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! 

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!.

Detective Comics #6 Review

This issue kicks off where the last issue ends with Jill Hampton and Jack Houston or better known as Chase and Snakeskin discussing their plans to get into the new hotel casino run by the penguin and blow it out of Gotham City. Batman is busy tracking down a criminal who we find out has been killed by Chase while also trying to keep his new love interest happy who comes in the form of Charlotte, a Lois Lane type reporter who goes deep into danger to get a story but also has a more personal interest which i will not spoil.

The Good: After Detective Comics #5 I thought this story line would start to go down hill but this issue brought it right back up again for me as there was no time I was bored or even let down by what was happening. Tony Danial again doing a great job with the series and his writing skills are first class when it comes to this issue. Before reading this issue I had a look at the IGN review and they said they had trouble following what was happening but I thought it was easy right amount of action, dialogue and monologue. Tony Danial and the team has done a great job with the art in this issue I didn’t see a part in the book that looked off or out of place so lots of credit for that.

The Bad: I cant help but feel that the Penguin, for now at least, does not feel like much of a threat and this issue does not help to big the penguin up for a good fight. This might be because of how good the dollmaker was as a villain. The cover is a little off putting to because we see batman fighting the penguin where as the issue does not have any conflict with the two. I think they could have made a cool cover with Snakeskin and Chase.

The Verdict: I enjoyed this issue but again its best to read the past issue again just as a refresh of whats going on but I was not disappointed like I was with the last issue and for “DC comics flagship title” it’s still not on par with Scott Snyder’s Batman Comics or the currant run of Batwoman but still enjoyable. Has a great end to make me want the next issue and can tell that the series will get better and for anyone that read my Dark Knight issue 5 review can tell i’m a big fan of the scarecrow and looking forward to his appearance in the next few months.

Action Comics #6 review

Anyone who reads Grant Morrison knows what to expect by now, he likes to tease and confuse the fans and Action Comics is shaping up to be just that but at the same time entertaining as hell! I love the way Morrison has taken Superman’s origin story that we all know and love but made more out of it by bringing in the league of superheros and time travel. The issue opens with a group of villains plotting the downfall of earths strongest superhero, Superman, using the different kinds of kryptonite. It then sifts to superman and the league of superheros in a space station trying to repair the pod that superman arrived in back when he was just little baby Kal-El and this is where the action starts. The issue may not sound like a origin story but te league of superheros need to dive into superman’s memories and look at his past and that is how the origin is told.


The Good: First off I have to say, Grant Morrison, love him or hate him he is doing a great job with Action Comics and always keeps me interested and on edge with what is going on in the story be it the main plot or the back story. The art team bring their A game with this issue yet again as the comic comes to live with the use of colors and every character looks great this series is beautiful to look at. pacing seams just right as I never got bored reading it, unlike superman comics where there is a few times that i want it to hurry up, and have to say I love the extra little story at the end that just brings us more familiar with Clark’s life growing up in Smallville with the likes of John, Martha and Lana.


The Bad: The only bad thing i can say is that it does at times get a little confusing but not really a bad thing but something that a lot of people might get put off by this, there is also a lot of science talk in it and this can get a little jarring at times but not enough to put anyone off just make them think “o.k I can deal with that” but gives them reason for what they are doing. Sometimes the alien language can become annoying too.


The Verdict: All in all this is a great series to keep reading and the number 1 superman comic and, like I said, Grant Morrison is doing his best with the series and if you are a fan of his work you will not be disappointed definitely go pick up this book and get into the Superman series!


On a side not I just want to say this is also perfect for fans that got into superman by watching the TV show Smallville this is a good opportunity to see the real superman and how it should be done with parts of Clark’s life in Smallville so if you want to learn more about Superman and expand on the Superman universe get these issues!