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Post by shaxper on May 4, 2014 10:00:18 GMT -5
Added to the "highlights" section of the first post in this thread:
Batman #386-387, and Detective Comics #553: The Black Mask storyline, featuring his first appearance and origin, as well as some grotesque, action-intensive story-telling.
Say what you will about Moench's limitations (and he certainly had them), but I seem to be adding nearly every storyline of his into the "highlights" section these days.
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Post by shaxper on May 4, 2014 10:07:12 GMT -5
Detective Comics #554 "Port Passed" writer: Doug Moench pencils/inks: Klaus Janson letters: Todd Klein colors: Adrienne Roy editor: Len Wein Grade: C+ Wein and Moench go for a stand-alone story, once again. This one involves a freight ship from Sicily stopped for inspection and threatening to blow up the port with explosives if it's boarded. Moench abandons most of his side plots in order to tell one compelling 16 page adventure of how Batman, Robin, and Bullock work together to stop the bad guys. A few overly poetic gestures at the very beginning aside, this is a relatively effective stand-alone with a few notable exceptions: 1. Janson's art is a lot more rough/unfinished in this issue. A lot of the background crosshatching is done hastily, and no artistic reason for doing so is evident. Other pages are sparsely inked at all. Overall, the issue still looks great, but a few key pages don't seem up to snuff (particularly pages 3, 4, and 8). As a counterbalance, Roy does a fantastic job of coloring Batman's undersea battle with the antagonist on page 13. 2. Moench tries to remind us that Bullock's behaviors are a carefully concealed act, as well as acknowledge the fans' concern that, to the public, Robin must suddenly seem a lot younger than he used to be, by giving Bullock and Robin some time to talk about these things, but the pacing of the story absolutely dies here and accomplishes nothing else. I'm especially amazed when Bullock randomly offers, "Listen kid, you ain't tumbled to the fact that my clumsy routine is all act?" Heck, he guarded this from Gordon until Gordon figured it out on his own. Why is he randomly revealing this to someone he barely knows? 3. Some logistics in this issue just don't work. For example, Batman and Robin both dive under the water, and speed is essential to their plans (Batman is planning to chase down the bad guy underwater) so why would they keep their heavy capes on? Robin and Bullock see the villain with a waterproof container strapped to his chest and automatically determine that there are no explosives in sight. Uh.... Robin and Batman both surmise rather quickly that, since they don't see any explosives around, the villain's spear must have an explosive tip(  ). Batman has his air supply cut while underwater and, with his remaining breath, punches the bad guy instead of attempting to take/remove his explosive spear (if he tried, but it was out of reach, Janson did not make this evident). Finally, Batman now has a high powered light that emits from his utility belt. I thought we left all the clever utility belt gadgets behind in the '60s. I can think of a half a dozen times where this gadget would have been useful in prior situations had Bruce had it. Clearly, it was invented for this story. 4. The end of the story is just dropped on us. We discover that what the villain had been trying to smuggle in was a fake passport and airline ticket for a mafia(?) villain scheduled to be deported tomorrow, but we're given no hint what to make of this. Are we supposed to understand the motive here (because I don't), is it supposed to be a mystery (then tell us so), or does it imply some sinister motive that Gordon and Batman will explain next issue? This is no way to end a story. It's hard, after all that, to explain why it was still an entertaining story, but it was. Lots of good action and complications throughout. "Crazy from the Heat II" writer: Joey Cavalieri pencils: (that other) Moore inks: Bruce Patton letters: Bob Someone-or-Other (it's indecipherable--how ironic) colors: Shelly Eiber editor Len Wein Grade: No, seriously. Why bother? I had to read this issue for two reasons: One, as I scanned last issue's story (I always do to see if Cavaliari has been booted off yet) I saw Dinah uncover some mystery about her mother (the first Black Canary) at the end of the issue and was half intrigued to find out what it was. The other reason was the cover. The cover of this story shows a goofy looking heroine and pronounces "For the FIRST time anywhere...the ALL-NEW BLACK CANARY." All-new? Wow. When I first got this comic a few years back, I mistakenly assumed this was Dinah's first appearance. Later, once I got more bearings on which characters appeared when in the DCU, I assumed this was the introduction of some new Black Canary who'd get discarded after the Crisis. Unfortunately, it was even dumber than that. It's the same old Dinah in a stupid new costume. After losing a battle to a villain similar to a villain her mother lost to, Dinah randomly decides that her mother's legacy is holding her back, and so she abruptly pulls a new costume out (which had apparently been sitting in her closet all along?). So...let's be clear. This is the exact same Dinah, with the exact same characterization, outlook, and general style, only in an awful new costume that will quickly get discarded. In what way is she "All-New," and in what way was this deserving of the cover of the book? Batman hasn't surrendered the cover of Detective for another character in YEARS, and he did so now for THIS??? I want those fifteen minutes of my life back, Cavalieri and Moore. |
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Post by shaxper on May 4, 2014 10:08:32 GMT -5
Batman #388
"The Round-Trip Looking Glass"
writer: Doug Moench
pencils/inks: Tom Mandrake
letters: John Costanza
colors: Adrienne Roy
editor: Len Wein
Grade: D+
It was an odd choice to have Batman fight Mirror Master and Captain Boomerang this issue, both of whom explain that they are moving on from Capital City and trying out Gotham as a new stomping ground. Since Wein provides no explanation as to why they are leaving Capital City, I'm assuming this is not the fall-out from a Flash storyline. It seems more likely that DC is trying to find a new home for Flash's classic rogues since he's going to die in Crisis on Infinite Earths next month. Perhaps they hadn't decided that Wally West would replace him yet? Anyway, it's an odd decision to have based this issue on the events of the Crisis since, once again, it fails to acknowledge Batman's involvement in the Crisis. He fights the Flash's villains and briefly mentions The Flash while discussing these villains with Robin, and yet he still never brings up how haunted he was by a dying Barry Allen appearing before him and warning of the end of the world. While this vision was at the forefront of his mind in Crisis, it simply doesn't register here. Bad continuity in my book, especially in light of the fact that the Crisis ends up being all about tightening continuity.
So, I suppose I should discuss the merits of the issue itself. This is essentially a silly story for Flash fans (I assume). I know nothing about Captain Boomerang or Mirror Master and didn't find that their brief origins (provided by Batman's crime computer) nor their roles in this story made me like them any better. They were presented as ridiculous villains in a ridiculous story designed to amuse without taking itself even remotely seriously. I began by noting all the lapses in logic occurring throughout the issue, but by the time Captain Boomerang quickly and spontaneously cut a piece of Mirror Master's glass into a special glass boomerang complete with remote control and two way audio communications system (man, he sure is the master of impromptu micro-technology assembly!) I realized that it was a moot battle, and I should probably just sit back and enjoy it. So, rather than being bothered by Captain Boomerang traveling around town by holding onto a flying magnetic boomerang, I just tried to find it amusing.
The problem is that the issue wasn't all that amusing. I thought about chuckling once when Bullock commented to Robin:
"That's the good thing about real police work--it's never like the movies, and sometimes it's actually easier."
when (and I can't seem to find the issue where it happened) I'm positive he recently said something to this effect:
That's the good thing about real police work--sometimes it's just like the movies."
Really wish I could find this quote! I just checked the past five issues and had no luck. For some reason, I was sure it was in the last Detective issue, but I just don't see it there.
Anyway, there's really nothing else clever, amusing, nor entertaining about this story. I wonder if it would come off differently to fans of The Flash. Last time Captain Boomerang appeared in Batman (#321, written by Wein), Wein made him sympathetic and really compelled me to like the guy. Moench takes it in a different direction, but it just didn't work for me.
Mandrake is beginning to lose me on the art. He draws well, but sometimes the faces just look completely wrong to me -- awkward, even. Take Jason's face on the bottom of page 9, or Julia's face all throughout page 13. They just look weird, and I'm not sure Mandrake adds enough power to the rest of the issue to make it an even trade-off. Somehow, I enjoyed his work a lot better last issue. Maybe he just isn't as comfortable penciling a more lighthearted story. He seemed to suit the darkness of the Black Mask saga much better.
The plot (do you really want it?) in one ridiculously long sentence: Captain Boomerang and Mirror Master decide to start committing crimes in Gotham at the exact same time and beginning with the exact same job, Batman tries to stop them and fails (this really surprised me), they get into a fight and decide to work against each other, Bruce shows their origin stories to Jason, Black Mask's remaining henchmen ask Mirror Master to be their boss (this made sense on so few levels if you really stop to think about it), Bruce invites Julia over and thinks about Vicki as Julia drones on about wanting to write a book about Black Mask, Bruce is called away and refers to what he left as a "soap opera scene" (seriously, does Moench just hate women, or what?), Batman inexplicably decides to call Gordon ahead of answering the Bat Signal and can't get through, he randomly runs into Bullock (what a coincidence) who is headed to a different crime, so Batman goes to stop Boomerang while Robin and Bullock go to stop Mirror Master, they end up at the same crime (again, though this is not presented as being silly or funny at all), they both get away, and Boomerang ends up hypnotizing Mirror Master with his own hypnotizing glass.
Man, do I really have to read the second part of this?
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Post by shaxper on May 4, 2014 10:13:47 GMT -5
Detective Comics #555
"Returning Reflections"
writer: Doug Moench
pencils: Gene Colan
inks: Bob Smith
letters: John Workman
colors: Adrienne Roy
editor: Len Wein
Grade: C
It took me a lot of energy to make myself go back to this terrible, terrible story, but Colan's return this issue made everything a lot more palpable. Fortunately, Moench avoided adding any new ridiculous aspects to the premise, so I only had to put up with what had already been set up last issue. Beyond the hypnotizing and Captain Boomerang flying around by holding onto a magnetic boomerang, the issue remained relatively grounded.
It was great to get Colan back, but there were a few times when his art got confusing in this issue. I found myself having to reread pages 5 and 9 several times to figure out what had happened.
This is only the second time Matches Malone has showed up in this run. I was just beginning wonder why crooks city-wide haven't yet figured out that any crime Matches is involved in gets busted by The Batman when this one didn't. Moench did an excellent job of keeping Matches distant from the actual bust that Batman was planning.
For what it's worth, this was a "Red Skies" Crisis tie-in.
The strengths of this story: It's narrated through Jason's journal, which was a clever change of pace, and it also offered us an explanation on how he's finally able to get more sleep and not be tired at school while still going out on some (most?) patrols.
The weaknesses of this story: beyond the fact that it's the second part of a terrible story, there were only a few things I disliked about it:
1. Moench is pushing way too hard for Bullock now. Whereas I used to complain that he didn't use Bullock enough, he's now forcing Harvey down our throats every issue. First, he spent two issues pairing Bullock and Robin together in an attempt to create some weird comradery between them that never took hold. Bullock questioned Robin, Robin insulted Bullock, and it never felt like anything more than that. Bear in mind, too, that this only happened twice (beginning last issue). Now, in this issue, we get this dialogue:
Robin: We've gotta save Bullock!
Batman: Agreed, Robin--but I thought Bullock was such a "clumsy baboon" in your book...
Robin: Yeah, but at least he makes me look good--a welcome change after hangin' out in your shadow.
Batman: Sure that's the only reason you're so shook up?
Robin: All right! Whatta ya want me to say? That I love the big goof?
Batman: If it's true, why not?
Robin: Well, aside from "love" not being quite the right words...yeah, I guess it is true.
Batman: Then there's no need to say it, son, and our plan just changed again--because I feel the same way about him.
None of this is even remotely earned.
And did Batman mean to imply that Robin would have let Bullock die if he truly had been nothing more than a "clumsy baboon"?
2. Really lame that Mirror Master was only pretending to be hypnotized. Such a campy explanation to a campy plot, and he sure played the part well, being depicted as sitting around his apartment in costume all day long, gazing at the hypnotic boomerang and waiting for more orders. Now that's commitment to a role!
3. Moench gives us another lame ending. Robin ends and throws out his journal, making the semi-cute comment that it "couldn't even pass for a comic book," while Bruce is pretending to sleep and smiles as Robin goes off to watch a movie Bullock referenced earlier. What was that smile all about? Robin throwing away his journal, or his man-crush on Bullock? Oh, and Bullock showed crazy martial arts skills at the climax of this storyline, CATCHING Captain Boomerang's boomerang and throwing it back at him in one split moment. I suppose all of #3 really fits under #1 again. Has Bullock become Moench's Marty Stu?
The plot (do you really want it?) in one long sentence: Robin is writing in his journal about the Boomerang and Mirror Master crimes, alluding to something devastating that he and Batman didn't know at the time, we see Bullock being clumsy again (he "accidentally" smashes the Bat Signal--what an ass if this was actually a purposeful act!), Matches Malone talks loudly in a bar, laying down some bait for Captain Boomerang, Boomerang takes the bait and makes a hypnotized Mirror Master commit the crime, Batman and Robin didn't expect Mirror Master to show up alone (they didn't know he was hypnotized) so they wait too long to spring the trap and Bullock gets taken hostage, Mirror Master reveals he was faking and brainwashes Bullock to kill Boomerang, Batman and Robin break in, Bullock reveals that he too was faking (the only thing sillier than a plot about hypnotizing people is a plot in which no one actually got hypnotized and everyone was faking!), and a battle ensues where the good guys win.
Well, nowhere near as bad as last issue, but it wasn't good either. Really, the Colan art is most of what saved it.
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Post by shaxper on May 4, 2014 10:13:59 GMT -5
Batman #389
"Red Skies"
writer: Doug Moench
pencils/inks: Tom Mandrake
letters: John Costanza
colors: Adrienne Roy
editor: Len Wein
Grade: B
I've been looking forward to this issue for a while now. Judging from the covers of the issues that follow, this is the beginning of Nocturna's final story arc, and possibly the beginning of Moench's final major story arc before the reboot takes effect.
Unfortunately, this issue didn't meet expectations. It's certainly a million times better than the Captain Boomerang/Mirror Master storyline it follows, but I had major issues with just about every page of the first half of this story. So much was wrong.
It got better toward the end and, in many ways, redeemed itself. I still think this can end up being a good storyline, but this was a mixed issue, at best:
The Good:
1. I'm impressed with how meaningfully Moench allows the red skies from Crisis to affect this issue. It disturbs, and seems to pervade the core of, nearly every major character.
2. Once again, Moench has managed to develop and enrich the complex relationship between Jason and Nocturna. At the end of the issue, each clearly needs the other more than he/she ever did before, and I fully understand why. This has the potential to make for a great storyline.
The Bad:
1. Mandrake's art completely goes down the tube in this issue. Clearly, he has the ability to draw these characters exceptionally well (just look at the cover and page 11), but the rest of the issue is TERRIBLE. Nocturna and Catwoman, in particular, look amazing on the cover, but have never ever looked more horrendous throughout the issue. Catwoman on page 2 and Nocturna on page 7 are truly drawn to be so ugly that it was nearly impossible to focus on the story.
2. When Gordon explains that, "Public sentiment is turning against Goetz," I have absolutely no idea what he means. Is this a person, a reference/figure of speach, etc? I have absolutely no idea, and it's the line that sets up the entire action of the story.
3. Why is Julia back working for Vicki? She clearly moved up in the world, getting her articles published as front pages in actual newspapers, so why would she still be working at a photo-reporting magazine run by a woman who hates her and sometimes opts not to speak to her?
4. Page 4, Bullock spills ketchup all over himself and Gordon. Seriously, is the clumsiness an act or not? If so, who is he trying to convince--the guy who owns the diner?
5. On page 7, Nocturna effortlessly disarms a thug with a knife with a precise high kick to his wrist. Since when is she trained for physical combat, and how does she manage that kick in an evening gown, anyway?
6. Batman drags Catwoman back to his cave just to show her a stalagmite that looks like a cat and use it as a symbol for how they belong together...and then tells her it will never happen. I know he's conflicted about her, but this is ridiculous.
7. While taking her to the cave, Batman insists that Catwoman be blindfolded. How quickly we forget that she suddenly and randomly revealed that she knew he was Bruce Wayne way back in Detective #521. Apparently we're now ignoring this. If only we could ignore the rest of the damage Conway did to Catwoman in that issue and restore her to Wein's vision of a confident, independent, and capable vigilante -- though maybe I'm speaking too soon. After all, Moench did give us this promising exchange in the issue:
Batman: But for Gordon's sake, I'm still asking you to stop this "vigilante"--
Catwoman: Are you saying what you do is wrong, Batman?
Batman: No, but--
Catwoman: Then you're saying I'm not good enough to do what you do?
Batman: No, I'm just--
Catwoman: Then you're saying nothing worth listening to. Thanks again for the parachute--but not the stalagmite.
Maybe Wein's Catwoman is coming back...
8. It felt really good, a few issues back in Detective #553, when Gordon and Bullock knocked the new Mayor down a peg or two. They made it abundantly clear that the ball was in their court, and they knew it. Now, suddenly, the mayor has all the power, and they fear his wrath. Wait...when did this reversal happen? Bullock correctly states "Shades of Rupert Thorne an' Hamilton Hill, huh, Commish?" and even though Gordon tries to explain how it's different, it's not. We're getting the same damn plot for the third time, and I'm sick of it. Both of those previous victories were hard earned, and it seems wrong to revoke them for the sake of needing to provide more story.
9. How many pages did we really need about the worried wife of the security guard Nocturna enchanted? Unless Moench is planning on making him a key part of the storyline, this was a waste of my time.
10. Oh no. Robin and Bullock randomly arrive at Nocturna's hideout at the EXACT same time in order to get teamed up by Moench yet again. Amazing that neither felt the need to alert Batman or Gordon.
11. Why had Catwoman taken it upon herself to track down the remainder of Black Mask's gang? What is her motivation in wanting to be a vigilante, and how is she paying her bills if not resorting to a life of crime again? Moench doesn't seem interested in answering these questions and just seems to be using her as another love conflict for Bruce.
12. Anton Knight is back. It's not the issue of how Moench handled him; he's just a terrible, terrible character. I truly hope he can be heavily revised or at least take on a more significant meaning for Nocturna in this final storyline for the two of them.
The plot in one ridiculously long sentence: Catwoman is back in town and trying to track down the remainder of Black Mask's gang, but someone else is killing them and leaving her with the blame, the acting mayor is blaming everything on Gordon (once again), Nocturna returns to her observatory and takes down the Savage Skull gang residing there (are they intentionally referencing Moench's forgettable villain from the beginning of his run, or is Moench merely nodding to himself?), Jason is feeling the absence of a mother to the extent that he's calling that troublesome social worker just to have a motherly figure to talk to, Bruce tries to make up with Vicki and fails while she continues to push her eerie new addiction to working out, Nocturna charms a security guard who went to check out her observatory, and we spend far too long with Bullock interviewing the guard's wife, Batman brings Catwoman to the Batcave just to tell her he loves her and doesn't want her, Bullock and Jason both figure out Nocturna's at the observatory at the same time and run into each other there, and Jason and Nocturna end up sitting on the roof, holding each other and watching the red sky while Jason addresses her as "mom."
All in all, I like where this story went, but I had a lot of trouble with the steps it took along the way.
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Post by shaxper on May 4, 2014 10:14:38 GMT -5
Detective Comics #556
"The Bleeding Night"
writer: Doug Moench
pencils: Gene Colan
inks: Bob Smith
letters: John Workman
colors: Adrienne Roy
editor: Len Wein
Grade: A
Wow.
I actually said that aloud upon reading the end of this issue. Suffice to say, this one was MUCH better than the last. Moench's tone, plotting, characterization and, above all else, pacing is dead on, and Colan's art (though hardly at its peak) adds its own magic to the story.
Essentially, the brief moment of magic shared between Nocturna and Jason last issue is long gone by the beginning of this one, and yet only a few moments have passed. Though briefly alluded to last issue, Nocturna has become obsessed with her own demise in this issue, sure that the continuing red skies are an omen that she will be killed just as the black night has been, and Anton Knight's desire to kill her may play a role in it. I really liked that Nocturna's melancholy felt fully earned for once, and maybe part of that simply comes from knowing (in hindsight) that her end really is near. After all, had DC kept to schedule, the post-Crisis continuity would have taken hold at the end of this storyline, rebooting all that Moench had created in these past few years. Surely, Moench couldn't have known that Nocturna would have no place in post-Crisis continuity, but he may have suspected that she'd never be written in quite the same way again. At any rate, some sort of real sense of foreboding and loss is coming across in this issue, and I really respected that.
Bullock gets some nice development in this issue, stopping Nocturna at gun point, simply having her walk away while daring him to shoot her in the back, and then having Robin try to block his gun. He goes back to the police shooting range, livid at being made to feel so impotent, and then (in his own bizarrely charming way) barges into Gordon's office, plops down in a chair, and begins to vent. Gordon's cool, yet never dismissive, response was quite appealing. Moench really understands how these two interract. It's such an odd and mismatched friendship, but Moench always makes it work.
We got a GREAT discussion about Jason in this issue (all of which came out of the before-mentioned conversation in Gordon's office). It's nice to finally see the obvious changes in "Robin" finally being addressed by outsiders:
Bullock: An' speaking of the Batman, Commish, that's another thing--his runty sidekick.
Gordon: You mean Robin.
Bullock: Yeah--except he's too small to BE Robin. It's been buggin' me for months, an' now that I been close to him a few times, I'm convinced...Robin ain't Robin.
Gordon: Oh? Then who is he?
Bullock: Nocturna's son.
Gordon: Her...son.
Bullock: Don't ya see, Commish? The way he protected her earlier tonight...an' like I said, Commish, the fact that he's smaller than Robin used ta be--different too. It all fits. Somethin' happens to the first Robin and this kid leaves his mother--Nocturna--to join Batman as the new Robin. She takes to crime to get back at Batman and her kid--and then, still feelin' the loss, she even tries to adopt a new kid to take her son's place--stealin' that Jason Todd squirt away from Bruce Wayne. Actually, the Todd kid is even smaller an' younger than the new Robin--but to a grievin' mother, he's close enough, right?
Gordon: Intriguing hypothesis, Bullock, but so what?
Bullock: Huh? Whaddaya mean so what? If this new Robin is Nocturna's kid--
Gordon: Bullock, I've known of this new Robin for months now...but that Batman, for his own reasons, has chosen not to mention it, so neither have I.
Bullock: You've known for--
Gordon: I simply assumed the original Robin grew up and moved on. Batman was alone more and more often for a time there, and frankly, it worried me. I was relieved when he recruited this new lad. Having Robin at his side makes him somehow more...human.
Great, great material. Granted, Gordon did mention the change to Batman at one point and did object to his taking on a new sidekick at first, but maybe he's just choosing not to share that with an already skeptical Bullock. All the same, so many important things were said and observed here.
There's one more great moment in this story, but I think I'll save it for after the plot summary...
The plot synopsis in one ridiculously long sentence: Bullock catches Nocturna with Robin, but he allows her to get away against his better judgment and has a long conversation with Gordon about the decision and about the new Robin, Nocturna takes over the remainder of the False Face Society (as Anton predicted she would), Batman fights Anton but fails to catch him (as usual), he confronts Nocturna, and...
This was the best part of the entire story, even though Colan's art completely faltered on this page. Nocturna laments the red sky and expresses the anticipation of her own death, leaving Batman confused about what to do with her, and then this happens:
Nocturna: So tell me...are you really going to arrest me for petty burglary?
Batman: I don't know. Your first crime has already failed...before it could begin.
Nocturna: With you ever haunting the dark, I might have known.
Batman: Yes.
Nocturna: It's strange...I...I still love you so much...as much as night itself...And yet I just realized...we've only kissed once, on that rooftop, when you were wounded by Nightslayer...and probably too delirious to even feel it.
(silent frame as they stand at opposite ends of the room)
Batman: I'm fine now.
(more silent frames, as they walk toward each other, Batman holds her face while eclipsed by shadows, and a final frame in which they kiss)
And the issue closes with some brief narration.
No, it's not the same if you don't read the actual page, but this was damn powerful. As mentioned earlier, Colan's art really wasn't anything special here, nor were Smith's inks, but the layouts were fantastic.
This issue pretty much did everything it needed to do and more.
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Post by shaxper on May 4, 2014 10:19:22 GMT -5
Batman #390
"Women, Dark and Dangerous"
writer: Doug Moench
art: Tom Mandrake
letters: John Costanza
colors: Adrienne Roy
editor: Len Wein
Grade: A-
...And it all changes.
Last issue was a climactic moment, as Batman and Nocturna found each other even as they were losing their very world. Only seven bi-weekly stories left before Crisis on Infinite Earths ended, taking the entire universe with it, and the despair and sense of hopelessness in these titles was so rich you could cut it with a batarang.
And yet, as soon as Batman and Nocturna finish their kiss at the beginning of this issue, it's back to work as usual. Nocturna needs to get back to trying to figure out how to fix the sky (last issue, she'd already given up and was just watching/moping), and Batman's all concerned with justice and pining over his romances again. The red skies, though still present and joined by hail and earthquakes, no longer seem to matter. Even the dramatic cover, in which Nocturna appears to be dead, ends up being misleading, and I'm convinced this was less an intended misdirection and more a change of plans.
You see, I think there's an explanation for this abrupt shift. It seems to me that this must have been the point when DC had a certain conversation with Moench that probably went something like this:
DC: Uh, Doug...?
Moench: Yeah.
DC: So...like...you know how you've been carefully plotting this storyline where we watch Gotham slowly tear itself apart, climaxing with the multiverse's destruction three months from now, and only to be followed by a rebooted universe?
Moench: Yeah.
DC: Yeah, so...ummm...we're kinda behind schedule.
Moench: Yeah?
DC: We're gonna need you to stay on the title and drag things out for a teency bit longer
Moench: Yeah?
DC: Maybe seven months....eleven tops.
Moench: Oh.
DC: Don't worry. It's only an additional 14 to 22 bi-weekly stories before the universe ends.
Moench: .....
And there's the best explanation I can come up with for this issue, in which the red skies are still there (they've been there for the past half dozen issues!), but the threat is less pronounced. Characters are suddenly moving on with their lives and no longer waiting for the end. And someone else who roughly resembles Nocturna nearly "dies" instead of allowing her to reach her intended climax.
It would be impossible for this issue not to be a let down in those respects, but it still works as far as Moench's soap opera stories go. We get a sort of climax in that respect, instead. Batman finally and truly lets go of Vicki Vale (YES!), Julia seems to let go of Batman (YES!), Nocturna finally clues Batman in on his bad-girl complex (ABOUT TIME!), and Batman's down to only caring about Catwoman and Nocturna now (YES!YES!YES! They're the ONLY interesting ones!).
Mandrake is doing a better job on this issue, though it still isn't Newton or Colan level. A few times, he makes it very difficult to follow the proper reading order of a page, and that annoyed me. Otherwise, pretty good stuff.
I still don't understand why, months later, The False Face Society is still remembering Black Mask's reign like some sort of golden age for them. He was never a crime boss, just a flipped out ex-CEO offering money in exchange for criminal deeds. At no point was it suggested that he did anything to organize them or build up a criminal empire of any kind. This still bothers me.
Bullock seems to add a little more clarity to his double life in this issue, explaining to Robin, "Maybe (a klutz is) the way I really am--and I'm just more careful at home where it's quiet--until jokers like you bang on my door." He goes on to explain that he can't help presenting himself differently to outsiders--it isn't a choice. I can understand this a lot better than what Moench had previously offered. He's still a clumsy oaf, but he takes himself seriously at home and struggles to respect himself in the company of others. I like that.
Okay, if Nocturna is a wanted criminal, how does no one notice her enormous hot air balloon (with the trademark moon and stars on it) tied up to the roof of the secret meeting place of the False Face Society, nor notice its regular trips back to the observatory (Nocturna's secret hiding place)? Granted, Batman and Robin are looking the other way, but it took Catwoman forever to notice it, and where are the police?
I really enjoyed Catwoman's role in this issue. Though hurt by Batman's recent rejection, she is independent and over it. Her motives in this issue are the most practical and reasonable of anyone's in the story. She is wanted for murders committed by Nightslayer to get back at Nocturna so, by capturing Nocturna (who is a criminal anyway), Catwoman will stop the murders and also be able to clear her name. It's quite ironic that Batman and Robin end up protecting Nocturna out of self interest against allowing Catwoman to do what's right, and you can sense her frustration and their guilty silence as she attempts to fulfill her mission. It makes what happens next even more potent. I guess it's time for the plot summary...
The plot synopsis in one ridiculously long sentence: After a long kiss, Nocturna still wants to go back to stealing and Batman still can't accept that, so Nocturna lectures him about his bad girl complex ("you love me because I'm dark and dangerous...yet if I do something dark and dangerous, you can't love me), Nightslayer is still killing members of the False Face Society, Batman witnesses Vicki falling in love with her personal trainer and doesn't mind, Bullock and Robin get another unnecessary heart-to-heart, Julia gives up on Bruce ever falling in love with her, Catwoman tracks Nocturna back to the observatory and tries to bring her in, but Batman and Robin try to stop her, a battle ensues, and lightening strikes the telescope just as Catwoman is standing on it, seemingly killing her, leaving Batman to flee with her body,realizing how he feels for her, as well as the predicament he put her in.
That ending is quite evocative. Even though I'm not sure how I feel about this revision of a revised revision of Catwoman, I like the realization it brought to Bruce:
Why did he not realize how much he cared for Catwoman, for Selina Kyle? How could he forget her so quickly?
Is it because...she changed?
Because she was no longer dark and dangerous?
Because, God help him...she reformed?
Because she actually did what he has tried to convince Nocturna to do?
Granted, the truth is that he stopped loving her because Conway turned her into a crazy stalker chick and Moench kept that characterization long enough for it to disgust Bruce, but in typical fashion, it seems we're now pretending that Catwoman was always characterized the way she's being characterized now. Maybe Superboy Prime punched some inter-dimensional cave walls or something. Still, this was powerful in terms of what it showed Bruce about himself and his stupid romantic engagements. At least Moench is finally taking all this romantic intrigue somewhere worthwhile.
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Post by shaxper on May 4, 2014 10:20:28 GMT -5
Detective Comics #557
"Still Beating"
writer: Doug Moench
pencils: Gene Colan
inks: Bob Smith
letters: John Workman
colors: Adrienne Roy
editor: Len Wein
Grade: A-
It's odd. Suddenly, it feels like the end again. The red skies and bizarre weather seem to have every character believing the end of the world is coming again, and Batman and Robin put aside their need to fight crime in favor of the things that really matter in the last days. It's powerful. I love it, but I sure wish Moench would make up his mind, and I wonder how the heck this is going to resolve itself. When Crisis ends, the skies will have to clear, but it will still be the old universe for seven to eleven more months (depending upon your interpretation of when the Crisis took hold in these titles).
The dialogue is great in this issue, even in Batman's entirely unnecessary three page dialogue with Selina's doctor, and (of course) Colan's art is fantastic. Page 12 is a personal favorite for me.
Gordan and Bullock now know that Nocturna is leading the False Face Society, and Gordan was the one who explained to Bullock a few months back that Batman had vouched for Nocturna's reform, so he trusted Batman's judgment. Now that they know BOTH that Nocturna is back to crime AND that Batman was protecting her, why isn't that an issue? Why isn't Gordan bothered by this?
Also (and I can't believe this just occurred to me now), in all these months of searching desperately for Nocturna, how come Nightslayer never once thought to investigate her old observatory? And how come he never saw her hot air balloon (which, as I pointed out last issue) she seems to take no effort to conceal? This just doesn't make sense.
For once, I liked Nightslayer this issue. When he confronts Nocturna's gang, gets the info he wants, and kills them anyway as they beg to know why, the severity of his sickness became clear. He's far more off his rocker than the Joker ever was, only he's also far more serious. I like this.
The plot in one ridiculously long sentence: Batman stays by Selina's hospital bed, unwilling to go on patrol or talk to anyone other than Jason, and hoping she'll survive, Bullock recounts all of last issue's events to Gordan, Nocturna tells her goons to give up her location to Nightslayer, Nightslayer kills them anyway and then heads to the observatory to get Nocturna, Selina recovers, Batman proclaims that he loves her and not Nocturna, and Jason is staked out in order to protect Nocturna and is confronted by Nightslayer.
So...does Bruce really love Selina over Nocturna? I could believe it at this point, but I think we could have used more time with this newly re-re-revised Selina, to get to know and love her, before being able to fully accept why Bruce feels the same way. I feel like I barely know who she is and what she's about at this point, and that makes all of this a little more difficult to buy. In contrast, I fully get Nocturna and what Bruce loves (or loved) about her. We'll see whether a bolt of lightening and a longer history together are enough to seal this deal. After all, it wasn't all that long ago when Moench threw Selina out of an airplane to make Bruce realize how much he truly loved her, only to discard that feeling as soon as she turned out to be okay.
Truly, this was a great issue in terms of art, writing, and tone, and while nothing extraordinary happened in terms of plot, I don't think the story had a single thing wrong with it either.
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Post by shaxper on May 4, 2014 10:20:42 GMT -5
Batman #391
(Untitled)
writer: Doug Moench
art: Tom Mandrake
letters: John Costanza
colors: Adrienne Roy
editor: Len Wein
grade: B+
The conclusion to the final Nocturna storyline; it was great at moments and fell short at others.
For one thing, Mandrake's art was phenomenal in this issue...truly incredible work (particularly on pages 9, 17, and 20)...until it wasn't. Pages 12 and 13 looked completely phoned-in in contrast, and key moments, like Anton stabbing Natalia, or Jason sending Natalia away in the balloon (perhaps forever), just weren't as strong as they should have been.
Plot-wise, this issue was positively loaded with action, and yet this conclusion lacked a sincere conclusion. Is Anton dead or just knocked out, how did Catwoman survive in contrast when she literally just stumbled out of a hospital that same day after coming out of a coma after surviving being struck by lightening, and (most importantly) what happened to Nocturna?
You see, this was supposed to be Nocturna's big exit. We get a moment in which Robin sends a severely injured, critically bleeding, and unconscious Nocturna off in her balloon in order to escape Anton (who they cannot stop), but the moment isn't particularly poignant, and I still don't understand why Jason wouldn't have gone with her. It's not like she's going to wake up on her own and steer herself to a hospital. But finally, we see the balloon she'd just been sent off in, ripped into shreds, with the basket still traveling chaotically through air currents, and Selina proclaims "I'm sorry for you, Batman....so sorry...for both of you..."
This is a lousy conclusion. It sure seems like this would mean the end of Nocturna, but it's left so ambiguous. In the comic book world, a character could come back from this. So we're neither left with a convincing death that makes us feel sadness nor any suggestion that we should be filled with hope for her return. In fact, Bruce is still swearing that he's over her and loves Catwoman (who seemingly died AGAIN in this issue, leaving him to mourn over her again before coming back), so we don't even know how Bruce feels about this. This is a completely emotionally ambivalent ending. Nocturna's final exit ends up ranking as one of her least touching stories. What a waste. Maybe a better penciling job could have made the emotional undertones a lot more clear. As it stands, the end of this issue falters after a mostly amazingly powerful 21 pages leading up to it.
This is how the story of Nocturna ends. Not with a bang, but a whimper.
Not much else to say about this issue other than the fact that a character's ability or inability to survive traumas in this issue seems entirely arbitrary. Selina survives being struck by lightening and returns to perfect health almost immediately, Robin survives hitting the back of his head hard on jagged rock without even fully losing consciousness (and Nightslayer decides not to kill him for some reason, even though he promised to only a few panels earlier and took unnecessary pains to kill everyone else he confronted over the past few issues), Nocturna survives three direct stabs to her left breast, Batman survives a stab to the gut with only minimal blood loss, falls off a cliff, and then swims across white water, still in perfect health, and Selina survives the same plummet, yet Nightslayer gets hit in the head by the giant telescope, takes the same fall, survives long enough to make the same swim to shore, and then either passes out or dies. It all feels a little arbitrary.
The plot in one ridiculously long sentence: Nightslayer attacks Robin and then inexplicably leaves him alive, Selina tries to convince Batman that he still loves Nocturna (delivering the exact same kind of lines Nocturna fed him last issue...I swear Moench writes them as the same woman), Robin alerts Batman that Nightslayer is at the observatory, Robin smashes a store window to get a hang glider, rationalizaing that the end of the world makes looting okay (you've gotta love how overlooked this section of the story is!), Selina knocks out a couple of orderlies and leaves the hospital, Nightslayer comes for Nocturna, she allows herself to be stabbed but doesn't die, Robin takes a desperate hang glide across the cliff to get to Nocturna and takes on Nightslayer, Nocturna decides that she can't allow Robin to be hurt and so chooses to live, she does an impressive job of taking on Nightslayer, Batman intervenes to save her and gets stabbed, Robin sends a comatose Nocturna off in her balloon in order to escape, Catwoman arrives and takes on Nightslayer, lightening destroys the observatory around them, Robin manages to make the telescope come down on Nightslayer, he falls off the cliff but takes Catwoman with him, Batman and Robin fall off the cliff and swim to shore, they find Nightslayer and Catwoman unconscious or dead, Batman is stricken by grief, Catwoman wakes up and is okay, they see Nocturna's balloon ripped to shreds, and Catwoman comforts Batman.
Really, it was a great story up until that disappointing ending. From a plot perspective, it did everything right, but the art and writing just didn't connect at the end -- it wasn't a concrete ending for Nocturna, neither clearly presenting her as dead nor clearly intending to leave a lingering doubt.
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Post by shaxper on May 4, 2014 10:35:00 GMT -5
Detective Comics #558
"Strange Loves"
writer: Doug Moench
pencils: Gene Colan
inks: Bob Smith
letters: John Workman
colors: Adrienne Roy
editor: Len Wein
Grade: B-
An odd epilogue to the final Nocturna story arc in which the random security guard she'd bewitched several issues back tries to take his own life over the loss of Nocturna. Batman and Robin try to stop him, but they fail. Not only is this an odd character to be concerned about, but his death is actually portrayed far more dramatically than Nocturna's, and yet no particular meaning is attached to it. It's just sad that he's dead.
Moench seems to be suggesting a bit more strongly that Nocturna really is dead in this issue, at least that's what the security guard makes of finding her basket at the top of a skyscraper and seeing that its empty. I would actually argue this creates a greater likelihood that she's alive and got out, but Moench doesn't present it this way.
Nightslayer is still alive after all. Batman hands him off to the cops. I thought it was a bit silly that Batman just left him there with a few cops since he barely stopped the guy with the help of Robin and Catwoman, and Moench seems to agree, having Nightslayer snap awake and start fighting again, but Batman beats him up, and then leaves the cops with a fully awake Nightslayer. Uhhhh. Even if he'd waited until they'd cuffed him, he'd still pose a serious threat. Obviously, Moench didn't intend to portray him as still being a threat at this point, but this seems pretty stupid to me.
Perhaps the most notable part of this relatively unimportant story is the call Batman receives that the Joker has broken out of Arkham. Wein's note indicates "for the results, see Crisis on Infinite Earths #2," but that issue was published 8 months ago!
And then it all makes sense...
Batman and Detective have to keep going for at least seven months after Crisis ends. Having all of this take place at the time of Crisis #2 fixes that problem.
It also fixes the problem of Batman making no reference to Barry Allen when Mirror Master and Captain Boomerang showed up a few issues back when, at that point in Crisis, he'd been obsessed with finding out what happened to Barry.
Oh, but wait. One small problem with this brilliant fix, Doug. If we're still at the timing of Crisis #2, why have there been RED SKIES in the Batman titles for three months now? The skies are still clear as day in Crisis #2.
Oops.
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Post by shaxper on May 4, 2014 10:36:01 GMT -5
Added to the "highlights" section in the first post of this thread:
Batman #389-391 and Detective Comics #556-557: The final Nocturna storyline. Powerful art, action, and tone, as the Red Skies from Crisis on Infinite Earths pervade a sense of the world ending in each character's soul, bringing hidden fear and desires to the surface throughout this intense storyline.
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Post by shaxper on May 4, 2014 10:36:10 GMT -5
Ahh snow days. I get so much reading done!
Batman #392
"A Town on the Night"
writer: Doug Moench
pencils: Tom Mandrake
inks: Jan Duursema
letters: John Costanza
colors: Adrienne Roy
editor: Len Wein
Grade: B+
Seriously Doug, couldn't you just call it, "A Night on the Town," or even, "A Knight on the Town?" This title doesn't even make sense. Anyway...
I was surprised to see that this issue begins by proclaiming, "The Crisis on Infinite Earths is Over." Judging by the date on the cover, that shouldn't have happened until next month. Sure enough though, this issue is filled with ads for post-Crisis titles. I found the Aquaman ad the most amusing. I'd never seen that costume before.
So I guess we're to assume that the previous storyline ended circa Crisis #2, and ten months have therefore passed for Batman and the gang? Moench never really speaks to that, one way or another. Clearly, Batman and Catwoman are taking a much needed break after SOME intense battle, but I guess that's more the Crisis than the Nocturna storyline. Certainly Batman's mind seems to be far from Nocturna at this point.
All in all, this is probably Moench's best attempt at a lighthearted story, thus far -- an excellent choice for what to do now that his big arc is over, and he's just waiting for the continuity to get revamped. I wonder if and how they'll explain the delayed reboot since the story in this issue clearly acknowledges that it's "post-Crisis" even though nothing has yet changed.
Anyway, I digress. Let's talk about this story. Essentially, Batman and Catwoman keep trying to go on a date (I suppose it's more exciting to do this in costume, and they've earned the right to brush off patrol for a night), but everywhere they go, they keep finding trouble and keep needing to be heroes. It's cute and silly. I find it amazing just how much bad crime seems to be happening everywhere, but perhaps this is Gotham simply reacting to the madness of the Crisis. Anyway, while Batman and Catwoman keep trying to find their peace, Bullock spends the night giving Gordan an earful about how Catwoman should be treated as a criminal and not a comrade.
I do find it odd that Bullock brings up her being a thief when I'm relatively sure she hasn't stolen anything since her parole and reform way back in Batman #307. I'm pretty sure the only crimes she committed since then were attacking Bruce and Vicki once (no charges were pressed) and breaking and entering a few times in order to stop crimes. But oh well; It's Bullock, after all, and Gordan clearly isn't giving his points much thought.
The most charming parts of this issue include Catwoman affectionately addressing Batman as "Creepy" (i.e. "Okay, Creepy"), Gordan doodling while Bullock continues to rant and knock things over, ultimately even writing ("At least Catwoman didn't wreck my office"), and Batman, Catwoman, and Gordan all discussing their future together at the end over pizza.
It was probably a good idea to have someone else ink Mandrake's art in this issue since, as I've mentioned before, he seems far more comfortable with dark toned stories.
I still don't understand what the heck Batman and Catwoman were thinking when they attempted to go to a seedy nightclub full of thugs dealing coke for a good time.
All in all, this was my favorite of Moench's lighthearted stories to date. I enjoyed it for the most part, but it still lacks the power of his darker, more melodramatic stories. I think a lighthearted story can be just as powerful, but the tone is still a little alien to Moench, to Mandrake, and even to the franchise/genre.
A great effort, overall, though.
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Post by shaxper on May 4, 2014 10:36:23 GMT -5
Pausing to reflect / look ahead
It's funny. I look at the remaining issues in Moench's run as a sort of lame duck session -- the run out the clock stories that Moench penned while waiting to lose control of the Bat Office. Maybe that wasn't the mindset at all, and he believed he'd be sticking around, and I have to remind myself that 15 issues is a substantial/meaningful run for most writers, hardly just leftovers. Plus it looks like there's a major four(?) part Two Face storyline coming up later, but so many of these covers (no matter how impressive) suggest relatively unimpressive plot lines. Each of the covers is so vague as to what it's promising -- they actually look like the products of good artists trying to conceal weak stories.
I certainly hope I'm wrong. Admittedly, I'm kind of psyched to see film freak, and while I feel Two Face has been done to death, I don't think Moench has let me down on any of his major story arcs yet.
So I could use some encouragement here. Tell me something good is coming in this run. Make me want to read on!
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Post by shaxper on May 4, 2014 10:36:31 GMT -5
I think I have a new solution for when the Post-Crisis Batman begins.
Here's my argument for why it's actually Batman #392.
1. It clearly begins by proclaiming that the Crisis is over.
2. It skips ten months ahead and is careful to make no specific references to any past events (very unusual for Wein's Bat Office). For all intents and purposes, it is divorced from past continuity and could easily mark the beginning of a new one.
3. Jason Todd is suspiciously absent for this and for three issues after. If all Moench had been told about the plans for a post-Crisis Batman was that Jason would be changed, then leaving him out for all of these issues (he's never been out for more than an issue at a time prior to this) makes sense.
4. When Jason finally shows up again in Detective #560, he is far edgier, surprisingly ill-tempered, and quite disrespectful. Though I admittedly only skimmed through the issue (I don't want to spoil too much), what I read seemed entirely in line with Jason's post-Crisis characterization, even though it predates his new origin.
5. Think about it. The only aspect of Post-Crisis Batman that isn't present here is the revamp to Catwoman, which continued to be contradicted as late as Detective #570 (exactly one month before Year One began).
Assuming that Miller neglected to give advance warning about his revisions to Catwoman, it would make complete sense for Batman #392 to be the beginning of Post-Crisis continuity. It's no more or less in tune with Post-Crisis Batman than the issues directly preceding Miller's Year One (which were post-Legends, which was definitely post-Crisis).
Granted, if Jason starts acting more like his pre-Crisis self prior to Batman #401, that would kill this theory, but it seems to be working thus far.
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Post by shaxper on May 4, 2014 10:41:04 GMT -5
Detective Comics #559
"It Takes Two Wings to Fly"
writer: Doug Moench
pencils: Gene Colan
inks: Bob Smith
letters: John Workman
colors: Adrienne Roy
editor: Len Wein
Grade: B-
"Because you DEMANDED it! Catwoman and Batman vs. Green Arrow and Black Canary"
No, I most certainly did not. I was actually pretty terrified to read this one until I (thankfully) saw that Cavalieri did not co-write it. Fortunately, Moench writes a darn good Ollie Queen. This story felt a lot like the O'Neal/Adams Green Arrow & Green Lantern stories, with Ollie constantly pushing Bruce's buttons and forcing him to explore his own ideologies. Black Canary functions as a wonderful middle ground between the two, but I can't figure out what the heck Catwoman is doing in this issue. She enters the story late, and spends most of the time asking Bruce to explain what she's missed. Fourth wheel to the extreme.
There isn't too much complexity to the story, and that's okay for a single issue team-up that does so much to remain character-intensive. Still, there were two aspects that bothered me:
The first is that the story starts with a guy named Sample at the center of the plot. He's trying to avenge his father's death, and Green Arrow and Black Canary are trying to make sure he succeeds. However, all we ever get of Sample is a four far shots and a flashback. We never even hear him talk. About halfway through the story, before we even get to see him, he gets assaulted (all of this is depicted in one panel eclipsed in shadows), and then we get a far shot of him in the hospital bed. Our heroes then decide that it was never really about Sample; it was about stopping a corporation committing evil. Am I the only one bothered about how marginalized this guy became? No one even goes to his bedside to comfort him. Maybe it's just the act of reading a raging liberal Green Arrow story for the first time in a long while, but I have to wonder if a white protagonist in the same situation would have been so thoroughly marginalized.
The other aspect of the story that bothered me was the very ending. For most of the issue, Arrow really pushed Batman's buttons and forced him to re-examine his beliefs, much as he once did to Green Lantern. It's uncomfortable and ideal-shattering to see the limits of Batman's ideologies so thoroughly exposed, but it's also powerful (and even scarily Miller-like) but, after a few tasteless tongue-and-cheek battle-of-the-sexes remarks between Canary/Catwoman and Arrow/Batman, Black Canary utters a final and utterly confusing line that pretty much undoes all the magic of the issue:
And this right-wing, left-wing friction, Catwoman? All nonsense. Green Arrow is only pretending to be what Batman really is -- and Batman is actually closer to what Green Arrow pretends to be.
Ummm...yeah. Great. Now I'm thoroughly confused, AND I'm pretty sure I just wasted the last half hour of my life believing in and appreciating the ideological friction between them, the flaws it exposed, and the self-growth it had the potential to create.
The plot in one ridiculously long sentence: A man named Sample's father was killed by cancer, which was caused by working at a corrupt chemical plant, and his son tries to prove it, but the criminal justice system costs him a fortune in legal fees and ignores the evidence in his father's favor, so Batman, Green Arrow, and Black Canary decide to work together to help Sample take the corporation down, but Green Arrow and Batman keep butting heads over the whys and hows, forcing both to step outside of their own comfort zones in order to make sure that true justice is served, but Sample is beaten up by hired thugs, leaving the team to take down the corporation on their own, so they create an elaborate ruse to buy some of the chemicals for illegal warfare purposes, an all out battle ensues, and the good guys win.
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). Batman has his air supply cut while underwater and, with his remaining breath, punches the bad guy instead of attempting to take/remove his explosive spear (if he tried, but it was out of reach, Janson did not make this evident). Finally, Batman now has a high powered light that emits from his utility belt. I thought we left all the clever utility belt gadgets behind in the '60s. I can think of a half a dozen times where this gadget would have been useful in prior situations had Bruce had it. Clearly, it was invented for this story.