comic

"Shit, I knew I dropped the Batmobile's keys somewhere around here."

Mother is cuffed, Batman is roughed, Orphan is tough, and Harp's in a huff in the seventeenth episode of DC's weekly Batman escapade. We get more of the flashback to the past than ever with Batman's bluff being exposed and a fight breaking out with Orphan that takes them into the nearby theater. Batman gives a speech that neither of his foes appreciate. And when we flash forward again, Harper inflitrate St. Hadren's to personally interrogate David Cain, but he's licking his chops to tell Harper of Cassandra's dirty past deed. Oh, and Tim Drake and Jason Todd were in a panel somewhere in there, but who cares? The less of them the better, because we're finally crawling out of the sewer with a far better issue than the past two.

"I told you we'd all fit in the picture." 

A righteous sword burns, a villain heel-face turns, and yet I yearn for this plot thread to adjourn, in this sixteenth issue of DC's weekly Batman disappointment. Still more of Tim & Jason's Awesome Show Great Job, which is just as dreadfully uninteresting as it has been for what seems like forever. To think I was looking forward to seeing their team-up adventures some time ago. Now I just want them both to be erased from continuity. But hey, at least we get some cool flashback material.

I'd like to think Scarecrow was groaning at Dick's quip.

"I'm the worst character in this book!" "No, I am!"

The situation's dire as Tim's plan backfires, but you have to admire of all Batman's squires, he's inspired to inquire about the man covered in wires while in flashbacks Batman's a liar. All this and less in the fairly dry fifteenth installment of DC's weekly Batman escapade. Less compelling, less exciting, less informative than the previous issue! It's almost as if the Tim/Jason/Jean-Paul subplot is... pretty boring overall. But hey, that flashback is neat.

"It was Scott Lobdell. Much worse. Got me, too."

Well, they'd both qualify for Yellow Lantern rings...

Scarecrow's new gas, a lass holds a lass, Cass kicks robot ass, and one giant blast are all featured in this fourteenth installment of DC's weekly Batman annal. In this issue, it's a race to avoid being blown up in Mother's nursery or killed by her robot minions. It doesn't help that David Cain, ever loyal even in the face of death, is trying to slow Dick and the others down when they want to escape. But we also get more of that pursuit of Scarecrow by the Dynamic Duo, and discover that Batman enlisted his hooded rogue in his fight with Mother.

"Oh crap, is this an AIM base? Did we crash into Marvel?"

The problem is that Cass had to start stealing from the Red Cross to keep up with the mask blood.

A loving embrace, a father disgrace, and a blood mask on a face in this thirteenth issue of DC's weekly Batman bildungsroman. As usual, much of it is in a flashback, which is where we get the best material in this, but what we have in the present is good stuff, too, with Cassandra confronting her killer father. We see that whatever happened between Batman and Mother in the past, Cass' memory shows his compassion. But somebody without such mercy is David Cain, who's been cleaning house... er, messily.

Ooooh aah, mother, should I build the wall?

A dark revelation shakes the foundation of Grayson and he must chasten as the plot hastens without Tim or Jason. It's the twelfth issue of DC's weekly Batman chronicle, and my much delayed review covers an issue where we see the Sculptor's origin story and Batman make a decision that shocks Dick to his core. Could it be that Batman really agreed to Mother's idea, and what's more, to carry it out himself? Well, probably not, but it will look like it for a while, I think.

I have to admit, this is the best comic cover I've seen in a while. It's the perfect pyschedelic for this issue.

No time to unwind, there's a trip into the mind, and once you're there you'll find, Harp and Cass are entwined, but for now, nevermind, the past is so unkind, and before the truth's defined, Bluebird's trip is resigned and Dick's next, as he's inclined. Scrambled brains and dozens slain in the eleventh entry in DC's current weekly Batman chronicle. The new continuity's Cassandra origin is told (and it seems mostly the same, but taken up a few levels in horror), we get some not-so-subtle clues that she ties into Harper's backstory, and Dick is desperate to know what Batman did all those years ago (as am I). So let's take this mind trip, because it's a huge step up from that last stinking issue.

Oh shit, now Bane's punching the wall of reality! Somebody alert Donna Troy!