Batman #8 Night of the owls

It's finally here, the start of Batman's major story arc that will crossover to different members of the bat families comics and what a start it is. Much like the end of he Nightfall series, this kicks off with a weakened Bruce/Batman who is back in Wayne manor trying to rest. The talons attack fast as Bruce and Alfred quickly try to escape, Alfred heads to the bat cave where Bruce tries to fight off each owl member as he can but makes an escape for the roof. Again like Knightfall, Bruce is not wearing the bat suit but a dressing gown and doing his best to fight. Ultimately outnumbered he makes an escape for the chimney and leads to a secret entrance to the bat cave to meet up with Alfred. Unfortunately he is followed and the court of owls find out that it is Bruce Wayne who is the batman. Bruce at this point in time could care less about the court knowing that he is batman, he is just trying to survive.

Locking them self's in a room in the bat cave Bruce opens the door to reveal a new bat suit that that looks a lot like the Ironmonger from he Iron man series from marvel comics. Batman does not fight the court at this time but rather shows them that he cant be hurt. This gives Alfred time to send out a message to the other hero's of Gotham city, and members of the bat family, that He and Bruce have discovered that every major player that shapes Gotham city will be killed and must try to stop it, thus the tie-in begins and we will see this being played over the next few months in different issues of the batman series.

This issue is another near perfect issue from Scott Snyder. It plays out in good pace and you never lose track of the action. Again I would compare it to Knightfall as it has a similar story with some events that take place. It sets up the crossover story arc perfectly and gives the reader a sense of scare that the Court of owls have infiltrated (even the justice league have had a few run-ins with them.) A highly recommend this issue to any comic book fan! 

Batman 6 review

The Batman is down and badly beaten just like how we left off in the last issue. We finally get a view of the court of owl's and they are damn right creepy! most of the dialogue is done by the court itself where batman showing no resistance to stay down as he is brutally attacked by the entire court! The images used in this issue are amazing showing batman's real dark side making him look like a wild animal or beast with fangs. there was a part in this issue where I thought batman would really cross that line that makes him different from the scum of Gotham City.

Scott Snyder has not outdone the last issue but it still a close contender to it with the way the story progresses and from what we find out about the court and who really runs the show. The artwork again first class the cover art being my favorite as it's insane and shows more just what is coming. The story progresses nicely and really keeps you entertained throughout. I think this is the first time in a long time that iv'e read a batman comic where he is afraid to come back to the villains hideout. The court has really taken its tole on batman showing not only his weak side but a side of fear in the dark knight detective.

Overall i'm still loving Scott Snyder's batman it the perfect view of what a batman comic should be about and the best story in the series. I cant stress enough that comic book readers should start to read this series! even if you are not a batman fan as I can see this going down as one of the best batman story arcs and I think its clear that we all welcome the court of owls as first class villains for batman. Like I said tho Snyder does not outdo himself with this issue but defiantly brings a great issue and follow up to to the perfect issue that came before it.

Batgirl #6

Batgirl issue 6 kick starts where the last issue ended, with Bruce Wayne ready to attack Batgirl!. This issue I thought was stronger than some of the past issues especially with story and some of the art work. The weird thing about this is that the story arc that kicked off in the last issue ends in this issue sort of short but sweet and at first I thought this was bad but then I felt it would have got annoying for this story to drag on a few more issues and it nicely represents Barbra Gordon if she had no love in her life from her father and the bat family, she could have easily went off the rails the way the main antagonist did in this issue. It does go back into the killing joke story line and again I think a lot of fans will be quick to dismiss this and as much as I love the killing Joke it really does set a good follow up to Barbra becoming Batgirl once again (even though I really miss her as Oracle) and when batman says "Barbra you where men't to be Batgirl" you know it's true and i'm not one to argue with The Dark Knight of Gotham City.

The team have done a good job with this story and again gives us a good look at what Barbra could have become. The writing is solid and the artwork is great, always love those panels with Batman towering over someone it really brings a sense of fear in him. I never got bored reading it the issue but I must say there ae times where it really picks up then goes down again like a roller coaster. I think Gretel should have been the first villain the batgirl faced because it mirrors her more than mirror did, no pun intended, and we all can relate more to her as a character tan that of mirror.

Over all this series has got high points and low points, it will be interesting to see where it goes now this story arc is over with. We have more history to catch up on with Barbra's mum but I feel like this is a forgettable story line at least for now.hope the next issue starts with a bang and ends the same way, we need a little faith in Batgirl and stop thinking about the past as much as we love Oracle its time to move on unfortunately.

Batwoman #6

Batwoman issue 6 is really a stop in story to shed light on what has been going on in the series so far and i'm all for this but this past while Batwoman has become one of the most own comic books over the past 6 months and this issue has let me down. The story does not really go anywhere but its good to get the emotions of some of the characters down but I couldn't help but get the feeling that if I wanted to know what was going on in past issues I would go and and read the other issues again. We get to know who was behind the weeping woman story to say that this is not over yet and we also see Batwoman's new Armour that makes her bulletproof, something that batman had but give up on it, and fights easy. not to say its a bad thing that the story stops in favor of and up to date on current events issue because it kind of lets us take in whats been going on but just doesn't feel as natural as it did in Scott Snyder's Batman comics. 


One of the main things that you will notice is that Williams III is not doing the art anymore, instead Amy Reeder steps in and don't get me wrong she does a great job with the comic but Williams did an amazing job. With Williams on the art every panel looked amazing with Amy only some of the book looks great where others just look OK but the cover art is up to par with past issues. The writing is great but nothing we haven't seen from past issues but then again not every issue can be perfect and this one is just a step back for the team and really hope they bring back their A game in the next Issue. 

Batman #4

After the cliffhanger we got in Batman issue 3 I could not wait to get my hands on issue 4. This issue starts straight where the last issue ended in an explosion in old Wayne Tower with batman right in the middle of it and in the middle of finding out more about the court of owls. As you know batman survived and went back to the batcave to stitch up and continue his investigation. Just when you thought this series cant get any better it brings you into batman/Bruce's past and we find out that he has always suspected the court of owls where behind murders in Gotham even to go as far as to think they where involved in his parents deaths. We cut to a flash back of Bruce as a young boy, as he puts it, going on his first investigation trying to find out who or what the court of owls is. This leads him to becoming trapped for days before being rescued thus giving him his first taste of survival skills.

The Good: This issue sacrifice's action for story and this is a damn good choice, by the end of the issue it leaves you wanting to now more and you know how batman feels at this stage as its not about fighting the villain its about finding out who they are and their motive and to learn more about Bruce Wayne's past is always a welcome in the series. Again the artwork and writing are the best out of the DC reboot, Scott Snyder seams to be bringing his A game with each issue.

The Bad: Honestly there is nothing bad I can say about this issue it is the best in the series so far and if there is something that you felt was out of place please comment on it.

The Verdict: Amazing! this is one of the best stories around and not just in the batman comics but of all of DC's New 52 i strongly recommend this to anyone who loves batman or hell anyone who loves comics and a good story in general!.

Batman #2

Batman #2 opens with gorgeous artwork featuring the sun setting on the City we know as Gotham, and wen the sun goes down in Gotham the Batman goes to work! that is until you turn to page two that has Bruce Wayne being thrown through the window at the top of Wayne Tower. A great opening to the issue and the rest of the issue deals with how Bruce got himself into this state. Scott Snyder shows his love for the City of Gotham with the way this issue is laid out showing a lot of architecture of the City. Issue cuts to Gordon who is trying to find out who murdered a man whom batman using his detective skills finds out that its a organisation known as the court of owls, which in fact is just a legend and not said to exist.

The Good: Near enough everything in this issue is perfect for a batman comic, it has a solid plot, great cliffhangers, we get to know more about batman  and Bruce Wayne. there is not a moment you are bored or confused with what is going on. simply put this issue is solid. Scott Snyder really has a love for Batman and sows with the way he is handling this series the artwork is gorgeous and the writing is first class.

The Bad: Now as we all know, no matter how good something is it always has its flaws. the artwork is great yes but there are a few parts where peoples faces seamed a bit off i know this is nit picking but I had to find something and this is really the only thing that came to mind when I was reading it but not enough to drw you out of the story or the issue itself.

The Verdict: Scott Snyder's Batman Is an amazing read and i suggest that if you are a comic fan o get this series because it is shaping up to be a classic Batman story line.

Superman #1

OK first off i loved Action Comics #1 it went back to showing who superman is and what he can do (for now). With Superman #1 however we don’t gt a reboot but a new view on Metroplis and this time its all about the Daly Planet. The comic has brought itself into modern territoy with the use of Facebook and Twitter being the main sourse for news these days it has an effect on a printed paper so the comic starts off with the Daly Planet building being demolished and a brand new one (globe and all) being rebuilt. more high tec and focused on news and the web. I thought this was a great way to go to show how the use of Twitter and the internet is effecting the news business.

There is also an enemy that is made of fire to fight superman, not his best fight but the whole thing is made so as the New Daly Planet can show off what way it can capure the news with Lois Lane as its leader. Clark shows that he is not happy with the change but we mostly see him as superman.

It says that superman has not been around for a while which also might have effected the Daly Planets downfall and the need for change. and Superman being ‘camera shy’ does not help the situation. The book does not have that cliffhanger moment that the other books in the New 52 have but enough to keep you interested in the next Issue. By the end it started to get more into Clarks personality and would like to see more of this in furure issues. Have to say i loved this issue from the get go and a great read for superman fans

Hellbalzer #287

Its time for John to visit hell… again!. After john gets his coat back he is pushed into going back to hell to find his sister after his niece is driving him crazy. this is the start of a story line that i’m looking forward to hear more from as it is starting to go deep into Constantine’s past and all the wrong that he has done and all the people that he has let go to hell.

The writers have done a good job establishing each character and gives a good reason to see John go back to hell. I also enjoy ho dark and Gothic the art is in this book so if you are a fan of horror comics you will not be disappointed. I never got bored of this series even after the trench coat business that went on this past few months and the art style is reminiscent of the suicide bridge annual that came out last month. This is the start of a new story line for John Constantine so if you are interested in horror and the supernatural you will not be disappointed and i recommend you pick up this issue.