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Welcome all, to a brand new set of DC reviews. This week we’ve got a look into the lost time in Bruce’s life that sets up his return in just a few short months; we’ve also got the one year anniversary of a new superhero, and we will conclude with the slow dismantling of a group of heroes that have just found their way back to each other.

Minor spoilers ahead!

Batman #701
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Tony Daniel
Cover Artist: Tony Daniel
Publisher: DC

Months ago when Final Crisis came out, everybody wondered what happened between Batman: R.I.P. and Final Crisis. That very question is being answered with this issue and the next. This issue starts us off with Bruce escaping the helicopter crash; what Grant Morrison does well here, is that he narrates from Bruce’s point of view. Bruce narrates that “surviving” is something he’s been doing since he was a kid, it’s what he’s good at. This perfectly sums up the essence of Batman, who is the ultimate survivor. As he later mentions, he’s constantly fighting alongside Superman, Wonder Woman, the Lanterns, often saving them, but at the end of the day he’s only human. Bruce makes it back to Wayne Manor, and after a brief reunion with Alfred, he takes his submarine to find traces of Dr. Hurt. Unfortunately, he is nowhere to be found. Bruce is haunted by Hurt’s words, which ultimately leads him to question his family’s history and enter the Hidden Room. Hurt also had told Bruce that the next time he wore the cowl and cape, Bruce would die. We now know Bruce is not dead, however it just so happened that the next time Bruce wore his cape and cowl he was taken out by the Omega Sanction.

Morrison’s ability to weave his story across two series and a mini-series, as well as his focus on what exactly makes the Batman, Batman, has been fantastic. Tony Daniel is back on art duty with this issue, and he has also taken up doing the inking as well. His artwork on the Batman series, in my opinion, works very well to compliment Morrison’s writing.  4/5

Batgirl #12
Writer: Bryan Q. Miller
Artists: Lee Garbett and Jonathan Glapion
Cover Artist: Stanley “Artgerm” Lau
Publisher: DC

It is a battle against the Calculator, as Stephanie Brown’s first year as Batgirl comes to an end. After narrowly escaping Catwoman, Huntress, and Man-Bat last issue, Stephanie sky dives into Calculator’s facility. While in there, she comes across the body of Melvin, Calculator’s deceased son. This promptly sets things in motion for Calculator’s end, as his daughter Wendy decides that it is time for her to join in the battle. Meanwhile, Calculator has mind-linked his and Oracle’s mind in an attempt to gain information from her. Unfortunately for him, Oracle reverses the link and the two travel through his memories. Here, Oracle uncovers some ugly truths about Calculator’s past, and for a slight second feels sorry for him. While in his mind, it is also revealed that he had previously kidnapped Kid Eternity and forced him to summon his son, the aforementioned deceased Melvin. Batgirl, joined by Wendy, shuts down Calculator’s machine and saves Oracle. Overall, this was a pretty good issue. The writing was consistent and the art was nice. Plus, the reveals at the end were pretty interesting; Oracle’s new apprentice, as well as Batgirl’s stalker friend in prison, set up the series for exciting twists and turns in the future. 3.5/5

Birds of Prey #3
Writer: Gail Simone
Artist(s): Ed Benes, Adriana Melo, Mariah Benes
Cover Artist: Cliff Chang
Publisher: DC

It would appear that the Birds of Prey have become a bit rusty in their time off, as this new villain is having no problem taking them out one by one. Black Canary’s identity has been exposed, as the Birds are made to look like accomplices in murder. They find themselves allied with Penguin, who because of blood loss, hallucinates that the girls are in love with him. Rogue cops soon locate them and attack the superheroes, with the intent of killing them. During the fight, Hawk takes out two tanks before having a dagger thrown at him by the White Canary, who had previously sliced him in battle, much to his surprise. Dinah decides that nothing will stop the violence unless someone takes out the White Canary, so she ushers the others to leave while she goes head to head with the masked villain. During the fight, which artistically looks fantastic, it appears that Dinah figures out who this mystery fighter is. Meanwhile, at the Batcave, Oracle is kidnapped by Savant and Creote, both of whom she had thought to be dead.  It appears, however, that they had faked their own deaths, though for what purpose still remains to be seen.

I thought that having both Oracle and Black Canary mention being out of rhythm and not being prepared, really did well to emphasize how they’ve managed to find themselves in this position. The small character details included, such as Oracle noting that her lack of Batman’s paranoia is what got her captured or Dinah actively refraining from killing, really make this series one of the best with the Brightest Day stamp. 4/5

Arnab Pradhan
arnab@comicattack.net