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.

X-23: Target X

This book catches everybody up on what happens to Laura after she leaves the Facility.  Laura seeks out her aunt & cousin.  This book shows just how hard it is for her to fit in with normal people, especially at school.  The one person that she does seem to be able to open up to is her cousin Megan.They talk about everything from Laura's training & killing to Megan's abduction.  It turns out that Debbie Laura's aunt, her boyfriend also works for the Facility.  He became involved with a Debbie after the abduction of Megan in case X-23 ever returned to them.  He plans to use the trigger scent to make X-23 kill Megan & Debbie however this backfires & he becomes the first victim of the blood rage that X-23 is sent into.  Megan & Debbie run upstairs as Debbie still has the scent on her they hide in the bathroom with the shower on trying to wash the scent off meanwhile X-23 is coming through the door like a deranged serial killer.  She gets through the door just as they have washed the scent away it is a beautiful scene as you see Laura's eyes clear from that rage she was previously in.  A new character is introduced in this book who is ultimately a foil for X-23 she was her tormentor & handler at the Facility.  Kimura is another creation of the Facility someone to keep Laura in check it is never really explained what her powers are just that Laura can't hurt her, she has unbreakable skin.  Laura & her family escape blowing up the house in the process, she escorts her family to the Canadian border & then heads off to find the man who made all of this possible.  

X-23 tracks down Wolverine in New York but she can't get close to him cause he is surrounded by telepathic mutants.  Wolverine leaves & heads out to the New York / Canadian border he knows she is following even before she gets there.  X-23 has come to kill Wolverine.  The fight is quick but expertly portrayed as X-23 attempts to stop Logan's healing factor from working during the fight.  She wants to kill Wolverine & herself because they are weapons.  Wolverine has come to terms with this but is unwilling to let Laura kill herself.  Their fight is cut short by S.H.I.E.L.D. & Captain America.  Steve Rogers & Matt Murdock are interrogating Laura to find out how much she is accountable for.  Most of the story is told in flashbacks from this point.  Steve Rogers is unwavering in his belief that X-23 is guilty but Matt Murdock comes to view her as the victim.  It is only at the end of the story that Captain America puts her on a bus back to New York to go to Wolverine because he can help her have a normal life.  

This book takes place in between New X-Men by Grant Morrison & the House of M story-arc  This book has several great character moments.  It is really quite touching that Logan received a letter from Sarah Kinney about X-23 existence & he even tried to find her but he apparently didn't look to hard but he could have if he really wanted to.  Logan has always taken pity on girls who are orphaned or given a hard time in life.  Laura is Logan's spiritual & physical successor but only time will tell how he will treat her as a daughter.  The two girls who have that type of relationship with him are Kitty Pryde & Jubilee.  Currently Laura has taken up the mantel of Wolverine after Logan's apparent dearth but once he returns who knows what will happen.

X-23: Innocence Lost

I have loved X-23 since I saw her debut on X-Men: Evolution.  So I figured it was time I delved into her comic debut.  This book focuses on the origin of the character & is a really great introduction to her.  She barely says anything this entire book the real main character of the story is Doctor Sarah Kinney.  After reading Wolverine: Old Man Logan & then piling this on top makes Logan an even more emotional ride because this is an equally emotional story with a very tragic ending.

Sarah Kinney was brought into the facility to help recreate the Weapon X Program she is working alongside Zander Rice who is the son of David Rice one of the scientist who died when Wolverine escaped the original facility.  She runs into a road block in the original genetic code so instead of trying to recreate the Y chromosome she instead clones the X chromosome to create a female clone.  Zander does like her from the moment she is brought on board so he keeps challenging her.  It gets so bad that the only way she can prove that a female clone would be just as good as the original is to carry the clone to term herself.  So she becomes the surrogate mother to X-23.  But due to this situation Zander has started digging himself into a hole as well  since he started having an affair with his bosses wife.   Sarah became emotionally involved with X-23 because she gave birth to her & her niece was trying to connect with her.  Once her X Gene manifested they started sending her on missions as an assassin all over the world.  I would really like to see a story where she goes up against the Winter Soldier.  Zander leaves her for dead during a mission but she comes home anyway.  Sarah uses her to rescue her niece from a kidnapper which gives X-23 her first taste of heroism.  In the end Zander is trying to clean up the hole that he has been digging himself into all this time by sending X-23 to kill the facilities boss & family.  This would allow Zander to take over the project & run things the way he sees fit.  Zander sets plans in motion to get rid of Sarah Kinney while she is making plans of her own to have X-23 kill Zander & destroy the facility.   As X-23 is coming to meet Laura she smell the trigger scent on Sarah & kills her.  The whole books is quite a fast read & it pulls on the heart strings in just the right way.  In terms of her appearance on the page & on the screen I can honestly say that Mindy McCready aka Hit Girl has nothing on Laura Kinney aka X-23.

Wolverine: Old Man Logan

This is one of the best Wolverine stories ever written.  No scratch that this is one of the best alternate reality takes on the Marvel Universe.  After seeing Logan in theaters this is a refreshing read.  I really like this take on him as the old family man farmer who hasn't popped his claws in fifty years.  Logan takes a job that is offered to him by Clint Barton who comes on by looking for help.  Logan has to take the job to get money to pay the rent to the Hulk gang or else they will collect in other ways.  As they are traveling  Hawkeye & Logan talk about the war in which the villains rose up & took out all of the heroes.  Their travels take them all the way across the United States.  During their journey Wolverine finally tells how the villains broke him of his violent ways & it truly is horrifying.  The only other story to come as close is the Wolverine Goes to Hell story-arc by Jason Aaron.  His tale really brought the emotion.  Finally our heroes get to New Babylon which has replaced Washington DC.  When Logan finally does pop his claws it is so satisfying.  

The final showdown between Logan & Banner is not as spectacular as it could have been but it does echo their first meeting but it just doesn't live up to it.  The original Hulk vs. Wolverine fight is often imitated, referenced but never duplicated.  This is Unforgiven in comic form.  With this book Mark Millar has crafted a vision of the Marvel Universe that is filled with easter eggs left & right compared to House of M or Age of Ultron by Brian Michael Bendis this is a far superior read.  I haven't read the new Wolverine, Old Man Logan series that Marvel is putting out but this has certainly made me want to look into it.

Saga Vol. 7

It has been awhile since I've read Saga & without picking up volume 6 or looking back at my previous reviews of the other volumes; I just wasn't feeling as emotional about this one as I was supposed to.  I will definitely be rereading this series as a whole when it's finished.  This volume was only OK for me as there's a lot that happens in this collection.  There is a time jump of six months & the story takes place entirely on the comet of Phang.  This is by far the saddest entry into the series as several characters die but in some cases the deaths don't have the same amount of emotion as some of the characters who have been around for a while.  This collection has about the same amount of death as The Walking Dead.  

From here on (SPOILERS!) abound, Hazel & her extended family are coasting through space when they discover they are running out of fuel.  Petrichor who came with Hazel from the prison instead of grandma has sort of replaced her role in this family.  Their ship has to make an emergency refueling stop on Phang an inhabited comet flying through the blackness of space.  Phang is war torn & full of refugees in fact I would say that this is Brian K. Vaughan's cosmic version of Aleppo, Syria.  Phang is the birthplace of Sophie is still off with Gwendolyn & Lying Cat.  Lying Cat is still one of the greatest comic creations of the 21st century.  On Phang our family comes in contact with another family of small rodent like characters not as cute as Gus but just as likable.  Kurti & his family are a great addition to the book.  Throughout this book we see the extended family grow as Alana becomes a mother to all while she is going through her second pregnancy.  Petrichor warns Marko of these refugees that they have taken in saying that they are not what they appear.  All of this alludes to the fact that Kurti's family are religious fanatics who will go so far as to participate in suicide bombings against at least one side of the conflict.  Marko stands up for them saying that you can not judge a race based on the actions of a few.  Izabel & Hazel get into an argument which prompts Izabel to offer to help out Prince Robot IV.  Meanwhile The Will  with Sweet Boy tracks down Gwendolyn to get the band back together so they can continue hunting down Marko & Alana only to find out that his bounty hunter status has been revoked.  Izabel runs into a new bounty hunter The March she tries to run but they capture her & kill her, permanently. There is a really touching story where Hazel & Kurti are talking remembering Izabel,  Hazel tells this story about her past & the feather fairy it is really a touching story.  Gwendolyn goes on a mission for Wreath High Command to meet with a representative from Landfall.  Prince Robot IV gets high & comes close to crossing the line between raping Alana & committing suicide.  Right when The March finds Marko & Alana's tribe, Petrichor finds out why so many people have deserted Phang.  The showdown between The March & our group ends in Marko once again taking a life to save his family.  The Last issue of this collection sees the death of Sweet Boy & supposedly The Will by an unknown assassin.   Hazels family escapes Phang just as it is being destroyed but do to some turbulence Alana is knocked down & it is speculated that she has lost the baby boy she was carrying.  Kurti & his family refused to go with them preferring to remain on Phang believing that their faith will protect them from the time of trouble ahead; all were lost.

Saga is still one of the greatest series on the shelves right now I love how Brian K Vaughan is able to balance writing multiple books at the same time.  I haven't read Paper Girls yet but that he is currently writing along with this one.

Scalped Deluxe Ed. Book Five

The last book in the Scalped series is quite satisfying as an ending but at the same time I still had some problems with it.  The opening issue is a great reflection on how far the series has come since it was first started.  Bad Horse & Falls Down are looking for Catcher since he killed Gina & tried to kill both of them.  Meanwhile in the wake of Medicine Rock's heart attack Red Crow has been tearing down his own meth houses.  Wooster Karnow has wised up as a law man & is taking matters into his own hands.  All of these changes seem very organic in the way they are executed in this final book.  

The teaser at the end of the last volume doesn't lead anywhere since Belcourt doesn't wake up next to Catcher in the hospital but instead Catcher winds up in jail with Wade.  During a fire fight in which some meth dealers in Nebraska were trying to kill Shunka.  Wade gets hit with a stray bullet & as he is dying Catcher admits to killing Gina which leads to Wade & Catcher choking each other.  I really wish Catcher had died here but it was not to be.  Sheriff Karnow takes on a meth house by him self after all of his back up deserts him.  Nitz finally arrives but it to late Karnow after being shot multiple times tries to reason with one the criminals wearing a gas mask but get shot anyway.  As the gangs runs away it is revealed that the guy with the gas mask is Dino who the sheriff let off with a warning earlier in this collection.  Shunka & Bad Horse have their showdown that has been teased since the very beginning and it is great but it still proves that Shunka would have one if it hadn't been for the most unlikely person.  Red Crow shoots Shunka at which Dashiell turns the situation around & puts Red Crow under arrest  Meanwhile Catcher makes it to a field where he comes upon his old horse.  Upon recognizing him the horse attacks him & while about to stomp a mud hole in him Catcher shoots the horse & it collapses on him.  If the series had ended here it would have been fine but no this is only the halfway point of the story.  

Red Crow is in jail Nitz is happy as hell & Bad Horse is viewed as a hero Dashiell starts up a relationship with Maggie Medicine Rock who seems to be a good fit for him but I was really rooting for him & Carol since they have so much shared history.  Dino manipulates things behind the scenes with Red Crow's lawyer which leads to Lincoln being released & Dashiells reputation in ruins.  Dash is on the run from the F.B.I. while someone is killing the tribal council.  Diesel's body turns back up putting further evidence against Dash.  The final fight is in the closed casino between Dino's gang of former Red Crow employees & Red Crow.  It turns out that Catcher is still alive & that he is behind the tribal council murders.  Nitz finds out that Catcher is really the one who murdered the F.B.I. agents back in 1975.  So everybody is converging on the casino.  Dino flees with a lot of money making his full criminal transformation.  There is a whole Mexican standoff thing that happens between Red Crow, Bad Horse & Catcher.  Bad Horse shoots both, while Catcher is stumbling away Nitz runs in & tackles him into the fire where they both burn.  Dash carries Red Crow outside.  Red Crow makes him an offer but Dash refuses.  By the end of the story Falls Down is made sheriff of the reservation Maggie is elected leader of the the tribal council.  Carol has officially replace Granny Poor Bear as we witness Granny's funeral.  There is a new drug kingpin on the reservation in Dino.  Red Crow is living secluded outside of town just trying to get back to his roots & Dash is hitching a ride out of the reservation because he is still wanted for the murder of Diesel.  This is not a happy ending book but it does have definite closure.  If you liked 100 Bullets or Y the Last Man you will love this I haven't read D.M.Z. yet but I have a feeling it is in the same vein as these other titles.

Scalped Deluxe Ed. Book Four

This is the second to last collection as Scalped is starting two wind down.  This book feels much more like an anthology as it includes several side stories.  I absolutely love issue 35 which opens up this book it is a beautiful one & done story about Mance & Hazel.  Next up we learn about Carol’s past as she comes to the realization that she is pregnant with Dashiell Bad Horse’s child.  She winds up torching her house & going to live with Granny Poor Bear.  Granny helps get Carol off of drugs & by the end it looks like Carol is turning her life around.  Dashiell’s father Wade has returned to the reservation & he wants to see his son.  Everybody is always giving Wade a hard in this book & I understand that he really doesn’t stand up for himself but he is at least trying to make an effort & is his past with all of the characters is murkier than anyone can guess.

The Native American sweat lodge comes into play in this book a lot as it is used to ween Dash off of drugs & even for prayer or meditation.  Other side characters get their chance to shine as Wooster Karnow from Nebraska keeps reminiscing about how he used to be such a big shot & a war hero until he starts chasing down a guy wanted by the US Marshalls office.  This is issue was also quite amazing & is setting up something for the final book.  The other character who really get some page time is Nitz.  Agent Nitz has such a fall from grace when his superior comes in from Washington fires him for incompetence & getting his partner killed.  Nitz is in a drunken rage goes to confront Red Crow who basically has his men beat the crap out of him but not kill him.  Nitz trying to find a way to end it so he goes to a meth lab hoping that the tweaking junkies will kill him in a fire fight.  But do to his luck things don’t work out the way he was expecting them to.  The whole Unwanted storyline is about regrets & bad decisions. 

The next story-arc in this book is called You Gotta Sin to Get Saved.  This is a very Red Crow centered story.  Lincoln is coming up against a rival for chief of the tribe & his rival is the man who raised him.  As Red Crow is dealing with this new threat Dashiell & he have become quite close.  Meanwhile Dino Poor is developing a major crush on Carol that balances on the very edge of creepy.  The character that I have lost all respect for in this book is Catcher.  In this collection Catcher proves how messed up & sadistic he really is as he tries to kill Officer Falls Down & Dashiell Bad Horse.  I can’t wait for him to wake up in the last book & see who is in the same hospital room as him.  This series has gained a lot of respect from me as I have continued reading it but it is not an easy series to get into.  But once it has its hooks into you be prepared you are in for a wild ride.