Batman: Gates of Gotham #1 & Zatanna #13

Next up, a duo of DC Comics. As opposed to most of the DC books I buy lately, I'm mildly optimistic about these two issues, so hopefully that doesn't come back to bite me in the ass...

Batman: Gates of Gotham #1(of 5):

Summary: We begin back in the 1880's where the ancestors of Bruce Wayne(Batman, duh!), Tomas Elliot(Hush) and Oswald Cobblepot(Penguin) are putting together plans to erect the first bridges in Gotham City. In the present, Batman(Dick Grayson) and Red Robin are trying to track down hundreds of pounds of Semtex(a plastic explosive) that was smuggled into Gotham. Bats leans on a lead he had and the lead reveals that Penguin was responsible for getting the explosive into Gotham, just as three bridges in Gotham explode. Bats and Red Robin do what they can to keep the casualties to a minimum, but over 30 people still die in the blasts. Bats meets with Commissioner Gordon, who reveals that right before the explosions, a Gotham newspaper received a mysterious note stating that, “the families will fall by the gates of Gotham.” Bats decides to go after Penguin for info and discovers that one of the destroyed bridges was named after the Penguin's ancestor(a name that had been changed in time). Upon learning of the newspaper note, and fearing that whoever blew the bridges up may have been after him, Penguin tells Bats that he sold the Semtex to a man in an unusual costume. With nothing more to go on, Bats heads back to the Bat Bunker and meets up with Red Robin and Cassandra Cain(who just arrived in town). Cassandra reveals that she was following the Semtex, which came from Hong Kong, before arriving in Gotham. Red Robin fills in some of the blanks from the newspaper letter, telling Dick that back in the day, people used to call the bridges “gates” and that the other two bridges had connections to the Waynes and the Elliots. This issue ends with a strangely clad man entering Hush's cell in Arkham Asylum asking if he wanted to come out and play.

Thoughts: Meh. This comic wasn't bad, as it set up a pretty interesting mystery, but it also didn't wow me. It seems that the three families from the beginning, the Waynes, the Elliots and the Cobblepots may have wronged somebody back in the day, and their offspring is looking for revenge in the present day. I could be wrong, but that's what I got out of this one so far. Anyway, while I wasn't blown away here, my interest was piqued enough to make me want to read the rest of the mini-series, so hey, that's good, right?

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.What the hell is this? 1940's Gotham? Why are there blimps everywhere??


Zatanna #13:

Summary: A magical cat gives Zatanna a vision of her future, showing her Brother Night and an angry Spectre. Now while she expected an eventual showdown with Night, the prospect of facing the Spectre doesn't appeal to Z, so she decides to head to the Spectre to see if she had any reason to worry. From there, Detective Colton is listening to the warden of the prison Brother Night was currently incarcerated in as he complained about having to house Night. The two begin to discuss transferring Night to a prison better suited to hold somebody with his unique talents, at which point Night has the skin magically tear off the bones of some inmates and has the bones form a ladder over the fence... Well THAT'S a novel way to escape prison! Colton rushes after Night and tries to stop him, but is held at bay by a possessed police dog. Night does tell Colton to say hello to a woman named Jenny Myers for him before completing his escape. As for Z, she meets with the Spectre and is relieved to learn that she wasn't on his radar. Finally, Det. Colton heads to an insane asylum and visits with Jenny, who we learn is Colton's biological mother. Jenny, realizing that Colton had met Night, begins ranting about having been touched by Night, and Colton realizes that Brother Night was his biological father(!!).

Thoughts: Hey, Zatanna made it 13 issues! Good for her! Good for me for picking this issue up, because it was awesome! Sure, the stuff with the magical, future-seeing cat was kind of dumb, but everything else about this issue was GREAT! I loved Brother Night from when he first appeared in this series, and I am overjoyed to see him back and raising hell again. And the twist at the end with Detective Colton(Z's potential love interest) realizing he was Night's son? Awesome cliffhanger. Here's hoping this series continues for another 1300 issues!

Score: 9 out of 10.Spectre's jab about fighting Zatanna was awesome!