Another week and another batch of your weekly DC reviews. This week we’ve got a great bunch. We have the return of one of Batman’s greatest enemies, another installment of the ongoing Brightest Day, more insight into the mind of Jason Todd, and Red Robin continues to systematically reclaim Gotham.
Minor Spoilers Ahead!
Batman and Robin #13
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Frazer Irving
Cover Artist: Frank Quitely
Publisher: DC
After months in hiding, the Joker finally resurfaced at the end of the last issue, as things continue to set up for the return of Bruce Wayne. This issue starts us off with a brief history on the return of Dr. Thomas Wayne. The rest of the issue plays out as a three day flashback leading up to the climactic moment when Dr. Wayne appears to shoot Dick. Joker has been brought into Gotham P.D. for questioning, though he gives up little information. Dick and Gordon take a ride to the Batcave while they discuss the differences between the two Batmans, along with the existence of an addictive virus that may have been passed along via an antidote previously administered by the police. Gordon receives a text from HQ informing them that Joker wishes to talk to Robin, which immediately causes Dick to speed off, worried that Robin might kill Joker. En route to police headquarters, the Batmobile is taken down, only to be swarmed by an army of Dollotrons. Meanwhile, Robin decides to grace the Joker with his presence in an attempt to muscle some information out of him. In other news, for those of you who have missed Professor Pyg, he’s back.
This issue was full of some great stuff, though all of it was due to the writing, and none of it came from the art. The story continues to intertwine with past story lines from this series as well as with Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne. In this issue, the scenes with Dick and Gordon interacting were great. The best scene, however, had to have been Damian’s interaction with the Joker, and the fact that Damian had a crowbar made that scene even better. 4/5
Brightest Day #5
Writer(s): Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi
Artist(s): Ivan Reis, Patrick Gleason, Ardian Syaf, Scott Clark, and Joe Prado
Cover Artist: David Finch and Scott Williams
Publisher: DC
Arthur and Mera were missing from the last issue, but they returned this week with a bang. The two decide to take on an oil company that is leaking oil into the ocean. However, before they are able to accomplish this feat they are attacked, forcing Mera to reveal shocking news regarding her origin. Ever since reading Blackest Night I’ve enjoyed reading about Mera, and this definitely makes things a tad more interesting. Meanwhile, in Hawkworld, Hawkman and Hawkgirl get attacked and are separated, after the realization that they still might have some leftover Black Lantern residue within them. I can’t help but feel that their story is moving far too slowly, especially since they’ve been prominent features in most of the issues. Boston Brand has been the highlight for me this entire series. Hawk, of Hawk and Dove, has forced Brand to try and bring his brother back from the dead. Unfortunately for Hawk, Don Hal is at peace and will not be joining him in the land of the living. Then the brilliant minds that are Hawk and Dove, get Brand to try and resurrect Holly Granger, Dove’s sister. Although the entity attempts to dissuade Brand, he tries anyway. Boston Brand’s experiences with the white ring, learning its uses, has been my overall favorite story line. Overall the three stories featured are continuing to progress, some faster than others, in an entertaining and interesting direction. 3.5/5
Red Hood: The Lost Days #2
Writer: Judd Winick
Artist: Pablo Raimondi
Cover Artist: Billy Tucci
Publisher: DC
Talia has released a crazed man into the world, and his name is Jason Todd. After leaving Talia’s, Jason finds out that Bruce did in fact deliver the Joker to the police, instead of killing him. With an unlimited amount of funds from Talia, Jason easily eludes the men that both Talia and Ra’s have following him, and he makes his way to Gotham. He sets up this elaborate and frankly brilliant plan to take out Bruce by bombing the Batmobile. However, at the last moment he refrains from doing so, stating that he wanted Bruce to know it was him who killed him. I think the way Jason Todd is being written is great. He constantly fluctuates from being filled with rage, to being sad, to being emotionless, which is really everything you would expect from a kid who’s back from the dead only to see his death not having been avenged. This issue also does well to keep a shroud of mystery over the force that brought Jason back from the dead, though as noted in the issue, Jason himself does not care about the answer to that mystery. The best part of the book comes at the end, when Talia has the realization that she’s unleashed a monster. 3.5/5
Red Robin #14
Writer: Fabian Nicieza
Artist(s): Marcus To and Ray McCarthy
Cover Artist(s): Marcus To and Ray McCarthy
Publisher: DC
Tim is back in Gotham, and he’s on a mission to clean up this town. He has created a hit list for all the men that Dick simply doesn’t have the time for, and it appears that each person on his list neatly transitions into the next. This is a great use of Tim’s intelligence, as he has always been a great thinker. Damian, however, feels a tad left out, and hacks into his big brother’s computer files and finds something that displeases him. This ultimately leads into Damian sabotaging one of Tim’s stakeouts, which ends with Tim kicking Damian’s ass. Dick arrives not only in time to stop them, but also to give them a bit of a geography lesson, as the two of them were fighting at the site of Bruce’s parents’ murder. Back at the cave, Damian forces Tim to reveal his secret list to Dick, which is a list to keep track of the supposed good guys. This issue was great, in all areas. The art continues to be consistent and really nice looking, and the writing also is great. Tim’s monologues throughout the issue give us some great insight into the character. And I never thought I’d say this, but I actually felt bad for Damian, and I commend Nicieza for that. He wrote an issue that truly revolved around the three brothers’ relationship, and he did it well. 5/5
Arnab Pradhan
arnab@comicattack.net
Pingback: Tweets that mention Crisis of Infinite Reviews 07/07/10 -- Topsy.com
Batman & Robin was a decent issue but my problem was where the hell did Robin the the crowbar from? He just pulls it out of his cap like “viola!” just seemed real weak to me.
Wow way too many typos lol that should read “…Robing get the crowbar…” and cape instead of cap lol I hate doing this from my phone
Oddly enough, I didn’t even notice the typos.
I just figured he kept the crowbar tucked under his left arm. I mean, he’s Damian; he’s been trained by the best of the worst.
It sounds like Jason Todd is gonna put a beat-down on somebody!
Tim is a great thinker, he thinks like three times as much as I do in a given day. :] I’m really happy that red Robin is still reading well with the change of authors and thank gosh the art is good.
I was so sad when Arnab reminded me that Frazer Irving would be doing, at least, a couple more issues of art for Batman and Robin. Art aside, I liked the issue. It was interesting and I was easily able to follow the plot.