Unlike many of the recent 80 page giants that have come out of DC, this one had heart, wasn't disjointed, felt special, and was NOT a money grab. I wish the 1,000th issue of Detective Comics would have been like this, though #999 was great. You won't regret picking this up.

Tomasi & Tynion are left to clean up Tom King's disaster of a run, here and in the current continuing titles of "Batman" and "Detective". That's about it. Oh and Barbara Gordon was unnecessarily angry here.

It's official, i'm dropping this book. Or as Glenn from Comic Book Palace on Youtube would say, "firing it".

Why? Because the issues 1-4 had little to no writing. And i get that sometimes less is more, but not with this book. And then here in issue 5 the dialogue is poor and stilted. The antagonist group "Scorn Army" is lame, generic, and forgettable. Are we really to believe Batman doesn't see all the thugs with similar scars? It of been one thing for him to have gone along to see what reveals itself. But for him to be caught off guard and then explain classic tropes to Gordon? Was this supposed to be an homage issue?

Anyhow, save yourself the remaining 7 issues and spend that $28.00 elsewhere, jumping off point is now. Actually 3 comics ago... more

All of the dialogue between JL members seemed forced and stilted. No natural flow which is disappointing. Cliche filled. I waited for Snyder's run to end, and now on the fence as to whether i'll jump on and stay.

Taking orders?

Bendis and King still have a ripple effect with their lame events.

The only thing that was interesting about the Justice/Doom War was the thousand guest stars Snyder kept introducing as if with an exclamation mark. And then he did nothing with any of them. First Mera joined the team and did nothing. Then every hero in the DCU proper joined the JL and did nothing. The they added the JSA, Kamandi, DC One Million characters, Batman Beyond characters, Kingdom Come characters, and even Rorschach, often at the ends of issues, indicating cliffhangers involving those characters. And none of them did anything either.

Guest stars that serve purely as window dressing while talking heads repeat the same things over and over as a sigil changes colors from pink to green back to green again--like standing on a street corner and watching a walk/don't walk sign change back and forth--does not constitute storytelling.

It's not that the story was bad; it's that it wasn't a story at all. That Jimenez art though... that's always a treat. Too bad it was so badly wasted. This run had such a promising start. Sigh. more

Enjoying the overall arc and like the internal conflict of the Rogues, I just wish the dialogue was better and not so stilted. That and Captain Cold going bare chested was just, dumb. So dumb.

Once again, we are back to the classic Tomasi runs, and boy do they come in hot!

This time, we see Batman trying to find out who's butchering several people on Christmas trees, and evidently, it's not Calendar Man. It's actually this pagan Viking dude who's been worshiping the sun a bit too much. We see Bullock taking up a lot of Batman's crap ever since Gordon went insane from the Batman who Laugh's toxins reaching him. We also see the extent of toil that Alfred's death makes on Bruce, as he plays with Titus and Ace.

Overall, a very solid arc, and I can't wait to see what'll happen in the next issue! more

DOOM WAR!

Evil has already won and there's no take backs, t but wait! JL just extended membership to every hero in the DCU! I wonder what will happen with this new JLU. (To be continued.)

Well, they kind of dropped the whole JLU thing. Were they even in this issue? Evil has won and there's no take backs, but wait! JSA and Kamandi! (To be continued.)

Well, JSA and Kamandi had a few generic lines and then they pretty much dropped the JSA and Kamandi things. Evil has won and there's no take backs, but wait! Batman Beyond and JL Beyond! (To be continued.)

Well, the Batman Beyond characters were just there to hover in the background. Evil has won and there's no take backs, but wait! Kingdom Come characters and Nite Owl! (To be continued.)

Every character across DC Hypertime stands at the ready, silent, and off-panel. The Trinity fights Lex Luthor. Perpetua hovers menacingly again and says some more threats. Robin has a line and there's a panel of random JLU members, including a bonus shot of forgotten full-time member (since Drowned Earth), Mera! The Beyond characters, the JSA, Kamandi, Kingdom Come characters, and Nite Owl either didn't appear or their appearances were so forgettable I forgot they appeared. But wait! Martian Manhunter lives! Didn't see that coming. Wait! Maybe that's where those green thought bubbles have coming from since he "died!" (To be continued.)

Next issue: The conclusion of Doom War! Who knows WHO might show up for another thrilling, silent cameo! more

I signed up for Batman & the Outsiders for two reasons, first because I want to see Duke Thomas as the Signal stick as a character in the universe (he's day Batman!). He has heart and has peaked my interest ever since All Star Batman. It's refreshing to see writers create a character with a good back story, a cool skill set, and let them stand on their own. There was no virtue signaling, no ramrodding him down our throats. He's the type of character you want to root for out of the gate. And that dynamic coupled with Katana finally being given a worthy role was enough for me to say yes to the series. There was also the promise of "BATMAN & the Outsiders" becoming "The OUTSIDERS" one day. Ton's of potential here (swords, lightning, strong and like-able characters).

And yet I fear for the comic. Duke's role is confusing, poorly written, and like the girl they've been trying to save, frustrating. They are too easily duped. It's just not believable or necessary. Batman doesn't bring on individuals with wishy washy allegiances. So again it doesn't make sense. Duke can find himself without having to play the buffoon. And maybe this is just a lazy plot mechanic, but either way not fair to the characters or the readers. Oh and if Kaliber and the forgettable character the Outsiders are trying to protect (I really can't recall her name) are to eventually round out the group, no thanks.

You're $32.00 into a run that is teetering on my putting $3.99 elsewhere.



more