King doing a riff on Columbo with Detective Chimp could be considered clever, I guess. Except I don’t like Detective Chimp. He is a character from a bygone era, and the child-like humor doesn’t mesh with the more serious WW story.

Speaking of WW, King bringing in the chimp really messes with the whole Diana mourning the death of Steve arc, and the bonding with baby arc. King’s writing is so distant. Never in the moment. BuT not liking Detective Chimp is a me thing. Your mileage may vary, and fair enough. But it really is a clash of tones that doesn’t work. Also king of U.S. really strikes me as a riff on Court of Owls. In fairness, exposing the secret king is a Move Batman could do with the court, so fair play to King. Overall the plot just unspools and there is no sense of action or stakes. A mechanical run with no life.

Or I could be wrong.

The art was nice. more

This is a hard issue to rate. I like the art, and I like the basic premise of Lois getting powers. Others have written that all the side characters getting powers like Oprah giving them away is not good. I won't argue. I get their point, and they're not wrong.

But Lois getting powers opens up a lot of story potential. Instead of the cliched "woman waits at home for her man" stories, we can get two super powered spouses with equally important missions having to fight to get couple time together. Considering how DC got rid of young Jonathan, and now he's a teen who doesn't need his parents, the potential for DC to blow this situation is great. Don't blow it, DC.

I also like how Lois, through an Amazo suit (can't say I am crazy about her having an Amazo suit handy, such a plotting coincidence, so I don't love everything about this plot) steal Zod's powers. Now Lois has an arch enemy who will go after her, not because she's Superman's wife, but because she stole his powers. Lois is not a pawn in someone else's game and is someone with something to lose who will actively fight for her powers. Smart.

My complaints are around the story structure. Having it start with Lois trying to write about what happened to her, and then having Kara and Lana ask her to come out and play is weak. Having them tell her that she has writer's block because writing about oneself is different than writing about others doesn't work for me.

Lois should be hashing all this out with her husband. Also, Lana also having powers is the bridge too far for me. (See, I said I got the point about EVERYONE getting powers.) I would have preferred to have the story be more linear. That gives the story more a sense of happening right now, which, to me, always makes the story more exciting. (I am also aware of the danger of a critic dissing a story because it didn't unfold the way the critic would have done it. I just prefer linear stories because they, to me, are more in the moment creating real stakes, instead of jumping all over the place and being all confusing. I am looking at you, Tom King.)

Finally, Lois going to Mercy to get answers about what happened to her is just dumb. Dumb on Lois's part. I don't care that the writer has Lois saying Mercy earned her trust, a four-year-old can see that Mercy is playing the long game for Luthor. Come on writer, be smarter with your plotting. (I also don't care for Superman family buying into the Supercorp. built on Lexcorp. thing. We all know it's a trap. They did the same thing on Angel the Series with Wolfram and Hart. Be original folks.)

I also didn't like how we got no sense of how Jonathan or Clark felt about the new status quo. Even if it was just them saying, "wow, I don't know how I feel about this." Would have been nice. It sets up, perhaps, Clark and Jon not feeling special. Maybe there will be problems with Clark being all "I have the experience, listen to me in how you use your powers."

Maybe Jon already is sort of bothered by dad being able to check up on him, now mom can too. Man, parents are such a hassle and being a teen is hard, and I don't need them being able to monitor my every move like I'm a toddler.

Lois getting powers affects a lot of people. We don't see any of that. We don't even get a set up of that. An important element to leave out.

So, there was a lot to like, while at the same time a lot to not like. Not a bad premise, but it could have been set up better.

Or I could be wrong. more

Um, ok. We learn that Jim Gordon killed the mayor while under the influence of mad hatter tech used by the Riddler. Gordon also had an affair with the mayor’s wife, presumably while under the influence of said tech.

Gordon also worked as a private eye, investigating insurance scams and affairs. Not the work I’d do if I had a commissioner’s pension. We also spend a lot of time seeing Bruce beat up just so he can place a bug on his the shoe of his “brother.” I have to believe there was an easier way.

So we see the pieces move into place for the story. It just doesn’t engage me. I don’t care about the people, there is no emotional pull. Your mileage may vary and fair enough.

I guess my biggest beef is that just a couple of issues ago, there was a whole bit about bat family values, but the story has Bruce acting alone - see planting bug. You can’t have it both ways - Bruce as a loner and Bruce as a family man. Remember for the first 30 of 31 years of Batman, there was a Robin, and Robin planting a bug would have been a great use of the character. I’m just saying.

Not a terrible issue, but it was just lifeless to me. All plot, no character.

Or I could be wrong. more

I love a great Mystery for Batman to solve. This one here is pretty good, as there are several that Batman needs to figure out. Who killed the Mayor? Who is Commander Star? What does Edward Nygma & the Court of Owls have to do with it? i really enjoy Chip's Batman, and I've been a fan of Jorge Jimenez's are for a long time now. If I have to give some critisim on this one, is I felt it ran long, and found myself going back to read the page prior a few times, but that is it. Batman seldomly dissapoints, but I'm looking forward to the next issue, what more could I want. more

Nice art, continuation of a cynical trend I hate. Mainly taking morally good characters and deconstructing them to make them “human.” By That I mean taking good guys and making them creeps. Thomas Wayne has gone from a good man who became a doctor instead of sitting on his trust fund to a guy who cheats on his wife while ignoring her because he cares too much about his career.

Leslie Thompkins tells Bruce dad did cheat and could have fathered a child. Bruce’s advisor says give up half his fortune and have”bro” sign an NDA. Why? To save his dead dad’s reputation? To avoid a scandal? Bruce has been in so many scandals, what is one more? Plan makes no sense. Wouldn’t be surprised if advisor is in on the plot.

The mayor is dead, and people ask who would kill him? Given his huge number of failures that have resulted in the deaths of thousands is anybody surprised at this?

Also, the public hates Bruce Wayne and Wayne Enterprises? Really?

Are writers so cynical that they can’t conceive of good people. In War Games, they made Leslie a killer. I think it’s been retconned, but such a cynical move. This issue has Bats lashing out in anger. So he’s a bottled keg waiting to explode instead of a man in control. There’s a new head of Court of Owls? That group has gone from a legend no knew existed to a group all know are real. Just take them down with a forensic accountant.

The Riddler is meeting with people, and Bats knows and confronted them. Gives the usual warning about watching them while actually having no evidence and letting their plan unfold and not actually stopping anything. Not a good story.

Or I could be wrong. more

It's fitting that for a run that has been mixed for me ends with a book that is mixed for me. It's better than that garbage fire ending that Spencer made, but... yeah it's not that good either.

But must say, for a final arc that from start was all about loose ends, it did leave nothing but loose ends.

The resolution to Tombstone was very poor for me. It's basically the same ending as Gang War, except he is not as angry to Spider-Man anymore. Janice is gone, Tombstone is still Kingpin and the only change to his operation was losing White Rabbit. So... felt bit like a waste?

May's role here feels random. We haven't seen her in pages of ASM in over a year, so it was just odd. It was nice, and a nice symmetry to WWL, but it feels like a resolution to a story that we never read. May wasn't really a character here, so the sudden focus on her feels odd.

Jackpot as an idea still doesn't work for me. Them being fine with each other would work very well, if their breakup was more natural. But since they wanted to break them without any argument, bad feelings, still caring for each other but also having a reason not to be together, it just doesn't work. This whole setting doesn't work for me.

I'm glad Shay isn't ditched.

And Chasm was a huge headache. It's the same ending basically as Beyond. All the stories between DW and this were just lies? I get, supervillain lying? Unheard of. But like why do all this? I don't think anyone cares for Dark Web 2. And what was the point of that mini-arc between #47-48?

Rek-Rap was nice. Same as Bubs and art in all stories. But overall, it's really hard to say this landed in any capacity for me. It's hard to recommend Wells' run in any way because there aren't really any good changes for Peter in hindsight, only bad ones, stuff that doesn't stick, or just forced changes that are reverted.

I hope Shay stays. more

I am probably going to get a lot of hate for this, but I think this ending was just as bad, if not worse than Nick Spencer's Spider-Man run. This run for me feels like watching the atrocious Joker sequel to me where its a big punchline.

We think there will be a satisfying conclusion to the Tombstone story, it wasn't. Literally nothing happens, Tombstone doesn't get punished. He literally wins while Spider-Man suffers. The only thing that does improve is Aunt May accepting Peter Parker has to ask for Spider-Man for help, which makes him be in danger. At the end, Aunt May and Peter are close again... but again it was not built up.

Chasm is evil again, which makes the Winkler arc uselses, the art is generally ugly, the only thing I like was the Wolverine story. I do not care if Peter Parker and Mary Jane are never getting back together. I think as long as Nick Lowe and the Marvel Editorial are around, it's never going to happen. But there has to be a good and engaging story for this, and it sucks seeing Ultimate Spider-Man and other series get good satisfying character writing but not Main Earth 616 Peter Parker.

Overall, for real. I am done with this series. I have gone to accept that this series is not for me, and I am never going to be reading this series again. I only read the last arc just for me to actually critique it fairly to the best of my ability and not be a mindless hater. I felt that this series was bad because Spider-Man loses a lot, inconsistent art, the bad writing/story, and the action leaves to be desired. Even if Joe Kelly will do well in Spider-Man series, I probably wont read it. I hope people have fun and enjoy this series. more

***Cons***
-Goofy Anime-looking art (Batman looks ridiculous)
-Too Subversive (This was built for the first time read. i doubt the twists will hold up upon re-reads)
-Too Deconstructive (There is only so much you can bend and deconstruct characters before they are NO LONGER the same character. I'll avoid going into spoilers, but you'll know who I'm referring to right from the start of the comic)
-Yet another Brutal Batman that kills (At least this killer-Batman is different in that he stabs and hacks his enemies to bloody bits)
-SOOOO EDGY!!! (I am sick and tired of grimdark edgelord comics)

***Pros***
-At least its not by Tom King
-Thankfully not by Chip Zdarsky either
-At least this Batman doesn't weigh a buck and change, and have to wear armor to compensate.
-Thankfully Scott Snyder refrained from making this as overly-wordy as his prior Batman writing.
-At least this Batman hasn't killed anyone with a gun (At least not yet)
-There might have been another positive? I just can't think of it right now.

I'm going to try re-reading this at some point and see if i feel differently about it later. more

I tried to read it and made it to page 6 and just didn’t care to finish, I am going to try to read it again later . Might change my grade later. I just did not care to finish it

No, just no. Chip actually did a decent Bat story last issue, but ruins it by bringing up Bruce’s long lost “brother” from Snyder’s court of Owls thing. It was a bad idea a decade ago. It was a bad idea in 1973 when Bob Haney wrote Bat-crap crazy stories in Brave and Bold. The stories had no impact on main continuity and ought to be considered alternate universe.

Points for finally killing the mayor. Points taken away for the Riddler being free on a technicality. He has committed so many crime he would have to be free on 123,865 technicalities.

And Bruce finally gets his money back only to be sued by “bro.” Thomas Wayne and wife Martha having a kid is front page news. The pregnancy is front page news. There is no way a secret child is possible. If you want people to believe in Lazarus pits and Manbats, you have to keep the real world details real, otherwise you create a world where there is no anchor for the reader to latch onto.

This is bad and I am not wrong. more

The score represents the fact that I was completely lost because I am not following the Absolute Power main story.

But for a tie-in, the writer has something to say about Bruce and Selina. He actually writes her as smart, insightful, and mature. She actually seems like a grownup and a partner who can hold her own physically and in the brains department. Bruce isn’t written as a lox. He is relatively self aware, but has room for growth, growth driven by actually having an equal relationship with Selina. So well done.

But not caring about the story it is tied into means the majority of the book is about something that does nothing for me. Overall, I give the writer points, which tells me he can actually write Bruce as Batman, which makes the previous year or two even more disappointing.

Or I could be wrong. more

Actually, a pretty decent issue, especially for a crossover tie-in. I am not a fan of publisher wide events. They are usually written by committee, so even the characters are inconsistent from issue to issue despite the fact that they are supposed to be the same person in a single plot.

I also find the premise of these events to be eye rolling and the efforts to be shocking and edgy usually result in a story that does no justice to characters. Also, they often kill momentum in books where plots have to be put on hold for the crossover. Your mileage may vary.

The Marvel vampire story this summer is a classic example of this. Making Dr. Doom Sorcerer Supreme just doesn't work, at least not for me.

But this is Batman. The art was solid, and the Bat and Cat interplay actually worked well. The characters didn't act stupid, and the plot of this issue didn't go forward because the writer deemed it so. There weren't too many characters to follow. A common problem in the Bat books.

But this story is part of a larger whole. I have certain problems with the premise of the overall story. Apparently, Amamda Waller is so powerful, she can build secret bases and no one finds out. These bases would require billions of dollars and thousands of workers to construct them. And no one notices. Waller has been portrayed as a villain for so long, you'd think the heroes, the president, and congress would at least keep an eye on her.

Also, she depowered heroes and no one does anything. Again, the president, congress, her political enemies just sit and do nothing? The villains all just act according to her wishes. There aren't any supervillain spikes in crime?

A bridge too far for me. But it you like it, fair enough.

An odd issue. A strong tie-in in a larger story with a premise I can't buy into. Really hard to judge.

Or I could be wrong. more

This issue is fine. Daspidaboy beat me to it when he used that word in his review, so well played, sir.

This sort of story has been done several times before. You know, unknown person describes what just happened and how things were going and we see several incidents showing us a point of view from a previously unknown character with the hero coming in at the last minute doing something kind that ties the whole story together, and we see a character moment for the hero.

The classic example of this is from the Batman cartoon episode “Old Wounds” where Nightwing explains to new Robin how he and Bruce split. That episode even ends with a Joker henchman Bruce terrorized in front of his son getting a job at Wayne Enterprises and being able to leave the hench life.

I was never a fan of Denys Cowan’s art, but that is me. If you like his stuff I won’t argue.

I also spent too much time thinking about henchman economics. Real criminal gangs are actually hard to join and getting a job with one isn’t like going to a job center. The fact that police and Batman can’t find Two-Face but unemployed loser dad can isn’t a good look for the forces of law.

Also, Dent is an escaped killer. Police don’t have to build a case. What I am saying is that if a small time hench needs to get out of jam dropping a dime on Two-Face or whomever is looking for henches is a good get out of jail card is all I am saying.

So points deducted for plot points that have been seen before. Points added for showing Bruce not as a violent psycho, but as someone who wants to help people and not just smash people in the face because he likes the sounds his fist makes when it crushes bone and cartilage.

So an issue that was . . .fine. I suspect it is a time killer during DC’s big summer event. We won’t get a sense of what the new status quo will be like until that’s over.

Or I could be wrong.
more

So, just like that Bruce is a billionaire again, Selina is back in good graces, and Bruce 2.0 is aged out. And there are no consequences for Bruce whatsoever for all the havoc he's unleashed on Gotham these past months. Only in the funnies.

Superstan52 said many of the same things I thought so good for him and bad for me since I want to be original. I will say they’ve set up two future stories. Clone that gave Bruce his hand and was buried in backyard of Wayne Manor 2.0 will be dug up and we will have another Dark reflection of Bruce villain who was dumped into a Lazarus pit for evil reasons.

Damian is also right about evil batbot that can take down Justice League being in the hands of the Army is a bad idea. We will see another Bruce creates villain story out of that.

Points for Bruce having backup billions. He IS the guy with backup plans with backup plans. It shouldn’t have taken years to discover that.

So after several years Bruce has billions, just not his original billions. He has a mansion and batcave, just not the original. What was the point? He and Selina are back to being friends, and probably lovers. Family is family. Makes the last few years feel like another Bruce us down, learns lesson with a body count, but emerges stronger. Lather, rinse, repeat. This is not good.

Or I could be wrong.

The art was nice, and the Robin suits looked better, but we really have no sense of the roles bat family members will play. They are plot points, not characters. more

Well the arc is over. Batman overcomes obstacle and reunites with family again. I would give points for originality except what is this, the 123,887,546 time it’s been done. We have yet another mastermind who, secretly, behind the scenes has manipulated all the players, but this one created both the Joker AND Batman, and DC has again given Bruce an excuse for not being responsible for doing horrible things.

The Lazarus Pit again is a get out of jail card that reduces death to being barely an inconvenience. And the family is again reduced to being cardboard cutouts who fulfill roles and don’t reveal character in action. There is a lot of Jason forgiving Bruce for his death, and I guess Bruce forgiving Jason for all the murders Jason committed. Bruce can’t kill but Jason gets a body count. Whatever.

And the art was jumbled. Tim’s new costume is a riot of shapes and colors that do not mesh in a pleasant manner. Overall a VERY predictable story that spent YEARS TELLING THE SAME OLD STORY, BUT THIS TIME IT MAKES Bruce look incredibly lame because he again was a pawn of someone else taking away his agency, and gave us yet again another Joker origin that completely removes the mystery of the character.

Terrible. Or I could be wrong. more

This issue was so meh. Bruce is being saved by the power of love. Flash and Tim tell him he’s not alone, amazing considering the first five decades of Batman had him working with Robin, Superman, Justice League. Now we are told Bruce’s mind has been seeded so he doesn’t have to take responsibility for writers going edgelord. Also Damian realizes robot is not dad. Evil shrink, the 87th we’ve seen in Batman is really ripped and notes robot is making mistakes. Robot also captures Damian and unveils his own robot Bat family. Now everyone will have their own doppelgänger to fight. This story is going around the block to get next door. I am all for Batman being sane, I put you don’t have to have a convoluted years long story to get there, just write him sane. All in all dull. Or I could be wrong. more

It's really annoying how many writers are just trying to retcon classic stories and characters these days. While the writers often try to expand on these classic stories or give them more depth, the opposite often occurs and they end up tarnishing them.

That's the case here. Zur-En-Arrh was a cool concept when Morrison introduced it, but now it's just a corrupt Batman. The Jokers motivations have been retconned to all be about bringing out Zur-En-Arrh. Killing Joke? Death in the Family? All because of Zur-En-Arrh now instead of the Jokers affinity for chaos and obsession with Batman.

Zdarsky is taking from the Batman mythos instead of adding to it. I don't know why DC is allowing these horrible changes to their most popular franchise. Avoid this Batman run. Everyone is out of character and it's just butchering classic stories. more

What the hell was that? Another issue where the evil at robot goes amuck Batman and Joker still at odds like a million times before but without a smart plot well devised. The writer has clearly shown Joker knows who Batman is but the result is so what? Actions have no consequences and characters spin their wheels doing nothing.

The bat robot is still at large after what a year? So far Bats is his and Gotham’s worst enemy. Zdarsky’s not a Joker origin story story just shows Bats creates problems, not solves them. Bat robot another Bruce created villain. I don’t think proving Bat critics, the ones who say if Bruce gave away his money all problems would be solved, are right is a good look or clever writing.

Art was nice, but man I can’t wait for the DC reboot in October. Terrible stories.

Or I could be wrong more

Zdarsky's entire run has essentially been Batman creating menaces to save the world from a "Batman gone bad" who wind up as worse menaces than Batman could ever be. Failsafe throws Gotham into turmoil twice already in this run, and yet Bruce is not held accountable, or Batman arrested, when the dust clears. Where is J. Jonah Jameson when we need him, alerting the world to the danger that is Batman? more

I rate this “oh, who cares.” We get the killer bat robot. Joker is playing psychological games with Batman as if the Joker being trained by the same as Batman was just some giant mindf#ck., some great plot that Zdarsky thought of that puts all others to shame. It doesn’t.

We also have the one-eyed mayor. I honestly forgot he existed. But killer batbot is actually proving the mayor right. Batman is a menace. Once again the story is about how Batman is the problem, not the solution. Not a good look.

The art was nice.

But this whole run has been deconstructing Batman to the point that is really counts as destruction. All the characters are flat, merely pawns to plot.

Just terrible.

Or I could be wrong. more

I finally figured out what bugs me about this story. It doesn’t matter.Batman Year one mattered because it was a new Batman after Infinite Crisis. This is just a story where the Joker kills a lot. We know where it is going to end. Crazy Joker who kills a lot.

We also get another story where Jim Gordon doesn’t kill Joker. Again lather, rinse, repeat.

Also not a fan of the art style. But that’s me. I won’t argue if you like it.

Not a great story. More of a cynical cash grab that went nowhere.

Or I could be wrong. more

I rate this “whatever.” Despite trying to show how he Joker got so badass, it just shows me the Joker is badass because the writers tell and not show. He can take unlimited punishment and despite the fact everyone in Gotham has a gun and wants to kill him, no one shoots him.

There is no, for lack of a better word, logic behind this Joker. Chris Nolan made him an agent of chaos. He had a goal, show everyone will break. Steve Englehart had the Joker say in medieval times even kings envied jesters for their ability to say what they wanted without fear. This Joker was the free man.

Now the Joker seems to exist to let writers show how depraved they can write. Forget Batman letting the Joker live, why has no Gotham cop given him a Bin Laden special. Who would care? Hey I am. A hippy lawyer, I protest the shooting of a mass murderer responsible for the deaths of thousands and has escaped every time he has been locked up. Who would listen.

It’s been years since anyone had done anything interesting with the Joker. Give him a rest until someone actually comes up with a good idea, a genuine good idea. I don’t see that happening.

Or I could be wrong. more

I guess I reject the premise of the story - that theJoker’s origin is important. I totally agree with Christopher Nolan, in that the Joker’s origin doesn’t matter. He just is. He comes from nowhere with an agenda that only makes sense to him.

Trying to explain his origin just ruins the mystery. It is like trying to explain the origins of the immortals in Highlander. They did it twice and it was a bad idea both times.

By explaining the Joker’s origin, he becomes normal, just another gimmick character. So this whole Joker Year One story just doesn’t work for me. Just a bad idea come to life.

Or I could be wrong. more

The finale to “Failsafe 2.0,” errr I mean “Mindbomb” is essentially one extended chase sequence, with Batman desperately seeking a way to shut down the rogue AI now controlled by Zur-En-Arrh before it can fulfill its objective - the complete and utter replacement of Bruce Wayne as Batman. Stop me if this sounds like Zdarsk’y first “Failsafe” arc. The story is just barely saved the awesome work of Jorge Jiménez’s art and Zdarsky’s backup story which introduces the only new plot element to this arc. However, that appears to be taking a backseat starting with the “Joker: Year One” arc where we’ll finally get to see more of the Joker’s origin story . more

My main problem with issue is that Batman is written as dumb. He had to fight the Bat Terminator bot he created. And apparently the best way Bruce thinks to do that is to punch metal that can be used to fight Superman with flesh, or flesh and a metal hand.

Bruce does not create any equipment or develop a strategy to outwit his latest backup plan that goes out of control and is a bigger danger than the villains Bats fights. No, it’s just try to punch out a killer robot. That’s just lazy writing done by a hack.

Not a good issue.

Or I could be wrong. more

Batman fights himself. The final version Zurich do dah version of Frank Miller’s Batman, so points for on the nose symbolism. I guess we’re supposed to see that the writer is symbolically putting an end to Miller’s Batman, but it is so heavy handed, he doesn’t stick the landing. Miller Batman can always come back. DC seems to think this stale concept of Batman is the only way to write him.

My problem is the issue really does nothing. We don’t see the Bat family. ThenJoker fight is part Bane breaks back symbolism, which is actually a good idea. If Bats won’t kill Joker, he can make him a quadriplegic dependent on a respiration machine. Joker lives, but can’t escape or talk to corrupt his latest shrink.

Ultimately we’ve been down this road before. How about DC pick another path. The art was nice.

Or I could be wrong. more

In Batman, writers now write revised stories by revising the stories of past writers. This is getting very boring, I don't know if it's the author himself or the editors, but they need to stop this repetition. And again Joker, isn't that enough? We need something new in Batman and in Detective Comics!

There is no bright idea or anything new in this story. It's been going bad since Failsafe and repeating past stories. God!.. Batman jumped from space to earth without any extra protective gear and fell to his knees safe. A human hero did this in DC Comics. Does DC want to make our non-superhuman hero Batman, a superhero? Batman is one of the rare human characters in DC Comics who does not have superpowers, and let's leave it that way. Stop it now and try something new. more

The art is good and the plot isn’t so egregious that I get eye strain from rolling them. But I did not follow the Gotham War because I didn’t have the time or money. Well, I had the time, and to be fair Tupperware money. What I didn’t have was the patience for a story built on a false premise.

So I am totally unfamiliar with the current status quo. Apparently Bruce has alienated his family so much that they let him live alone on a fake identity. He has a small apartment and turns off the lights and talks to the toaster. He is hunting for the Joker and eventually finds him. They tussle and we see Zur An Rah. Bruce’s psyche battles against itself, again.

This recent arc seems like a distillation of 40 years of Miller Batman, and man I am tired of it. The Batman family apparently abandons Bruce. There is no intervention, Clark and et all don’t help. Bruce’s magic hand plays no role in anything.

DC keeps writing stories that should have massive consequences for Batman and D C at large, but everything slips back to “normal” again and the cycle repeats. It’s boring and thanks to trades and internet sites with the full history of Batman available, it becomes obvious.

DC has decided to skip the hard work of writing original stories in some sort of “dark” homage to the cult of Frank Miller. I am tired of it.

But I could be wrong. Batman is their cash cow. His books are their top sellers. Telling them to write to my tastes would be financial suicide in a diminishing comics market. Grr. You kids stay off my lawn. more

I'm at a loss for words as to how terrible this book and this event is. It's almost impressive.