Batman #1:
What Happened: Thanks to some assistance from Dick Grayson(who was masquerading as the Joker), Batman(Bruce Wayne) manages to quell a riot in Arkham Asylum. From there he throws a party at Wayne Manor showing his vision for Gotham City's future(hint: it's big and shiny). While mingling with Gotham's fatcats, Bruce overhears Commissioner Gordon on his phone learning of some gruesome murder. Bruce excuses himself from the party and heads to the scene of the crime as Batman, meeting Harvey Bullock there. Bullock(who sadly didn't get the same makeover Amanda Waller and Commissioner Gordon got with the reboot) shows Bats the corpse, some poor John Doe who was tortured for several days with several throwing knives sticking out of non-fatal spots in his body. Bats notices some skin under the dead man's fingernails and runs it in the Bat-computer while he discovers a hidden message on a painting in the dead man's apartment, a message claiming that Bruce Wayne would die the following day. As for the skin under the dead man's fingernails? It's a perfect match to Dick Grayson(!).
The Good: The cliffhanger was exceptionally strong and has me quite interested in getting my hands on the next issue. Unlike in Detective Comics #1, Batman was working closely with the GCPD, as you'd expect. The story itself was good, as was the art. No complaints on that front. If you look really close during the riot at Arkham scene, you see a quick glimpse of a disinterested James Gordon Jr, meaning there's a great chance Scott Snyder will bring him back sometime soon.
The Bad: We all know Dick isn't behind the murder! He has his own series! It would have made more sense for Damian or even Alfred's skin to have been found under the victim's skin, since either one of them would be a more likely suspect since they don't actually have a series of their own. The Bat-writers/editors need to get together and figure out whether Batman is hated by the GCPD or not... Bruce Wayne was more Tony Stark(a futurist) than classic aloof playboy Bruce Wayne here, but I guess that's because we're sticking with the Batman Inc version of Bruce... I guess... It kind of bugged me that Alfred had a higher trust value to Bruce than Dick, who's been working with him forever.
The Verdict: Great stuff here, as expected from Scott Snyder. I really liked the cliffhanger, but like I said, we all know it can't be Dick behind the murder. On the plus side that most likely means the villain behind all of this knows Batman is Bruce Wayne(why else use Dick?), and that's always fun. But yeah, this is another winner from DC. I have been having GREAT luck with the comics I've been reading lately!
Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.
The new Dynamic Duo?
"It kind of bugged me that Alfred had a higher trust value to Bruce than Dick, who's been working with him forever."
ReplyDeleteRight? Because he's only been working with Alfred for what... a few weeks? :P
I get what you're saying, JT, but idk, I'd probably trust the kid I raised and entrusted with my life on numerous occasions as much as the guy who is like a father to me. To me Dick and Alfred should have had the highest trust level while the other Robins were simply at high. I felt kind of bad for Dick after reading that... I mean he DID trust Dick to take care of Gotham while he was "away" but he doesn't trust him as much as he trusts Alfred? Wat's up wit dat?!
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point, but maybe it's because he can trust that everyone else will blindly follow him, since Damian looks up to him, Alf is always loyal and Tim thinks Bruce is Jesus Christ or something, whereas Dick is his own man and he'll stand up to Bruce when he thinks he's wrong and doesn't mind opposing him or disagreeing with him.
ReplyDeleteI definitely get what you're saying, I'm just saying maybe it was less about trust and more about blindly following orders, which Dick won't do.
But does Alfred really blindly follow orders? I mean Alfred always has a snarky remark to make towards Bruce and has left Bruce every now and then pre-reboot. Maybe they've erased those occasional Bruce/Alfred blow-ups from history and that explains why Alfred is the only person to score a “highest” level of clearance from Bruce?
ReplyDeleteI can understand Damian and Tim being rated at “high” clearance(Damian may still be a bit untrustworthy due to Talia's influence and in the new DCU Tim has prob only been a Robin for a year or so), but for Dick to be scored the same as Tim and Damian just seems cold, even for Bruce! But then again, with the headcase Bruce is, nothing he does really surprises me.
"Batman was working closely with the GCPD, as you'd expect"
ReplyDeleteJim Gordon and Harvey Bullock aren´t the entire GCPD, while you xpect those charectars to be closely with Batman, still dont know anything about the rest of the GCPD
Was kind of sad seing Bruce with all his sons les his only Daughter, if Cass is still his Daughter.
I guess that's a good point, Alien. Although if the Commissioner and a top detective are on Bats side you'd think that the rank and file would follow suit. It also might depend on the station house and the various captains. Maybe some captains are more tolerant of Bats than others.
ReplyDeleteAnother good point. I forgot about Cassandra, much like DC did apparently...
I loved this comic! i hate and still strongly dislike everything that is batman inc. SO i looked at bruce in this as being more like bale in the dark knight. It made me feel better! Alfred has always made a snarky remark towards bruce, but he still almost ALWAYS follws suit. I can agree with JT on the other robins and especially Dick being his own man now. Afred however, knows ALL of bruce's secrets even if they have come out recently. He knows the ins and outs of the manor, and the batcave. The biggest reason I say ALfred is highest is because of how he not only takes care of batman, but bruce also. "talk to alfred, we'll set up the meeting." And now that i think of it; Isn't Alfred about the only person that you will EVER see bruce ask advice of? I can't help but think your sidekick love is shining through on this topic! haha and theres nothing wrong witht that at all.
ReplyDelete-I'm not going to spoil anything but i have seen solicits and it sounds and looks like this story is crossing over into nightwing also. So not trying to spoil it... Just trying to get you more excited!? sorry if ruined anything. Anywho I LOVE this art. Its cartoonish but only slightly and its also gritty. ALso, isn't it nice to see pencils every now and then!? the guy did spawn so you knew he was going to handle the rogues well. I love this comic so much not only because snyder is clearly the biggest thing on the rise in comics, but also because the art made me feel like i was watching a much darker batman:TAS.
-I liked daniel's detective quite a bit, mostly the art. My complaint with daniel is that his dialogue just isn't up to par with snyders. I also feel like the joker face cliffhanger was more of a shock value than interesting. While the dick grayson cliffhanger was subtle yet made you say "whaaaaaaat?"
-I know that we discussed this already, and that daniel himself confirmed it. BUT there is almost no seemingly possible way that detective is taking place in the present. Look at the batcave and read daniel's interview about it. He talks about how his batcave is dark with a few computers and chairs. He even mentions that he didn't put the dinos/coin or joker card in. I have a feeling detective is taking place in the present, but on a whole nother timeline. If they are both the same I think that DC needs to do a better job of creating their stories to work better with each other. Bruce was so rookie-ish in detective and in btman by snyder he puynches EVERY rogues villain in the face and is surrounded by multiple at a time and doesnt have a single issue. Anyway this comic was awesome and in reading other things by snyder I am super pumped for this. I have NEVER read a swamp thing book and snyder is soo good I almost piucked it up because of him.
-Question: is James jr. the one in his cell that is reading and writing during the riot? I cant recall and dont want to dig it out!
Again Cap, you make some great points. Especially the fact that Bats has never really asked advice of his Robins, while he DOES ask advice from Alfred on rare occasions. I guess the clearance level thing bugged me because of my sidekick love(yes, I can't deny it!), as well as that it makes it look like Bruce doesn't really trust his Robins, especially Dick. It still bugs me but I DO see Bruce's thoughts here.
ReplyDeleteThe x-over possibilities is a good thing, and does make sense in light of what the villain in Nightwing said, it's just that we all know Dick isn't running around Gotham torturing people! It's obviously a set-up, so that hurts the story a bit for me. If it was Jason or Damian who were being accused there'd be a little doubt of their innocence in my mind, but there's no way I can think Dick is the villain here.
All I'm going to say about Daniel's Detective and both Snyder's Batman and Tomasi's Batman and Robin is that whoever the editor of the Bat-books is should really get these guys together and get them all on the same page...
And yes, James Jr was the guy sitting quietly in his cell reading a book during the riot. I can't wait for him to pop up to pester Bats!