Damian's inclusion really did grab me, their run under Morrison as Batman and Robin is one of my all time favorite runs on Batman so to see someone else pick up that magic really is fantastic. I originally wrote Nightwing off because it seemed too dark to fit the character; I hated the whole connection to the Court of Owls and then I tried it again when Dick teamed up with Superman but it felt hollow as in current continuity that relationship wasn't there and there was nothing in the issue to sell you on on that friendship...so where did it really start to sing after that? Was #16 the start, or are there issues before that I should look for?

Batman #20 was very amusing when I read it again, this time imagining the voices of Patrick Warburton as Bane, H. Jon Benjamin as Batman and Katharine Hepburn as the narrator (who turns out to be Martha Wayne).

Let's see if I can summarize this issue. Bane is on a rampage through Arkham Asylum because he needs the Psycho-Pirate for some reason, and Batman is guarding Gotham Girl, who is recovering and needs time to recuperate to do whatever it is that Gotham Girl does and save the day or something. At the beginning of #20, Bane has caught up with Batman and they start beating up on each other.

While they are fighting, we get to read bunches of captions that turn out to be Martha Wayne. My interpretation is that Batman is so close to death from his long conflict with Bane's magical beat-'em-up juice that he has one foot in the Afterlife and that's why he is communing with his mother.

Which is not a story element I have a problem with. Poor Martha Wayne seldom gets developed in the comics beyond having her pearls stolen just before she is gunned down by Joe Chill.

Unfortunately her narrative is mostly very clumsy, and there's a lot of other dumb stuff in "I Am Bane!" - this chapter in particular and the whole thing in general.

We get something of an interlude where Martha is describing a scenario where a jet is about to crash in Gotham Harbor, and Batman is examining all the possibilities of how to hit the water at just the right angle so everyone isn't killed. So, if he's standing on the top of the plane with a cord attached to the cockpit, then it's just like water-skiing and he can bring the plane in safely. But he will be killed.

Well, I'd say he'd better try pretty hard not to be dropped on the top of a plane that's about to crash in Gotham Harbor.

I believe the writer is trying to develop an analogy between the crashing plane scenario and the fight with Bane. So instead of coming up with another of Batman's exploits - something that actually happened to Batman - where he succeeded despite the great odds, we get this really silly and highly unlikely interlude where Batman has imagined a crashing jet that he somehow gets on top of with a cord attached to the cockpit that somehow enables him to steer the plane into the harbor at just the right angle.

I guess they can't use something that already happened to Batman for the analogy because that might imply that Bane and his magical super-duper extra-special fighter venom juice isn't the greatest threat that Batman ever faced.

There's also a bit where Bane says after he kills Batman, he's going to kill Gordon, Catwoman, Alfred, Gotham Girl, all the Robins (all the Robins! Aren't there hundreds? Or did that not make it over from the New 52?), Batgirl, Batwoman, Bat-Mite and Ace the Bat-Hound. And then he's going to burn Gotham to the ground. Because ...

Here, we run into a major snag. I don't get Bane's motives. Yes, I know he had a rough childhood. But Batman didn't have anything to do with it unless I missed something in an issue that I don't have that wasn't explained in subsequent issues which is unfortunately a huge problem with modern comics.

There's more. There's a part where Martha Wayne's narration shows she has a bit of a morbid side as she describes her son's internal injuries - a rib bent back into his lung, and things like that - that reminds me of the Spider-Roach in "The Secret Sacred Wars" segment of "Church and State" in Cerebus.

So yeah, there's a lot more. But I don't feel like picking on this comic book at length any longer.

But there is one bit that cracks me up.

It's near the end. Bane is done talking for a few pages and he just beats up Batman. Just smacks him around. And he finally says "Don't you know who I am!" and I wanted Batman to say "You're Bane."

And then Bane says it phrased slightly differently, two more times. "Don't you finally know me?!"

"Yeah. You're Bane! Shut up!"

DON'T
YOU
FINALLY
KNOW
WHO I
AM?!

And Batman should have said:

YEAH! YOU'RE BANE!
I KNOW YOU'RE BANE!
AND YOU'RE A BORING, MOTIVELESS WANKER
HOPEFLLY NEAR THE END OF A
MYSTIIFYING WAVE OF POPULARITY!

Now the next exchange of dialogue is actually pretty cool. It's too bad the set-up was so contrived. (And that the rest of "I Am Bane!" has made such little sense.)

Bane says "I am Bane!

And Batman says: "Yeah, yeah ... I know ... you're Bane. But you ... I think you ... forgot ...

I'M
BATMAN."

And then he head-butts Bane and knocks him senseless and talks to his mother in the Afterlife for a few panels.

So I have to admit the last four pages are pretty awesome. Especially with Patrick Warburton shouting "I am Bane!" and H. Jon Benjamin saying "Yeah, I know you're Bane" and Katharine Hepburn saying "Bruce Thomas Wayne. My little boy all grown up."

Good to know, thwhtguardian. I stand corrected.

Superman #20 - "Batman doesn't eat pie."  That about sums about the fun of this issue. Nuff Said.

8/10


X-Men Gold #1 - Kitty steps up into her new role as leader with a team of Colossus, Nightcrawler, Old Man Logan, Storm and Rachel Grey. First mission is to handle and stop a rampaging Terrax the Tamer. The team does so under Kitty's effective usage of their teamwork. However, the real work is seen in the aftermath as the X-Men are confronted by those civilians affected by this latest rampage, most of whom are still fearful of them either due to the fallout of their conflict with the Inhumans, the pain of M-Pox or the old fact that they are still mutants. Kitty starts the conversation with them about trying to alter these perceptions and mend old wounds. Later, the team investigates an attack on the UN building to find a rejuvenated Brotherhood of Evil Mutants behind the attack.

Guggenheim builds up a sense of nostalgia here as Kitty steps into her new role as leader. She's seems confident, capable, and understanding as she starts trying to change the public perceptions and assumptions of the X-Men. Her relationships with her teammates here appear warm, comfortable, and familiar from her trading quips with Old Man Logan to convincing old friend Rachel of the need to take on a new code name for herself (Prestige in this instance, which will take some getting used to, but is highly ironic considering Kitty's long inability to pick one for herself). It'll be interesting to see if Guggenheim is able to build further upon this in an effort to bring something new and fun into the franchise. But this does look like a group of old friends whose more like a family looking to build a better future.

The controversy over Syaf's actions is a shame. His art here is decent and conveys the action well. The baseball scenes were slightly iffy though. For what's it worth, his protest messages are not subtly woven and hidden into the art, those messages are in plain sight (one is even on a t-shirt worn by Peter). I saw them myself the first time I read this issue but without the proper context surrounding those messages, it's easy to dismiss them. (I've heard that '212' is an area code of NY so some may have mistaken this as some kind of shoutout to NYC).

Still, it's sad that he felt the need to do this, especially in a book heavily rooted in the themes of acceptance and tolerance. It marred what was otherwise a very good start to the X-relaunch.

8/10

Some quick hits from Marvel:

Champions #7: I like that the Champions have their own bad guys, even if they're kinda generic. While I like the story and what they're trying do to, I'm not sure about the extremes of the plot... yeah, things spread fast today, but I feel like Waid got a little carried away. Maybe that was his point, but if so, making the story a commentary about social media takes away from the good themes. Best part was the bits where Vision shows up to Dad... epic.

8/10




Nova #5: We finally get what's going on with Rich, and it's about what I thought. MOst of the issue is a slug fest, then we get Rich wallowing in self pity some. I just hope it end with Rich around to be used by a good writer (not that it matters these days)

5/10



Avengers #6: If time travel makes your head hurt, skip this story. Waid's first story here has been alot less impressive than Champions, that's for sure. The Kang story felt epic, sure, but that doesn't mean it's good. If you like the Vision, it's probably worth a read, but otherwise, meh. Hopefully, we're done with Kang for a while, but the last page makes me think maybe not. On the plus side, Future Vision is kinda cool, and it was fun seeing 60s Hulk interact with current Spidey.


6/10