Who monitors the DC Multiverse? Mandroid does! DCU week in review for Monday the 15th, December 2008
What are the Monitor Tapes?
The Monitor Tapes first appeared in issue #10 of Crisis on Infinite Earths, running along the bottom pages as a separate black and white strip. Crisis (or COIE for short) was DC’s big superhero jam project where every character (including the first appearance of one John Constantine) in DC’s toybox joined in to fight to keep their worlds from being destroyed. Prior to COIE, DC editors and writers had relegated several characters to alternate earths to explain the ever growing amount of inconsistencies 50 years of publishing comics tends to create. Crisis was designed as a massive crossover and sendoff for the characters before the characters were rebooted from square one, hence creating a smooth, easy to maintain fresh continuity.
Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned…but that’s another article in it’s self for another time.
The Monitor Tapes themselves served as a kind of cosmic recap for the series, including some events there wasn’t time to explain in a proper story. Back when Crisis was first published (1985), if you missed the issue, you’d either have to hope you had a local comic store with copies left, or scour newsstands and spinner racks in hopes of finding the missing issues.
What I’ll be doing is giving a weekly rundown on DC comics taking place in the DCU. That’s a lot of work, so I’ll be alternating weeks with a character study and bio in addition to answering questions you readers might have.
As a matter of fact, next Monday I’ll be doing a rundown on Batman, looking at the past, present, and possible future of the Caped Crusader. I was going to start with Superman (since it all begins with Superman). But due to the new interest and controversy surrounding the character, it seemed like a good time to review the character.
Now, on to this (previous) week’s crop of DC comics-
DC Books available on Thursday, 12/4/2008
For a full list of all DC publications including Vertigo, Johnny DC, and Wildstorm, please see dccomics.com for full list. As much as I’d love to read and review every book DC publishes, time and money is a factor so sometimes you’ll get a brief on books as I either skim them or give information from solicits. Also, I may leave out some books if they don’t have a direct barring on the DCU as a whole (as I’ve done with this week’s Jonah Hex).
BATMAN #682
EL DIABLO #4 (OF 6)
JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #21
SUPERMAN/SUPERGIRL: MAELSTROM #3 (OF 5)
TERRA #3 (OF 4)
TERROR TITANS #3 (OF 6)
TRINITY #27 (OF 52)
VIXEN: RETURN OF THE LION #3 (OF 5)
SUPERMAN/BATMAN: VENGEANCE TPB (SUPERMAN/BATMAN #20-25)
TEEN TITANS: ON THE CLOCK TPB (TEEN TITANS #55-61)
And now, on to the reviews!
BATMAN #682
Grant Morrison- Writer
Lee Garbett/ Trevor Scott/ Guy Major- Artists (Pencils/Inks/ Colors)
Alex Ross- Cover
Spoilers ‘Ahoy for those who’ve not read Batman #682. As a matter of fact, all reviews may in fact contain spoilers, so read at your own risk.
Hot on the heels of last weeks issue, the supposed “Death” of Bruce Wayne and the final chapter of RIP, we’re thrust into a life and times retrospective of his life as Batman. Starting with a fade from black focusing upon Bruce, we see a pre-Batman Wayne beaten and bruised by his first confrontation with “Crime”. We’re then walked through the memories and history of Batman, “supposedly” through the eyes of Alfred Pennyworth (According to DC solicits). What we really get is a reconstruction of Batman through a stream of consciousness running through Bruce’s mind.
Morrison pokes fun at the Batman concept through Alfred, an excellently cheeky maneuver and brilliantly applied to what is sometimes an underused supporting character. True Alfred is always in the background somewhere, but sometimes he’s more scenery like the giant penny and other “Trophies”. Alfred explains how he’s thought of all the possibilities of what Bruce could have chosen as a symbolic totem (Mothman, Snakeman, Owlman, and well, you get the idea) if only another animal wandered in. Unlike previous writers who’ve stripped the Batman character down to a lone, paranoid, dark vigilante (as since the soft-boot after Crisis on Infinite Earths), Grant continues to acknowledge the history of the character and reintroduce it, no matter how absurd the concept. Batman is being rebuilt, warts and all, by acknowledging that “better or for worse” his past is a part of his character.
The only drawback to this issue (as it has been with previous issues) is the art. The art by Garbett is by no means terrible, he services the job well and he clearly has talent, though the style seems “Image” house style at times (though that could be due to Scott’s inks). Unfortunately, it doesn’t help the story out in any way with the constant changes from ever shifting time periods, to the framework of the issue. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if the issue was dropped into his lap as a rush deadline.
Back to the conclusion of the story, it’s revealed that Bruce is still Batman and he’s been fighting an attack on his mind (as was the theme with RIP) by Mister Simyan and Mokkari, scientists and henchmen of Darksied. It turns out the two of them have been working on duplicating Bruce/ Batman since they captured him in Final Crisis #2. Because Batman is superior in mind and body, and unbreakable in will, they’ve decided to use him as a template for a clone army in service of their dark empire (unto Simyan and Mokkari, or Darksied remains to be seen).
Does this mean RIP was all in Batman’s head remains to be seen, and if so when did Batman’s “reality” stop and the “dream” begin? Morrison’s run has left a lot of people scratching their heads and/or waiting for answers to be revealed. The DC nation page in the issue it’s self states “Next in BATMAN #683, The intriguing conclusion to Grant Morrison’s recent run on Batman!” Amiss rumors of Morrison leaving the book, does this mean #683 will be the final issue Grant writes? In the past Didio has said “Grant’s welcome to write Batman as long as he wants!” but things may have changed since then. For the foreseeable future, no other Batman issues are on the solicitation listing under Grant’s pen.
Speaking of solicitations- (and as always taken with a grain of salt, as content and ship dates are subject to change) here’s what you have to look forward to in the next few months in the world of Batman-
End of December we’ll see the first of three two part stories crossing over with Detective Comics. Firstly in Detective Comics #851, we’ve got the return Batman legend Denny O’Neil. He’ll be penning a story described as “the last days of Gotham” and what happens to a city without the Batman. (Ending in Batman #684)
January brings the Paul Dini two parter beginning in Detective Comics #852 during the “Faces of Evil” event. Dini’s story is a follow-up to the recent “Heart of Hush” RIP tie-in (When is a tie in not a tie in?). Acording to the solicit info, Catwoman decides to finish what’s left of Hush, and there’s no Batman to be found here to stop her. (Ending in Batman #685)
February is for lovers, more specifically Neil Gaiman lovers when his “Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?” begins in BATMAN #686. The title it’s self is an homage and reference to the classic two part “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?” by Alan Moore. The story originally appeared in Superman #423 and Action Comics #583 and was meant to be the final Superman story (as the John Byrne reboot was on it’s way) for the Silver-Age Superman before Crisis on Infinite Earths (or COIE for short) reboot and reintroduction of Superman the DCU. Will this be the final “Batman” story before a new Batman takes his place is both up in the air and postmodernly true at the same time. (Ending in Detective Comics #853)
JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #21
Geoff Johns and Alex Ross- Writers
Dale Eaglesham, Jerry Ordway (P) Bob Wiacek, Nathan Massengill(I)- Artists
Alex Ross- Cover
SUPERMAN* punched a bolt of lighting! That’s pretty much the highlight of the issue! You can all go home now! What? OK, there’s more I guess…
The “One World, Under Gog” story continues and leads us into the obligatory “Big Fight” issue/chapter. Previously (in the Kingdom Come Special- The Kingdom) Gog starts demanding everyone worship him and well, it doesn’t go over too well with the JSA members previously supporting him. Things go awry as it’s discovered Gog’s taking root to earth and once he does, if disconnected he’ll destroy the planet and people on it. Needless to say, the JSA and Superman want to make sure the earth stays intact, concidering that’s where they keep all their stuff (in-joke for those who catch it).
Justice Society of America is the best superhero team book out on the stands currently, if not one of the greatest books in general. The characters in JSA are rich with personality and history, so much it’s almost a shame when the obligatory fight scenes happen. But even then, Johns manages to use the plot device to further flesh out the characters to make them more real when giving them motivations and feeling.
This book is part of a multi-issue storyline (including three one-shots) and as a stand alone issue is a bad place to start reading. The story it’s self is a story we’re all familiar with (hell, I believe they even reference “The Monkey’s Paw” at one point), but it’s lees about the story, and more about how the individual characters react to the situation. Anyone not currently reading JSA should start back with the first volume,
Justice Society of America Vol. 1: The Next Age, and work their way forward.
*Superman- Introduced in JSA #9 may or may not be the Superman introduced in Kingdom Come, of which Alex Ross was the illustrator and co-creator. Really, it doesn’t matter either way, just enjoy it.
SUPERMAN/BATMAN: VENGEANCE TPB (SUPERMAN/BATMAN #20-25)
Jeph Loeb– Writer
Ed McGuinness(P), Dexter Vines(I)- Artists
(Note- As a bit of a cheat, I’m gathering the info from the original issues and not the trade it’s self, as the story content remains the same. Unfortunately, I’m unaware if any type of extras were included in the recent collection)
Vengance is the final collection of Loeb’s Superman/ Batman run and the bookend to the story and collaboration with Ed McGuinness (though they did both contribute to issue #26, which was plotted by the late Sam Loeb, Jeph son) .Superman/ Batman has always been a guilty pleasure book, though sometimes heavy handed with the “differences” between characters. The book was a modern update of the old Worlds Finest series and cranked it up to eleven on the fun meter. The series was often questioned and criticized due to the frequent continuity flubs and general lack of adhering to said DCU continuity
The final storyline begins with your typical museum heist perpetrated by the new Axis of Evil characters, accompanied by a radio show in captions. The radio show is a call-in type where the callers are discussing the effect of violence on society, specifically that of the Maximums, a clear analogue of Marvel’s Ultimates (which Loeb would write shortly after the end of his DC exclusive contract). During the melee, Superman and Batman appear assisting the Maximums, then suddenly attack them before Superman kills Skyscraper (A Giant-Man analogue) shouting “You killed Lois”. After some additional trading of punches with Monster (Hulk) and the newly arrived Viking (Thor), Batman and Superman escape via “Boom Tube” (4th World “teleport” device).
The randomness continues when we’re introduced to Batzarro via Bizarro, Superman’s backwards “clone”, adding another subplot to the story. We then end the first issue (or rather chapter in the trade) with the title members fighting a Kryptonite Man in Tokyo with the assist of Hiro the Toyman (not the Toyman foe of Superman lore). They manage to stop the new Kryptonite Man by absorbing the K-Energy and leaving a reappeared and confused Capitan Atom (last appearing in the end of Superman/Batman Vol. 1: Public Enemies). The remaining pages flash back to the Maximums, still reeling from the death of Skyscraper and vowing vengeance against Superman and Batman (despite never having heard of them). Another “Dead” member Bowman (Hawkeye) manifests as a ghost and informs his teammates that despite his current aliment, he can help them track the murderers down. And like I said, this is still the first 22 pages with 4 more issues/ chapters to go!
Unlike Loeb’s Batman: the Long Halloween (1998 Eisner winner) and Superman: For All Seasons (both collaborations with artist Tim Sale), Superman/ Batman has no pretension of being high art like the other works have been considered. Because of this, the run was criticized by some DC fans for not being on par with those previous works. Superman Batman under Loeb was a guilty pleasure book amidst a sea of works trying to take themselves a little too seriously at times. In a world where Superman and Batman team up, it was crazy, fun, and all over the place. If you want to read a book with the two characters having madcap superhero adventures, this is a great series to read. As with JSA, I’d strongly suggest going back and picking up the first volume, Superman/Batman Vol. 1: Public Enemies and then work your way up to this one as well.
TEEN TITANS: ON THE CLOCK TPB (TEEN TITANS #55-61)
Sean McKeever- Writer
Eddy Barrows, Jamal Igle, Jimmy Palmiotti, Ruy Jose and Rob Hunter- Artists
Rafael Albuquerque- Cover
(Again, I’m cheating with already having the issues, well most of the issues)
I’m at a disadvantage to truly review this trade, as I ended up picking up a handful of issues months ago just to see where the series was (I had stopped reading with issue 53). So just so you know, this review is mainly focusing issues #57-60 and isn’t really fair on my end.
I read the four issues on hand and in a nutshell, its fight club with teen superheroes. The Clock King (newly revamped and remodeled by what looks to be a remix of the Batman: the Animated Series version with a touch of Teen Titans, GO! Mad Mod) assembles teen legacy villains (IE- young versions of existing DC villains) to capture the Teen Titans. Clock King is collecting teen heroes for Boss Dark Side (Darksied in a human guise) to fight it out, with the winners to be broken and join Darksied’s gang/ army.
While the concept seems interesting enough, the series seems less interested in the Final Crisis “seeds” (joke intended) and more focused on developing the Terror Titans. As you know from the books this week, the Terror Titans have received their own mini-series. As a story, I found it ok, but not enough to continue reading Teen Titans or the Terror Titans min, though I don’t think that it’s necessarily the books fault. I don’t think these books are really aimed at me as a reader and I’m ok with that. McKeever seems to be writing for a teen audience and I think that’s good! Not everything at DC needs to be written for a single “adult” audience (take that as you will), that’s just limiting yourself. As an occasional retail comic jockey, teens seem to dig the book quite a bit, so kudos DC!
And in brief –
EL DIABLO #4 (OF 6)- The mini series continues introducing Chato Santana, the third character to take the name El Diablo. This version of the character seems to not only fight crime as a vigilante, but also finds himself fighting demons from hell in addition to his already hefty workload. Think Ghost Rider with six-guns.
SUPERMAN/SUPERGIRL: MAELSTROM #3 (OF 5)- At the insistence of the DC solicitations, “Superman and Supergirl face unexpected challenges in this action-packed tale examining what it means to be a hero.” in addition to falling into a loose continuity spot between Supergirls arrival and the “Death of the New Gods”. From what I’ve gathered, Malestrom (an Apokolptian) wants to shack up with Darksied (he’s really becoming the DCU’s Wolverine, isn’t he), so she decides to come to earth to kill Superman. Because nothing gets Darksied hotter than dead Kryptonian. Shenanigans ensue and the “Cousins from Krypton” get lost in space and lose their powers under a red sun.
TERRA #3 (OF 4)- The long awaited mini-series by Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray, and Amanda Conner sees it’s third issue this week. The third character to call herself Terra (what’s with that DC? Third time’s a charm for reintroducing character concepts) runs amuck fighting Pyrite and the Lavarians (soon to be a band name) and paling around with Power Girl (really, Amanda Conner Power Girl is enough to sell the series). This issue, Geo-Force (brother to the original Terra) shows up no doubt asking the title character if she is in fact his dead sister with a dye job.
TERROR TITANS #3 (OF 6)- Evil and angst run deep down at the teenage fight club! Clock King schemes, while Ravager rebels. Doped up superheroes continue to be dragged out and used as either the punchee or puncheer. This issue is the one before the reintroduction of Dwane McDuffie’s Static, who is awesome enough I may give this book a chance. Am I the only one looking for parallels whit this book to the recent DCU VS Mortal Kombat?
TRINITY #27 (OF 52)- A world without the Big Three (Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman respectively) continues to go “horribly awry”, unlike the time where they all went on vacation for a year (52). The Dark Trinity (Morgan Le Fay, Enigma, and Despero, I think…) discovers a traitor in their midst (hint, its one out of three), and time and space continue to go crazy like that Prince song. I’ll actually be sitting down with the series and catch up on it in the near future. So I can hopefully give a better breakdown of the series. That’s a lot of comics so you’ll all have to be patient.
VIXEN: RETURN OF THE LION #3 (OF 5)- Mari Jiwe McCabe AKA Vixen finally gets her own (mini) series! Ironic since she was slated to be the first black female character with her own series back in 1978. Joking aside, the mini goes back to her origins involving the death of her mother, returning Vixen to her homeland. I’ll be taking a closer look at this series in coming months as well, time permited.
If you haven’t already read it, go read CyberNev’s Reviw of Supergirl:Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade #1. another new entry in the Johnny DC line for the wee ones.
Next Monday we’ll be looking at a brief history of Batman, where he is presently, and where he may be headed in the future. Time permitted, I’ll also try and throw in reviews of Batman: Joker’s Asylum, Green Lantern: Secret Origin and of course, Final Crisis. So in lieu of that, here’s DC’s books for this week-
DC’s books arriving Wednesday, 12/10/2008
ACTION COMICS #872
AMBUSH BUG: YEAR NONE #5 (OF 6)
BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL #24
BATMAN: JOKER’S ASYLUM TPB
BOOSTER GOLD #15
THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD: LORDS OF LUCK TPB (#1-6)
DETECTIVE COMICS #851
FINAL CRISIS #5 (OF 7)
FINAL CRISIS: REVELATIONS #4 (OF 5)
GREEN ARROW/BLACK CANARY #15
GREEN LANTERN CORPS #31
GREEN LANTERN: SECRET ORIGIN HC (#29-35)
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #27
JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA VOL. 3: THY KINGDOM COME PART 2 HC (#13-18)
THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES: THE MORE THINGS CHANGE TPB (#7-13)
NIGHTWING #151
SECRET SIX #4
SIMON DARK #15
SUPERMAN AND BATMAN VS. VAMPIRES AND WEREWOLVES #5 (OF 6)
SUPERMAN/BATMAN #54
TITANS #8
TRINITY #28
WATCHMEN #1 – NEW PRINTING
As always, check dccomics.com for more info, and your local comic shop for availability.
One thing I’d like to note is the reprint of Watchmen #1, for those interested in reading Watchmen (if not already read), but not sure if you want to by the trade blind. You really can’t go wrong with this reprint priced at the original price of $1.50 (though the average price being 75 cents back in 1986)!
For questions or topics you would like to see covered in the future, either post a response below or email me at surrealist_six@yahoo.com.
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Special shout out to Black Cat Comics for supplying this weeks DC comics for review and Greg for being the awesome owner of said store! If you’re in the Salt Lake City area and you need your comic fix, Greg’s shop is one of the best comic stores in the area, if not the best! Even if you’re in not in SLC, Black Cat Comics will ship books to you in any another state or country even!
BLACK CAT COMICS
2265 SOUTH HIGHLAND DR
SALT LAKE CITY, UT
(801) 461-4228
Monday through Friday- 11AM to 7PM
Sundays- 12PM to 5pm
And thanks to DC for publishing comics for 75 years!
And finally, thank you for reading!