Batman: Gates of Gotham #5

One more comic to go and I've successfully read/reviewed everything from this week! Huzzah for me! We close the week out with the comic I was least looking forward to reading, the final issue of the Gates of Gotham mini-series. Here's hoping it turns out better than I expect it to...

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

Summary: Batman(for the VERY last time, Dick Grayson) attacks the Architect, after the Architect had placed some bombs at the base of one of Gotham's bridges. While Bats is dealing with the Architect on the bridge, Robin and Black Bat are in the process of disarming the bombs. Robin and Black Bat manage to blow the bombs up away from the bridge, which distracts the Architect long enough for Bats to gain the upper hand. Bats explains to the Architect that his ancestor, Nicholas Gates, was a madman, and that the diary he left behind was full of wild exaggerations. It turns out that the suit the Architect was wearing was what caused Nicholas' insanity, which causes the Architect to fly into a rage, since he couldn't believe it. With the Architect now out of control, Bats easily knocks him out and hands him over to the cops. From there, Dick heads back to the Bat-Bunker and informs Bruce Wayne as to what went down, telling him that the Architect's real name was Dillon May, a decedent of Nicholas Gates, who felt that his ancestor had been wronged by Gotham's famous families and the city itself, thus his rash of bombings. Oh yeah, plus he was crazy too. Can't forget that. From there, Bruce tells Dick that he was returning to Gotham, the other members of the Bat-family bond, and we end with a final flashback to crazy Nicholas Gates.

Thoughts: Eh. This was a perfectly acceptable comic book. Nothing more, nothing less. The ending/reveal of who the Architect was wasn't a surprise at all, I called it about two issues back, and when I can see the swerve coming, you KNOW it's obvious! This was an okay mini-series, that had a few ups and downs, but was pretty forgettable overall. If I had to do it all over again, I probably wouldn't have bothered picking it up, because it just never turned into the great story I was hoping it would. Oh well.

Score: 7 out of 10.Well that sure didn't sound promising!

Batman: Gates of Gotham #4 & DC Retroactive: Batman-The 80's #1

Hey X-Maniacs, after a one day reviewing hiatus, I'm back with the two Bat-related comics I promised yesterday. Since I've already delayed long enough, let's just get right to them.

Batman: Gates of Gotham #4(of 5):

Summary: This issue kicks off with the Architect attacking Robin and Red Robin(did Dick Grayson really think it was a good idea to team those two up?) in the home of Dillon May(who I suspect will have a hand in the outcome of this one). The Robins alert Batman to their plight, and are, rather surprisingly, handled by the Architect. Batman(Dick Grayson) and Black Bat begin to make their way to the scene of the battle, which ends when Robin kicks a support beam, separating the Robins from Architect. By the time Bats and Black Bat arrive on the scene, the Architect has flown the coop, leaving Bats and his allies one step behind yet again. Fortunately though, the Bat-clan manage to find the journal of one of the Gates Brothers in the rubble, which provides insight into why the Architect was acting as he was. That knowledge, coupled with Bats knowing where the Architect will next strike(The Kane Bridge), has Bats feeling that he'll be able to stop the Architect by proving that everything he believed was a lie. With that, Bats sends the Robins back to the Bat Bunker for some patching up, while he takes Black Bat towards the Kane Bridge for the final confrontation with the Architect.

Thoughts: I enjoyed this issue, probably more than any other issue of this mini-series. The pacing was quite good, the story was solid, everything moved along at a nice, brisk speed. Yes, the Robins getting beaten up by a no-name new villain was kind of wrong, but it didn't bug me as much as it probably should have... I guess I was in a good mood when I read this one. I'll admit that I was glad that the flashbacks wrapped up this issue, while I get why they were there and all, they did hurt the flow of this mini for me, especially early on. Um, that's about all I've got to say about this one... Let's move on.

Score: 8 out of 10.Damn, Saint Timmy sure has looked pretty bad this mini-series...


DC Retroactive: Batman - The '80's #1:

Summary: Yes, that's the official title of this comic... This is one of those Retro type titles DC put out this month for some bizarre reason... I mean seriously, since they're going to blow up the current DCU to create a Johns-topia, why bother with these? But that has nothing to do with the review itself. For the record though, the ONLY reason I picked this one up was because I saw that it had Jason Todd as Robin in it as I flipped through it at the comic shop, so there you go. This issue kicks off with Batman and Robin watching Professor Paxton concocting evil plots with his band of gangsters. The Dynamic Duo are shocked when the Reaper bursts into the room and begins to attack the mobsters. Paxton's daughter, who was assisting him in his criminal enterprises, helps her father beat a hasty retreat while the Reaper manages to sneak away from the Dynamic Duo during the fracas. After the fight, Bats heads to Commissioner Gordon and meets Gotham's new district attorney, a guy named Samuels. Bats informs the two that it seemed the Reaper was back in town before heading out to check on the Reaper's daughter, who was a nun. Bats checks the woman's convent, and finds that Sister Rachel wasn't there... Hmm... Paxton calls a meeting with another Gotham mob leader, Tommy Garnett and his son, Johnny. Batman is able to gain entrance to the meeting by disguising himself as one of Tommy's goons. While the mobsters are trying to figure out what to do about the Reaper, the Reaper bursts in and attacks the gathering, forcing Bats to reveal his duplicity to try to save the mobsters. Bats signals to Robin, who crashes through the wall with the Batmobile, which causes the Reaper to throw down some smoke to obscure the scene. By the time the smoke has cleared, Tommy Garnett and Professor Paxton are both dead at the hands of the Reaper. Bats, being the world's greatest detective and all that jazz, has not only managed to deduce that the Reaper was holed up at a construction site(based on a broken piece of the Reaper's scythe), but also the Reaper's true identity, which he doesn't share with Robin because he's a jerk. The Dynamic Duo head to the construction site and Bats tells Robin to find Sister Rachel, which surprises Robin since she was his top suspect. While Robin is sneaking around the site, Bats is walking around, knocking over pipes and making all sorts of noise to draw out the Reaper. This ploy works, but the Reaper knocks Bats into a hole and begins to fill it with concrete before leaving to deal with Robin. Robin has managed to find Sister Rachel tied to a chair and is in the process of freeing her when the Reaper enters the room. The Reaper throws some threats at Robin, but is surprised when Bats enters the room(yes, he escaped the concrete filled hole... It really wasn't THAT great a deathtrap!). A second Reaper enters the room to help Reaper #1, at which point Batman reveals to Robin that the two Reapers were Professor Paxton's daughter and Tommy Garnett's son, both of whom wanted their parents out of the way so they could take over the two crime families. The two Reapers attack, but are quickly knocked out by the Dynamic Duo. With the Reapers down and out, Robin figures the case is closed... Until Bats reveals that there was still one more person to deal with, at which time DA Samuels enters the room with a shotgun, revealing that HE was the brains behind the whole Reaper ordeal. It seems Samuels convinced the two Reapers to kill their fathers, at which point he was going to kill them, becoming the man who crippled Gotham's gangs, as well as killed the Reapers and avenged the death of the Batman. Samuels takes aim at Bats with his shotgun, but is fatally impaled by Professor Paxton's daughter, who had heard Samuels' entire confession. Paxton's daughter is shot during the murder, and is tended to by Sister Rachel, which allows Batman and Robin the chance to leave, with another case solved. There was also a reprint of Detective Comics #575 in this comic, but after how long the review for the main story was, I'm going to spare us all by skipping a review for that issue.

Thoughts: What can I say, I'm a sucker for 1980's, Jason Todd-as-Robin Batman comics. Add a decent story, a fun little mystery, with a triple-cross, and I'm a happy camper. The story wasn't anything super special, and Batman figuring out that there were THREE people portraying the Reaper was a bit ridiculous, even for Bats, but I'm not upset in the least that I spent $5 on this one. For me, a fan of the era, it was money well spent.

Score: 8 out of 10.Jason sitting on the telephone book while driving the Batmobile was a cute little touch here.

Batman: Gates of Gotham #3 & Zatanna #15

Hey yo X-Maniacs, after a two day period in which I reviewed 8 comics(in less than forty sentences!), it's back to the regular, normal-sized, two for one reviews that you've all come to know and love... Okay, maybe not love... Anyway, it's two DC books on tap for today, with two Marvel books due up for tomorrow. Let's get to it...

Batman: Gates of Gotham #3(of 5):

Summary: This issue begins with a flashback to the Gates brothers circa Gotham City 1900-ish. All you really need to know is that the Gates were the architects responsible for designing many of Gotham's major landmarks, they sided with the Wayne family over the Kane family, which led to the death of one of the Gates brothers, almost certainly due to Kane sabotage. In the present day, Batman(Dick Grayson) is trying to figure out who was destroying many of Gotham's landmarks, getting little help from Hush and the Penguin, who both seem to know more than they're letting on. Bats sends out Robin and Red Robin to search the home of a collector of old relics to see if they could turn up any information on the supposedly stolen costume being worn by the individual responsible for destroying the landmarks, while he takes Black Bat to the Gotham Herald building to see what newspaper archives they could dig up to figure out why certain landmarks were being struck, as well as a clue as to which one may be the next to fall... And that's pretty much it...

Thoughts: Meh. I just wasn't able to get into the story here. It seems pretty obvious as to who the mystery saboteur is, the guy who was collecting the relics, Dillon May, who just so happens to be the spitting image of one of the Gates brothers, but maybe that's just misdirection on Kyle Higgins/Scott Snyder's behalf... Or maybe not. If it is May, I'm going to be kind of disappointed, because that's not much of a swerve... His (great-?)grandfather was screwed over by the Gotham fatcats, so he decides to bring down all of the things that bear the fatcats names... Hopefully I'm wrong though, and this story really takes off the next two issues.

Score: 5 1/2 out of 10.I wonder how much it galls Timmy to call Damian, "Robin"?


Zatanna #15:

Summary: After a magic performance, Zatanna is kicking back in her dressing room when a poisoned arrow comes flying through her window, slashing her across the throat... Don't you just HATE when that happens?! Unable to speak and beginning to feel woozy, Z decides to escape from her dressing room through a trapdoor in a closet. This buys Z some time to get away just before a bunch of armed goons storm the room. Following the blood trail, the goons figure out where Z has gone and shoot at her through the floor... Wait, if they wanted her dead in the first place, why didn't they simply shoot the arrow into her skull to begin with? Anyway, Z manages to emerge on the stage of the theater, where she grabs some sort of liquid, pours it onto a scarf and wraps the scarf around her bloody neck. The goons soon spot her and try to shoot her full of arrows(yes they were carrying both machine guns and crossbows), but Z escapes into the rafters, but not before catching a bullet to the thigh. Once again, the goons follow the trail of blood, this time leading to a rest room. Instead of entering, the goons simply aim at the door and empty their guns at the rest room(!), opening the door to find Z sitting on the floor, surrounded by bullet holes, although she herself wasn't hit by a single bullet because she was apparently using bullet-time or something... With Z hopelessly cornered and unable to speak, the head goon walks over to her and does what any good villain is supposed to do in such a situation, reveals who he was and what his plan was! Bottom line, the goons were from a long line of hunters who tracked down mystical type creatures and killed them. Unfortunately for the gabby goon, telling his story gives the liquid Z put on her scarf from earlier on the chance to fully heal her vocal cords, giving her back her powers. From there, Z dismantles the goons and finishes the beating by sending the goons back in time to the Salem witch trials, where the crazy residents of Salem figure they were witches and decide to burn them at the stake. But don't worry, Z presumably teleports the goons back to the present before they get roasted alive... Probably.

Thoughts: There was A LOT of stuff in this comic that really didn't make sense if you took the time to sit back and ponder it all... I mean, for me, the main problem was the fact that the goons didn't simply gun Zatanna down from the start... Why bother with the poisoned arrow if they had a vantage point to sniper her from? Shoot her in the damn head and you've won! For this entire issue it seemed like the goons weren't actually trying to kill Z, which kind of bugged me. Well, that and Z's uncanny ability to dodge bullets... Seriously, how do the goons shoot like 100 bullets into the rest room and manage to completely MISS Z?! Weird... If you overlook those various little story hiccups, this issue wasn't that bad. It kind of read like one of those summer action films, where the hero gets shot at for two and a half hours, dodges nearly all of the bullets and manages to come back and defeat the villains at the end thanks to various daring escape scenes. This was good, stupid fun.

Score: 6 1/2 out of 10."Sasquatchen"? Wait, does that mean they hunt Canadians?

Batman: Gates of Gotham #2 & Superman #712

Two more DC books to get through today, one of which shocked the hell out of me and received a COMPLETELY unexpected perfect score! Which comic received the highest honor I can bestow? Read on and find out!

Batman: Gates of Gotham #2(of 5):

Summary: This issue gets started with one of Gotham City's major architects from the 1800's talking about how the city grew into what it is today. We learn that the Waynes, Elliots and Cobblepots had a major hand in the funding of much of 1800's Gotham, and were assisted by two architect brothers. Back in the present, Batman(Dick Grayson) and Red Robin learn that some mystery man had kidnapped Hush from his cell in Arkham, which coincides with last issues attacks on the three bridges that carry the Wayne, Elliot and Cobblepot family names. With Hush(Tommy Elliot) already kidnapped, the police try unsuccessfully to convince Penguin(Oswald Cobblepot) to allow them to take him into protective custody. Penguin refuses, instead deciding to remain in his Iceberg Lounge club. With Bruce Wayne out of the country, and therefore safe from any potential attacks, the police begin checking Wayne Tower for any potential hazards. Since Penguin refused to cooperate, Bats sends Robin and Black Bat(Cassandra Cain) to keep an eye on the Iceberg. Inside the club, Penguin discovers a bomb in his office, which causes people to begin to spill out of the club, leading to Robin entering. Upon discovering the bomb, Robin goes to work on disarming it. While that is going on, the sensors in Wayne Tower go off, indicating the presence of a powerful explosive, which leads to Bats arriving at the scene. After a quick search, Bats discovers Hush, tied in a straitjacket with a bomb strapped to his chest. Hush tells Bats that if he disconnected the bomb from Hush, it's countdown would speed up, meaning Bats had to either save Hush or Wayne Tower. Not wanting to be responsible for Hush's death, Bats cuts the bomb off of him and carries Hush to safety. Back at the Iceberg, Robin is still working on disarming the bomb, but is rapidly running out of time. Not wanting to risk Robin failing to disarm the bomb, Black Bat grabs him and rushes out of the club, just as the bombs at Wayne Tower and the Iceberg Lounge explode. Bats is a bit confused by how blowing up Wayne Tower and the Iceberg Lounge had anything to do with the Gates of Gotham(meaning the destroyed bridges), when Hush tells him the Gates of Gotham wasn't referring to a what(the bridges), but a who, the two architect brothers who built Gotham up.

Thoughts: I enjoyed reading this one. We got a mess of Bat family characters here, with nobody seeming out of place or forced into the story. We also learn(from Hush of all people) that the Gates of Gotham weren't a what, but a who, giving us our villain(s) of the story. So either the Gates of Gotham are REALLY old, or whoever is trying to blow up all Wayne/Elliot/Cobblepot named things in Gotham are the disgruntled offspring of the original Gates, who are probably pissed that their names didn't carry on the same legacy as the other three families. Whoever the villain of this piece is, I'll be interested in learning moire next issue.

Score: 8 out of 10.Heh heh, Damian is such an ass!


Superman #712:

Summary: Well this is a strange one... This comic is not only a break from the terrible, “Superman's wild cross country adventure!!!” storyline, it's set in the past, more specifically, RIGHT after Infinite Crisis. And stars Krypto, a character I normal loathe. This issue kicks off pre-Crisis with Superboy flying through the air playing frisbee with Krypto. Unfortunately for the frisbee, it's no match for Krypto's choppers, so SB decides to take a manhole cover to play frisbee with instead. From there we head post-Crisis, where we find a downcast Krypto waiting for Superboy to return on the front porch of the Kent family farm. After laying there for a while, Krypto notices an airplane, and recalls the Teen Titans plane that SB rode in with his teammates. Krypto sniffs the air and manages to catch Superboy's scent and begins to fly cross country, flying past the various places Superboy visited during Infinite Crisis. Krypto goes from Metropolis, to Titans Tower, back to the Kent family farm, out to the ocean before finally finding the location of Superboy's final battle with Superboy Prime. Krypto finds some of SB's blood in the snow, and after searching around and not finding Superboy unleashes a pained howl that is heard miles around. Unable to find SB, Krypto next tries to locate Superman himself, but is unable to find him either. With that, Krypto flies back to the Kent farm, takes the manhole cover frisbee from earlier and flies into space, landing on an asteroid and waiting for his master to return.

Thoughts: Well... First off, let me just put this out there. I hate the idea of Krypto. I mean really, a super-powered dog from outer space? Yeah, no. So once I opened this comic and realized it was all about Krypto, I had VERY low expectations for it. Seriously, I didn't expect to enjoy this comic at all. And then a funny thing happened... I was completely pulled in to Krypto's journey... Kurt Busiek, who wrote this inventory tale, absolutely sucked me in here! When Krypto arrived at the site of the final battle between Superboy and Prime and realized that Superboy was gone, my eyes literally teared up! Trust me, that doesn't happen often! This was an unbelievably good comic... It was so good, I had to ask myself, does it deserve a perfect score? I mean it's a tale from a few years ago, that has no bearing on anything, and has hardly any dialogue, just a few flashbacks. I actually debated this overnight, and left the score portion of this review blank, which is something I never do. After much thought, I have to say that yes, I'd consider this comic perfect, and as such, I'll give it a score of...

Score: 10 out of 10.Poor Krypto...

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!