Batwoman: Rebirth #1 - A Review

There's surprisingly little to Batwoman #1 - at least compared to the Detective Comics two-parter from last month which set-up this series. With the exception of the last few pages, this entire comic is devoted to retelling Kate Kane's life story and how she became Batwoman. Thankfully Marguerite Bennett and James Tynion IV weave an engaging origin story that will hold the interest of those already familiar with Kate's history while enrapturing those discovering her for the first time.


The artwork matches the script in quality and tone. Steve Epting - most famous for his work with Ed Brubaker on Captain America - provides the perfect sense of gravitas necessary in depicting the highs and lows of Kate's life. Colorist Jeromy Cox finishes each page perfectly, with a red and black motif prevalent through the book for obvious reasons.

All in all this is one fantastic book that is sure to be a hit with Batwoman fans everywhere.

Detective Comics #949 - A Review

Trapped in The Belfry with the finest soldier the covert military group The Colony has ever trained, Kate Kane will find herself tested as never before. Can Batwoman best her father's greatest one-man-weapon?


This book hardly needed a two-part storyline to showcase how awesome Kate Kane is as a character. Still, this issue doses a fine job of setting up the upcoming Batwoman title by writers James Tyion IV and Marguerite Bennett while still being a brilliant story on its own terms. The artwork this month was produced by a team of two artists and three colorists but the styles blend together so seamlessly you'd never know it. Most enjoyable.

Detective Comics #948 - A Review

In the aftermath of The Victim Syndicate's attacks and The Spoiler's departure from The Belfry Team, Batwoman seeks to rebuild. It's hard to move on when the past keeps resurfacing, however, and Kate Kane is about to get a double helping of enemies returning to settle old scores. First, when The Monster Men seem to reemerge and again when one of her father's allies from the paramilitary Colony attack her and Batman!

Marguerite Bennett - writer of Red Sonja and Bombshells - lends a hand on the writing duties this week. This is no bad thing, however, as James Tynion IV and Bennett play well off of each other and the story here is not an abrupt departure from the direction that Detective Comics had been moving over the last few months. The tale here is gripping and enjoyable beyond serving as a set-up of the upcoming Batwoman series, which will see both these writers teaming up once again.

Ben Oliver's artwork here is unusual for a Bat-book, boasting a unique style that is gently inked and softly colored. There is little in the way of solid black in either the outlines of the characters or the coloration, even on things that are traditionally depicted as being pitch black such as Batwoman's costume! This gives the artwork a greater sense of detail that catches the eye and sticks in the memory once the book is closed.

Red Sonja #6 - A Review

The battle for Hyrkania's soul rages on, with the rebellion attacking King Savas on his wedding day. And Red Sonja rides with the rebels astride a great phoenix! But when the war seems to claim one Sonja risked much to protect, will rage lead her to strike down another friend she falsely perceives as an enemy?


As much as I've enjoyed Marguerite Bennett's run on Red Sonja thus far, this final chapter of the opening arc seems a little weak. The battle in this issue feels incredibly rushed. And for all the ingenuity Bennett showed in the early chapters, she falls back all too readily into the standard fantasy tropes in the finale, with a wounded child spurring the hero into rash action and an ending that will surprise no one. The book is enjoyable despite this but it's still something of a disappointment given how unique this run had been.

That being said, Aneke's artwork continues to inspire admiration. Her work on this series has made Red Sonja into one of the most amazing-looking comics on the stands. The action sequences are all well-paced and the color art by Jorge Sutil is as vivid and visceral as the world of Hyboria itself.

Red Sonja #5 - A Review

King Savas had expected resistance when he captured Red Sonja's most recent companion - the playwright Midy. He did not expect for her, now feeling scorned by Sonja's apparent abandonment of her, to offer to write a play that would subvert the legend of Sonja while elevating Savas and the last of his Black Talons (the women impersonating Sonja in his name) to the level of living legends. Meanwhile, Sonja seeks another legend - a giant carnivorous bird - as she too ponders the nature of legends and how she might yet save a people who don't wish to be rescued.


If Gail Simone redefined Red Sonja for a new generation of readers, than Marguerite Bennett has refined it. No longer a simple sword-and-sorcery comic, Bennett's thoughtful writing has explored both current events such as the role of the media and popular culture in shaping politics and deeper philosophical truths about the nature of heroism and humanity. In this Bennett resembles Robert E. Howard more than any other writer to ever play in his world.


The artwork operates on a similarly deep level. There is great interplay, for instance, between Bennett's monologues for Sonja and the action in the panel as each line is spoken. The battle sequence between Sonja and the roc is epically illustrated and the colors of Jorge Sutil are vibrant and powerful.

Red Sonja #4 - A Review

Spurned by Red Sonja, the mad king Savas has become determined to possess Sonja's legend if he cannot have the woman herself. Three women has he chosen to be his Black Talons, reborn in Sonja's image to promote his reign to the common folk of Hyrkania and subvert everything she stands for!

Sonja has fought whole armies before, but this is a battle that cannot be fought with blades or bows. Thankfully, Sonja knows an orator who is to words what she is to battle. Unfortunately, The Black Talons are already on her trail...


Marguerite Bennett continues to impress on Red Sonja. This is a spirited action tale in the same spirit as Gail Simone's run, which redefined the She Devil With A Sword for a new generation. It is also a wonderful commentary on jingoism and racism, which delivers its message without being preachy.


Aneke is joined on the art duties this month by Diego Galindo. They bring Bennett's script to life wonderfully, with Jorge Sutil's colors completing the package perfectly. All in all, this is a worth continuation of the Red Sonja legacy and a must read for all sword and sorcery fans.

Red Sonja #3 - A Review

Sonja is ill-pleased to discover that the new war-mongering king of Hyrkania is a former ally - a merchant named Savas who once hired her as a guard. She is even less-pleased to learn that everything he has done was part of a misguided attempt to win her heart and that he would have her as his queen... one way or the other!

With Red Sonja #3, Marguerite Bennett does more than merely pay tribute to the first Red Sonja solo story, which saw a power-mad king try and claim Sonja after deciding she'd better serve him decorating his harem than leading his army. Bennett's story here is a rather neat metaphor for Sonja's treatment by long-time sword-and-sorcery fans who disliked Gail Simone's recent revamp, with King Savas playing the role of the angered fanboy whose image of Sonja as a pure and perfect goddess has been spoiled by the reality of who Sonja is.  Metatextual analysis aside, this issue is also a damn good action story and Bennett does a masterful job of developing the supporting players, with Raka - a hunter and another former lover of Sonja - being particularly noteworthy as a counterpoint to Savas' obsession.

Aneke's artwork for the issue equals Bennett's script. I regret that I cannot show you some of the beautiful two-page spreads this issue contains, due to the size of my scanner. Suffice it to say that Aneke is a great artist and the beauty of her work is matched only by her skills in telling a story visually and blocking a fight scene. The colorists for this issue - Jorge Sutil and Morgan Hickman - deserve praise for working together so seamlessly, you would never know that one artist did not do the color art for this issue. And Erica Schultz delivers some stunning-looking lettering.

Red Sonja #2 - A Review

Sonja refused the throne of Hyrkania fearing what kind of queen she would be, yet she now finds herself cursing the decision. The new king, while having ushered in a new era of prosperity, has also given rise to a horde of ills. Among them are maddened soldiers killing the families of those who refuse the "honor" of serving in the army and generals forcing plays to be rewritten to insult the previous king and honor Hyrkania superiority to the point of paying insult to other nations - even those friendly to Hyrkania!

Alas, there are some evils even Red Sonja cannot fight. And this darkness plaguing the soul of Hyrkania may not be born of spells and sorcery but lie within the heart of humanity itself...


Red Sonja is not overly famous for social commentary, save in the most vaguely philosophical terms regarding women being as capable as men. Before now I wouldn't have thought it possible to tell a story about the dangers of jingoism and racism in a sword-and-sorcery setting. Margureite Bennett not only makes this timely statement but does so without getting preachy or making any on-the-nose comments about building walls to keep the Turanians out and making them pay for it.

There's also an interesting dynamic in how Sonja - the ultimate outsider - is the one who takes action to save a system she has no wish to be a part of.  Sonja lives the life she does so that no one else suffers as she did, yet she's a stark individualist. It's an interesting dichotomy and Bennett explores that wonderfully.


The artwork of Aneke skilfully captures the essence of Bennett's script. Aneke has a wonderful sense of staging and there is a sense of motion in every panel, even in the more static scenes of two characters just talking. Jorge Sutil's colors are well chosen, with the palettes offering a variety of subtle gradients to indicate light and shadow, even in the skin tones.

Swords Of Sorrow: Red Sonja & Jungle Girl #3 - A Review

Ice continues to plague the mysterious island that Jungle Girl calls home. Only the mystic Heart of the Mountain can repair the damage done by Mistress Hel and her ice wyrm. And only Jana and Red Sonja can guide the witchworker Bel'lok to its resting place.

Alas, what started out as a promising mini-series falls apart in this final chapter. Curiously, Sonja and Jana have no real function in this chapter other than to protect the male protagonist who knows what is going on and must be the one to use his magic to fix everything. This is a decidedly curious message for a series that was meant to be centered on pulp heroines!

Marguerite Bennett's script also goes a bit too far in hanging the lampshade on the silliness of the whole affair, with Sonja praying to "the gods of this absurd island of incongruous mystery" at one point. What is worse, the Sonja and Jana we see in this issue seem to act differently from the characters we saw in the first issue, with Sonja playing matchmaker to her companions and Jana acting, at times, like a teenage bimbo.


The artwork doesn't aid in this impression, with Mirka Andolfo's style leaving everyone looking like teenagers. Still, the artwork is competently rendered and the action sequences are good. Yet I can't help but wonder how this series might have looked with a more traditional pulp artist handling it. Such speculation is pointless, however, and the artwork is good for what it is, though I may question how well it matches the setting.

Swords Of Sorrow: Red Sonja & Jungle Girl #2 - A Review

Sonja and Jana's confrontation with Mistress Hel was cut short, thanks to the actions of a trickster sorcerer named Bel'lok. Wounded and weary, the three make their way back to Jana's village. Unfortunately, Jana's people are less than tolerate of outsiders at the best of times. And with Hel's dark magic corrupting the already xenophobic tribal leaders, this is definitely not the best of times!


I think it's safe to say that most readers are more familiar with the world of Red Sonja than Jungle Girl. As such, Marguerite Bennett wisely uses this issue to explain the rules of Jana's world to both her new outsider friends and, by proxy, the readers. It's an effective decision and the action of the issue seems less like route exposition as a result. Indeed, it's quite enjoyable!


The artwork operates with similarly subtle efficiency.  I am hard pressed to find words to describe the light, airy style of Mirka Andolfo but I do know what I like. And I like this style!  Everything is smooth and sketchy, with an inherit quickness that keeps the story moving briskly.

Earth 2 #29 - A Review

The Earth 2: World's End weekly series introduced us to the Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon of Earth 2.  On this world, Barbara Gordon is a Chicago cop and her husband (yes shippers, they are married in this world!) is a journalist.  They have a son together. They're struggling to survive in the wasteland that is Chicago in the wake of the attacks of the Furies of Apokalips.

That is the Alpha and Omega of everything we've learned about the characters so far.  Given that Babs and Dick are two of my favorite characters, I was looking forward to this issue, which featured Barbara in a defensive position on the cover.  Gun in hand, ready to defend her child and kick some ass as only a redhead from Chicago can.




Sadly, the adage about judging a book by its cover has never been more accurate. Barbara spends most of the issue as a hostage and the story is told from Dick's point of view. It is Dick who is pressed into action when they are abducted by a doomsday cult and Barbara is chosen as a sacrifice to a captured Parademon. While the story of the pacifist Dick choosing to turn to heroism to save the woman he loves is an interesting one, it is still disappointing to see Barbara Gordon placed in the damsel-in-distress role even if it is acknowledged how unnatural that is for this version of Barbara.



The pencil work by Andy Smith is just odd.  Most of the characters seem remarkably clean and well groomed for people we've been told have been living in a ruined city.  The doomsday cult looks more like a group of college kids at a rave than a group of  dirty nihilists.  Worst of all, there's no continuity in the artwork, with Barbara losing the head wound that she had in the first part of the book just before she is taken to be fed to the Parademon.

All in all, this issue is something of a disappointment.  It isn't bad as such but it could have been so much better.

Earth 2 #28 - A Review

Titled Origins, Earth 2 #28 gives us the origin stories of four characters we have seen in the Earth 2: World's End weekly book.  Well, technically we've only seen the effects caused by a few of them but this is no time to argue semantics.  This book is all about the secret origins of the Four Furies of Apokolips - women chosen to exemplify the forces of War, Famine, Pestilence and Death.


Marguerite Bennett brings her usual sense of heart to these stories.  All but one of them have tragic backgrounds and the one lone hold out - the glutinous Fury of Famine - would be hard to sympathize with even if we did know how she came to be who she was.  It's an interesting point that Apokolips now seems to recruit talent from off-world, as the Furies include a Green Martian (Death), a Czarnian (Pestilence) and a Tamaranian (War).


Each story is illustrated by a different art team.  This gives each story its own individual appearance and each creative team seems well matched to the story of their respective Furty stylistically.  The whole book looks wonderful.

Earth 2: World's End #3 - A Review

The most aggravating thing about Earth 2: World's End is a lack of credits by page number for the artists involved.  This annoys me because I need to know who to blame for the fact that Dick Grayson is being drawn like a combination of Mr. Spock and Goku.

I could, in theory, look up each individual artist's name and try and compare this offending page to their other work on-line. But with nine credited artists on this issue alone, that is far more effort than I feel like spending on so mediocre a title.


Mediocre is a strong word, I admit, but it is aptly applied here.  There are many good things about Earth 2: World's End but any greatness is mitigated by the work of less-skilled creators.  The old saying about "too many cooks" has never been more aptly proven.

This applies to both the writing and the artwork.  I've enjoyed the work of Marguerite Bennett and Mike Johnson before and there are a number of well-written scenes with great dialogue throughout the book.  However, the actual plot, as paced by Daniel H. Wilson, leaves much to be desired.


Granting that there are a lot of subplots to balance out, I feel it would be more effective to spend each issue focusing on one or two subplots rather than trying to devote at least one page to each one.  We really need more than one page to convey the scope of Green Lantern's solo effort to rid Rio De Janeiro of monsters.

Earth 2: World's End #2 - A Review

Taken on the level of a summer blockbuster, Earth 2: World's End #2 is an enjoyable story. Building upon last issue's explosive climax, our heroes scatter around the world to deal with the reactivation of the four Apokolptian fire-pits and the emergence of four apparently dormant villains from that evil world.  The first one they encounter is K'li - a preteen girl who raises the dead and introduces herself as an avatar of War.


There's a lot of good action sequences here, but this book suffers in comparison to the monthly Earth 2 book.  There, we had amazing action but we also got a number of good character-building scenes. The closest we get to that here is the implication that Lois "Red Tornado" Lane really hates zombies because they remind her of her own status as a dead woman's spirit in an inhuman body.


As before, the artwork is all over the place.  There are a number of artists with a number of conflicting styles and the final effect is not a positive one. Stylized renditions of our heroes clash with more realistic artwork and naturalistic action scenes look awkward next to more forced poses.

On the whole, I see little reason to pick up this book unless you, like me, are deeply interested in the final fate of Earth 2.  Even then, the lackluster artwork may drive me away from this story.  I really wish DC Comics would assign different art teams to individual issues rather than having multiple artists doing a few pages in each issue of these extended series.

Earth 2 #27 - A Review

Set sometime after the start of Earth 2: World's End, Earth 2 #27 is nominally about our heroes trying to rescue a group of trapped scientists.  What the comic is really about, however, is relationships.  Specifically, the relationship between the new Superman and Power Girl and the relationship between the new Batman and Huntress. The former group are childhood friends who seem to be transforming into something more.  The later are estranged family and Huntress prefers to keep it that way, despite Batman's efforts to reach out to her.


This sort of thing is the bread and butter of writer Tom Taylor, who once again partners up with Marguerite Bennett for this issue.  Bennett's something of an unknown quantity here, but her previous work on Batgirl and Batman has proven her to be a writer of no mean skill.  It's unclear just how the writing duties were split between them but the fact that one fails to detect any difference in the writing styles between scenes proves that the two writers play well together and that we all benefit from the partnership.


The same can be said of the artwork, which is handled by two separate teams of artists.  One group handles the pages involving flashbacks to Huntress and Power Girl's pasts.  The other handles the main action of the issue.  Both teams do a fine job depicting the action and there's no glaring difference in the styles that might wreck a reader's focus.

Earth 2: World's End #1 - A Review

If you've been reading Earth 2, then this first chapter of Earth 2: World's End will offer some welcome information about the history behind the Earth/Apokolips War that kicked off the start of the series.  And if you haven't been reading Earth 2, may the gods of all the pantheons have mercy upon you should you attempt to muddle your way through this book.  This book isn't entirely incomprehensible to new readers, but for every point of The Story So Far it explains, another two go untouched.


Case In Point: The book does a great job of explaining the back-stories of Supergirl and Robin (Now Power Girl and Huntress) and depicting their journey to Earth One and back. But the issue does nothing to explain the story of the new Superman, Val-Zod, or the importance of Jimmy "Accountable" Olsen.  This is doubly vexing since this book unloads a major bombshell that isn't easily understood unless you already know about Jimmy Olsen's superpower in this reality.

That's the damnable paradox of this issue.  It is meant to be bringing new readers up to speed with the story of Earth 2 so far but it is so incredibly piece-meal as to what information it chooses to offer up that it is completely useless as an entry point for new readers. This is doubly unfortunate because there are a number of highly touching scenes in this issue once you get past all the history.  My favorite is Power Girl's reunion with her mother, Lois Lane.  Well, the Red Tornado body housing Lois Lane's personality... but why quibble? It is still a touching scene.


I have little to say about the art on this book.  With eight artists working together, there is very little consistency or visual continuity, but that's been a problem with most of DC Comics' weekly titles.  The nicest thing I can say is that there isn't any artwork that is glaringly awful but I still think these books would benefit from having one artist each week rather than a team working on three or four pages every issue.

Injustice: Gods Among Us - Year Two Annual #1 - A Review

The Year Two Annual for Injustice: Gods Among Us differs from the Year One annual in three important respects. First, this annual tells two separate stories compared to last year's single story annual. Next, the tone of these stories is decidedly more serious than last year's annual, which saw Lobo hunting Harley Quinn. Finally - instead of being solely the work of Tom Taylor - the scripts for this issue were written by Marguerite Bennett, who co-plotted the stories with Taylor.


The first story focuses upon Jim and Barbara Gordon and their efforts to find peace in their relationship as Jim's inevitable death from lung cancer grows closer and their investigation of the seeming reappearance of Jim's wife/Barbara's mom, who has been missing for years. Bennet's script perfectly captures both characters and plays out the mystery quite well.  Sadly, the visual tone is all over the place due to this story having been rendered by four different artists with decidedly different styles.


The second story fares better in this regard, having been drawn entirely by Injustice regular Jheremy Raapack.  It too focuses on a troubled relationship - that of Hal Jordan and his former mentor Sinestro as they seek out a Qwardian artifact.  The story here is engaging but Bennett's take on Sinestro - which is reminiscent of Geoff Johns' anti-heroic take on the character - doesn't quite gel with the more openly villainous Sinestro that we've seen in Injustice so far. This is a minor point, however, and it is to Bennett's credit that the reader still won't be sure how sincere Sinestro is about regretting how things ended between him and Hal by the story's conclusion.

Despite not being essential to the overall story, fans of the Injustice will still want to pick this one up.  Fans of Marguerite Bennet's writing on other recent titles will also enjoy this one and shouldn't have any trouble with these stories despite them being set in the complex mythology of the Injustice universe.  The stories more than make up for the somewhat scattered artwork.

Batgirl #30 - A Review

By all rights, I should not have enjoyed Batgirl #30 as much as I did.  It isn't a superhero story but a horror story - probably my least favorite genre in all of fiction.  It's a diversion from the on-going story of this series, doing nothing to move any of the subplots forward.  Much of Batgirl's internal monologue is focused upon her feelings regarding Dick Grayson's apparent death in a recent crossover event I care nothing about.  And this version of Barbara Gordon - while undeniably sounding like Barbara Gordon throughout - nevertheless thinks about a lot of things I can't imagine Barbara Gordon ever thinking about, such as why she might be jealous of the Robins' having a closer relationship to Batman than she does.


And yet, somehow, Marguerite Bennett's script works.  This issue is a distraction, yes, but it is an entertaining one.  The story is a horror movie on paper - with Batgirl stepping in to rescue a group of college students who accidentally summoned the Gotham equivalent of Bloody Mary - but Barbara recognizes it as such and defies the conventions, remaining confident and poised throughout.  You don't question for a moment that while Barbara is loathe to believe in the supernatural, she still read something about evil spirits at some point and remembers what herbs in a standard spice rack could be used to banish a ghost... just in case.


The artwork by guest artist Robert Gill is similarly different from that of the usual creative team but equally enjoyable.  Gill has a clear, bright style that seems at odds with the dark world of Gotham City. Yet that clarity only serves to emphasize the darkness of the Midnight Man and the swarms of bats, bugs and other vermin that fall under his command as the issue progresses.  Gill proves that you don't have to drown a page in ink to evoke a horrific aura.

Bottom Line - this book is different from what I expect in a Batgirl comic, but it isn't bad by a long-shot!

Batgirl #25 - A Review

Batgirl #25 sees Gail Simone taking a break as Marguerite Bennett (most recently seen on Batman Annual #2) takes over the book to tell the tale of what Barbara Gordon did during the event known as Zero Year.  The action focuses on Barbara as she and her brother are forced to evacuate their home during a fearsome hurricane and find themselves in dire straits.  Naturally Barbara discovers an inner strength she didn't know she had and - realizing no one is coming to save her - becomes the hero she and her city need. 

Bennett's script is a strong one that goes beyond displaying Barbara's spirit perfectly.  The action depicted here is truly thrilling and especially powerful in the wake of the recent typhoon in the Philippines.  Indeed, I would go so far as to say that this issue better captures the terror of flash flooding and the heroism of ordinary people in the face of disaster than this year's earlier Hawkeye issue devoted towards the Hurricane Sandy disaster. 


Fernando Pasarin and Jonathan Glapion do their usual stellar job on the artwork.  The action of the script doesn't let up for a moment and Pasarin's pencils perfectly capture the intensity of Bennett's script.  Glapion's inks find the perfect balance between shade and saturation, creating deep shadows as appropriate to the story while leaving the original pencils clearly exposed throughout much of the issue.


Should it come to pass that Gail Simone should ever leave Batgirl, I think this issue proves Marguerite Bennett would be a worthy successor on the scripting duties.  This issue, while a diversion from the larger story of Batgirl at the moment, is not an unwelcome one.  Indeed, it's a good issue to start with if one hasn't been reading this book and is looking for an entry point.

Batman Annual #2 - A Review

Some of the best Batman stories ever told came from the perspective of a character other than our Dark Knight Detective.  Batman Annual #2 is such a story.  Our P.O.V. character is Eric - an idealistic new orderly who has an encounter with both the legendary Batman and the first inmate Arkham Asylum ever housed on his first night on-the-job.


The script by Marguerite Bennett (co-plotted by Bennet with Scott Snyder) is wonderful on all fronts.  The idea that Batman bears some responsibility for the creation of many of the villains he faces has been explored before but I don't recall any Batman story that proposed that his presence created a philosophical shift from treatment to punishment as the villain/victim of this piece suggests.  Said victim/villain, The Anchoress, is a worthy addition to Batman's Rogues Gallery, with powers enough to be difficult for Batman to face in a direct fight and a psychological defect unlike anything we've seen in previous Batman baddies. 


Would that the artwork of this issue matched its' story in quality!  The pencils of Wes Craig (most recently seen in World's Finest) are skillful enough and his character designs are clear as are his depictions of the action.  Yet with six inkers having worked on this issue, there is a certain lack of continuity to the artwork as the story progresses. 

Thankfully, the artwork never looks bad - just uneven.  Any who doubt the power an inker has to make or break a comic would do well to read this issue and observe the differences in inking technique on various pages.  Regardless, the inking issues do not detract from the story itself and this comic was a most enjoyable read.