PIRATES. OMFG PIRATES!!!
Yeah. I'm going to do some comics talking again. :|b But first some nerdy link spam.
- You know what never gets old? One Piece dominating the sales charts. Seriously, thirty two million volumes sold and the next nearest competition is Naruto with SEVEN million.
I know there are some people who occasionally think about getting into One Piece that totally should. Just saying.
- I can't say I 100% agree with the AV Club's review of "Special Education" but the comparison of Glee vs LOST was pretty damn aces.
- Thanks to the post on fandom_lounge, I've heard about the new Sentai series. This year's theme? FUCKING PIRATES OMFG.
PIRATES!!!
Seriously, LOOK AT THEIR FUCKING PIRATE HAT HELMETS! AND THEIR PIRATE COLLARS! AND THEIR PIRATE SABERS AND GUNS. PIRATES!!! FUCK YES I AM EXCITED!
- Whatever, commentors. The idea of an Arashi otome game is neither new nor unawesome. It is totally awesome. And hilarious.
- I've been reading fyeahdickgrayson and it has some excellent posts!
→ Recs for good Dick-favorable arcs, which includes a note that Nightwing Annual #2 WAS AWFUL and because everyone was a bunch of jerks in it. (Though, I do still think the art was pretty and Kory was hot. Even if I otherwise agree.)
→ The evolution of Dick vs Babs, which is totally awwww indeed!
→ This scene with Donna is still one of my favorites everrr. IIRC, that was even written by Devin Grayson, showing that, okay, maybe her GK work wasn't totally ruined by her Nightwing work, for me.
→ NEVER GOING TO STOP LAUGHING. Robin's face, LOL.
→ Also still funny? Babs' GRAYSONCAM, lolz.
→ You need to have seen Young Justice 1x01-1x02 to get this meme, but it is SUPER HILARIOUS when you have.
→ Ten things Dick is thankful for is just. Yes. I want to keep picking a favorite, but I really can't.
→ A different tumblr (but one frequently reblogged by fyeahdickgrayson) has the most adorable Nightwing/Batgirl (TAS versions) fanart pretty much ever.
So, I watched Young Justice with Noel, which made it way more fun to watch and well. The first ten minutes or so just completely broke my brain trying to recognize any of this, despite knowing that it was an AU reboot that was off in its own continuity. I could shrug off most of the changes they made, because they sort of made sense, but I could not wrap my mind around how very not Dick Grayson Robin was.
I've watched B:TAS! I can accept Dick being a lot angrier there! I've watched The Batman, where Dick was a wee little kidlet and kind of snarky! I could even mentally adjust for Teen Titans to be Dick, especially after The Batman!
But I just could not parse this Robin as Dick Grayson in any kind of way.
At first I thought it was just that they were going with this weird mix of all the various Robins (Dick, Jason, Tim, Damian), because, seriously, Dick cackling as he leapt into the frey without a plan? Uh, no. And then being a total creeper at the computer while he was hacking? Again, no!
But that's when it hit me. OMG, THIS IS TOTALLY A SLIGHTLY LESS OBNOXIOUS DAMIAN.
As the episode wore on, it just became more and more obvious that this was Damian, especially when he was totally not a team player, when it was obvious that he wasn't leadership material, when he was obviously smaller and way younger than the others, and he had the snarkiest, smirkiest obnoxious little shit lines! Totally. Damian.
Even his voice sounded exactly like how I imagined Damian's would!
I know they meant for it to be Dick, but the episode got 1000% better when I decided that it was Damian instead. It makes so much more sense and it's actually really kind of great in a non-ironic way!
I mean, it still sort of breaks my head a little that they're mixing and matching so many different generations here (it needed to make up its mind if it wanted to be old-school or new school, because this bizarre mix really kind of keeps it from being as strong as it could be), but I think I can live with Flash being Wally. I mean, I'd prefer Bart, but I have to admit that it was more like Wally. I don't know what to make of the new Aqualad (I was expecting Garth and then... no, totally new character, wtf?) or Roy not being on the team (I did so want my Roy, Dick, Wally trio... but, then, it's not really the same unless Donna is there, so I'm actually okay with it), but overall, I think I liked it.
(According to Wikipedia, the producers have said that the show is set on Earth16. To which I say, okay, if you say so.)
Eh, there's not really too many spoilers I guess, but just in case!
The dialogue was trying a little too hard at times, but other times I was literally just about on the floor with laughter because-- seriously, "No, Speedy is Green Arrow's sidekick!" "....that makes no sense. -__-" had me crying. I literally had to pause the episode just to laugh and laugh and laugh. THAT MAKES NO SENSE, AHHH, I LOVE IT WHEN THEY CAN POKE FUN AT THEMSELVES AND SPEAK THE TRUTH.
That was totally my second favorite moment in the whole thing. My very favorite? When Robin's hacking the system and these little obnoxious smirking Robin heads show up on his console, their little annoyed faces turning to smirks when he successfully hacked them! I LAUGHED SO HARD. THAT IS SO DAMIAN RIGHT THERE.
Or when he's hunched over the computer screen just after they break in and he's got this evil little giggle? Or when, you know, he's not making sure any of the others keep up with him, when he's not really watching anyone else's back, just assumes they're going to keep up with him, when he just throws himself into a situation while Aqualad is saying, okay, we don't even have a plan yet! See, that alone makes this impossible for it to be Dick in my head, because Dick always has a plan. And Dick has always been a team player, that's such a large part of what makes up his character and why he's always chosen as the leader. Not just because he's smart and friendly and everyone respects him, but because he's a team player and he has a plan. That's what the Bat-family does. Tim was the same way and that's why he was often the leader, too. Batman drilled it into them.
But who doesn't have plans? Damian doesn't have plans. He just assumes he can handle everything and that he's better than everyone, so he throws himself into a situation and starts taking everything on and then starts ordering other people around, whether they listen to him or not. Damian is not leadership material in the same way this Robin is not leadership material. Even if you tried to tell me that this is baby!Dick, I still wouldn't buy all the obnoxious little shit smirking he does. But Damian? Oh hell yes.
I admit, one other thing bugged me, but it's one of those things you just have to let go of any time you're dealing with a member of the Flash family. Or a member of the Superman family. When they're fighting against the genomorphs, why on earth is Wally not fighting at super speed? Seriously, how was that fight at all dangerous for him? Sure, they've got sharp claws, but HE CAN BREAK THE SOUND BARRIER WITHOUT BREAKING A SWEAT. They tried to have him say, "Oh, finally I have room to move!" but that is total bullshit. This is the guy who can VIBRATE THROUGH WALLS, so why are restraints a problem for him? I guess I can buy that maybe he's not that good yet, he is still probably about 15 or so here. But still. HAND TO HAND COMBAT SHOULD NOT SLOW HIM DOWN LIKE THAT. /grumping
....which sounded angrier about it than I meant to. I mean, I basically got used to this after watching a season or two of JL:TAS. You just don't bring logic to an animated show's fight scenes like this.
I did however like a lot of the dialogue! The constant references to Superboy as an "it" (or "Hey, it's not like I called him 'it'!" or "Oh, sure, he gets to call Supey an 'it'!") made me laugh way harder than they had any right to. And "It looks like you can leap tall buildings in a single bound! That's still cool!" And "Come and get me, you incredible bulk!"
The voice acting was all right. I liked the actor for Damian a lot, but the others are just sort of... there? The adults were okay, but Superman's lines were delivered weirdly, like, "It's on fire. :|" almost sounded like it was trying to be funny. Bruce Greenwood as Batman did okay, but kind of sounded a little too much like he was trying to be Kevin Conroy. Not that I disapprove, just. It was a little stiff. George Eads as Barry Allen was just... weird as all get out. It's not that he's a bad actor, just... not what I imagined at all! Everyone else was serviceable or decent.
The animation was solid, some scenes looked really good and you can tell animation has come a long ways since any of the previous animated series. But it wasn't spectacular, either. And I question a lot of the characters' designs--why was Roy in the really old-school uniform? I get that it's about him not being Speedy after this (I guess he's going to be Red Arrow instead of Arsenal? Boo.), so he's shucking the original costume, but still. Robin's costume is totally the Tim-era costume, maybe getting into Damian-era costume (though, Damian's is a little different, I'd say). Aqualad's is just completely made up, so, whatever.
I enjoyed some of the shout-outs to comic references, but other times it was just weird. Like, why Blockbuster of all characters? The original Mark Demsond, instead of Roland Desmond, even! And how many people really even know much of anything about the Guardian?
Man, I seem so down on this thing, when I actually really liked it. I mean, it's never going to be my favorite or stop being weird, but I thought it was fun and I'm looking forward to more next year? And it totally put me back in the mood for more comics!
Speaking of being back in the mood for comics!
Batman and Robin #15: Christ, it hasn't been that long and yet I'm still at a loss when I try to jump back into Morrison's writing on this series. It doesn't help, of course, that I'm not with the giving a shit when it comes to the fake Dr. Wayne storyline. Nor do I particularly care for Morrison's take on the Joker. It's all... *waves hand* nonsense that's supposed to be "edgy" and I just end up rolling my eyes at it.
Irving's art is sort of interesting, except that it's not exactly quite coming together for me. There are panels where it seems potentially interesting, but then it sort of degenerates into what Morrison is for me--trying to be edgy when it's just doing it for the sake of being edgy. I think... I like the art except when it comes to faces. Everything else is interesting, but his faces are just... they don't quite sit right with me. But that might just be a style preference, I guess.
As for the storyline... I have no idea what I just read. Something about Hurt wanting to destroy the legacy of the Waynes (though, I have no idea why, the storyline doesn't tell me anything, and I don't care enough to Wiki it) and wanting to summon a bat-god of some sort and shooting Dick in the back of the head with a pellet gun that'd cause a hematoma in twelve hours and reduce him to a vegetable and then a lot of dramatic speaches about broken memories of how it felt to soar and he wants Damian's soul and a whistle of the lost bat-language of the Miagani people and the demon Barbatos.
So, yeah. Yeah. That all just happened. That's Morrison for you.
And then then Bruce wooshes out of the fireplace (which I only know because I read it on-line somewhere) and a;sldkfjal;skjlaksj I think Morrison briefly turned a corner for me.
DEMON SUMMONING. WHISTLE OF THE LOST BAT-LANGUAGE. IMPERSONATING DEAD MEN AND TARNISHING THEIR LEGACIES. WHISTLE OF THE LOST BAT-LANGUAGE. BRUCE FWOOSHING OUT OF A FIRE PLACE.
Amazing.
Batman and Robin #16: Do you know what this issue is? IT IS MORRISON'S LAST ISSUE ON THIS SERIES. After this, it's three months of Cornell and then TOMASIIIIIII. ♥
And thank god.
Because instead of getting to the action that mildly interested me--Bruce's return--we have a flashback to Bruce stuck in the past summoning Barbatos the bat-god and eating a raw bat as part of some spell or something.
Yeah.
Eating a bat raw.
Thank you, Morrison.
It lasts for, like, seven pages and it's the most "wtf is this shit, Morrison?" thing I've ever read. And that's kind of saying a lot. After that, Bruce has come through the fireplace and he's face to face with Hurt and Morrison has this thing he does. Where it feels like there are pages missing and I'm like, wait, what's going on here? One moment Hurt's on the ground because Dick and Damian punched him and it's dark and it's just a handful of people there, then suddenly it's brightly lit and Hurt has nearly a hundred friends to back him up and he's standing and it's just. It's not good writing!
I will give him that I liked the conversation between Dick and Bruce right before the fight starts. "Great to see you, too. Guess I should have known you wouldn't just turn up during lunch tomorrow or something normal like that."
Bruce's response? He just asks, "Is that Damian in a Robin's costume?"
;lkajsdkl;jf that shouldn't have worked as well as it did, but Damian's little "--tt--" and Dick's annoyed look never get old.
I also can't lie. The three way fight with Bruce, Dick, and Damian? Kind of genuinely fun and awesome. I love Damian with the bow and arrow--I don't think I've seen him with one much before, but it'd be nice for him to get his own signature weapon. And Dick saying, I know what it looks like, you're gone five minutes and we let the place go to hell! And, if it weren't for me, Jason Todd would be Batman! And he's still fighting even though he was SHOT IN THE HEAD. Seriously, Dick is a total casual badass, you don't even realize how hardcore he is until you stop and remember OH RIGHT SHOT IN THE HEAD AND HE'S STILL GOING.
And then Hurt lures Bruce to a vault somewhere and locks him in, meanwhile Dick and Damian deal with Pyg (which is about as engaging as you'd expect) and I am so close to done with this thing, I can almost taste it. This issue does explain a lot (I seriously did not pick up on Hurt = El Penitente until Dick outright said it and I kind of got really fuzzy on Hurt's role in things, which is actually a lot more planned out than I originally gave Morrison credit for, but that's kind of the thing. I didn't get it and it's not like I'm not paying attention! I just can't tell Morrison's random flinging crap on the walls to see what sticks and the stuff he actually plans out.) but all I really want at this moment is for it to be over. I don't even expect a satisfying reunion between Dick and Bruce, because god forbid anything be emotionally satisfying with Dick anymore.
They wrap everything up pretty well, I guess. The Joker catches Hurt as he runs out of the Batcave (does the Joker know everything about Batman now, since they brought him there?) and "takes care of him", but then Bruce clocks him when the Joker is about to leave and Bruce is inclined to believe him, but they won't stop looking. Dick's gotten medical attention and says he's fit for duty again, so if Bruce needs Nightwing soon, he's more than ready to go back to his old job, but Bruce is like two months off minimum and then Damian wants to know what happens to Batman and Robin and Bruce says they'll never die and then.
Press conference.
Where Bruce announces that he's been funding Batman because of what happened to his parents and now Batman is going global.
With.
Batman Incorporated.
I just.
*flaps hands uselessly*
It never stops being the most ridiculous thing ever and it's so ridiculous that I love it.
I mean, yes, Bruce is allowed to grow as a character and I'm actually glad that Dick and Damian are sticking around as Gotham!Batman and Robin and I'm glad that Bruce is actually trusting people here.
It's just.
The control freak who doesn't let anyone help unless they're directly under his thumb and even then it's like pulling teeth and nobody's allowed in his city without his permission... has started Batman Incorporated.
Still funny!
Batman and Robin #17: So, I got about two pages into this issue and went, ".....is this McDaniel art?", flipped back to the cover to check, and sure enough! Scott McDaniel is doing the art for this issue! :D :D :D I have such fondness for him because he does really excellent action scenes. I mean, yeah, his art is often very stylized/kind of out of proportion on the faces and such, but the man does a damn fine fight scene.
And I actually really liked the discussion on the opening pages--Damian and Dick are kind of stepping on each other's entry lines as they break up an armed wedding, which prompts Damian to say that this isn't meant to be fun! Sure, it's not fun, Dick agrees, but that doesn't mean they can't have fun while they're doing it!
Damian says that that's an attitude he didn't have when it was just him (which I don't think is true, Dick's had that attitude the whole time--well, maybe not in Morrison's run, but I never count that) and hasn't the creation of Batman Incorporated basically given anyone a license to create whatever kind of Batman they want? In your case, worryingly jolly Batman?
Dick's response? "Heh. Good point, but no. On three, you drop smoke and stun gas-- and I'll do five minutes of stand-up on the differences between men and women."
Oh, Dick. He is my favorite forever.
And I really liked the quiet moment of Alfred asking if anyone had contacted Bruce about the body that was stolen (a former girlfriend of Bruce's) and Damian says that he was waiting for Dick to take care of it. Dick says he hasn't because, he admits sheepishly, that he was hoping to have it solved before contacting Bruce to spare him that much. Dick and Alfred have this quiet shared moment of understanding, especially since Bruce has been so much more accepting of his allies, and it's just. Really nice.
I'm not sure about the overall plot, it's a pretty standard mystery with a new villain (if you can call a woman with a giant hole in her forehead "standard"), but it's solid. And I've missed solid. But I can't disagree with the reviews I've seen that basically said, "If you were tired of Morrison's whacky adventures, you'll really like this." which... yeah, that's kind of the point for me. I liked it because it wasn't Morrison, not because it had a ton to offer me.
The McDaniel art helps with the feeling that this was an issue straight out of the Dixon era, except without the charm of that time. And I do have to grudgingly agree that Damian really felt off here, that he felt very Generic Robin, rather than the obnoxious little shit I love.
I enjoyed the issue, but how much of that was "omg it's not morrison yay!" instead of enjoying it for itself? Probably more than I'd like to admit. But. I AM CAUGHT UP NOW. And it's only two more months that Cornell has on this book (though, I am a little worried that the book will lag in that time, when it needed to explode out of the gate after Morrison) and then we can get Tomasi! Whom I'm worried I'm building up too much, even in my own mind. orz
But at least I can now read other stuff!
Teen Titans #88-89: I kind of gave up even trying to keep current with this series, but Damian potentially joining the Teen Titans! Hell, yes, I'm reading that. The first issue has an interesting fight scene with some beast-like creatures (well, humans with some beast-like features, like sharp teeth) which is mostly because of the really beautiful art and the women of this series being kind of awesome. I really do love Cassie being in charge and doing what needs to be done, even if that means bringing Rose onto the team when she doesn't like her.
Raven is going through the same thing she always goes through, her eternal struggle with her emotions, but it leads her to Damian, wondering how he's ever going to turn out to be anything but an angry murderous person if that's all he's ever surrounded by. There's a brief conversation with Dick in the car that's nice, about how Dick isn't Bruce, which is meant to be an insult, but Dick doesn't take it that way. He doesn't want to be like Bruce. Bruce surrounded himself with the darkest and most vile things in the world to become Batman, but Dick had Bruce and he had friends. Which is obviously a lead-up to getting Damian on a team and I like the idea a lot, actually.
And I really enjoy reading about Cassie's struggles with leading this team and balancing her feelings for Conner (which make her want to protect him and focus on him the most, despite that he's the one who needs her attention the least) and maybe this is old hat to those who read the series regularly, but it's interesting to someone who's just jumping on here and likes that the team is led by a female character.
#88 ends with an interesting moment. There's an intruder alarm and everyone's wondering where it's coming from--sensors indicate that the intruder is in the east wing. "Intruder?" a voice asks. And we see on the next page that it's Dick and Damian in the conference room. "More like founder."
It's interesting because... yeah, Dick was one of the original five and he was the first leader and he has a lot of history with the Titans' tower and all that. It's kind of a great moment to have him just show up in the place that used to be his home like he owns the place, because once upon a time, he basically did. But it's also Dick Grayson. Would he really have not called ahead, just to not be a (pardon the pun) dick?
Granted, it was set up so that Damian could be an obnoxious little shit by kicking his feet up onto the table and saying, word is you need a Robin to lead this little flock. Well, here I am. But still.
#89 goes about as well as expected--Damian's a little shit and says both he (Grayson) and Drake lead the teams when they were on it and he's more accomplished than they were! The Titans basically mock the hell out of the little shit and Damian and Rose get into a fight that eventually everyone else has to break up. Dick's like, well, that actually went better than I expected.
I'm not sure how I feel about Dick basically dumping Damian on Cassie the way he did, even if I think he's got a point about Damian needing a team like that. It's just... not like Dick to do it this way. But I'm also willing to wave it to the side because Dick's got a lot of shit to deal with and probably doesn't have the time to do this like he would prefer. I do kind of go "...." that Damian's needs are being put ahead of the team's needs, that their conversation is all about what's good for Damian without considering what's good for Cassie, but I'm also willing to wave that to the side for now because I don't think Dick would put something on her shoulders that she couldn't handle. And, I think, part of it is that they do need to get over Tim and this would help with that--I'm choosing to believe that's what part of their conversation was about.
And I like that Damian's angry that he's being "dumped" here, but Dick explains it's not about that. It's not that he's abandoning Damian, but instead giving him a chance to be a hero here. I can understand why it looks that way to Damian, like he's being dumped here even after he chose to stay with Dick, but it's not like Batman and Robin isn't still going, so he'll be in Gotham half of the time anyway.
And I like that Raven is the one that almost gets their villain (a scared kid who's been given super powers and wound up really tight) and calms him down, only for Damian to punch him in the face and have him turn evil on the Titans again. Of course it was going to go this way, it's a standard storyline, but it's a standard one for a reason and it's nice to see Damian (for all that he's technically very skilled) fall flat on his face and mess things up sometimes. I'm hopeful that Damian will stay on the team, it'll be good experience for him to be with people who aren't as patient with him as Dick is, and I think that's part of why Dick got him on the team.
It's also nice to see a team book where most of these people actually like hanging around each other and feel like they've known each other for ages and they're family. I like that Tim's presence is still felt and they miss him, I like that there's friendships between these people, I like that they're a cohesive team in battle, even if they have a few kinks. I've read about how the title has been floundering lately, but it feels like these issues are taking a lot of steps in the right direction.
- You know what never gets old? One Piece dominating the sales charts. Seriously, thirty two million volumes sold and the next nearest competition is Naruto with SEVEN million.
I know there are some people who occasionally think about getting into One Piece that totally should. Just saying.
- I can't say I 100% agree with the AV Club's review of "Special Education" but the comparison of Glee vs LOST was pretty damn aces.
- Thanks to the post on fandom_lounge, I've heard about the new Sentai series. This year's theme? FUCKING PIRATES OMFG.
PIRATES!!!
Seriously, LOOK AT THEIR FUCKING PIRATE HAT HELMETS! AND THEIR PIRATE COLLARS! AND THEIR PIRATE SABERS AND GUNS. PIRATES!!! FUCK YES I AM EXCITED!
- Whatever, commentors. The idea of an Arashi otome game is neither new nor unawesome. It is totally awesome. And hilarious.
- I've been reading fyeahdickgrayson and it has some excellent posts!
→ Recs for good Dick-favorable arcs, which includes a note that Nightwing Annual #2 WAS AWFUL and because everyone was a bunch of jerks in it. (Though, I do still think the art was pretty and Kory was hot. Even if I otherwise agree.)
→ The evolution of Dick vs Babs, which is totally awwww indeed!
→ This scene with Donna is still one of my favorites everrr. IIRC, that was even written by Devin Grayson, showing that, okay, maybe her GK work wasn't totally ruined by her Nightwing work, for me.
→ NEVER GOING TO STOP LAUGHING. Robin's face, LOL.
→ Also still funny? Babs' GRAYSONCAM, lolz.
→ You need to have seen Young Justice 1x01-1x02 to get this meme, but it is SUPER HILARIOUS when you have.
→ Ten things Dick is thankful for is just. Yes. I want to keep picking a favorite, but I really can't.
→ A different tumblr (but one frequently reblogged by fyeahdickgrayson) has the most adorable Nightwing/Batgirl (TAS versions) fanart pretty much ever.
So, I watched Young Justice with Noel, which made it way more fun to watch and well. The first ten minutes or so just completely broke my brain trying to recognize any of this, despite knowing that it was an AU reboot that was off in its own continuity. I could shrug off most of the changes they made, because they sort of made sense, but I could not wrap my mind around how very not Dick Grayson Robin was.
I've watched B:TAS! I can accept Dick being a lot angrier there! I've watched The Batman, where Dick was a wee little kidlet and kind of snarky! I could even mentally adjust for Teen Titans to be Dick, especially after The Batman!
But I just could not parse this Robin as Dick Grayson in any kind of way.
At first I thought it was just that they were going with this weird mix of all the various Robins (Dick, Jason, Tim, Damian), because, seriously, Dick cackling as he leapt into the frey without a plan? Uh, no. And then being a total creeper at the computer while he was hacking? Again, no!
But that's when it hit me. OMG, THIS IS TOTALLY A SLIGHTLY LESS OBNOXIOUS DAMIAN.
As the episode wore on, it just became more and more obvious that this was Damian, especially when he was totally not a team player, when it was obvious that he wasn't leadership material, when he was obviously smaller and way younger than the others, and he had the snarkiest, smirkiest obnoxious little shit lines! Totally. Damian.
Even his voice sounded exactly like how I imagined Damian's would!
I know they meant for it to be Dick, but the episode got 1000% better when I decided that it was Damian instead. It makes so much more sense and it's actually really kind of great in a non-ironic way!
I mean, it still sort of breaks my head a little that they're mixing and matching so many different generations here (it needed to make up its mind if it wanted to be old-school or new school, because this bizarre mix really kind of keeps it from being as strong as it could be), but I think I can live with Flash being Wally. I mean, I'd prefer Bart, but I have to admit that it was more like Wally. I don't know what to make of the new Aqualad (I was expecting Garth and then... no, totally new character, wtf?) or Roy not being on the team (I did so want my Roy, Dick, Wally trio... but, then, it's not really the same unless Donna is there, so I'm actually okay with it), but overall, I think I liked it.
(According to Wikipedia, the producers have said that the show is set on Earth16. To which I say, okay, if you say so.)
Eh, there's not really too many spoilers I guess, but just in case!
The dialogue was trying a little too hard at times, but other times I was literally just about on the floor with laughter because-- seriously, "No, Speedy is Green Arrow's sidekick!" "....that makes no sense. -__-" had me crying. I literally had to pause the episode just to laugh and laugh and laugh. THAT MAKES NO SENSE, AHHH, I LOVE IT WHEN THEY CAN POKE FUN AT THEMSELVES AND SPEAK THE TRUTH.
That was totally my second favorite moment in the whole thing. My very favorite? When Robin's hacking the system and these little obnoxious smirking Robin heads show up on his console, their little annoyed faces turning to smirks when he successfully hacked them! I LAUGHED SO HARD. THAT IS SO DAMIAN RIGHT THERE.
Or when he's hunched over the computer screen just after they break in and he's got this evil little giggle? Or when, you know, he's not making sure any of the others keep up with him, when he's not really watching anyone else's back, just assumes they're going to keep up with him, when he just throws himself into a situation while Aqualad is saying, okay, we don't even have a plan yet! See, that alone makes this impossible for it to be Dick in my head, because Dick always has a plan. And Dick has always been a team player, that's such a large part of what makes up his character and why he's always chosen as the leader. Not just because he's smart and friendly and everyone respects him, but because he's a team player and he has a plan. That's what the Bat-family does. Tim was the same way and that's why he was often the leader, too. Batman drilled it into them.
But who doesn't have plans? Damian doesn't have plans. He just assumes he can handle everything and that he's better than everyone, so he throws himself into a situation and starts taking everything on and then starts ordering other people around, whether they listen to him or not. Damian is not leadership material in the same way this Robin is not leadership material. Even if you tried to tell me that this is baby!Dick, I still wouldn't buy all the obnoxious little shit smirking he does. But Damian? Oh hell yes.
I admit, one other thing bugged me, but it's one of those things you just have to let go of any time you're dealing with a member of the Flash family. Or a member of the Superman family. When they're fighting against the genomorphs, why on earth is Wally not fighting at super speed? Seriously, how was that fight at all dangerous for him? Sure, they've got sharp claws, but HE CAN BREAK THE SOUND BARRIER WITHOUT BREAKING A SWEAT. They tried to have him say, "Oh, finally I have room to move!" but that is total bullshit. This is the guy who can VIBRATE THROUGH WALLS, so why are restraints a problem for him? I guess I can buy that maybe he's not that good yet, he is still probably about 15 or so here. But still. HAND TO HAND COMBAT SHOULD NOT SLOW HIM DOWN LIKE THAT. /grumping
....which sounded angrier about it than I meant to. I mean, I basically got used to this after watching a season or two of JL:TAS. You just don't bring logic to an animated show's fight scenes like this.
I did however like a lot of the dialogue! The constant references to Superboy as an "it" (or "Hey, it's not like I called him 'it'!" or "Oh, sure, he gets to call Supey an 'it'!") made me laugh way harder than they had any right to. And "It looks like you can leap tall buildings in a single bound! That's still cool!" And "Come and get me, you incredible bulk!"
The voice acting was all right. I liked the actor for Damian a lot, but the others are just sort of... there? The adults were okay, but Superman's lines were delivered weirdly, like, "It's on fire. :|" almost sounded like it was trying to be funny. Bruce Greenwood as Batman did okay, but kind of sounded a little too much like he was trying to be Kevin Conroy. Not that I disapprove, just. It was a little stiff. George Eads as Barry Allen was just... weird as all get out. It's not that he's a bad actor, just... not what I imagined at all! Everyone else was serviceable or decent.
The animation was solid, some scenes looked really good and you can tell animation has come a long ways since any of the previous animated series. But it wasn't spectacular, either. And I question a lot of the characters' designs--why was Roy in the really old-school uniform? I get that it's about him not being Speedy after this (I guess he's going to be Red Arrow instead of Arsenal? Boo.), so he's shucking the original costume, but still. Robin's costume is totally the Tim-era costume, maybe getting into Damian-era costume (though, Damian's is a little different, I'd say). Aqualad's is just completely made up, so, whatever.
I enjoyed some of the shout-outs to comic references, but other times it was just weird. Like, why Blockbuster of all characters? The original Mark Demsond, instead of Roland Desmond, even! And how many people really even know much of anything about the Guardian?
Man, I seem so down on this thing, when I actually really liked it. I mean, it's never going to be my favorite or stop being weird, but I thought it was fun and I'm looking forward to more next year? And it totally put me back in the mood for more comics!
Speaking of being back in the mood for comics!
Batman and Robin #15: Christ, it hasn't been that long and yet I'm still at a loss when I try to jump back into Morrison's writing on this series. It doesn't help, of course, that I'm not with the giving a shit when it comes to the fake Dr. Wayne storyline. Nor do I particularly care for Morrison's take on the Joker. It's all... *waves hand* nonsense that's supposed to be "edgy" and I just end up rolling my eyes at it.
Irving's art is sort of interesting, except that it's not exactly quite coming together for me. There are panels where it seems potentially interesting, but then it sort of degenerates into what Morrison is for me--trying to be edgy when it's just doing it for the sake of being edgy. I think... I like the art except when it comes to faces. Everything else is interesting, but his faces are just... they don't quite sit right with me. But that might just be a style preference, I guess.
As for the storyline... I have no idea what I just read. Something about Hurt wanting to destroy the legacy of the Waynes (though, I have no idea why, the storyline doesn't tell me anything, and I don't care enough to Wiki it) and wanting to summon a bat-god of some sort and shooting Dick in the back of the head with a pellet gun that'd cause a hematoma in twelve hours and reduce him to a vegetable and then a lot of dramatic speaches about broken memories of how it felt to soar and he wants Damian's soul and a whistle of the lost bat-language of the Miagani people and the demon Barbatos.
So, yeah. Yeah. That all just happened. That's Morrison for you.
And then then Bruce wooshes out of the fireplace (which I only know because I read it on-line somewhere) and a;sldkfjal;skjlaksj I think Morrison briefly turned a corner for me.
DEMON SUMMONING. WHISTLE OF THE LOST BAT-LANGUAGE. IMPERSONATING DEAD MEN AND TARNISHING THEIR LEGACIES. WHISTLE OF THE LOST BAT-LANGUAGE. BRUCE FWOOSHING OUT OF A FIRE PLACE.
Amazing.
Batman and Robin #16: Do you know what this issue is? IT IS MORRISON'S LAST ISSUE ON THIS SERIES. After this, it's three months of Cornell and then TOMASIIIIIII. ♥
And thank god.
Because instead of getting to the action that mildly interested me--Bruce's return--we have a flashback to Bruce stuck in the past summoning Barbatos the bat-god and eating a raw bat as part of some spell or something.
Yeah.
Eating a bat raw.
Thank you, Morrison.
It lasts for, like, seven pages and it's the most "wtf is this shit, Morrison?" thing I've ever read. And that's kind of saying a lot. After that, Bruce has come through the fireplace and he's face to face with Hurt and Morrison has this thing he does. Where it feels like there are pages missing and I'm like, wait, what's going on here? One moment Hurt's on the ground because Dick and Damian punched him and it's dark and it's just a handful of people there, then suddenly it's brightly lit and Hurt has nearly a hundred friends to back him up and he's standing and it's just. It's not good writing!
I will give him that I liked the conversation between Dick and Bruce right before the fight starts. "Great to see you, too. Guess I should have known you wouldn't just turn up during lunch tomorrow or something normal like that."
Bruce's response? He just asks, "Is that Damian in a Robin's costume?"
;lkajsdkl;jf that shouldn't have worked as well as it did, but Damian's little "--tt--" and Dick's annoyed look never get old.
I also can't lie. The three way fight with Bruce, Dick, and Damian? Kind of genuinely fun and awesome. I love Damian with the bow and arrow--I don't think I've seen him with one much before, but it'd be nice for him to get his own signature weapon. And Dick saying, I know what it looks like, you're gone five minutes and we let the place go to hell! And, if it weren't for me, Jason Todd would be Batman! And he's still fighting even though he was SHOT IN THE HEAD. Seriously, Dick is a total casual badass, you don't even realize how hardcore he is until you stop and remember OH RIGHT SHOT IN THE HEAD AND HE'S STILL GOING.
And then Hurt lures Bruce to a vault somewhere and locks him in, meanwhile Dick and Damian deal with Pyg (which is about as engaging as you'd expect) and I am so close to done with this thing, I can almost taste it. This issue does explain a lot (I seriously did not pick up on Hurt = El Penitente until Dick outright said it and I kind of got really fuzzy on Hurt's role in things, which is actually a lot more planned out than I originally gave Morrison credit for, but that's kind of the thing. I didn't get it and it's not like I'm not paying attention! I just can't tell Morrison's random flinging crap on the walls to see what sticks and the stuff he actually plans out.) but all I really want at this moment is for it to be over. I don't even expect a satisfying reunion between Dick and Bruce, because god forbid anything be emotionally satisfying with Dick anymore.
They wrap everything up pretty well, I guess. The Joker catches Hurt as he runs out of the Batcave (does the Joker know everything about Batman now, since they brought him there?) and "takes care of him", but then Bruce clocks him when the Joker is about to leave and Bruce is inclined to believe him, but they won't stop looking. Dick's gotten medical attention and says he's fit for duty again, so if Bruce needs Nightwing soon, he's more than ready to go back to his old job, but Bruce is like two months off minimum and then Damian wants to know what happens to Batman and Robin and Bruce says they'll never die and then.
Press conference.
Where Bruce announces that he's been funding Batman because of what happened to his parents and now Batman is going global.
With.
Batman Incorporated.
I just.
*flaps hands uselessly*
It never stops being the most ridiculous thing ever and it's so ridiculous that I love it.
I mean, yes, Bruce is allowed to grow as a character and I'm actually glad that Dick and Damian are sticking around as Gotham!Batman and Robin and I'm glad that Bruce is actually trusting people here.
It's just.
The control freak who doesn't let anyone help unless they're directly under his thumb and even then it's like pulling teeth and nobody's allowed in his city without his permission... has started Batman Incorporated.
Still funny!
Batman and Robin #17: So, I got about two pages into this issue and went, ".....is this McDaniel art?", flipped back to the cover to check, and sure enough! Scott McDaniel is doing the art for this issue! :D :D :D I have such fondness for him because he does really excellent action scenes. I mean, yeah, his art is often very stylized/kind of out of proportion on the faces and such, but the man does a damn fine fight scene.
And I actually really liked the discussion on the opening pages--Damian and Dick are kind of stepping on each other's entry lines as they break up an armed wedding, which prompts Damian to say that this isn't meant to be fun! Sure, it's not fun, Dick agrees, but that doesn't mean they can't have fun while they're doing it!
Damian says that that's an attitude he didn't have when it was just him (which I don't think is true, Dick's had that attitude the whole time--well, maybe not in Morrison's run, but I never count that) and hasn't the creation of Batman Incorporated basically given anyone a license to create whatever kind of Batman they want? In your case, worryingly jolly Batman?
Dick's response? "Heh. Good point, but no. On three, you drop smoke and stun gas-- and I'll do five minutes of stand-up on the differences between men and women."
Oh, Dick. He is my favorite forever.
And I really liked the quiet moment of Alfred asking if anyone had contacted Bruce about the body that was stolen (a former girlfriend of Bruce's) and Damian says that he was waiting for Dick to take care of it. Dick says he hasn't because, he admits sheepishly, that he was hoping to have it solved before contacting Bruce to spare him that much. Dick and Alfred have this quiet shared moment of understanding, especially since Bruce has been so much more accepting of his allies, and it's just. Really nice.
I'm not sure about the overall plot, it's a pretty standard mystery with a new villain (if you can call a woman with a giant hole in her forehead "standard"), but it's solid. And I've missed solid. But I can't disagree with the reviews I've seen that basically said, "If you were tired of Morrison's whacky adventures, you'll really like this." which... yeah, that's kind of the point for me. I liked it because it wasn't Morrison, not because it had a ton to offer me.
The McDaniel art helps with the feeling that this was an issue straight out of the Dixon era, except without the charm of that time. And I do have to grudgingly agree that Damian really felt off here, that he felt very Generic Robin, rather than the obnoxious little shit I love.
I enjoyed the issue, but how much of that was "omg it's not morrison yay!" instead of enjoying it for itself? Probably more than I'd like to admit. But. I AM CAUGHT UP NOW. And it's only two more months that Cornell has on this book (though, I am a little worried that the book will lag in that time, when it needed to explode out of the gate after Morrison) and then we can get Tomasi! Whom I'm worried I'm building up too much, even in my own mind. orz
But at least I can now read other stuff!
Teen Titans #88-89: I kind of gave up even trying to keep current with this series, but Damian potentially joining the Teen Titans! Hell, yes, I'm reading that. The first issue has an interesting fight scene with some beast-like creatures (well, humans with some beast-like features, like sharp teeth) which is mostly because of the really beautiful art and the women of this series being kind of awesome. I really do love Cassie being in charge and doing what needs to be done, even if that means bringing Rose onto the team when she doesn't like her.
Raven is going through the same thing she always goes through, her eternal struggle with her emotions, but it leads her to Damian, wondering how he's ever going to turn out to be anything but an angry murderous person if that's all he's ever surrounded by. There's a brief conversation with Dick in the car that's nice, about how Dick isn't Bruce, which is meant to be an insult, but Dick doesn't take it that way. He doesn't want to be like Bruce. Bruce surrounded himself with the darkest and most vile things in the world to become Batman, but Dick had Bruce and he had friends. Which is obviously a lead-up to getting Damian on a team and I like the idea a lot, actually.
And I really enjoy reading about Cassie's struggles with leading this team and balancing her feelings for Conner (which make her want to protect him and focus on him the most, despite that he's the one who needs her attention the least) and maybe this is old hat to those who read the series regularly, but it's interesting to someone who's just jumping on here and likes that the team is led by a female character.
#88 ends with an interesting moment. There's an intruder alarm and everyone's wondering where it's coming from--sensors indicate that the intruder is in the east wing. "Intruder?" a voice asks. And we see on the next page that it's Dick and Damian in the conference room. "More like founder."
It's interesting because... yeah, Dick was one of the original five and he was the first leader and he has a lot of history with the Titans' tower and all that. It's kind of a great moment to have him just show up in the place that used to be his home like he owns the place, because once upon a time, he basically did. But it's also Dick Grayson. Would he really have not called ahead, just to not be a (pardon the pun) dick?
Granted, it was set up so that Damian could be an obnoxious little shit by kicking his feet up onto the table and saying, word is you need a Robin to lead this little flock. Well, here I am. But still.
#89 goes about as well as expected--Damian's a little shit and says both he (Grayson) and Drake lead the teams when they were on it and he's more accomplished than they were! The Titans basically mock the hell out of the little shit and Damian and Rose get into a fight that eventually everyone else has to break up. Dick's like, well, that actually went better than I expected.
I'm not sure how I feel about Dick basically dumping Damian on Cassie the way he did, even if I think he's got a point about Damian needing a team like that. It's just... not like Dick to do it this way. But I'm also willing to wave it to the side because Dick's got a lot of shit to deal with and probably doesn't have the time to do this like he would prefer. I do kind of go "...." that Damian's needs are being put ahead of the team's needs, that their conversation is all about what's good for Damian without considering what's good for Cassie, but I'm also willing to wave that to the side for now because I don't think Dick would put something on her shoulders that she couldn't handle. And, I think, part of it is that they do need to get over Tim and this would help with that--I'm choosing to believe that's what part of their conversation was about.
And I like that Damian's angry that he's being "dumped" here, but Dick explains it's not about that. It's not that he's abandoning Damian, but instead giving him a chance to be a hero here. I can understand why it looks that way to Damian, like he's being dumped here even after he chose to stay with Dick, but it's not like Batman and Robin isn't still going, so he'll be in Gotham half of the time anyway.
And I like that Raven is the one that almost gets their villain (a scared kid who's been given super powers and wound up really tight) and calms him down, only for Damian to punch him in the face and have him turn evil on the Titans again. Of course it was going to go this way, it's a standard storyline, but it's a standard one for a reason and it's nice to see Damian (for all that he's technically very skilled) fall flat on his face and mess things up sometimes. I'm hopeful that Damian will stay on the team, it'll be good experience for him to be with people who aren't as patient with him as Dick is, and I think that's part of why Dick got him on the team.
It's also nice to see a team book where most of these people actually like hanging around each other and feel like they've known each other for ages and they're family. I like that Tim's presence is still felt and they miss him, I like that there's friendships between these people, I like that they're a cohesive team in battle, even if they have a few kinks. I've read about how the title has been floundering lately, but it feels like these issues are taking a lot of steps in the right direction.