I have been complaining about Red Hood for years now, saying how DC can't find a decent writer that understands him. Enter Chip Zdarsky and my expectations were blown out of the water. What a completely refreshing take on an emotionally damaged hero. Batman did a number on Jason as a child, arguably as much so as the Joker, and we finally get to see the effect it's had on him years later. The Blue Hood scene was just the right amount of emotion and that ending... oof.
Seriously, no complaints.

Harley: meh. I've read this story a million times.
Outsiders: meh. Really just couldn't wait for it to end.
Grifter: Not too bad. Not all that familiar with the character, but I was entertained for the most part. more

Starting with this Issue Wonder Woman is now a double feature, and even though the main story and the back-up have very different vibes, I think it adds more to the book than that it takes away.

The main story is written by Becky Cloonan and Michael Conrad with fantastic art by Travis G. Moore and Tamra Bonvillain. Moore on lines and Bonvillain on colors have proven time and time again that they work great together and that's once more visible in this story. I hope we'll have the pleasure to see their art for at least two dozen Issues more.

While I wasn't as impressed by Cloonan's and Conrad's storytelling when I read Immortal WW, their work here - and on Infinite Frontier - shows that they can weave an intriguing and fun story with a mystery. That said the dialogue sometimes feels like pure exposition and therefore unnatural. They make it up with some great banter, though! I haven't laughed so much while reading the main WW title in quite some time.

The back-up story written by Jordie Bellaire, drawn by Paulina Ganucheau, and colored by Kendall Goode is about a young adventurous Diana. It's a very bright story that seems to aim at kids, which makes the 13+ rating on the Issue pretty ironic. While I can see why some readers might not like the tone-shift, I see it as getting both sides of the same coin. Being shown a glimpse into Diana's childhood, instantly made me compare her then to how she is being portrayed in the main story. That in turn made me appreciate both stories more.

I'm pretty sure anyone that likes Diana on Themyscira and is always ready to see a Kanga and the Amazons will have fun with the back-up story even if it isn't necessarily aimed at their age class.

But I am wondering why DC decided to include it. Are they hoping that parents reading the title, will feel inclined to show it to their kids? While back-ups appear in a couple of New Frontier titles, Wonder Woman is the only one that has the same main character in both stories. more

I like the concept of having Jim hunt down the Joker instead of Batman. With the exception of Jason, the Joker has really been nothing but an annoyance to Batman, sparking up a bit of chaos only to be defeated with some punches. Jim on the other hand has been victimized time and again, not to mention his family's trauma. The Batman vs Joker trope is more or less a game that ends predictably time and again, but pit the Joker against a citizen with an incentive? To me, that just seems far more interesting.

That said, I think we all know how this will end (or won't end). The Joker will get away and hit reset on another grand narrative. Truly hope I'm wrong.

*I didn't read the Punchline story because... well... who cares? more

A wonderful blend of horror and humor. I love Wells's take on the team and Sinister has yet to disappoint. Highly recommend this comic to anyone looking for a new take on a Suicide Squad.

I can't wait for this Phoenix arc to come to a conclusion. It just doesn't work for me and the fights are mindless and boring.

It's still early, but I don't see anything original in this comic. Aside from some one-off tidbits like Arnold, D.C, and the ghost of Central City, this is a story most comic book fans are already aware of. The Crime Syndicate is a one-off group that allows for a 'civil war' type story without all of the lasting conflicts. Let's leave it at that and save the limited series for some more interesting characters. more

Future State was so bleak and dystopian that it really turned me off of the "potential future" DC had to offer. Compare this with the bustling hope of Infinite Frontier and I can't shake the dread of the former. The problem with starting at the top is that it's all downhill from there. I don't want to watch as these characters, old and new, devolve into the mess that was Future Sate...

That said, the stories were fine, if anything the word 'safe' comes to mind.

** Oh! I have to say, Shazadam is the dumbest name I have ever heard. more

What to say? I get what the author is doing, but I reject the premise of the story. We see Batman and Clownkiller track down thieves using hovermachines to steal stuff and Bats tell Clown not to kill or maim, they're just thieves.

We see the latest villain saying Gotham is going to hell and why don't you, new mayor, buy my tech to save the city. It's the beginning of the Magistrate. The founder is a man called Mr. Saint and he grew up in Gotham before the Dark Times, before the (crime) Empire. He pitches that normal cops can't take don't abnormal crooks and that Gotham, once a shining beacon on a hill, is a national joke and no one wants to live there. (He has a point).

We see reporters hanging out at Bruce's brownstone and neighbors also speaking about how things used to be better in the old days.

We also see the new Batcave, where Bruce is training Clown boy. It doesn't look that bad. Again, I am not buying "he has to do more with less" bit because we really don't see the less. Bruce still has a lifestyle that 99 percent would envy.

Finally, we see Damian run home to Mommy. She points that out and says Damian no longer has resources and friends. Then brutes come out and say they're with the League of Lazurus and fight fight fight. A thug has a knife at Talia's throat. Damian hesitates to kill and the last shot in the book is a splash of blood in the air. We are supposed to think that thug slashed Talia's throat and the blood is hers. I bet the blood is the thug's because Talia didn't hesitate to kill.

What I liked - The art. Pretty good dudes, but again, my complaint of today's artists being good at individual panels but not great at showing action remains. Think of it as the difference between being a great still photographer and a great action movie director.

There is a of parallel action going on. Now Bruce and Damian no longer have "resources." Damian and Clown Boy are now being taught by mentors. Damian is being told to kill, Clown Boy is being told not to kill. Mr. Saint remembers the good old days and even mentions Thomas Wayne being a wealthy guy who served the city as a doctor. His solution is to build a fascist state. Bruce is Thomas' son, and his solution is to catch crooks and bring them back alive.

The art thieves used very expensive tech to steal a painting. Bats doesn't have the money to pay for expensive tech. Parallels and paradoxes abound. I also have to say that spending a fortune to steal a painting is not a great business plan. Thieves understand certain cost/benefit ratios.

Aside from Tynion pointing out that no one would want to live in a city with Gotham's body count, I don't agree with the premise he's setting up. But he is right, business and people would flee the city for safer ports. It happens in real life. Look at Newark or Cleveland.

DC can't just keep playing the same notes. The Dark Knight Returns came out 36 years ago. Back then New York was a hellscape, but the city turned around. Why not try that story and just have Batman go after the freaks, with Gotham being a place where people actually want to live.

The whole kid sidekick thing Tynion is doing has been played out before with Jason and Damian. This is just a repeat of what's been done. When you start taking something that is unreal (costumed crime fighters and colorful villains) and try to make it real, it gives people like me - knit-picking know-it-all – permission to knit pick. But when you say this is the world and here are the rules don't question it too much, I'll go along as long as it's fun and entertaining. I will admit that this is quite the needle to thread but when it works it's a lot of fun. But when you make it "real" and comment too much on real issues, it falls apart. At least that's my point of view. Your mileage may vary.

I also don't like it when Bruce just reveals his secret identity to just anyone. I am old school, when superheroes didn't even tell their wives they were superheroes. You can say that's unbelieveable, even in a world with flying aliens who look just like us, but that is a foundation I grew up with and like. If you don't, I get it. But if you're going to get real, then you have to play it out all the way. And they don't, except for the original Spider-Man - Green Goblin thing, and that ended in a woman being fridged. No one wants that these days.

Or I could be wrong. more

Making Alan Scott a gay who cheated two women into marriage is beyond disgusting.🤢 This is a superscum, not a superhero. All I can see is the misogyny of the writer.

This started off with an amazing premise, but it's slowly becoming a commercial for Image/ Donny Cates in comic book form.

If only this issue was a few pages longer. I love the idea of the vault, and the mutant powers working in tandem is honestly one of the best aspects of Hickman's run, but this just seems like a problem of having too many good ideas and not enough time. X of Swords really derailed the flow of X-Men and King in Black isn't helping the matter. So while the other titles are finding their footing, I'm not seeing the same fortitude from the main X story. I hope the Vault gets the time it needs to really shine, fingers crossed. more

It's a real shame that the art in this book is wasted on such a garbage puke inducing story. It makes about as much sense as "burning two bridges with one stone." (Pg #13) Whatever the hell that means...Save your money kids, unless you want to read about Capitalism being evil and if you dare to have an opposing view than the author it's because you're too stupid to know better. This title is already two issues too long and I'm not looking forward to the third. more

You know what annoys me? The fact that Tamaki wasted the entirety of issue #1 of this series, leaving us with only 3 to tell a story that clearly needed more time to unravel and offer us a satisfying conclusion. Funnily enough every Dark Detective comic dragged at times and featured overwhelming amount of stagnant filler. Even this one, which makes its ending even worse than it actually is, because if it wasn't for the nauseating amount of exposition and filler, maybe it could have dealt with actual consequences of Bruce's actions throughout the series. Where did it all lead? To one big bang, and that's it?
Imagine A New Hope ending with Death Star blowing up. That's it. One gigantic explosion and nothing more. No conclusions to main character arcs, no (temporary) happy end, no feeling of relief, because the galaxy is (temporarily) safe once more.
That's how I feel about this short run. Complete and utter waste of time which had potential, but ultimately was wasted due to writer choosing exposition over much needed content.

As for Red Hood's additional story, I can't say I cared about its first half, and I certainly couldn't care less about this half either. While it's not the worst comic I've ever read, it just feels... cheap, like w low budget indie title made to promote a TV sitcom or something. Both art and script wise. more

I'm not sure who this comic was supposed to be about. If it was the House of El as a whole, well I applaud Johnson's ambition, but attempting to pull it off in a single issue was a huge mistake. Every time I was about to feel anything for one of these characters the story shifts to a new one. I was getting some Invincible vibes from it, but that's as far as my praise will go...

It just came across like another multiverse storyline, and I know that wasn't the intention. more

Genius and evil are oftentimes synonymous in comics. Just look at all the villains with Doctor in their title or the weaponization of science of the various rogue galleries. Among the evil scientists are a special tier of villain that make the reader question just how bad they really are. Ozymandias, Dr. Doom, Killmonger, Black Adam, and of course Lex Luthor. Luthor is interesting because he makes us question Superman's role in the grand scheme of things by making legitimate points that undermine Superman's god-like status. Here, Russell writes Luthor as a Trumpian dictator that is a parody of a parody.

Nothing is learned and nothing is gained. Superman and Lois, as well as the United Planets, make mistakes and falter just as often as Luthor does, but they are never questioned or challenged. It's a wasted opportunity to really delve into something more interesting than Superman is good and Lex Luthor is bad. more

Politics are a very tough subject to write about. Not only because they're so complex, dirty and interconnected, but also because most people are completey ignorant about them and prefer easy answers to questions that can't be answered easily. Think of any big political crisis, and ask yourself is there a simple explanation to it. What caused Brexit? And the 2008 Great Recession? Or 9/11? Or both world wars? It is impossible to simplify these subjects enough to explain them in one, or even few sentences. They require extensive explaining which may explain one thing, but will spark a dozen of new questions and uncertainties. And sufficed to say, average people don't like that. They prefer easy answers. Hey, it's the Russians, or Chinese, that's all there is to a problem, no convoluted professorial explanations needed.

Now, obviously, it's not hard to write such simple fictional narrative. Isn't that what western comics have been all about for decades? Good vs. evil, all day all night. Superman is good, Lex Luthor is bad, no extra layers of depth and complexity needed, because they'd confuse readers who are used to not thinking at all. That was the Silver Age mentality. And then came the Bronze Age with writers like Alan Moore, the man behind Watchmen and V for Vendetta - tho incredibly deep political comics, ones that actually provide us compelling narratives with super complex backgrounds. Take Adam Susan, for example - the fascist ruler and the main antagonist of V for Vendetta. He is a monster commiting monstrous acts... but he's also a human with believable psyche and decisionmaking we can understand.

Compare that to Luthor here, who turns 180 degrees in the span of one panel. We've got a chance to understand the typical totalitarian way of brainwashing the masses and controlling them through fear, poverty and desperation, but instead Mark Russell abandons the deep and mature storytelling this comic could have featured for a simple good vs. evil fight, ending with a cartoonishly silly twist which fits the tone of the rest of the book as much as Tom King's Looney Tunes references fit Batman comics.

And look - there is some decent lessons and point made here - take the concept of ruling, according to Lex, saying it's not about giving people what they need but rather what they want. As a cynic, I'd say in reality it's convincing them they want something you claim to be for, and then convincing them you're the only one who can give it to them, just to get elected and not do anything. But hey, politics is a complex bitch, as I already said, and anything related to it can be continuously explained further and further. Russel, contrary to Moore, doesn't delve deep enough, BUT the little depths he reaches still contain something worth remembering and understanding, even if ultimately it's kind of a two dimensional wasted potential. more

Television and cinema act like a double-edged sword for comic books. They offer a chance for the masses to gain interest in the characters/stories and also keep the publishers afloat with steady revenue. The downside is when the multimedia begins to influence the comic book instead of the other way around. Does anyone really think Peacemaker is an interesting character or is it because of John Cena? The same can be said for Black Adam and whatever was going on in the second half of this issue.

The twist was interesting, I just wish I didn't have to deal with the rest of the story to get there. That said, this was one of the better stories involving Conner in a VERY long time.

The 853rd Century story was a mess. Gold Beetle seemed like DC's sad attempt at making their version of Dead/Gwen-Pool and my god was she annoying. Also, why was Sinestro a member of the Quintessence (aka the Super Magic Friends)? Are we really going back to the days of Allan Scott and the Chinese gree magic lantern? more

I had a fear that issue 1 was a fluke, and I'm extremely glad to have that fear subsided. I remember the new 52's Aquaman was a standout amongst the various titles, and once again the reputation holds true for Future State. Despite the fantastical world, we see real humanity from the Atlantian protagonists. Jackson is an amazing mentor, and Andy is a wonderful protege. I would love to see their dynamic grow, but if it comes at the cost of other Future State titles, I'm not sure that's worth it. more

This is one of the stand-out Future State titles for me. Andy and Jackson will be sorely missed. I wish I could read some more about their adventures in this future setting.

Their dynamic reminds me quite a lot of Dick Grayson's and Damian Wayne's in Morrison's Batman and Robin run, but their familiarity with each other gives the sibling relationship between them enough of a twist to not seem like a copy.

Andy continues to struggle with her stubbornness paired with her powers in a way that feels natural to me. She can be mean when she doesn't get her way, but it's clear that she wants to grow and be better, even struggles with her decisions.

The ending was incredibly heartfelt. I hope we get to see Jackson and Andy interact as their younger selves once the Aquaman comic returns.

Daniel Sampere also delivers on the art. It's a beautiful book that showcases cool character work and smooth action. Adriano Lucas' colors elevate it even more.

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Aquaman ends on a high note. Maybe not as high as #1, due to one legged plot twist we've never seen coming which made everyone talk about the comic, but it still is a very, very entertaining issue I would recommend to anybody AND would like to see being continued, actually. Out of all new faces introduced or established in Future State, Andy is definitely one of the S tier ones I'd love to see again in the foreseeable future. Jackson too, but it's Andy who runs the show and gave this short story personality and emotional drama.

Another thing worth commenting and praising is most definitely Daniel Sampere's art - it's consistently stellar and fits the tone perfectly. It's an amazing book through and through - worth reading, worth looking at.

Solid recommendation from me. more

"Supes." That's what Gene Luen Yang thinks The Batman calls Superman.
That is how much Mr. Yang understands the Batman character. "Supes."
How many times in past 80+ years has The Batman called Superman "Supes"? That's right.

The Magistrate regime just happens to have a facility to develop artificial Kryptonite, with all types of Kryptonite weapons on hand. And schizophrenic Professor Pyg is supposed to have the capability to readily and instantly (?) clone parts of Superman, and monster versions of Superman. Because.... yes, Mr. Yang never explains any of that.... because after all, then you would need a plot.

The good news: thank goodness it was ONLY two issues and just $8 that you will never see again. Not like $32 for four issues of The New Batman, for example.

Batman of Zur-En-Arrh and Batmite were infinitely more credible, and less grim. But the goal of rationalizing the all powerful nature of The Magistrate regime in Gotham is the propaganda that is the only priority in the Future State bat stories.
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And so Future State officially ends. Well, there's still going to be few related releases next month, but the hectic two month long event finally reaches the finish line, and I couldn't be happier because after 8 weeks of reading (and reviewing) every single comic from it, I feel drained and exhausted. It's been a very rough and uneven ride, with some good comics, some terrible ones as well, with their quality shifting faster than time signature in a Dream Theater song.

This comic is my last to review. Why this one? Dunno, honestly. If I was to make a punchline regarding this event, I could have chosen a better fitting title, but by sheer accident this one's the last, and there's no real big analogy concluding Future State. Because it is a consistently decent comic. There's no big shake-ups, there's no revolutions, it's just a fun little escapist read. Gene Luen Yang plays very safe, giving us a pretty good mystery, albeit predictable (which I really can't criticize him for - after all it'd be near impossible to write something truly surprising AND 2 issues long), and setting up the reason why fascist controlled Future State Gotham City is on its own.

And probably that reason is what left me with somewhat bitter taste in my mouth. It's just... a rather forced, won't you agree? Yeah, I get it, it was necessary and all, but the explanation and Bruce's reasoning are pretty off. I can't say I enjoyed this sudden and radical turn of events. I believe this could have been handled better.

Overall not a bad comic - probably one of the safer and most digestible entries from this horrendously uneven event. more

Dark Detective "Finale" (eye roll) Issue #2 (I mean #4) ends with a bang, but no real conclusion (of course), after stretching out 2 issues worth of story into 4 issues at $6 each. Was it worth $24? DC and writer Mariko Tamaki thinks so. And we have gotten interesting art from Dan Mora and great coloring from Jordie Bellaire. The lettering is intended to be "futuristic," and Aditya Bidikar continues the same annoying lettering from previous issues.

It wasn't as bad or as expensive as "The New Batman." So there is that. But of course, there was never any intent to have a "story" with any real conclusion.

We have a Bruce Wayne who is struggling with uncertainty, guilt, self-blame, doubt. The same Batman who defeated countless world threats, organized teams to defeat threats to entire Earth, struggles to find the resolve to defeat the punk of The Magistrate regime.

Bruce Wayne continues his efforts to undermine The Magistrate and stop its surveillance system of nanobot drones everywhere. Supporting character Hannah ends up aiding Bruce and has been secretly recording The Magistrate's own work. She believes she has information about The Magistrate that will help to prevent "the end of all democracy in Gotham." Peacekeeper-01 wants to fight "scum" like Bruce Wayne to the end.

And the carnival barkers tell us "Bruce Wayne's adventues continue anew next month in Detective Comics #1034."

When the key is the art and coloring, you are losing your reader, but we need to be honest, there really is no serious intent to engage the reader. Just push them forward, get along little doggie, towards buying the next issue in the latest "event."

Part of the broad story line (beyond just Future State DD) is that the struggle is much of the people WANT The Magistrate, they want security at whatever cost that regime will bring. DC describes the Magistrate regime as being all-knowing and powerful, being able to clone (Batman/Superman 2) parts and versions of Superman, as a rationale to keep Superman or any other powers to stop "The Magistrate." The sci-fi storyline is intended to suspend disbelief, because the only real goal is to drive stories to the next "event."

We have writers with lean plots to serve as carnival barkers to gin up suspense and enthusiasm for the next "event." Because that is really all that DC wants to sell, "events."

In the 20th century, the events were in between periods of storylines. Now the events are really everything, and storylines are just placeholders or road signs to events. This allows DC to hire inexperienced writers to learn on the job writing major comics, because they will keep fanboys coming back with a hint that another "clue" in the next "big event" will be there. This is especially valuable for AT&T to keep internal costs down of knowledgable DC Comics talent.

This is a trick television has been doing for years. So you end up going from mysteries like Columbo (with beginning/middle/end) to semi-soap opera, constant cliff-hangers like The Blacklist. Exchange interest with plot and mystery, and replace with brutality, value abandonment, and constant "shock" value. So those of us really expecting stories will be constantly disappointed.
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While reading this, my wife was playing Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" in the other room. I think it was a bit serendipitous considering I will always love Batman, no matter how stupid the storyline ends up being. I understand that as times change so to do the mindsets of the audience. A billionaire taking matters into their own hands and enacting their own brand of justice just doesn't resonate the same way anymore. That said, watching the same billionaire genius devolve into little more than a street hobo fighting a corrupted version of their former self is equally painful. I hated the Magistrate, I didn't like the Peacekeeper, you can't be an alien conspiracy theorist considering all the countless aliens in DC, and while I will always love Batman... I remain utterly disappointed.

Red Hood... as always, you have the potential to be amazing and somehow still end up falling short. Rose and Jason work, I'm all for it, but please make the dynamic more interesting than "stoic bad boy" and "Ms. Badass, 'I'm not like the other girls'." more

The New Batman "Crime is Mostly OK" issue number 4 decides portrays a bat family, with "justice" values to aid killers, give a killer a device used in suicide bombing, have several Magistrate figures killed and mutilated, and reject law enforcement punishment for hardened criminals. For a lot of fans, that will be worth $8. Unlike pro-crime figures in Crime Syndicate, we now have justification in persecuted revolutionaries in Future State Gotham. As to "The New Batman" Future State bat family, resistance is all, at any cost. And in issue 4, you should really like Homer, because you will be hearing Homer quoted a lot, and Delphic maxims of course.

The New Batman (Part 4 finally). Rating: 4.5. Because there is a story, no matter how weak. The challenge of Future State The New Batman is "The Magistrate" dystopia creates an environment to justify murder, because "The Magistrate" has created an anti-law police state. But this is used as a strawman argument to also "heroize" violence and murder by Future State "heroes" on behalf of "justice." The past several issues of The New Batman have been about Batman protecting a couple who committed a brutal murder of another criminal, because "he deserved it" for murdering their daughter. But the idea of becoming judge, jury, and executioner is both a fault-line for The Magistrate fascists as well as the corrupted "future" bat family.

While Tim (Jace) Fox as The New Batman is seeking to get hooded couple (Eric and Sara) "safely" (?) to GCPD peacekeepers for "justice" for this murder, he too ends up compromising his values. And Jace gives both members of the couple a weapon with a micro columb charge, to press the trigger, and throw at the peacekeepers. Eric jumps out of the car in front of peacekeepers pursuing them, and with the weapon from The New Batman, becomes a suicide bomber, taking out two of the peacekeeper vehicles with armor flying and vehicles on fire. Perhaps other readers are aware of suicide bombers with Batman in past issues, but I really don't remember them.

Do we remember when Batman used to rescue people who were in burning vehicles?
Even his enemies?

But it is Future State (a few years from now), and The New Batman just lets them burn. That is his idea of "holding back." The New Batman has another fight with The Magistrate figures and also his mother en route to getting Sara (now that Eric is dead) to Peacekeepers. His mother pulls a gun on The New Batman, and Tim slices her shoulder with a bat-blade shuriken. (FYI, his bat suit is bullet-proof, we later discover.) After he injures his mother (do we think Bruce Wayne would stab his own mother), then stabs disarmed Magistrate Captain Stanz in the shoulder/chest with a knife; it is hard to tell from the art. But the image of Batman with a knife in his hand, stabbing a disarmed individual, is something I really don't want to see. I really don't want others to think this "New Batman" is "The Batman," anymore than I did with Azrael. But DC Comics goes through these periods. [Spoiler for DC Comics, when you had Azrael as Batman you got zero (count-em, zero) dollars from this reader.]

And the New Batman would have killed Captain Stanz, except Sara (another killer) stops him. Magistrate Captain Stanz hypocritically says to The New Batman: "You don't care a thing about innocent civilians." Stanz is the "bad guy" and clearly also doesn't care about innocent civilians. But is Captain Stanz also right about The New Batman, who just injured his own mother, and ends up putting his own mother in the hospital. Or should we not question the new values of the Future State "heroes"? Ironic to Barbara Gordon's later words, in Future State, criticizing "ends justifies the means," when it has become the new world view.

Other than Batman the stabber, Batman the mother slicer, and Batman the armer of suicide bomber, there really isn't much to Issue #4 plot. Dystopia, killer couple, Batman gets one of the couple to Gotham police. And has family conflicts. We still don't know Tim's (Jace) motivation, but DD seems to explaining that based on treacherous brother Luke Fox. And Lucius seems to be working just fine with The Magistrate. But could Ridley at least pick one first name for Tim/Jace Fox?

The challenge for new DC writers is not "who" Batman is. It is "what" Batman is. And motivation is not a sideline topic. For Batman, it is everything. Otherwise, it is just another costumed character. But most of the effective ones have "powers." What is Batman's "power"? His Compulsion. His Determination. His Values. Not what he wears and or his gadgets. But his identity. That is Batman's superpower. Always has been for 80+ years.

Batman's real super powers are his obsession to refuse to surrender to violent crime, and not BECOME like them. It is a determination beyond measure. It is a refusal to surrender under any circumstances - to violent crime, not only to refuse their power, but also to refuse to become LIKE them. Batman's loss is not just part of his origin, but a definition as to Why He Fights. So with a character like Batman, you will believe he will overcome any obstacle, not because of "superpowers," but because of the power of his identity. He has no choice. It is not just he should, but He Must. So in the wild, Elseworld type, Dark Metal stories, you can believe Batman would keep going, even after shot, even after KILLED, with a Black Lantern ring, even after his arm is cut off. Because, after all, he is Batman. He Must. Motivation is Everything.

Batgirls (# 2). Rating: 3. Nonsensical. People repeatedly quote Homer (yes, that's right Homer-from around 700–750 BCE); I noticed four Homer quotes. They actually quote Homer in between punching Magistrate figures in the prison. Imagine. Someone is punching or hurting you, and in the middle of fighting, you stop to quote Homer passages. And the same thing is done by other characters, also quoting Homer. [I like Homer just fine, despite the fact that some people would never want him taught in schools or colleges anymore.] That might be the type of "comedy" (?) type thing that Thor would do in Marvel? But honestly. Batgirl? Black Lightning? Oracle? (Shrug.) And wasn't Black Lightning literally a force of lightning last time we saw in the Bat universe in DD? Same one this New Batman is in ?

So the idea behind Batgirls 2 is not a comic book story, but a moral and timeless call for revolution of the persecuted. OK, Vita Ayala. It is still DC Comics. In this story about Batgirls Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown, we get to read about a prison riot. The story is about Cain and Brown organizing a prison riot to free Batgirl Barbara Gordon, locked in prison basement, whose brain is so important that she is inexplicably connected to computers from The Magistrate on 24x7 basis. Cassandra Cain finally gets to basement to release Barbara Gordon. Babs is just fine and ready in fighting shape after being locked up and hooked to computer against her will for "years." [I missed the part with Barbara Gordon was also a secret Kyrptonian with infinite strength and invulnerability. (sarcasm)]

Barbara then uses The Magistrate computer system network (what she was connected to) to call for public to rebel, and well, you just hear her (as "Oracle") call for rebellion, but you really don't know what happens. On the "Oracle" side, you do get to hear her shout out some incriptions from the Temple of Delphi (aka ironically known as "Temple of Apollo.") And while that is interesting historical stuff from 3rd-6th century (when carved into temple), a little side note reminder that equality was not such a big thing back then, and part of 147 Delphi Temple inscriptions, for example, was "Rule Your Wife." (As well as three Delphic maxims against violence and one against murder. Well, we know the Future State Bat family community would struggle with these.) And of course, Homer was a big fan. Ancient wisdom for a timeless article on the need for The People to revolt against oppression.

The Bat family revolutionaries control the prison, defeating the Magistrate guards. (And doing what with? Maybe we don't want to know.) But the Bat revolutionaries also decide to free murderers and other criminals, who could just be good members of the Resistance if given a chance, and urge killers and masks work in harmony side-by-side to build little tents, etc. to create their own Autonomous Zone. When the prisoners succeed in their riot against The Magistrate, the criminal killers locked up with "the masks" are not a problem for the "Future State" "bat family." "Rehabilitation through service. There are no white hats or black coats now, only resistance." There is never any question WHY and HOW the rest of U.S. and world just allowed Magistrate to create this dystopia without any outside intervention. Just because, you know.

The first panel has NINE text boxes. Yes, nine. I literally fell asleep, and finished it the next day. Vita appears to have her strong suit in writing horror and science fiction. But... this is Batgirls. And where did Cassandra Cain suddenly get "diamond-tipped titanium steel nails" in a maximum security prison? (???). Not to mention the "Subdermal Key-Gen and Interface." We have assume all this somehow came from Dick's resistance, but we actually have no clue. Later on, non-super powered Cassandra also has an armored Batgirl costume pop up out of a ring. I can't recall, is that before or after the super-powered Bat-Unicorns appear? Perhaps Stephanie Brown gets a similar "ring," because a page later, her costume materializes on herself. Maybe the costume ring that Stephanie had was invisible too, which is why we never saw her wearing it. (Don't ask questions, silly reader.) Vita's story is good with the Homer quotes and the sci-fi. Coherent plot is just in the way.
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The problem with the "New Batman" is that it doesn't tell us who these characters are. Granted the original Batman didn't get an origin until six months after the character was launched in 1939, but that two-page story told us what we needed to know - why a guy dresses up as a bat to fight crime.

Given that this was a comic book in 1939, and people put on costumes as a matter of course to sell 10 cent books to nine-year-olds, that was all we needed.

But it's 2021. Nine-year-olds don't read comics anymore. I suspect more people over the age of 15 read them than under the age of 15. That means you have to come up with good explanations as to why people dress as a bat to fight crime.

The New Batman really doesn't tell us why young Fox does what he does. We know the Fox family basically stole Bruce's fortune so we know why young Fox has the means, but there is no motive.

We certainly don't know how Gotham became a police state outside the jurisdiction of the U.S. Constitution. I know the reason behind the story - evil corrupt private police justify having a vigilante fight for justice. But the how of that situation really matters. As much as I hated No-Man's Land (Gotham is cut off from the U.S. and it's Mad Max time despite the fact that Green Lantern and Superman could have solved the problems in 10 minutes, meaning I didn't buy into the premise of the story, so I didn't buy the stories) the writers at least came up with a reason why Gotham was the way it was. Again, I didn't buy that but there was an explanation. I also didn't buy the whole "six months later, Gotham is restored and it's like No-Man's Land never happened, but that's a rant for another day.

I liked that we see Cass and Steph renew their vows of sisterhood, as it were. But again they left out the important part of them breaking up as it were. Being placed in the middle of the story means a lot of the hard work of world-building isn't done. So again, I don't buy into the basic premise of the story, so the stories don't work for me.

I am also sick of the dystopian future tropes. I have always liked the notion that this is our world, but with superheroes. I know that premise is problematic when you think about it for more than 10 seconds, but I started buying comics when you just had to accept idea, so I did. If you can't I can hardly blame you. But looking at the Marvel movies, seeing heroes in real places among ordinary people works if you do it right. Dystopian futures is just the Hunger Games with different characters. I truly believe something is lost, but that's me. Your mileage may vary, and fair enough.

The art was good, though.

But overall, I really just don't care about these characters. Their motivations for their actions aren't explained. Their worlds aren't built, so we don't know the rules. Say what you will about old comics, but the producers really did a great job of character motiviation and world-building. The first issues usually did a great job of doing that. The Spider-Man origin in Amazing Fantasy sets everything up beautifully, and it does it in like half an issue of a comic. Now that's efficient, smart story telling.

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I don't like the substitution of the batfamily for this batman, a completely corrupt Lucios and they insist on this man. In the end the sales will speak.
The backup story was the only thing I liked to read.

Batman has gone from taking down secret societies, running a team composed of literal gods, and even defeating the mother of the multiverse, only to become a hack who can't even turn in two criminals to the police. This is just sad and a waste of potential. The Magistrate is a boring villain and the fact that DC has tried to convince me otherwise is insulting.