Testing the Wife #1

First episode of Testing the Wife #1 in which I quiz my wife on things.

Ebonrook Presents; Top 5 Batman Stories

Our very first episode, forgive the quality, was contending with Air Conditioners, damned summer. Had to try and do some manual editing to fix it.

My New Comic Box W.I.P

So as much as I like looking through Previews, by the end of the month (not even that) it gets to be pretty useless and takes up a lot of space. So I got to thinking, many of us, or at least those who shop where I do, get Previews for free. So why not utilise that free catalog of images?

There are still a couple of white patches but I am please so far. Next month when I am sure there is nothing in Previews left of use I will add more to it. Eventually doing the whole box.

I am please overall so far, what do you guys think? A comicy box to contain my many comics. Opinions? Should I be "saving" my Previews? I personally think it's just a catalog. Are there people out there that save them like their comics? Enjoy guys!

Bruce Wayne, Private Eye (Arkham Horror)

Getting back into Arkham Horror but maintaining my very comicy theme on my blog, allow me to introduce Bruce Wayne Private Eye. From the Return of Bruce Wayne, he's falling through time and he's landed in Arkham. Can the Dark Knight prevent the eldritch horrors from destroying the world? We can only hope!

You can get the full size character sheet here and the full size character marker here. He hasn't been play tested yet. To be honest I doubt he will work well as a character. He might be a bit over powered, but he is Batman. I feel like he should be even more overpowered. Though Strange Eons plastered "Unbalanced" when you do that hehe.

A Beginners Guide to the DC Universe. (Pre-New 52)

Recently I have been playing DC Universe Online. It was inevitable that I would, from the instant the game was announced, the anticipation of it's release drove me to often just look at the same videos over and over again. Even the cinematic was saved to my phone so I could show others who had not yet seen it.
This is why I was surprised to learn that so many of the people who play have never read the comics, and those who have were not into them. Often I have been asked to explain some of the back story, or even entire histories. Such as why can Robin and Nightwing be there together.

This post is for the people who want to get into the comics after playing the game. Who want to learn some of the history, or want to simply get a little more out of the game. There are a few things I should explain first though.

Some comics, wether they be limited series or graphic novels, are not part of the continuity, no matter how hard they try. A great many hard core fans out there have mapped the continuity of the DC Universe very carefully. Which is impressive, considering how many retcons there have been. I myself am a little bit more casual. Don't get me wrong I have read so many it could make your eyes bleed, just I believe a person can pick and choose the continuity they want. If readers are aloud to ignore a bad comic, they should be aloud to ignore a good one to if they don't like where it ends up with the character. Which means in my opinion you do not need to know the entire history of the DC Universe, you can pick and mix from the comics yourselves to get your own favorite universe. Everything else would be an 'elseworld' or another Earth in the Multiverse. Which in itself can be complicated to explain. Regardless there a few comics out there I feel are really worth reading for beginners just looking to get more out of the DC Universe;

1. All-Star Superman

All-Star Superman Vol 2 Cover

All Star Superman one of only two DC All Star series that ever took off, and the only one not to spawn an internet meme through it's stupidity. The All Star series was meant to be a way for comic novices to start out with out worrying about continuity. In the cases of All Star Batman, having Frank Miller (whos sanity has really ran away now) write it, clearly with disregard for everything Batman stands for, meant that it failed. Even comic novices knew it was wrong. Grant Morrison however, (sanity mostly intact) was chosen to write All Star Superman. This limited series (available in two volumes or an absolute edition) covers the life of Superman, letting us see the true him, the sacrifices he makes and that he isn't all brawn and no brain. The story also manages to include different types of kryptonite, the evolution of Superman, different villains, the death of Jonathan Kent, even Bizzaro world. If you don't feel for Superman by the end of All-Star Superman, comics probably aren't for you, but trust me, you will feel for him, and then you'll read it all over again.

2. Crisis on Infinite Earth, Infinite Crisis and Final Crisis


Possibly three of the largest events ever in the DC Universe, essentially a continuity fix tool. The first two crises were essentially a way of explaining continuity errors and setting which was the real DC history. Of course you have to do this every so often in comics because inevitably a weekly, monthly series with multiple writers becomes complicated. DC decided that all of their comics were history however, how could they not be? So the multiverse was born. Major events happen through out these three story lines. There is Identity Crisis and the two Countdown series, which are build ups to them, though most people, myself included think they are trash. The three main series are well worth the read however. Grant Morrision (again) wrote Final Crisis, so you know after reading All Star Superman you are in for a treat.

3. Arkham Asylum; A Serious House on Serious Earth

This comic I am recommending because it is so different. The writing is perfect, (Morrison again) featuring the darker side of Batman, without ruining him like Miller does. We also get some creepier interpretations of characters, such as the Joker, Mad Hatter and Two Face. The major selling point of Arkham Asylum however is the art by Dave McKean, amazingly well done and totally unlike anything ever seen in comics before. This is worth the read even if you are not into comics!

4. The Long Halloween


One more, as by this point you have quite a bit of reading to be catching up on! The first entry in the list that is not Grant Morrison, Long Halloween is written by Jeph Loeb, another brilliant writer. Long Halloween takes Batman back to his roots as it is a detective story. Rather than Batman making a brave leap in logic or the villain announcing his plan or who they even are, our hero has to follow a series of non-riddle clues to discover who the murder is. This comic covers a wide range of characters and situations and is brilliant for old and new readers a like. Once you have read it you'll want more, and may even consider Dark Victory but that's another story.

So thats quite a lot of reading you have to do. Who knows maybe it is a good introduction to the DC Universe, maybe it isn't. Hopefully it will be a good enough start that it sends you on the long road of a happy relationship with the DC Universe.

The Return of Bruce Wayne

This is going to look like Grant Morrison fandom soon enough. It's just by chance I promise you that I just so happen to have decided to read this most recently though. Return of Bruce Wayne is a 6 Issue limited series covering the events that happen to Bruce Wayne after Final Crisis (You know when he died).
It has to be said though, anyone who 'mourned' the death of Bruce Wayne, must of been reading comics for about a week. Though I must admit that it was written well enough that I did feel bad, I knew he'd return. I just did not expect a Return as epic as this one. Darksied's attack sent Bruce back in time to the dawn of man, erasing his memory. Now it is time for Batman's greatest escape, through history and amnesia. Each issue covers a different period of time, and even has a different art style.

The first issue starts from where Final Crisis leaves off, Batman's arrival in the prehistoric era with Anthro now dececed of old age. This portion of the story is amazingly well written. For starters we do not understand anything Batman says, for we only see this from the stone ager's point of view. This makes Batman mysterious and forces us as readers to genuinely wonder what is going on. We see a space craft, we see Batman gain a prehistoric style costume, a prehistoric analouge for Robin. We even get to see him take down Savage, which must of messed with that guys head some what. Very little is answered and alot is left to question, which is a perfect opening chapter in what should be one of the greatest events in DC history. We learn that Superman is leading a team through time to find Bruce. We also learn that if Batman returns to the 21st Century, everyone will die. The greatest element of this is, we aren't told how or why. Perfect series writing as We immediatly go on to the next chapter.

The second chapter has Batman propelled into the age of witches, as he dons the disguise of Mordacei, Witch Hunter. It must be said that the costume in this one is brilliant. I could see an entire Batman; Witch Hunter series being quite sucessful. This is mostly because he is so out of place. He is still Batman, he doesn't blindly believe in witches or the devil. He also won't blindly accuse the innocent. In this chapter we get to see even with amnesia he is a master detective, and that he can use those skills in any time period. We also get to see a lighter side of him, as he allows himself the company of a young woman. Though not in the romantic sense, it is a reminder that he has always been lonely. The only down fall of this chapter is he does not save the victim. I personally feel that Batman should be capable of saving anyone, though I suppose with out his memories it would be quite difficult. That and the series over arching plot is his escape from Time itself. Hard to decide what his prioirty should be so I will still give that one to Morrison.


By the end of the series, Batman becomes a Pirate, a Cowboy, a Noir Detecive and even has adventures in the future! There are obviously moments that feel off, i.e. Jonah Hex beating Batman on the draw?! But overall this is one of the most epic Batman stories ever. You have most of the JLA admitting that if Batman was to come back they'd be screwed. Even admitting that they wouldn't be able to put him down easily, and not because he's a friend! This story is simply a way of screaming to the world how awesome Batman is, and the ending is even better. This is Batman's greatest escape and his greatest victory. Now proving even the Gods cannot stand against him!

Be sure to check out Grant Morrison's 'The Return of Bruce Wayne.'

Justice League #8 and #9

Continuing with my exploration of the New 52 from DC Comics, it was only natural that I take a look at their Justice League. Initial thoughts? Damn I should of started reading sooner. Seriously, this is not a good place to start.

Before I pause a moment to go and do research, I will admit it's strange but interesting to see that they are discriminatory of who joins the League. Not just letting any old person in, this was always an issue I felt needed mentioning, especially with regards to characters like Batman. After all if Batman had plans to take down the main members and his best freaking friends what would he feel about being associated with characters from all across the DCU?

Then I was hit with a curve ball. The reason they act like this, the issue implies it was the Martian Manhunter. Wait so DC made him into a villain? I hope that's just the poor interpretation thanks to this comic. I mean, hopefully it's all going to swing round to some gigantic misunderstanding on their parts.

Of course it concerns me that this could be one of the horrors that I had expected from a reboot. I know there are going to be people out there that love the idea of a villainous Martian Manhunter. I personally do not. I will now pause to research and see if I am proven wrong. 

ONE PAUSE LATER.

Apparently he is now a member of Stormwatch not the Justice League. No idea what the hell they'd be fighting him then. Last I checked Stormwatch weren't bad guys. Ah well who knows what the heck is going on there then.

 Regardless the issue isn't too bad, we see that Green Arrow wants to join the JL and they won't let him. Green Arrow still isn't that great of a hero, but he's cool enough that you do feel for him. Green Lantern and Batman have some good dialogue in this issue. Aquaman is a bit of a tool though, granted it's implied he has reasons, but I'm fond of those reasons being explored more than just acting like a douche.

Issue 9 has even more with better dialogue, great art and awesome fight scenes. Including what can only be described as biblical imagery for Superman and Batman. 

This issue isn't what I'd call much of a jumping in point either, but it certainly would work better than the others. We get a decent representation of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and Flash. The action again is awesome, including Superman and Batman working their way through Arkham. It's a good issue.

Meanwhile an ongoing sub story has been Shazam! Personally I am a big time Captain Marvel fan. People have always claimed that Superman is too much of a boy scout. Well I raise you one Captain Marvel, who is now officially called Shazam of course. I guess if you're going to do one thing with the reboot, that isn't a terrible idea. Speaking of not terrible ideas. Billy Bastion is no longer incredibly annoying and unrealistic. 

Slingshotting him into the new century, Billy no longer acts the pretentious holier than though child, who couldn't do a single thing wrong. Instead he is a foster child, going from foster home to foster home, failing school after school. At first I was a little taken aback, but by issue 9 (my second issue) I fell in love with the character all over again. I don't know if Shazam (Capt. Marvel) will be the same way he was back in the day. I don't know if he will get his own comic line. I do know that Billy is now awesome! I dunno what it is about a kid kicking the crap out of rich, stuck up bullies, and then telling their rich, stuck up father to shove it. It just made him cool. Also what capped the scene off well was Billy's foster father telling him him that fighting is not the answer, and then immediately going to clearly beat up this rich guy for threatening Billy. (I may of forgotten to mention that the 30 - 40 something old did threaten the child.) Overall Shazam! might actually be the draw for these issues, and that's saying something. 

If you have room on your list. Justice League is a pretty good choice!

New Comic Day June 13 2012 Overview

So it occurs to me that I of course don't read everything that comes out. My list of reservations at my wonderful local comic book shop already sets me back quite a long way money wise. Though comics are my vice, and at least they don't give you cancer (or at least it hasn't proven to yet). I do however read so many that I may not be able to do detailed reviews of absolutely everything I read and that could mean I'm missing out on something some would like to hear about. So starting this week, each week on the day or day after, as soon as I've read them all (or most) I will post an Overview "review" post. I may still do more detailed reviews especially of the more concerning ones, but for now this will do. This week I got four comics.

Amazing Spider-man #687
This week marked the end of the "End of the World" story arc. Spidey's new suit may or may not come back in the future, which is a shame as it was quite cool. Doc Ock was still an cool villain and stayed in character all the way through. Something I find to be rare for villains some times. SPOILER Silver Sable "dies" at the end along with Rhino in a really, kinda creepy, way. Though it wouldn't surprise me if this isn't the last we see of either of them.

AVX VS #3
The first two issues of VS were actually quite good. Despite a fight or two going the wrong way in my opinion. Of course that is what this series is designed to do, polarize the fan base. On that front it does a good job, and with out going into the details of the main line, this tie in does exactly what it advertises. Nothing but action. For a lot of readers that will be a problem and for more, including myself, it gets worse when the action doesn't go the way you'd expect or want. Also this issue is a big culprit for the AR nonsense that Marvel has come up with. Normally I think it's quite nifty, I might go back over after reading an issue and look at it with my phone. Mostly because it doesn't always work instantly. So why the hell have half of this issue in Russian so that you have to use the AR. It really broke up the flow of the read. Not so good this issue.

Spider-men #1
The "Spider-man event of the century" features Peter Parker finally meeting Miles Morales. I say finally. I personally do not care. Not really. I care enough that I want to read it because I follow Peter. I however do not care about Ultimate comics, what I have seen of them I do not like. So really this cross over isn't that important to me, I just want to see if Marvel screw me a round and make out that this Miles is better than the real Spider-man, Peter. Who knows? Over all this issue does nothing but serve as an introductory issue, we only see Miles Spider-man in the last panel, so there is no real cross over or story line here.

Batman #10
First thing I noticed was that the "Night of the Owls" title was not on this issue. I know I said that I wouldn't get the tie ins but surely they aren't calling this over? This issue is, well pretty good, with only story and no real action. It does set up nicely for a conclusionary battle. Also the Fall of Wayne story is in the comic so luckily that's not another tie-in after all. The issue was good but I don't see why it didn't have "Night of the Owls" on the cover, the story still isn't finished.

Overall, a good week for my reservations.

Night of the Owls! Batman Vol. 2 #8 and #9.

So, anyone who knows me or reads my blog knows that I took a peculiar sort of, well, offense to DC deciding to reboot everything. So much so that I gave up reading them well in advance of Flashpoint and the event. I decided that if DC wanted to ignore their history, so would I and that I wouldn't want anything to do with them anymore.

I know a lot of people who claim that it's to help new readers get into comics, ala Marvels (awful) Ultimates series. Some people I know have even claimed that you can't truly collect comic books because unless you have issue one you don't have a complete collection. To that I of course brandish many expletives. Regardless recently a friend of mine convinced me I should give DC a try once again. So after thinking hard about it, I went with Batman, Superman and Justice League. Granted he then told me "Well of course the flagship characters will win you over." To which I respond, "Yes, but if it turns out they can't write their flagship characters, I'm going back to only Marvel again."

Despite saying that, I am not going back to only Marvel again. I will review Superman and Justice League at a later date, but boy oh boy is Batman back on track.

Granted I never thought that Batman got particularly bad. I'm one of the few who thought that the Return of Bruce Wayne was good fun. Though of course DC had many, many, poor stories featuring all of their characters being dumb or poorly written at some point. Then they rebooted it and all the rumors, etc, well I just gave up hope. Batman after all is one of the best characters of all time. I mean;

Ok so that's a poor example of Batman. Funnily enough it's hard to think of one specifically good example of Batman. He is awesome the world over, even when it's a poor writer he just emits brilliance. Does he now still?

Well I don't know about when the reboot first came out. I didn't read any up until now. Let's start with Issue #8.

Holy Art Batman! That cover is impressive. What's better is, unlike the issue of Incredible Hulk I reviewed recently, this cover actually has something to do with the issue! Jumping in at this point can be confusing however, I had to do a little bit of research but otherwise this issue works well. You get a lot of what makes Batman great.

Specifically you get (for most of the issue) a wounded Bruce Wayne fighting off possibly hundreds of ninjas (come on that's what they are) with nothing but his pajama bottoms and dressing gown. Does he win? Not exactly, but then again he doesn't lose either. It just continues into the next issue. I will admit I was a little worried in one panel, when it seemed he killed one of them. Though they were careful to have the guy talking afterwards, and it turns out these guys have some sort of Wolverine-esqe healing factor, I didn't like the fact that he still stabs him to pin him to the roof. A bit over the top for my taste. I've always thought of Batman as a "fighter so skilled, he doesn't really need to maim." Let alone kill. Either way at least he doesn't kill.

Issue #8 ends with the signal being sent out to the Bat-Family as the Owls aren't only attacking Wayne (who they didn't know was Batman), but all of the key officials in Gotham. The Family are mobilised to take down the Owls. It's a good cliffhanger, but unfortunately it's also a lead into other books. Which I doubt I will read as my comic list is getting expensive enough at the moment. I can't complain about tie-ins when they make sense though. For example Nightwing and Batman Incorporated, etc. The Batman Family titles. They should be tied-in. I'm all for keeping the whole Universe going as one giant thing, but when you do events like say Countdown, that have tie-ins to nearly all of your books, and stupidly high numbers of limited series created to be tie-ins. That's when it gets bad. So, as far as I can tell, there aren't many tie ins to this. Just the ones that count. After all it'd be a bit silly for Superman to become part of this struggle, wouldn't it?

Issue #9 is not as grand as #8 but still good. 

The cover isn't awful, and it does again tie in to the book, which we've learnt lately isn't always true. It's just a little bland. The issue opens with Batman kicking ass in a specially designed suit that will protect him from the caves now sub zero temperatures. Then during this fight so many things happen that confuse me. For one, I am not a fan of seeing Batman getting thrown around like he does for a lot of this fight. I don't care if they're ninjas, he's Batman. I tend to think of him as mostly untouchable, yet in this fight he gets beat on, a lot. 

Confusing element number two, is the dinosaur in the cave suddenly alive, or robotic? Since when? Is this a reboot thing or just a random thing thrown in? It's kind of cool but seems really random to me. Also; ninjas blind sided by a t-rex? Ok then.

Then we have this whole back story about owls being released into the cave when the house was first purchased. It's true cheese, oh the bats were killed, but they weren't because they can survive in the darkest coldest parts of the cave, then they killed the owls when... yeah you see where this is going. Batman takes off the clunky, slowing him down, heat suit and proceeds to fight in his normal suit. In sub zero temps. You know, because he's the god damn Batman! The story this issue ends with the death of Mr March whose last words are about saving Gotham from being a hell hole. Nice guy really. Though this isn't the end of the issue.

I can not work out if this is going to be a limited three issue series that ties in, or is in fact going to be a three part story (with this being part one already). I hope the latter because I don't want to buy another comic to get the full story. Either way we have Fall of the House of Wayne which, in this part at least, is from Alfred's father's point of view. Which is, ok, but to be honest kind of boring. It's all a letter to Alfred so totally narrated and quite expository. It is not as good as the rest of the issue. 

So is Batman still worth reading, post reboot? Yes. Is he as good as he was? In canon yes. Will I carry on reading him? Definitely. Seriously, who would of gotten upset over the reboot?...