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Batgirl #21
Writer: Gail Simone
Artists: Fernando Pasarin, Jonathan Glapion, and Blond
Cover Artists: Alex Garner
Publisher: DC

Whoever of the DC higher-ups decided to make the Bat-Family in the DCnU so distant from one another should not be allowed to make decisions. This group of heroes is at its best when they work together as a team, as a family, really. That closeness has barely been touched upon within any Bat book, which makes this issue even more enjoyable. The Nightwing and Batgirl interaction in this issue was fantastic. It was almost as if that nonsense “Flashpoint” never existed. Dick and Barbara’s relationship goes so much further than ex-lovers, and Gail Simone nailed it with their interaction in this issue. That, juxtaposed with the creepy Ventriloquist, and you’ve got a great issue here. 4.5/5

Nightwing #21
Writers: Kyle Higgins
Artists: Brett Booth, Norm Rapmund, and Andrew Dalhouse
Cover Artists: Brett Booth, Norm Rapmund, and Andrew Dalhouse
Publisher: DC

While the return of Tony Zucco is still a questionable direction for this title, Kyle Higgins is a doing a great job with the story. Zucco is Dick’s Joe Chill, his origin for a lack of better words, and whether or not screwing with that is a good idea will all depend on how Higgins wraps up this arc. In the meantime, he has developed some great mini stories that are running alongside the Zucco story. The Prankster was a great new character, and if he ever decides to turn a new leaf, he’d make a really nice Oracle type character for Nightwing, who has been otherwise stripped of all his allies in the DCnU. Granted, he’d also be great as a recurring villain. With the superhero killer, Zucco, and Nightwing’s personal issues, this move to Chicago has been great for this series. 4/5

Superman Unchained #1
Writers: Scott Snyder
Artists: Jim Lee, Scott Williams, Alex Sinclair, with Dustin Nguyen
Cover Artists: Jim Lee, Scott Williams, and Alex Sinclair
Publisher: DC

The highly advertised and long awaited Scott Snyder and Jim Lee team up has arrived, and it was a decent start. Scott Snyder has a tremendous list of amazing comic books under his belt, and hopefully by the end of this series, this title will join that list. Unfortunately, this issue was a tad underwhelming. The setup was intriguing, and the dialog felt natural, however the issue itself was just all right. There wasn’t a lot of action, there wasn’t much plot development, and the true hero of the Superman franchise, aka Lois Lane, barely had any scene time. The epilogue with art by Dustin Nguyen was probably my favorite part of the entire issue. Jim Lee’s art, is Jim Lee’s art. It’s hard to imagine anyone picking up this book having never read anything he’s illustrated, and if you have, then you know what to expect. Personally, as the years go by, his art impresses me less and less because there has been very little growth and development. Not to mention his action scenes tend to feel very static, more like a posed shot than a candid one. Further problems with this issue can be summed up in two statements: fold out image of Superman and $4.99 price tag. Both were unnecessary, and the fold out page was more of a nuisance than it was cool to look at. Overall, the issue was a good start, here’s hoping the story gets better and the issues actually get published on time. 3/5

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Arnab Pradhan
arnab@comicattack.net