Review Category: Comic Books

It’s been almost thirty years since Michael Keaton last donned the cape and cowl to play Batman – last seen facing off against the Penguin, Catwoman and Christopher Walken in the iconic Batman Returns. Other Batmen have come and gone since, but fans have held out hope that one day Keaton might reprise his most famous role. And, with Keaton set to step back into the rubber suit for The Flash, those fans are about to get their wish.

But first, Batman screenwriter Sam Hamm and artist Joe Quinones bring back the Burton-verse with this six-part miniseries, picking up where Batman Returns left off. With Gotham beset by roving gangs of Joker wannabes and copycat Batmen (what, no hockey pads?) ambitious District Attorney Harvey Dent blames the Dark Knight for the steep rise in crime. Pursued by the GCPD, Batman attempts to subdue Gotham’s criminal gangs while also avoiding its increasingly militant police force.

It took almost thirty years, but fans finally get a glimpse of what could have been, had the Burton-verse not been hijacked by Joel Schumacher, bat-nipples and a neon-crazy art department. Batman ’89 brings the return of Billy Dee Williams as Harvey Dent, an older, greyer Bruce Wayne, and teases a very different kind of Robin.

The Gotham City of Batman ’89 will be immediately familiar to fans of the Tim Burton Batman movies. Dark and imposing; its alleyways packed full of violent criminals and dangerous thugs. Its Batman, too, has been unchanged by his 28-year absence. Kicking off the book’s first big action sequence by blowing up a helicopter full of goons, this Batman is as blasé about life and death as he ever was. It’s no wonder Dent wants the Dark Knight apprehended.

Familiar as Hamm and Quinones’ Gotham City may be, Batman ’89 is modernised with a vibrant and inclusive cast of supporting characters, diving into what a black Harvey Dent means for the character and his city. For the first time, audiences get to know Billy Dee’s Dent, discovering what makes him tick before… well, you know what comes next. Robin, too, is introduced, and in a manner which is set to explore the chasms of difference between a rich white vigilante and his city of the oppressed and underprivileged. While, at the same time, casually blowing up a helicopter full of living, breathing miscreants (who, granted, do appear to escape at the last minute, A-Team style).

Batman ’89 could well have been content to trade purely on nostalgia, but this story feels new and vital while also delivering on everything fans want to see. The book is packed full of Easter Eggs for the eagle-eyed – introducing new versions of old characters, celebrity likenesses, and giant pennies.

Quinones’ art is more stylised than one might have expected (reminiscent of Paul Gulacy’s work on Batman: Prey) – his Batman more svelte and lithe than Keaton ever managed to be. But his Gotham looks great, and the character work is incredibly expressive. Leondardo Ito’s colour work is particularly impressive too, delivering a lush and vibrant Gotham City.

Bat-fans have long resigned themselves to the fact that Burton’s Batman universe was cut short before its time, bastardised into unsanctionable (but fun!) buffoonery. Burton, Keaton and Billy Dee may never have gotten their dues, but Batman ’89 is the next best thing.

The start of a new venture like The High Republic is always going to attract attention from the content-hungry masses, but when that launch – originally planned for just a few days before Star Wars Celebration in August 2020 – is delayed, like Celebration, by the coronavirus pandemic, then the interest is escalated even more. Much like the novel Light of the Jedi that launched the era, the comic title from Marvel grabbed major attention, but in the safe and steady hands of Cavan Scott it quickly became not only a big-selling title, but a crowd-pleaser.

We’re introduced to the title’s two focal characters, the Trandoshan Jedi Master Sskeer and his padawan, the feisty Keeve Trennis. Keeve is high on talent but low on self-belief, and we watch as Sskeer convinces her that she is worthy and powerful enough in the Force to achieve her potential, a destiny that can’t come quickly enough for the galaxy as the Drengir, a plant-like race that has been in hibernation on thousands of worlds for eons, are awakened. Communicating through a hive-mind,  the Dregir explode across the galaxy, just as another threat, that of the pirate-like Nihil, threatens to engulf the stars during what should be its greatest years.

Our Jedi encounter stricken ships with slain Hutts as the insidious tendrils of the Drengir take control of one of their greatest Jedi, while populations of worlds spread across the galaxy are decimated. It’s a clever ploy by the Project Luminous writing team to split the threat between Drengir and Nihil, stretching characters like Marshal Avar Kriss thin, fighting furiously against the Drengir as her compatriots battle the Nihil. When the Hutts arrive – as slimy and untrustworthy as we know them from the original trilogy era – and a pact is made to work with the Jedi to counter the Drengir threat, you know things have got bad.

As is now expected with Cavan Scott stories, the characters are well-drawn, and with the artistic duo of the unmatchable Phil Noto on covers and Ario Anindito on interior art, the stories shine. Annalisa Leoni on colours adds depth and energy to the already kinetic art, and as a team they bring to vivid life these new characters, inhabiting a galaxy we know, but with a twist. We start with no wars, no sith, little conflict, and a Republic keen to reach out to the Rim and bring all worlds of the galaxy into the fold, launching the ambitious Starlight Beacon, the first of many such stations, to embolden their claim that ‘We are all the Republic.’ It’s a commonly heard statement through the books and comics, and as we progress, one that is severely tested as Padawans, Knights, and Masters fight for their lives against the encroaching darkness.

It’s very different, and thankfully not as olde-worldy as might be expected, and there are a LOT of characters to meet and familiarise yourself with, but it’s worth the effort, and as such Volume 1 – There Is No Fear – is a key part of Phase 1 of The High Republic. Recommended, to ease into the era and learn the background of what is certain to be a downhill slalom of obstacles for the Republic and Jedi of the era.

STAR WARS: THE HIGH REPUBLIC – VOL 1 is on sale from September 9th

It’s important to remember that comic books are for everyone. As many of us are introduced to comic books when we are young it’s sometimes tempting to think that the books have grown-up with us, and to ignore the simple joy of fun stories told well.  Marvel Action Avengers: Off The Clock is a short graphic novel that brings together some Avengers stories that are firmly aimed at younger minds, but they’re a total joy to behold.

The premise of the book is simple; what happens when you tell Earth’s Mightiest Heroes to take a day off? Well of course wackiness ensues; we get Thor having to face Loki in a flea-market,  Captain America teaming up with Squirrel Girl to teach road safety (and to face one of Spider-Man’s dumbest villains) and Doctor Strange and Captain Marvel getting together to deal with a  run away cape.

The Infinity Saga this is not, but writer Katie Cook has perfectly captured the elements of the Marvel heroes that we find most interesting, whilst maintaining a sense of child-like fun and wonder. Butch Mapa’s art captures a ‘Saturday Morning Cartoon’ vibe throughout, and effortlessly sells the various sight gags and silly scenes to the reader.

Marvel Action Avengers: Off The Clock is not going to join the canon of classic Marvel books and it’s not one that most collectors will seek out, but if you have a younger person in your life, we strongly recommend you pick it up for them and have a sneaky read first, you will laugh your socks off.

What, if you ask DC executives, can comic books not have enough of, these days? Invariably, it’s members of the Bat-family. And, aside from the Bat himself, there’s none so in demand as his Joker-adjacent children and hangers-on. Harley Quinn (recently reformed, and one of the Good Guys) and Jason Todd, who probably never should have been resurrected. 

Now Todd joins that other DC mainstay, The Suicide Squad, brought on by Amanda Waller for the gang’s latest mission. Get Joker sends the Squad after, yes, the Joker, who is being funded by the Russians to destabilize life in the West. An interesting twist, and not Get Joker’s only comment on recent politics (one of the team being a January 6th Insurrectionist… as if Batman wouldn’t have been there kicking the shit out of them if it’d been attempted under his watch).

This Black Label miniseries follows the standard Suicide Squad formula; the first book setting up Todd as a fledgling member of the team. Thankfully writer Brian Azzarello resists the urge to fill his team with the usual suspects – only Harley Quinn remains from the movie line-up(s) – making Get Joker feel more like its own thing, rather than just another movie cash-in. Which it still is, a bit.

Like most Suicide Squad / Brian Azzarello / Black Label stories, this all feels rather try-hard – particularly in the swearing and its Clockwork Orange Joker sequence – but it sets the stage well for a thrilling adventure. The looser continuity of Black Label allows for a greater degree of unpredictability, and stronger standalone storytelling – both beneficial to Azzarello’s hard-boiled style.

With Alex Maleev on art, this is a strong combination of writer and artist. While Maleev is less slick and flashy than some, there’s a grit and maturity to his scruffy linework that suits the story and characters. With the first book ending on a game-changing twist, it will be fun to see how Maleev and Azzarello’s characters react once the shit really hits the fan.

DC probably has more than enough Harley Quinn and Suicide Squad and Joker comics on the stands as it is, but Get Joker will leave readers begging for more regardless. 

Screwball sci-fi comedy can be tricky to get right. Focus too much on the slapstick and you lose any of the potential sci-fi elements. Lean too heavily on futuristic premises and the jokes become impossible to set-up. Finding the balance between gaudy fantasy themes and a good solid gag is hard, but when you get it right, it’s hilarious.

Voyage to the Stars is a graphic novel based on a popular podcast of the same name, and it really shows. The comic relies very heavily on dialogue with the artwork mostly their to add to the humour rather than tell the story.  Connie Daidone’s  art-style does a lot of the heavy lifting here; it’s silly and fun and really does help land the many quick-fire gags; it’s just a pity it’s buried under so many word balloons.

The story itself sees a bunch of intrepid misfits flee a doomed Earth; with no home to return to this band of idiots seek out a way of stopping the all-consuming Nothing from devouring the entire galaxy.  The central gag is that these ‘heroes’ are vain, selfish and very bad at pretty much everything. They kill and destroy pretty much everything they see not out of malice but stupidity.

Of course, they come across the galaxies best hope against the Nothing and some how make things worse. The story is a nice blend of Guardians of the Galaxy  and Spaceballs and if you can forgive how contrived some of the story beats are, quite fun. It doesn’t resemble the podcast at all; the charm of the voice actors fails to come across in this entirely different medium, but the artwork makes up for that quite well.

Over-all, a nice bit of light reading for those who love wacky hi-jinks.

They are an awful lot of Batman graphic novels out there. The character is so popular that DC have been churning out stories for decades and every once in a while they produce a very memorable story.   Typically these happen when they break the usual formula of ‘Bruce Wayne out-thinks and punches everyone who might be responsible’, but not always. Future State: The Next Batman is an attempt to create a memorable Batman adventure from the incomprehensible mess that was the Dark Knights: Death Metal cross-over event. It is only partially successful.

The set-up is that Bruce Wayne is very much gone.  Tim Fox (a relative of Lucius) has taken up the mantle in secret, and goes out every night fighting crime. The rest of the Bat Family are lead by Night Wing and consists of the usual suspects; Robin, Huntress, Batgirl and so on. They know nothing about the new Batman but still soldier on.

Of course, Gotham City PD has gone fully corrupt and a private army of soldiers called Peacekeepers have been brought in to hunt and kill anyone who looks like they’re acting like a vigilante. So basically it’s a narrative reset to Batman Year One still adventures, whilst keeping the existing cast of well loved Bat-Friends and villains.

This is not different enough from our usual narrative to make it that interesting, and Future State: The Next Batman is a messy mix of individually focused stories, resulting on a storyline that though clear, is quite run of the mill.

The art is very nice however; Nick Derington and Laura Braga bring something special to the table here, though again because of the spotty nature of the storytelling the art lacks a the sort of direction that would make it really memorable.

Overall Future State: The Next Batman  is a swing and a miss at an attempt of creating a Bat-Classic, but we do hope DC will keep trying.

Future State was DC’s big cross-over event that ran earlier this year. The idea was to explore various alternate universe ideas and other divergent ideas as a response to the multiverse shattering Dark Knights, Death Metal storyline that had recently mucked up DC comics continuity good and proper.

Future State: Justice League isn’t quite ‘what will the Justice League look like in DC’s future’.  Instead it brings together a bunch of Future State one-shots, most of whom you would expect to see in the Justice League, though we also get What If tales for both Justice League and Justice League Dark.

Because these are essentially no-consequence one-shots, the result is much better than it has any right to be. Our Flash story is appropriately desperate, exhausting and clever; you should always feel like you gone through something with a Flash story and this tale of loss and betrayal does nicely. The Aquaman short is similarly dark, quite rightly focusing on survival and leadership and show casing newer Aquaman powers and characters quite well.

The Justice League Dark story is really just a remix of the Books of Magic storyline from the 90s, but then DC finds it hard to tell a story about the future of magic without it being a tale of ‘magic fading from the world’, even though the DC Universe is filled with magical utopias, we never seemed to explore them. It’s fun enough and it’s nice to see Detective Chimp being weird and awesome in equal measure.

Green Lantern fans are well served by this book, they are several takes on the idea of ‘The last Green Lantern’, all of which are quite fun and very well done. The actual Justice League story is very much a re-do of a classic JLA tale, but it’s neatly done and fun. Art wise, it’s a bit of a mixed bag, with the majority of the art chosen to fit a certain expected style and doesn’t really stand out. It just looks like your average DC comic, which of course is the point.

Future State: Justice League is a fun set of stories and shows what the Future State premise can do. Worth a look, especially if you like Green Lantern.

It’s funny how after countless reboots, cross-overs and continuum changes, that DC’s Super Heroes are somehow still as convoluted and broadly inaccessible as they have always been. Future State: Superman collects a number of the Superman themed stories from DC’s Future State cross-over event.

Following on from the incredibly messy (and almost unreadable) Dark Knights, Death Metal series, Future State explores the future of various DC worlds. As the name suggests, Future State: Superman draws heavily from the Superman mythos.  So we get the idea of Superman bottling a city to keep it safe re-heated and re-imagined. We get the idea of a Superman as the architect of a super-human legacy revisited.  Warworld gets some remixing and of course they are new takes on both Braniac and Lex Luthor which aren’t that new and are certainly not that interesting.

Though this is a single graphic novel, it’s not one coherent story; nothing really pulls the individual storylines together beyond the idea that these are all Superman stories. And they don’t really do a very good job at that.  Good Superman stories are about doing good things whilst understanding that power corrupts. Mostly these Superman stories are either about over-coming something more powerful than Superman or a riff on an existing bit of Superman lore. For example, there’s an entire bit where the Midnighter (a alternate universe Batman) shows up and fights the corrupted version of Apollo (an alternate universe Superman and Midnighter’s ex-husband).  The story itself goes nowhere, does nothing and it’s dull because it goes on for way too long.

Given the staggering amount of talent involved, including writers such as Brian Michael Bendis and artists like Riley Rossmo, we were hoping this would be an epic examination of what makes Superman tick, to rival the likes of All-Star Superman. Alas it’s just average comic book fare that borders on phoning it in. Not a single gem amidst the dross.

After mocking the Bat for years, Garth Ennis takes him on directly in his first proper Bat-book since Legends of the Dark Knight. This, after scathing parodies in The Boys and The Pro. And, of course, having Tommy Monaghan puke all over his boots in Hitman. But, in spite of Ennis’s cynicism towards the Dark Knight and his fellow caped crusaders, there’s always been an undercurrent of respect there. Batman, Ennis has said, is “one of those military genius figures – you’d want him on your side, but you wouldn’t want to spend more than two seconds in his company.”

And it’s this begrudging respect which informs Reptilian, the latest DC Black Label miniseries from Ennis and artist Liam Sharp. Something is tearing up bad guys in Gotham, leaving Scarecrow, Riddler and the Penguin ripped to pieces. Batman is on the case, enlisting one of Gotham’s many goons-for-hire to help track down the monster responsible. All of this, without checking in on the really obvious suspect. Notable for his absence in this first issue, it doesn’t take the world’s greatest detective to work out that Killer Croc is probably involved somewhere, somehow.

Could Garth Ennis’s Black Label debut boil down to something as simple as a Killer Croc story? It seems unlikely, but even if this were just a basic Croc-on-the-rampage story, this first issue is anything but basic. Ennis sets aside the sneer to deliver Batman at his most imposing, most self-righteous, and downright loquacious. Talkative Batmen are a risky prospect (just ask Kevin Smith, and his Widening Gyre), but it works for Ennis’s vision – goading an acquitted abuser into attacking him, then knocking him out in front of a full press gallery. It certainly beats the usual overplayed “I am Batman” schtick.

Artist and colourist Liam Sharp leans into this less-than-conventional approach to the character, and his Batman design is equally odd – a cross between Dave McKean’s Arkham Asylum design, and the live-action Michael Keaton. It’s a far cry from the neat and precise Steve Dillon work that was initially intended, but works wonders for the story. His Batman is scary and imposing; his villains stubby and weird; his Gotham City a bleak Gothic hellscape. His Alfred? Christopher Plummer.

This creative direction is unlikely to work for all, but it’s a great addition to the Black Label line-up; an off-continuity horror story which delivers a compelling take on its leading man. Not one that you’d want to spend a lot of time with, but certainly one that you’re glad to have around.