Ian Miller Comic Reviews

A huge number of stellar stories combined with top-notch art really celebrate the Boy (and Girl) Wonders with an issue more than worth the purchase.

Kicking the action and stakes up several notches, new pieces place themselves on the board in the game between Batman and Deathstroke.

The tension in this crossover event increases as the conflict between Deathstroke and Batman draws more and more members of their families into its arc.

Deathstroke vs. Batman heads into the endgame with a brilliant issue exploring Damians reaction to the idea that he might be Deathstrokes son.

Priest and Pagulayan powerfully set up the finale of the Deathstroke vs. Batman arc with pounding action and devastating mind games.

Priest and Pagulayan have created a sturdy, beautifully crafted examination of who Deathstroke and Batman are that ought to provide a model for writers in the years to come.

Priest continues weaving an intricate tale of shifting realities, motivations, and betrayals, as Deathstroke and his family are dragged to the far ends of the earth.

All of the plotlines begin to collide in the penultimate issue of Arkham.

The Arkham arc closes brilliantly with Deathstrokes trademark savage violence, ethical dilemma, and an added dose of reality bending.

Priest and Pasarin masterfully bridge the gap between Slades Arkham narrative into his conflict with the Teen Titans.

Priest and Pagulayan join the Teen Titans crossover with a standout issue full of intelligence and hilarity.

Priest and Pagulayan end this chapter of Deathstrokes story brutally and intelligently.

A gorgeous, slightly flawed, but an infectiously fun entry in the Dark Knight Returns universe.

It's a fine Flash story, a solid big picture look across the universe. It's not that directly related to The Batman Universe of characters, outside of Batman himself (who doesn't really do much besides provide exposition). We give a "pick up if you feel like it" recommendation, especially considering that it's still $2.99 (plus tax) for over 60 pages of narrative content plus previews.

Megan Fitzmartin and Eddy Barrows team up to provide a strong first issue for Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, and new hero Darcy. The writing focuses effectively on a few elements, and the art really communicates the action and character moments.

The two-issue Robin Eternal miniseries concludes with a powerful punch, examining the character and history of Tim Drake with great intensity and giving Stephanie Brown and new character Darcy great supporting roles (as well as fitting in nicely with other stories in Future State).

While the story will focus most on Superman & Lois, there's a sense that Priest will be putting his stamp on many characters. With this issue as a taste, I can't wait for the whole meal over the next nine months.

Priest and Pagulayan continue to spin out a story that hits hard because of excellent execution. It gives readers a new look at a Superman in Space story. The story doesn't feel like an attempt to make things different for the sake of being different.

Kami Garcia and Gabriel Picolo's brilliant "normalcore retelling of the Teen Titans series continues with a huge dose of Batman Universe characters in the form of Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne. Highest recommendations for young (and young at heart) Batman Universe fans and fans of well-crafted romantic adventure teen books in general!

The anticipation couldn't be higher, and our original Gotham Academy creative team doesn't let us down, along with their new artistic collaborators! Olive, Kyle, Pomeline, and more are back and having great adventures where the mundane mixes with the Batman!

Fletcher, Ferrari, and company provide yet another stellar Gotham Academy issue with all the joys, scares, delights, and frights you'd expect!

A brilliantly moody piece of gothic comics that may not make a lot of sense to someone who hasn’t read all of the current Gotham Academy comics.

Olive’s nightmares make for a fun issue, but all attention turns towards Maps for the finale!

A thrilling and exciting beginning to the second season of Eternal, focusing on Dick, Harper and Cassandra Cain, promising the same twists and action as the first season.

Issue two propels the present action forward, glances off the past storyline, and keeps strong threads of characterization and humor throughout.

The issue has some solid interaction between Dick, Jason, Tim, and Cass, and provides intriguing setup, but doesnt provide as many vital character moments or action beats as previously.

A brilliant kitchen fight setpiece, a glacially slow B-plot with Cassandra Cain, and a few unnecessarily sour and confusing character notes. 4 out of 5 for the action, 3 out of 5 for the characterization, leading to an overall rating of…

A reasonably fun issue, marred a bit by abrupt tonal shift and forced character conflict, but moving the plot to the next stage.

After the uneven excitementof the last few issues, this issue sets the series back on track with a dark, tragic mystery and the reveal of the Mother.

With stellar writing and art this week, the international direction of the narrative provides intensity in both character development and mystery.

The series closes out its second month in disaster, as Mother outmaneuvers our heroes, and Cassandra Cain takes flight.

A fairly unspectacular issue reintroduces Azrael and Bane to the Eternal world.

Lanzing, Kelly, and Antonio provide a much stronger second issue than their first, providing action and character stylishly and with humor.

An exciting, reasonably well handled re-introduction of Cassandra Cain's backstory into the new 52, this issue makes a few missteps, but is otherwise very enjoyable.

Brisson brings intelligent thematic work into the backstory of the new character of the Sculptor, and brings back the opening flashback of the series in a well done issue.

A powerful issue with careful writing and very appealing art that solidifies Cassandra Cain and her origin in The Batman Universe.

A solid issue pushing the story forward in many small ways alongside exciting, well constructed action and character beats.

Tim and Jason return to the forefront of the story with a literal bang in a very enjoyable issue.

Tim and Jason face their demons, both physical and spiritual, and come out stronger than ever.

A decent issue, finally laying to rest the silly speculation about Batman raised by issue #1, but does little more than move most of the active characters in the narrative to the same place.

While it provides some important backstory, and the character moments are competently handled, theres still a sense that this issue is merely transitioning from one point of the story to the next, instead of providing as satisfying narrative on its own.

While Tim Seeleys return to the series brings a dash of humor, and Paul Pelletiers art is a step up from the past few issues, nothing much of weight happens in the brawl at Spryal.

Dick and the Bat-family have their work cut out for them, but fortunately, they seem to be pulling together in the face of Mothers success.

Due to strong writing and solid art, we recommend picking this issue up, though it might also be worth waiting for the trade due to the intertwined nature of the plot.

Valentine sets up the end of her arc with dark poetry, portraying the connection between the Robins and the depravity of Mother.

In Conclusion: Balancing the increasing cast of Dicks allies well, this issue provides a solid building block for the finale by putting most of the pieces into play.

In Conclusion: Though the overall narrative is merely moving pieces around on the board without victory or defeat, Orlandos fun action and dialogue bump the rating a tiny bit up.

As we go into the finale, the Bat-family achieves several steps forward, but Mothers response promises dire retaliation.

In taking us on a journey showing us the consequences of raising children to be weapons, Batman and Robin Eternal demonstrates the intense need for families which allow children to grow into their own identity. My individual rating is below, but as a for the series as a whole, I give four out of five batarangs.

Tim Seeley and Baldimar Rivas produce a workman-like comic, which begins an exploration into one of the most heated parts of the Bat-Family - the five Robins, their pasts, and their relationships with each other and Batman.

Seeley and Rivas provide an intricately constructed and emotionally difficult second issue in this exciting series!

This issue brings the Robins to a very dark place, and while Seeley's condensing of each Robin's history may prove challenging to some readers, the overall story has been intense and rewarding thus far.

Tim Seeley firmly hits this issue out of the park with revelations that drive the plot and our heroes' relationships with each other forward, with the art ably keeping up with appealing and energetic rendering.

Tim Seeley and Baldimar Rivas provide a satisfying conclusion to the Robins narrative that gives each Robin great moments and demonstrates the relationship between the Dark Knight and his squires, just as DC launches Round Robin Year 2!

The ease and skill with which Williamson and Cruz handle tying together the threads of multiple plotlines from multiple titles, give character moments to well over a handful of characters, and drive the book forward into its final arc is intensely satisfying, despite the bittersweet taste of knowing the book is ending.

As Damian prepares to head out on his next adventure in the DC Universe, Williamson gives a warm second-to-last issue of this excellent series, highlighting the characters and relationships he's built up over the past year and a half.

Though the final arc doesn't quite provide the power of the first year of the comic, Joshua Williamson and Roger Cruz give a warm, satisfying ending to Damian's tropical adventures and a teaser of what's to come for the Boy Wonder.

Though inconsistent art mars this issue a little, it still provides many great character moments, a great pair of guest stars from Gotham Academy, and a surprise appearance by a name-brand villain for an enjoyable chapter!

Becky Cloonan and Michael W. Conrad bring their third arc to a close, handily launching their fourth as well as bringing several strong moments of character development to the cast. Neil Googe finishes his fourth issue with strong, sketchy linework, really highlighting the strengths of each character and their cartoony, action appeal.

This story raises the stakes for Steph and Cass well and gives Steph and Babs some really solid adventures - fighting for the former, detecting for the latter, and deploys its guest stars brilliantly, especially when rendered by new guest artist Jonathan Case in his moody, elegant style.

Cloonan, Conrad, and Case - the three "Cs of Batgirls - have crafted a truly excellent issue of Batgirls that should stand out in the history of Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain.

Thoughtfully written, beautifully illustrated, and going WAY harder than it needed to, Batgirls #15 closes out this arc and starts the next with power, passion, and skill.

Though a deeply uneven issue in emotional impact, Cloonan, Conrad, and Googe do provide many pleasures in this Batgirl vs. Girl-Bat tale.

As Batgirls builds to its finale in two issues, Steph, Cass, and Babs work together brilliantly to face the grim sniper threat.

As Batgirls drops its penultimate issue, Becky Cloonan, Michael Conrad, and Robbi Rodriguez craft a really effective building of tension and character moments for the beloved Batgirls.

Becky Cloonan and Michael W. Conrad bring their 19 issue run on Batgirls to a close in their trademark melancholic but humorous style, highlighting the bond between the three Batgirls as well as their skills in saving others, both fighting and in how they connect to those around them.

Though uneven art and still overly intrusive narration sometimes mar the impact of the story, a plethora of details, emotional beats, and creative character development packs a solid punch for the first Batgirls annual.

Tim Seeley and team put together a fun, rereadable action-adventure that breaks the mold of many Knight Terror titles.

Tim Seeley and Acky Bright complete their dark tale of battling nightmares with style, leaving us wanting more about this underdeveloped and always underdressed assassin.

Humphries and Basri craft an incredibly engaging first issue of the new Harley arc, full of wrestling, warmth, and worry.

Solid writing and lovely art lay the foundations for this murder mystery for Harley.

Despite a slight downgrade in art, Harleys neon-noir adventure in LA continues to be a very enjoyable romp!

Just like Batman, Harley learns that when you fall, you have to pick yourself up again - but sometimes you have to get knocked really far down.

The penultimate issues of this run of Harley Quinns adventures tie all of Humphries arcs together in a hilarious and heartfelt meditation on the struggle of life, all through Harleys inimitable eyes, drawn by the incomparable Sami Basri.

While not quite a grand slam, Humphries excellent run ends with a solid double or triple, possibly even a home run.

In Conclusion: An action packed romp through the history and present of the Birds of Prey.

In Conclusion: In their first outing together, the Birds have some wobbly steps, but maintain a thrilling pace and start developing the relationships that makes the title well worth following.

The combination of banter, action, and mystery in the Bird's life continue to be very enjoyable, but the Benson's skillfully layer in moments of genuine emotion and relationship.

The Huntress returns to her vengeful roots and rejoins the team in an excellent issue.

Though a slight dip in quality mars this issue, on the whole, a very nice look at the impact of our heroes on the non-costumed population, and a solid lead-in to the finale.

Though it never reaches the heights of the Dixon and Simone years, this Rebirth arc of Birds of Prey is worthy of its name.

In Conclusion: The Bensons give us a feeling of the current status quo for the Birds - and its a great one - quipping, fighting crime, and bonding.

Blackbird Sings starts off the Bird's next adventure with a bang and strong character moments.

While dialogue and art remain strong, the solo Dinah story doesn't generate as much appeal as a full team mission.

Bringing the book back up after a sagging middle issue, the Blackbird arc concludes nicely, and leads right into the next story.

Kicking off the Source Code arc with surprising continuity revelations, solid character work on all three Birds, and the promise of many exciting guest stars in Catwoman and Calculator, Batgirl and the Birds of Prey are flying again.

Catwoman and Poison Ivy raise the stakes in an uneven issue.

The saga of Fauxricle ends on a decent, if not book-shaking note.

Full of frenetic action gorgeously rendered and wonderful dialogue between Bruce and Dr. Zeller, this "Date Night is well worth the outing.

Some fun action sequences and nice structural elements don't quite make Batman #6hang together as it a few of its story beats don't hit home.

A tour de force of Fraction and Jimenez’s skills on Batman - may we get many more issues of this creativity and impact!

Fraction and guest artist Sook provide a moody, lovely issue pushing the story forward in both plot and character.

Fraction and Sook pull out all the stops for an action packed chapter of Batman vs. Vandal Savage!

Fraction and Jimenez team together once again and show just how great a standard Batman story can get.

As Batman faces an increasing number of ongoing challenges, might our new Blonde Pennyworth be an ally…or antagonist!

Though it offers several intriguing pieces in the ongoing puzzle of Fraction’s Batman story, this issue doesn't quite illuminate enough of its central advertised figure to satisfy yet.

Fraction reaches back to his Hawkeye roots as guest artist Matteo Scalera draws some brutal fights.

Hardman captures a lot of the character and vibes from the late 80s and early 90s comics, layered his own brand of slick scifi sensibility, and crafted an enjoyable and twisty detective story featuring three fascinating characters.

Fraction, Wilson, Camuncoli and Rathburn provide a great opening to the 24 issue, two month, ten week Bad Seeds events – jump right in, the spores are fine!

Solid character work, an intriguing plot hook, and richly textured art start off White Knight: Harley Quinn with a very fine first issue.

Strong characterization, excellent narrative tone-painting, and boldly gorgeous art lift the somewhat meandering plotting to an enjoyable read.

Collins, Scalera, and Stewart provide their best chapter to date of this film noir series.

As White Knight Presents Harley Quinn crests the middle section of its tale, our heroes confront the villains directly for the beginning of their major conflict. Art and writing continue to improve in this well done spinoff of the White Knight universe, maintaining the strength of the Harley Quinn characterization and developing new characters with great potential.

The penultimate issue of White Knight: Harley Quinn increases the stakes and emotional payoff of this little spinoff that grew into its own story in a very organic fashion, giving us a real sense of intensity going into the finale of this very well-crafted series.

Katana Collins and Matteo Scalera provide a fitting finale to this miniseries. Sharp design, strong character work, tragic narrative turns, and a satisfying conclusion are beautifully rendered in gorgeous art and storytelling.

Though perhaps a bit overstuffed and broad in humor, Gail Simone and Inaki Miranda turn out a really clever, funny, and solidly drawn tale of tribes coming together.

The next chapter of The Price falls short of the atmosphere, emotions and coherence of the first issue, though it does explore the mystery of Gotham Girls origin.

Though it contains a few nice character interactions, The Price ends much as did The Button " without progressing much forward or saying anything particularly interesting about its characters.

Adams and the artistic team bring an intense and emotional flair to this issue. It perfectly sets up the finale to the One Minute War.

Though a bit of compression is visible in the three separate art teams scattered over the pages of this arc finale & in the breakneck pacing, One Minute War ends as a well above average. It's a thoroughly enjoyable arc of Jeremy Adams' brilliant Flash run.

Jeremy Adams, Serg Acuna, and Tom Derenick turn in another excellent adventure, this time focusing on the delightful Flash twins and their friends new and old. Plausible and delightful character interactions and plotting are greatly enhanced by polished, appealing art, once again DC's best book on the shelves that all too few are reading.

As Jeremy Adams brings his fantastic Flash run to a close, his final two-issue arc begins with a baby and a bang!

The Flash #800 is both a lovely collector's item and a heartfelt goodbye and hello from the outgoing and incoming creative teams.

Gotham Academy shuts the cover of the Yearbook with a warm but slightly underbaked conclusion.

King and his art team start down the home stretch of Heroes in Crisis on an upbeat and weirdly inventive note, though dark lightning flickers on the horizon.

Williamson and Sejic bring the long-awaited Odyssey to the starting line with wild, beautiful art and energetic but rooted storytelling.

Five months of work by Brian Bendis and an army of artist pay off in this enormous, action and character packed 80-Page Giant.

Providing a temporary respite from the bleakness of the current storyline (and Batmans life in general), Tom Taylor and Otto Schmidt give Alfred time to shine.

Our time in this alternate universe comes to an end with an open question: how will this impact Batmans future?

On the eve of their wedding, Batman and Catwoman face the personification of evil attempting to destroy everything in the face of their love.

Catwoman and Joker walk down memory lane, after they both gravely injure each other, and the Joker reveals his true reason for trying to stop the wedding.

Torn by external and internal factors, Batman #50 is nonetheless a powerful experience, pulled through by the strength of Kings ability to evoke emotion and connection.

Bruce Wayne confronts how his emotional devastation affects his work as Batman in this heartbreakingly beautifully drawn and colored tale.

A deliberately paced look at Bruce trying to persuade the other jury members that his actions as Batman cause more harm than good.

The first arc after the wedding that wasnt, closes with a powerful expression of loss and pain, illustrated with stunning beauty.

A touching issue examining Dick and Bruces relationship at a troubled time.

The hole dug for Batman only gets deeper, as the next phase of Tom King's Batman story gets underway.

The middle of Beasts of Burden presents a grim, relentless chase, and a parallel between two very different fathers.

An intriguing thematic exploration, this rather thin plot closes out the brutal Beasts of Burden arc.

Fourth months after Batman #50, Penguin steps onto the balance point between Batman and Bane in this powerful issue.

Despite Penguins betrayal, Bane continues to undercut a deeply enraged Dark Knight.

The mysteries are piling up in Batman, and the story seems poised to go in several new directions.

Tom King returns to the story of Matthew Warner as the twisted boy leaves a bloody trail of bodies behind him in prison.

Batman's Knightmare continues as he struggles to make sense of a world thats been spinning out of control since issue one.

A heartbreaking glimpse at what could have been and a terrifying glimpse of what is now.

Joshua Williamson and Guillem March begin a dark crossover, probing at the heros weakest spots.

Williamson and March weave a much stronger penultimate issue of The Price, highlighting the horror and tragedy of Gotham Girls plan.

After a month off, Tom King returns with Jorge Fornes for the strongest issue of Knightmares yet, continuing a powerful examination of Batmans reaction to the events of Batman #50.

Time will tell if this issue goes down as one of the better ones in Tom Kings run. The artwork by Weeks and Fornes really stands out, but theres a contrast in expectations from the content provided in the previous issues of this arc which still doesnt quite work.

In the penultimate issue of the Knightmares arc, Tom King and Amanda Conner team up to produce tensions pointing at the problems inherent in Batman.

King and Paquette masterfully tie the seven Knightmares together with the rest of the run, as Bruce slowly and painfully wakes up.

Inventive ideas and gorgeous art lift the next chapter of Tynions Batman run into exciting territory.

Zdarsky turns in a one shot issue that serves as a beautiful mirror image of the tormented and foreboding (but also excellent) Batman #136, showing Bruce embracing his family and finding peace in his mission, beautifully illustrated by Michele Bandini, Steve Lieber, and Nick Filardi.

A series of intriguing teases of whats coming next, as well as a fun tie-in to whats happening now.

A well crafted, emotionally effective re-worked origin of a classic Batman villain, giving us the foundation of the character's arc in today's run of Detective Comics.

Tynion's strength is definitely in his characterization. He provides really enjoyable introductions to each of the characters, and gives them all at least one really awesome moment, from Batwoman knowing Bruce's secret identity to Cass's one-word declaration to those she's rescuing. The villains' plot is fairly generic so far, par for the course with the villains in the two Eternal series, but the strength of Tynion's characterization, and the moody effectiveness of the structuring of the story combined with the art pushes past that minor flaw.

Detective Comics powers through its second issue,developing relationships and raising the tension both inside and out of the team.

Facing betrayal and the loss of Batman, Batwoman and her team stick together in the face of overwhelming odds.

The story brings things to a boil, with the team joining Batman for a full on confrontation with Jacob Kane and the Colony.

Batman and Batwoman take decisive steps to defeat the Colonys plans for good, but Tim is forced to put himself in deadly danger as a result.

In Conclusion: Beautifully paced, gorgeously drawn and colored, Detective Comics #940 delivers a Batwoman, Robin, and Batman story of family, loss, and betrayal born of love and skill.

Though unlikely to be a crossover that really shakes the continuity of the Bat-Family up, Night of the Monster Men continues to respect the current storylines of its three titles with this issue of Detective Comics.

Steve Orlando completes the story of Batman and his family vs. the Monster Men with style, even if the entire story feels a bit like filler.

Complex themes and visual storytelling techniques propel this story of a fractured family forward to face their next challenge.

A stirring combination of horror and action, Tynion pushes his examination of Batmans mission further in The Victim Syndicate part 2.

As the Victim Syndicate sows disruption in the team through Stephanie, already fractured by the death of Tim Drake, Batman and Batwoman struggle forward.

Tynion and Barrows put all the pieces in place for a killer finale as Batmans team confronts the Victim Syndicate.

An extremely smart, beautifully illustrated conclusion to a dark, personal arc is absolutely worth picking up.

In Conclusion: A fun, dark start to Batwomans solo series, drawing expertly on the continuity of the series for conflict.

Tynion, Bennet, and Oliver do a solid job of bridging Tynions work with Bennets forthcoming series, fleshing out Kates history and purpose.

In Conclusion: A brilliant celebratory issue for the less-exposed members of the Detective Comics team, and a great setup for the next few stories.

League of Shadows kicks off in earnest, as the assassins are Unleashed on the team.

The team crumbles in the face of Shivas ferocity, and Cass deals with the pain of finding out her connection to another monster.

Lady Shiva takes down the majority of the team, leaving Ras al Ghul in a good negotiating position with Batman.

Though this issue sets up more than it pays off, its all done with the writing and artistic polish weve become accustomed to here in Detective Comics.

With stellar art, and writing honoring the old and the new, Tynion sets up the finale of the League of Shadows with ultimate flair.

The League of Shadows concludes with a tense conclusion, though thankfully not explosive, as Cassandra proves her quality to her mother and the world.

With an examination of her beliefs the center of this story, Spoiler shines as shes caught between her convictions and Batmans methods.

Zatanna and Nomoz burst onto the teams lives to make sure that they wont stay boring as Ascalon attacks.

In Conclusion:We dig into the story of Jean Paul, Bruce, Zatanna, and the rest of our heroes in this second issue.

In Conclusion:A solid, if a bit disconnected, middle issue of an arc chock full of fascinating questions.

A combination of beautifully rendered character moments and action, Intelligence closes out its penultimate issue with completely justified confidence.

Azraels fight against his demons, inside and out, leads to stunning revelations which continue to lay the groundwork for the teams future adventures.

Anarky takes Spoiler deeper into his planned Utopia, as Batmans team takes a different approach to the problems of Monstertown.

A slightly overstuffed issue explores both Spoiler and Clayfaces struggles in a world falling apart.

A Lonely Place of Living starts out strong, with bold restoration of continuity and enjoyable characterization.

Our long-awaited return of Tim Drake brings one too many Tims home to Gotham.

Tynion continues his dark but joyful return of Tim Drake, highlighting the choice he will have to make next issue between dark and light.

Though robots, time travel, and explosions fill this issue, the heart of it remains a bold statement about the nature of Tim Drake, hopeful hero.

Fall of the Batmen begins with a complex and satisfying tapestry of plot threads.

All of the plot that have been waiting for over a year - the Colony, Stephs rebellion, Tims big plans, Clayfaces redemption, the Victim Syndicate - begin to crash together, with catastrophic effect.

Once again, the psychological warfare of the Victim Syndicate shows its true strength in turning one of Batmans allies against him.

Miguel Mendonca provides strong pencils " a bit more suited to the characters and action he's assigned than Joe Bennett, and Diana Egea's inks complement his lines much better than Bennett's inker did. Jason Wright's colors are rich and vibrant, though not perhaps as moody and atmospheric as the book initially boasted under Adriano Lucas coloring Eddy Barrows and Brad Anderson coloring Alvaro Martinez. Rumor has it that Barrows's last issue on Detective will be this month's Annual, highlighting Clayface's past, and if so, he will be missed.

A year and a half of groundwork comes to a powerful and tragic climax in the first of James Tynion IVs major story arc conclusions.

Though a strong and logical progression from last issues climax, the breakup of the team is a bit disappointing after all the work Tynion did to bring everything together.

Tynion and Martinez return to top form, with pitch-perfect voices and stunningly detailed and appealing illustration for this stellar anniversary issue.

Tynion starts off his final arc with a solid foundation of action and emotion as Kate Kane and Tim Drake each reaching a turning point in their journeys.

As the General tempts Tim Drake, the plot swirls to the next level of complexity as Batmen Eternal continues.

Batman and the Colony face annihilation together as a result of the Generals unhinged plans in an excellent installment of Detective Comics.

Philippe Briones, who already provided some solid if unremarkable fill-in work in the last arc, gives another good issue of appealing pencils. John Kalisz, the colorist for Javier Fernandez, provides colors for this issue as well, which gives a small but significant element of visual continuity for this arc, which is quite a nice touch. However, the overwhelming use of cold blues that give Fernandezs art a spooky feeling doesnt work quite as well with Briones more bold and cheerful linework. Well have to wait and see if next issue, solicited to be drawn by Scot Eaton, will also use Kalisz, which would be a nice touch.

The newly formed Outsiders prove their worth, and look forward to stopping global threats for Batman soon.

Solid art but pedestrian story form this first Joker War aftermath tale.

Tamaki and Mora provide a strong, atmospheric linking tale between their high octane opening arc and the upcoming Fear State event, giving beautiful art and strong characterization as Gotham prepares to be plunged into war once again in under a year.

Shadows of the Bat reaches its midpoint with the chaos of the opening just about to break loose, as Psycho Pirate and Dr. Wear's confrontation with the villains they have mind-controlled for weeks looms ever closer, and the Bat-Family closes in. Mariko Tamaki, Max Raynor, Matthew Rosenberg, and Fernando Blanco provide another really excellent package for weekly buyers of Detective Comics this issue.

Ram V, Ivan Reis, Simon Spurrier, and Hayden Sherman's opening to Act 1 of Gotham Nocturne provides dark violence and deepening mysteries.

Ram V and Ivan Reis heat up Gotham Nocturne with a cold appearance of Mr. Freeze, weaving continuity into their own dark symphony quite enjoyably. Spurrier and Sherman's backup ably sets up what's to come with Two-Face as well.

The conflict between Batman and the Orghams burns in a terrible blaze, but Two-Face takes center stage in this dark and powerful part of Ram V's opera, expertly illustrated by two master artists.

Ram V's first act in his Gotham Nocturne adds the supporting instrumentals of the Batfamily to the opera of Batman vs the Orghams, and those voices definitely raise the story quite nicely.

Ram V and Si Spurrier's dark poetic exploration of Batman and the strange, operatic threats he faces progress forward with some crucial revelations from both Prince Orgham and Talia al Ghul.

Ram V, Ivan Reis, and Stefano Raffaele produce another moody, deliberately paced, dense issue of their Batman opera, with Dan Watters and Raffaele rounding it out with a well-crafted backup!

Ram V and Dan Watters craft the tale of Batman vs. Prince Arzen expertly together, with strong (if sometimes mismatched) artwork.

Ram V's Gotham Nocturne grabs some narrative easy hits, but Dustin Nguyen's stellar art brings the overall effect up. The backup fits perfectly with the world and story Ram V is telling, as well as elegantly tying into Dan Watters' own past work.

Ram V and Franco Francavilla's moody, deliberate storytelling brings this two-parter to an end. While the Orghams finally have captured Batman, it still feels like their motivations and ultimate plan are far more hazy than engaging.

An overly long, decompressed, though emotionally powerful and artistically impressive collection of four stories, this issue of Detective Comics is a bit of a tall order for the reader and his wallet. Batman, Outlaw part one continues to throw more and more questions at the reader (as well as Renee Montoya, pun intended), with no connections in sight.

Reading like a sequel arc to his wonderful Catwoman run, Ram V brings up the intensity and character focus in this story, and Dan Watters and both art teams match that skill beautifully.

Ram V and Dan Watters both spin exciting heist narratives out this week in Detective Comics, with Jason Shawn Alexander and Caspar Wijngaard providing two very different renderings of those structures - but both worth checking out!

With wit and panache, Ram V, Jason Shawn Alexander, and Liam Sharp give us the "turn of the heist, revealing the central piece Catwoman had played against the Orghams, and leave us with an exciting chase promised to round out Batman, Outlaw.

Excellent action and strong established character work labor against some weaker art transitions and unfortunate structural issues as Batman: Outlaw comes to a close.

Full of powerful imagery, poetic moments, and interesting setup, the vague foundations of the current situation still sap away some of Detective Comics #1081's power.

While individual pieces of this tale continue to hit home emotionally, the sense that none of it has a coherent foundation continues to rob it of ultimate impact.

The end of what we presume is the penultimate arc of Gotham Nocturne spends all of its creators' considerable creative energies on creating intense emotional experiences for the reader - but without any effort at creating an internally coherent world for the characters to inhabit, there's not weight to any of it, and it all floats away from the memory like a puff of useless smoke.

The beginning of the final arc of Gotham Nocturne is off to a much better start than the end of the last one, as new artist Javier Fernandez renders Ram V's setting the stage for his final Batman vs. Orgham conflict.

Five issues from conclusion, Ram V adds a new element to the final struggle, perhaps to avoid the predictable outcome of a Batman vs. supercriminals story he's setup. Raffale and Loughride provide suitably operatic visuals, but the story continues to move glacially, with too many thematic frustrations.

The confusing, nebulous, and frustrating Orgham plot continues to be all three of those things, and while Ram V and Alex Paknadel do excellent work with the characterization of the established characters, the overall effect is still one of vague obscurity.

With glimmers of the strong writing that we saw in Catwoman, Gotham Nocturne's Crescendo part 4 only reaches to mezzo forte at most, though strong art pushes the tempo.

One last issue to wrap things up, and see if Batman's discovery in the desert that "Batman doesn't have to win, he just has to resist pays off in any kind of satisfying way.

In Detective Comics #1089, Ram V, with an able assist from Dan Watters, sends his Gotham Nocturne into the air with a big Finale. Only time will tell how we remember this run whether the strong vibes of the writing and art can overcome the myriad incoherencies of structure and conception.

Though constructed of strange, conflicting, and often tendentious materials, Ram V's first Detective Comics Annual still has a haunting power, as well as revealing some of the mystical underpinnings of his plot for Gotham Nocturne. Strong, though not particularly stunning art by the trio of artists rounds out a solid entry in the ongoing tale of Batman vs. the Orghams.

Curse of the White Knight arrives with just as much bang for the buck as anticipated - a stellar first chapter of this dynamic Elseworlds narrative.

Murphy deepens the history of the Wayne family and brings immense pressure to bear on Batman and his family in this excellent issue.

The stakes rise in the war between Batman, Azrael, Joker, and the mysterious Ruth in an uneven but powerful third issue.

Tragedy follows upon tragedy as Azrael continues to prevail in his struggle for the soul of Gotham.

Curse of the White Knight returns to the compelling Joker/Harley dynamic of the first series to great effect.

Stellar art continues to buoy Curse of the White Knight, even though some very questionable narrative decisions.

Strong visual storytelling lifts very weak thematic and dialogue writing in this penultimate issue.

Curse of the White Knight gives an exciting ending and a way forward to new stories.

Sean Murphy and Klaus Janson craft a powerful fable offering hope in dark times.

Rucka and DaNi produce a deeply moody, foreboding issue with Batwoman #1 that’s a bit light on explicit plot and character revelation, but heavy on the vibes.

Rucka and DaNi provide a tense action issue, but leave a ton of hanging questions (as one might expect from an early issue of a mystery style comic).

Though it doesn’t push the story forward too much, it’s great to get a sense of how all the disjointed pieces of the Eschatology arc fit together, and guest artist Jeff Spokes provides an absolutely gorgeous rendering of Batwoman and her world.

With their first issue as part of the Bad Seeds event, Rucka and DaNi provide a mostly thrilling setup for an all out brawl next issue!

Dan Watters turns in a deeply unsettling work in which quite a bit happens, taking full advantage of the oversized page count to really dive into Jim Gordon's psyche. Hopefully he and Riccardo Federici provide a high quality finale to match their strong beginning to this nightmare!

Dan Watters, Riccardo Federici, and their artistic partners wrap up their seriously creepy, but ultimately haunting and insightful Jim Gordon story with poetry and a promise of more.

Dixon and Nolan have begun a year-long journey with Bane, starting out with several literal bangs, from Banes fists to satisfying vehicular explosions.

Bane and Batman fight alongside each other in a punchy prisoner drama.

Banes path to global crime domination seems to offer an opening as he and Batman continue their struggle.

Again, a good fun read, worth picking up.Dixon and Nolan continue to deliver a solid crime action story with great guest stars.

Though Venditti and especially Sharp provide detail and character moments for all of the available Justice League members, ultimately this middle section of the story falls pretty flat due to repetitive structure and lack of any narrative progress.

Williamson and his collaborators propel the Metal storyline forward as Cyborg leads the Justice League in the fight against the Dark Knights.

Priest sets up his status quo carefully, fleshing out the conflicts, as Woods depicts the team in action with strikingly polished art.

The new era of Justice League forges forward under Christopher Priest and Pete Woods, providing enjoyment and complexity as the world reacts to the Leagues success and failure.

Pete Woods, still doing a monumentally impressive task of pencils, inks, and colors, continues to provide top-notch artwork for this incredibly complicated story.

The complex plots begin to pay off as the League acts proactively against their stalker, only to discover hes still one step ahead of them.

The League struggles to deal with the impact of the last several issues in a twisty but uneven breath-catching issue.

A train crisis highlights the fracturing of the League as mysterious forces continue to work against the team.

The League kicks into high gear as their entire world plunges into chaos.

The huge number of plot threads Priest has woven begins to unravel in a final destruction.

Priest and Woods set up the conclusion to their ten-issue run with the question: is justice truly lost?

Priests hard-hitting run on Justice League comes to a weighty conclusion, bolstered by the excellent solo work of Pete Woods.

Thompson and Basri spin a classic action adventure story for the Birds to tackle, and give their first encounter a nicely executed bang.

Thompson and Basri continue the action packed globe trotting feeling of a great Birds of Prey story. Not a TON of character stuff for our heroes, but some nice conflict with a large chunk of our villain team sets up the second half of the arc nicely.

While not offering a ton of new elements, Thompson and Basri continue to serve up classic Birds of Prey action as the team faces the loss of one more of their members, just as they face the last one under mind control!

While the character work in the first half of Birds of Prey #23 is strong, the stakes and action of the second half drag a bit, and the expanded team unfortunately brings to mind the annoyances of the first couple of arcs of this run.

A solid team up issue with enjoyable writing and art that highlights the direction the Birds of Prey generally should go.

Birds of Prey #25 is a fun Birds adventure highlighting the tech and banter aspects which are their specialties!

As the finale to this run looms, the Birds navigate uncertainty and unreality (pun intended on so many levels) towards the final confrontation with the Shadow Army!

Thompson and Basri begin the wrap-up of their final arc with the Birds, and despite a few rushed pieces, the adventure and characterization remains pretty solid.

Setting up the next Supergirl story arc and shoring up Babss personal life, this Batgirl Annual isnt quite as interesting as the last one, but still fun.

Combining humor, cute and accomplished art, and a whimsical and fun-loving yet action-packed approach, the new Batgirl team starts us out on our new adventure.

Larson and Albuquerque bring us for an enjoyable ride in Singapore with Babs, moving between flirtation and fighting with ease.

Batgirl swings back into action, both in her personal and heroic lives, and propels her title forward.

In Conclusion: Barbara Gordon stakes out a place for herself as one of the Bat-Familys strongest members, both in mind and combat, as she rids Asia of a pernicious super villain's gang.

The first arc of the new Batgirl closes cleanly, setting Barbara up as an independent, admirable heroine in a world of potential.

Batgirl returns from Beyond Burnside in a fluffy one shot adventure with Poison Ivy.

Larson starts off her new arc of Batgirl with a bang, weaving a complicated web of intrigue and action with brilliant new artist Wildgoose.

Though Batgirls work/life balance could use some work, Son of Penguin continues building a decent foundation for its story.

Though Babs's personal life fails to contribute much interest, Batgirl's investigation into Vicform provides interesting twists.

The threads of the Son of Penguin arc weave together in a satisfying buildup to next months climax.

Batgirl handles the conclusion of her second Rebirth arc well, if unmemorably.

Batgirl takes a break from romantic troubles to engage with her community for a welcome, but a bit dull change of pace.

A cute but ultimately forgettable story that doesnt explore the potential depth of its characters.

Shallow writing and wildly uneven art make this a poor conclusion for a short Batgirl arc.

Alex Maleev and Brian Bendis create a moody, gorgeous, if somewhat slow-paced first chapter of Event Leviathan.

Once again, Bendis uses these early chapters of Event Leviathan as more setting things up than developing the plot, though Maleevs art is beautifully rendered.

Bendis and Maleevs event begins to heat up at the halfway point, with our heroes getting closer to a confrontation with their foes.

At the two-thirds mark, Event Leviathan starts to have a sense of forward, rather than entirely flashback, momentum, with an entertaining and twisty entry.

Bendis and Maleev drive the story forward quickly, though not fleshing out some of the most interesting parts of the web theyve woven.

Though often entertaining and always beautifully drawn, Event Leviathan ends in a rushed and disappointing fashion.

Stellar art lifts a fairly dreary story into the light.

Though a bit overly dependent on previous events, Tynion and Martinez produce an exciting, atmospheric opening for this new Justice League Dark.

The penultimate issue of this crossover delivers a lot of fun lines and mounting stakes.

A story with intense, adrenaline-junky thrills, tying into the Order of St. Dumas from "Batman and Robin Eternal," set in the middle of the Rebirth Nightwing era (before Ric!), with exuberantly appealing art by Jorge Corona, "Without a Net" provides really solid action and character beats throughout.

Nightwings New Order is lovely to look at, but needs more fleshing out of both characters and world.

Tragedy strikes and backstory development assists in deepening this Elseworlds tale.

By expanding the cast of characters, Nightwing: The New Order picks up some momentum.

Nightwing: The New Order continues to play to its strength in showing character relationships in the future world.

Higgins and McCarthy continue to bring more characters into their future setting, and setup the final confrontation between Nightwing and his son.

Though pacing issues and the scope of the world still create a few issues, Higgins and McCarthy have created a moving conclusion to their alternate future story of Dick and his family.

Solid art and evocative writing lift this meandering prologue into an entertaining territory, but still leave the reader hungry for plot.

Though not offering any deep insights into character, this adventure highlights the joys of the classic Birds of Prey series as well as the fun hi-jinks of the Scooby-Doo gang.

Strong art and skilled writing keep the reader engaged, but the ugliness of the story isn't balanced by enough appeal to lift it out of the ordinary seedy tale.

Jurgens and Perkins continue their dark, textured retelling of Batman's origin set in his original time-period with a lot of flair, though the character and thematic work doesn't quite match the action or historical detail in intensity.

A solid if mostly unremarkable story featuring textured writing and art, The Bat-Man: First Knight will likely remain on shelves as a fun Elseworld origin story for years to come without making too many waves.

Segura and Tormey provide an atmospheric and polished piece of scifi/western/detective mashup, but don't quite thrill the reader to care what happens next.

A forgettable story with decent art that manages to avoid anything of real substance or get much fun out of a Catwoman fights sexy maids concept.

Ram V finally gets his chance to write the main story of Catwoman, and though there are a few spots of concern, its very promising!

Ram V and Fernando Blanco continue their tightly plotted and engaging crime story for Catwoman, increasing the stakes with action and betrayal.

Ram V and Fernando Blanco drop us right back into the criminal action as Catwoman's list of deadly allies grows with the addition of the Wight Witch. All the right elements mix together, though hopefully the emotional stakes will rise in the next few issues.

Catwoman does some good old-fashioned detective work in this stellar installment of her series. Dark secrets, sexy suits and dresses, impeccable action, and strong emotional connections continue to make this book a top-notch pull.

Catwoman under Ram V and Fernando Blanco continues to be one of the most solid books in the already rock-solid Batman line, with this issue delivering an excellent heist story and setting up further mysteries and confrontations with the foes who continue to amass against Selina.

Ram V and guest artist Evan Cagle provide a powerful interlude issue of Catwoman, giving us exciting and moving flashbacks of Selina's history through the voices of her closest allies and family, while setting up for the brutal confrontation between Father Valley and Catwoman.

Ram V and Fernando Blanco serve up an exciting, explosive conflict in Catwoman #33, though the road leading here comes across as underbaked.

Ram V provides a satisfyingly intense, but sadly brief, Bat/Cat reunion, and ramps up the tension in a flawed by nailbiting combat ending.

Catwoman is back on track as Ram V ramps up to the conclusion of his run in Fear State.

Ram V provides a cheeky and whimsical noir ending to his run on Catwoman in a police station, one last con, with truly lovely art and colors both by Caspar Wijngaard. Not all loose ends are wrapped up, but a satisfying time is had by all.

Though Howard's tone is clearly deliberately reaching for the effect it achieves, when contrasted to Selina's actual performance in the book, it falls short of what the book could be, aided by competent but not spectacular art bolstered by stellar coloring.

Howard and Leon's partnership improves slightly, but a few false steps continue to cast Selina in an incompetent, passive light.

Howard and Leon continue to provide an occasionally competent but still very frustrating depiction of a Catwoman who we are assured is "focused" but continually demonstrates her lack of focus in the multiple failures she racks up.

Unmotivated character work and incoherent action layouts drag down what is at heart a fairly clever, if well worn, shell game plot.

An abrupt change of pace from the intense shadows and pain of the opening arc of Tini Howard's run, this brief interlude with Harley Quinn gives some enjoyable thrills and continues some of the weaknesses of the run far.

We're right back to this run's former level of complete incompetence, preachiness, and inconsistent art, the end of this two part arc couldn't come soon enough.

Though the problems plaguing this run from the beginning of Howard's writing continue in full force, a few strengths stand out to raise its rating a few notches, bolstered by excellent art from Sami Basri.

With just a few out-of-tune notes, Howard provides a ballad for Batman, Catwoman, and Eiko, as Selina leaves Gotham once again, heading towards a deeper relationship with Valmont, with Sami Basri and unusually good craftsmanship from Howard giving this issue its best issue so far from a generally frustrating run.

Tini Howard continues to write Selina driven by emotion over any thought, leaving others to be bothmore competent and suffer the consequences. Despite this emotion driving, the "romance between Valmont and Selina is beyond unconvincing (sold much more by the cover than anything inside the book), and the fill-in art is very unsatisfying.

Howard's frustrating plotting and cement-block clunky characterization continues to drag this series out excruciatingly, while Nico Leon's art has improved, though doesn't make up for the writing.

Odd choices, strangely altered plot expectations, and frustrating relationship dynamics make up this hodge-podge of a comic.

Surrounded by a plethora of variant covers, Catwoman hits fifty issues with a lengthy arc conclusion, taking some solid risks and steps forward but without completely shedding the ongoing weaknesses of this run.

After an incoherent but at least action-packed and eventful fiftieth issue, Tini Howard, joined by excellent guest artist Sami Basri, turns in a "first day back in prison" issue that takes a nap on a bed of cliches and implausibilities.

The "Selina in prison arc continues, with Eiko taking more of the page time in badly handled "infiltrate the mob scenes as Selina forms her own gang on the inside.

Incompetent dialogue, structuring, and character writing combine with improved art for a continued misery of a read.

Muddled plotting, incoherent face turns, pointless action, with a few interesting bits of character thrown in - Tini Howard's Catwoman run continues on form.

Howard and Leon's latest chapter in Catwoman's adventures is back to the main plot of the run, but a decreased coherence in the action, matching the continued incoherence of the writing, leaves the book still a mess.

Like Batman #136, this issue serves as a sort of transition between the previous arcs and the upcoming Gotham War crossover. However, unlike Zdarsky's piece, Tini Howard's piece is much, much messier in its attempt to wrap things up enough and set the stage for the conflict between Batman and Catwoman, not helped by the awkward blending of multiple art teams.

As Tini Howard wraps up her run, she manages to avoid some of the pitfalls that have plagued it since her first issue, but overall still turns in an incoherent, messy finale, albeit one with gorgeous art by Carmine Di Giandomenico.

Starting out her run with a slow burn and haunting mood, punctuated by bursts of terrifying violence, Torunn Gronbekk and Fabiana Mascolo give Selina a globe-trotting mystery to solve with Catwoman #69 that promises thrills and emotions galore.

While Gronbekk does a good job of building tension and Mascolo renders conversation and action beautifully, this second issue loses a bit of steam from the first.

Solid writing with flashes of intensity can't disguise the rather generic globe-trotting crime story issue that lacks real Catwoman layers, though Ignazzi and Delpeche's artwork adds a lot to the setting and emotion of the reading experience.

The lack of real connection to anything much Catwoman-y, awkward action scenes, and thin story leave this chapter of Catwoman's story a bit weak.

While Gronbekk and Ignazzi write a decent Catwoman sequence finally, the completely generic and painfully slow main plot continues to lack any real hooks for the reader to invest in.

Ram V's Catwoman crime story progresses in a beautiful chapter focusing on the dark and rich history of the Batman Universe in the Order of St. Dumas, which forged the weapon of Father Valley, now pointed at Catwoman and Alleytown's heart!

Powerfully evocative art by Phil Hester and grippingly atmospheric writing by Tom King doesn't quite lift this opening chapter of their story from the standard patterns of the hardboiled detective tale.

An improvement in the ingenuity of plotting and characterization increases the interest in what is happening in this second chapter, and the art continues to drench the characters and world in mood.

Tom King and Phil Hester have produced the best issue of the series yet artistically, though the characterization still feels too tied to tropes without much energy or variation other than the stellar artwork.

King returns to the leaden, expected "twists'' of the first issue, leading to a denouement that hits with all the force of a whiffle bat, though Hester, Gapstur, and Bellaire's art once again lifts the book up.

Continuing down the overly-worn rut of nihilistic neo-noir tales from the past, Tom King puts all the puzzle pieces together in this penultimate issue, while Phil Hester and the art team continue to drench the tale with power and emotion the writing doesn't quite support.

Dan Watters blends his dark, moody style with the warm, sweet personality of Dick Grayson, and the result is quite enjoyable, especially when penciled by the veteran Dexter Soy.

Though several pieces of Nightwing #120 are nicely handled, the deployment of lazy stereotypes, cheap emotional manipulation, and oversimplified narrative structure brings it down. Dexter Soy's artwork continues to provide a strong appeal, however.

Watters brings the stronger plotting and worldbuilding sense back from his first issue back with Nightwing #121, while Soy continues the exciting action artwork for a solid issue.

Watters and Soy produce some great moments like the Clown showing up, but the insistence on assuming rather than developing emotions hampers the story greatly.

A return to the inventive worldbuilding and deep continuity constructions brings this issue to a solid score, alongside Soy's consistent art...

While some nice creepy effects of Watters's new villains deploy on the page, the overly simple storyline, stretching of plausibility, and weak thematic and character development leave this arc finale a bit underwhelming.

Nightwing #126 is a spooky tale with excellent atmosphere but frustratingly immature thematic development and weak action.

Watters and Soy hammer out the start of a new arc with a huge number of threats and plotlines and a well executed contrast of comic book wackiness and terrifying body horror.

Solid art can't save this padded thin entry of a chapter - hopefully next issue offers a LOT more meat.

After a few rough issues in this arc, Watters and Soy have wrapped it up in a nicely if unnecessarily quirky bow.

While Dan Watters and Dexter Soy do a strong job with Dick's relationships with other heroes in Nightwing #130, the nature of the moral dilemma forming the narrative backbone of the book continues to collapse under its own immaturity.

A return to classic superheroic conflict marks a perhaps predictably tragic turn in our story!

While the thematic and narrative issues still hover in the background of this run, Watters and Soy pull off a really horrifying reveal and development in this issue.

While Watters deploys some fun structural pieces and V. Ken Marion's art is delightfully energetic, this issue revolves around exactly one significant choice and act, and feels incredibly padded.

Though Watters has some fun ideas, and V Ken Marion does a splendidly 90s job with the visuals, the overall effect of the story is too thin and worn.

After quite a few shaky chapters, Watters and Soy stick the landing quite well, with thoughtfulness and emotional power.

Some serious leaps in logic and thematic weakness hold Nightwing #137 back from success, despite powerful work once again by new main artist Denys Cowan.

Nightwing’s downward spiral continues, hopefully to reverse soon.

Cowan and Watters craft another spooky, horror-filled tale of urban despair and a man succumbing to it.

Watters and Cowyn weaves a well crafted tale of Nightwing as a conclusion to his Bludhaven Lore arc, but nothing is resolved and our hero remains in a horrible state.

The intellectual incoherence of the Nightwing 2025 Annual #1's argument and moral point bog down the generally solid craftsmanship heavily. 2 out of 5 Batarangs.

Spinning out of the Gotham titles of the Future State initiative at the beginning of this year, Future State: Gotham #1 provides a massive narrative hook as an unknown villain blows an enormous bat-crater into the city. Williamson, Culver, and Milonogiannis provide a dark, enjoyable look at the next chapter of the possible future of our favorite characters.

Continuing to draw heavily on manga and cyberpunk sources with high energy action in a dystopian setting, Future State: Gotham pushes the overall story of Gotham forward with surprising and fun revelations, though they can't quite make up for the thinness of the plot so far.

As the Bat-Family takes a backseat for an issue, Dennis Culver and guest artist Nikola Cizmesija take us on a madcap but thoughtful and heartfelt tour of the combat between Harley Quinn and Punchline.

Though this issue spends most of its time setting things up or explaining how the beginning of the series worked, the pleasure of seeing how the Future State story is mirroring the current Fear State event buoys up the fun character work and solid artwork.

An entrance riddled with cliches and understandable but uninspired choices hampers the entrance of our new supervillain, as none of our main characters arrive to give our story any kind of heroic interest or agency.

While Culver is clearly having a lot of fun, and new artist Geoffo does a solid job of picking up the title's style and world, the emphasis on unmotivated action over a use of the rich depth of characters available in this setting continues to disappoint.

Though largely an expositional issue, the potential of the addition of Bruce, Talia, Nightwing, and Damian as main characters in the next arc of Future State, and the heady excitement of exploring more of the Batman 666 concept, do provide a lot more interest than the last several issues, as new artist Geoffo provides solid pencil work in the series' black and white imagery.

The truly ludicrous befuddlement of this installment of The Next Batman puts the minor confusion of Aquamen and Batgirls to shame as the quintet of Batmen wander through Gotham, taking drugs, dealing out hellfire, and hanging out with their baby mamas.

The insanity of the concept of Five Batmen vs. The Bat-Family is sadly not borne out by the sadly predictable and cliche-ridden execution of this issue.

All in all, this penultimate issue begins to show the outline of where the book will wrap up next month, but the characters and revelations suffer from ham-handed exposition rather than elegant setups and payoffs, plus serviceable but uninspired art.

Though Dennis Culver tries his best to wrap up too many plotlines in this issue, the end result is a rushed and unsatisfying concoction not saved by passable but by no means, particularly interesting art.

A story which retreads the conflict between Batwoman and Nocturna without saying anything interesting about either, with middling art and extremely low stakes (pun intended).

This light-hearted but strongly thematic story gives Damian a fun adventure, connection to his multiple families, and wonderful artwork.

After eight months, Clownhunter returns in his own Secret Files tale - but sadly, his character regresses back into the edgy cliches of Joker War instead of the beautiful parallelism of Batman Annual #5, and taints some of the best Batman comics of the last ten years in the process.

Though not a true one-shot, this chapter in Mariko Tamaki's Detective Comics run continues the fine work of characterization, tone, and atmosphere that began with her Huntress backups, and artist David Lapham gives the piece polish and well-rendered horror.

As DC continues to try to sell a direction for Duke Thomas with overstuffed, under-prepared stories, intriguing and exciting ideas are combined with frustrating failures.

This pleasant issue pushes the plot forward, but sidelines half of the crossover in the process.

Though top-flight talent is on display, with one exception, each story offers very little to this Batman fan that will stick.

Though suffering a bit from tie-in syndrome, Batman: The Devastator provides an enjoyably dark look at a Batman who destroyed Superman.

Though it does provide amusement and a few heartfelt moments, this mystery doesnt really elevate the material in this mashup.

The solicitations, once again for the writing team of Cloonan and Conrad, raise false hopes, and Dick's struggle in the nightmare, though well illustrated by Di Nicuolo, could have been much more efficiently handled for the emotional impact delivered.

Glass and Chang turn in a polished but padded story leading to the next arc.

With stronger art than story, Batman: The Drowned leaves the reader wishing for a deeper look at the roots of the character.

While Dustin Nguyena and Giuseppe Camuncolo provide excellent artwork, the end result is a bunch of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

Tini Howard takes another break from her "Catwoman of Crime" tale, this one mandated by the Knight Terrors event, and foreshadows some of the tensions present in her main run. Though she and artist Leila Leiz manage a few moments of strong emotion between Batman and Catwoman, it's all a frustrating retread from things we've seen over and over again in the past half decade.

Tini Howard and Leila Leiz draw their two-issue Knight Terrors: Catwoman arc to a close with interesting ideas but very messy execution.