The World of Flashpoint Featuring Wonder Woman

Every character in this timeline is different from who they are in the main DC Universe. Wonder Woman is no different.  Diana is like Moana and she is obsessed with seeing what is beyond the Island.   She grabs a boat one day to sail beyond the mist shielding their home.   A kraken attacks and this brings Wonder Woman face to face with the first man she has ever met in Aquaman.  They remain friends for years going forward and even plan on getting married.  When tragedy strikes at the wedding Diana's mother is struck down by an Atlantian spear thrown by Artemis and Garth is framed for it.  This is truly a Game of Thrones styled story.  Diana sacrifices her homeland and destroys Themyscira in hopes of killing all of the Atlantians along with Arthur.  Because they are a people without a home the invade England take it over as New Themyscira.  Meanwhile Arthur and Atlantis come up with a plan to get revenge and showcase their power.  They sink mainland Europe but the Amazons raise the British Isles up high.  Mera discovers where Diana is going to be and set out on her own to end this war.  But Wonder Woman beheads Mera and and keeps the helmet as a trophy.  This drives Aquaman mad leading these two to the final showdown in battle.  It was revealed that Artemis did not act alone in creating this conflict but that she and Orm have been manipulating one another's sides to bring us to the point of madness.  By the time Wonder Woman and Aquaman find out the damage is already done.

This volume also showcases the origin of Aquaman in this new reality.  It starts off with how the Atlanteans came into the possession of power that can sink and entire continent.  We have seen the death of Mera from multiple points of view in this story and it truly reminds me of Game of Thrones as a mentioned earlier because we are shown the emotions and motives from both sides of the conflict; the drama is high here.  Aquaman's origin is different in that he is not raised entirely on land like in the main DC Universe but instead as soon as he becomes a teenager Atlanteans barge into his home and kill his father and take him away.  This reinforces that a lot of what made Aquaman the hero we know and love today needed that influence from his father.  The Aquaman and Wonder Woman stories are mirror images of each other and work quite well together painting a complete picture. 

The next story is titled Lois Lane and the Resistance.  Lois Lane is always in the wrong place at the wrong time and in this case nothing has changed.  Lois and Jimmy are in Europe when the disaster strikes and Jimmy is washed away.  The Amazons arrive to rescue female and child survivors if you are male you are S.O.L.  Great Britain has been turned into an occupied fortress by the Amazons.  The refugees are taken to detention camps and brainwashing centers assimilate the refugees.  Right away Lois sees that there is something wrong with this and goes looking for answers.  She comes into to possession of a piece of tech that she thought was from Jimmy but was really from Jimmy but was really from Cyborg.  This leads her to the resistance in Britain.  The resistance is a group misfits that is lead by Grifter.  This group and Lois Lanes story is quite intense and interesting.  In the end one of England's greatest heroes returns in Britannia.  Britannia has her showdown with Wonder Woman while Lois Lane puts out a call to all of the heroes for the final showdown.

The final story in this volume is about the Outsider.  This book gives us the origin of the Outsider  This is an interesting story because of who the Outsider is, he is a villain.  Seeing how the Terrifics  are portrayed in this story and how the DC Universe is twisted is just amazing.  Black Adam plays a prominent role in this story as the Outsider is going on a quest to see who has set him up and is playing him.  At every turn you expect one of the other characters to take down the Outsider because of the prior knowledge.  But at every turn he comes away unscathed even when he goes up against Martian Manhunter.  All of this takes place between the call that Cyborg made to the heroes at the beginning of Flashpoint and the final showdown.

The World of Flashpoint Featuring The Flash

Again this story delves into the story behind the Reverse Flash and how he struck at Barry's mother in the past.  This is one of the most unique and terrifying villains of the DC Universe.  This tale is key to how the Flashpoint timeline came to be.  The following story is about Captain Cold in this new reality.  He is a a criminal who is playing hero to hide in plain sight as the savior of Central City.  He goes by the name Citizen Cold and starts off with a showdown between him and Mr. Freeze.  If you think the DC Cinematic Universe is dark and soulless the Flashpoint timeline is just as dark.  Cold kills freeze easily.  Cold is trying to romance Iris West while worrying about whether anybody has recognized.  Meanwhile the surviving rogues are attempting a jail break and revenge on Citizen Cold.  Wally is working with a mystery character and Iris.  He finds out that Cold is really Snart and the body count rises some more.  If this story proves anything it is that Cold is by far one of the most dangerous Flash characters because of how crafty and tactical he is.  In the end when the truth comes out and most of the rogues are dead the real downfall of Leonard Snart is his own ego.  The death count is high in this but we are only halfway done.

The next story is titled Legion of Doom and is a Heatwave centered story.  Shock value from the get go as Heatwave  kills half of Firestorm until he is brought down by Cyborg.  Once in prison he starts making a plans for an escape and his plan involves an evil version of Plastic Man.  But even with all of the odds stacked against him Heatwave takes out vengeance on individual  cellmates brutally with an homage to American History X.  All of this brutality and mayhem to escape and crash the prison into Detroit so he can take out Cyborg.  But in the end Heatwave didn't accomplish his goal and was sent back to prison.  While in his cell Plastic Man returns.  In another story Gorilla Grodd has taken over the majority of Africa and become a Planet of the Apes style African warlord.  But Grodd is not satisfied with is life and he is looking for meaning and purpose.  

In the final story of this collection Kid Flash is lost.  Bart Allen remembers everything from the previous timeline like Barry Allen.  However he has been captured by Brainiac because he is an anomaly.  However he is not the only anomaly in the timeline there is a new Hot Pursuit who is a female.  Throughout the story we learn that Bart Allen is disappearing like Marty McFly in Back to the Future and it turns out that the new Hot Pursuit is Patty Spivot.   Bart Allen discovers that he has a mission to save Barry Allen and to due that he has to run he runs so fast that he disappears into the speed-force similar to the way Barry Allen died in Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Flashpoint

Flashpoint is a DC Comics event similar to Marvel's House of M, something has happened and the world that these heroes knew no longer exist.  This was an okay event I think it could have been executed a little better.  You are thrown into this world with our hero the Flash but you don't know what caused this new reality and that is the mystery.  

Barry Allen wakes up and realizes the world has changed first off he has no super speed, his powers are gone.  He is still at the police station but then he is hit with a second shock to the system, his mother is still alive.  Barry is running around losing his mind because of all of the changes but it isn't just the physical changes to the world but his memories are also starting to change.  In Barry's quest to get his powers back he seeks out the Batman of this time.  

This version of Batman was truly a twisted take on the character.  Thomas Wayne has become the Batman of this time because of the death of his son at the hands of gun violence.  Thomas Wayne helped Barry get his powers back by having him struck by lightning twice.  Now that Barry has his powers back he has a plan to right all of the wrongs of this timeline.  He knows the Reverse Flash is behind it but he just doesn't know how he did it.  Barry's one thought is that since Atlantis along with Aquaman are tearing the world apart while they war with Wonder Woman and the Amazons.  Europe is underwater and many of the heroes of that the world used to have are no where to be seen.  In fact the most well know hero of the United States is Cyborg.  

The Flash along with Batman and Cyborg have set out on a mission to rescue Superman from a government project.  Barry believes by bringing the Justice League together they can stop Aquaman and Wonder Woman from fighting. There are other characters who make their appearances in this series such as Element Woman, Shazam or should I say Captain Thunder and even Hal Jordan as just a pilot no powers.  With the help of some of these other heroes the Flash arrives in the middle of a battle where Aquaman and Wonder Woman are about to kill each other.  Enchantress turns out to be a double crossing bitch and we see the death of Shazam.  Billy Batson is by far not the only death in this timeline of a prominent character, there are lots of them.  It is only during this battle that the Reverse Flash arrives.  I have to say I love the Reverse Flash as a concept and a villain he is in some cases the most horrifying villain in all of comics he is definitely up there with the likes of Norman Osborn, the Joker, many others.  

The big reveal of having the Reverse Flash show up is not because he created this reality but because Barry did when he stopped the Reverse Flash from killing his mother.  Imagine if Batman stopped the gunman or Spider-Man stopped the death of his uncle how would their worlds have been changed.  This is where the event is stronger than House of M because unlike House of M the person behind the problem is the same person trying to fix the problem.  The Reverse Flash is ecstatic because in this new timeline he can kill Barry without erasing himself from existence.  But before he can do that Batman kills the Reverse Flash.  As the battle is raging on around them Superman shows up to balance the scales and Barry sets off running as fast as he can.  He runs so fast that he shatters three different timelines and those three lines mold together into one which becomes the New 52.  If Barry's sacrifice gave us the modern age of the DC Universe in Crisis on Infinite Earths.  His running gave us the New 52 proving again when the time stream is involved Barry Allen is the greatest hero of the DC Universe.

The Flash Vol. 2: Road to Flashpoint

This second volume of the Geoff Johns Flash run with Barry Allen is one big prelude to the biggest Universe shattering event since Crisis on Infinite Earths.  We see the origin of the Reverse Flash at the beginning of this collection.  After the Flash has proved his innocence to the crime fighters of the future another time traveling cop comes to Barry Allen's timeline looking for an anomaly that has upset the time stream.  This new character is Hot Pursuit.  Someone is taking the lives of heroes stealing their life force.  There are some great character moments in this book as there is tension between Bart Allen Kid Flash and Barry Allen his grand father.  Hot Pursuit believes he is tracking Kid Flash and that he must be eliminated but the Flash feels differently. Kid Flash sets out to prove that he isn't the time anomaly but that doesn't fair to well for him as Hot Pursuit is about destroy him.  It is revealed that Hot Pursuit is Barry Allen from another time line.  Meanwhile Barry needs help to solve this case and he request Patty Spivot to help crack this case.  Patty is taking care of a child witness who can identity the stranger who is stealing heroes lives and aging them to death.  But it turns out this kid is not who he seems and he is the Reverse Flash who has tapped into a new power set that allows him to change is age and appearance by stealing other peoples lives.  Now he is about to kill Patty however right before that happens the Flash, Kid Flash and Hot Pursuit arrive on the scene having worked through their prior disagreement.  Once the Reverse Flash discovers who Hot Pursuit is he accomplishes one of his life long dreams in killing Barry Allen.  This is one of the few times where the villain escapes at the end and we are left to wonder what will happen next.

As a collected volume I thought this was a great read even though it did feel a little repetitive of the first volume but who doesn't like the Reverse Flash, Flash dynamic.  In terms of setting up Flashpoint I would have liked to see one more volume of The Flash lead into it, another six issues would have helped lay the groundwork a little more and could have fleshed out some of Barry Allen's choices when it came to that event.  All in all I am looking forward to the next adventure. 

The Flash Vol. 1: The Dastardly Death of the Rogues

Barry Allen made his return in Flash: Rebirth but he still hasn't gotten used to being back at his old life.  This volume takes place during the Brightest Day event.  Barry is wanted by the Renegades a future version of the Rogues for the murder of Mirror Monarch.  Flash believes he is innocent and has been framed for this crime.  However the Renegades wish to arrest and try him before he commits this crime.  Barry is racing against the clock trying to prove his own innocence.  While the Flash is dealing with the Renegades Captain Boomerang has returned to the land of the living and he doesn't know why he is trying to figure how to get back into the good graces of the Rogues.  This new lease on life has given Digger some new powers as well and he can't wait to show them off.  The real hero of this story is Iris Allen as she cracks the case and proves Barry's innocence and the Renegades realize that they duped by one of their own.  But back to Captain Boomerang he realizes that he doesn't need the Rogues anymore and to prove that he sets out to free the Reverse Flash.  

There is a lot to like in this volume of the Flash first off is that this is Geoff Johns writing it is a shame that Johns's is writing less and less at DC Comics I have really enjoyed everything he has put his pen to.  Also this volume is illustrated by Francis Manapul who took over the title during the New 52.  There is a scene I absolutely love in this book where an apartment building is destroyed during a fight with the Flash.  Barry runs around gathering the materials and rebuilds the building for the tenants.  I am looking forward to whatever else Geoff Johns has planned.

The Flash: Rebirth

 Geoff Johns was to DC Comics what Brian Michael Bendis was to Marvel Comics.  Johns’s run on Green Lantern is still one of my favorite runs on any super-hero character.  Geoff Johns found a way to make Hal Jordan the Green Lantern again and do it in a very respectful way to the material that had been written before.  Now he has done it again with The Flash: Rebirth and he even did it again recently when he course corrected the DC Universe as a whole with DC: Rebirth.  The Flash: Rebirth is a great story as it brings back the Barry Allen version of the Flash who died back in the 1980s during the event that brought DC Comics into the modern era with Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Barry Allen has returned from the dead he has come out of the speed force and he is coping with being back.  There are some great character moments between Barry and several of his supporting cast but also the rest of the Justice League.  The series really delves into the death of Barry’s mother as that is such a pivotal moment in his history but also his connection to the speed force and other speedsters.  There are several other speedsters and each of them has a unique history which is sort of summarized in this book.  The Reverse Flash and the Black Flash play a part in this story as well.  I won’t delve into how the Black Flash fits in with the story but the Reverse Flash is essential to this story that Johns has crafted.  The reveal that he has been in a blood feud with Barry even before Barry become the Flash manipulating his life even when he was a child is just chilling.  Imagine if the Joker was manipulating Batman even when Bruce Wayne’s parents were still alive or Green Goblin going to war with Peter Parker while uncle Ben is still alive.  This is such a reveal that it reshapes Barry Allen’s origin in such a way that he has probably the worst arch enemy ever.  I really look forward to reading the Flash series that spins out of this and leads into Flashpoint.

Catwoman: When in Rome

This book has the same creative team but it doesn’t have the same scope as the two Batman stories because there are fewer characters.  This book aslo strikes a rather different tone which grew on me after a while but I found a little odd at first.  This book is funny because it teams up Catwoman with the Riddler and their association leads to all types of high jinx.  Selena has gone to Italy to find out if Carmine Falcone was truly her father.  Her quest leads her on several adventures and run-ins with the mafia in Rome she gets some answers and is mostly left with more questions.  She has a final showdown with the Riddler who was playing on curiosity about her past to get her to steal this very special ring.  In the end she is able to survive and get one up on the Edward but she did not find the answers she was truly seeking.

Again Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale deliver a solid story and art with this book.  Is it essential to read this to understand Batman: Dark Victory, no.  If you are a Catwoman fan or a completest of Loeb and Sale work then yes you will want to read this.  I believe this is the version of Selena that Anne Hathaway based her performance on for the Dark Knight Rises.  This title is not essential but it does open that world up just a little more.

Batman: Dark Victory

Batman: Dark Victory picks up where Batman: The Long Halloween left off.  The Holiday killer has been caught and is behind bars the Roman is dead, but our heroes are coping with the loss of Harvey Dent.  Two-Face has taken over and the last remnants of Harvey Dent are slowly being erased throughout this book.  There is a shining light in this book as it showcases how Dick Grayson became the first Boy Wonder to team up side by side with the Dark Knight.  There are new characters to make there appearances as well such as Janice Porter.  This book is sort of a mirror reflection to Batman: The Long Halloween because instead of the mob being targeted police officers are being targeted every holiday by a new killer called the Hangman and a piece of evidence is found at each scene linking Harvey Dent to each victim.  Janice Porter is the new district attorney but she is hiding something that when it is revealed is one of the greatest twist that Jeph Loeb has ever written in a Batman story because it’s not something you expect.  There is more of a shock value I think at the end of this book when it is revealed who the real Hangman killer is.

Like I mentioned earlier one of the shining lights of this book is seeing the origin of Dick Grayson how and why his parents died.  How he discovered the Bat-cave and how he became Robin.  It doesn’t take very long but it is something that felt quite fulfilling to see put to the page in this collection.  There is surprisingly little Bruce Wayne in this book compared to its predecessor.  The relationship between Bruce Wayne and Selena Kyle seems to dissolve in this book as he pushes her away in his grief over losing Dent.  But on a side not it is because of events in this book that there is a spin-off story of sorts about a journey that Catwoman goes on in between two of the chapters in this book.

If you read Batman: The Long Halloween then you mostly know what to expect with this sequel closing out some of the early adventures of the Caped Crusader.  I highly recommend it on the artwork alone as I love Tim Sale’s work but it is a very well crafted story.

Batman: The Long Halloween

Some of my favorite books to come out of either Marvel or DC Comics are the collaborations by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale.  Batman: The Long Halloween is the start of the Holiday Quartet by Jeph Loeb in the other books in this are Batman: Haunted Knight, Batman: Dark Victory and Catwoman: When in Rome.  Batman: The Long Halloween takes place after Batman: Year One.  These stories are composed more in the vein of crime noir tales than Batman stories and that is what makes them so intriguing this is the era when crime shifted from the mob to Batman’s rogue gallery that we know and love today.  This first book showcases the downfall of Carmine Falcone aka the Roman and the main kingpin of Gotham City.  This book also gives us the origin of Two-Face and the downfall of Harvey Dent.

First off before we move on to story the art work is spectacular on every page a Tim Sales drawings are amazing and the colors work so well with the setting and tone of the story.  Pretty much all of Batman’s villains appear in this book at one point or another.  I really like the character development that was put into this story as we see the building of the relationship between Batman and Jim Gordon, Gordon and Dent, Batman and Catwoman.  Again back to the art work in this book Tim Sale is masterful at framing and perspective.

The story centers on the Holiday killings in which a different member or groups of members are killed each holiday of the year and all of the victims have connections to the mob.  This is truly a different type of crime noir story because it takes so many of those tropes and it turns them on their heads.  The mafia is on the defensive the entire book instead of being on the offensive.  Batman is trying to solve the case one way while Gordon and Dent are attacking it from another angle.  This book also perfectly captures Bruce Wayne’s public life balanced with his private life something that can rarely be seen outside of Batman the Animated Series.  The fall of Harvey Dent is the perfect cliff hanger to leave this book on because for those of us who are comic fans or Batman fans in particular we already know the story or at least the broad strokes of the story.

I fully recommend this book if you are a Batman fan by any means this is a title for you.  I may be a little longer to get through but in the end you will be rewarded for sticking with it.

Batman: The Man Who Laughs

This Batman story takes us back to the early days of the Dark Knights career in Gotham.  There are really two stories collected together in this collection.  The first of which is The Man Who Laughs this is one of the quintessential Joker stories.  The second is titled Made of Wood this is a story that teams-up Batman with the Green Lantern.

The Joker story is by far the main attraction of this book if you were disgusted by Scott Snyder's take on the Joker I would say you may want to shy away from this then.  As this title starts out as a serial killer who done it story that Captain Gordon is investigating.  This is considered to be Batman's first encounter with the Joker after the Red Hood at Ace Chemical.  Joker targets people in this story in his usual fashion with chemicals poisoning them and leaving them grinning and bug eyed.  Joker's introduction in this book is truly chilling I would love to see DC Animation take a stab at this story.  Joker leaves a cryptic message at the newly opened Arkham Asylum even though he hasn't been incarcerated there yet.  The Joker has set his sights on the rich men of Gotham City and to distract the police why he goes about his mission he arms prisoners who are set to be sent to Arkham Asylum.  This story shows Batman's skills as a detective as he starts trying to figure out who the Joker is and it takes him back to Ace Chemical and that fateful night against the Red Hood.  Batman confronts the Joker at the water reservoir.  This tale is directly referenced in Scott Snyder's work and the way the Joker acts in this story is very similar to that of Heath Ledger's portrayal of the character in The Dark Knight. 

The second story is a delight as it shows the history of Gotham City but the really selling point for the story is art by Tim Sale.  Made of Wood is a straight up serial killer murder mystery.  It is told primarily in present time with Jim Gordon taking a staring role as the retired police commissioner returning to the job to solve one last case.  This story while not as gripping as the first is a great detective story none the less.  The killer is nothing special in the story in fact you kind of feel sorry for them in the end.  The team-up between between the original Green Lantern, Alan Scott and Batman heroes from to different eras.  Working together to solve a case lost in between the cracks and forgotten for decades.  Overall if you are a fan of Joker or Tim Sale art this book is a must read.

Batman Vol. 10: Epilogue

This is the last volume of Scott Snyder's run on the main Batman title but not the end of his run on the character.  This collection is filled with little one shot stories setting up the next run.  The few issues in this book explore the relationship between Batman and Gotham City.  It also delves into part of his childhood and how Alfred motivated him to become the man he is at the end of this volume.  The annual issue ties in with the events of Arkham Manor and the Superheavy story-arc.  The Futures End one shot is part of this collection which ties in with that event.  The gem of this volume is the inclusion of the Batman: Rebirth issue where Scott Snyder hands over the reigns to Tom King.  in this volume readers get to see who Duke Thomas is about to become.  The issue is very Calendar Man heavy and has portrayed him as interesting villain.  I am interested to see where Tom King takes the Batman mythos as a whole.  There is no doubt that Scott Snyder has left his mark on Batman similar to the way Grant Morrison did just not as jarring.  It has been an enjoyable ride.

Batman Vol. 9: Bloom

The second volume of Jim Gordon as the caped crusader and continuing the Superheavy story-arc.  This ups the action after Mr. Bloom crashed Geri Powers party.  While Batman is attempting to find a way to stop Bloom, Bruce Wayne is looking to find out who he is.  There is a really well done seen where he is sitting on bench by this lake talking to a pale skinned man in a while suit.  This scene is so full of tension as you know in the back of your mind that it is the Joker.  

Mr. Bloom has tricked Gordon and taken him hostage as he is wreaking havoc on Gotham City.  This is almost worse than the War Games story-arc.  In the previous volume Mr. Bloom came off creepy and mysterious, all of that has been thrown out the window with this volume.  I think Snyder jumped the shark with him in this volume.  Bloom is doing just what the Joker did in Endgame arming or infecting the citizens of the city to fight for him.  

The real gem of this story is how Bruce Wayne becomes Batman again the dialog between him and Alfred is touching and amazing.  The idea that Bruce Wayne has to die to become Batman, is simple but well executed.  Also the fact the Julie Madison came down to the cave to be the person to press the button because Alfred couldn't sacrificing her own happiness it was truly touching is probably one of the best things Snyder has written.  

Batman the real Batman has returned to take down Bloom and rescue this city and he doesn't disappoint.  Bloom is taken down but I feel it is a cop out as we never find out who Bloom was but we do find out who created him Daryl Gutierrez who was the engineer for Jim Gordon's bunny-bat suit.  One the things I really liked about this two volume story-arc is that it was written in a very self aware style.  that Snyder knew how much hate he was going to get for doing this to Batman similar to the what Dan Slott did to Spider-Man over at Marvel.  This is the last main story of Scott Snyder's the next and final volume is an epilogue of sorts to the run as a whole and set up for what is to come with Rebirth.

Batman Vol. 8: Superheavy

Endgame has ended and the ending was quite shocking to say the least it was the most gruesome fight the Joker and Batman have ever had.  With that being said I feel that story-arc could have been executed better.  It seems like Scott Snyder has been chasing the great Batman scribes that came before him. writers like Frank Miller, Alan Moore, Jeph Loeb, Dennis O'Neil, Chuck Dixon and Grant Morrison.  I know there are others but these specific writers left a mark on the Batman mythos that others have not been able to.  Scott Snyder seems to be trying really hard to be counted among those writers, each of his story-arcs can be tied to one of the stories by those writers I have listed and this new arc is no different.  

Its starts off that Batman is gone since the Endgame event,  Snyder does do a lot of set for this volume and if you have been reading his run your used to this.  Powers International has swallowed up Wayne Enterprises through a take over.  I had to look up Powers International because I didn't know who they were it would be nice to have some more build-up when the writer makes some changes to Gotham City because the as Snyder has voice before along with other authors the city is a unique character to the Batman mythos.  Anyway Batman is gone and Powers International has taken it upon themselves to build a better Batman.  Geri Powers teaming with the GCPD is sanctioning a new Batman that works for them, is trained by them and answers to them.  The person they choose to take the mantel of Batman is Jim Gordon.  It sounds like a bad idea and fans have been very critical of this move.  Unlike the Knightfall saga where Jean-Paul Valley took over as Batman when Bruce Wayne was broken by Bane; Jim Gordon is very aware that this is a bad idea but he does it because he doesn't trust anyone else to do it.   But also like the Knightfall saga Jim's tenure as Batman is short lived and confined to the Superheavy story-arc.  

Batman has been replaced three different times in main continuity the first by Jean-Paul Valley, Dick Grayson and now Jim Gordon.  The only one that fans have loved was Dick Grayson because of the way it was executed and built up.  Jim Gordon's suit is very reminiscent of Robocop and makes me long for the days of the Jean-Paul Valley suit.  However Batman is not the only change to Batman mythos but also the villain who is Mr. Bloom is brand new.  Mr. Bloom started out as a very cool creepy and awesome villain for this whole first volume.  Could Mr. Bloom be the evolution of where we see Batman's rogues gallery going.  

It is revealed that even though Batman may have died at the end of Endgame, Bruce Wayne did not he just has amnesia.  This part of the story I loved the most because it is really well constructed and executed and it is a unique enough to work.  In the past Bruce Wayne has been framed for murder, replaced by Hush in the public spotlight and declared dead.  But until now he was never given a clean slate.  This isn't turning me away from Batman I'm to invested but I am taking a more critical stance on Snyder's choices during his run on the character.

  

Batman Vol. 7: Endgame

Scott Snyder has spent his entire run really delving into the psyche of the Joker & this story is no exception.  If Batman: Death of the Family was a look at the Joker's love for Batman this is a look at the Joker's hate for the Dark Knight.  Now this edition is by no means the definitive version of the story there is a Joker: Endgame edition that includes a few other tie ins to make it complete honestly that version is most likely an improvement but this is the one I read.  The story starts out with Joker having been gone for awhile but in reality he has been hiding in plain sight.  There are some really good & twisted acts the Joker pulls off in this story-arc.  The first is poisoning the Justice League & having them go after Bruce Wayne.  I really would have liked to see how the Joker got to all of them I think that was a missed opportunity that Snyder didn't capitalize on.  Joker's big reveal of who he was working at Arkham was brilliantly executed I would have liked to see play out for a longer period of time so that this is someone that Batman, the police, staff & the inmates of Gotham have interacted with for many issues before the reveal it would have made the reveal even more dramatic. 

The Joker's main weapon of choice in this book is a two pronged attack on the one hand he is using his chemical expertise to create a chemical to make everybody go mad.  I have to say it is nice to see Snyder take the Joker in this route in terms of giving him a weapon & making him a threat to Gotham as a whole that hasn't been done in a while.  Most of the stories that I can remember the Joker goes after individuals.  That is still the case in this story but the city has become his minions.  Greg Capullo's art is almost more compelling than Snyder's writing.  The showdown between the Joker & Jim Gordon is simply amazing it gave me chills just reading it.  Those two characters have so much shared history with what the Joker has done to torment Gordon it was just amazing to see.  Likewise with the reveal of patient zero being Joe Chill & Duke's family about to play the part of the Wayne's in Crime Alley while Batman watches is one of the most amazing set ups but I think it would have worked much better if it had been built up more.  The Court of Owls makes a brief return in this story but they have chosen not to interfere because they want to take over after Batman's defeat.  Joker's parade through Gotham City with the trophies from the Bat-Cave is awesome & a nice throwback to the 1980's Batman movie where Joker throws his own parade.  The final showdown between Joker & Batman is one of the most brutal outside of Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns.  The brutality doesn't bother me its the fact that they made a reference to the Lazarus Pits in this story & it is central to curing the City but Ra's Al Ghul is no where to be seen in this story I would have liked to see the Clown Prince try to taken down Batman while also facing a threat from the Demon's Head for contaminating a Lazarus Pit.  Now that it is revealed that the Court of Owls also uses these pits for the Talons I hope so see them going head to head or teaming up with Ra's in the future.  I feel that this was one of the biggest lost opportunities with this story-arc & could have lead to so much more. 

There were several things that took me out of this story I think most of it falls in the editors lap but I think Snyder & Capullo can be blamed as well.  First off when the Joker appears in the Bat-Cave his face is messed up pretty bad but I have no idea when that happened because when we the reader saw him swimming his face was fine. The second was the switch between Bruce & Dick in the story it was vaguely foreshadowed but it was executed poorly & should have had a better effect on the outcome of the story than it did.  As I have said in the past Snyder wrote a great Dick Grayson Batman in Batman: The Black Mirror but he isn't as adept to writing Bruce Wayne Batman.  The back up story where the inmates of Arkham are telling their stories of who they think the Joker really is or I should say what he really is; it makes for an interesting side story but it doesn't feel right to make it part of DC Universe canon.  It just doesn't feel right that Batman's biggest bad should be the devil incarnate.  I could see it working as an Elseworlds story but for canon work this is really what took me out of the story I couldn't agree with this.  

There are several characters that should have died in this book & if Snyder wanted to truly shake up the Bat-world he could have killed off any or all of them but each one was kept alive in kind of a cop-out feel way.  Back to Jim Gordon in this story-arc I really think they could have killed him off in this & it probably should have happened.  I really don't see how he survived that interaction with the Joker.  Alfred goes head to head with the Joker & loses a hand for his trouble.  This is by far the most gruesome scene prior to the end of the arc.  I still don't understand why Joker left him alive.  The third death should have been Dick Grayson simply because of the switch which wasn't executed well as I stated before.  I understand why they didn't kill him off  because they tried to Forever Evil which compromised his secret identity as Nightwing.  I feel this would have been the right story to kill him in & it would have put another Robin under the Joker's crowbar.  Now if your upset with Dick Grayson getting the ax in the street battle you could have switched him with any of the supporting Bat-Family Batwing, Bluebird, Batgirl, Red Hood, Red Robin, Spoiler or Batwoman.  It wouldn't have mattered I think someone should have gotten the ax.  I know that would have been controversial & fans would be up in arms but it would have proved how high the stakes were.  Remember this is after the death of Damian Wayne & before Robin Rises event so there is no straight up Robin. 

I wish that there had been more substance to this story-arc than there was.  Batman is one of those rare comic book characters that benefits from having story-arcs that are more of the maxi-series than mini-series in terms of issues.  They need the build up to be fully effective.  This story felt rushed to hit all the right notes I feel it could have been longer to make it more effective.  I would have liked to see an epilogue issue of how they retrieved Bruce Wayne's body from the cave-in at the finale; done in a way that doesn't spoil the next arc.  That is another thing that I have noticed throughout this whole run & I didn't realize how much it bothers me until now Snyder doesn't transition between arc's he leaves them like they are individual books which is good but if you are trying to read an entire run there needs to be some connectivity.

Batman Vol. 6: Graveyard Shift

This collection is a mixed bag of single & double issue stories that Scott Snyder & friends put together.  Issue zero in this book really is connected to the Zero Year story-arc so I don’t understand why it wasn’t collected in those volumes particularly the first volume.  However that story is not as important it is the backup written by James Tynion IV that focuses on the first lighting of the Bat-Signal it showcases so many characters of the Bat-Family in there & how inspired they are by seeing the signal.  As a Batman fan I have a big problem with this in that it skews Jason Todd’s origin writers seem to forget that he was ever Robin & keep throwing references to him becoming Red Hood.  That they forget why he took the Red Hood persona in the first place, it was to psychologically mess with Batman due to his history with the Joker & what the Joker did to Jason Todd.  This is one of the biggest problems for me out of the New 52 era.  I also have issues with how they have treated Tim Drake but that is a discussion for another entry. 

The next story is the requiem issue for Robin R.I.P. which was the finally of Grant Morrison’s multi-year spanning Batman run through multiple titles.  This issue sees Batman deal with the loss of another Robin but this time it goes much deeper as Damien Wayne was his son.  This is also a very Harper Row centered story.  The following two issue arc is a Clayface story that is truly suspenseful.  I have come to realize that Snyder may not always write the best voice for Batman but for his rogues gallery he is spot on.  The backup’s to the Clayface story take on the mystical side of Gotham City.  It’s not a great story but it is nice to see Batman & Superman team-up.  The following single issue story is a Batman Eternal crossover that was written by Snyder & friends.  This crossover sees many things happen such as Jim Gordon be arrested, Catwoman becoming the Kingpin of crime in Gotham City & the return of Stephanie Brown as Spoiler. 

There are two more single issue stories one which sees Batman helping the staff of Arkham Asylum test out their new security system.  Batman comes face to face with one of the oldest inmates of Arkham.  She accuses Batman of changing the purpose of Arkham from a place of healing to a living hell.  The next story showcases that no criminal is above the law when it comes to crime & they are not below Batman’s radar.  Batman is on the hunt for a serial killer who is murdering Dr. Thompkins patients & burying them in potter’s field.  It is a great little story about Batman’s crusade on terror.

Batman Vol. 5: Zero Year, Dark City

The second half of Scott Snyder’s Batman origin story-arc is full of highs & lows.  There is a lot to like in this volume the first Batmobile for example is a prowler that is purple & yellow that can jump like the Tumbler from the Christopher Nolan movies & drive on the ceiling of the tunnel.  The villain that is introduced in this story is Dr. Death I can’t say l like him very much as he is a very outlandish villain for Batman to go up against in this early set story.  His motivations are that of a disgruntled employee whose experiment has gone horribly wrong.  He reminds of the Man-Bat in many ways but he is just a pawn to the real threat. Even though I don’t like Karl Hellfern as a villain I did a little research & he apparently is one of Batman’s early villains so kudos to Scott Snyder for including him for a new generation. 

It is during the first half of this collection that focuses on Dr. Death & his supposed plan one of his victims is Dr. Isley so it was nice to see Poison Ivy briefly before she goes all villain.  Along with seeing the first Batmobile we get to see the first Bat-boat & the Bat-blimp.  The big reveal at the end of the first half of this book is that Dr. Death is not the big bag but instead a pawn of the Riddler.  The Riddler is beginning to take center stage as Batman & Dr. Death have their final showdown.  One of the great things about this story is that the Riddler is able to best Batman throughout most of this story & the first half reads very much like a Batman story.  Batman crashes with the falling platform only to wake up to a whole new city.  This is where the first volume started. 

With the second half of this book the we are introduced to Duke Thomas who becomes a new ally for Batman later on in Snyder’s run.  The Riddler has transformed Gotham City into a Savage Land where nature is working to reclaim the city & parts of the city are flooded.  For me this is where Snyder appears to have jumped the shark with his story.  I understand how it is possible given the theft of Pamela Isley’s research but at the same time it feels very fanciful.  The Riddler is holding the city hostage while also waiting for a citizen of Gotham to rise up & be a hero for the people.  This entire scenario feels very old hat especially since it was part of the plot for the Dark Knight Rises.  Also it is never explained how the Riddler was able to get all of his equipment as he doesn’t seem to have any henchmen.

Batman faces off against the Riddler in a battle of wits multiple times in this book all are memorable but it is the last two that I am most enthralled with.  In their second encounter Batman is stalling for time which the Riddler seems to see through & pulls a Jabba the Hutt by dropping him into a lion pit.  After Batman dispatches of the lions in a cool & unorthodox way he is off to find the Riddler.  The final showdown for Batman & the Riddler takes place where Bruce Wayne first encountered Edward Nygma at the museum in front of the Sphinx.  The whole entrance of the Riddler coming out of the shadows clapping reminds me of the Joker clapping in The Dark Knight or the entrance of Silva in Skyfall.  The Riddler has one final game for Batman to play for the future of Gotham City.  This is straight out of the classic Batman stories of the past & the animated series.  A series of riddles & each misstep is detrimental to the safety of the city; it is simply chilling as Nygma explains the rules & says “rrrriddle me this, Batman.”  That came straight out of Batman: Forever for me with Jim Carry’s portray of the Riddler.  The giant penny makes a return in this story as well as the origin of the Bat-Signal to warn the fighter jets.  The Riddler has the mother of all failsafe mechanisms that Batman has to get around to save the city.

Again Snyder plays to his strengths which is character development & conversations I like those moments of just talking between Bruce Wayne & Alfred but also Bruce Wayne / Batman & Jim Gordon.  There is some great backstory here that is portrayed by all of the characters involved.  It is also great to see a younger Lucius Fox interacting with a young Bruce Wayne.  There is one splash page in this collection that hints at many other characters & their involvement in this event but their issues are not included in this story frankly I don’t see why they were even alluded to because this is primarily a Batman story.  There is a nice little back story about Harper Row & it is still not clear what Scott Snyder has planned for her.  

Again Greg Capullo shows us just why is the artist for this book every page is amazing there is a great single image of Batman performing a leap of faith from the blimp to the Riddler’s floating platform with is a reference to The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller.  Now what Batman origin story would be complete without touching on the death of Thomas & Martha Wayne.  Snyder does just that but he approaches it from the perspective of Bruce Wayne which puts a new spin on it & the potential trauma that it creates in him.  There are a lot of big reveals in this story as the Riddler is the first official inmate in Arkham.  But also that Bruce Wayne checked himself in there many years before because he could not cope with the loss of his parents & he was going through therapy to create a new personality for himself.  This is truly an amazing & terrifying aspect to introduce into the Batman mythos.  The end of this collection is truly touching & shows the great devotion Alfred has to protecting him when an old girlfriend comes back to Gotham to reconnect with Bruce.  As readers we see both scenarios of that meeting & it is the real one that pulls on our heartstrings. 

There is a lot to like in this story-arc as a whole the two volumes of Zero Year but for everything I like there is something I dislike.  For all of the characters involved there are a few decisions that they make that are either out of character for them or reckless in their execution.  For example Jim Gordon leaping off a building into a flooded subway stairwell Batman drinking gasoline & blowing flame at a lion while it looks cool it seems out of character for Batman.  The failsafe that the Riddler has is again another out of wreckless moment where Batman attaches it to himself to defibrillate himself to save the city.  In the end Snyder & Capullo have crafted a great story & I have no doubt that history will showcase them as one of the premiere creative teams to ever work on Batman but this is still not a tail for everyone.  If you love the Riddler as a villain then this is a must read.

Batman Vol. 4: Zero Year, Secret City

With this volume Scott Snyder's characterization of Bruce Wayne is starting to wane on me as a reader & a fan.  Scott Snyder is taking us back to the early days of the Batman in Gotham City.  The main antagonist in this story is the Red Hood Gang run by Red Hood One who any real Batman fan knows is the Joker.  This tale is very surreal when compared with Batman: The Man Who Laughs & Batman: The Killing Joke both of which touch on the origin of the Joker.  This book has made that tale a little more convoluted than it was previously.  Especially with the involvement of Bruce Wayne's uncle & Wayne Enterprises.  So the overall story I have some issues with but the little things are what truly make this book amazing & are where Snyder excels.

This is the early years of Batman so seeing an early version of Batman without a cape in cobbled together tactical gear on a dirt bike with purple gloves is awesome & a nice throwback to earlier stories.  There are some great bits of dialogue in this book one moment in particular is between Alfred & Bruce about how is conducting himself.  The real jem of this book is the introduction of Edward Nigma.  He starts out as a consultant for Philip Cain & Wayne Enterprises.  There is a nice exchange between him & Bruce Wayne in the museum before they ever meet in at their alter egos.  

The reveal of the origin of The Riddler was particularly impressive because it is plays off the way he was introduced in Batman Forever.  I am interested in seeing where this is going, however I feel that this is story-arc will not live up to the previous stories of Batman or the Joker's origin.  This book is not a replacement for Batman: Year One it is to be read in addition to that title.  Frank Miller's four part story-arc is still the definitive version of the origin of Batman. Hopefully part two raises the bar a little higher because I am expecting more from Scott Snyder.

Batman Vol. 3: Death of the Family

Scott Snyder is a true master of horror & he has made the Batman series t a truly horrifying tale that you almost don't want to read with the lights off.  This is perhaps Snyder's first misstep in that he didn't quite stick to the landing of this story-arc.  This was supposed to be his big Joker story & Scott Snyder mined the hell out of the archives for this tale.  However for all of the set up that we were given the pay off just wasn't there in the end or it was there but it was done in such a way that it went over the casual readers heads much like the ending of The Killing Joke by Alan Moore.

From the start this story is a punch to the gut with the Joker showing up at the Gotham City Police Station.  That entire scene is chilling & down right scary like the opening scene in the first book of the Song of Ice & Fire series.  The Joker in a room full of police officers & just snapping necks while the lights are out all the while Jim Gordon is trying to find him to shoot him.  Just like in the Dark Knight the Joker targets the mayor but it is only a diversion from who his real target is.  The story even goes back to the origin of the Joker that was crafted in The Man Who Laughs story-arc by Ed Brubaker.  As Batman tracks him down to Ace Chemical only to be tricked by Harley Quinn, while Joker strikes in Bruce Wayne's very home at Alfred.

During this entire story this interpretation of Joker is always one step ahead of Batman & his motivations read like he is obsessed with Batman in a romantic stalker type fashion.  Joker maneuvers the other players into position with ease  demonstrating why he truly is Batman's greatest rogue out of all of them.  His confrontation with Penguin is a great piece of writing.  Once the Joker makes it clear that he is coming after all of the Bat-Family that supports Batman, Bruce Wayne decides to tell the the story behind the giant Joker card in the Bat-Cave.  This is all leading up to the big show down between Joker & the Batman at Arkham Asylum where Joker has prepared everything.  The big reveal of what the Joker has done at the end would have been game changing & the most heinous thing he has ever done but it was an illusion the punch line of this story is that the Joker wants to take away the safety net around Batman to make the Bat-Family mistrust Batman himself.  To that end this was a successful story but it felt like a cop out compared to the build up that Snyder put into this story which was alluding to a more grisly ending.  The magical touch that really makes this story pop is Greg Capullo's art along with the rest of the art team on this book.  There is no doubt that the team of Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo is one of the greatest things to happen to DC.  They complement each other so well.  If you are a fan of Joker stories this is not one to pass up.

Batman Vol. 2: The City of Owls

The second half of Scott Snyder's opening Batman story-arc.  The Court of Owls has released their Talons on the city.  City officials are dying left & right, Alfred has sent out a call to all of the Bat-Family.  Wayne Manor itself is under attack as the Talons fight Bruce Wayne in its halls, on the roof & finally in the Bat-Cave.  Batman is able to shut down the Talons he then goes looking for the court itself only to find them all dead in a secret meeting room.  What really makes this story are the little tidbits of mythos that are thrown out from it. 

The first is that after the death of Thomas & Martha Wayne, Bruce went looking for the court.  He felt that the court was in some way responsible for their deaths.  However in all of his searching as a child he was never able to find them.  The the building in which he found the deceased court is the same building that he came up with as their headquarters when he was a child.  The second is the story about Mr. Freeze this is one of the creepiest stories in this book.  In just the annual issue Snyder has crafted an origin tale mixed with the discovery that Freeze unknowingly helped the Court of Owls.  Victor's origin is tragic & it shows just how homicidal he truly is.  The reveal of who Nora is also great.  I still believe that nothing will surpass Batman the Animated Series episode Heart of Ice but this was damn close.  The next story was told through flashbacks involving Alfred's father & Martha Wayne.  Martha was pregnant with a second child Bruce was about three at the time.  She was being threatened by an unknown group.  There was a car accident & the baby was lost.  Jarvis blames himself as he keeps receiving phone calls from this mysterious person.  Jarvis is writing his son to warn him not to come to this cursed city.  But a Talon has come for Jarvis kills him in a burning building.  That reveal also plays with the events that happen in the present.  Lincoln March who was running for Mayor of Gotham City.  Lincoln drops that bombshell that he is Bruce's long lost little brother.  He was taken to the children's orphanage that Martha Wayne funded after the accident.  He killed the court because they began to view him as a liability.  He supposedly dies in an exploding building.  But the damage is done through the reveal or is it.  Bruce does some research & there is evidence that doesn't add up but it is still inconclusive.  Only four other stories come to mind that shake the very core of Bruce Wayne's world,  Batman & Son, Hush, Under the Red Hood & R.I.P.  I like the potential for future stories.  If this was the only Batman story that Snyder was to write that would be enough but I have a feeling that for as long as Snyder is contracted to DC comics that he will have some influence on the Dark Knight.

Batman Vol. 1: The Court of the Owls

Scott Snyder is no stranger to the Dark Knight before the New 52 he wrote one of the all time favorite Batman tales in Batman: The Black Mirror.  I do think that the New 52 hurt Batman in terms of continuity the only series that came through unscathed was Green Lantern because that was Geoff Johns baby, but I digress.  Snyder's opening salvo with Batman in the New 52 is one of the great lessons of mining the material something that all writers are able to with Batman & friends easily.  In this case Snyder creates a new threat for Batman that is built into the very city itself & has an even richer history than Batman does.  The Court of Owls is one of the greatest Batman creations since the League of Shadows was created.  

The first seven issues of the series can be found in this first volume.  Bruce Wayne is trying to add a more modern look to Gotham by addressing some of the infrastructural problems of the city.  Gotham has always looked old fashioned compared to Metropolis.  Snyder builds a sense of suspense in his writing that Grant Morrison was unable to in his run on the character.  Snyder plays off the natural relationship between bats & owls.  Snyder's first story-arc is broken down into two volumes this first sees that court push Bruce Wayne to the limit.  Batman has underestimated the court he went searching for them after they tried to kill Bruce Wayne.  However the court was to crafty & Batman wakes up in an underground maze.  This maze is used to play with the court's victims before the Talon dispatches them.  Snyder has even crafted a very catchy rhyme to strike fear into the reader similar to Nightmare on Elm Street & other scary movies.  Batman finds a way to escape the maze after having a final showdown with the Talon.  There is a big reveal at the end of this volume that Dick Grayson was in line to be trained as one of the new Talons.  The court has a plan to demonstrate their power in Gotham & they release all of their Talons to take out Batman & the city's leaders.  Snyder makes the reader want more with the cliff hanger at the midway point of this story.