comics

I wish this was the interior art.

Jace and Babs hug, Harper works out bugs, and Gordon knocks out thugs, all in this nineteenth installment in DC's weekly Batman shindig. The artwork is all over the place, the "hypnotized ally you have to convince you're not who they think you are" cliche is eye-rolling, as is Jason's Babs wank, and honestly I want them to get rid of this supernatural element, too, even if it means even less Batman in the book, because unlike Bats, I don't care about Croc's missing cult followers. But hey, Jimmy kicked some ass in Blackgate, and that was the highlight of this entire story arc so far, even if it was just one page. Still, I preferred Scott Snyder and Gerry Duggan's
Batman #34. By a lot.

The sewers are creepy, Jason is cheeky, and a toy shop is freaky in the eighteenth entry in DC's weekly Batman series. Jason talks Babs up as she falls into a trap, things get tense in Blackgate, we find out what happened to Killer Croc after Arkham War, and Batman is actually a character in this book again! What a week. Too bad the art is kind of... ehhh. Middling. It varies from page to page.

Vampire Hero hasn't been the same since the New 52 reboot.
 

Neither will be appearing in this issue!

Corrigan is trapped, a monkey is zapped, and Batman's old scrap in week 17 of DC's weekly Batman book, Batman Eternal. Even the combined efforts of Jim Corrigan and Batwing are no match for Deacon Blackfire and The Spectre doesn't seem to want to appear, while in Japan, Tim Drake and Harper Row try intimidating one of Batman's old teachers, and the only time we see the titular character is in a flashback to a storyline from decades before the New 52. Really, there's not a lot actually going on here, but let's see if I can dig something out, anyway!

There's mysterious ghouls, Harper breaks a rule, Joker's Daughter is cruel, and a villain's renewal in this sixteenth issue of DC's weekly Batman epic, which, as usual, has very little actual Batman. In fact, for the second week in a row, it's mostly the adventures of Jon Corrigan and... uh... whatshisface. You know. Batman Beyond. No, that isn't Batman Beyond? Oh. Uh... you know, Lucius Fox's kid, Batborg, I think. Really, who gives a damn? He's fairly irrelevant, save for his fight with Maxie Zeus.

Arkham's extra spooky, Tim flies to the home of kabuki, and a plastic surgeon's in deep dookie. In this fifteenth installment of DC's Batman weekly, our team of writers break out supernatural elements I'm not used to reading about in Batman titles, but Dustin Nguyen's art suits well. It's too bad a lot of it involves Batwing, a character I can't even remember half the time exists. As usual, there's very little actual Batman in this Batman weekly. I guess he's too busy cracking that drug ring in 'Tec, or hunting down Ra's al Ghul in Batman &. But at least we have plenty of... uh, Jim Corrigan, I guess.

Penguin wants to be King of the Jungle, Falcone's new empire crumbles, Jimbo's feeling quite humble, and Dr. Crane takes a slight tumble. In this fourteenth installment of DC's Batman weekly, Jason Bard seems to wrap up the whole gang war pretty handily. But will Batman's relationship with the "new Gordon" end before it begins? And what is Joker's Daughter up to in Arkham? And how many more pages is DC going to waste previewing other comics I'm only tangentially interested in at best? None of this and less is answered in this issue!

Jim's tempted by a son who's demented, Bard's plan is attempted, Steph's friend is lamented, and a comic preview's presented. Issue 13 of DC's Batman weekly book shows us that there's at least one cop as competent as, maybe even moreso than, Jim Gordon, with his plan to trick Forbes into whittling down Falcone's forces. We get plenty of Vicki Vale, just a little of Harper Row, and a minority character introduced and then blown up in the same page. Oh, DC.

Harper's laptop ignites, Batgirl feels a slight, the city indicts, and father and son reunite in this twelfth issue of DC's Batman weekly. We finally return to tolerable artwork, Tim meets the newest ladies in Bruce's life, and it seems like Jason Bard has a plan brewing to halt the gang war. There are also a few pages dedicated to previewing the new Batfamily comic, Grayson, and if you think you know Nightwing, you don't know Dick (actual DC product description), so that eats up some of the space.
 

This is how Funimation prevents simulcast leaks now.

It must be Father's Day in Gotham, because while Julia nurses her wounds, Alfred cleans rooms, and Steph watches her daddy fume, Barbara fights off a costumed goon in a country far south of Cancun. This is issue #11 of Batman Eternal and it guest stars little Red not so riding Hood and has bizarre imagery that's eerily reminiscent of Grant Morrison's Bat-run, of which I am not a big fan.

Yes, people talk like this, all right, in convenient exposition.

I haven't commented on the artwork of this series yet, as varied as it is. Mostly because, for the most part, it's been pretty good. It started off strong with Jason Fabok, who has done a few issues. Dustin Nguyen's unique style made issue #4 more interesting. Gillieum March has sort of a David Finch-ish quality to his work, which isn't a bad thing. Anybody else who's worked on this weekly has done a fair job, up until this issue.

Until Riccardo Burchielli.