her time as Batgirl. I also have to give Loeb credit for writing a creepy Mad Hatter story. The Hatter is often portrayed as just another villain with a weird fetish (I mean that in the obsession sense, not in the sexual one, although Gail Simone portrayed it as such to wonderfully disturbing effect in Secret Six) for hats. This is one of the first stories that really plays up the Alice in Wonderland themes and the creepy child abduction angle. It has a happy ending, naturally, but it probably the most spine-chilling of the stories here.

Ghosts, the final of the three Halloween specials, takes the classic A Christmas Carol and sets it instead at Halloween, with Batman in the Scrooge roll. It's a natural fit, and isn't the only Batman/A Christmas Carol mash up in the history of the character, but is my favorite. Thomas Wayne takes the roll of Jacob Marley, and Poisons Ivy, the Joker, and a skeletal Bruce in a Bat costume are the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come, respectively. I like the little redemptive moment at the end of the issue, where Bruce learns his lesson, like Scrooge, that one cannot be separate from people and cannot be just Batman, because that way lies despair and loneliness.

Loeb's stories are solid here, and are early work in his career, and while they're good reads, the star is often Tim Sale's art. His versions of Batman and his enemies are distinct and not realistic in a traditional sense, with his Mad Hatter and Penguin being oddly dwarfish, his Joker snaggle toothed with a strangely distended jaw, and his Scarecrow seeming to be more his namesake than a human being in a costume. Sale is one of my favorite artists in all of comics, and his Batman work is the best of that.

Haunted Knight is in print as a trade, with new cover dress a few years ago to make it fit with the current printings of The Long Halloween and Dark Victory. If you have read and enjoyed either of those stories, or just enjoy a good Batman story, this is a trade well worth picking up, and perfect for those long nights when the wind makes the eves creak and you might just be hearing the sound of a madman laugh somewhere out there...