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odessasteps

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It's a good writer executing the worst version of a bad idea, but still managing to wring some genuine heart and charm out of tiny fragments of it. I know that sounds weird, but

 

Making Wally go to jail for deaths that were an accident borne of his powers behaving in a way they never had before was fucking stupid.  Everyone simultaneously saying "well it wasn't your FAULT" and "he's responsible for it even if it wasn't intentional" was fucking stupid.  Nobody in the hunting party but Harley responds in a way that feels true to their character.  Barry vanishing out of the series and not being involved at all in the resolution is infuriating.  All the dead Titans just make me want to cry because I'm so sick of second-tier teenage heroes being cannon fodder.

 

And yet, the moments that were good were REALLY good.  Both the flashback issues to before the incident had great, warm moments.  Continuity issues aside, King did a great job with the Ted-and-Michael roadshow.  Wally finally letting himself be angry at the way the multiverse has fucked him over because of Barry's single-mindedness was great.  I want so badly to read a story about Sanctuary when it's working as intended.  I don't think I've ever hated a comic so much that had so many good moments.  But it was so emphatically NOT a story worth killing Roy and Gnarrk and Hotspot and Solstice and Red Devil and Lagoon Boy and Blue Jay and Nemesis and Tattooed Man.

 

This is one of those stories that makes me really sit and think about corporate fiction, and how fucked it is that we invest so much emotionally in characters who are at the whim not of a single creator but of whatever the CCO thinks will sell the most merch, and how hard it is for me to stop caring just because people keep writing things that make me the wrong kind of sad.

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9 hours ago, Cliff Hanger said:

This is one of those stories that makes me really sit and think about corporate fiction, and how fucked it is that we invest so much emotionally in characters who are at the whim not of a single creator but of whatever the CCO thinks will sell the most merch, and how hard it is for me to stop caring just because people keep writing things that make me the wrong kind of sad.

So yes, but no. I get what you're saying. The emotional connection is perilous because it's all done by committee and on corporate whims and the story never ends. In general, though, that's part of why you're reading these. You're reading them because it's basically the biggest story ever told. Thirty inputs every month, month after month, for decade after decade. There's nothing else in the world like it. 

It's not just corporate fiction though. It's DC. It's Dan Didio and Geoff Johns and whoever else. They do this again and again, event after event. Marvel had some bad patches (especially in the Quesada/Jemas era) and occasionally will give us something that acts like a punch in the jaw like Secret Empire, but it's more the exception than the rule and generally done with good intent even if flawed execution. DC over the last 18 or 19 years is going back to someone who abuses you and expecting things to somehow be different.

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Catching up on last month's Detective Comics. I'm enjoying the Arkham Knight story a decent deal though I'm kind of torn on the origin. I like so much of it, but it adds potentially too many years to Batman and some of his rogues gallery. I also have to say Tomasi got too greedy with the villains. Anton Arcane is way above Bruce and this story's weight class. He also makes absolute zero sense to even be around. That is one of those moments I feel he and the editor failed miserably in checking for a character's status and history before using.

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Now that we know more of what's going on, I went back through Doomsday Clock. It really is amazing. I think it's going to work much better as a completed tome, though the Reggie and Mime/Marionette origin issues might hurt things a little. Narratively, it takes long jaunts elsewhere.

It's by far the best thing Johns has ever written. Nothing else is even in the same league. Frank's work is just over the top good. 

I guess all I can say is that I wish Johns had taken this level of care to create something new instead.

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1 hour ago, Ace said:

Hadn't they already done that and then reopened it for the Gaimanverse stuff?

 

I think so. Or at least, they were damn close to it. Maybe one or two books still had the branding

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Batman ’66 (Vol. 1) collects in single magazine form as Batman ’66 (#1-5) and online as Batman ’66 Chapters #1-15. As the title suggests, it’s written and drawn from the TV show so you know what to expect. I welcome it. The standout stories all written by Jeff Parker are the Riddler, Lorelei Circe, Mad Hatter and Batgirl issues. I chuckled at Bruce Wayne’s teachings and the voiceover use as seen in the show.

Batman ’66 Meets Wonder Woman ‘77 collected in single magazine form as Batman ’66 Meets Wonder Woman ’77 #1-6 and online as Batman ’66 Meets Wonder Woman ’77 Chapters #1-12. The story is by Marc Andreyko and series regular Jeff Parker. Bruce Wayne/Batman and Diana Prince/Wonder Woman come into contact with Ra’s al Ghul, his daughter Talia al Ghul and his League of Shadows over three periods in time: Bruce as a 10 year old when his parents were still alive, Bruce now as Batman 22 years later and an older reluctant Batman in ’77.

Set in the world of the 1960s Batman TV series, this book was so much fun and left me smiling as I read. We get to see things we didn’t when the series aired such as Bruce’s parents, how he came upon the cave which would become his headquarters, the Batcave and characters created after the show ended. The book is funny. Martha Wayne “What is it about this window that attracts them” regarding bats and Batgirl is now called Batwoman. There’s a darker side too, Nazis and why Bruce hung up the cowl. The writers are able to balance the comedy, heart and seriousness.

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The Phantasm was in the brilliant Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and arrives in the comics canon. I just hope it's the same person and not somebody else. Trying to keep hype down because I've liked very little from Tom King's time on the Batman book. Shame it's not by Grant Morrison. Scott Synder as well.

Edited by The Natural
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1 hour ago, odessasteps said:

I don’t think I’ve really like any of Snyder’s Batman stuff. 

The Tec run with Dick in the cowl was great. After that, I was pretty meh on his run.

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8 hours ago, Brian Fowler said:

My biggest gripe on Snyder is I thought he did a really terrible job with the villains in general.

I actually thought he did well enough with his own villains. Its just that none of them were up to the same level of the originals, and he tried way to hard leaning into the crap 6 year beginning with the New 52. The highlight of his Bruce run will always be the Court of Owls.

6 hours ago, Brian Fowler said:

The Tec run with Dick in the cowl was great. After that, I was pretty meh on his run.

 

5 hours ago, The Natural said:

Batman: The Black Mirror is by far Scott Synder's best Batman book.

Agreed. I actually enjoyed his run with Bruce and still think his stuff with Dick is better.

Edited by Eivion
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11 minutes ago, Eivion said:

I actually thought he did well enough with his own villains. Its just that none of them were up to the same f the originals and he tried way to hard leaning into the crap 6 year beginning with the New 52. The highloght of his Bruce run will always be the Court of Owls.

Agreed. I actually enjoyed his run with Bruce and still think his stuff with Dick is better.

Speaking of villains, I HATED what Scott Synder did to Mr Freeze's origin. That's the worst thing Scott's ever written.

My two favourite Scott Synder Batman stories after The Black Mirror were Endgame and Twenty-Seven. Seek the latter out if you've not read it. I liked most of the Snyder/Capullo New 52 Batman run.

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10 minutes ago, The Natural said:

Speaking of villains, I HATED what Scott Synder did to Mr Freeze's origin. That's the worst thing Scott's ever written.

I agree and disagree on this one. I thought it was rather well written. It just also came off as having no idea why Mr. Freeze works and strikes a certain cord with fans. The thing is this isn't a Snyder problem. This is a problem many writers who try to use Freeze have. They either don't grasp or care that what brought him into prominence among modern fans was his story and personality from BTAS. Take away that tragedy and gravitas, and he is kind  just another boring ice villain. 

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Yeah. I remember the issue itself being well done, but... It was everything wrong with Snyder's Batman. I think he handled Riddler just as badly in Zero Year.

I eventually finished the New 52 run, but I still haven't touched his All Star Batman.

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2 minutes ago, Brian Fowler said:

Yeah. I remember the issue itself being well done, but... It was everything wrong with Snyder's Batman. I think he handled Riddler just as badly in Zero Year.

I eventually finished the New 52 run, but I still haven't touched his All Star Batman.

I think you might like All Star more than his New 52 run. Its not amazing, but it had less issues than his New 52 stuff. 

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5 minutes ago, Eivion said:

I think you might like All Star more than his New 52 run. Its not amazing, but it had less issues than his New 52 stuff. 

I've read the first 5-10 issues of All Star Batman a while ago thinking it was a letdown. I enjoyed Metal and the current Batman Who Laughs miniseries more than ASB but still not as much as the New 52 run on Batman with Greg Capullo.

Haven't got round to Justice League (despite having the first trade from the library for a month or two) or Last Knight On Earth, first issue came out last week.

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14 minutes ago, The Natural said:

I've read the first 5-10 issues of All Star Batman a while ago thinking it was a letdown. I enjoyed Metal and the current Batman Who Laughs miniseries more than ASB but still not as much as the New 52 run on Batman with Greg Capullo.

Haven't got round to Justice League (despite having the first trade from the library for a month or two) or Last Knight On Earth, first issue came out last week.

I'm just talking about Fowler in this particular case. I probably enjoyed Metal more as well. The first trade of Justice League was interesting though I can't say it was anything great.

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