I thought it was a bit over the top. Was Cheryl like this in the classic Archie or was she more likeable?

I'm not liking this much at all. Way too many scenes where I'm not really sure what happened, except that one of Bane's dull henchman won his fight with whichever member of the Bat-Family he was fighting. 

This series makes the Bat-Family look like a bunch of incompetents going up against the SUPER DUPER fighting prowess of a bunch of thugs from central casting.

And it seems to be ignoring the Bat-Family Strike Force in Detective Comics as many of them are nowhere to be seen. Clayface may be a terrible character but he sure might come in handy fighting Bane.

And I also pretty much hated the way that Selina was treated like a throwaway character, getting beaten in a few panels by a guy with a hawk.

Some seriously bad writing. The art's better. Individual panels look great, but I just can't tell exactly what's going on, except that Batman has surrounded himself with way too many operatives who can be beaten in a few panels when the plot calls for it.  

I could go on. But at this point, I'd feel obligated to read it again and make sure I was getting all my facts right. (For example, I might have made a mistake in who beat Catwoman because Bane's henchmen are so generic.) But I just don't want to read it again right away.

But here's one glaring problem. Superman knows Bane is wreaking havoc with the Bat-Family. Nightwing and two Robins (one of them might be Red Hood; I don't feel like checking to see which) were found hanging by their necks in the previous issue, presumably defeated by Bane and/or his operatives with their SUPER DUPER MIGHTY MORPHIN combat skills. In this issue, the Robins (and Robin derivatives) are placed in cryogenic chambers in the Fortress of Solitude. (Exactly what has happened is left rather vague so we can have gigantic panels displaying the grandeur of the Fortress unsullied by a few expository balloons that might tell us what happened.)

So Superman knows. But I guess Batman wants to handle Bane without Superman's help. His pride has overcome his feeling of responsibility for the damage - to himself, to the rest of the Bat-Family, to the people of Gotham - in the coming conflict with Bane. 

I thought the previous issue had some really dumb stuff as well. Bruce Wayne goes to BatBurgers - a Batman-themed fast food restaurant - with the Robins. Batburgers is actually a funny idea. But there is so much dumb stuff in that scene. Like where Bruce Wayne starts lecturing the guy at the cash register about how its bad taste to use the Joker as the name of your special sauce. He comes off like your crazy conservative grandpa getting all het up because the server said "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" even though its still the first week of December. I think Bruce Wayne looked dumb getting mad about it at all and even dumber lecturing a very low-level employee just trying to make a few bucks so he can get out of Gotham for a week or so during Spring Break.

I'll be the guinea pig 'cause in Ellis We Trust.


The Wild Storm #1 - by Warren Ellis with art by Jon Davis-Hunt.

I admit, I only have a passing knowledge of the Wildstorm universe, mainly informed by Ellis' previous work in Stormwatch and the Authority (I'm pretty sure that I still have the original three issue mini of WildCATS by Lee somewhere). So Lee handing the keys over to Ellis fully for this reboot got my attention (especially since I enjoyed his last effort in this regard, NewUniversal).

Engineer Angela Spica wants to change the world for the better, even going so far as experimenting on herself by building a type of bio-armor. It's painful and bloody but comes in handy when she witnesses an assassination attempt on the head of HALO Corp, Jacob Marlowe. She intervenes publicly, gaining Marlowe's attention but also the notice of the covert group who tried to kill him, International Operations (IO). So begins the search for this new player who may have just brought this covert feud that's embroiled the world into the light of day.

I can't comment on any direct changes to any of these characters, all I can say is that Ellis handles the characterization well, from the unbridled energy of Angie's desires to the old curiosity of Marlowe to the cold detachment of Zealot. One gets a sense of an underlying conflict between global organizations just below the surface of the public's awareness. Toss in some of Ellis' futurist ideas and theories and you have an intriguing brew mixing. Davis-Hunt's art is clean, precise and expressive. What I liked is the more traditional format of panel layouts, ranging sometimes from six to nine panels. It's something that I haven't seen in awhile and the effective use of sharp and muted colors helped the overall covert tone of the conflict.

Having previous knowledge of the WS Universe would be a plus of course, but for a mostly new reader like myself, this was an interesting start.

7/10 

Supersons # 1: finally took a look at it last night and it's not bad! I do not like this version of Robin, but I do like how he and Superboy play off each other. Superboy tried to he good and please his parents while Robin is that friend urging him to sneak out, stay out late, etc. I liked the contrast in their lives at home. Jon and his parents at the table enjoying time together while Robin's homelife involves home schooling and the moody, brooding Batman.
Not sure I'll add this to my pull list, but may check it out if there any left on the shelf.
8/10

When Image started I passed on the titles. I was a HUGE Valiant fan & later Malibu's Ultraverse. When those 2 folded I tried Alan Moore's Supreme (which I loved) & then went back & read some early Image. The only series I liked were Wild CATS & Savage Dragon. I also started picking up new Wildstorm titles like The Authority. I thought Ellis & Hitch's 12 issues were brilliant. However I dropped it after Millar & Quitely's first 4 issues. I also loved the Majestic titles.