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The Weekly Haul: Week of March 02, 2016

Posted on March 7, 2016 by Walt

Last week proved to be a tiny week for NEW comics, but a large week for quarter-bin stuff. The only NEW comic I purchased was the first issue of a new Predator series…that apparently starts off a new "cycle" of minis to be an overall larger story in the style of 2014’s Fire and Stone books. Whether I’ll stick with singles or wait for the "inevitable" collected volume remains to be seen. I’m guessing this will be separate from the new Aliens series kicking off soon with art by Tristan Jones.

weeklyhaul_0302016a

There were also a couple of free "ashcan" comics from IDW…I won’t tend to pass up "free," though I was a bit disappointed to realize I’d already missed the first issue of the one at least…sorta defeats the purpose (to me).

weeklyhaul_0302016b

Hitting the quarter bins, I found a lot of great stuff. Several Green Arrow issues, including the first, and #100–which is an issue I’ve long been curious about, but never found in a quarter been, but never’ve been curious ENOUGH to seek it out otherwise. (Or if I have found it, I sure don’t remember it).

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The New Titans arc Who is Wonder GIrl? and its epilogue…much cheaper this way than some out-of-print, jacked-up-because-it’s-"OOP"-paperback…and less than half the cost of a single new comic.

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Several of these have some water damage/wrinkling, but again…to get Kingdom Come as well as The Kingdom for half the price of a single issue of something new is not bad at all.

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For the convenience-of-a-reread factor and nostalgia with it being present, I snagged another copy of Batman: Year 3.

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Ditto for A Lonely Place of Dying, since the three Batman issues as well as both of the The New Titans issues were present. No fuss, no hunting.

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Just for kicks and all three chapters being present, snagged The Penguin Affair. I’m fairly certain I’ve read this before, but I don’t consciously remember it.

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For the randomness of ’em, snagged Legends of the Dark Knight #1 and the Batman movie adaptation (this is the prestige format edition). I thought it was cool seeing the original Marvel Knights issue of Daredevil #1…the issue was a big thing for me when it came out, getting to jump in at the start of a Daredevil series at #1, and loved the art! Finally the Total Justice issue grabbed my attention as being based on the toys…though I neglected to realize it was a mini-series, so I’ll have other issues to (eventually/maybe) track down.

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Some "late" Solar, Man of the Atom issues from old Valiant. While my feelings toward current Valiant have soured big-time, I’m still half-heartedly looking to finish my "reading copy" collection of the original runs.

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And then along with those Green Arrow issues, got a bunch of Green Lantern. I added another 10 or so issues to this bunch the next day from quarter bins at another shop; and after all these years, finally located #81 in a back-issues bin at a third shop (I paid $3.99 for it–again, not a huge deal given its age, scarecity and NOT exceeding what I’d pay for a questionable "new" comic).

weeklyhaul_0302016

Given the size of the stack–80 issues–rather than hassle with multiple bags and such, I bought a shortbox for the transport (and I can always use more boxes, so the only "harm" is in the timing and being an extra $5 I wasn’t planning on going in).

I’m really getting the "back issue bug" lately, and with finding Green Arrow #100, tracking down Green Lantern #81, buying a couple pre-Crisis issues (Superman and a DC Comics Presents annual); buying the Adventure Comics issue last week, I’m thinking that all the more, I may shift toward hunting back issues. Of course, while I can justify quarter-bin copies as duplicates for convenience, I cannot justify paying several dollars for an issue that is or likely is a duplicate, so I’ll need to really get the body of my collection sorted and modify some checklists to make sure that as I pursue older books, I’m not chasing issues that are merely hiding in one of my existing boxes.

Filed under: 2016 Non-Review posts, 2016 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

New Year, New Toys…

Posted on January 15, 2016 by Walt

I’m a sucker for certain toys, and characters…and certainly for formats, among a number of other factors.

Coming across a display of Deadpool plushies in Target recently, I couldn’t pass them up. I already have the oversized Funko Pop plush for Deadpool, so just the “standard costume” wasn’t enough…I also snagged the Uncanny X-Force one as well.

deadpool_plushies

These are a great size–small without being tiny, but large enough to plop where-ever and not lose them.

There were a couple other versions–the Blue and Gold from when he decided to join the X-Men, and what looked like an inversion of that costume as well (more gold than blue). I’m happy with these two, though I’ll be interested in what other merchandise will be out for the upcoming film, given general action figure issues with the whole Disney-Fox thing.

extreme_heroclix_superman

I managed to hunt down the Extreme Heroclix Superman. This has the New 52 design that I’ve accepted as being pretty much standard now and what’s being pushed. While I no longer care for the game, I liked the sculpt, and have long appreciated the oversized Heroclix things as they make nice “statues” at a cost far under that of actual statues.

mighty_minis_01

While checking out the Batman v Superman stuff lately, I found these boxes of Mighty Minis–blind-pack miniatures. The ones I’ve seen are a mix of Batman v. Superman specific and Batman Unlimited (more comic booky than movie-based). I was going to pass on them until I spotted the Robin figure on a pack. It looks like the Batman Unlimited packs have Batman Beyond, Robin, Cyborg, Green Arrow, Flash, and Batman; and I don’t know if the package’s blacked-out silhouette image is to indicate un-advertised “chase” figures, or that when you buy the packet you don’t actually know which figure you’re buying.

I’d be interested yet in Batman Beyond and Flash, and wouldn’t mind Batman.

The Batman v Superman packs look to have Superman, a gold Superman, a black-suited Superman, Armored Batman, and green-gauntlet Batman. at this point I’d only want the regular Superman, so if I buy any more of these packs, I’ll probably go for the Batman Unlimited ones (though I primarily just wanted Robin, so I’m happy as-is).

mighty_minis_robin

The packs are $2.99, which is rather steep for any bulk purchasing. As a random quick addition to a cart of groceries, it’s not bad, and I like the figures. They’re not particularly articulated, but look good.

And Robin (Tim Drake) is one of my absolute favorite comic characters (the version that was around til 2011 anyway), so I’m all for Robin figures…

Filed under: 2016 Non-Review posts, 2016 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Toy Chronicles | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Batman v Superman Toys in the Wild: Wonder Woman and Aquaman [SPOILERS]

Posted on January 12, 2016 by Walt

I finally came across Wonder Woman and Aquaman last week…so they DO exist in the first wave, and are not just pictured to entice one into buying toys now when some that are most wanted won’t be out until later!

batman_v_superman_toys_wonderwoman_front

I do like the design for this figure. She’s quite recognizeable, and yet (though the skirt is a bit on the short side) overall she doesn’t appear to me to be particularly sexualized. We have her sword and shield which look fairly generic, but ought to look better once the figure’s out of the package and displayed somewhere.

batman_v_superman_toys_wonderwoman_back

…as the back does show. I do wish they’d opted to show Aquaman on the card back, to really emphasize that there are more than just variants of Superman and Batman (and this Wonder Woman) out there.

batman_v_superman_toys_aquaman_front

I think I’m going to like this version of Aquaman. It’s definitely a depature from the typical design I think of, and yet the character still looks like an Aquaman to me. The trident looks like a worthy accessory as these things go…

batman_v_superman_toys_aquaman_back

Yet again, instead of Batman variants, I would think it’d make more sense to show Wonder Woman on the card as well.

I’ve pretty much decided that as these toys go, I’ll probably end up purchasing these two–Wonder Woman and Aquaman–individually, and then the three-pack with Superman, Battle Armor Batman, and the Luthor battlesuit. I would also hope there’d be an oversized Doomsday figure later…but time will tell, of course!

Filed under: 2016 Non-Review posts, 2016 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Toy Chronicles | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

More Batman v Superman in the Wild [SPOILERS]

Posted on January 6, 2016 by Walt

Following up on my post from last week, I found a couple more neat-looking additions to the Batman v Superman toys over the weekend.

While the other post was what I found at a Walmart, I found these at a Toys R Us.

Do not read on if you’re attempting to avoid any/all spoilers for the film.

The variant costumes/versions of Superman don’t seem overly likely to spoil anything.

However, the back of the card–and something that grabbed my attention–very well could be deemed a spoiler.

So again…do not read further into this post or look at the photos, as there’s stuff that could definitely come off as spoilers!

Continuing on, now…

epic_battle_superman_front

I’m actually sort of surprised at this Epic Battle Superman. I’d half-hoped that maybe there would not be a bunch of Superman variants, at least, but here’s another.

Some sort of fancy armor with ridiculous-looking markings (the gold) that seem totally out of place to me on a Superman costume; and certainly to this one. And while I have no problem with the idea of Superman picking up/using a tool at hand in a fight as needed (especially if/while facing a clearly superior opponent), to me, a Superman action figure with weapon accessories just doesn’t work for me offhand.

epic_battle_superman_back

More of note to me, though, was that the figure’s card is well-suited to showing off the line, as it shows–instead of other Superman variants or multiple Batman variants–three other non-Superman characters. And for me–reveals the apparent existence of an Aquaman figure.

I’ve yet to see the Wonder Woman figure in person, but the fact she appears on a couple of the cards suggests quite heavily that she’ll be find-able in coming weeks.

I’d previously figured the figures in this line/scale would be $8.99-$9.99. At Toys R Us, these were on pegs marked as $9.99, so I’m assuming they might be had for as low as the $8.99 at the likes of Walmart and/or Target (unless these follow the 3.75" adult-collector Multiverse figures that are $9.99 at TRU and $13.99ish at Target).

aquaman_will_exist

If I do buy into this line, I’d be likely to want to get this Aquaman. If I’m not truly gonna have a selection of villains, at least I can have an assortment of unique hero characters instead of nothing but variants of one or two.

batman_superman_lex_luthor_front

Then there’s this 3-pack that seems to give us our first "villain" of the line. We get an Armored Batman, a Superman, and a green-and-purple-Luthor-Power-Suit. I believe the price I saw for this was $24.99…which is actually cheaper than buying Superman and Batman individually with a third $9.99 Luthor; save $5 and get all three!

batman_superman_lex_luthor_back

In some ways, I’d much prefer "just" a "basic" version of all the characters…but in a world with these super-powered "gods," I have no problem with Batman in a clearly armored state; and certainly appreciate the look of this version of the figure.

This 3-pack’s figures seem to be the same size as the other "regular" figures, so if I had to guess right now about purchases I’ll make, I imagine I’d go for this 3-pack, and then the single-pack Wonder Woman and Aquaman and call it a day with the line.

I also saw some sort of new Batmobile, but I don’t have much interest there, particularly for assuming the price would be rather ridiculous or it would look way too small for these figures. I did not note the price.

The 3-pack above would also nicely match with the Total Heroes 3-pack I bought last year, featuring comic-style versions of the three characters.

I suppose time will tell if there are to be other figures in this line, and at what scale–and based on a trailer, I would certainly hope we’d have a large Doomsday figure "in scale" with these, even if it stands at $20-$30-something by itself.

Filed under: 2016 Non-Review posts, 2016 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Toy Chronicles | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Death in the Family and A Lonely Place of Dying

Posted on December 31, 2015 by Walt

I finally "pulled the trigger" recenty on several Batman volumes I’ve been planning on ordering. Over the last couple years, I’ve been gradually "upgrading" to newer editions of stuff I’d had, as these newer ones are far more comprehensive than the half-hearted volumes that were originally put out…or just simply have more content per volume, look better, etc.

batman_books_tall1

The one I was most looking forward to was Batman: A Death in the Family. This is one of the stories of my youth, and while I don’t truly "get" the merging of A Lonely Place of Dying into this, noticing that Batman Annual #25 was (supposedly) included definitely had my interest.

death_in_the_family_current_cover

I do like the minimal cover. It’s simple, but very, very telling…the image is haunting, shows the violence of Robin’s death, and is such an iconic image, filled with layer and meaning to me.

death_in_the_family_current_back

The back cover is less to my liking. It fits with contemporary volumes, of course, but I liked the back of the original edition better…or at least, the original’s inclusion of the original cover images.

whats_included1

According to the (back) cover of the book itself, the volume contains 10 issues. The 4-issue A Death in the Family story, the 3 Batman and 2 The New Titans issues that make up A Death in the Family, and the Batman Annual. "and also includes the 2006 follow-up story from BATMAN ANNUAL #25" .

whats_included2

The indicia also would support that, citing the individual issues, with no wording such as "material from" or "excerpted from" or anything indicating truncation or abridgement.

whats_included3

The volume’s table of contents begins to paint a different picture. It’s been nearly a decade since I actually read the annual, so I’ll be darned if I could remember the title of the story. But given the whole Superboy Prime and "punching reality" and all that, causing stuff to change, it would not be inappropriate for that issue’s title to BE "Alternate Ending." The pattern the table of contents uses lists the issues’ contents as their chapter of each story and the original issue numbers. The issues are included in full, no abridgement/etc.

But if one pays attention to the page numbers and the BIOGRAPHIES section below…notice the Annual is 270…but then the biographies are the VERY NEXT PAGE.

hes_alive_batman_annual_25

The sole inclusion from Batman Annual #25 is one. single. PAGE. And it’s not even reprinted as a page the way the entirety of the rest of the volume reprints the pages, this is intended to show AS a page from something else.

As a single page, this SHOULD HAVE been included between A Death in the Family and A Lonely Place of Dying. Given the Annual itself came 17-some years later, it would make perfect sense for it to be reprinted after both original stories. It seemed like a BONUS inclusion to the volume, to give us the original story, the followup, and then the revision, the revisitation that bridges the original stuff and contemporary stuff with Red Hood and such.

This is absolutely misleading, and had I known, if it had registered that the only difference was that this volume is 2-in-1 without the actual Annual in full, I definitely would NOT have bothered with this! I already have the original individual volumes, neither of which contains the Annual that was published those 17ish years after, and I’d thus prefer those.

current_and_older_edition

The art itself is basically the same on this new edition, it’s the words/fonts on the cover that is different. The art is centered on the new one and basically in full, while it’s off to the side on the original, wrapping slightly to the back. The original edition maintains the logo from the comics the story appeared in, as well as the story logo of A Death in the Family from those issues.

death_in_the_family_old_back

Personally, my ideal back cover is a mix of the original and the current…I would include the original cover images, but use the current text describing the story(ies) contained.

My original edition is the sixth printing or so, and quite beat up from numerous re-reads and being with me for over 20 years. Ditto for the Lonely Place of Dying volume.

older_death_in_family_lonely_place_of_dying

Here are the two original editions. They show their age, and are far from anything resembling pristine condition, as they are two of the oldest volumes in my entire collection. That can also be seen below with the prices of both books…

pricing_old_dif

I think the first printing of A Death in the Family may have had a $3.95 cover price, but I’m not certain. Obviously the sixth printing has the $4.95 cover price. Which, with at least a couple of the issues being oversized/extra-length is not bad at all.

pricing_old_lpod

A Lonely Place of Dying was 3.95. That’s five issues, including two issues that I believe were "Direct Market only" for basically $4. The cost of one single issue of what seems to be the majority of what both DC and Marvel put out these days heading into 2016. Granted, a quarter-century or so gap in time, but still…

lonely_place_of_dying_back_cover_text

Above: the back-cover text from A Lonely Place of Dying.

Given the gap between the two stories–Batman #s 430-439–and having Batman: Year Three (which I do not believe has ever been reprinted/collected) as well as The Many Deaths of the Batman (which was reprinted ages ago into a skinny, tiny little volume), I would think a much larger volume would be called for. Tim Drake is technically, officially introduced in Year Three, and that story also involves and has ramifications for Dick Grayson, then-Nightwing, who also played a major role in A Lonely Place of Dying. At minimum, I would expect Year Three to be included, as it also addresses Batman’s deterioration after the loss of Jason, which makes Tim’s arrival all the more poignant and sets things up FOR the latter story.

For that matter, in "losing" A Lonely Place of Dying as a title/book being folded into other stuff, I would think it’d fit quite well in a Robin volume…perhaps as the first few issues of the volume, then the story from Detective Comics where Tim’s mom died, and the (I believe) 3-parter from Batman that led into the first Robin mini-series. That’d make a handsome 12-issue volume; include the Robin mini and it’d be a strong 17 issues. That’d leave Robin II and Robin III to fill a respectable 10-issue volume, before picking up with the ongoing Robin series from 1993-on.

While this post is all over the place…ultimately, if you do NOT already have both A Death in the Family and A Lonely Place of Dying, I would definitely recommend this volume. Just be aware that it does not ACTUALLY contain the Annual that it misleadingly suggests it contains.

The content–the stories themselves–are very much worth it, and two very key stories in the 76+ year history of the Batman (and Robin)!

Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Batman v Superman Toys in the Wild [SPOILERS]

Posted on December 29, 2015 by Walt

While I was happy to finally–months after “Force Friday”–see an actual assortment of new Star Wars figures, after enjoying looking at the various figures and finding myself slightly dismayed to not find Rey…I happened across what I initially thought was just another random Batman toy from the generic-ish Batman line of DC figures.

action_wings_electro_armor_batman_front

But then I noticed a now-familiar logo at the top and realized this was a toy from the upcoming Batman v. Superman film due out in the spring. And along with Batman himself (in “Electro-Armor!”) there was a Superman.

action_wings_heat_vision_superman_front

And they both talk and have sound effects…WHY Superman would ever have any kind of need for artificial WINGS is beyond me, though. And I get the “Heat Vision” but this toy just makes no sense to me with the lights on the chest (besides the S-shield).

action_wings_heat_vision_superman_back

Pulling the indicator on the back of either figure deploys the “action wings” and activates the voice/sound stuff.

I’m really not impressed with either figure…but then, I’m not the target audience for these at all…they seem geared for the younger crowd.

These seemed roughly the size of those 12-inch barely-articulated “titan” figures that are usually about $10. I couldn’t find a price for these (and the price-scanner came up “please see associate”) but I’d guess these’ll probably be in the $24.99-$29.99 range due to talking and their size.

superman_v_batman_toys_shield_clash_superman_front

Then there were what appear to be the “regular” figures for the line. I’m very disappointed in these because I’d far prefer the 3.75″ scale…but they probably want to differentiate these from the higher-end “Adult Collector” figures that seem to have become the identifier for the 3.75″ scale of late.

[A bit further below I show photos of a figure that could be construed to be a spoiler for the film. Stop reading now if you don’t want to see spoiler-type stuff regarding Batman v Superman]

Continue reading →

Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Toy Chronicles | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Remembering Detective Comics #606

Posted on December 18, 2015 by Walt

My first-ever Batman comics were Batman #439 and Detective Comics #604. While looking back I can remember how little “sense” Detective 604 made to me at the time, #606 (my second issue of the series, having missed #605) left QUITE a mark on me, as well as really informing my sense of the then-current Batman. The real sense of true time having passed somewhere between comics my Grandpa’d shared with me and these brand-new ones I was reading.

tec606a

For one thing…Batman at a grave marked R.I.P. ROBIN…with a GHOST of Robin? Ok, from Grandpa’s comics, Robin was Batman’s buddy, his partner, whatever. He was like Batman, he was one of the main characters…but apparently between those comics and this, he’d DIED???

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tec604c

WAS only a kid.

Time had definitely passed. Stuff had HAPPENED. Whoever this Clayface Four was, she could only mimic Robin…who Batman obviously has regretful memories of. And the shadows to the imagery…that was truly effective!

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Yeah…apparently Batman had been defeated, at least in The Joker having stabbed Robin to death.

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As the issue progresses, a glimpse into the past…an event tragic, traumatic, hurtful, impactful, in Batman’s past…

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More hurt, more violence that he couldn’t stop…

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Obviously not the brighter, more “fun” Batman I’d seen in Grandpa’s comics. And sure enough…Robin–dead. Though at the time I had no clue who Barbara Gordon was, or that that was her, or The Killing Joke, etc.

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Obviously…a number of villains in Batman’s life. Crazy, colorful madmen, all of whom wouldn’t mind hurting him, killing him, that he’d not permanently stopped. I sure did not know Killer Cros until years later, and probably was only vaguely familiar with Riddler and Penguin.

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…and QUITE a cliffhanger. I had no idea who this woman was–Looker–but this image, of a mad/insane Batman, driven there by the sheer horror of everything he’s faced, of the violence and failures (and no references to Zur En Arr)…obviously I knew he “got better,” but it would be several years before I’d acquire the “missing” 2nd and 4th/concluding chapters of this story. Meanwhile, the main Batman title moved on to A Lonely Place of Dying, a new Robin, I let comics go for a short time, and then returned the summer before the Death of Superman stuff.

tec604e

I was too young at the time to fully grasp deeper “meta” elements in comics…particularly ongoing, continuous stories with characters such as Batman, that will never–TRULY–be allowed to permanently change, die, etc. But at the time, this was a grave image, and I remember truly considering the danger Batman was in, and that there wouldn’t be a guarantee of his victory (particularly after seeing all his failures!). I also know at the time I had no sense of who this was, that this was a key, crucial character in the Batman story, as opposed to just some officer.

Over the years, I gradually filled in the gaps. I learned OF stuff, gathered more detail and confirmation of the Joker having KILLED Robin…and then got to read the story itself in a book from a nearby library.

It wasn’t until over a decade after this issue that I got to read A Killing Joke first-hand. Outside a backing-board “trading card” from a 3-pack of comics (ubiquitous-ish in the early 1990s at department stores like Hills), I didn’t even know of the Outsiders until a group the Eradicator was part of in a new title in the mid-’90s.

And the issue had an ad that also stuck with me through the years, showing that time had passed, and giving the far-younger me something else to chew on: more than one Robin? This one hadn’t died? That meant that the dead Robin was at least a 2nd one!

Grayson_Forgetting_the_Past_Tec606ad

I would love to have a poster of this image. Along with The Mud Pack and A Death in the Family, the story this ad is for–A Lonely Place of Dying–is one of “the” Batman stories of my youth, in my introduction to comics, prior to Knightfall. I imagine I’ll cover A Lonely Place of Dying in the near future.

Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

My Dark Knight Three

Posted on November 30, 2015 by Walt

dkiii001The newest chapter in the Dark Knight series began last week, with the release of DK III #1.

I passed on it–I was disgusted by all the variant covers and incentives and such, the multiple editions and all that…worse (to me) if this is so special, it deserves the squarebound treatment the first two series had. This looked to be just a standard (cardstock-ish) cover, and I don’t want to deal with individual issues when the inevitable collected volume will be far preferable to me. DK2 was–each issue–functionally a mini paperback itself.

I’ll probably buy the collected volume when the paperback comes out (unless I break down and get The Dark Knight Saga hardover and DKIII gets an oversize hardcover that can match it). But for now…I’m not buying/supporting DK III as single issues.

I do have my own "Dark Knight Three," though:

batman_the_dark_knight_returns_editions

The original ’80s edition, by Warner Books; the 1996-ish Tenth Anniversary edition, and the more recent paperback edition with trade dress to match DK2.

A local library had that original edition, and it was one of the first graphic novels/collected volumes I’d ever read…probably matched with a copy of The Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told (not to be confused with the more recent Superman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told volumes) and A Death in the Family.

I’m sort of surprised DC did not include this in that series of graphic-novel-and-Blu-Ray releases they put out recently.

Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Batman and Robin Eternal #1 [Review]

Posted on October 8, 2015 by Walt

batmanandrobineternal001Story: James Tynion IV & Scott Snyder
Script: James Tynion IV
Pencils: Tony Daniel
Inks: Sandu Florea
Colors: Tomeu Morey
Letters: Tom Napolitano
Cover: Tony Daniel, Sandu Florea, Tomeu Morey
Asst. Editor: Dave Wielgosz
Editor: Chris Conro
Group Editor: Mark Doyle
Published by: DC Comics
Cover Date: December 2015
Cover Price: $3.99

Against otherwise better judgment, I decided to check this out. I’m sure it had plenty to do with being a #1–a chance to “check it out” from the start, before things get deep. Also that I got the impression the series is due to focus heavily on the previous Robins–Dick, Jason, and Tim–which is something I’m quite interested in (particularly Dick and Tim). I also have the hope of it being a lengthy but mostly contained story, and while I’m really not thrilled at the prospect of a WEEKLY $4 book, since it’s not like I’m really following anything else from DC and Marvel at the moment, I might be able to tolerate a weekly dose at the higher price.

We open with a flashback, then jump to the ‘present’ with Red Robin, Grayson, and Red Hood pursuing someone; a bit of an action sequence. Scene skips abound as we get a moment with the new Batman interacting with would-be Bat-protégé Harper Row, then more flashbacky stuff, and Grayson encounters a costumed figure that could have used lethal force but doesn’t; we’re introduced to this “Mother” as a concept, and “The Orphan,” and ultimately get a fairly disturbing “reveal” for the ending of the issue.

Aside from the concept, probably the first thing I noticed with the issue was the art. I tend to enjoy Daniel’s work, and even on a hit-or-miss basis, this one’s a hit for me. I really liked the look of the issue on the whole–including Dick and Jason looking rather similar (thanks to metatextual knowledge of Jason’s creation/introduction back in the ’80s). Really no complaints visually.

Story-wise I’m less-keen on stuff. Structurally, I definitely appreciate the issue. I liked that we’re dropped in on action right away (rather than some “talking heads” situation), and I like that we get a bit of an overview of the characters that seem poised to be focal points of this weekly series. It’s silly details that hung me up–stuff like “The Narrows” as a location I don’t ever remember in Gotham prior to the Nolan films or the Arkham games, as well as stuff from Dick’s flashback to his first “super-villain” tying to those films. I can’t quite put my finger on why that bugs me, but it’s there. Hardly a “dealbreaker,” though. I have more concern with Batman–Bruce’s–actions and potential motivation, perhaps just on a metatextual level.

Whatever the specifics…I enjoyed this on the whole. The issue also felt thick (and it is–I count 30 pages of story to the usual 20ish) and so the issue is much more worth its $3.99 cover price.

Seeing the third volume of the paperbacks for the previous Batman weekly–Batman Eternal–also out this week plants the seed in my mind all the more that I might prefer to just wait for collected volumes…particularly given how quickly I lost track of DC‘s weeklies last year. If I’m not going to get around to/keep up with weekly issues and binge-read anyway…might as well wait for my preferred format.

Still…a good first issue, working well as a “pilot” issue and getting me interested, confirming that yes, I am (myself, at least) interested in where this story goes, whatever the format. And as a first issue…this is well worth checking out if you’ve any particular interest in Batman’s sidekicks.

Filed under: 2015 posts, 2015 Reviews, Batman and Robin Eternal, DC, New 52, The | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

The Future Looking More Like the Past

Posted on August 3, 2015 by Walt

I have yet to pay more than $10 (EVER) for a single non-collected-edition comic. And the way I’m loving this Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited, am not feeling like I’m missing anything passing on basically anything new that DC is putting out, am more than content to get Image stuff as collected volumes (but only going beyond vol. 1 on a select few titles) and have recently dropped Valiant from my pulls…

It’s looking like there might be a ‘future’ for me in the past, in back issues.

back_issues_detective_575

Though it’s obviously beat-up and hardly in great condition, I had no problem at all paying $3 for Detective Comics [vol. 1] #575 over the weekend. The issue is over 25 years old, is a “key” issue that I am missing from my personal post-Crisis run of Batman stuff…and that $3 is no worse than buying some new DC issue that I can make up for in a $1 bin later this year or sometime next year at some kind of convention if it matters.

$3 is $1 cheaper than buying the cheapest Valiant comic and virtually any contemporary Marvel comic.

I don’t see rushing out and into buying stacks and stacks of priced back issues like this. But I certainly can see not being opposed to buying issues from this era for $4 and under just on the justification that it’s not costing any more than buying contemporary issues.

But it’ll be better, because I’m actually interested in stuff from the mid-’80s into the ’90s…far more than I am in current prices and the current direction(s) that…certain publishers…are going in.

Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

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