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Post by shaxper on May 4, 2014 8:36:52 GMT -5
Detective Comics #540
"Something Scary"
writer: Doug Moench
pencils: Gene Colan
inks: Bob Smith
letters: Ben Oda
colors: Adrienne Roy
editor: Len Wein
Grade: B
Gotta love that title. It's like the punchline to a joke that begins with Wein asking Moench what he thinks the title of his next story should be.
Too bad we lost Alcala on inks this issue as Colan REALLY steps up the layout of the panels, working tirelessly to capture more of the story's fear and disorientation on the page itself, but Smith's inks are just too prudish to keep up.
In regard to the story, I feel that Moench delivered a lot more on this second outing with Scarecrow. We move away from that depiction of him being a poor man motivated by money and instead get a sick, obsessive man who has freely spent a ludicrous amount of money outfitting his home as a haunted house. Robin goes so far as to describe him as, "mentally, he's like a 12-year-old with a genius I.Q.--a clever kid who still likes to scare birds." Still not sure the characterization is right-on for me, but it fits better than the way Batman described him last issue.
I also really liked the conclusion, during which Batman has used one of Scarecrow's sonic skulls to counterbalance the effects of the original one. Supposedly, this makes him and Robin stop experiencing paralyzing fear long enough to stop Scarecrow, but we discover at the conclusion that the counterbalance has to be set to a specific brain frequency. Looking back, it's actually obvious that Batman was tuning the counterbalance to Robin's brain and not his own, and he was only bluffing for Robin's sake, fighting through his worst fears all along. All of this was revealed very subtly without throwing it in our faces. Insane personal endurance and an insane desire to protect his ward...is that Batman, or what?
Bullock's best moment ever: A sniper takes a shot at him in his office. Without missing a beat, his completely unperturbed response is, "Now, who'd wanna kill ME --?"
Scarecrow refers to his sonic skull as "Ol' Yorick" in this issue. Cute Hamlet reference. I wonder how many readers got it.
My onlly problem with this issue: how was Scarecrow posing as a real scarecrow for all that time? Did he know Robin was coming before he came within sight of the house? If not, wouldn't Robin have seen him get up on the pole?
The plot in one ridiculously long sentence: Batman fights his way out of the crocodile pit and gets a sonic skull to study while Robin fights the Scarecrow and pursues him into his house, which is rigged like a haunted house, which doesn't startle Robin much until the sonic skull is activated, shortly after which Batman shows up, counterbalancing the effects for Robin and (unknown to us at the time) fighting through his fears to bluff and terrorize Scarecrow, resulting in his defeat.
Oh, and Mayor Hill thinks the assassination attempt on Bullock worked, but Bullock just happened to duck at the right moment, looking like he went down.
A much better written issue and an even stronger penciling job by Colan, but Smith's grounded inking resists Colan's wild attempts at dramatic expression and holds the art back noticeably. Perhaps Colan took this bolder approach to panel arrangements this issue assuming that Alcala would be inking the book again.
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Post by shaxper on May 4, 2014 8:37:57 GMT -5
Did some stats for fun tonight. Here's a brief rundown of the creative tenures I've reviewed thus far:
David Reed
Length of run: 7 issues on Batman (Wrote more prior to Batman #300)
Average grade: C
Most frequent artist: John Calnan
Editor: Julie Schwartz
Overview: De-powered Batman solo adventures. One and two part stories. Nothing special.
Len Wein
Length of run: 21 issues on Batman (2 guest fill-ins)
Average grade: C
Most frequent artist: Irv Novick
Editor: Paul Levitz (for most of run)
Overview: Wein struggles to tell street level stories while he's mandated to throw costumed villains into each issue, and the stories suffer as a result. However, #321 to #325 are like a completely different run where everything suddenly clicks and amazing stories are told. Introduces Lucius Fox.
Marv Wolfman
Length of run: 7 issues on Batman
Average grade: B
Most frequent artist: Irv Novick
Editor: Paul Levitz
Overview: The entire run is set-up for and the fruition of "The Lazarus Affair." Great stories and developments, but poor pacing.
Gerry Conway
Length of run: 22 issues on Batman and 29 issues on Detective (many are not reviewed here)
Average grade: C
Most frequent artist: Don Newton
Editor: Len Wein (for most of run)
Overview: Incredibly uneven writing. Some of the worst stories in the run and also some of the very best. Most notable is Conway's incredible sense of plotting. He easily keeps four or five plots developing at one time, putting one in the foreground as numerous others brew in the background and foreshadow later stories to come. Highlights include the fall of Boss Thorne and the introductions of Jason Todd and Killer Croc. Moved Bruce Wayne back into Wayne Manor.
Doug Moench
Length of run (thus far): 14 issues on Batman and 14 issues on Detective
Average grade: B
Most frequent artist: Don Newton and Gene Colan
Editor: Len Wein
Overview: Consistently strong writing paired with consistently amazing art. Plots tend to be weak, and no major contributions to the overall legacy beyond the development of Jason Todd. Still, issue per issue, it's quality work.
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Post by shaxper on May 4, 2014 8:38:27 GMT -5
Batman #374 "Pieces of Penguin" writer: Doug Moench pencils: Don Newton inks: Alfredo Alcala letters: John Costanza colors: Adrienne Roy editor: Len Wein Grade: D One year from this issue's publication date, a 5 year old boy will purchase his very first comic book (Detective #552) from a five and dime store. Unable to make any sense of Moench's advanced style of writing, he'll flip through the pages, hungrily seeking out a fight with The Joker, The Riddler, Scarecrow, Catwoman, Mr. Freeze, or The Penguin. Not finding any of them, he'll toss the comic aside, feeling cheated and not understanding why a Batman comic would ever leave the big villains out. Years later, I'll come to believe that Moench had been trying to reach a more serious tone with that story (though I've never re-read it), not going for the easy outs, like tossing in the familiar rogues gallery. The sad truth I'm learning, though, is that it was really just luck and timing. Exactly one year earlier, cheap rogues gallery stories are all we seem to be getting, and while my five year old self would have been thrilled to see this, my 31 year old self is getting bored. Other than the fact that the Penguin wants to be taken more seriously, I don't see anything unique or interesting about this issue. Heck, the dialogue even begins to feel like the classic campy tales (which were appropriate in the 50s and 60s, but highly tiresome in the 80s): Batman: Penguin, your audacity just crossed the line. Penguin: But I'm merely feeding the birds, Batman. Even if it were audacious, certainly there's no crime in it? Batman: Perhaps not--but there IS crime in a jewel robbery. It just feels so kitsch. He even goes on to generically refer to his lackies as "henchmen" on the next page. Neither he nor Moench seems to have considered them any further than that. A villain has to have henchmen, and that's that. Name, identities, and motivations be darned. Later, Vicki Vale holds a party, and it never occurs to Bruce that he should be prepared for Penguin even though he suspects Penguin robbed a similar party the very night before. Later, after a long pursuit, the Penguin uses an umbrella to parachute off a roof and into an escape car right in front of Batman. Batman stands there, watching him get away, and says, "Blast you." Ummm, isn't this the same guy who swings from rooftops all night long? Why couldn't he have gotten down there FASTER than Penguin, let alone gotten down at all? During the party, Julia randomly comes on to Bruce pretty hard, telling him that her "blood warms, and her skin tingles, at the mere sight of a man. It's a feeling I haven't felt in Gotham...until tonight." And Bruce's weird reaction, right at Vicki's party, is to say "Oh? You don't say. Then say some more...Julia." Oh, and apparently Bruce and Vicki are still in a relationship?? At one point at the party, Bruce thinks to himself, "Why is Vicki trying so hard to make me jealous? Have I really been ignoring her that much lately?" Did I miss their reattachment, because Vicki left Bruce back at the beginning of Moench's run, didn't she? If not, what's all this stupid intrigue between them been about? Most of this issue feels more like a page from Brenda Starr than a Batman issue, as the boring societal problems of Vicki's Picture News staff, from Vicki's debate whether or not to print the best pictures of her career, to one of her reporters sitting on top secret weapons info, to the romantic intrigues going on between at least four characters, seems far more interesting to Moench than keeping up with the Penguin storyline, but I think I'd rather have more intense excitement in the style of Penguin sitting on a park bench and feeding birds. At least that was tolerable. Oh, and Moench seems so starved for plot lines that he's now had the social worker from the previous issue discover that Bruce never filed any legal applications or paperwork to take Jason under his roof. He's there illegally. I just can't accept that. So Jason has legally been an orphan all this time, and no one's noticed? Worse yet, Bruce was foolish enough to have forgotten to rectify that when he's so concerned for Jason's well-being AND he's done this with an orphan before? You've got to be kidding me, Doug. Something's off with Newton's art this issue. It's generally as excellent as always, but the faces are very odd from time to time. On page 8, Vicki's head, face, and hairstyle change dimensions all four times she appears on panel. On page 12, Bullock is drawn as such a man-child that it's impossible to take him seriously (even when the dialogue doesn't really suggest this), and on page 15, while Julia makes her big pass at Bruce, she makes a weird/ugly face and bears her teeth. It seems very close to reality, but just looks wrong, somehow. Maybe it's in Alcala's inking on that one. Finally, why is Bruce staring daggers at her in the next panel as his words are inviting her to go on? The plot in one ridiculously long sentence:Penguin begins a new crime spree by blowing up a jewelry store with a robotic penguin, Alfred tries to convince Julia that she SHOULD be in love with Bruce (  ), Penguin tries to intimidate Vicki into taking serious pictures of him, Vicki did discretely take those pictures without his knowledge and loves them but feels conflicted about whether or not she should publish them since he'd want her to, Penguin's lackies rob a society party and have the guests remove their jewels from their settings, Batman and Robin hastily confront Penguin without any evidence that he's done anything wrong, Gordon convinces Bullock that it wasn't Penguin who tried to kill him, Mayor Hill is furious that Bullock isn't dead after all, Vicki's party is as laden with lame conflicts as was mentioned above, Penguin's men bust in and kidnap the reporter with top secret defense information (how did they know?), Batman frees the reporter after Penguin gets the info he needs, Penguin makes his lame escape, Batman discovers he's been hiding the jewels by feeding them to his birds, and a social worker discovers that Bruce is a terrible adoptive father. What a yuk issue. I think I'm a dumber, more boring person for having read it. |
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Post by shaxper on May 4, 2014 8:42:47 GMT -5
Detective Comics #541
"C-C-Cold!"
writer: Doug Moench
pencils: Gene Colan (mistakenly credited as "writer")
inks: Bob Smith
letters:Ben Oda
colors: Adrienne Roy
editor: Len Wein
Grade: B
Generally a vast improvement upon the previous issue. Unfortunately, we begin with more romantic intrigues in the life of Vicki Vale, as her reporter that she has just brought back from the hospital (the Penguin captured him last issue) goes in for a passionate kiss just as Batman shows up, asking for more information. Oh no! Vicki knows Bruce and Batman are close. Whatever shall she do?!
I just don't care and, fortunately, Moench stops caring and moves on with the story, as well.
Like so many other famous rogues, Penguin seems to get heavily revised by Moench in this issue. He's depicted as having an obsession with Penguins and with teasing Batman with riddles and clues as to his plans. How much more generic can Moench paint a villain? I always thought Penguin was more like a Dick Tracy nemesis: a competent crime boss with a distinguishing physical characteristic, even in his earlier appearances. Oh, Penguin is now also impervious to extreme cold. Since when? He's not exactly a mutant or science experiment byproduct. He's a short, fat guy with a big nose!
The story gets a lot better as Batman pursues Penguin to an Antarctic Soviet weather station in the Batjet, only to be shot down by an anti-aircraft missile umbrella that the Penguin was carrying in anticipation of Batman's arrival. What would he have done had Batman been smart enough to land first and then pursue Penguin in a snowmobile? Anyway, once Batman is shot down, Moench does a truly fantastic job of depicting Batman's inner struggle as he fights the cold. No internal monologue is needed as Moench simply paints vivid emotions into his narration. I really felt that desperation and understood it.
Of course, Batman finally and miraculously catches up to Penguin, only to stupidly shout "PENGUINNNN! I've got you, Penguin!!" the second he has him in sight. Now that's the way to catch him, especially when he's armed and you're not!
In the end, we get quite a bit of nice Cold War era espionage trickery. Penguin was never really going to sell them the plans. The tape he had was a fake. In his own words, "Do you really think I was so unpatriotic as to sell our nation down the river to the Russians?" This gets even more interesting when the Russians make a late gesture for peace, and Penguin tries to get Batman to refute it. "WHAAAT?! Don't do it, Batman -- Don' t be unpatriotic!" I'm not sure what point Moench was trying to make with that reversal (if any), but it was at least a nice irony.
Finally, it turns out that the defense secrets the reporter had were, themselves, fake. The Pentagon intentionally leaked it in the hopes of misdirecting the Soviets, and the reporter and Batman spend the end of the story musing on why they did this and how the secret got so out of hand. Of course, I'm left wondering why the Pentagon would have ever leaked a secret likely to embolden the enemy toward taking an aggressive stance, even if it's fake info. It could still be all the confidence the other side would need to start a war that both sides would regret.
Oh well. It wasn't amazingly thoughtful plotting, but it certainly was interesting in its reversals and trickery.
Oh, and that social worker is still after Bruce. She calls the house, discovers Bruce is away for several days, and becomes enraged by this, even though Alfred is there. Again, I find the entire idea that Bruce simply forgot to legally foster Jason ridiculous. Moench is obviously desperate for storylines.
A lot better than the first part of the story, but still not an amazing entry.
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Post by shaxper on May 4, 2014 8:43:00 GMT -5
Batman #375
"The Glacier Under Gotham!"
writer: Doug Moench
pencils: Don Newton
Inks: Alfredo Alcala
letters: Todd Klein
colors: Adrienne Roy
editor: Len Wein
Grade: D
Oh no no no. Moench tries to get cute in this issue and, just like in the Nocturna issues where he tried to wax poetic and employ various metaphors without any idea how to do so, he thinks himself a poet here, and narrates the entire story through the words of a poet that everyone around him praises (Moench apparently enjoys praising his own writing) but, in the real world, it's just terrible terrible poetry. He has no concept of rhythm and meter, and he sacrifices everything to make the rhyme. An example:
Into the fray swoops Robin and Bat of a man
So quickly they strike, and with such seeming ease
Their involvement this soon not part of the plan
And yet there remains the dire threat of a Freeze...
The "Bat of a man" garbage aside, that last line has far too many syllables, and the ABAB rhyme scheme is obnoxious. Keep in mind that this is a typical stanza in the poem.
So Mr. Freeze is planning to freeze a bank, get some money, attract Batman, and somehow miraculously win. Yet, of course, he's surprised when Batman arrives a long while after he's frozen and looted the bank. How exactly did he imagine this would all go down? Batman would give him a good four hours to prepare himself?
Inevitably, Vicki and Julia show up at the scene, taking absurd risks to get pictures for their magazine, when they both fall in through a hole and end up in Freeze's lair. Of course, Batman and Robin must save them, the one lackey who's been doubting Mr. Freeze turns on him and gets his reward, and the sensitive poet through which Moench narrates the story gets divinely punished for falling in with villains as well (what a shame since he has so much talent!).
Perhaps the most upsetting part of this story is the end, where Jason sums up a conversation between him and Bruce that we were not there for:
"Let's see if I've got this straight...One wants Bruce Wayne, and the other wants The Batman--but the one you want as Bruce Wayne is the one who wants you as Batman--and vice versa."
Huh? Wha? Explain that again? Vicki wants Bruce, but Bruce wants her as Batman? Julia wants Batman, but Bruce wants her as Bruce? I simply do not get this at all. Besides, Vicki has been nothing but a lovesick Fatal Attraction stalker throughout Moench's run, and Julia IS ALFRED'S DAUGHTER. How are these both not absurd recipies for disaster?
Can't we just kill these two off and move on?
Oh, that social worker showed up at the mansion at 11pm, and Bruce and Jason weren't there. If Moench were going to make this absurd C plot work at all, he could at least try to make the social worker sympathetic. She's acting out of concern for Jason, after all. Wouldn't that make such a better story to have a caring, underpaid professional working off the clock (11pm) out of a sincere obsession to save a boy in need; to pit Bruce against someone he respects but must stop because he cannot tell her the truth? THAT would be good storytelling but, of course, Moench seems to hate (or at least have no understanding of) women, so the social worker comes off as nothing more than an uncalled for bitch who lives to make Bruce miserable.
Nice, Moench. Nice...
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Post by shaxper on May 4, 2014 8:43:15 GMT -5
Detective Comics #542
"Between Two Nights"
writer: Doug Moench
pencils: Gene Colan
inks: Bob Smith
letters: Ben Oda
colors: Adrienne Roy
editor: Len Wein
Grade: C+
Moench keeps trying so darn hard to be clever. So the second meaning to the title is "between two KNIGHTS" since Batman is the Dark Knight, and this is the issue in which he and Robin are divided by social services. The problem is that I have no idea what the first meaning of the title is. Yes, Moench narrates it in terms of "The first night," "The Day Between," and "The Second Night," but nothing significant is wrapped up in that span of time. Yes, the day between was when Jason was taken away, but the surrounding nights were completely incidental to this. There's no reason to reference the two nights in the title at all. Sorry, Doug. You're reaching too far on this one.
I did appreciate two things about this issue. First off, it's about time we got a story that prominently features Bullock. He's probably the one interesting character Moench has developed in his run, and it's fun watching him in this story because his fear for his life as an assassin pursues him is both comical and intense. Moench walks a fine line gracefully here.
The second thing I appreciated about this issue was the long overdue return of Lucius Fox, called in with Bruce's lawyers to help him figure out how to get Jason back. Unfortunately, Colan was careless and put them in the Wayne Foundation board room while the narration clearly indicates that they're at the main hall in Wayne Manor.
That's not the only time that Colan disappoints in this issue. When Alfred reveals that social services has come to take away Jason, he completely misses the opportunity for emotional close-ups, instead showing vaguely panicked faces from a distance in favor of dynamic movement, all while Smith inks most of the detail out of those already under-articulated faces. What a wasted opportunity to lend emotional resonance to what should be a powerful development in this run.
Not much else to say about this issue other than the plot in one ridiculously long sentence: Batman and Robin save Bullock from an assassination attempt, social services takes Jason away, Dr. Fang's lawyer explains the deal to him (if they kill Bullock, Mayor Hill sets him free), Jason hates his in-between house, Bullock is paranoid and wants Batman's protection, Bruce tells his lawyers that he wants to win back Jason's custody honestly and without using financial muscle, Bruce weighs a powerful debate between working with his lawyers to get back Jason and answering the Bat signal, Jason answers the signal first and saves Bullock, and Batman arrives later and saves them both from the assassin, as Batman and Jason leave the scene, headed for home in different directions.
"The Night Fly II"
writer: Joey Cavaleri
(the rest of the credits are unreadable in this issue)
Grade: D-
It's been a long time since I swore off Cavaleri's Green Arrow back-ups, so I thought I should give him another try. Sure enough, the beginning of the issue wasn't bad. The writing was kind of fun, and so was Ollie, even while the villain (The Ace of Spades) was utterly ridiculous. Unfortunately, the plot disintegrated when a private investigator burst into the room and randomly gave his entire back story, explaining how he'd originally been assigned to bust the con-man being pursued and that, when he failed, he decided to get vengeance upon him. WHAT??!!!! Why in the world would he randomly reveal this to Green Arrow, and who does that, anyway? And then, if you were a private investigator who randomly felt the need to get vengeance upon a guy who got away, why in the world would you hire a completely unknown costumed freak to do it? Oh man. Cavaleri has gotten better. It now takes him 8 pages to make me smack my head in disgust.
Maybe I'll give him a try again in another year...
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Post by shaxper on May 4, 2014 8:43:32 GMT -5
Batman 376
"Nightmares Inc."
writer: Doug Moench
pencils: Don Newton
inks: Alfredo Alcala
letters: Ben Oda
colors: Adrienne Roy
editor: Len Wein
Grade: B
Finally, Moench lays off of the classic rogues gallery and offers up something darn creative. Nightmares, Inc. is a sick yet very intriguing band of performers who are paid to terrify you, either with an attempted murder or something supernatural, stopping just short of actually harming you. It's a way for the extremely wealthy to feel adrenaline and excitement, and Moench depicts it all with disturbing realism here. What a cool idea.
Inevitably, it turns out that every job Nightmares, Inc. does is invariably robbed the next night. How did they not expect people to catch on to this? Granted, most of the super wealthy choose not to report the crimes (for believable reasons that Moench clearly provides) but, inevitably, this pattern was going to emerge.
So Bruce decides to have a party with Nightmares, Inc. performing. They break up a rather tiresome scene of Vicki and Julia fighting over Bruce, and Bruce takes the opportunity to follow the assistants (Shreck and Lee, named after two of my favorite Dracula actors) and sees that they are, indeed, scoping out the place for a robbery. I'm left to wonder what the point of all this was, though. Bruce was already 99% sure they were doing this, and he isn't doing anything to get proof here. Was it really worth putting his fortune at risk just to prove their guilt to the reader?
So Bruce then goes downstairs, needlessly disrupts the performance and humiliates the main actor, though this seems to impress the audience rather than making him seem like an ass. This scene really bothered me. I like to imagine Bruce as a classy guy in his behavior as well as his appearance. This seemed unwarranted.
Later, Batman goes to investigate the Nightmares, Inc. office, where the owner and lead actor appears to be dead on the ground. Of course it was a ruse (they did something similar to this in the performance that opened the story), and he inexplicably has been waiting here, planning to kill Batman (yeah, brilliant idea.) He fails (what a surprise), but manages to escape (also no surprise). However, I must admit that I felt a tinge of excitement when, at the end of the issue, he's talking to the secret partner he mentioned in passing earlier in the issue, the partner who planned all of this...and it's Nocturna.
Now we all knew Nocturna was coming back, and I didn't care all that much about her last time, but this was a classy reintroduction. I didn't see it coming at all, and yet the Nightmares, Inc. setup, using the illusion of the night to rob Gotham's elite, is exactly her M.O. Nicely done, Doug. And, this time, I mean it.
One weird thing: Newton is still having trouble drawing Vicki consistently. On page 14, she looks like someone's fat old grandmother. On page 15, she looks like herself for one panel, and then gets two more where it honestly looks like Newton copied himself in order to remain consistent. Compare panels 2 and 6. They're not exact copies, but they're darn close. Vicki is in exactly the same pose and kept at exactly the same distance, while Bruce and Julia move freely.
So...a much better issue. It's actually got me excited for Nocturna's return. And, after all, I have no problem with the concept of Nocturna. I just can't handle Moench's overly flowery narration and generous usage of ambiguous symbols and metaphors. If he can keep it a bit more grounded this time, I think I'll enjoy myself.
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Post by shaxper on May 4, 2014 8:44:43 GMT -5
Detective Comics 543
"Shadows of Vengeance"
writer: Doug Moench
pencils: Gene Colan
inks: Alfredo Alcala
letters: Ben Oda
colors: Adrienne Roy
editor: Len Wein
Grade: B-
Well, I was wrong. Moench resists the urge to make his dialogue all flowery and littered with clumsy metaphors this time, and it's still not working for me. Without all the obnoxious narrative illusion surrounding her, Nocturna's just a spoiled seductress who meets with criminals in hotels while wearing nothing but a bathrobe and seems surprised when they think their arrangement is based on romance.
Nocturna's game this time: adopt Jason Todd and then force Bruce to marry her in order to get him back. Honestly, I think Moench is very very bored with writing a superhero comic and wants nothing more than to write romance because that's all he's giving Bruce to deal with these days -- forced to marry Nocturna while wrestling with his dual loves for Vicki and Julia. I'm so bored I could cry.
I will admit that the tension between Bruce and Julia gets mildly interesting in this issue, as Julia talks Bruce into dinner while his mind is on Jason. After making an aggressive move with the comment, "I suppose Vicki Vale would make a very good mother for (Jason)," Bruce hunches over and says, "I'd better get you home, Julia," and the narration says, "And she longs to kick herself." For the first time, Julia had the glimmer of a soul there, angry at herself for taking such a cheap shot, and I liked it.
I have to say, though, how is Alfred not bothered by Bruce and Julia's obvious interest in each other? Even if he thinks Bruce is a great person, this has got to bother him just a little.
So Moench doesn't even really try with the rest of the issue. Batman conveniently discovers Nightmares, Inc.'s next job by finding it written on a random piece of paper, shows up to warn the guests that they are in danger (somehow magically knowing that tonight they are planning on pulling their final job where they rob the guests at gunpoint), and then engages the lead actor in hand to hand combat because this special effects guru is now magically able to leap across rooms, do back-flips, see Batman coming before Batman sees him, and generally stand toe-to-toe as if he'd been training for combat his entire life. Ho hum.
Then the Thief of Night kills him at the last second for trying to get Nocturna to love him. Thief of Night was broken out of prison earlier in the issue as a suspicious dark cloud moved over the afternoon sun while he was in the prison courtyard. This has yet to be explained. Did he break himself out when everyone was distracted or what?
Not happy with how Colan is drawing Nocturna. She doesn't really have that etheral quality here that makes her so special. Maybe it's Alcala's inking. Roy goofs on page 2, giving Nocturna flesh tones, and it stands out more than it should to me.
Mayor Hill is now completely over the deep end. This once understandable corrupt official is not only trying to get Bullock killed and willing to do whatever it takes for Dr. Fang in order to make it happen (WHY Dr. Fang? There are a million assassins out there who don't need a crime boss freed from prison as their payment). Now Hill wants the city to turn down Bruce's application to adopt Jason because Bruce opposed him in the election and supports Gordon. This is just getting silly. By the end of Conway's arc, Hill was downright scared about having already ventured too far into corruption. Now he wields his powers without hesitation, using them to take down each and every person he doesn't like in the most petty and damaging of ways.
Moench just doesn't seem interested in writing real people. Everyone's an obnoxious temptress or an outrageous super-villain. There are no actual people left in these stories, save for that one moment with Julia this issue.
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Post by shaxper on May 4, 2014 8:44:58 GMT -5
Batman 377
"The Slayer of Night"
writer: Doug Moench
pencils: Don Newton
inks: Alfredo Alcala
letters: Alfredo Alcala and Ben Oda
colors: Adrienne Roy
editor: Len Wein
Grade:B+
Ahhh. Newton and Alcala know how to portray Nocturna, and getting her visual right seems like at least half the strength of any Nocturna story. There's one particular panel on page 3 where the judge slams down his gavel against Bruce Wayne, and Nocturna simply stands there in secondary focus, beautiful and driven, eclipsed by blue (nice one, Adrienne Roy!). Additionally, I don't know if DC started a new printing process (I know they started their Baxter paper titles at almost exactly this point, but this clearly isn't one of them), but the colors seem unusually sharp in this issue. Looking ahead, the same is true of the issues that follow. It really brings Roy's work to life more potently.
Oh, Newton's weird thing with teeth comes back this issue. You might recall that, a few issues back, while Julia was coming on to Bruce, she bore her teeth at him in the weirdest of ways, and it totally killed the mood. In this issue, Jason does the same damn thing while talking to Batman. Hmmmm. What is Newton saying about these two?
So the covers to these stories have become increasingly divorced from the content as of late, and this one seems like the most blatant lie yet, as it depicts Nocturna sending Jason plummeting into bad dreams as the slogan proclaims "Nocturna Means Nightmare!" Other than the fact that Nocturna is in this story, I don't see how this has any relevance to the story at all. Jason's not even particularly worried about Nocturna adopting him.
Moench finally gives some characterization to the social worker who began this whole mess that is now being rerouted by Hill and Nocturna for their own desires. Jason tells her how much he misses Bruce, and she finally seems to get it. I'm hoping she'll become a more interesting, conflicted character in this story now.
Bruce and Alfred have an incredibly powerful chat by the fire in this issue. A few excerpts:
Alfred: By his very nature, Sir, and necessarily to ensure his success, the Batman is a...a creature of but one overriding emotion...supreme outrage. His consuming need for justice and retribution is the very factor which encourages his success. Therefore Bruce Wayne represents your positive side...The full spectrum of your other emotions.
Bruce: And I should pay more attention to those other emotions.
Alfred: I was never more proud of you than when you momentarily ignored the Bat-Signal to concentrate on Jason's plight.
Bruce: And as an ironic result, both Jason and Bullock were almost killed.
Alfred: I admit there is that lesson to be learned as well, sir...but the Batman truly is a creature to be feared -- even by yourself in the dark corners of your own soul. Without Bruce Wayne's compassion to balance the Batman's obsession...I fear the night-creature would devour your very heart.
I guess Moench heard that I actually liked Julia for half an instant last issue because he's done everything possible to make her annoying again. She goes into Vicki's office, finds pictures of Bruce, and Moench decides that they make her fall in love with him (even though he's already had her spontaneously fall in love with him twice already. What? Does even Moench get so bored by his own writing that he forgets this stuff?), and then has Julia steal the pictures from Vicki. Yes, steal them. Because she can't get pictures of Bruce from anywhere else...and there certainly isn't a high quality photocopier in the office of PICTURE news Magazine, either.
Later in the story, Bruce debates about his feelings for Nocturna, churning out more of Moench's romantic nonsense about Bruce's dual identities" "I've got to stay away from her -- see her only in the daytime -- in court -- and as Bruce Wayne...not now at night...as the Batman." Once more, Batman can only be permitted to love certain aspects of certain women while Bruce can only be permitted to love others. Not buying this tripe.
So, of course, Bruce goes out as Batman to see Nocturna mere minutes later.
The plot in one ridiculously long sentence: Bruce is losing to Nocturna in court, the judge is obviously corrupted by Mayor Hill (though Bruce still doesn't know who's behind this), Nocturna was in love with the Thief of Night (her step brother. Ewww!) but now refutes him for resorting to murder (he killed that partner of hers last issue), Batman confronts Nocturna and falls under the spell of a love drug she wears, The Thief of Night shows up to take out Batman for moving in on Nocturna while he's drugged, Nocturna shoots the Thief of Night to save Batman, picks up the gun again (to shoot Batman or herself?), drops it, and holds and kisses a drugged Batman.
Kind of a powerful ending, honestly. I don't want to like it, but Newton and Alcala nailed the visuals and really made me feel it. Moench almost certainly couldn't have pulled off this kind of story without them.
So, all in all, I think I liked this story. I don't like Bruce's silly romantic problems at all, but Nocturna is coming across well, and Vicki and Julia aren't being given too much time to be obnoxious on the page. Even Moench seems to be tiring of Vicki at this point.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on May 4, 2014 8:45:25 GMT -5
Detective Comics 544
"Deceit in Dark Secret"
writer: Doug Moench
pencils: Gene Colan
inks: Alfredo Alcala
letters: (uncredited)
colors: (uncredited)
Grade: A
I can't believe it. They did it. Moench, Colan, and Alcala, all working together to weave an intoxicating sense of night, made me love Nocturna. Even though Newton draws her better, Colan, Alcala, and Roy's synergy created the most amazing crystal ice eyes on page 3. It was simply bewitching. Combined with Nocturna's revelation that she knows Batman's identity (though I still think this was a cheap help to Moench's pet villainess) and her promise to wage war only as Natalia Knight against Bruce Wayne, not Nocturna against Batman, this scene somehow made the idea of a married Batman and Nocturna parenting Jason seem completely fitting. The Dark Knight family. I could see it, even while logic nagged from a faint distance, warning me that it couldn't ever work. After all, she's a thief, and Batman is obsessed with justice. Still...it was bewitching. I didn't expect to be so enticed by a character that's previously had no effect upon me. Screw Poison Ivy; Nocturna is the temptress to watch out for.
The Thief of Night is now rechristened as Night Slayer, a much better name for a villain.
Bruce has a great internal debate in this issue about whether Bruce Wayne is the center of Batman or Batman is the center of Bruce Wayne. Unfortunately, he feels the need to frame it all in terms of his love for darkness and for Nocturna. As much as I'm now as captivated by Nocturna as Batman is, I still think the whole idea of love for Nocturna being a metaphor for love of the darkness itself is thoroughly overdone. Batman is not Batman because he loves darkness and therefore loves Nocturna. That's never been the equation. She may appeal to his darker nature, but not to what makes him Batman to begin with.
There's a FANTASTIC sequence in this issue in which Batman chases down the assassin who tried to kill Bullock, and Colan goes wild with the art, truly visually expressing his fear of Batman in so many breath-taking ways. However, I still don't buy the idea that a professionally trained assassin would be so unnerved and crack so easily for Batman. I've never seen a crook in a comic willingly offer that much back story before, and a mayor and crime boss are involved. How stupid can you be? His career is over if he even manages to get out of this story with his life.
Oh, and no Vicki or Julia in this issue, so I loved it all the more.
The plot summary in one ridiculously long sentence: Nocturna reveals that she knows Batman is Bruce Wayne and tries to convince a drugged Batman to marry her, but he breaks away and searches in vain for Night Slayer, who bled a lot but is not dead, while Jason decides that he can't take the Child Welfare Bureau anymore and sneaks off as Robin, only to have Nocturna approach him, reveal that she knows his identity, and inform him that Batman does not need him tonight, so he should go home (she does this with disturbingly accurate motherliness), the social worker again begins to realize that Jason belongs with Bruce Wayne, Batman, Bullock, and Gordan all begin to realize that someone is pulling strings in getting Bullock's assassin out of prison, Batman hunts down the assassin and gets him to reveal that it's Mayor Hill, Batman threatens Hill, and then Batman stalks off to brood about Nocturna some more.
Doesn't sound like much of a plot, but the writing and especially the art really made it something special. If you hate Nocturna, this might be the issue to change your mind for half a second. The idea of Batman, Nocturna, and Robin as the dark family actually made beautiful sense for a second here.
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Post by shaxper on May 4, 2014 8:45:45 GMT -5
Batman 378
"One Hat Madder"
writer: Doug Moench
pencils: Don Newton
inks: Alfredo Alcala
letters: John Costanza
colors: Adrienne Roy
editor: Len Wein
Grade: A
Things are getting better all around. For one thing, Newton hits some of his absolute best visuals yet, including Batman pondering on a rock amidst the loneliness of the catacombs at the edge of the Batcave, Batman pondering over a breathtaking city skyline visible from the outside cliffs of the catacombs overlooking Gotham Harbor, and virtually every image of Nocturna in this issue. Yes, I'm still captivated by her, and Moench works her well in this issue.
Nocturna gets fleshed out more as a character in this issue, amazed by the fact that she has actually won custody over Jason and wondering if she regrets it, and (later) getting mind-controlled by The Mad Hatter (who was simply seeking the location of Night Slayer's stolen loot until Batman showed up), turning her mad as she looks upon Batman, bringing all of her fears and resentments about him to the surface, especially that she tried (and may have succeeded) to kill her former lover in order to save him. It's a pretty convincing and powerful moment.
Moench and Newton play up the excitement of this issue by playing for comedy with Jason pursuing Hatter and his adorable monkey "mentor" that Newton seems to have too much fun animating all while Nocturna flies into this powerful rage while trying to kill Batman (who is desperately trying not to hurt her). Perhaps most powerful of all is when Jason finally turns off the mind control device. The speed with which Nocturna's face regains complete composure says so much about her character and just makes me adore her even more.
In the end, after Nocturna apologizes for actions beyond her control, Batman still has choice words for her about all the actions she committed prior to that which were within her control, and then swings off with Jason. And, as they walk the rooftop together, delighted to be reunited at least during the night, there is yet another ecstasy and anguish. It finally becomes clear that Moench's attempts to pull the two apart have succeeded in solidifying the reader's feelings for their partnership. Whereas Jason was the new Robin that I kind of accepted before, the idea of his being apart from Batman truly bothers me now.
Moench is doing it. He's finally making this run work, and while Newton, Colan, Alcala, and Roy are certainly helping, a lot of credit must be paid to Moench's writing and plotting, as well.
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Post by shaxper on May 4, 2014 8:45:59 GMT -5
Detective Comics 545
"By Darkness Masked"
writer: Doug Moench
pencils: Gene Colan
inks: Bob Smith
letters: Ben Oda
inks: Adrienne Roy
editor: Len Wein
Grade: C-
There it is. The overly flowery narration is back, this time restricted to the thoughts of Anton Knight, the Night Slayer. Most of the issue is spent explaining how he escaped from that alleyway several issues back: A manhole cover under a crate. That's the big secret behind the disappearance that's had Batman stumped for two issues now, and it took 8 pages of obnoxiously ornate story telling to get it.
The remainder of this story is cut short and doesn't really have a plot. It's just the revelation that Night Slayer was rescued by a poor blind girl living by the river. She's desperately lonely and, believing Night Slayer is The Batman, is in love with him. Anton, fully loathing himself and life now that Nocturna has rejected him, plays with the girl's emotions, pretending he cares while he's actually disgusted by her. Yeah, you're supposed to be appalled by Anton here, but I felt a little too appalled and hated the remainder of this story as a result. Anton should be an interesting villain, so spurned and jaded that he's ready to do worse to someone far more innocent, but It's just upsetting, and it doesn't go anywhere yet either.
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Post by shaxper on May 4, 2014 8:46:14 GMT -5
Batman 379
"Bedtime Stories"
writer: Doug Moench
pencils: Don Newton
inks: Alfredo Alcala
letters: Ben Oda
colors: Adrienne Roy
editor: Len Wein
Grade: C
Well it was a great romance for the two issues it lasted, but Nocturna's appeal thoroughly wore off in this one. For one thing, Newton's pencils were far less passionate, perhaps attempting to tone down her appearance while being a mother to Jason, but her look just seemed to lose all its enchantment. Add to that her thoroughly lame way of attempting to mother Jason with a bedtime story (he's a little old), and the final jump the shark moment, where Nocturna saves Batman and Robin from disaster in a tremendously lame costume and cape. Yes, Moench made her a superhero. Worse yet, Batman and Robin still had a count of five to escape from that warehouse with nothing to stop them but a few henchmen. That shouldn't have been a problem but, of course, they didn't get out in time so that Moench could show that they'd be dead without Nocturna's help. How convenient that she happened to show up the one time that they strangely wouldn't have been able to take care of themselves!
So, Jason's trial is back on. At first, I was confused because it ended last issue and the judge looks different, but it's later vaguely suggested by Bruce calling it "Round 2" that this must be an appeals court. That was quick. So why was Batman in no rush to take down Mayor Hill last issue if his corruption is still keeping Bruce from winning Jason back? This makes absolutely no sense. A few issues back, we saw that Jason was more important to Bruce than anything...even Batman, so why the hell is Batman sitting on his ass about this?? Just last issue he gave the rationale that Hill is scared enough for the time being, but Hill is also still pulling those strings that are keeping Jason away from Bruce (possibly permanently).
Julia gets more attention in this issue as Vicki promotes her (why? She hates her) to field reporter for Picture News, and she wins everyone's approval by going to the scene of a fire and writing about the people who insulted her there rather than the fire, itself. I call that narcissism and terrible journalism, but everyone in Moench's world seems to find it even more brilliant than the no-talent poet from a few issues back. Moench clearly loves to celebrate terrible writing.
The plot summary in one ridiculously long sentence: Mad Hatter has used the computer that Batman stole from him last issue to bait Batman into a trap, Julia has a falling out with reporter Julia Ortega (she's been mentioned in this comic for years now, but I believe this is only her second appearance -- the first being an interview with Boss Falcone way back at the end of Conway's run), Alfred is sad that Julia used her step-father's name in her article, that reporter comes onto Vicki again (only creepier than ever: "...Well, I've been thinking it might be nice to have a son"), the blind girl is still boring Anton Knight with her lame fantasies, people are beginning to notice that Batman is patrolling without Robin, Mad Hatter is using his hats to control henchmen and release their endorphins (making them super-strong), Nocturna is using her attraction phermones to make Jason think of her as his mother and a weird conversation of "if you were just a little bit older" promptly ensues, Jason resists her charms as Batman arrives and takes him out as Robin, they take on the Mad Hatter, Nocturna saves them from death, we're reminded that everyone wants everyone that they can't have, and it's hinted that Night Slayer will hold some importance for Batman next issue.
Cei-U, somehow I have a feeling that this is the very issue you think back on when you remember how dumb the whole Nocturna adopting Jason plot was. Having just read this one, I can't blame you. Still, we were hitting solid gold for a few issues, and I keep hoping Moench and Newton will bring it back.
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Post by shaxper on May 4, 2014 8:46:32 GMT -5
Detective Comics 546
"Hill's Descent"
writer: Doug Moench
pencils: Gene Colan
inks: Bob Smith
letters: Ben Oda
colors: Adrienne Roy
editor: Len Wein
Grade: B
A very impressive beginning, in which we watch Hill unexpectedly ransack his own office in order to frame Batman, goes nowhere fast. For a run that spends so much time referencing the past (I think Detective #526 gets referenced at least once per issue), I wonder how Moench didn't think we'd notice his repeating a plot from Conway's run. Gordon gets suspended, Batman is deemed an outlaw, the cops are ordered to pursue him, and we get some long dialogue between cops deciding how they feel about it. We went through all of this before when Mayor Hill first got into office, only, back then, he was the sane one who wanted no part in such blatant abuse of power.
As the story continues its decent into repetition and blandness, Batman is swinging around building tops when a cop car sights him, calls for backup (which gets there ridiculously quickly), and Batman somehow decides that continuing to "roof hop" would make him a perfect target, so he must land, at which point the cops corner him. If things weren't already making too little sense, Batman makes it clear that he doesn't want to fight them, and they make it clear that they must follow orders, so Batman beats them to a pulp, promising afterward, "That was as gentle as you let me make it." Ummm...why didn't he just evade them? You know, swing away, disappear into the night, that sort of stuff?
The blind girl now realizes that Anton isn't the Batman when she sees how obsessed he is with vengeance, and a tear rolls down her face.
Nocturna decides with excessive haste that Jason cannot truly be her son since he disapproves of her criminal history, and a tear rolls down her face too (Colan seems to really enjoy drawing these). DEFINITELY not the Nocturna that enchanted me a few issues back.
However, just when this issue is starting to feel thoroughly lost, awesomeness happens. Bullock is walking purposefully down the street to his home when a sniper takes a shot at him. On pure instinct, Bullock dodges the bullet and fires back, killing the roof-top assassin from street level. While we're amazed that he was able to do something that impressive on instinct, Bullock simply allows his killing of the assassin to spurn him into a full blown indignant rage. He barges right into Hill's mansion and calls him out, delivering some fantastic lines while grabbing Hill by the collar:
"I may be a bungler, Hammie, but I ain't stupid. When you first "appointed" me to be Gordon's new "assistant," I knew the game's score -- but I played along for my own reasons, not yours. Bein' from the old school and a guy who likes to think he's tough, I was of the mind that Gordon had gotten too soft -- and that me bein' the new commish would improve the force."
"I was wrong. In his sleep, Gordon's a better cop than I'll ever be. And you, Hill...you're lower than the slime from a cancerous lung. A city can survive a corrupt administration -- it's done all the time -- but the day someone like you runs this burg -- is the day a cop like me takes the law into his own hands.."
Just when you think it can't get any more powerful, viewing the full scope of the unexpected hero Bullock has become, Hill fires his gun at Bullock point blank, and he collapses to the floor.
GREAT ending to an otherwise lackluster issue.
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Post by shaxper on May 4, 2014 8:49:25 GMT -5
Batman #380
"End of the Bat"
writer: Doug Moench
pencils: Rick Hoberg
inks: Alfredo Alcala
letters: Ben Oda
colors: Adrienne Roy
editor: Len Wein
Grade: B-
Ladies and gentlemen, an era has passed. I had no idea that last issue had been Don Newton's final work on Batman, and I couldn't be sadder. Rick Hoberg takes the reigns this issue (still ably inked by Alfredo Alcala), and while his artwork is quite capable, his layout decisions are rather uninspired. I often find that his images go against my own instincts of how a Moench story should look, from the awkward title page that somehow looks like an advertisement that should be skipped everytime I see it, to how he paces out Moench's narration across panels and pages, thus making the most tedious inner thoughts seem emphasized, or his choice to undress Nocturna on panel (which just seemed entirely tasteless and unnecessary). Even the full page panel depicting Batman's inner identity (p. 17) looked lacking and uninspired...a little too simple and well-ordered. The decision to show the same image shattered on the next page was brilliant, but I wonder if this came from Hoberg or from Moench.
And, speaking of Moench, his writing on this particular issue did little to ease the pain of losing Newton. So much about this issue seemed ridiculous and/or didn't make sense!
Exhibit A: Bullock was shot point blank last issue but is now told, "the bullet came within an inch of your heart," and this somehow explains why he appears to be perfectly well, although confined to a hospital bed. Seriously, no life support, no intensive care, nothing. The guy looks like the pillar of health and converses with Gordon as if nothing is wrong.
Exhibit B: Hill is still giving Dr. Fang chances to have his men kill Bullock, even going so far as to free him from prison so he can do it personally. WHY? Fang was a two bit crime boss for five seconds. He has no particular reputation for assassinations, and it's not like there aren't a dozen other people Hill could turn to. Why would the mayor take that much chance to suspiciously free a high profile convicted criminal who's already failed at doing the job twice?
Exhibit C: Immediately after discovering the manhole through which Anton escaped ("This manhole is the only way to explain his 'disappearance into thin air'...and so it's time for my descent), Batman makes reference to a "first time" he came down there looking for Anton. We never saw a first time. At the end of last issue, he had just discovered the manhole and, at the beginning of this one, he's standing over it. Why add a peculiar reference to an extra trip down the manhole that we never saw when, as Batman soon reveals, he didn't find anything that time? Worse yet, he decides that this time he'll use "systemic logic" to figure out what happened to Anton. Why wouldn't he have used systemic logic the first time around? This entire reference is odd and serves absolutely no purpose.
Exhibit D: The blind girl suddenly still believes Anton is Batman when the narration made it clear that she figured out it wasn't him last time around due to his obsession with revenge.
Exhibit E: Upon finding the blind girl crying in the shack (Anton has now left her for good), Batman tries to comfort her and randomly promises, "But if you ever need someone, just to talk to...I can easily be contacted." First, I can't imagine a lovesick girl is at the top of Batman's agenda. Sure, she's poor, but Batman has no idea she's crying over Anton. Why does he involve himself this thoroughly? It's not like he sits at home in the cave with nothing better to do than build up her self esteem. And what's with the whole, "I can easily be contacted" promise? Was he planning on leaving her a batsignal?
Exhibit F: Jason and Nocturna return from a nighttime walk in the park. Nocturna plans to go to bed and is sad to see that Jason wants to stay up to see if Batman needs him. Why is Nocturna going to bed so early in the evening that there is still time left for Bruce and Jason to patrol? Isn't her whole thing sleeping by day and living by night?
Exhibit G: Dr. Fang now feels he has a personal score to settle with Batman, "the one who DENIED me my freedom." Uh, no. He challenged Batman to a boxing match, and Batman won and then sent him to jail. How is that a denial of freedom?
Exhibit H: ...so he decides to exact his vengeance by randomly walking around town, hoping to find Batman. AND HE DOES! Even then, what was he expecting to do? Box him to death? Sure enough, he sees Batman go into a penthouse (Nocturna's) and follows him. Even then, what was he expecting to happen next? He had just walked out of prison with his lawyer before immediately going out on this search for Batman. There's nothing to suggest he ever obtained a weapon in between.
Exhibit I: ...so he's shot dead immediately upon entering. WHAT THE HECK? Dr. Fang was a terrible, terrible villain. He should have gone away after one storyline, but Moench fought like hell to keep him in the story, having Mayor Hill inexplicably keep turning to him for his Bullock problem and promising to get him out. Now that Fang is out, he's immediately killed. What was the point?
Exhibit J: I still don't get how Anton Knight is a worthy opponent for Batman. He's a mafia brat who has undergone some training out of devotion to Nocturna, but how can this compare to Batman's ability levels? Granted, I've never seen a Bronze Age explanation for exactly how much combat training Bruce underwent to become Batman, but I'm relatively sure he would have pushed himself further, harder, for a greater amount of years, and starting at a far earlier age than Anton Knight did. Why is this an even and intense battle? Can any lovesick fool obsessed with impressing an albino pick up a few high priced karate classes and suddenly stand toe-to-toe with Batman?
Exhibit K: Okay, so Bruce has a bullet skim the side of his head. I don't see how this would cause the amount of disorientation and identity confusion that follows. By the end of the story, Bruce is now convinced he's Anton Knight. It's an interesting twist, but I don't buy it. It doesn't look like his skull was penetrated, so could a grazing bullet really cause enough concussive damage to someone's head to mess with their brain like that? It just doesn't seem convincing at all.
Exhibit L: Now believing he's Anton Knight, Bruce goes back to the blind girl's shack and calls her "Tina." Bruce never knew that Anton had been there nor the girl's name. Did getting grazed with a bullet magically give him Anton's memories too?
I do find it interesting that Jason finally felt compassion for Natalia when he watched her watching the two men she loved battle in front of her. Can't decide whether this will be a hokey and obligatory change of heart or an earned and powerful one, but it's certainly important to note.
I also like that Gordon decides to stay in Bullock's hospital room and protect him all night long. A genuine comradery is forming between these two that Moench has truly earned. I'm impressed by this, even though the writing and art do not do this moment enough justice.
That second to last page, as a delusional Bruce imagines himself in Anton's costume, approaching his rogues gallery and joining them, would have been SO much more powerful had Newton been penciling it.
So there was some good to this story. It's certainly an interesting twist by the end, but so much just doesn't make sense, and the loss of Newton is strongly felt throughout.
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), Penguin tries to intimidate Vicki into taking serious pictures of him, Vicki did discretely take those pictures without his knowledge and loves them but feels conflicted about whether or not she should publish them since he'd want her to, Penguin's lackies rob a society party and have the guests remove their jewels from their settings, Batman and Robin hastily confront Penguin without any evidence that he's done anything wrong, Gordon convinces Bullock that it wasn't Penguin who tried to kill him, Mayor Hill is furious that Bullock isn't dead after all, Vicki's party is as laden with lame conflicts as was mentioned above, Penguin's men bust in and kidnap the reporter with top secret defense information (how did they know?), Batman frees the reporter after Penguin gets the info he needs, Penguin makes his lame escape, Batman discovers he's been hiding the jewels by feeding them to his birds, and a social worker discovers that Bruce is a terrible adoptive father.