Batgirl #0
Writer: Gail Simone
Artists: Ed Benes and Ulises Arreola
Cover Artists: Ed Benes and Ulises Arreola
Publisher: DC
Since the launch of the New DC, this title has not been nearly as good as it should have been. You’ve got one of the most popular women in comics returning to a solo title, and yet that hasn’t been enough. However, this issue is a prime example of just how good this series could be. Barbara Gordon in this book is unlike the Barbara we’ve seen for the past 12 issues. She’s younger, but she feels more mature. She’s less experienced, but she seems altogether more confident. This young lady turned woman proves without any doubt why she’s a part of the Bat family, and hopefully we’ll be seeing more of her during the actual series. 4/5
Batman #0
Writer: Scott Snyder
Artists: Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion, FCO
Cover Artists: Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion, and FCO
Publisher: DC
When it comes to retelling the origin of one of the most, if not the most, popular characters in comic book history, there are only so many directions the story can go without being redundant. This issue chronicles the period in Bruce’s life right before the Batman is born. As far as single issues go, this issue was decent, however not nearly as strong as the last issue, which was also a one-shot story. This issue revolves around the original Red Hood gang, as well as the emergence of the myth of the Bat on the streets of Gotham. Unfortunately, this issue doesn’t exactly provide a resolution, instead leaving us with a rather unclear cliffhanger. What Snyder does deliver in this issue, is a solid intro story with some excellent character moments. Likewise, Capulo, Glapion, and FCO illustrate a gorgeous book. 3.5/5
Batman and Robin #0
Writer: Peter J. Tomasi
Artists: Patrick Gleason, Mick Gray, and John Kalisz
Cover Artists: Patrick Gleason, Mick Gray, and John Kalisz
Publisher: DC
This could easily be considered one of the best issues of this series yet, unfortunately, DC decided instead to royally screw up the Bat timeline. As far as this issue goes, Tomasi centers the whole book on Little Damian, focusing especially on his relationship with his psychotic mother. The issue is surprisingly fun, even amidst all the violence and brainwashing, and it gives us a behind the curtain look at Tomasi’s Damian, who is the most psychotic iteration yet. The glaring problem with this story is that in their attempt to make the universe more new reader friendly, DC has reduced a span of around 10-12 comic years into approximately 5.5 years, which is the gist of the problem. In that 5.5 years, Batman has gone through a minimum of three Robins and has literally brought the most recent Robin into this world. Meaning the most current, most psychotic, and most apathetic Robin in all of DC history, should not even be five-years-old, except that he is ten. 3.5/5
Superboy #0
Writers: Tom DeFalco
Artists: R.B. Silva, Rob Lean, Tanya Horie, and Richard Horie
Cover Artists: R.B. Silva, Rob Lean, Tanya Horie, and Richard Horie
Publisher: DC
If you’ve been reading the series from the very first issue, you’ve already read Superboy’s origin. However, what you haven’t seen is the orchestration that led to his creation, and that is just what DeFalco delivers. The story is told from the point of view of Harvest, Superboy’s nemesis from the first arc. He tells the story of Krypton’s clones and how they came to turn on their masters in a fit of rage. Then he indicates that for that very same purpose, he created Superboy. The issue does a solid job of foreshadowing a showdown between Superboy and his friends, as well as the Super-family. Considering this is a story about why Superboy was created, it would have been nice to see whose human DNA was used, and whether or not it remains consistent with the previous origin. That aside, though, this was a solid issue that told an origin without retelling everything that occurred in the first seven issues. 3.5/5
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Arnab Pradhan
arnab@comicattack.net
