What I Bought Today – Batman #22, Superman Unchained #2, Nightwing #22, Batgirl #22, Fearless Defenders #6 (WARNING – SPOILERS)

Well, despite heat and sore feet, I have ventured uptown on this Wednesday and returned to show you all…

*Groan* Well, this was the expensive week. Five books, one week. Thank God three of them were among the cheaper ones out nowadays. Let’s begin with the two expensive ones, starting with Batman #22.

Yeah, I’m calling it right now: Red Hood One is The Joker. Maybe it’s someone else and this is a HUGE swerve, but I’m pretty sure it’s him. And if that’s the case, I would just like Scott Snyder to know that I’m fine with that, so long as we learn NOTHING ELSE ABOUT HIM. NOTHING. The whole point of the character is that we’re not supposed to know who he really is. Otherwise, Zero Year has been superb. I have a slight issue with Bruce and Alfred coming to the point where one actually has to hit the other, but considering it’s Alfred having to slap some sense into a younger and rasher Bruce Wayne, I guess it works. The Riddler proves to be an awesome villain hanging out in the shadows, though I HIGHLY doubt he’ll remain there much longer, as he clearly has plans that will require him to step out into the light. Overall, great issue, can’t wait to see what in the hell happens next.

Superman Unchained #2…When I saw the preview pages for this, my reaction was “Ooh, this looks good!” And you know what? That’s the first frakking time I’ve ever had that reaction to a book starring Superman in the New 52. I’m gonna spoil the first 8-10 pages a bit for y’all, so if you don’t wanna know what happens, skip ahead to the next book I talk about now: Superman flies to Dubai, sees thousands of people trapped in the Burj Khalifa after it’s knocked over (which, for those unaware, is the TALLEST MAN-MADE STRUCTURE IN THE WORLD), and manages to save them all at the last frakking second, even with a giant mech suit trying to kill him…Okay, for realsies? This is the best Superman title going right now, but it really says it all that this is the best Superman title simply because it FEELS like a Superman book and doesn’t do anything to screw up the winning formula for him. Hell, we even see Lex Luthor up to his old tricks! Now, of course, there are some moments that feel SLIGHTLY groan worthy, like Superman later having to fight corrupt soldiers, and once again we find Lois Lane in need of being rescued, but I’ll still fuckin’ take it over the Lobdell titles! Oh, and don’t even get me started on Justice League, that’s a rant for another day!…Oh, and Batman was in this. lol

Nightwing #22 was great. Will Conrad’s art is actually really good, and because of the similarity to Brett Booth‘s work (minus the beefcake) and the fact that the book still has Andrew Dalhouse as the colourist, I honestly might not have noticed the difference too much. The stuff with Tony Zucco honestly makes me wonder if Zucco is actually legitimately reformed or not. Prankster very quickly capitalizes on the mistake Nightwing made by not personally ensuring he gets handed over to the authorities, as he holds Chicago ransom and reveals the sins of the Mayor. Overall, continues to be great.

Batgirl #22………Oh boy. Look, I’m gonna skip what I thought of most of this book, because thank God, most of this book actually works REALLY WELL for me. I’m not really a huge fan of the romantic interest in this series, but this issue helps to sell him for me, and I’m grateful for that. Also, the first page was hilarious. However, I have to talk about the ending, because it encompasses the worst of this book nowadays: Jim Gordon is an idiot right now in Batgirl. I don’t know if Gail Simone is intentionally writing him to be an idiot, but frankly I don’t give a damn. IT’S ANNOYING AS FUCK. I’ll talk more about this in a separate rant, but for now I’ll just say that I’m already fed up with this, and if it gets much worse, I might just be dropping Batgirl, at least until this particular story arc is over.

Fearless Defenders #6 was okay. I really feel bad for the fans, though, since a character they really grew to like has died. I won’t spoil it, but suffice to say for a friend of mine who made a guess on it, it’s NOT Hippolyta. Unfortunately, I can’t feel too bad since I’m rather unfamiliar with her (in fact, note to self: Buy first 4 issues of this book to get caught up). Kinda ends on a pretty sad and uncomfortable note, but we’re left with the promise that it could get better, so I guess we’ll see. I will once again say that it is AWESOME to see all these super-heroines in the same place at the same time. ^_^

So that’s it for this week. Next week, it’s Catwoman’s turn at bat with Crazy Steve-I mean Batman, and Supergirl has an encounter of the Cyborg kind. Ja né!

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