Darwyn Cooke: A Remembrance of His Work

I had a completely different, much lighter piece planned for yesterday, and I'll probably post that recommended reading next Friday, but when I heard the new that Darwyn Cooke, easily one of my favorite cartoonists in comics, had entered palliative care for aggressive cancer,  I decided to pull back and write an appreciation of Cooke's work and post it today. Sadly, it was just confirmed that Darwyn Cooke has passed away, and while part of me wanted to wait a little longer, I decided instead to just pour out my feelings right here and right now.

I picked up Batman: Ego, a prestige format one-shot that Cooke both wrote and drew the week it came out, and that was a comic that completely blew me off my feet. It was an examination of Batman's psyche, diving into the dark recesses of why Batman does what he does, and when I put it down, I looked at the name of the creator and I though, "This guy is going to be huge." I found out he had next to no comic credits before that. but had worked with Warner Animation on Batman: The Animated Series and Batman Beyond, and you could see the influence of those shows' designs on his work, or vice verse, but everything Cooke touched had its own special Cooke feel as well.

Cooke didn't stick to one genre. While he drew amazing superheroes, he didn't even stick to one universe. His work on DC was usually reminiscent of the Silver Age, with bright, bold panels, but he drew the first arc of Ed Brubaker's Catwoman, one of the most noir influenced of any Batman title, and Cooke wrote and drew the original graphic novel Selina's Big Score, a prequel to that run that was an absolute noir. While he wrote two charming, Silver Age-inspired Spider-Man stories in the anthology title Tangled Web he also pencilled an issue of the late X-Force series, a character spotlight on U-Go-Girl, a comic that was very modern in theme and tone, as well as a the spinoff mini-series Wolverine/Doop.

It was clear from his work how much Cooke loved crime stories. Not only did he do Selina's Big Score, but he resurrected Will Eisner's The Spirit for DC, following Eisner's mystery man/crime formula, folding Denny Colt into a more modern milieu without losing what made the series what it was. And his adaptations of Donald Westlake/Richard Stark's Parker series were a delight, these gritty noir stories adapted perfectly into comics, with style that matched the content; I write a recommendation of them very early on in this blog's life, and those books are some of the best adaptations of prose into comics that I have ever read.

There's so many other things Cooke did, that it wold take a series of posts to discuss them all. His Before Watchmen: Minutemen spotlighted his attention to historical detail. His work on Jonah Hex and All-Star Western showed he was just as capable with Westerns as he was with crime stories. He drew countless covers for all manner of comics. His last work (to date anyway. We can hope for some remaining work to make it out as a tribute), Twilight Children, was a sci-fi or fantasy piece with Gilbert Hernandez that was a strange little tale of a town in Latin America that is nothing like anything Cooke had done before.

And I've left one piece off this post until the end, because it was something that is so special to me that I wanted to thing a bit before I wrote. DC: The New Frontier was a retelling of the origins of the Silver Age of DC Comics set in a more or less historically accurate late 1950s. The Red Scare is in full swing, and racism is a day to day fact. But, despite all of that, it is a story of hope, of the dawning of a new age, of heroes, and of possibility. It is a comic that is filled with every DC hero you can imagine, and many an obscure Silver Age appearance. Martian Manhunter is a huge part of it, and Cooke captures the lost soul/stranger in a strange land thing better than most. Hal Jordan, the test pilot, is the standard bearer for the age, as he was a hero in both identities, but ti doesn't skimp on the big three either; as a matter of fact, his Wonder Woman in the series is one of the most physically intimidating and fascinating portrayals of the character I've ever seen. I not only bought all six issues, but I have the gorgeous, slipcased Absolute Edition with tons of research and background, and it's one of my favorite graphic novels in my collection.

I sadly never got the chance to meet Darwyn Cooke. I read all sorts of stories about him; some said that he could be prickly, others said he was a warm, pleasant soul. I think that just makes him human. He was the number one artist I would have wanted to get a commission from, and would have paid top dollar, and although I probably would have asked for the Batman Beyond suit to stay with my Batman theme, it would have been hard to resist asking for Martian Manhunter. Sadly, that will never come to pass. I wish he could have done a couple more Parker adaptations. I wish he could have released the Image mini-series, Revengeance, that was announced last year. I wish his family could have spent more time with him. My condolences to the Cooke family, and I hope you know how much his work touched me and his other fans. Thank you, Darwyn Cooke.

In his memory, the Cooke family has asked for donations to be made to the HERO Initiative and the Canadian Cancer Society.

The Matt Signal Advent Calendar 2015 Day 24: Batman Beyond "Out of the Past"

Batman Beyond
Season 3, Episode 5, "Out of the Past," 2000

Matt Says:

I had a hard time deciding how to wrap up the Advent Calendar this year. I knew I wasn't going to go chronologically by release, and so after some thinking I decided to end with the episode set furthest in the future. Batman Beyond was a series that followed the exploits of Terry McGinnis, a young man who an elderly Bruce Wayne took under his wing to be a new Batman. The series created a new supporting cast and many new villains, rarely going back to the classic rogues. One of the few exceptions was the series finest episode, "Out of the Past," where Talia al Ghul returns and offers Bruce the chance to reclaim his youth.

Much of the episode is pretty deep for a kids cartoon, exploring questions about aging and if its right to reclaim your youth at any cost. We watch Bruce haunted by his lost loves, by his body failing, bu his inability to save a girl from street thugs that he could have easily beaten not too long before. Bruce goes as far as giving in and using the Lazarus Pit before accepting that it's unnatural. Getting to see Bruce and terry fight side by side is one of the series highlights, accompanied by a version of the classic Batman: The Animated Series theme song, played with lots of synthesizer like we imagined music would sound in the future back in the late 90s-early 00s.

I've seen the episode so many times over the years, I don't remember if the big twist at the end of act two, the fact that [SPOILER for a fifteen year old episode] Ra's has had his mind transferred into Talia's body, really shocked me. Knowing the twist, there are tons of clues littered throughout the first half of the episode, and it's cleverly done.

And the final fun facts of this year's Advent Calendar. This episode features a brief cameo by Michael Rosenbaum, his first DC Animated work, but far from his last, as he would go on to voice Ghoul in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker and have a starring role on Justice League/Justice League Unlimited as The Flash (as well as Deadshot). The episode also begins with the hilarious musical number from a Batman musical Terry brings Bruce to for his birthday. I dare you to watch the episode and not be singing, "A superstitious cowardly lot," under your breath for days. Finally, to keep up the tradition four years running of a post around the holidays featuring his work, this episode was written by the inimitable Paul Dini.

And that's it for this year's Advent Calendar. We hope you've enjoyed reading about some of our favorite episodes of these great cartoons. Have a safe and happy Christmas, for those who celebrate, and we'll be back next week with a couple posts before the New Year.

Reviews of Comics for Wednesday 6/3

Airboy #1
Story: James Robinson
Art: Greg Hinkle

Meta-textual commentary has been a part of comics since Stan Lee wrote the Marvel Bullpen into Fantastic Four. Grant Morrison wrote himself into Animal Man, Warren Ellis popped up in Powers, and Brian Michael Bendis recently appeared in Nailbiter, to name a few. But James Robinson and Greg Hinkle's new series using the public domain flying ace Airboy, does something a little different, and absolutely fascinating: it pulls the hero into the real world, instead of inserting the creator into the comic book world. But we don't even get much of that this issue. No, this issue is the story of a writer in a tailspin. James Robinson has been offered the chance to write Airboy by Image Comics, and he's agreed to do it despite himself. He's unhappy with his work at DC (which he talks about frankly in the dialogue), and he's sick of being "the golden age guy" but he takes the offer, despite having no ideas. When he can't get anymore ideas, he gets his artist, Greg Hinkle, to fly to San Francisco, where Robinson lives, to try to get the juices flowing. What follows is not a night of comic creating, but one of alcohol, cocaine, and anonymous sex. It's only by issue's end that Airboy pops up, and only on the last page. Robinson doesn't pull any punches in how he portrays himself; he's a drunk, he's snorting cocaine at every chance, he's cheating on his wife, and he is wallowing in self-pity. From interviews, the general plot is semi-autobiographical, and it's interesting to see a writer most associated with superhero comics writing something so straightforwardly inner facing. I've been a fan of Robinson's since he wrote a couple phenomenal arcs of Batman: Legends the Dark Knight, and this is a very different Robinson. Greg Hinkle's art style is different and interesting (something talked about in the comic, actually), and works well with the material. The muted color palette also works with Robinson's mindset, and the flash of color when Airboy appears is an excellent visual trope.  Just to warn some of you more sensitive readers, there is some sexual material in the issue (although nothing hardcore), and some full frontal male nudity, but it's nothing worse than what you see on cable. This is a comic that takes the fourth wall and pretty much smashes it to pieces, so if that, along with stories about writing, creation, and self examination catch your interest, Airboy is something you want to check out.

Batman Beyond #1
Story: Dan Jurgens
Art: Bernard Chang

Since the reboot DC Comicsa post-Flashpoint, I've been hoping to see Tim Drake get his own series again. I started reading comic within a couple months of Tim's first appearance, and he has been my favorite Robin, and probably my favorite DC Conics's character aside from Batman himself. And while he's been in Teen Titans from the outset, I wanted a book that was all about Tim. And this past week, I got my monkey paw wish in the new Batman Beyond series spinning out of The New 52: Futures End, where a Tim Drake from five years in the future has been thrust thirty more years into the future. Yes, that's a pretty complicated, timey-wimey, wibbly-wobbly set up, but you don't really need to know it. What you need to know is Tim is a stranger in a strange land, on an Earth where Gotham is the last bastion standing against the reign of Brother Eye, an evil cybernetic being. This first issue establishes the status quo that Tim walks into, a mixture of what we'd expect from the current continuity and the classic animated Batman Beyond timeline. We see Terry McGinnis's little brother, Matt, who thinks he should have been made Batman when his brother died (Terry died pulling a Kyle Reese, going back to stop Brother Eye, and died in the process), and a gang of Jokerz. We meet a new character, Nora Boxer, a former Global Peace Agency agent who is Matt's guardian. And we get to see what the world outside of Gotham is like, as Tim goes to free Maxine Gibson, Terry's best friend, from a Brother Eye prison camp and runs afoul of a superhero converted into a Brother Eye drone. Who that is, I want to leave as a surprise, as well as the last page reveal of the other hero who is imprisoned in the camp. It's a lot to take in for a first issue, especially if you didn't read Futures End, but the banter between Tim and ALFRED, the Bat suit A.I. is fun, the action scenes are beautifully drawn by Bernard Chang, and it's an interesting set-up. While this isn't the Batman Beyond of old, it's an interesting take on the world, and one that has potential to honor those old stories while beating it's own path.

Bizarro #1
Story: Heath Corson
Art: Gustavo Duarte

All ages comics have been severely lacking in DC Comics main line since the reboot. This first week of the new line sees the debut of not one but two series. And while Bat-Mite is a fun book, it was Bizarro that totally knocked my socks off. Writer Heath Corson has been the screenwriter of many of the recent DC direct-to-DVD movies, but this is his first comic, and it's a strong showing. There's no continuity knowledge needed, just a basic understanding that Bizarro is Superman's awkward opposite number and Jimmy Olsen is Superman's pal. The comic itself is the first leg of a road trip that Jimmy and Bizarro are on together. You don't need to know why, they just are, and craziness ensues. After smashing up his car, thanks to an attack by Bizarro's pet chupacbra, Colin, Jimmy and Bizarro wind up in a tiny town. There, to get his car fixed, Jimmy meets Regis "King Tut" Tuttle, the Pharaoh of Used Cars, and his lovely daughter, Regina. Of course, King Tut winds up being empowered by Ancient Egyptian gods (sort of, anyway), and uses his new powers to exert his will on the town, and so it's Bizarro to the rescue. Bizarro is the lovable oaf here, similar to how he was presented in Superman: The Animated Series, and his backwards talk and misunderstanding of the way people interact makes for much of the humor. Jimmy is presented as put upon and completely frustrated by how to deal with Bizarro's antics, and the fact that Colin seems to want to eat him. It's a classic odd couple dynamic, only with one of the two being a chalky clone of a superhero, and it's hilarious. I'm looking forward to seeing what other kinds of trouble Bizarro can get into.

Nailbiter #13
Story: Joshua Williamson
Art: Mike Henderson

A little over a year into Nailbiter, this issue begins to give us details on the backstory of two of our leads, titular serial killer Edward Charles Warren and his ex-girlfriend, Sheriff Shannon Crane. A series of flashbacks show Warren as an odd, sort of creepy kid, not the bold and strutting killer he is today, and Sheriff Crane has softer edges then she does in the present; I somehow think being known as the ex of one of Buckaroo's serial killers has hardened her considerably. Still the chemistry between the two of them is great, and despite knowing their fates, I found myself sort of rooting for them. But in the present, there isn't any romance bubbling between the two. Instead, Crane, Warren, and our other lead Nicholas Finch, have to make it past a group of robe wearing townsfolk led by Reverend Fairgold, who are swearing to follow Warren around to make sure he never kills again. It's one of those darkly funny scenes this book does really well, as Warren confronts the mob, and we see exactly how ready they are to stand up against the Nailbiter. Once that's done, we reenter the tunnels beneath Buckaroo, where Warren has promised to show the origins of the Buckaroo Butchers. This is where the book shifts from darkly funny to just plain creepy, which is another thing this comic does well. Darkness, weird statuary and wall paintings, it all helps further the atmosphere of darkness that permeates Buckaroo. I don't think anyone is surprised that Warren slips away, and the issue ends with him confronting the reverend again, this time in the hospital room of Agent Carroll, the man who brought Finch to Buckaroo and set off the chain of events we're witnessing. Like any good horror story, the last page knocks your socks off with how disturbing it is, and I don't want to say any more to possibly spoil the surprise. Nailbiter continues to be one of the best mixes of horror, character, and comedy produced right now, and inheritor of the legacies of Hannibal Lecter books and Tales from the Crypt. Each issue brings us deeper into the mystery of Buckaroo, and every step only makes me more nervous for the characters. I just do my best not to start biting my nails...

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #6
Story: Ryan North
Art: Erica Henderson

While most of the Marvel Universe is being swept up in Secret Wars, the hilarious all-ages Unbeatable Squirrel Girl starts it's second arc with the introduction of not one, but two new heroes, as well as a new villain, and a new... something. The charm of Squirrel Girl's comic is just how real the characters are written. Despite being so cheery and chipper, Squirrel Girl feels real, as does her roommate, Nancy. And as they spend time outside the bank that Squirrel Girl needs to guard, we meet Hippo the Hippo. He's a Hippo who has been mutated into a man-hippo, sort of like High Evolutionary's Knights, only without the motivation, armor, or highfalutin speech patterns. When SG starts fighting him, she is quickly aided by two new heroes, Chipmunk Hunk and Koi Boi. After some brief fisticuffs, SG is able to stop the fight be once again reasoning with the bad guy. I love that, over the course of six issues, nearly every major confrontation in this series has been solved by words, not by violence. It's both charming and sets a good precedent; Hippo isn't a bad man-hippo, he's just not sure what to do now that he's self-aware.  With the battle done, Nancy quickly calls out one of the great tropes of superhero comics, immediately identifying both the new heroes as fellow students Tomas Lara-Perez and Ken Shiga, since all they're doing is wearing domino masks. After a becoming friends montage (something the little caption narrator guy at the bottom of the pages really likes, and I do too), SG takes Nancy to the zoo to see if she can talk to any animal, since it seems everyone else can. There, though, the encounter Girl Squirrel, a superpowered squirrel. But all is not what it seems, and the final scenes, which pretty much scare the narrator of the comic away, shows that the relationship between Squirrel Girl and Girl Squirrel is not going to be the sunny one that would seem logical. The stakes are high in those final pages, the highest in the title so far. Sure, Galactus might have eaten Earth, but this is a more serious threat. Some people might think serious threats aren't something for an all ages comic, but I think we underestimate kids if we don't let them think about things. So if you're a Marvel person trying to avoid Secret Wars, now's the time to try out The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl; it's a classic Marvel comic with character and heart.

Animated Discussions: Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts

I try to get these animation reviews up promptly within a couple days of release, but the past couple weeks have been busy, and so I didn't even get to watch the first movie in the all-ages Batman Unlimited line until Monday, two weeks after it's release. But I decided I wanted to write this review anyway because I was really impressed by the movie and figured many people might have passed on it, since it was clearly aimed at younger audiences and is part of a program to push a new toy line.

I won't deny that you can see the influence of the toy line in the movie. Batman wears a huge variety of different costume variants that are just there begging to be made into action figures, and robot animals that turned into vehicles, which would have been a dream toy for me if I was eight.  Each of the heroes and villains are slightly redesigned to make for a unique action figure of their own. But most of the designs work, they have a very dynamic look to them. I was especially pleased to see Green Arrow in his goatee look; while I have no problem with the Arrow based look, that Neal Adams vibe is a classic. I was less enamored with Flash's redesign (there's something about the way the lightning bolt ears attached to the cowl that seemed off), but it wasn't offensive and still carried the Flash spirit, so I could understand it.

One of the things that jumped out at me from the first moment of the movie was how indebted it was to previous animated Batman, and that the creators were going to run with that. The Gotham of Batman Unlimited is much more sci-fi than the classic Burton Batman movies/Batman: The Animated Series art deco look, or the grotty urban feel of the Nolan movies. The opening scene has a flying police car, which clearly drew its design inspiration from Batman Beyond, and the flying costume Batman is wearing in that opening scene is black and red in a color homage to that particular series. It was a nice touch that was there for Batman animation geeks like me to smile over, and I always appreciate those extra little touches.

The plot of the movie is pretty straightforward. A group of animal themed villains calling itself the Ani-militia, consisting of Silverback, Cheetah, Killer Croc, and Man-Bat, and aided by robotic animals, are pulling heists in Gotham, and Batman and his allies, including Nightwing, Red Robin, Green Arrow, and Flash, are trying to stop them. Meanwhile, Oswald Cobblepot is opening the tallest building in Gotham, and there is talk that the Midas Heart Comet, a comet that's core is made entirely of gold, will be passing over Gotham in a few days. If you know anything about Batman, you know who Cobblepot is (spoilers if you've never read a Batman comic, seen Batman '66, Batman Returns, or Gotham, or seen a Batman cartoon before: he's arch-villain The Penguin), and his scheme and involvement with the other villains isn't hard to figure out.

The nice thing is that while the plot is simple, it doesn't talk down to the audience. In the same way Batman: The Brave and the Bold was an all ages show that adults could enjoy, this movie works the same way. The nice rapport between Batman and Green Arrow, not the competitive one of B:TB&TB, but more the one of old comrades, Nightwing's frustration with the A.D.D./act first/ think later Flash (one who I have to assume is Wally West, since his personality is much closer to Wally than to Barry Allen, although we never see him unmasked), and Red Robin's attitude as a still in training hero are all solid character beats that keep those of us who are looking for more than just Batman fighting robots engaged, although the robot fighting is pretty great too.

There's also a nice character arc for Kirk Langstrom, the villain known as Man-Bat, a sort of werebat creature. Langstrom is mild-mannered scientist who, like all good comic book scientists, experimented on himself and his experiment went wrong. When Batman figures this out and works up a temporary cure, we see Langstrom is haunted by what he does as Man-Bat and does his best to make reparations while he's still human, and makes a connection with Red Robin. In the end, Red Robin is able to get through to Langstrom in Man-Bat form and we get a nice little redemptive thing with him at the end of the movie. It's not something you'd do in one of those old cartoons that were big toy ads, and I like that we get that kind of character depth.

The voice cast is an excellent line up of established voice actors. Roger Craig Smith voices Batman, reprising a role he played in Arkham Origins, and he's clearly influenced by Kevin Conroy's seminal performance. Will Friedle, best known as Terry McGinnis/Batman in Batman Beyond, does a great job as Nightwing. Yuri Lowenthal, who has spent years as Ben 10 on various incarnations of that franchise, brings his youthful exuberance to Red Robin. Another interesting return to a character is Alastair Duncan, voicing Alfred, a part he voiced in The Batman, the series that aired between Batman: The Animated Series and Batman: The Brave and the Bold, and is often forgotten these days. And on the villain front, Dana Snyder (Master Shake on Aqua Teen Hunger Force and The Alchemist on The Venture Bros. to name a couple credits) does an exceptional job as the Penguin, giving him not just the haughtiness, but a touch of humanity as he deals with the way the people of Gotham look at him.

For one of these younger audience directed animated movies, I was pleased to see a couple solid special features. There's a short documentary on The Penguin, talking to the movie's screenwriter Heath Corson, TV comic writer Adam Glass, and one of Glass's children. about the Penguin's personality and history. It's not as in depth as the ones you get on the DC Animated line, but it hits on a lot of the important character points, and I like that they discuss the Penguin as a victim of bullying who turned on his bullies, something that comes up in the movie. There's also a selection of DC Nation animated shorts, the ones that used to air in and around Young Justice and Green Lantern. Not surprising with the animal theme of the movie, these are mostly the DC Superpets shorts based on the style of Tiny Titans artists Art Baltazar and Franco, and are adorable. There's also a Justice League of Animals short where Batmongoose encounters his nemeses The Croaker, Catcat, and Moo Face, and Wonder Wombat teaches us an important lesson about wombat's dietary needs. But the highlight is the three part Batman of Shanghai, a gorgeous anime influenced three part caper involving a Batman, Catwoman, and Bane redesigned to be set in 1930s Shanghai. Hey, Warner Home Video, any chance we cold get a DVD that's just a massive anthology of all the DC Nation shorts? There were a lot of really amazing ones, and I'd love to see them again.

A couple of final random thoughts. I would have liked to see a little more diversity in the team of heroes. It's clear that there was a, "strike while the iron is hot," idea by having Batman and his usual allies team up with the leads of DC's two big hit TV series, but I would have liked to see Black Canary thrown in there too. That's a minor quibble in an all around fun movie. Oh, and the robo-wolf that Batman is able to reprogram to work with him (and turn into a motorcycle)? He names him Ace. Don't get the reference. Look up Ace the Bathound when you have a second. It'll be worth your time.

There has been no further movies in the Batman Unlimited brand announced yet, buy from this one, hopefully there will be. There's enough room on the DVD racks for both these all ages adventure movies and the darker Batman Vs. Robin style movies. I'd be curious to see what other characters would look like with these new designs. It's nice to see that, as I've said before, there are a lot of people with a lot of different versions of Batman, and this one is a pleasant surprise that you can enjoy with your kids.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 2/25

Batman #39
Story: Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV
Art: Greg Capullo and Dustin Nguyen

As "Endgame" nears it's, well, endgame, it feels like the stakes for Batman and Gotham have never been higher. With the Joker plague spreading, and little time until it starts killing those it has driven mad, Batman must make alliances that he would not dream of on any but his darkest day. Scott Snyder has done an excellent job of making the Joker the most terrifying he has been in years. The scene where Batman confronts the Court of Owls continues to develop the Court as a threat, and one that has no compunction about letting the city burn to rebuild it in their own image once more. It's also interesting to see that they view themselves as beneath the city, that Gotham will always be there. Also, credit to Greg Capullo for his design of the Talon, Uriah; it's a sort of Scarecrow/Talon hybrid, with the scythe as a weapon, and it might be my favorite design for any Talon we've seen. The Joker's invasion of the Batcave would have been creepy with no one else there; The Joker seems to be invading homes in this arc, between Gordon's a couple issues ago and now the Batcave in this one. It's a violation, and shows that boundaries don't exist for the Joker. His bloody confrontation with Alfred made my heart catch. I knew Snyder had talked about doing something similar in his last Joker story, "Death of the Family," but seeing Alfred brought low was stunning (in the literal sense; I was stunned). Snyder has spent so much time with Bruce and Alfred's relationship in his run that seeing Joker brutally attack Alfred again, and to cut off his hand, was a painful reminder that Joker just wants blood this time. It was nice to see Batman gather his allies again at the end of the issue. There's been very little of the Batman family as a family in the New 52, aside from in Batman:Eternal, but it feels like a natural place to gather them. I also like the idea that Batman is willing to gather his other arch-foes, and that they're willing to work with him. In places like Forever Evil and Arkham Manor it's been clear that the other Arkham inmates fear the Joker, and I am completely behind the idea that they would sooner work with batman than let Joker tear down the city. I'm also happy that Snyder has kept the question of whether Joker is really immortal and his exact origins nebulous; as I wrote last week, I think that's important for the character. And that part of Joker's nature was really drawn into stark focus in the final part of the back-up story, as we get one final version of Joker's origin, but from a more unexpected source. Joker's confrontation with Mahreen Zaheer is another telling moment, showing something about how he views himself, and the sadistic twists his mind takes. I'm going to want to reread all this when it's over as it is, but knowing where the back-ups are going, it adds a layer that makes them more important to the whole narrative about the Joker's identity. And I have to give major applause to Dustin Nguyen, who is best known now for Li'l Gotham, but wow does he draw a creepy regular Joker! One chapter to go, and the culmination of one of the best Joker stories I've ever read is going to be the book I'm looking forward to most this month, hands down.

Black Hood #1
Story: Duane Swierczynski
Art: Michael Gaydos

In all the hoopla about this being the first Archie comic drop an f-bomb, a lot of the press surrounding Black Hood #1 has been about that seeming stunt and less about the quality of the comic. And I don't think it was a stunt, I think it was organic to what was a very solid debut of the new Dark Circle line. Greg Hettinger is a Philadelphia cop who gets in the middle of a fight outside an elementary school, and is shot in the face. He gets off a shot and kills one of the perpetrators, who happens to be the vigilante known as the Black Hood. Now called a hero, Hettinger has speech therapy ahead of him to repair his ability to speak, but nothing will heal the damage to his face, or to his psyche from killing a man. Addicted to pain pills, Hettinger is on a spiral downward, stealing drugs to feed his habit until he runs out of his house wearing the Black Hood. This first issue is a lot of set-up, with the only major action being the shooting at the beginning of the issue, but it does a great job of setting up character. After one issue, readers know Hettinger, understand his struggle, and sympathize some. We don't get to really spend much time with other characters, except for speech therapist Jessie Dupree. I'm not sure if she's destined to be a confidant or love interest, but she is hopeful and brings a ray of sunlight to the dark world of this comic. Duane Swierczynski is a crime writer, and that grit works well with this story. Michael Gaydos is an artist who really fits the book as well. This isn't a book you would have expected out of the old Archie, but with it's more experimental bent now, I can absolutely see them publishing what is an honest to God superhero noir. And on a personal note, as someone who now lives right on the doorstep of Philadelphia, it's cool to see a comic set in that grand city. It is a different city than New York, has a different feel to it, and especially after reading the writer's comments at the back of the issue about his feelings about Philly, I think it will help with the atmosphere of this comic. I'm a fan of the Red Circle heroes, and I was a little worried about a mature look at them, but this was a good start, and if the rest of these series are as good as Black Hood, and it continues on this path, I'm on board.

Criminal: Special Edition
Story: Ed Brubaker
Art: Sean Phillips

There are lots of writer/artist teams in comics who have worked together for years. I think the biggest one in comics right now is Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, who started out together with the Elseworlds Batman: Gotham Noir, and went on to do Sleeper, Crminal, Incognito, Fatale, and now The Fade Out. But this issue is a return to one of those other series, with this oversized one shot returning to the story of Teeg Lawless, one of the important characters from Criminal. And while I am waiting desperately to see what happens next in The Fade Out, it's nice to see old friends again. Not that I'd actually want Teeg Lawless as a friend; dude is not someone you want to hang around with. Set in the 70s, the story finds Teeg halfway through a 30 day stretch in jail for failure to appear in traffic court. Of course Teeg has done way worse than that, and he's going to have to do worse, as an open contract for his head is out there in the prison population. And since he's pissed off his boss, crime lord Sebastian Hyde by getting locked up when he was supposed to be on a job, he has no protection on the inside. It's a brutal comic, but that's nothing new for the world of Criminal. Teeg has to take out more than his share of guys who want him dead. And he's not a sympathetic character. Teeg is a bad guy who does bad things. But you still find yourself rooting for him to make it out. I'm always impressed with how Phillips can adapt to any era with his art, be it the 40s in The Fade Out, modern times in much of Criminal, and the 70s here. The issue has a great feel, like a 70s prison movie. And speaking of style, the main story is spliced together with pages from a comic that Teeg is reading, one of those 70s fantasy/horror mags, like the Warren books and Heavy Metal. The story of Zangar the Savage brutally tracking down those who wronged him and left him for dead. It's even more bloody and brutal than Teeg's own story, and actually felt a lot like a low fantasy version of Richard Stark's first Parker novel, The Hunter. Phillips does a great job of drawing the fantasy world as well as the real one. This stand alone story is a great introduction to the world of Criminal, and the works of Brubaker and Phillips in general. If you've ever thought about trying out some real crime comics, or any of the works of these great creators, this is the issue to try.

Gotham Academy #5
Story: Brenden Fletcher & Becky Cloonan
Art: Karl Kerschl

Last issue wrapped up a bunch of the mysteries in Gotham Academy, and while this issue doesn't answer as many questions, it does further a ton of character and answer one very big question. After stumbling across Killer Croc hiding in the walls of the school, Olive Silverlock, our intrepid heroine, decides she must find him again after he ran off, and the only place to do that is the forbidden and crumbling North Hall. And the best distraction, to assure all the teachers and other students won't see them, as well as making sure they can obtain the items they need from the headmasters office, is the big school dance! So Olive, her best friend Maps,  Pomeline the ghost hunter, and Colton the artful dodger of Gotham Academy, get together and plan their Ocean's 11 style heist of Colton's tools from the office. It's also amusing to note how disappointed Pomeline is that it's not a ghost and JUST an escaped Arkham inmate in the walls. Only in Gotham is escaped crocodile like mental patient something that is qualified with the word just. After pulling off the heist, and once again demonstrating that Maps is the coolest character in the book, and as they make their way over to North Hall, we finally get an answer to exactly what is going on  with the mysterious Tristan.I really try hard not to spoil anything in reviews, sometimes I think to the detriment of the review, but I do want to talk a bit about the big reveal. After everything that was done with the Man-Bat virus is Detective Comics, it's nice to see someone picking up that thread. The story of how he met Olive is another clue in the unfolding mystery of her summer, but with the appearance of another bat themed character at issue's end, I think we're going to get that soon. And I would be remiss in not calling out this month's cameo: We've had Aunt Harriet, Bookworm, and Grey Ghost in previous issues. This month, when Colton needed someone to distract Kyle, Maps's brother and Olive's still maybe/kinda ex, he got his buddy Warren to do it. Later, said buddy is addressed by his last name, McGinnis. Yes, Warren McGinnis, father of Batman Beyond Terry McGinnis, is a student at Gotham Academy. This books is just so much fun, full of so many great characters, and such a love letter to Batman's history, it's hard to believe everyone isn't reading it.

Joe Frankenstein #1
Story: Chuck Dixon & Graham Nolan
Art: Graham Nolan

Now, there are comics that are deep and profound. And there are comics that are grim and gritty. And then there are comics that are just plain fun. The new book from Chuck Dixon and Graham Nolan, a team best known for their long run on Detective Comics, is one of those latter books. Joe Frankenstein feels like a book inspired by a classic monster movie. When pizza boy Joe Pratt is nearly killed by hot vampire babes, he is rescued by... the Frankenstein Monster, who tells Joe he is the descendant of  his creator. Joe is a lovable loser in the Peter Parker mold, who loses his job because of the monster attack, whose girlfriend is peeved because he has no money, and lives with a well meaning foster family with a lot of other kids around. He's a comic book hero of the old order, down to the dead parents, and I have a feeling their death was more than just a plane crash. There's a whole mystery of who the vampires are, a mysterious big bad, a sultry mistress of evil, and her dapper aide-de-camp, Saxton, and what they want from Joe. But what we get is an action packed comic of vampires and monsters. Frankenstein's Creation (as he prefers to be called) is more in line with the Shelley novel and the current DCU version, an erudite and long lived creature, in this case one who seems to have accumulated great wealth in it's existence. It looks like Joe and the Creation have a lot of foes to face and I think the world is weirder than he imagined. The team of Dixon and Nolan produced some of my favorite Batman comics ever, so to see them back together, and working on a comic that has a classic feel to it.

DC Comics New Series Announcements Make for Some Good News on a Friday.

So, I go onto the internet this morning, and what do I see? A whole slew of new DC titles announced! I'm going to put on hold what I normally would do on Friday so I can gather the list here and comment on the books I'm excited for, which look like quite a few of them. The list has been confirmed over a couple sites, so I feel safe running with it.

Bat-Mite by writer Dan Jurgens and artist Corin Howell

I love Bat-Mite. That might be an unpopular opinion, but when you look at Alan Grant's amusing Dark Mite stories from the 90s, Grant Morrison's darker take from his run on Batman, and Paul Reubens's bonkers portrayal of the character on Batman: The Brave and the Bold, you can see there's potential for something fun in Batman's universe.

Batman Beyond by writer Dan Jurgens and artist Bernard Chang

New 52: Futures End has turned out to be a far better series than I had anticipated, and part of that has been its use of Terry McGinnis. I'm not entirely sold on him interacting with the DCU, but that series has made me curious to see what could happen. I don't know exactly how this series will spin out of Futures End, whether Terry will arrive in the present, still be five years in the future, or back to his own time, and what that will look like, but I'm curious enough to check it out.

Bizzaro by writer Heath Corson and artist Gustavo Duarte

Black Canary by writer Brenden Fletcher and artist Annie Wu

The new run on Batgirl has been very well received, and I've enjoyed it for the most part. Barbara as a modern 20-something wasn't on my list of things to expect, and I was already acting like I was in my 30s in my 20s, so her experience doesn't speak to me as much, but it's smart and well written. The main surprise for me was the surly, grouchy Black Canary as supporting cast member, and how much I like Fletcher and Cloonan's take on her. The idea of Black Canary as the singer in a band is so natural an idea, I'm shocked no one has done it before, and making Black Canary an on the road, rock n roll action superhero comic is brilliant. Annie Wu's art on the Kate Bishop Hawkeye issues were gorgeous and gritty, so I think she's a perfect fit for the title.

Constantine: The Hellblazer by Ming Doyle and Riley Rossmo

I never felt like Constantine worked in DC's house art style, so Riley Rossmo, one of the kings of modern horror/monster/action comics (Proof, Green Wake, Bedlam, Rasputin) drawing Constantine? Sign me up.

Cyborg by writer David L. Walker and artists Ivan Reis and Joe Prado

This one is a long time coming. A Cyborg monthly has felt like a gimme since his addition to the Justice League in the post-Flashpoint world. It feels like DC is really giving this a push, by putting one of it's A-List artists on the book. And getting an African American writer for the title will help with DC's creator diversity issues. I'm not familiar with Walker's work, but I'm willing to see what he'll do with Vic.

Dark Universe by writer James Tynion IV and artist Ming Doyle

Doomed by writer Scott Lobdell and artist Javier Fernandez

Dr. Fate by writer Paul Levitz and artist Sonny Liew

Earth 2: Society by writer Daniel H. Wilson and artist Jorge Jimenez

Green Lantern: Lost Army by Cullen Bunn, Jesus Saiz & Javi Pina

Harley Quinn/Power Girl by writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner, with artist Stephane Roux

After the recent team-up arc in Harley's ongoing, this combo is going to be one to watch for sheer madcap joy. They fought supervillains, alien warlords, and each other, as well as performing a burlesque act. What more can they do? Plenty, if Palmiotti and Conner's past stories are any indication.

Justice League 3001 with the same creative team of Keith Giffen and Howard Porter

Justice League of America by writer/artist Brian Hitch

Martian Manhunter by writer Rob Williams and artists Ben Oliver and Paulo Siqueira

I love the Martian Manhunter, I've never hidden that. But I've not warmed to the dark, manipulative Manhunter of the post-Flashpoint world. It seems that, since Superman has been doing the Stranger in a Strange Land thing that was always part of J'onn's character, J'onn has gone darker. There have been some light spots, particularly his relationship with Stargirl (once more proving J'onn is DC's Wolverine, mentoring young heroines), but mostly he's been a mind-wiping mastermind type of character. I don't know if this title will change that, or will simply flesh it out more, but either option is the least a great character like J'onn deserves.

Midnighter by writer Steve Orlando and artist ACO

 Mystic U by writer Alisa Kwitney and artist Mauricet

Omega Men by writer Tom King and artist Barnaby Bagenda

Prez by writer Mark Russell and artist Ben Caldwell 

Thanks to Neil Gaiman's use of the original Prez, a character from a 70s comic about the first teenage president of the USA, in The Sandman, the character is not completely forgotten, and well, it's just so weird an idea I can't resist seeing what the concept will look like so many years after it's initial conception.

Red Hood/Arsenal by writer Scott Lobdell and artist Denis Medri

Robin, Son of Batman by writer/artist Pat Gleason

Taking the place of Batman and Robin, it looks like Damian is getting his own title, along with a giant Bat demon looking thing, and they're in snowy mountains. That sounds good on its own, but when you think about the fact that Talia is out there somewhere near Nanda Parbat, which is in snowy mountains, I expect we'll be seeing some of the threads from the current title followed up and a continued evolution of Damian as a character.

Section Eight by writer Garth Ennis and artist John McCrea

Oh, good lord, I never thought I'd see this! Ennis and McCrea created Section 8 for their run on Hiitman, a team of homeless and insane super heroes, including, but not limited to, Six Pack, who was the world's greatest hero in his own dreams, Dogwelder, who welds dog to his enemies, Defenestrator, who throws people out of windows, and Bueno Excellente, who fights evil with the power of perversion. are some of Ennis's most bizarre creations. Only one things I can say about it... Bueno.

Starfire by writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner, with artist Emanuela Lupacchino

Starfire has been a problem character since the dawn of the pre-Flashpoint world, but I think breaking her off from her current Outlaws teammates and letting her have her own adventures in Miami (or somewhere in Florida. Palm trees and old folks make me think Florida) seems like a good chance to let her grow back into a more balanced character. Factor in the funny Harley Quinn writing team of Conner and Palmiotti and Emanuela Lupacchino, whose work on X-Factor I remember fondly, and you have a winning creative team. Also, the new costume is a vast improvement, closer to her animated Teen Titans look. I would have included the little skirt too, but it's more practical than her gravity defying current costume, so I'll take it.

We Are Robin by writer Lee Bermejo and artists Rob Haynes and Khary Randolph

Another brand new title with very little information, I can assume from the image that we're dealing with a group of kids inspired by Robin working together. I'm wondering if this might become the home for Duke Thomas, the future Robin who has appeared as a teenager in the current Batman story. It's interesting to see Rob Haynes return to mainstream comics. 

Of the creative changes to current books, three artist changes and one writer change jumped out at me. Juan Ferreyra, whose art of Colder has been astounding, will be taking over Gotham by Midnight, a perfect fit. Dale Eaglesham, who introduced Gail Simone's Secret Six in the Villains United mini-series, will be taking over as artist on that title, which is great to see, as I feel like he should be a superstar and never quite reaches that point. And Carlos D'Anda, another vastly underrated artist, will be the new artist on New Suicide Squad, a book that has suffered under multiple artists per issue, so hopefully D'Anda can add a nice unified feel to future issues.

The most exciting change is Gene Luen Yang on Superman. Sure, I would have liked more Geoff Johns Superman, but he did his part of setting up a new status quo for Superman in the current DCU. I recently read Yang's Shadow Hero, the origin of the first Chinese super hero, the Green Turtle, and it was such a brilliant mix of action, humor, and myth that I was blown away. I'd been waiting for the right week to do a recommended reading for it, and now it looks like June will be the time, to line up with the release of this new project. I hope he brings out the humanity in the Man of Steel, and does it with as deft a touch as he did in his other work.

So that's what's coming up from DC. I love my DC Comics, always will, and I hope that this breathes a new life into the line. If the creators and titles are any indication, it's going to be an interesting summer.

How to Relate to Your Batkid

Before I had a child, I had this irrational fear that, if it were a boy, he would be a jock and I wouldn't be able to relate to him. Mostly because I was a nerd and my dad didn't know what to do with me sometimes, despite many a good-faith effort.

And while he's only 3 years old and therefore far from having a fully formed personality, my son has gone down at least one path that differs from mine.

He's a DC kid.

Y'know, you try to teach a kid right, tell him about Spider-Man and Captain America and NFL Super-Pro, but one day the cool orphan with the gravelly voice comes along and just undoes everything.

Next thing you know, he's got all the Fisher Price ImagiNext figures (the Clayface I my personal favorite) and the Batcave playset and the Batmobile and the Batman fleece blanket and the T-shirt with the velcro cape and he's doing his own Christian Bale voice because that's how Dad reads Batman to him. I blame his godfather, the proprietor of this blog, who gave my son the plush Batman you see drinking black coffee in the photo at top for his third birthday.

In all seriousness, the great thing about Batman is that there's enough versions of him to appeal to every kind of fan. Grant Morrison touched on this, in his own perverse somewhere-between-Allen Moore-and-Warren Ellis-on-the-crazy-scale way during his time with the character. So in the New 52 comics, the Joker can cut off his own face and some lunachick claiming to be his daughter can wear it, while elsewhere, in else worlds, Adam West and Burt Ward can dance the Batusi with Catwoman while onomonopaeic word balloons fill the screen around them, and still elsewhere, Kevin Conroy and Tim Daly can slug it out while reciting lines from The Dark Knight Returns.

To my son, though, there are mainly three versions of Batman: Blue Batman (the Brave and the Bold cartoon), Black Batman (Batman Beyond) and Lego Batman (Darkness! No parents!)

Now, I grew up in the age of Batman: The Animated Series, a very no-frills, mostly serious (Mark Hammill's clown prince of crime notwithstanding) take on Gotham, perfect for a decade that took itself more seriously than it had a right to. Brave and the Bold is, in every way possible, the opposite of that. This Batman, voiced by Diedrich Bader, spends most of his time outside Gotham, teaming up with Blue Beetle, Green Arrow and Aquaman against crazy silver-age villains like the Clock King and Gorilla Grodd. And while my favorite BTAS episode is the minimalist "Almost Got Him," in which Batman's main villains sit around a table telling stories of their encounters with the Bat, my favorite Brave and the Bold episode is a musical in which the Music Meister, voiced by none other than Neil Patrick Harris, enslaves hero and villain alike through song. If you ever wanted to see Black Manta do high kicks, this episode is for you. If the show had a message, it's this: Hey, adults who grew up in the ’90s, Batman existed before “Year One,” and he was a lot of big, goofy, dumb fun. Deal with it!

Batman Beyond, on the other hand, is the future continuation of BTAS. The same mood and atmosphere (and Kevin Conroy as Bruce Wayne) are given a coat of cyberpunk aesthetic and an electronica score, with stories about getting addicted to virtual reality and picked-on kids using giant robots to exact revenge. It's exactly what we feared the future would be like 15 years ago, which of course means now it looks like a slightly cooler version of The Jetsons. I didn't really watch the show when it originally aired, and now I just wonder when Will Friedle, who voiced future Batman Terry McGinnis, is gonna guest star on Girl Meets World, reprising his role as Eric Matthews.

And then there's Lego Batman. I've probably watched The Lego Movie Blu-ray about 30 times since it came out, and Will Arnett's jerk-boyfriend, speaker-obsessed Batman is one of the best parts of a great movie.

But hey, there's Lego Marvel characters, too. How come Lego Iron Man didn't get to help Emmet and Wyldstyle fight Lord Business. He's a Master Builder! But I digress.

So while I probably wouldn’t let my son read Snyder and Capullo’s Batman or watch the Nolan films for at least 10 years, he’s still got plenty of time to enjoy, say, Justice League Unlimited or the Tim Burton Batman movies or the Batman ’66 comics or any Art Baltazar book or Teen Titans Go! So thanks a lot, Uncle Matt! (That’s actually not sarcastic)

P.S.: I’m totally cool with the fact that my son’s first live-action Batman is probably going to be Ben Affleck. That said, I’d like a do-over on his first live-action Green Lantern.

Dan Grote has been a Matt Signal contributor since 2014 and friends with Matt since there were four Supermen and two Psylockes. His two novels, My Evil Twin and I and Of Robots, God and Government, are available on Amazon.