A quiet, introspective, funny-ish interlude. Recommended.

(I initially wrote slightly funny, but funny-ish lets me keep the word count down to six, which I wasn't trying to do until I noticed the word count was seven - then it became unavoidable.)

As cynical, self-aware takes on the concept of hero groups go (and by now we don't precisely have a dearth of them), it wasn't an unenjoyable one. The SF elements of the story are interesting on their own, and it's helped by the fact that it's neither too nihilistic nor too closely aimed at any specific cultural touchstone.

I've been catching a bit of The Mentalist as background TV, and I have to say I had forgotten quite how punchable Patrick Jane is. Clever guy, I like his (pre-Moffat)Doctor Who-ish avoidance of violence, and the amateur-helping-the-police setup isn't more or less implausible than all similar others, but, oh, god, he's a pretentious asshole, even ( Read more... )

I blame Morrison for the not universal but definitely frequent depiction of Talia in contemporary comics as an unhinged, jealous ex-lover (when not a rapist) slash abusive mother. I love a lot of what Morrison did with Batman, but the Leviathan arc should've been kept between him and his therapist ( Read more... )

Mister Miracle #3 is still fantastic, even when you see things coming. It's not about the surprise, it's about the walls closing in. Sometimes you see them close in, sometimes you suddenly feel a wall against your back that wasn't there a second ago. Sometimes you fail to forget you're already entombed. It's the kind of mood Dark Metal #3 tries and ( Read more... )

I might be missing somebody, but by my count three people in the DC Universe know that it's fictional: Animal Man, because Morrison's grasp of other realities is better than his grasp of his own, Joker, because he's, by definition, insane enough (and also because Morrison), and Batman, because he's too much a detective, and his life makes far too ( Read more... )

• The silent moments between Selina and Bruce, her kindness and the way he accepts it, are very realistic and nicely done. You seldom see that kind of unspoken tenderness in superhero comics.
• This story sets up Nygma as Joker-level crazy. Not just Joker-level capable, but Joker-level insane, far beyond his usual compulsions.
• In a heartless way, it's ( Read more... )

A lot of Hickman's writing (varying by title, but overall quite a bit) consists of visually, conceptually, and linguistically dense world-building infodumps. The term is generally used disparagingly, but for him - I should say, for him, with me - it works, because

• Hickman's world-building is fantastic; his settings are more interesting than most ( Read more... )

It's something of a trifle next to the deep ridiculousness of the "metal" plot device, but the way the "dark Batmans" collapse in so psychologically and aesthetically improbable ways makes it impossible to take it seriously ( Read more... )

... based a bit on this week's Flash tie-in of the current multiversal nonsense over in DC, but mostly on Frank Miller's - and you can see his yucky thought-fingerprints in that
comic - vision of a Bruce getting older or already old.

In Miller's eyes, Batman wins, he's Batman, because he's preternaturally macho. He's tougher, stronger, faster, ( Read more... )