For over 30 years, Batman ’89 and Michael Keaton have stood the test of time as my favorites of the Batman franchise, but last night, Matt Reeves’ The Batman (even surprisingly to me!) now takes the top spot.
The Batman takes sharp deviation from any of its predecessors and offers a super-noir, pulse-pounding, cinematic thriller, that is the most Batman of any Batman to hit the big screen, with Robert Pattinson portraying a deep understanding of Bruce Wayne and Batman during this timeline and world.
Stripped down, this film is classic Bronze Age Batman, with pulls from Frank Miller’s Year One in dealing with the crime families, with nods to Jeph Leob’s The Long Halloween and Hush (but not in the way that any comic fan would immediately think), but interestingly enough –takes very little from Mike Barr’s Year Two, as Gotham is under attack by a different kind of masked vigilante for its government corruption.
This is a younger Wayne (about 25-26 years old) that’s still trying to figure out his place in the world — while also uncovering the dark secrets of his own family name. This Bats does come off as reserved, but vigilant of his surroundings, while willing to work with Captain James Gordon (Westworld‘s Jeffrey Wright) with rescuing his crime riddled city. And while the transgressions and murders spike, so does The Batman’s reputation, which makes the GCPD and its current roster very uneasy.
I appreciate that this movie removes unnecessary and heavy GCI that has become amplified in modern comic movies, and pits the Detective in his very early stages in hand to hand combat against henchmen, cops, and anyone who gets in his way.
Since this is “year two” Batman, I think some fans (mainly casual—and that’s totally cool) will have questions about the look, style, and interactions of all the characters as they evolve throughout the movie. We’ve mostly seen an “established” or “a begining” Batman and his rogues in previous iterations, to see these DC legends in their sophomore stages of detecting, thieving, and riddling the city, it could take a bit to leave those preconceived images behind, but everything presented in this film cements the tone that Reeves’ sought to build. Hell, even the interactions between Alfred Pennyworth (Andy Serkis‘) and Bruce come across distant, cold, and undeveloped, and that’s because they are.
Michael Giacchino‘s score is very foreboding–like you know shit is about to get brutal when you hear the pummeling staccato chords of doom enter. Again, it’s another way that this film defines itself as its own world, by staying far away from the classic Danny Elfman theme which conveys a bit of heroism. The Batman’s theme is all ominous, with some similarities to Vader’s march, not as a tune, but the rhythmically charged notes timed to minacious stride.
The Bat and The Cat — Zoe Kravitz channels Bill Finger’s intention of Selina puuurrrfectly as a high stakes safecracker that seeks answers and revenge for the murder of someone close to her. Although she’s very playful with a stoic surface, Selina does reveal her more vulnerable side when imploring Batman for help.
The Penguin – Collin Farrell is mesmerizing and charismatic and I won’t say much else except that we do know that the Penguin is getting his own HBO Max series which picks up after The Batman, so plenty of room is left for Oswald to grow into “The Gentlemen of Crime”.
Riddler – A brilliant and impassioned take on Batman’s most intellectual foe, whose main goal is to expose the profiteering of the Thomas Wayne Foundation and how it trickles into every corner of Gotham’s elite. Paul Dano portrays an astute and delirious villain who really just wants to be vengeance.
The Movie is three hours, but by the time the second and third acts hit, it’s perpetual adrenaline-fueled fun (with the Bat-mobile and Bat-toys!), and goes by fast. While Reeves does present a well balanced story that can easily be seen as concluded, I wouldn’t be surprised if WB called him back for more. 4.75/5 Whiskeys.
Today at DC FanDome, fans got a first creative glimpse into Batman: Caped Crusader, the upcoming all-new animated series and reimagining of the Batman mythology.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMtGdmEQ5y8
In a video piece created exclusively for DC FanDome, Executive Producers Bruce Timm, J.J. Abrams and Matt Reeves along with Co-Executive Producer James Tucker share their inspirations and early insights for this next animated chapter of the Dark Knight.
Batman: Caped Crusader is coming soon to HBO Max and Cartoon Network. Series is produced by Warner Bros. Animation, Bad Robot Productions and 6th & Idaho.
In the all-new original DC animated movie Catwoman: Hunted, Catwoman’s attempt to steal a priceless jewel puts her squarely in the crosshairs of both a powerful consortium of villains and the ever-resourceful Interpol, not to mention Batwoman. It might just be enough to contain her. Or not.
“Vestal” Colleen Vincent @CollyColCAPTAIN AMERICA #1 – Marvel Comics
Hail Hydra no longer! The many headed empire has crumbled and Captain America must defend his own honor while serving a country that no longer believes in.. him. The acclaimed author Ta-Nehisi Coates (Black Panther) teams up with renowned artist Leinil Francis Yu to tell of a postmodern Cap. A hero forever out of time, in a world he doesn’t recognize, his legacy tarnished by the machinations of his archenemy, while a new superhuman nemesis rises from Hydra’s ashes.
Coates is an interesting choice for Marvel’s great American hero, but Captain America has always represented an interesting mix of ideals versus politics. After the thankful retcon of Hydra Cap, this represents an opportunity for a Captain for a nation more divided and complex than ever, which suits the award winning commentator’s style. Yu’s art is a sober realism, no bright colors in this grim new world and Captain America’s even grimmer countenance and square jawed determination. 4/5 Bibles.
-Colleen Vincent
BATMAN #50 – DC Comics“Cardinal” Roberto de Bexar @RobBex2
If there was ever a comic book that I’m glad I kept away from the spoilers, it’s this: one of those issues where there is so much to talk about that it’s almost too much for the average person to take on; but never fear, I am not your average critic and read this issue twice and still have to go back over all the artwork. Tom King crafts a Batman issue that is both heart-warming and heart-breaking, with simultaneous plots to boot. Plot A has Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle getting ready for their wedding from sun up to sun down, peppered with Mikel Janín’s exceptional sketches. There are some great inside jokes including taking us back to Porky’s bar. My favorite moments include Bruce making the man who’s always been in Bruce’s corner — Alfred — the best man. Selina breaks out her Maid of Honor who just happens to do what the Joker couldn’t: plant doubt in her mind, which pays off so good at the end of the issue.
Their poor children are destined to have claws and fangs.
Of course, you can’t have a big issue without something to springboard off of. Plot B has The Bat and The Cat’s wedding letters to each other illustrated by many of — if not all of! — the very best out there: José Luis Garcia-Lopez, Jason Fabok, Frank Miller, Lee Bermejo, Neal Adams, Tony S. Daniel, Amanda Conner, Rafael Albuquerque, Andy Kubert, Tim Sale, Paul Pope, Mitch Gerads, Clay Mann, Ty Templeton, Joëlle Jones, David Finch, Jim Lee, Scott Williams, Alex Sinclair, Greg Capullo, and, my personal three favorites for this issue, Lee Weeks, Becky Cloonan, and Rafael Albuquerque.
You know that Batman and Catwoman can’t have a happy ending just yet, but this issue was fantastic. It also asks a fantastic question, can Bruce Wayne be happy and still be Batman? Catwoman gets told for the second time that “no, he can’t” while Alfred tells Bruce that he needs to find some happiness or else he won’t be able to continue on much longer. And unlike a certain other “wedding event” that happened over at Marvel, this one has an ending that isn’t out of right field and is still compelling. 4.75/5 Batarangin’ Bibles.
DC Comics and Graphitti Designs return to San Diego Comic-Con for more exclusive goodness. Expect to eat up lots of Supes, Bats, Cats and an ounce of Flash.
Find these at booth #2314:
JUSTICE LEAGUE #1 silver foil, variant cover comic featuring cover art by Jim Lee. Provided by DC Comics and available only at the Graphitti Designs booth located directly next to the DC Comics pavillion. Supplies are limited. Price: $15
ACTION COMICS #1000 silver foil, variant cover comic featuring cover art by Jim Lee. Provided by DC Comics and available only at the Graphitti Designs booth located directly next to the DC Comics pavillion. Supplies are limited. Price: $25
BATMAN #50 silver foil, variant cover comic featuring cover art by Jim Lee. Provided by DC Comics and available only at the Graphitti Designs booth located directly next to the DC Comics pavillion. Supplies are limited. Price: $15
BATMAN #51 silver foil, variant cover comic featuring cover art by Lee Weeks. Provided by DC Comics and available only at the Graphitti Designs booth located directly next to the DC Comics pavillion. Supplies are limited. Price: $15
CATWOMAN #1 silver foil, variant cover comic featuring cover art by Joëlle Jones. Provided by DC Comics and available only at the Graphitti Designs booth located directly next to the DC Comics pavillion. Supplies are limited. Price: $15
FLASH #50 silver foil, photo-cover variant comic featuring the TV Flash, Grant Gustin. Provided by DC Comics and available only at the Graphitti Designs booth located directly next to the DC Comics pavillion. Supplies are limited. Price: $15
Another week, another set of comics to which to look forward, geeks and geekettes! Now that the high of Infinity War is starting to wear off — and we’re still a few weeks until Deadpool 2 kicks our meta asses! — we’ve got a few heroes of the paper and ink variety to follow! Let’s get this week started the write way, with some great writers looking at this week’s titles!
AVENGERS #1 – Marvel Comics“Cardinal” Roberto de Bexar @RobBex2
Avengers Assemble!!… again
After the effects of Avengers: Infinity War I needed something of a pick me up and Jason Aaron and Ed McGuiness knock it out of the park with this first issue. Jason Aaron is a fantastic writer and he has a knack for connecting all of his books together and this is no different. Starting the issue off with his Avengers 1,000 BC we see the original bearers of the various totems we see in Avengers (original Black Panther, original Iron Fist, Agamotto, etc) and Aaron takes us through to Dr. Strange and Black Panther to the ‘Holy Trinity’ of Thor, Iron Man and Captain America working out their issues but as always when an earth ending situation arises, all issues are tabled and the Avengers assemble.
Ed McGuiness is one of the best artists out there, I don’t care what anyone has to say, It’s big, fun, loud and I think that it is going to look especially beautiful when you pair him with Aaron, and the Celestials.
While I wanted to see more Captain Marvel and She-Hulk, I get a feeling that they will be getting their fair share in the next issue. Overall, it is a very fun book that, and while it doesn’t reinvent the wheel, it did get me excited to see what these two can do. I’ve been off the Avengers for a while, mainly because there were so many damn different teams, but let’s see if this duo can bring me back on board. My answer is yes. 4/5 Slinging Bibles.
-Robert Bexar
BATMAN #46 – DC ComicsTaffeta “Dutchess” Darling @TaffetaDarlin
Leave it to Booster Gold to turn a simple wedding gift for a Bruce Wayne into a disturbing, depressing, and horrific future where Bruce Wayne was never Batman, his parents never died, and Selina Kyle is a locked up serial killer who truly thinks she’s a cat… Meow. In the latest issue of Batman, writer Tom King shocks readers with a brutal, and violent alternate reality that has branched from the repercussions of Booster Gold going back in time to save Bruce’s parents. As he does, Booster Gold has a history of interfering, and things going horribly wrong before they go right, and gift-giving is no exception. Since he’s torn up the timeline tremendously, Bruce and Selina aren’t a couple, aren’t getting married, and in fact they’ve never met. Now Booster has to reunite them and get them to fall in love. Unsurprisingly though, restoring The Bat and The Cat’s best reality is not as easy as he assumed.
Writing my complete thoughts without spoiling what unfolds was difficult; I want Batman fans — and even more so Booster fans — to experience the “WTF” for themselves. We’re two issues into “The Gift” storyline, and we’re seeing a rare element of Bruce Wayne’s character: desperation. It’s heartbreaking. Although Tom King knows how to write a multi-faceted story more so than most working in the comics industry, he seems to have trouble finding Booster’s voice and writes him, at times, out of character. There’s a line between a stumbling jerk-off with good intentions and an insecure dumb ass completely oblivious to the world around him. (It’s a thin line, but it’s there). Artist Tony S. Daniel presents incredible work here, adding detailed intensity across the panels with action and emotion. Huge kudos to the Batman Returns nod that had the fangirl in me squeeeaaaling in delight! 4.75/5 Booster Good Fan Club Stars.
-Taffeta Darling
“Minister” Matthew GarzaDC NATION #0 – DC Comics
DC Nation #0 showcases three preludes to three upcoming stories for Batman, The Man of Steel, and Justice League. These radically different stories give readers the presentation of different choices either picking up one or two of the stories or maybe all three. The Batman story sets up the tone for the upcoming wedding of Batman and Catwoman. Then, Superman sets up his current life in the Daily Planet. And last, four teams of the Justice League, including villains, must stop an imminent calamity in its infancy before it reaches earth.
In Tom King’s story, “Your Big Day”, while holding a man hostage in his own home, Joker eagerly waits for his invitation to Batman’s wedding. It’s a tense story in which Roger, the hostage, goes from begging for his life, to trying to kill Joker, to begging Joker to kill him. At last the mail comes in, and he is so delighted he “received” the invite he kills Roger out of joy.The catch, though? It wasn’t an invitation at all, it was a letter regarding a tardy from Roger’s daughter’s school. This was more than enough to get me to start guessing what could out of this upcoming story. Clay Mann’s art was thrilling and dry and kept me on edge. Tom King’s building on the anticipation of the wedding through Joker, was exciting to say the least I am eager to see what Joker has in store in June when Batman #48 releases.
Next, Brian Michael Bendis’s “Office Space”, involves Perry White presenting The Planet’s new hot reporter, Robinson Goode. Clark Kent also writes up a story on Superman foiling a black-market sale of LexCorp weapons. After listening to the details, Perry pulls Clark aside and tells him he’s missed a step, and he misses the reporter Clark used to be. Miss Robinson Goode later meets with an individual to inform him she’s in position to take over The Daily Planet soon. Who is she exactly? What does she want with The Planet? Overall Miss Robinson Goode may not have intrigued me much, I’m curious about Bendis’s character work for Superman. You’ll have to wait till the end of May for the release of Man of Steel #1 to find out.
Finally, “No Justice: Prelude” by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, and Joshua Williamson,set the prologue for “Justice League: No Justice #1. While attacking Brainiac’s homeworld, Colu, Superman narrated about Brainiac’s terrified warning of four beings who absorb galaxies to sustain themselves have just awakened. Now, four teams, based on the four cosmic energies, must beat them on Colu before reaching Earth next. The teams are lead by Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Cyborg, filled out by heroes and villains. In the end, Supergirl, leaves the atmosphere to the shocking arrival of the Four Omega Titans. These three writers together just might be the Justice League of writers. Only some of the pros and cons for these teams were shown, along with setting up the struggles to come. Long time fans might be excited to see if these characters can put aside their egos and problems with each other to save Earth, and maybe Colu because they’re still on it. Find out this week starting May 9th with Justice League: No Justice #1. To new beginnings! 4.5/5 Bibles.
-Matt Garza
DEATH OR GLORY #1 – Image Comics“El Sacerdote” J.L. Caraballo Twitter @captzaff007
Death Or Glory has the feel of The Last Stand, A History Of Violence, and a much more action-packed, car-chase-filled adaptation of No Country For Old Men. I love all of those movies, so this title was right up my alley. Starting off with a veritable bang, writer Rick Remender throws a myriad characters our way: the independent, drifting, pin-up-esque female mechanic Glory Owens; a pair of crooked, dim-witted cops; drug runner (or is he?) Korean Joe; and the so-far-unnamed, stoic man whose favorite mode of execution is a mobile nitrogen tank.
Desperate to help her cancer-ridden mentor and guardian, Red (who has lived his life off the grid and off the books), Glory soups up her Challenger to rip off her drug-dealing ex. As can be expected, her plan goes awry, and she runs afoul of the aforementioned nitrogen-wielding-villain, and the end of the first issue ends with Glory in even deeper trouble, and with a few perforations for good measure.
The art by Bengal is dynamic, with a great use of motion and vibrant colors that continuously reminded me of Speed Racer. There was great sense of movement during a car chase, and the first instance of nitrogen-based-death was particularly well rendered and drawn. Rick Remender has great pacing, and this is a story that reads like a movie; the story opens innocently enough at a burger joint, before turning horrifically violent, and then BOOM! Title page, before the reader is is eased back into Glory’s domestic life. It was impressive, and this is a great start to what feels like an exciting, fast-paced adventure. I, for one, am gearing up and settling into the passenger seat. 4/5 Chili Peppers up the Ass.
ACTION COMICS #50 – DC**GUEST REVIEWER** “Brother” Matt McGrath @bendsteelnhands
Superman should be more than his powers.
What the reader gets in Action Comics #50 is passive lip service to that idea. But what the reader glimpses in the art and absorbs through dialogue and narration as the “Savage Dawn” arc winds up to its climax is a Superman that is not just obsessed with his former power, but who willingly poisons himself with Kryptonite in an end-justifies-the-means scenario.
On its face, Action #50 is a wild ride that only Greg Pak (Batman/Superman) and Aaron Kuder (Avenging Spider-Man) can deliver. Their work issue-by issue has been stellar. But, the Superman they honed in this issue — raging, manic, ecstatic — is foreign.
The question is raised: What would Superman do?
I’m not sure they answered their question. Superman would always find a way. But Superman would know, and should have learned in his depowered state, that he is more than his powers. All of the heroes, super and otherwise, that rush to his aid and the aid of all the people impacted by Savage’s scheme were inspired by him. His power only derives that kind of inspiration because of his integrity, and integrity means you don’t take shortcuts. But Superman did take a shortcut, and when it seemed as if that shortcut brought him to his lowest point, he was rewarded.
(Yes, I understand that electric Superman is on the horizon, but that’s another rant for another time.)
This should have been a celebratory issue. But Superman has been dragged so far afield from the character depicted in Superman #38, an issue that got everything right. The reveal at the end Action #50 should feel exhilarating, but all I felt was loss.
2 (out of 5) Bibles.
CATWOMAN #50 – DC“Vestal” Colleen Vincent @CollyCol
A great mystery and serious mayhem-filled Catwoman #50 concludes its “Run Like Hell” story by Frank Tieri (Ironman, Wolverine). With blood, fire, prison breaks, and metahumans galore — and fantastically deadpan and dastardly characters — this a fun read! Selina Kyle is locked up and in serious danger. She has pissed off the Penguin who retaliates with a million dollar bounty on fav feline antiheroine’s head. Both cops and crooks try to collect, but this cat lands on her feet with a some helpful girlpower and aide from the shadowy Mr. Blonde.
This is Catwoman and so concludes with a triple twist cross of course. The visuals leap off the page. Eva de La Cruz (Fables) and Blond (Suicide Squad) — yeah, not the character — provide fantastic colors to the awesomely detailed ink and pencil work done by Inaki Miranda (Judge Dredd) and Geraldo Borges (Adventure Comics). Closing pages include two vignettes featuring other versions of Catwoman: A chilling tale a haunted mask and a chuckling security test featuring the Justice League. The package is definitely worth clawing. 4.75/5 Bibles.
***EARLY REVIEW – AVAILABLE 3/16***
SANTERIA: THE GODDESS KISS #1 – AspenFelipe “The 3rd Deacon” Crespo @theheelternal
Praise Oonaa!! David Wohl‘s new story is definitely an interesting one. While I found myself surprisingly underwhelmed by Cafaro‘s linework (I usually like it a lot), Wes Hartman does a nice job picking it up with his solid coloring (specially in the flashback/ritual panels). I really enjoyed the read, but at the same time don’t want to give away too many details. Here’s a quick description, though: An ambulance driver gets powers from a dying voodoo priest. Fair warning, if you’re looking for an action-packed book, look elsewhere. This gives the impression of being a nice, slow burn. I’m eager to see what Noami Clarke does with this “gift” that she did not ask for… 3.5/5 Offerings to Oonaa.. I mean, Bibles.
