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J.A. Phillips Presents Batman And Robin: Dark Knight/Boy Wonder Chapter 2 Preview
Dark night.
Happy family.
Lone criminal.
Parents murdered.
Orphaned child.
Dark Knight.
Dick tried his best not to hyperventilate. Still, it was hard. What was supposed to be one of the best nights of his life was now turning into the emotional roller coaster straight to Hell. For the average person his age, seeing one’s parents die before their eyes might seem like the thing that would cap off one’s night. Instead, he was nearly killed by a group of corrupt cops, and he was currently sitting in the passenger seat of the Batman’s car. Up until tonight, he had no idea Batman even existed, much less had a car.
The 12-year-old boy looked over at the Dark Knight as he steered the vehicle through the streets of Gotham City. He’d been relatively quiet for the past few minutes since they got in the car, and even though he was wearing a mask, Dick could tell he looked a bit uncomfortable himself, like he wasn’t sure what to do, or that what he was about to do was the right move. It was a strange thing to see out of someone considered by many to be some kind of superhero.
Dick looked down, fidgeting with his seat belt slightly as the car started to enter a more dimly lit area. He was still wearing his Flying Graysons costume. He looked like a neon sign next to the dark and grim Batman. For a split second, he wondered if this made him look overly ridiculous, but that thought was buried under the next, when he realized this would probably be the last time he would ever wear it.
Mom…Dad… Dick thought, grabbing a handful of his tights and gripping hard. Why did you have to die? Who killed you? And why did those men try to shut me up?
Early Preview of Justice League Infinite Chapter 5 + Step-by-Step Designs for The Trinity
Well, it’s that time again! Here’s an early preview of chapter 5 of my fanfic, Justice League Infinite, as we see the team returning to Earth to try and save Batman from the spreading cells of Starro trying to transfigure him, assuming he even survives such a process…
Baz blinked in utter bafflement as the shuttle descended through the skies slowly toward the edge of Gotham City. “I can’t believe he pushed us all the way back to Earth.”
“I can’t believe the heat shields held as well as they did,” Diana added.
“And I can’t believe where we’re headed!” Ivy finished, pointing out the window.
As Superman moved under the ship, instead carrying it through the skies above Gotham City, the team inside watched on as they headed toward a cliff near the edge of the city. However, what astonished them was the VERY well-concealed steel hatch on the cliff, and, more importantly, where this hatch and the ensuing tunnel seemed to lead: Right underneath Wayne Manor, quite possibly the most luxurious mansion in the United States, save for those owned by politicians and presidents.
“…Uhh, does Bruce Wayne know you’ve got a cave under his ma-” Flash started to ask, turning back to face Batman, just in time to see him pull back his cowl.
“I think he’s okay with it,” Batman replied as he revealed the half-infected face of Bruce Wayne himself.
Jesse was stunned, her jaw hung low for what felt like a full minute before finally saying, “…So, I guess I’m not the ONLY rich person in a mask, huh?”
“Actually, I think he just redefined rich superheroes by comparison,” Khalid suggested, likewise astonished.
“Are communications working?” Bruce asked, getting a quick nod as Flash flipped a switch. “Penny-One, authorize entry hatch opening.”
“Opening now,” a rather British-sounding voice replied, the large steel doors slowly opening. “Are you alright?”
“Alfred, I’ve been infected,” Bruce moaned, leaning on the console slightly. “Prep for blood testing, possible surgery.”
“At once,” the man, Alfred, replied, sounding quite concerned, all the while Superman carried the shuttle inside. The group inside watched as they passed through a long, wide tunnel, before arriving in what looked to be some sort of cave under the mansion. The cave housed several large computers, storage tanks, a small airship in the shape of a bat, and what looked to be memorabilia of various sorts and sizes. And, of course, the upper area of the cave looked to be a nest for what had to be at least hundreds of bats.
“Those must be a pain to look after,” Diana suggested, motioning to the bats.
“…A giant penny?” Ivy inquired, her eyes fixed on said object. “Please tell me Two-Face did NOT try to kill you with that.”
After a few moments, Superman finally eased the shuttle down into as clear a spot as he could find, landing next to it. Opening the hatch, Baz quickly created a green staircase leading down from it to the floor as he and Diana helped Bruce down and out of the ship. The Dark Knight groaned as he felt the infection getting worse, the green patches on his skin beginning to spread.
“BOSS!” a female voice screamed. Within seconds, a young girl, no older than 15, came running toward the group, wearing a red, black, and yellow costume, cape, and domino mask. Her hair was dark, almost completely black, save for the neon red streaks in the front. Her belt, clearly a utility belt of some sort, had a large yellow R on the red buckle. Her eyes clearly gave away her terror at the sight of Bruce in such a state. Much like a lot of what she’d seen in the last couple of minutes, the sight of this girl shocked Flash.
‘Boss’? Jesse wondered, watching as the girl came to a halt in front of Batman, seemingly fighting the urge to cling to him. Is this girl his…sidekick? Since when has the Goddamn Batman had a partner?
…Yeah, you knew I couldn’t resist calling him that at least once. 😛 Speaking of Batman, though, I’ve come to a decision on his costume design, as a step-by-step mashup of several different Batsuit designs.
Beyond those details, the Batsuit is a kevlar/nomex blend, making him bullet and fire proof, but still is light enough to allow him plenty of flexibility and agility. The cape is made of a likewise fireproof memory fiber; when an electric shock is sent out into it through the gloves, it causes it to form the bat wing-like paracape. The cowl possesses flip-down lenses with various vision modes, and has a comm system used to keep in constant contact with Alfred. The symbol can actually light up (like with the Batman Incorporated suit’s), providing him with a mini-Bat Signal that can sometimes be used to scare criminals. The boots come equipped with hidden ultrasonic emitters that summon nearby bats. And, of course, there’s the utility belt, which can at any time contain a various combination of gadgets and equipment, like multi-purpose Batarangs, taser knuckles, the Batclaw grapple gun, smoke pellets, and much more. And lastly, in lieu of deciding on which Batmobile to give him, I instead decided that the far more useful vehicle for Batman would be an airship version of the Batwing, roughly the same size as the Owlship from Watchmen. We’ll get more into that another time.
So, that’s a lot about Batman, but what about the designs for Superman and Wonder Woman, which were also mix-and-matches from various costumes they’ve worn? Well, let’s take a look.
And before anyone asks, yes, I’m aware that the updated New 52 Superman costume has been revealed. While I’m a bit sad they didn’t add the trunks, and the improvements seemed somewhat minimalistic in my opinion, I will admit that it is still an improvement. Regarding this costume, though, not much else to say except that I’m thinking of giving him El emblem tracking devices hidden in his belt that are set to a frequency that only he can hear, and other more advanced tech that he’ll bring into the field from time to time when his usual powers aren’t enough to get the job done.
I’m sorry, I just love the ponytail! It looks GREAT on Wonder Woman! lol But yeah, I also added the blue covering and collar to her costume, and gave her the red cape she wears sometimes, because I don’t care what the movie The Incredibles says, capes are awesome (although I suppose you might wanna be sure you’re near-invulnerable for some of the things that happened in those examples). Equipment-wise, of course Diana has the Lasso of Truth, her unbreakable bracers, and her sharpened tiara. If necessary, though, she is skilled in armed combat, usually preferring a sword and shield, but would just as soon avoid that if possible.
Anyway, leave a comment letting me know what you think so far, and be sure to check out chapter 5 when it’s finished. Ja né!
Batman #36 Review – Bourder (WARNING – SPOILERS AHEAD)
This issue is once again great, but I have a couple of problems that I’ll address. It picks up right where we left off…more or less, since we actually start with a look at another possible death scenario for Bruce, care of the stuff Scarecrow put in his system. And again, is this something that happened in another book that I didn’t read, something that’s going to happen in Eternal, or just an off-panel event we never actually see? Regardless, the point is that, while the scenario is different in each of these visions, one thing that’s the same is the sound of cold, mocking laughter, coming from the city, asking Batman who or what he thought he was…Gosh, I wonder why you hear THAT, Bruce?
Anyway, snap back to reality, and Superman is still pummeling on Batman’s armoured suit, his ‘Super-buster’, if you will. Of course, seeing as how Batman can be INCREDIBLY paranoid, the suit’s armed with weapons meant specifically to take down Superman, with knuckles emitting red sunlight, and plasma shields meant to stop both heat vision and freeze breath. Unfortunately, he kinda failed to take into account that, because this is a suit meant to take on Superman, who generally has limits to what he’ll do, the best it can do against a Superman hell-bent on killing Bats is slow him down. So yeah, the suit gets trashed, but thankfully, Batman’s got one last trick up his sleeve: A gum-like substance laced with Kryptonite that he spits INTO HIS EYE. This seems to finally put Superman down long enough to get him and the rest of the League to A.R.G.U.S. for treating, but they’ll be out for nearly a week, meaning Joker is clearly planning something so big that Bruce would normally be forced to call on the team for help. And I suppose I should point out what bullshit it is that Batman managed to walk away with no lasting damage from fighting the Justice League, Superman in particular, but at least it wasn’t technically a victory. I’m sure that if the fight had continued, Superman probably would’ve killed Bruce. Also, God knows the ‘Super-buster’ (and yes, I’m going to continue to call it that) was probably worth a TON, and the chances of building another just like it aren’t great, so if something like this ever comes up again, Bruce is screwed.
After meeting up with Alfred and Julia, both of whom make it clear that they aren’t leaving Bruce to deal with this alone, Batman deduces that Joker must’ve gotten at the League when they were at a charity for the Gotham Children’s Hospital a month earlier, and that whatever he used was so slow and subtle working that none of them noticed until it was too late…and I kinda have to scratch my head at this point. No, not for the fact that the Joker venom was used on the Justice League, since we learn that different variations were used on each, and I can see how someone with enough knowledge of each member could pull this off. However, how could Joker know all of this? The only way he could pull it off is if he had access to the same information as Batman, but that would require hacking the cave computers, which would need knowing where to find them, which would then require knowing who Batman is, and we’ve already established that Joker doesn’t want to know who Batman is.
Eventually, Batman decides to check out Joker’s cell back at the ruined Arkham Asylum. Mr. Border, who’s been working at Arkham since Batman Annual #2 and has popped up here and there in story, shows up, saying that the patients at Arkham Manor are scared of Joker, and that he came to check the area out. Batman tells him he should really get back to his patients, at which point Border explains that, since arriving in Gotham, all he’s ever wanted was to help the Arkham inmates, the people of Gotham, and Batman most of all, but that none of them saw a helping hand…just as the door to Joker’s cell locks on Batman, and the cell starts to fill with gas. Turns out, Mr. Border is really more like Mr. Bourder, an obsolete word for ‘Jester’…and all I could hear while reading this for the first time was this little tune…
Yep, Border’s really Joker in disguise, using make-up, muscle relaxers, and even sporting a new face (Thank God). We see that Joker has infected most of the city as Batman is trapped in the cell, and that, as alluded to before, Joker didn’t exactly take the ending of Death of the Family all that well, and is now out to END Batman. And it’d be great dialogue…if it wasn’t more or less word for word what Scott Snyder said in an interview while explaining Joker’s motivations this story arc. Seriously, Scott, I love ya and all, but you REALLY shouldn’t be doing this. And I’m not the only person to notice, either. But yeah, Joker says that when Batman wakes up, he’ll find the whole city laughing at him, pulls out a BANG flag gun, shoots, and end of Part 2 of Endgame.
I don’t want anyone to think I didn’t enjoy this issue from my nitpicking, because I did, A LOT. I’m just pointing out that a few things either didn’t add up well, or have yet to, but it’s still early in the story, so who knows, maybe it’ll iron itself out later. I will say that the best part of this issue was the reveal that Border was really The Joker. Now, I’d seen a new shot of what Joker was supposed to look like online, particularly in his recent haircut, so when I saw Border in this issue and saw his hair, there was a split second where I thought to myself “…Wait a minute…”, but I didn’t really believe it, since I didn’t think it was possible…Yeah, turns out, VERY MUCH SO. And I gotta wonder, was Border ALWAYS supposed to be Joker in disguise? How long has Snyder been planning this? Were there clues I missed along the way? I can see him popping pills in Batman #34, which were probably those muscle relaxants he mentioned, and re-reading that scene knowing what I know now makes it absolutely CHILLING. And frankly, I seem to recall Joker once saying “How do you keep a secret from the World’s Greatest Detective? You stick it right in front of him, right under his long pointy nose, and wait.”
Speaking of, I think I speak for most when I say that I’m glad to see that Joker has a face again. Having him not have a face FOREVER just wouldn’t have worked. I’m curious as to how and when he got it, though. Clearly, he knows a REALLY good plastic surgeon…though I wonder how come this new face is also bleached white. But whatever, point is, despite some hiccups along the way, Endgame has proven to be really good, and I can’t wait to see what that insane, demented, side-show freak pulls out next…But enough about Scott Snyder, I wonder what Joker has planned? XD
What I Bought Today – Batman #24 (WARNING – SPOILERS)
So, I was at Heroes’ Beacon today (the shop where I buy my comics), and I got some awesome books, so let’s take a minute to talk about…
Now, as I tend to do many times when one book in particular is just a huge flipping deal, I’m gonna cover it on its own, and then do the others in a second post. With that said, let’s take a look at Batman #24!
…Okay, I gotta ask, does anybody else totally hear Padmé’s Destiny from Star Wars Episode III when they look at this? Y’know, from when Anakin becomes Darth Vader. Anybody? o.O
This issue kinda marks the halfway point for Zero Year. Not necessarily that it’s halfway done in terms of number of issues, but from a storyline perspective, the first half is done, that being dealing with the Red Hood Gang and becoming Batman. And yes, we do see Bruce Wayne in his first (in the New 52 canon, anyway) Bat suit, in all of its purple-gloved glory! XD And snark aside, I felt they really did a good job of bringing back the classic Batman costume and modernizing it. In fact, the reveal is done in a two-page spread, where Batman is swinging with a Red Hood in a pose meant to harken back to the cover of Detective Comics #27, AKA Batman’s first appearance.
In the Batcave, Bruce and Alfred begin piecing together a plot by Red Hood One, which seems to be slightly rushed with the appearance of the Batman. However, they’re still lacking on some details, so Alfred suggests Bruce go to see Philip, who is overjoyed to see Bruce alive. Philip admits the Red Hood Gang got to him, and while he’s had enough of Red Hood One’s shit, when he wanted to go to the police, the gang kinda branded RH347 on his chest, thus linking him to them. However, he does give Bruce access to the information he needs, and he and Alfred quickly deduce Red Hood One’s plan. However, while Alfred says Batman has to stop them, Bruce replies that Batman can’t, that there’s only one man who can stop the Red Hood Gang this time: Bruce Wayne.
Bruce decides to reveal himself as being alive…again, this time through an impromptu press conference, Commissioner Loeb deciding to send Jim Gordon down to check it out, and here’s where we get something awesome. Bruce asks everyone watching at home why they love Gotham City. And really, when you read Batman comics, you have to wonder why ANYONE would love Gotham. Even without the super-villains, it’s still Hell on Earth. There’s gangbangers, the price of living comfortably is insane, there’s too much rain, and it just seems to bring out the worst in so many people. So why would anyone stay there? For Bruce, the answer is simple: People come to Gotham to become something MORE. Gotham City challenges the people living there to make themselves more than they are. It dares them to become better, and does everything it can to stop them, and if one can take all it can dish out, they become something more as a result.
Anyway, once the speech is over, Bruce points to the building he’s been standing in front of all along, and reveals it to be the Red Hood Gang’s hidden base: A.C.E. Chemical. Red Hood One is creating a flesh-eating poison that they’re going to unleash upon the city, Having given away their position, the Red Hood Gang decide to take out Wayne, but in the confusion of them shooting rockets at him and the GCPD getting involved, Bruce manages to get inside. Red Hood One finds him and holds him at gun-point, but Bruce literally tells him he’s “so full of #$%”, that his concept of ‘life is meaningless if you can die at any time’ is crap, since what matters most is what you do in the time you have. Red Hood One has heard enough and is ready to kill Bruce, but the lights go out, and as can be seen from above in a GCPD helicopter, the whole area has blacked out, the outline of which now resembling a bat. Sure enough, as the lights come back on, Batman kicks the crap out of the entire Red Hood Gang, all the while Red Hood One watches from the shadows, his eyes fixated on the Dark Knight.
While Batman deals with the grunts, and impressively so for a guy only in his first year as a crime-fighter, Red Hood One takes aim at him, but is caught by a bullet from another Red Hood bouncing off his helmet. Red Hood One straight up executes Red Hood 347, which Batman realises to his horror is Philip, just as the police finally manage to bust in. Granted, while they DID have charges, considering the chemicals in the building, they obviously couldn’t risk it. Unfortunately, the deflected bullet causes one of the tanks to leak, which in turn creates a chain of explosions, so I guess it didn’t matter in the end. The police try to arrest Batman, but you can probably guess how well that works…as in, not at all. lol
Batman catches up with Red Hood One, who is trying to escape in a helicopter, but they tumble back into the building, there’s another explosion, Red Hood One is dangling over a vat of chemicals, Batman tries to save the poor bastard, but he just says it wouldn’t be any fun, and…well, you can probably guess how this ends. However, there is a twist. A while later, we see that Bruce and Alfred have updated the Batcave a bit to look a little closer to the more modern take we see nowadays. Bruce suggests it’s only a matter of time before people start piecing together that he’s Batman, and jokingly offers to share a cell with Alfred. Pennyworth, however, says that at least the Red Hood Gang is defeated and he can move on from them…However, it seems Bruce can’t. The body of Red Hood One was never found, and while Red Hood members all pointed to a man named Liam Distal as the leader, HE was found dead the day before.
Distal’s corpse was mostly dissolved in lye, so that it’s impossible to tell exactly when he was murdered. So, now there’s a mystery regarding the identity of the man he fought…Okay, I’m just gonna say it, it’s The Joker. Either Joker killed Distal weeks ago and took his place, or he was a patsy reading lines for Distal and only made the switch recently. It’s also possible someone else killed Distal, and then switched places with ‘The Man Who Would Be The Joker’ before Batman caught up with him on the roof at A.C.E. In the end, without more evidence, there’s no way to know……..Scott Snyder, you redefine what it means to troll your readers. XD
Huh. So THAT’S how he got those scars…Badumtish. 😛
At any rate, Alfred finds it unlikely people will figure out Bruce Wayne is Batman, relating back to his days as an actor. He used to try too hard to make the characters he performed just perfect, and leave no trace of himself in it, as to avoid seeming like a faker. However, what he learned is that the audience WANTS to believe in the actor. They want to forget who is under the mask, and become enthralled by the character, because the actor put so much hard work and passion into it. Add in the fact that Batman can pretty much make the rules of logic his bitch, and the everyday ordinary people of Gotham won’t WANT to know who Batman is.
Alfred and Bruce decide to make up after their most recent issue, but are cut off by a broadcast from Edward Nygma, who had become The Riddler. He delivers the second riddle of the Sphinx: ‘There are two sisters; each gives birth to the other. Who are they?’ Bruce, Alfred, and Commissioner Gordon all recognize it, just before Nygma calls for the ‘dark, dark night’, and our comic ends as he sets off explosions that cause a massive blackout all over Gotham City.
This comic is frigging awesome. The modernizing of Batman’s original costume is great, as is the little Easter Egg of the words “BK was here” on the roof in the two-page spread where Batman is revealed for the first time. Also, the result of his confrontation with the Red Hood Gang went VERY well. While I’m all too willing to say that the individual dressed as Red Hood One is the Joker, since it all but outright says that, the fact that we don’t see the transformation still leaves some ambiguity. And even if it IS him, we still don’t REALLY know who he is, and that’s how the Joker SHOULD be. As he himself said, “If I’m going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice!” The ending where Riddler appears DOES seem kinda rushed, but I think that’s the idea, where Batman has defeated the Red Hood Gang, and yet only NOW is the shit getting real.
Anyway, that’s it for Batman this week, but we still have Nightwing, the Fearless Defenders, and Red Sonja to go through, so check back in a few when I talk about them. Ja né!
Related articles
- Batman – Under the Red Hood Movie Review (detectivemaxxzeqsterscreepycrawlyamazingadventures.wordpress.com)
- Batman #24 (comicvine.com)
- EXCLUSIVE: Guillem March’s “Zero Year” Variant Sends Red Hood To His Fate (comicbookresources.com)
- Does Rockford, Illinois need a Batman? (therockfordblog.com)
- Batman Through The Years (costumesupercenter.com)
- The Side of Batman We’ll Probably Never See on the Big Screen (nickverboon.wordpress.com)
- The Red Hood Strikes in ‘Batman 66′ #3! (mancave.cbslocal.com)
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What I Bought Today – Batman #17 (WARNING – SPOILERS)
Well, it’s Wednesday, and that means it’s time for me to talk about…
Today’s gonna be a little different. I bought four comics, one of which being a comic from last month that I missed and had to have specially ordered. But before I get to that, I wanna take the time to talk about one comic in particular first, the conclusion to Death of the Family, Batman #17.
“TA-DAA! Dinner is served!”
Scott Snyder, I salute you sir. You frigging TROLLED us for MONTHS, making us dread this issue and what was gonna happen to poor Alfred. Well, the good news, for anyone that feared that, is that Alfred Pennyworth is alive and well, and thank goodness too. After all, the last time someone died in a Batman comic, I had to eulogize them, and really, what could I possibly say about Alfred frigging Pennyworth? I am not qualified to talk about Alfred Pennyworth. And better yet, I don’t have to eulogize ANY of the main cast, who all survive the ordeal.
So, Batman wakes up after being electrocuted at the end of Batman #16 to find himself in the caves under Gotham City, and bound to a chair at the head of a table. And sitting around the table, also bound and with sacks over their heads, are Nightwing, Robin, Red Robin, Batgirl, and Red Hood, who all tried and failed to bring down the Joker in their books, which I’ll get to in a bit. Of course, Batman COULD get free, but Joker’s rigged his chair so that, if he gets up from it, it will light the gasoline that has covered the Bat Family. A Jokerised Alfred comes out and pulls the sacks from the Bat Family’s heads, revealing them to be covered in bloody bandages, as Joker finally shows us what’s in the platters. What is it? THEIR FACES.
“I hate NOTHING more on this Earth than you, Joker. NOTHING.”
So after Joker decides to bullcrap with Batman for a while, Batman gets up, setting the family on fire, but he knows these caves pretty damned well and blows out the roof to bring down a huge gush of water that douses them right out. Joker takes off, naturally, and Batman immediately goes to Damian, and the poor kid is clearly traumatized, which I’ve NEVER seen from Damian, EVER. He’s putting up a brave front, naturally, but you can tell he’s horrified, waiting for his father to pull the bandages off and tell him how bad it looks…and sure enough, he’s perfectly fine, Joker’s little platters being fakes. If I had to guess, Dollmaker made ’em or something.
Batman wants to stay with the others, but Nightwing assures him that they’ll be fine and that he needs to go after Joker. The freaking psycho clown has an axe and decides to try to bullcrap some more, but Batman just wrestles it away saying “No more talk”, punches him saying “No more dances”, and picks up Joker’s crossbar saying “No more quarrelling”. Joker lets him in on the fact that he left a bomb full of Joker gas, but Batman’s not going back, not because he plans for them to kill each other, but because he believes in them and knows they don’t need his help, as sure enough they begin to resist the effects. As Joker almost goes over a cliff into a waterfall, Batman stops him and tells him he intends to go further than he ever has with Joker, and for a moment you really believe he’s going to kill him, but instead he intends to do something far worse from the Joker’s perspective: Batman tells him that in the past year, he finally figured out who he is. But Joker, in his rage and horror as Batman leans in to whisper his true name, hits Batman with a joy buzzer and dives off the cliff, his face falling off and flapping into the wind. Oh, and no, I guarantee he ain’t dead. He’s survived WAY worse.
“Dick…What did he say to you in the dark?”
Later on, Alfred is recovering in bed as Bruce tells him he’s expecting the others shortly. Before that, though, he has an admission to make: Shortly after they took Dick in, Bruce went to Arkham Asylum under the pretence of investing in a new wing to the Asylum, but what he was really there for was to go to Joker’s room and present him with the Joker card that was found in the Batcave beforehand, and while Joker looked at him and the card, he didn’t truly SEE Bruce. This is how Bruce knows that Joker doesn’t know he’s Batman: Because he doesn’t care. If anything, if someone told him Batman was Bruce Wayne, he’d probably go running into the corner singing “Trololololol lololol lololol!” He doesn’t WANT to know who Batman is for the same reason he doesn’t want Batman to know who he is: Because it would ruin his fun. The truth is, if he cares ANYTHING for the Bat Family, it’s not that he believes they make Batman weak, it’s because they get in his way. For him, it has to be Batman vs Joker, ALWAYS.
So why didn’t Batman tell the others this from the start? Because it would mean admitting that he knows Joker WAY better than he’d like to admit. And I’ll admit, I get where he’s coming from there. However, after all that’s happened and the mental scarring they’ve taken, the family leaves messages one after the other telling that they can’t make it. I don’t think they’re necessarily angry with Bruce, they just need time to themselves. This leaves Bruce alone in the case as the computer alerts him to an isotope found in the Joker toxin they were infected with, which turns out to be Element 105: Dubnium, also known as Hahnium or by its original element symbol, Ha.
Okay, so I know that there are gonna be people pissed off by this finale. Me personally? I love it. I still have frakking chills from this. This was a great arc. There are some of the flaws of Death of the Family, and I will point them out eventually, but for now I’m just gonna say this: There is no fucking way Joker was in as many places as the tie-ins suggested he was in all at once. None. Maybe a couple, but not all of ’em. He either had stand-ins or hallucinogens or some other type of trickery, but there is no way he was present in all those locations.
So yeah, this further cements that I’m gonna be doing a retrospect on Scott Snyder’s Batman in the super near future. In the meantime, though, be sure to check back here in a few when I discuss what else I bought today: Nightwing #16, Batgirl #17, and Batman & Robin #17. Ja né!
Colour Me Confused: Who Is Going To Die In Batman?
Okay, so I posted a few days ago about how there’s a ton of evidence suggesting that Damian Wayne is going to die in Batman Incorporated. And I suppose it’s no secret at this point that the general consensus is that Alfred Pennyworth is going to be revealed to have been horribly murdered by the Joker by the end of Death of the Family, which I will be buying this Wednesday. Here’s the thing, though, for anyone who hasn’t been following along with Batman Incorporated since the reboot began and/or didn’t read Gotham Spoilers’ article on this matter, here’s some important events to consider: The comic actually begins with a scene of Bruce Wayne and Alfred in a cemetery with Bruce telling Alfred to tell “the others” that Batman Incorporated is over right before Bruce is arrested by GCPD, and then we cut back to 1 month previously, and the story has been continuing from that point. NOW, the theory goes that Bruce and Alfred were in the cemetery visiting Damian’s grave, and that Damian’s death has driven Bruce to quitting Batman Inc.
If you haven’t figured out what’s got me confused, let me explain it to you: In Scott Snyder‘s Batman, we have Alfred possibly dying while Damian’s still alive. In Grant Morrison‘s Batman Incorporated, we have Damian possibly dying while Alfred’s still alive. THESE TWO EVENTS DO NOT MATCH. So, with that said, I have come up with a few possible explanations as to what is going to happen.
- Alfred is going to live through the events of Death of the Family, thus explaining his presence in Batman Incorporated, and Damian is going to die.
- Damian is going to live in Batman Incorporated, thus explaining his presence in Death of the Family, and Alfred is going to die.
- Neither of them are going to die, and this has been a gigantic fake out.
- BOTH are going to die and then be resurrected somehow. And let’s face it, with the existence of Black Lantern Rings, Lazarus Pits, and other sorts of methods for cheating death in the DC Universe, it’s not that unlikely.
- Alfred dies and comes back as a hologram or freaky cyborg thing…because while that would be cheesy as all hell, it would also have a sort of awesomeness to it.
- Both die and don’t come back, meaning either there has been zero communication between Snyder and Morrison and their respective editors on their respective projects, or one had this planned way before the other and they both just decided to go with it regardless.
Anyway, I should wrap up by stating the following: While I hope that neither one are killed off, the one thing I want most is for them both to not be killed off IN THE SAME MONTH. It just takes away any and all meaning that there could’ve possibly been behind killing either one of them off, and again, it creates a massive plot canyon in the Batman comics. So, here’s hoping at least one (preferably both) of these two characters manages to survive…OR, we at least see Alfred come back as a hologram. ^_^ Ja né!
What I Bought Today – HEROCLIX! XD
Weren’t expecting one so soon, were ya? Well, when I went to the comic book shop on Wednesday, I found that they had essentially cartons of the Batman HeroClix, 5 to a box, and I decided to buy one today. Did I see Stephanie Brown inside? Sadly, no. Did I find some awesometastic figurines regardless? Heck yeah! So let’s go over the ones I got today.
Cassandra Cain, AKA Black Bat
And first up, here’s someone who is actually good friends with Miss Brown, who also once served as Batgirl, and has a history of getting the shaft from DC, Cassandra Cain, now acting as the Batman of Hong Kong for Batman Incorporated, Black Bat.
Brion Markov, AKA Geo-Force
Next is the Prince of Markovia, a founding member of the Outsiders, and an affiliate to the Justice League, this is Geo-Force.
And next up is Bruce Wayne‘s closest confidant, assistant, butler, and surrogate father who can also serve the role of field medic, here is Alfred Pennyworth.
Jiro Osamu, AKA Mr. Unknown
Another member of Batman Incorporated, here is Jiro Osama, AKA Mr. Unknown, the Batman of Tokyo.
Flock of Bats
…A flock of brown bats…Meh, they’re kinda cool I guess. ^_^
Anyway, that’s all for now. Hopefully I find that Stephanie Brown figure…Though I will admit, I should probably try to get some villains too. I only have three. Ja né!
Jyger's Rant 