By Sam Christopher
Azrael #7 is yet another stand-alone—mainly—story which is… all right, I guess. I just can’t help the feeling that this is as good as this comic’s ever going to be, which isn’t all that great. And it’s so sad for me because I really was impressed with the reboot of the character before this series. I find myself caring less and less for the travails of Michael Lane. Well, there’s always Azrael #8, I think. And then I read it and find it to be much better. Here we have Michael Lane finally being given something specific to do. I know, I know Fabian Nicieza would disagree with me but this title has seemed to wander. This may not have really changed with this ish but at least it seems like a step in the right direction. I have enjoyed some of the single issue stories but I hope a longer tale will give us a little more leverage on the characters in the book.
And then we go to Batgirl #10. This title has been consistently excellent from the beginning and shows no signs of slowing down now. The Calculator comes back and is after Oracle. And he figures the easiest way to take her out is to use the Justifier helmet and his computer skills to possess nearly everyone in Gotham and have them attack her. Meanwhile, Wendy—Calculator’s daughter—is searching for answers. And that always leads to an unused sub-basement. And you may have noticed I haven’t even mentioned our new Batgirl. One thing I am curious about is when this story takes place in relation to the new BOP series, but that’s the kind of thing I wonder about a lot, especially in the Batman family of books.
Batman #699 shows us a Bats doing what he does best, whether he’s Bruce Wayne or Dick Grayson. There’s a mystery afoot and Batman uses both science and sinew to solve it. First, he sifts through every bit of data he can find and, when that isn’t enough to give him the complete picture, he breaks into Arkham Asylum in order to scare up some more info from Firefly. Literally. Threatening to release Firefly and then watch as Sebastian Blackspell comes after him yields a good story. And then The Caped Crusader finds something else he hadn’t figured on. Gearing us up for next issue’s landmark, but I’m not really sure it will have anything really to do with current continuity. I had figured this story would be building to a climactic ending in #700 but now I’m thinking it may just be a big ol’ celebration of the Batman character through the decades.
Batman and Robin #12 gives us the end of the battle between the two title characters and a showdown of sorts between Damian and his mother. More than that, the true identity of Sexton is revealed, and all I can say is that Bruce Wayne’s return isn’t the only one to start here. Speaking of which, the boys, along with Alfred, also discover something that virtually anyone who had ever looked down on Wayne Manor from above should have seen. Of course, maybe someone did but just thought it was something BW did on purpose. I mean, Supes would probably chide Bats about it but the pre-Infinite Crisis Dark Knight would have no idea how it happened. The point is, though, that it would have been common knowledge within the super hero community in general and certainly within the Batman Family in particular. Not a horrible, horrible thing; I do think it’s a pretty cool thing and a good clue.
Then there’s Batman: Streets of Gotham #11, in which Damian and “Blockbuster” fight back at Zsasz and bring this story to a fairly satisfying conclusion. I do wish this had ended with a little more finality, if you know what I’m saying, but then this is comics—nothing ever really ends with finality. If a character were to be hacked into pieces, the pieces incinerated, and the ashes shot into the Sun there would still be some way they could bring him/her back to life. Still would have been nice to see, though. In the Manhunter backup, we find Dr. Arkham being arraigned for crimes committed under the guise of the Black Mask and—incredibly—being sent to Arkham Asylum (!) for evaluation. And somewhere a teenage gang is in for a HUGE surprise. Which they get in Batman: Streets of Gotham #12. As Kate and co. search for the missing Ramsey he wanders the streets, pounding bullies. And in the main feature, The Carpenter—whom we all remember from Gotham City Sirens—is hired by a deranged filmmaker to build a set for The Death of Batman. Stay tuned for next ish… same Bat-time… same Bat-channel! (C’mon, you KNEW that was coming.)
Batman also takes over Detective Comics #864 in a story more about Jeremiah Arkham than anything else. Would rather see Batwoman. This was okay… I’d just rather see Batwoman here. This is her book now. The Question backup feature has The Faceless One and Huntress duking it out with Vandal Savage. I like this better than some of the earlier stuff here. We’ll see.
Poison Ivy starts her first day at STAR Labs and Harley and Selina go looking for lost dogs in Gotham City Sirens #11. Ivy takes over the botany department and immediately implements a Machiavellian policy she learned from Lex Luthor—whom she promises herself to thank at the next “Legion of Doom meeting, if we ever have one”. Of course, some people aren’t thrilled with that. Meanwhile, the other Sirens discover the cause of all the missing dogs in the neighborhood. Actually, it’s a two-fold problem, one the girls take care of immediately, the other… well, they take care of it. Another funny story in this series.
Tim Drake takes on Ra’s al Ghul in Red Robin #12. This is it! The showdown we’ve been waiting for! Tim Drake steps up to the plate and really gives The Head of the Demon’s fists a good beating with Red Robin’s face. We do learn, though, that Tim is smarter than the average bear—of course, we knew that already—and they did something I love. No stupid cliffhanger ending! The ending’s good, and it has lots of ramifications for the future of both this title and the Tim Drake character, but it’s not an “OMG, what happens next?” ending. Damian and Batgirl? YES! Hysterically funny exchange between them, followed closely by the one between Damian and Tim. Great, great stuff.
And, finally, we have Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #1. Thank you, DC, for starting this title off with the “Batman” preamble; I never would have guessed that was the Bruce Wayne you meant otherwise. But seriously. This first ish was all right. I don’t know. They had to start somewhere, I guess, and I suppose it makes more sense, really, for Batman to battle Vandal Savage than some anonymous caveman. But I am looking for an explanation for Bats’ time travel, along with why he can speak perfectly at the end of the story when earlier he couldn’t. Or maybe we’ll find that he was talking fine at the beginning, it was just that the cavemen he was with couldn’t understand it. It was all told from their POV, after all. Too early to tell here but seems okay.
