Batman: Dark Age #1 isn't your typical Batman origin story, & that’s only a small part of what makes this book so good. After working together on the hit Superman: Space Age, Mark Russell teams back up w/ artists Mike & Laura Allred to deliver a fresh, & sometimes brutal, take on the Dark Knight's beginnings.

As mentioned, the future-defining events of Crime Alley unfold differently yet their impact is no less heavy. Bruce isn’t present for the events & isn’t immediately thrown into a journey of revenge. Instead, we meet a Bruce who has become Gotham's resident "delinquent son," a brooding rich kid w/ a penchant for trouble & paying off the cops to avoid consequences. We also get to see a fun new twist on Bruce’s first meeting w/ Selina Kyle, which sets up the next issue.

Russell's narration, delivered by an older, possibly unreliable Bruce, casts a cynical light on Wayne Enterprise & the power struggles which occurred until Bruce came of age. He is seemingly aware of the evil organization, the False Face Society, who ran things at Wayne Enterprise in his stead & was behind his parent’s murder. They are hellbent on eliminating the only Wayne heir, but Alfred does everything he can to ensure that doesn’t happen. The older Bruce’s recollections of Alfred’s impact on his life are some of the best writing in the book.

Mike Allred's designs are a perfect match for Russell's narrative. He utilizes a retro motif the exudes nostalgia w/ bold lines and it’s complemented superbly by Laura Allred’s vibrant colors. The two create a Gotham that is feels classic, yet unsettling. The world feels like it's teetering on the brink of chaos, a perfect breeding ground for the Russell’s script. It’s a great juxtaposition to the all-white, pristine future Gotham the two create to show how Thomas Wayne envisioned what the city could have become.

This was a bold & audacious reinvention of the Batman origin story. It's a dark, suspenseful tale that will leave you eager to see where this alternate history takes us next & how this version of Bruce ends up becoming the Caped Crusader. more

A giant-size waste of money. I get the impression that PKJ didn’t want to include anything in here that would be important to the main story, so it just feels like a waste of time.

An excellent fight makes this the best issue of the series yet.

Fun and action filled. unlike Wonder Woman I didn’t get a lecture about the evil patriarchy I got a fun book about cobra commander searching for the lost Energon on earth and getting betrayed in the end.

Every one of Dan Mora’s panels is a little masterpiece.

Another clever issue from North.

This series hasn’t missed a beat. I was disappointed to learn that Daniel Warren Johnson was no longer drawing the series anymore, but Jorge Corona’s style is nearly identical to my eyes.

A solid twist ending aside, this was an underwhelming conclusion to the book’s weakest arc. I’m still quite fond of it, but I’m also glad to be moving on.

This is certainly an unpopular opinion, but I think what Zdarsky has done with Zur and Failsafe has been really clever. It draws on the comic’s long history and the character’s paranoia and the conflicting images of Batman as a one-man army and role as patriarch of the Bat-family. This issue is tense, ramping up towards a conflict I’m excited to see how Zdarsky handles.

This arc could be a bit tighter, but PKJ uses the slower pacing to create a creepy atmosphere, aided by guest artist Danny Earls, who, as I felt with the last issue, draws New Orleans very well. Each monster we’ve been introduced to throughout this series has been really neat, and Frozen Charlotte is no exception, in terms of her design, backstory, and motive.

Franklin’s powers once again get some major retcons, which is whatever. I really enjoy North’s approach to this book, and he continues to do a great job giving each member of the family time to shine, as well as showcasing how they work together. Gómez isn’t my favorite artist we’ve had on this run, but Aburtov’s colors keep this issue looking consistent with the rest of the series.

This was an excellent palate cleanser after the heaviness of the previous arc and the goofiness of the fifth dimension that we’re about to get into. The Luthor/Joker story wasn’t one of the best we’ve seen in the story, but I thought it was a lot of fun seeing them interact with one another, and Waid gave them both a couple of excellent monologues.

The Impossible Prologue was phenomenal and has me very excited for the next arc. more

I love anything and everything Allred does, but I was equally impressed with Russell’s story, just as I was with Superman: Space Age. Batman’s origin has been retold so many times I would have thought that I never needed to read it again, but Russell shakes up the narrative here, making it completely fresh and intriguing.

I don’t know anything about GI Joe or Cobra Commander, so my enjoyment of this series is a testament to the accessibility of Williamson’s writing.

It’s a fresh take with just enough of that familiar Spider-Man spirit.

One of my favorite elements of Daredevil is how Matt rationalizes his apparent love of violence and his Catholic morality, and this issue takes on that theme in the most explicit way possible. I like how personal this story is, and always love seeing more of the kids from St. Nick’s. I wish Aaron Kuder was the artist more regularly, too.

Side note, this might be the worst Daredevil cover of all time. more

This is perfection.

Waid ends his run on Shazam! rather unceremoniously, but still with the series’s trademark fun and humor.

Dark Prisons is to Joker Year One what Mind Bomb was to Gotham War. I had a feeling of being back on track, but it’s not good that Zdarsky’s story keeps getting derailed. I didn’t hate Joker Year One, but this issue made that arc feel especially pointless by revealing it wasn’t even true! Zdarsky had left some ambiguity, but at no point were we led to believe that the narrative itself was supposed to be unreliable. Why would we think that, when there were events told from outside the Joker’s perspective? This issue was good but it weakened the previous three. more

The highlights are the interactions between Elektra and the Spider-Men; this series has done a good job establishing Elektra’s new place in the Marvel universe and further cementing her new status quo. The plot left something to be desired, though. The villain dragged this issue down considerably.

I just read through it a second time and enjoyed it even more and bumped my score up.

A sharp turn in art direction from what we have seen before, but Earls’ style suits New Orleans very well, and Wilson’s colors provide a sense of continuity.

It’s genuinely excellent, I’m hungry for more.