I have really struggled with folloiwng this redefinition of Batman's origin. But it has been interesting, and I am mildly surprised to say. Unfortunately, this issue was just basically violence, violence, violence, and the villain has no message, no purpose other than chaos. The reality is that there ARE institutional criminals. LOTS of them. But the Black Mask idea that the solution is murdering random people and encouraging others to become killers is disconnected from all morals and values. We don't see the necessary balance from the Batman here. Just "action." Now in horror stories there is no need for balance, but in stories involving heroism, that balance is needed. I have had a really hard time following and paying for DC Comics with horror centric thinking and writing. Hopefully someday that will change. But not likely. more

Yes they do deserve a happy ending. And at least a moment on the beach.
The story of Batman Bruce Wayne and Catwoman Selina Kyle really deserves mature writing.
I could care less about the latest Absolute Power soap opera and lunatic Amanda Waller.
In fact, it was the cover that sold me. As I am sure it sold many others.
Many of us don't want Bruce to be miserable. I want Batman and Catwoman to walk on the beach hand-in-hand. Yes, I know that is not riveting story. But to those who really care about the Batman Bruce Wayne character it is. 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

This is an interesting story. Great to say the JSA make an appearance.

Old time JSA readers have largely given up on this issue.
Earth-destroyer Mordru joining the JSA?
And now it is OK to KILL Hawkman?
Please. What an absurd storyline.
Geoff Johns really needs to hand this off to someone else already.

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.

FINALLY. The Epilogue is everything here and is worth buying finally.
My goodness about time.

Everyone has a right to their artistic freedom, including DC Comics publishing Yanick Paquette with Power Girl basically with a bare buttocks. And the human body is beautiful. I am also pro-naturist. But hero and heroine comics should still be accessible to kids. I know everyone will say I am a dumb prude. I am the furthest thing from that. But I don't see a point in chasing parents away from supporting kids with hero and heroine comics or the ultra-sexualizing of these characters. Yes I am from the last century. But really. Give it a break, DC.
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Absurd imaginary stories in Diana's mind. That is all this issue is.
Just think about what CIA's Tom King would put there.
The CIA looks at law and wipes its feet on it. So that's the values you will be reading.
So murder? Hey, that's OK with the CIA.
Just remember it is all one big fake-out in this one big, long "imaginary" story.
(At least for now.)
Which allows King to write what he REALLY DOES want to write, but have plausible deniability.

But it also says everything you need to know about values of DC Comics that they published
CIA's Tom King's caricaturization of legendary WWII hero Steve Trevor cooing that murder is "fun." No amount of "great art" or sci-fi narrative can cover the foundational stench of moral and values decay.
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Stinky

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

Wonder Woman character was created and introduced in All-Star Comics as a character to raise up and unite American people. Now we have CIA's Tom King using the DC Comics issue almost as a parody level of absurdity of targeted hate based on race, gender, and religion. If the roles were different, the DC Comics published tract would be labeled as a "hate crime" piece. But as it is, CIA Tom King's effort to divide and demean is now good "comics fiction."

Wonder Woman is a prisoner of the criminal Sovereign who seeks to brainwash Diana with a "Lasso of Lies," while Wonder Woman hallucinates including a scenes where her daughter uses a bow and arrow to mutilate (and possibly murder?) criminal Sergeant Steel tied to a tree. The comic goes through various out-of-context writing from the Christian Bible, based on a Jewish writer Saul/Paul and his religious teachings based on the Torah (yes, Tom King leaves **THAT** part out for certain), and eventually after I concluding "I do not believe in Your God," Wonder Woman breaks the Lasso of Lies and attacks the criminal Sovereign.

The story begins with Wonder Woman hallucinating about the 1950s era with a sexist, hate-filled version of Steve Trevor, and the criminal Sovereign using a "Lasso of Lies" and quoting Christian religious scripture of Ephesians 5:22 from 2000 years ago, twisting it out of context to make it be a basis for inequality, rather than a basis for love. Furthermore, using a translation that does not match the original text in Greek. And since Tom King wants to use this as a religious attack, the correct statement is: "Submit to one another," NOT "Wives, submit to your husbands."

Tom King also takes out of context Christian Bible passages from Corinthians (based on Paul/Saul's Jewish history and his interpretations of the Jewish Torah), Timothy (again based on Paul/Saul's Jewish history and his interpretations of the Jewish Torah), Titus (once again based on Paul/Saul's Jewish history and his interpretations of the Jewish Torah).

Now if this was Saul, and they were quotations from the Jewish Torah? How would this be viewed in USA today? Would it be considered Anti-Semitic twisting of religious verse to spread anti-Jewish hatred? But since it is Paul who converted to being a "Christian," Tom King views this as "OK."

But the goal here is for Tom King to divide between men and women, religious Christians and others, young and old, and target a certain group as inherently evil. Mr. King fails to note that he actually fits a lot of the element of the inherently evil hate he spews towards others.

No I am not going to rate this comic based on the "backup comic." That would be cowardly and lame dodging. Let's be clear about what this issue of Wonder Woman #8 is: "Hate Crime Tract." It is the same type of thing you would read from racists, those who hate people based on their gender, and those who hate people based on their religion. In fact, it is PRECISELY the type of thing that the Wonder Woman character was created to combat. But now, with the CIA's Tom King, DC Comics has turned Wonder Woman into the very thing she was to defeat: Hate Itself.


I only give this a 1 because there is not any lower score available. It does NOT deserve a 1.

To those of you who think, OK, but I hate old people, I hate white people, I hate men, I hate Christian people, etc., remember - other Hate Mongerers can fill in those labels with different lables. Hate is NOT the Answer and it has no place being praised in comics heroine stories. more

There isn't much meat here and it's far overwritten. King just loves to hear himself prettle on, apparently. It's like he's being paid by the word rather than the page. For instance, all he has to say is that they buried Giganta small and then they enlarged her, or drop her from a helicopter. Instead, he goes on and on about how they buried a fifty foot woman for no reason whatsoever. It's something the reader could have come up with on their own. The explanation he gives is awful. Sometimes it's better just to shut up. On the other hand, we barely ever get well-drawn WW action action scenes. On this point, the issue so great. Lay off the text-boxes King, do us all a favor.

My Comic Review Channel - https://youtu.be/Y3t73t41xPg more

I cant believe I am saying this but Rossmo's art continues to get better. Like just take page 3, The look of Ms Belmonts face is worth a thousand words and Rossmo just nailed what Venditti was trying to get across in that panel. There are some great moments in the arts fine details across the book on that alone.

As for the story, right off the bat, Dodds reflecting on what his gas actually does and adjusting it to be human is a small but well written detail. Venditti really get the character.

Also can I say that verbal spare between Dodds and Colonel Malcolm Breckinridge was intense. Essentially the embodiment of the industrial war machine vs the pacifist Dodds. When the Colonel responds to Dodds about what is victory if it is done through war crimes and the Colonel responds by saying that Victory is unimpeachable because war crimes are for the defeated, it was rather chilling.

Venditti and Rossmo teaming up to deliver a great detective noir story that mixes art and story so well was not the team combo I expected but I am so happy with how this is turning out.

Also one last note. Humphries better be ok, or we riot. more

What Total Nonsense. If you want to write about Thanagar or some imaginary dimension or Darkseid, and any of the other sci-fi nonsense, sure who cares what you write. Stick to adventures of "outer space," then. But when you are writing about the WWII era, there is a responsibility to have some credibility to reality, whether you are writing Green Lantern, Sandman, or any of the other WWII era stories.

I keep trying to figure out if any of the "New Golden Age" writers remember we were fighting Nazi Germany in WWII. I am fine with all of their retcon story lines, but if they are going to put them in WWII-era, there are actual facts, and a lot of recorded history about the time. After Germany mass-murdered people with chemical warfare in WWI, they were building mass storages of Sarin chemical gas (12,000 tons), and of course mass-murdering millions in concentration camps with cyanide gas. A year before this 1940 story, in 1939, Nazi Germany starting chemical gassing people in Poland and by the time of this story they had 8 chemical gas murder center to eliminate undesirables to the Nazi regime. Then of course, the Holocaust. No excuses for any USA military corruption, but lets never forget what did actually happen.

And I am starting to wonder if any of these writers know anything about the USSR yet? (As if Wesley contacting the USSR would work (massive eyeroll).) Did any of these writers actually finish high school? (Not perjorative, serious question). Or what did they learn?

Let's be clear, we want to address USA's "sins" in WWII, the writers need to turn to Oppenheimer (wildly praised) and his insane atomic bomb, which was used on two mass casuality attacks in Japan. THAT would be a compelling and honest story. Yes, I know it is FICTION. But let us also remember WHY the JSA was so popular, and it was a counterargument to the truly depraved and unhinged enemies the world faced in WWII. 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

It just goes on and on and on and on and on and on and on. I don't even remember the main plot of this story or why I'm supposed to care. Batman is fighting who now? Anyway you slice it this convoluted story sucks. If you can't tell your story in 4 issues 6 max, then piss off.

not good... same old gotham and batman things...

Something almost absurdly comical about a CIA spook being so out of ideas that he decides the Amazons need to have a ritual where a mother points a gun at her daughter.

The opening feature was charming but King, as always, drags it down. The sooner he's fired the better.

Trinity punching Diana reminded me of that one issue in Batman / Catwoman where Helena fought Selina. Didn’t like this new story, and I stand by my theory that the Super Sons were the real stars of the backup not Trinity. $6 for essentially an extra backup is not worth it. Don’t know how you make the daughter of Wonder Woman uninteresting and unlikable, but King found a way.

Tom King being edgy for no reason once again

Yet another issue of Leah Williams’ Power Girl with no Power in it. Seriously, the titular character is so dispirited and woeful it’s a shame to read as a longtime fan of the character. The issue is a wordy mess with way too much pages devoted to Omen in the beginning. Power Girl fans do not care about Omen, their friendship is rooted in trauma bonding and none of the characters act right for their friendship to seem genuine. The main plot this issue is Power Girl self-loathing and relating to a lion, it’s incredibly sluggish. Tie it in with the off characterization, it’s just not fun to read. This is a misery comic, Williams tries to use Omen as a comedic character, but the jokes don’t land. Superman is snide towards Power Girl, which just adds another character that’s mischaracterized. Williams was not the right choice for a Power Girl series. Leah Williams time on Power Girl has been a waste of utterly pointless changes to the character. No character here is recognizable, the main story is nondescript. Money is better spent elsewhere for this issue, this comic is a waste.

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The writing is not bad but this is not Alan Scott. How can you explain Molly and Alan's children?

I liked some parts of this issue, but it’s essentially just Gay / Transgender trauma porn that felt irrelevant to what was introduced in the first issue. Alan’s stint in Arkham added nothing to the character that wasn’t there before. The time frames in this comic continue to be disorderly and there’s a lack of action. Positives are that Sheridan and the artists capture the vintage 40s vibes perfectly. The train surrounded by flames was ravishing to look at, just an awesome splash page. Alan opening up to his friend was cool too, and some landmark Gotham locations were drawn well. more

If the first issue had been promising, the second one fails to live up to expectations. In effect, the story here is an extended flashback littered with retcons that does not move the story forward in any capacity -- the present day part of the comic is entirely static, and focused on Alan telling Doiby his story. I'm a great enjoyer of character studies but even I'd go as far as to say that this is one of the big no-no's in a six-issue miniseries; there's simply not enough space to be able to afford this kind of departure from the actual plot.

Structural issues aside, the flashback itself could tell a touching story if the Starheart's prophecy hadn't been so fundamentally altered, now having brought nothing but misfortune even during the 'life' prophecy. It seems odd to me that the original Billings had had a happy ending in every version of this tale, but Billie is granted a thoroughly horrific fate instead. For longtime readers, it may be a step too far from the morally neutral all-powerful force Mart Nodell & Bill Finger had written about all the way back in All-American Comics #16. Jimmy Henton being a stand-in for Johnny Ladd also rather cheapens the story that had been told in the Green Lantern 80th Anniversary or DC Pride 2021. more

This should be an Elseworlds series: "DC Elseworlds: Persecution of Green Lantern as Gay Man." Would rate this a 7 as an Elseworlds story, but 3 (to be generous) as DC Comics canon story. But this is not an Elseworlds story, althought there is no reason this could not have been an Elseworlds publication, as done to address other persecution of people (e.g., "Red Son.") I believe Tim Sheridan has a good comics-based narrative on USA abuses against gay and transexual individuals in 1930s-40s, and certainly no honest person could state that such persecution is over even today in 2023. Such persecution against gays is unquestionably cruel, sick, and really "obscene." But that is not why people went to buy the latest issue of "Green Lantern Alan Scott." Be upfront about topic and Elseworlds to be fair to customers, e.g., "DC Elseworlds: Persecution of Green Lantern as Gay Man."

Some specifics. In issue #1, in May 1941, Hoover is threating Green Lantern to join JSA. But in DC canon GL Alan Scott appeared with JSA in March 1941 (really December 1940), and GL Alan Scott had nationwide, anti-Nazi mission with JSA in April 1941, in All-Star Comics #3 and #4, respectively. (All BEFORE Tim Sheridan's version of GL's talk with Hoover.)

GL Alan Scott joined military in 1942 (Green Lantern #4), and was not blue discharged "blue ticketed" out in 1939/40, per this GL issue #2 by Tim Sheridan. Tim also has not done his history research (again). The real focus of the USA military blue discharge against gays in the USA military was the result of a policy in 1944 (not 1939/40). Those USA military gays persecuted with blue discharge definitely were not allowed to rejoin military, in fact they were even prevented from gaining veteran's benefits. So this major retcon of GL Alan Scott no longer has him joining the Army in 1942, fighting the Nazis, etc., which were all part of the FOUNDATION of the Green Lantern character and especially the JSA's history. (And rewrites USA history while its at it.)

Alan Scott was a railway engineer BEFORE (not AFTER) the military, which Tim tries to reverse to throw some semplance of consistency in the retcon. But it is absolutely a retcon of GL Alan Scott's GL character. As everyone knows, Alan Scott went on to be a radio engineer, after his railroad days. His radio engineering skills were a KEY part of Alan Scott's ability to fight the Nazis during WWII. (On radio engineer, think "computer engineer" as relevant comparison).

Tim Sheridan rightly wants to point out the horrific abuses to gay and transexual human beings in USA during this timeframe, and I agree with doing that 1000%. When he wants to create an Elseworlds GL story for that, I am good with that. But just randomly rewriting GL Alan Scott's origin for canon is absolutely not necesssary to do that. And it is counterproductive in other ways. Let us also be clear, as obscene as USA medical acts against gays were, they were not literally marching them to the gas chambers like Nazi Germany. So GL and JSA's fight against Nazis is also a really essential part of the DC Comics hero history.

I think the new story is moving, sad, important, necessary to be read. Also **NOT** a "Green Lantern" story. We need to hear about this and other (continuing) abuses by USA. Writers need a freedom like DC Elseworlds to tell those stories. We should not have to chose between Bill Finger/ Martin Nodell's Green Lantern origin or Tim Sheridan's Green Lantern origin. Tim should have a platform to tell his story as part of DC Elseworlds.


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It's disappointing that we continue to get broken Batman, the same status quo it's been for the past 5 years. Not interested in seeing him continue his descent past rock bottom.

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