The Over Baturation of My Monthlies
::sigh:: So, Battle for the Cowl has ended, and the month of June launched plenty of new Bat Books. Before Batman: RIP and Final Crisis I was reading:
1) Batman
2) Nightwing
3) Robin
4) Birds of Prey
5) Detective Comics
6) Batman Confidential
Then it all went to Hell...
Spoilers for the first issues of the recently launched series.
So Final Crisis disposes of Bruce Wayne, and while he's scribbling around in a cave somewhere, everyone thinks he's dead. Battle for the Cowl happens which bumps Dick up to Batman, Tim up to Red Robin, and Damien up to Robin (in Damien's absence, Alfred would be Robin. If Alfred is unavailable, Robin will be played by the Batsignal. Should the Batsignal fail to perform his duties as Robin...). Soooooo, all the titles except Batman and Detective Comics were canceled for new ones, and Batman Confidential (not taking place in the present day) also remains. I'm...trying to cut back, but here's hoping I don't end up buying more titles. I'll match up the new books to my previous list...
1) Batman - Title remains. It's now a Judd Winick book, which I'm hesitant about, but I'll still read it (unless it gets really bad), he delves a bit more into Dick's plans and thought process, which I appreciate.
2) Batman and Robin - The new flagship title I'll read in place of Nightwing. It's by Grant Morrison, the mastermind behind Batman's latest developments, and Frank Quitely. Pretty awesome book about Dick as the new Batman and Damien as Robin. They play well off each other, the book is fast paced with plenty of teases about these cool new villains. Looking forward to seeing where it goes.
3) Red Robin - Here's the thing. Tim Drake brought me to the Bat Books in 1998. I loved Robin under Chuck Dixon, and when Robin crossed over with the other Bat Books during No Man's Land, that's what really brought me into Batman's world. Tim remained one of my favorite characters, but they've messed him up in recent years. Seriously messed him up. His girlfriend dies, his father dies, his best friend dies, his other best friend ages, his girlfriend comes back, his other best friend dies, and now his other father is dead.
I don't expect Tim to be the same as he used to be after all that, but I'm not fond of the Grimdark. Tim can't be the Robin to Dick's Batman. He's about 18 now (and he hit a bit of a growth spurt), so rather than stay in Gotham (he and Damien do not get along at all), Tim's got it in his head that Bruce must still be alive somewhere, so he donned Jason's discarded alternate Earth Red Robin costume to distance himself from the Batman Legacy, and has gone to Europe to look for clues. Wait, Red Robin is distancing himself? Wouldn't people end up calling him "Robin" for short anyway? He wants to wear a tarnished mantle? None of this makes sense to me! This isn't the Tim Drake I knew. Probably because he's all "Tim Wayne" now, but ugh, Yost and Bachs aren't winning me over here. I'll stick with the first arc because I can't drop the only book with Tim in it so easily, but once it's clear that this is no longer my Tim, it'll be gone.
4) Gotham City Sirens - Birds of Prey is gone, and I have no idea what's going on with Batgirl (I doubt I'll read it, I'm too afraid they'll "cure" Barbara). I wasn't sure about this book at first. I only read Catwoman during crossovers, but I did read Harley Quinn. Truthfully, I'd probably ignore this book if it wasn't being written by Paul Dini. He's got a great handle on both Selina and Harley, but I'm wondering what he's going to do with Ivy, what with how nuts he made her during his Detective run. The art's by Guillem March, and I'm not wild about it, but I'll stick around.
5) Batman Streets of Gotham - I am such a sucker for Paul Dini. With art chores by Dustin Nguyen, this is the best looking out of all the new books. Dini gets to play with the new Batman and Robin team, Gordon, and the rest of Gotham. The first issue left me wanting more, and it's got a Manhunter second feature, which I dig. This one's a keeper.
6) Batman Confidential - Still a solid read.
It basically came down to a choice between the two lesbian books that came out last week, Gotham City Sirens and Batwoman in Detective Comics. I was going to try them both out and drop whichever I liked least, but money's tight. It's a shame because I like the creative team and there's a Question second feature, but the new Batwoman never grabbed me, and she's had, what, 2 or 3 years now to do it? Maybe if I end up dropping Red Robin, decide Gotham City Sirens isn't for me, or my Judd Winick streak continues (I've dropped almost every title of his I've read) and Batman's gone (although I can't see myself NOT reading Batman), I might pick up Detective Comics. Until then, though, it looks like I've got my new six.
1) Batman
2) Nightwing
3) Robin
4) Birds of Prey
5) Detective Comics
6) Batman Confidential
Then it all went to Hell...
Spoilers for the first issues of the recently launched series.
So Final Crisis disposes of Bruce Wayne, and while he's scribbling around in a cave somewhere, everyone thinks he's dead. Battle for the Cowl happens which bumps Dick up to Batman, Tim up to Red Robin, and Damien up to Robin (in Damien's absence, Alfred would be Robin. If Alfred is unavailable, Robin will be played by the Batsignal. Should the Batsignal fail to perform his duties as Robin...). Soooooo, all the titles except Batman and Detective Comics were canceled for new ones, and Batman Confidential (not taking place in the present day) also remains. I'm...trying to cut back, but here's hoping I don't end up buying more titles. I'll match up the new books to my previous list...
1) Batman - Title remains. It's now a Judd Winick book, which I'm hesitant about, but I'll still read it (unless it gets really bad), he delves a bit more into Dick's plans and thought process, which I appreciate.
2) Batman and Robin - The new flagship title I'll read in place of Nightwing. It's by Grant Morrison, the mastermind behind Batman's latest developments, and Frank Quitely. Pretty awesome book about Dick as the new Batman and Damien as Robin. They play well off each other, the book is fast paced with plenty of teases about these cool new villains. Looking forward to seeing where it goes.
3) Red Robin - Here's the thing. Tim Drake brought me to the Bat Books in 1998. I loved Robin under Chuck Dixon, and when Robin crossed over with the other Bat Books during No Man's Land, that's what really brought me into Batman's world. Tim remained one of my favorite characters, but they've messed him up in recent years. Seriously messed him up. His girlfriend dies, his father dies, his best friend dies, his other best friend ages, his girlfriend comes back, his other best friend dies, and now his other father is dead.
I don't expect Tim to be the same as he used to be after all that, but I'm not fond of the Grimdark. Tim can't be the Robin to Dick's Batman. He's about 18 now (and he hit a bit of a growth spurt), so rather than stay in Gotham (he and Damien do not get along at all), Tim's got it in his head that Bruce must still be alive somewhere, so he donned Jason's discarded alternate Earth Red Robin costume to distance himself from the Batman Legacy, and has gone to Europe to look for clues. Wait, Red Robin is distancing himself? Wouldn't people end up calling him "Robin" for short anyway? He wants to wear a tarnished mantle? None of this makes sense to me! This isn't the Tim Drake I knew. Probably because he's all "Tim Wayne" now, but ugh, Yost and Bachs aren't winning me over here. I'll stick with the first arc because I can't drop the only book with Tim in it so easily, but once it's clear that this is no longer my Tim, it'll be gone.
4) Gotham City Sirens - Birds of Prey is gone, and I have no idea what's going on with Batgirl (I doubt I'll read it, I'm too afraid they'll "cure" Barbara). I wasn't sure about this book at first. I only read Catwoman during crossovers, but I did read Harley Quinn. Truthfully, I'd probably ignore this book if it wasn't being written by Paul Dini. He's got a great handle on both Selina and Harley, but I'm wondering what he's going to do with Ivy, what with how nuts he made her during his Detective run. The art's by Guillem March, and I'm not wild about it, but I'll stick around.
5) Batman Streets of Gotham - I am such a sucker for Paul Dini. With art chores by Dustin Nguyen, this is the best looking out of all the new books. Dini gets to play with the new Batman and Robin team, Gordon, and the rest of Gotham. The first issue left me wanting more, and it's got a Manhunter second feature, which I dig. This one's a keeper.
6) Batman Confidential - Still a solid read.
It basically came down to a choice between the two lesbian books that came out last week, Gotham City Sirens and Batwoman in Detective Comics. I was going to try them both out and drop whichever I liked least, but money's tight. It's a shame because I like the creative team and there's a Question second feature, but the new Batwoman never grabbed me, and she's had, what, 2 or 3 years now to do it? Maybe if I end up dropping Red Robin, decide Gotham City Sirens isn't for me, or my Judd Winick streak continues (I've dropped almost every title of his I've read) and Batman's gone (although I can't see myself NOT reading Batman), I might pick up Detective Comics. Until then, though, it looks like I've got my new six.