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Post by shaxper on Nov 6, 2016 14:15:26 GMT -5
Batman #465  "Debut" script: Alan Grant pencils: Norm Breyfogle inks: Steve Mitchell colors: Adrienne Roy letters: Todd Klein asst. editor: Kelley Puckett editor: Dennis O'Neil creator: Bob Kane grade: A Two issues back, the verdict came in -- Tim Drake was a sensation. "What had me open my mouth in surprise was the incredible amount of mail we received in response to issue #457. I'm talking piles and piles. And it was all positive." And, just like that, this new Robin, forced upon the franchise by Warner Merchandising and, thus, shrugged off into his own limited series, is now back in the main Batman title and having a dominating presence there. Chuck Dixon, the relatively unknown author of the Robin limited series, will be taking over this title for three issues starting in two months, we'll soon see a Robin II series, and...well...there's the cover, a clear homage to Batman #9, the most iconic portrait of Batman and Robin together (as well as my favorite cover of all time):  It's important to recall that, when the call first came down from Warner to introduce a new Robin, Grant and Breyfogle were pushing for a very different approach, namely Lonnie Machin, the troubled teen who first encountered Batman as Anarky. Their idea was for a different, darker side-kick that would better match the twisted, psychologically intense street level stories they'd been turning out for the franchise up to that point. But fate wouldn't have it that way. A more generic Robin was introduced, Grant and Breyfogle defaulted into the main Batman title when Marv Wolfman left (forcing them to be a little more mainstream and less edgy in their work), and now this brightly colored, brightly characterized Robin was in their title and supposed to get primary focus. The result is a a vast and dramatic departure from anything one might have associated with the work of Grant and Breyfogle a year earlier. Sure, some of their recent Batman stories had introduced elements of love, humor, and fun, but never quite like this. As of this issue, Grant and Breyfogle are building a big, happy family, complete with Robin:  (they apparently don't know or don't care that he was nowhere near this confident and experienced in his limited series) A full Bat-pit crew, consisting of Alfred, Harold (good to see him back!), and now the dog from Batman #462-464 is an ongoing adopted pet called "Ace" (get the Golden Age reference?):  A happily engaged Jim Gordon and Sarah Essen:  A blossoming romance with Vikki Vale:  (nice attention to their own continuity, by the way, having her still physically recovering from the events of Detective Comics #625) A recovering dad for Tim:  And even the return of those kids Bruce has been looking after in the wake of Detective Comics #614.  I really didn't think we'd ever hear about them again. It's sweet -- grin your face off until it melts sweet -- not the kind of thing you'd ever expect to see from Grant or Breyfogle. And, really, they are acknowledging that very fact throughout this issue with its thematic core: a soap opera that has all of Gotham enamored. Alfred is quick to judge it as being trash but soon finds himself ensnared in its characters, the edgy kid Bruce Wayne visits with reminds him that life isn't some soap opera right before getting further sucked into Bruce's world, and even the final conflict is resolved by Bruce playing along as if in a soap opera. The ultimate joke would appear to be that, now that Grant and Breyfogle are paying attention to continuity and story arcs, developing a large supporting cast, and keeping the tone a little more vanilla, they are, themselves, effectively writing a soap opera. I can't decide if, ultimately, this is a complaint or a celebration -- are they as captivated by its charm as Alfred, or merely begrudgingly acknowledging that this is what DC, Warner, and presumably fans of the new Robin want? I think the answer to that mystery lies in the final page:  Beautiful, campy, and it concludes with "The End." When does Grant ever end a story with "The End?" In fact, most writers by this point avoided such a cliche unless something resolved with dramatic finality at the close. So...what has ended? After all, isn't this ending supposed to leave us with optimism for a new beginning? ("The past casts a long shadow...but maybe the bright light of the future will help to dispel it.") I'm thinking this is either a subtle mourning for the darker, grittier reality they'd been trying to capture over the past four years, or else it's a belief that this was going to be their final issue -- the capstone to their work that also leaves the doors open for a bold new age for the franchise. Dixon is coming in to take over in two months time in order to do a sort of Robin 1.5 in these pages as a way of catering to the fans forking over tons of money for more Robin material. Maybe Grant and Breyfogle assumed they were done, or were even told as much. I'll be curious to see if the next issue (their last before Dixon comes in for three issues) feels like a rushed filler story, as this really would have made a powerful out for Grant and Breyfogle. As always though, I might also be reading too far into all of this  In the end, this is one of those special issues that puts aside the need for a central plot in order to build character and, in this case, a universe. Whether Grant and Breyfogle did so lovingly or tongue-in-cheek is ultimately beside the point. It worked. And it's a nice slap in the face to anyone who believed, post Dark Knight Returns, that Batman had to be dark. As I've said before, it feels more and more like Grant and Breyfogle are moving towards a run resembling what Doug Moench did prior to Crisis on Infinite Earths. I personally love it. Department of Cool Obsolete Technology: Of course, how was Tim carrying that thing...or pocket change, for that matter? Important Details:- First official team-up of Batman and the Tim Drake Robin - First meeting between Jim Gordon and the Tim Drake Robin (no indication he is aware it's a different Robin) - Post Crisis Ace, The Bat Hound named and adopted by Batman (first appearance: Batman #462) Plot synopsis: After a patrol together, Batman becomes concerned about some of the kids he is sponsoring, and Tim becomes intrigued by a depressed woman recovering from some sort of relationship trouble. Everyone in Gotham is captivated by "Calistoga," a successful soap opera. Tim visits his father at the hospital and leaves as his father wakes from his coma. And Bruce attends a charity event in honor of Calistoga where the woman Tim has been following shows up, revealing her obsessive love for one of the characters, and attempting to kill him. Bruce is able to save the day by essentially playing out a role long enough to confuse her. Jim Gordon then announces to Batman that he and Sarah Essen are getting married. |
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Post by shaxper on Nov 6, 2016 17:50:39 GMT -5
As my next review is going to be of a one-shot tpb, I thought it was time to make a decisive move in regard to the plethora of one-shot tpbs bearing the Batman logo that will see publication around this time.
Much as with the numerous Batman spin-off titles beginning to see publication (Legends of the Dark Knight, with Robin, Nightwing, and Shadow of the Bat on the way), I have to draw some lines between what I will review and what I will not. And, to be clear, I've already decided not to review LoTDK (other than a few key storylines), Nightwing, or the Robin ongoing.
So, here are the tpbs that I will be reviewing. Let me know if there are any others that you feel I should include. Batman vs. Predator, for example, is coming up soon, but is neither written by an established Batman writer nor seems to hold any significance for the larger franchise and continuity:
Full Circle (being reviewed next; continues from Barr and Davis' Year Two storyline)
Master of the Future (continues from Gotham by Gaslight)
Red Rain (Doug Moench)
Judgement on Gotham (Grant and Wagner)
Poison Tomorrow (Denny O'Neil)
Two Face Strikes Twice! (Barr)
Seduction of the Gun (Ostrander)
Bloodstorm (Moench)
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Post by foxley on Nov 6, 2016 18:15:12 GMT -5
My thoughts on these particular one-shots:
Full Circle should definitely be reviewed, It's an interesting coda to Year two.
Master of the Future is okay, although not as good as Gotham by Gaslight. It can be safely ignored if you're only interested in books taking place in the main continuity.
Red Rain and Bloodstorm are Elseworlds stories about Batman becoming a vampire.
Judgement on Gotham is a team-up between Batman and Judge Dredd. Probably falls into the same category as Batman vs Predator.
Poison Tomorrow is a team-up between Batman and Green Arrow. O'Neil always writes a decent GA story. The only really important development is that I think this is one of the earliest issue to depict Ivy as an ecological activist rather than just a plant themed crook. (I think. My memory is a little fuzzy on exactly when the transition occurred.)
Two Face Strikes Twice! is a fun concept. It was a pair of flip books telling a pair of linked two-face stories. One was down in a Golden Age style, and one in 90s style. Dick Sprang provides the 'Golden Age' covers for the flip books. I think it was intended as a 50th anniversary piece for Two-Face. Not important continuity-wise, but I be interested to hear your thoughts regarding.
Seduction of the Gun is Ostrander tackling social issues, in this case school shootings. A little bit heavy-handed, but perhaps worth reviewing to show how DC were attempting to tackle social issues.
Anyway, that's my 2 cents worth.
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Post by shaxper on Nov 6, 2016 19:12:28 GMT -5
Batman: Full Circle  writer: Mike W. Barr pencils: Alan Davis inks: Mark Farmer letters: Todd Klein colors: Tom Ziuko grade: C+ Batman: Year Two, originally published in Detective Comics #575, 576, 577, and 578, was arguably more popular in 1990 than when it first saw print in 1987. Though the creative team, continuity, and even approaches to the characters were all long out the window by this point, Batman: Year One's trade paperback was burning through printings faster than Warner could count its profits, and Batman: Year Three was all the talk of 1989. Thus it was only natural for fans to be curious about the less often discussed Year Two, and so it earned its own trade paperback in 1990, even if it didn't get the same kind of sales that its counterparts did because it was so hopelessly attached to a continuity that was no longer in play. And here, in 1991, Barr and Davis are invited to come back and write a sequel to that story which, featuring a young Dick Grayson in his first months as Robin, would technically place it in Year Three (taking place after the official "Year Three"), not that anyone's watching at the editorial helm. This is really just an opportunity for Barr to revisit this work. The first half is primarily focused on Batman and Robin's relationship, which was also central to Barr's entire run on 'Tec. To this day, I still argue that he captured their relationship best -- an awkward balance of lighthearted fun suppressing a dark drive within each that constantly needed to be held in check less it destroy them.  It was a perfect balance between the darker Frank Miller approach and the lighter iconic stories that folks had grown up on, and it opened up the doors to a wider range of storytelling -- dark and tragic, fun and lighthearted -- oftentimes, Barr could give us both in a single issue. The odd part, though, is that Barr's run on 'Tec concerned Batman's relationship with the second Robin, whereas this story is about the first. Apparently, they're quite interchangeable to Barr and Davis. Batman and Jason Todd in Detective #569:  Batman and Dick Grayson here:  But they do a nice job in exploring that partnership, regardless of who is behind the domino mask. In fact, a lot of Dick's perspective in this story seems to lay the groundwork for how Chuck Dixon will ultimately tackle the partnership in Robin: Year One:  And this bit of foreshadowing about Jason Todd's death is chilling:  But, once we get to the center of the story, there isn't all that much there. Joe Chill was, in my opinion, the weakest aspect of Year Two, and his children seeking revenge against Batman feels unlikely, illogical, and almost silly, as does much of what transpires from there, right down to overly elaborate death-traps and clues/leads that make no damn sense. It's, quite simply, not a well written story, though I have to admit that the climactic moment was powerful:  even if it wasn't earned by the rest of the story at all. At no point prior to that panel did we see Batman flirting with going over the line and losing a sense of himself, somehow perpetuating a cycle of violence. It just doesn't work; those panels were unearned. Barr's best contribution to the Batman mythos was always the characterizations, but that gets lost here after the first dozen or so pages. This is not really a story that any fan of Barr's run needs to read as a result. Plot synopsis: The Reaper appears to be back, but it's actually the son of Joe chill, working with his sister, to enact revenge on Batman for the death of his father. Batman is training a young Dick Grayson, but puts that aside to combat The Reaper while also looking after a distraught Rachel Caspian (The original Reaper's daughter, as well as one-time lover to Bruce turned nun). Leslie Thompson gets thrown in to remind us that she still exists (Barr was really the only one to use her up to this point in the Post-Crisis), and things work out pretty predictably, only with Batman wondering if Joe Chill's grandson will be coming for him one day. |
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Post by shaxper on Nov 6, 2016 20:38:46 GMT -5
Detective Comics #632  "The Golem of Gotham, Part Two" story: Peter Milligan pencils: Jim Aparo inks: Mike DeCarlo letters: John Costanza colors: Adrienne Roy asst. editor: Kelley Puckett editor: Dennis O'Neil created by Bob Kane grade: C+ This issue suffers from the same problems as the last one, particularly with a heavily mischaracterized Batman who is whiny:  sarcastic:  tired and pathetic:  and, this time, just plain immoral:  (but at least he apologizes for that last bit:)  I don't know what wise-cracking, pathetic anti-hero Milligan is writing, but it isn't any Batman I've ever read. And the Golem story remains largely obligatory; it just isn't all that interesting. The only charm in this story remains the psychology and perspective of the old man who constructs the Golem out of his own grief, and we're offered precious additional insight into where that grief comes from in this story:  True survivor's guilt, especially in the case of the Holocaust, doesn't just stem from having lived -- it stems from putting yourself ahead of others in order to live, and likely having caused the deaths of others as a result. Powerful. Weird, though, how this story completely lost interest in the plight of Indian immigrants that was so central to the storyline last issue. Now it's just about this man's experiences in The Holocaust, playing itself out now in the form of a rampaging Golem. I did, at least, enjoy this one part where Batman rescues one of the hate mob from the Golem's clutches:  Whereas Milligan's mischaracterization of Batman generally irks me, watching him tell a lowlife racist to "shut up" was quite amusing, somehow. But yeah, this proved to be a very forgettable story that would have worked better as a non-graphic, non-superhero story about the old man suffering from guilt, The Golem perhaps working as a metaphor. This just didn't work as a Batman comic. Plot synopsis: Batman barely survives an encounter with The Golem, finds the man who created it, forces him to stop it, and then apologizes to the man for being so abrupt and aggressive with him. |
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Post by shaxper on Nov 6, 2016 21:16:59 GMT -5
Master of the Future is okay, although not as good as Gotham by Gaslight. It can be safely ignored if you're only interested in books taking place in the main continuity. I don't expect any of these books to have an impact upon continuity, really. Just following creators and ideas that spun out of, and are related to, the reviews I've already done. I reviewed Gotham by Gaslight because it had an impact and is still remembered by many. I liked it too, so I truly want to see what's done with the sequel. Right. Totally understood what these books are, but since they're done by creators who have spent a significant time working on the main Batman continuity, I felt it would be interesting to see where they take the character next. And Moench takes over on Batman again only a short time from now. That actually began in Batman #400, though it wasn't explored with any depth. Ivy really hasn't had much of a presence in the Post Crisis at this point. I really appreciate the input. Thank you! |
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Post by foxley on Nov 7, 2016 18:49:17 GMT -5
You're welcome.
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Post by shaxper on Nov 10, 2016 19:01:30 GMT -5
Batman #466  "No More Heroes" script: Alan Grant pencils: Norm Breyfogle inks: Steve Mitchell colors: Adrienne Roy letters: Todd Klein asst. editor: Kelley Pucket editor: Dennis O'Neil creator: Bob Kane grade: B I speculated last time around that Batman #465 might have been intended as Grant/Breyfogle's goodbye to the franchise, but this next issue is no filler story. There's a whole lot going on in this one. We've got the concept of Hero World: an animatronic theme park celebrating heroes, though it doesn't turn out so impressive in execution. Breyfogle only offers us a few relatively unenthusiastic images from the park, including an animatronic Minotaur in the Classic Heroes section, an animatronic Mike Tyson and Joe Frazier in the sport section, and a fake rocket that emits real (and apparently lethal) pyrotechnics to create the illusion of blasting off. I can't even find a panel of the park that I consider interesting enough to provide as part of this review. Additionally, it's downright disappointing when it first occurs to the owner at the end of the issue that he should include super heroes in the park as well. If Grant and Breyfogle were in love with the idea for this park and wanted to pass that enthusiasm on to us, they failed miserably. We've also got a lamentation on the jaded times, exploring the idea that there are no more heroes and even trusted authority figures can be crooked, as well as what that does to a kid who needs someone to believe in. Then we've got Denny O'Neal's social issue of the month, in which a teen who believes there's no hope left alternates between taking his sorrows out by killing those responsible for his pain or by killing himself. And, finally, we have Grant and Breyfogle giving this new Robin a chance to prove himself to Batman and to the readers:  And yet, this story still seems better in theory than it was in execution. The "umph" just wasn't there in Grant's writing and characterizations, nor in Breyfogle's pencils. Important Details:- Though it hasn't been mentioned in a while now, we get the idea of Batman-as-urban-legend driven home again, his allegedly being "bullet proof" mentioned twice in this story, and other elements surrounding his and Robin's "mythology" get articulated at the close:  Worth noting that Grant ends this issue with "The End," just like last time around. Apparently, I was reading too far into things in my exploration of the last issue. Plot synopsis: Batman and Robin chase some criminals into Hero World, an animatronic theme park devoted to real life heroes, while a teenager with a sniper rifle plans to kill the drug dealers who got his brother, a hero cop, hooked on cocaine and subsequently jailed. Robin talks down the teen while Batman takes down the criminals. That pretty much covers it. |
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Post by shaxper on Nov 10, 2016 19:50:15 GMT -5
Detective Comics #633  "Identity Crisis" writer: Peter Milligan art: Tom Mandrake letters: John Costanza colors: Adrienne Roy asst. editor: Kelley Puckett editor: Denny O'Neil grade: A- Milligan's final issue on Detective proves to be a memorable one, beginning with Bruce Wayne, drowning in Gotham Harbor while wearing a tuxedo and having no idea how he got there. As he arrives home, attempting to determine why he was there and what he had been doing prior to that moment of awareness, it becomes obvious to us that this is a reality in which Bruce Wayne never became Batman.  Not bad. Feels like the story's been done somewhere before (maybe not prior to this?) but it's intriguing, and the thoughts Milligan attributes to Bruce, attempting to make sense of all this and not panic, feel so thoroughly genuine that you're completely sucked into the plot anyway. It gets even more interesting, though, when Bruce attempts to take down some bad guys holding innocents hostage when he sees them on TV. with no equipment to speak of, he stops at a sporting goods store to make due, and what we get is an unusual retread of Year One:  Except this Bruce is older, coddled by his precision equipment, and feeling unworthy in his own shadow. But the story grows stranger, still, as Bruce combs the cave beneath Wayne Manor again and finds exactly one corner of the Bat Computer, attached to nothing else. And things get stranger from there:  Surprise. This is not Bruce Wayne at all, but rather a new villain known as The Synaptic Kid  who has entered Bruce's mind in order to learn his true identity and gotten so caught up in the power of his mind that he temporarily lost all sense of self. But then, in our final twist, we learn that the reality of The Synaptic Kid, bragging about having learned Batman's secret to adoring fans, is also not true; he's in a permanent coma in the hospital, never to recover, overcome by the strength of Bruce Wayne's mind. Once again, a cool new villain introduced by Milligan that we're never going to see again, and cooler still was the authentic psychology and seemingly endless twists written into this tale. I really enjoyed myself on this one. Important Details:We learn a few important things in this story, though this is Milligan's final issue, and it doesn't seem like there's been any sincere effort to align his work with larger Batman continuity, so I doubt these will ever come up again: - The entrance to the Bat Cave is no longer the Grandfather Clock -- it's a sliding bookcase in the study (much like the one from the West/Ward television series) operated by an electric eye. - Bruce Wayne has trained his mind to resist being read -- convincing any mental assailant that Bruce Wayne is not Batman (except that it didn't. The whole point was that the Synaptic Kid knew Bruce Wayne was supposed to be Batman) Minor Details:- Bruce's Rolls Royce is the Silver Cloud model -- a nod to Silver St. Cloud? Plot synopsis: covered above |
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Post by byronlomax on Nov 11, 2016 15:36:20 GMT -5
Great review of a great issue, but it isn't actually Milligan's last! The Milligan/Aparo team come back for issues 638 and 643, and in between them a four-part crossover story "The Idiot Root". The latter is a bit too outlandish and unfocused, but the single-issue stories are good.
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Post by shaxper on Nov 11, 2016 21:20:39 GMT -5
it isn't actually Milligan's last! The Milligan/Aparo team come back for issues 638 and 643, and in between them a four-part crossover story "The Idiot Root". The latter is a bit too outlandish and unfocused, but the single-issue stories are good. Thanks for this! I should have guessed as much, as Milligan was generally being used as a fill-in up to this point (this time around filling in after Marv Wolfman's departure). It stands to reason they'd bring him back when they needed him again. |
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Post by shaxper on Nov 20, 2016 12:56:46 GMT -5
Batman #467  "Shadow Box: Part One" writer: Chuck Dixon pencils: Tom Lyle inks: Andy Mushynsky colors: Adrienne Roy letters: Todd Klein asst. ed: Kelley Puckett editor: Denny O'Neil created by Bob Kane grade: B Lest we forget, only nine short months ago, Tim Drake was the Robin nobody wanted, and so, under pressure by Warner to keep the character in publication, O'Neil shuffled him off to a side project and out of the core Batman titles, where he was handed to a team of relative unknowns to do with the character what they could. Somehow, despite what I consider to be largely lackluster work, they managed to turn Robin into DC's top selling book for 1991. And so here comes that same team, now invited to take an arc in the core Batman book before spinning back into a Robin II limited series, established Batman creators Grant and Breyfogle pushed off to the side while the newbies work their revenue-boosting magic once again. The surprise is that Shadow Box ends up being pretty good, at least in this first installment. Sure, I can't stand Tom Lyle's covers (that thoroughly awkward posturing he always has the characters do that never quite makes sense), but he does a decent enough job inside, and Andy Mushhynsky really enhances it all with his inks. There are moments where this actually feels as good as Breyfogle:  As for Dixon, while nothing about the plot of this issue is even remotely interesting to me ("Is King Snake back? No, he can't be back...can he? Oh, he is, and he wants REVENGE!"), Dixon's actual writing and characterization surprises me on a number of occasions. He understands these characters on a deep level and proves it repeatedly throughout the issue:     And, of course, the surprise ending is a jaw-dropper that leaves us hoping the next installment will be a lot more powerful:  Obviously, a dead Robin body is a trigger for any Batman fan at this time, but what will it do to Batman himself? Did this story just take a deeper, personal and psychological turn? We won't know until next time around. So the relatively green team of Dixon and Lyle is certainly hitting this follow-up storyline with everything they've got, and their work comes off a lot better than it did the first time around, but can they keep it up? Plot synopsis: King Snake's gang is moving into Gotham, and Batman and Robin are working to determine who is leading them. Sure enough, King Snake is somehow back from the dead, Lynx still commanding some of his forces, and he has a personal vendetta against Robin that he delivers via a dead informant in his organization, dressed in a Robin costume. |
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Post by shaxper on Nov 20, 2016 15:25:11 GMT -5
Detective Comics #634  "The Third Man" writer: Kelley Puckett art: Luke McDonnell letters: Tim Harkins colors: Adrienne Roy editor: Denny O'Neil created by Bob Kane grade: C+ Sure enough,  though it's getting hard to tell whose run this is even a filler for. With Grant and Breyfogle on hold for Dixon's "Shadow Box" storyline in Batman, and Milligan and Louise Simonson switching back and forth on Detective before and after this issue, there's a whole lot of creative instability in the Bat Office ever since Marv Wolfman's departure on Detective six months back. I can't tell if O'Neill is still trying to find a new norm, or if he's enjoying shaking things up, bringing in new creative teams for short runs much as has been done with Legends of the Dark Knight. Certainly, when the Destroyer crossover and the Matt Wagner storyline come up in a little over six months' time, things will feel very LotDK in this title. As for the story itself, associate editor (though not on this issue) Kelley Puckett takes the reigns and attempts to reinvoke Batman #431, itself a filler issue in which we first delved into the training Bruce Wayne received in order to become Batman. Though that story was also about a deadly-to-the-touch martial arts move only a handful of people had learned (in that case, the Vibrating Palm), this appears to be a different technique with a similar effect, in which one shoves his/her hand between the victim's ribs and pierces their heart. Almost seems like O'Neil asked Puckett to go back to this story (which, itself, appeared to be driven by an edict from O'Neil), but Puckett didn't read the actual story and just went from memory. As for the writing, it's pretty jarring. Puckett keeps throwing us these "micro" scenes that start abruptly and end just as quickly, not establishing much of anything. Take, for example, the scene where a character we've never met before spends a page admiring a poster of an actress in his office, overhearing a struggle outside, and dreading whoever is coming to get him. This full page build-up concludes with this abrupt exchange on the next page:  That's...not a scene. There's also this one, which comes out of nowhere, features a character we've similarly never seen before (who I initially mistook as Bruce Wayne), and then cuts out just as quickly:  Not a scene either. Considering that there's a thespian/actor theme to this whole thing, it's especially weird that Puckett doesn't know how to write proper scenes. The mystery is reasonably well put together, and yet somehow boring as hell. I just didn't care. But, finally, the one true saving grace of this issue comes from the introduction of the unlikely Bittee sisters, two elderly women who, rather than shying away from crime, actively investigate and combat it:  Their presence was hilarious at first, but Puckett quickly over-used them, and I was disappointed when it became apparent that they weren't actually any good at what they were doing and were just getting in the way of Batman and the police. An unlikely opportunity to show that not all heroes are in the prime of their lives ends up reaffirming our worst stereotypes about meddling old biddies instead. Plot synopsis: Batman tries to crack a mystery involving a martial arts technique that only four people in the world, including himself, should know. Two old women get in the way of the investigation, but Batman is able to crack it anyway. |
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Post by byronlomax on Nov 20, 2016 16:47:20 GMT -5
I agree that Tec 634 is a filler issue, but I enjoyed it a good deal more than you did. It's a fun mystery and a nice dry run for Puckett's tenure on the first Batman Adventures series with the late Mike Parobeck. I don't think the Biddee sisters ever turned up in a mainline Batman comic again, but they did have a cameo in one of the Adventures issues!
Too bad about what's coming up next, though....
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Post by shaxper on Nov 20, 2016 17:12:03 GMT -5
Too bad about what's coming up next, though.... I'm sorry to say I truly don't know  |
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