Comic Book Review: Brightest Day #7

Brightest Day promised answers this week, answers that are supposed to give us an answer to a very important question. The question is simple: Why were the twelve resurrected by the White Light? The answer was pretty anti-climatic since it was held for so long, so be warned that it's a little disappointing. (At least to me)


After Boston, Dove, and Hawk meet for a burger, the ring takes the three to Silver City, New Mexico, the site of the White Lantern. The White Lantern now intends to reveal its grand plan, which seems to revolve around Boston Brand. Boston and Hawk are zapped by the White Light, their costumes being transformed into an all white version. The Light begins to speak to them now, revealing itself to be the White Entity. The surprise here is that the White Entity is dying and looking for a replacement, a new champion to guard, watch, and protect the Universe.

The book now jumps between the main characters here, as all of them receive a vision from the White Light showing them a future of sorts. Quick recap of a couple characters visions.

Martian Manhunter: His vision shows him setting fire to a forest, presumably the Star City forest that the White Light created.

Firestorm: Black Lantern Firestorm is shown holding a black lantern, and the White Lantern instructs Jason and Ronnie to come together and stop the evil lantern.

Hawkman: His costume is transformed into white version, which look pretty lame, almost like something THe Village People wore. The White Light tells him to "Stop the Queen."

Shiera: She sees Hawkman being murdered by Hath-Set. The Light warns her that if that future comes true, there will not be another resurrection for either her, or Hawkman.

Aquaman sees the new Aqualad, and is told to find him first before "they" do. No idea who "they" are though.

The next scene is a two-page spread showing the vision of the remaining resurrected characters. Digger Harkness sees himself murdering Dove as the Light tells him to throw the boomerang. Jade sees her brother Obsidian, with the Light telling her to balance out the darkness. Osiris is told to free his sister Isis. Max Lord is instructed to save the world from Magog, because he will lead the world into war. Eobard Thawne's mission is complete, his being to release Barry Allen from the Speed Force. And most puzzling, Hank Hall is told to stop the boomerang that will kill Dove. Finally, Boston is told to find to replacement protector of the White Light.

It seems strange that the White Light would give them missions that contradict each other, and I get the feeling that it isn't at all what it says to be. And while I did find the reveal a little disappointing, the writing team did do a great job of setting up the next waves of stories. So as always, more answers bring more questions, and more mysteries. But it seems like Brightest Day will start to tie in very well with the books that carry its banner, so hopefully the story will progress quicker this next time around.

Comic Book Review: Teen Titans #85

It's almost like Christmas came early this week. Not only do we get a new issue of Outsiders this week, but we also get the next chapter of Felicia D Henderson's awful Teen Titans arc. In case you've missed it, Teen Titans is hands down the worst book coming out of the DCU, but there is hope. Earlier this month, DC announced that starting in November, JT Krul and Nicola Scott will be ongoing Teen Titans team. Bad news is though, we still have to bear through three more issues of Henderson's awful book.

The book is still continuing the story line where the Titans are in the "World of the Wyld" looking for Raven. This arc has been unnecessarily long, showing us that Henderson is clearly a fan or torture. How long can these heroes roam through an unknown land and encounter unoriginal monsters? The answer is at least five boring issues.

As if the drawn out story wasn't bad enough, she continues the lame dialogue and same pointless emotions. If you caught the Teen Titans announcement a few weeks ago on The Source, (DCU official blog) then I'm sure you heard that Henderson will be writing an ongoing Static Shock series. In the description of the series, Henderson points out that Static is a regular teen, and if not for his powers he would be "chasing girls, playing video games, downloading underground mixes of his favorite music." Cheesy, no? She has this infatuation with trying to be "cool," but really only ends up making a fool of herself.

I'm counting down the days until November when hopefully we'll get a Titans book worth reading. Until then, two more issues of awful that is sure to be continued in the Static monthly. I'm sure it won't take long though for DC to realize that with the rising price of comic books, there's just no room for bad writers with no original ideas.

Comic Book Review: Detective Comics #867

David Hine continues his assault on all things comics this week, his fourth release this month. Along with Detective Comics, he's also currently the writer on Azrael, The Spirit, and Bulletproof Coffin. These are all books he'll continue to write at least until September, where he'll add another two to the list in miniseries for both Radical Comics, and Top Cow. So needless to say, he's a busy man.

Back to Detective Comics though. Hine kicks off a four-part arc entitled "Impostors." The idea of the arc is quite simple: A new drug hits the streets that has similar effects to Joker gas. The main difference is that the drug is not lethal, more just a recreational drug for a little fun. The problem is though that when the users get their high, they do so in large groups, causing mass chaos. Even though they don't kill anyone, the riots are a cause for concern seeing as to how they expect to take the streets for themselves.

The story is pretty straightforward, intriguing, and with a minute amount of mystery. Yet, even though I enjoyed the story, it seems kind of out of place with everything going on in the Bat-Universe now. This arc would be better suited if Bruce were back under the cowl, and it seems like Hine himself recognized that and wrote Batman likewise.

You can also tell from the writing that Hine was going for a darker toned story that would complement the mystery of it. But when you look at the art of Scott McDaniel, you never really get the vibe you should from the artist who may be a little to comical for his genre. Little ironic.

With all that said, if you've been missing the classic Batman tales without the Morrison twist and turns, then this ones for you. Batman vs. the Joker. Good vs. evil. Right vs. Wrong. Check back later for the more complex of Batman stories with a Return of Bruce Wayne review.

Comic Book Review: Green Arrow #1

Oliver Queen's been lots of different things in his life. Spoiled rich brat, Justice Leaguer, opinionated politician, dead, resurrected, crappy and then positive father, mentor, and husband. Until recently, the status quo hadn't really changed much, but that all changed about six months ago, with the final issue of James Robinson's Cry For Justice miniseries. In the final page, Ollie did the unthinkable: murdered a villain who was responsible for the destruction of Star City, not to mention the death of thousands.

Oliver eventually realized that his actions were wrong, and he turned himself in to stand on trial for his crime. In prison, he would lose everything, his secret identity, his friends, and more importantly, his wife. Oliver did get one break though, he was acquitted for his crimes, yet he was banished from Star City. With nothing left, Oliver took to the mysterious forest that generated from the white ring in Brightest Day, becoming Green Arrow full time.

With all this drama going on in Green Arrow's life, DC felt it would be a good time for a relaunch, so JT Krul, who took over the Arrow-family after Cry For Justice, brings us a new chapter in Oliver's life, Green Arrow #1. Krul takes us back to the original inspiration for Ollie, Robin Hood, the man of people.

In short, this issue establishes Green Arrow's new life, the much more violent man who will steal from the rich, to give to the poor. And with Star City still recovering from it's destruction months ago, it has many poor, yet the rich aren't so willing to give. Corruption begins to overwhelm the city with it's crooked politicians, and the people are becoming more and more impatient with the lack of resources. With these constants it creates a fend for yourself attitude, and a battle for power emerges between the people, and the politicians.

We also get a peek at the new Queen Industries, who are entering new ownership since Ollie is gone. The new owner is an eccentric billionaire from Russia, Isabel Rochev, and she plans to make Queen Industries a power again by expanding their services. The first area of expansion is their new Defense Contracting, and the first client, Star City. The city government requests Queen Industries create weapons for them, and the company complies with a army of super soldiers. With the new fleet of defense, they are determined to restore order, even if it means taking out the Green Arrow.

Green Arrow relaunch was a great starting point, a strong beginning for everyones favorite Emerald Archer. Krul did a really good job making Ollie a hero again, a figure and a symbol for the broken people of Star City. I hope Krul doesn't disappoint us again, as we know he's capable of destroying everything likable about a character as noted by the remarkably awful Rise of Arsenal.

It looks like Ollie will be fun again though, so maybe the Brightest Day banner on the top will prove true after all. Brightest Day indeed.

Comic Book Review: Justice League - The Rise of Arsenal #4

You can come out now, the horror is over. Well, sort of. Writer JT Krul's miniseries, The Rise of Arsenal, comes to a close this week, with the fourth and final issue of the controversial series. I find it quite ironic that the series was called the "rise" of Arsenal, as the character sank down into a dark pit, with no end in sight. Let me explain.

This issue picks up right after Roy, or Arsenal, is dropped of at the rehab facility, that will help him find his peace. The only problem is though, that his drug habit is making him hallucinate about his dead daughter, haunting, and taunting him into a mixture of rage and despair. His hallucinations about Lian bring him to a conclusion, he must kill the Electrocutioner, the man who rigged the bomb causing Lian's death. So after tricking the orderlies to enter his cell/room, he attacks them, retrieves the keys for his restraints, and breaks out.

Roy's next stop is the Star City Penitentiary, the jail that is housing both the Electrocutioner, and Green Arrow, who is being held for his murder of Prometheus. So Roy storms in the facility, brutally beating down any guards that get between him, and the Electrocutioner. The guards are helpless against Arsenal, who possesses such a fury that won't cool until he completes the mission. So in a last ditch effort, the guards release Green Arrow from his cell, and he goes after Roy.

When Roy and Ollie meet, there's a small amount of talk that ensues, right before the two go after each other. In Roy's drug induced state, he's in no position to take on Ollie, but Roy is not concerned with him, only the Electrocutioner. So after the beat each other around, Roy finds a break after spotting the Electrocutioner, so he chases after him with a knife in hand. He finally catches up with the villain, and holds a knife his throat, much to the chagrin of Ollie who is playing the voice of reason here. But Ollie can't help, as Roy puts distance between them in the form of security bars. So Oliver can only watch, as Roy takes his knife, and guts the Electrocutioner, and then casually walks out the prison doors.

Roy's last step for putting his daughter to rest, is burning down their former house, the home he raised Lian that contained so many memories. He longingly watches as the house becomes engulfed in flames.

The story concludes with Roy patrolling the city, showing him being a vigilante, yet in a much more violent way. It then encourages us to follow Roy's further adventures in the pages of Titans.

I'm going to have to pass on following Roy's story again. I mean I just don't see the allure of reading about a misogynistic, violent, druggie, and his constant brooding. Don't get me wrong, I understand that Krul was playing on the irrationality, the disparity and helplessness one would experience after losing a child. But he went way over the top, and made Roy a character you hate, instead of you would feel sympathetic for.

At this point, I feel a lot more warm towards Ollie, who even though murdered a man, he realized his mistakes and paid dearly for them. I haven't had a chance to read Green Arrow #1 yet, but I hope Krul doesn't make us hate Oliver too, because there's not many other Arrow family characters left for him to ruin.

Comic Book Review: Batman - The Return of Bruce Wayne #3

Many have wondered, including me, how it all was going to connect. How Bruce Wayne's travels though time would coincide with one another, and eventually with the future. Well today, we get The Return of Bruce Wayne #3, which takes place almost one hundred after the second issue. This issue is filled with pirates, secret treasure, and bat mythology, and this is where we will begin to see the barely visible threads that linger across time itself.

Bruce exhaustedly stumbles out of the ocean, right at the feet of Blackbeard and his fellow pirates. The exhaustion is physical, and mental, as he begins to get flashes of his life, finally remembering the who he was, and how he got in this position. Blackbeard believes Bruce to be The Black Pirate, a legendary captain, and pilot of The Black Rose. Blackbeard is also convinced that The Black Pirate is the only person who can locate the hidden treasure that is buried deep within the caves in Gotham. Bruce makes it clear that they have the wrong man, but Blackbeard is not one to be negotiated with, so he grabs a young boy on the shore, and threatens to kill the boy if The Black Pirate does not help. Not wanting anyone to get hurt, Bruce agrees to use his skills to find the treasure, as long as the boy is safe, and no one else gets hurt. The boy now begins to stand up for himself, sweet talking Blackbeard, who he calls Commodore Thatch, a legendary sailor that inspired the boy himself to set to sea. The boy also reveals his own name, Jack Loggins, but take note that the boy is narrating the story in the form of a diary, where he calls himself Jack Valor.

So Bruce leads the pirates to the caves, all while Jack does a little more explaining. In narration, Jack reveals that Bruce couldn't possibly be The Black Pirate, but out loud, Jack talks about the local lore of the deer-people joining the bat-people in the caves. Clearly Jack is knowledgeable, and once the pirates notice that, he goes back to the charade of being a clueless boy.

As Bruce leads the pirates though the Miagani cave, Jack marvels at his ability to avoid the traps set by the bat-people. The bat people are true to the name, hanging from the ceiling, and fashioning their hair like bat ears, and never letting themselves be seen. Their traps have unique triggers, but are predictable, especially the bat-arrows.

After Bruce leads the pirates through the first wave of traps, they approach a room that is filled with rotting bodies. Here, Jack begins to talk of another folk-tale, that of the ghost of Jon Valor, the original Black Pirate, but Blackbeard immediately dismisses the idea.

Bruce pauses in front of the room, and realizes that it was the methane gas that killed the men, and not a rumored ghost. He orders that all torches be extinguished before they move one, and also adds to not step on any raised stones. Of course, some of the men fail to pay attention and step on the rigged stones, causing a blue energy to attack them. They men that were not effected rush out the room, and come out behind a waterfall into a different area.

In the present, Batman and Robin are in Blüdhaven, namely Command-D where Darkseid was stationed in Final Crisis, and where Batman's body was found. They're in contact with Wonder Woman, who is at the Justice League headquarters as they discuss how to stop a rogue Batman. That's an interesting thought, as we know Batman was somehow tainted by Darkseid, but the mention of corruption is somewhat new. Back with the Justice League, Wonder Woman puts the League on Black Alert, due to the fact that Superman and the others that left with him have not reported since their trip to the end of time. With that, she turns the mic to Red Robin, as they lay out a strategy for stopping Batman. Tim doesn't really have a strategy though, instead he talks about the relic Batman and Robin found in the secret Batcave under Wayne Manor, the cowl that was draped over the elk antlers. The cowl has highly advanced technology in it, yet it is part of a relic 11,000 years old. Dick chimes in from Command-D, saying that the holes in the cowl match the spikes stemming from the machine that Bruce was connected to in Final Crisis. A new theory is agreed upon: Bruce escaped the machine, shot Darkseid, and was struck with the Omega Effect sending him back in time.

Back to the caves, the pirates are breathing in the sweat, fresh air of this area, as opposed to the methane from the previous room. While Blackbeard's crew is catching their breath, Jack slips away to have a private word with Bruce. Jack says that his real surname is Valor, revealing himself to be the real Black Pirate and captain of The Black Rose. He pulls a cowl from his vest, which looks just like Batman's cowl, except that it has no ears, similar to Red Robin's cowl. Jack says that the cowl belonged to his grandfather, Jon Valor, and the original Black Pirate. Blackbeard, who has attached wicks to his hat and lighting them, giving his head the appearance of being on fire, now notices Bruce and Jack conversing amongst themselves, and demands to know the details of the secret meeting. The pirates corner Bruce off the rock cliff and into the water below with only the cowl in hand. Blackbeard realizes that Bruce is the only man who knew how to maneuver around the traps, so he sets off to follow the trail of the river to find Bruce.

Blackbeard and his men now come to the Bridge of Bones, which confirms to them that there is treasure inside the cave. As the approach the bridge, a batarang hits one of the pirates in the chest, and another receives an arrow in the throat. The pirates are on edge now, and are even further spooked when they look across the bridge and see what they believe to be a ghost, but is actually Bruce wearing the cowl. Bruce/Batman, now pulls his usual awesomeness, and engages the pirates before finally taking them down with the help of a few bat-people.

Bruce and Jack throw Blackbeard and crew into the River of Night, and Jack then takes Bruce to meet the Miagani people. Jack is quite familiar with the bat-people, as he has been allowed to hide in their caves for years. He shows Bruce the carving that the bat-people worship, which is the same statue that Dick discovered in Batman and Robin, Barbatos. Bruce is allowed to see the sacred part of the cave, part of a great mystery that the bat-people claim to hold a great power.

Bruce is led to another cave, where he sees the cowl held to the stone by antlers, as well as his boots and utility belt. He knows these were his items, and he begins to make a connection to the man-of-bat, the Miagani, and Annie...

Bruce exits the cave, right as an eclipse is starting. He realizes that the eclipse triggers his transportation, so he hands Jack the cowl, and tells him to never stop fighting.

Jack tells us some of the events that transpired after Bruce left: Blackbeard/Thatch, was taken to the gallows shortly after the events in the cave, ending most of the piracy in the area. For the pirates that didn't stop, Jack took to using the cowl and stopping them, meeting a girl along the way that he would eventually marry. Jack also wrote down the story of Bruce, including the past places, and people of Bruce's former life. Note that this was at the instruction of Bruce himself, who told Jack all about his former life, maybe in order to leave clues for the future. After the story was completed, Jack met a wealthy brother and sister who instructed him to lock the papers inside a small casket baring a Bat-symbol. Jack never forgot the words that Bruce had spoken, and even as an old man, he still feels a presence when he holds the old cowl.

The last pages take place in a different time: The old west. Two men ride to an abandoned building where they meet a man playing cards to propose a business offer. They offer gold, if only their problem can be taken care of. The man holds up a Joker card, as he reveals himself to be Jonah Hex. The men need the greatest bounty hunter in the west, to take down a new stranger: The Batman of the old west.

Only half way through, and this series is already captivating every bit of my imagination. I can't stop thinking about what will happen once Bruce returns to the present, or what Darkseid has done to make that event disastrous. That casket that holds secrets to Bruce's past lives is the same one that was stolen from the mansion in Batman and Robin. So hopefully we'll find out why El Penitente's men wanted it. Two weeks from the next issue of Batman and Robin, and five weeks until the next issue of Return of Bruce Wayne. That sucks, but it will give plenty of time for us dorks to theorize how all of this connects. Please feel free to leave any theories in the comments.

Comic Book Review: Brightest Day #4

Every time I review this book, I feel like I write exactly the same thing. The story doesn't progress far enough, it's very mysterious, I like some of the art, all probably things you've seen multiple times on my reviews of the other issues. I'm sorry to say that you're in for another similar review, as the same complaints remain valid in my mind. Spoilers:

Deep in the Peruvian Jungle, The Hawks stare in bewilderment at the portal in front of them, a portal that is powered by their dead carcasses. After some contemplation of their next step, The Hawks decide to enter the portal, which leads to vivid visions of all their previous lives. The scene is quite shocking for them, but they are able to pass though, and exit into another strange scene: Large floating rock masses, each with what appears to be villages established on top.

In Georgetown, Boston Brand is teleported into the room of a sleeping Dawn Granger. She wakes up, attacks him, and changes into Dove, but he begins to explain the unique situations that the white ring put him in, so she backs off. (I found it interesting that she can see him, unlike all the other people he's encountered). As Dawn backs off, another large bird attacks, Hawk, the resurrected hero who seems to suffer from a permanent state of roid-rage. Held in the clutches of a very Angry Hawk, Boston once again goes though his white ring speech, explaining everything that's happened since he resurrected that small bird in issue #1. Though whole resurrection thing catches Hawk's eye, and he tells Boston that he needs something done...

In Silver City, New Mexico, we meet the young man who will be the new Aqualad. His name is Jackson, and he's walking through the arid New Mexico heat with his girlfriend Maria. She wants to go swimming, but he doesn't as he's never learned to swim. She persist, and is about to jump off a boulder, into where a body of water once was. Jackson grabs her before she can fall to her death, as there's nothing but dried out fish where the water once was.

In the sea within the Bermuda Triangle, as rescue ship is searching for a wrecked airplane. They see two people strapped into an airplane seat, looking very dried out, almost even like zombies. Suddenly, something jumps out the water, an Atlantean woman, and a group of soldiers who she orders to attack the ship crew.

In Pittsburgh, Ronnie Raymond is passed out in bed, after exerting all his energy at beer-pong. He's laying there, when he hears a voice, so he turns around, to see Gehenna completely made of salt. She grabs him by the throat, and demands he say her name. As another student walks in the room, Gehenna disperses into a cloud of salt, leaving it all around the room. the bottom panel on the page shows Jason, asleep at his desk, with what appears to be the Firestorm Matrix pulsing over his head.

Back with Boston Brand, Hank Hall reveals his requests: For Boston to use his White Ring to resurrect Donald Hall, the original Dove.

I must say that I'm excited about this new Aqualad, and hopefully he'll emerge as a legitimately entertaining character, and not another lame cliche. I really hope things pick up in the next few weeks though, as the whole mysterious mysteries things is getting old. Check back in two weeks, where I may just copy and paste this article and give it a new title.

Comic Book Review: Nemesis #2

After a month delay, Nemesis, or as I like to call it, Anti-Batman, has returned this week. Millar takes this story further by exploring the origins of the character, and in turn, revealing motives. The origins are surprisingly Batman-esque, but with a somehow darker, sicker, even perverted twist.

Twenty years ago, at the childhood home of Matthew Anderson (Nemesis), a startling scene was discovered by the police. The Anderson's, a rich, powerful family, with cultured and distinguished taste, have been secretly hunting down teenagers, to presumably murder them only after torture. The case was broken by a detective Blake Morrow, and after going to the Anderson home to make the arrests, he discovered the father of the family dead, a suicide.

As a result of the grisly findings, Matthew Anderson was adopted by his father's brother, who also took control of the Anderson electronics empire and fortune. The new life Matthew had bored him endlessly, so he ran away, ran away to learn about the world, and gain knowledge of the street. He trained, and became a gang lord at age twelve, and at fifteen, became Asia's largest drug exporter. By age twenty-three, he was heading death cults, and found himself at a point where he could honor his mother's dying wish.(She was put to death by a court, the electric chair.) To destroy the cop who cracked the Anderson case.

So with that, Nemesis was born, and present day, he now wishes to annihilate Morrow, but only after destroying his personal life first. So Nemesis takes to toying with Morrow, leaving clues to crimes, and then committing them. These are no small crimes, he goes all out, by destroying football stadiums, stealing priceless gems, and killing prominent members of the community. All of this is just a prelude of course, to the main dish, a public execution of Morrow, and the President, on March 12th at midnight.

After a final clue, Nemesis deals what appears to be a fatal blow, by attacking the Pentagon. He pumps a nerve gas through the entire building, killing 20,000 people, except two: Morrow and another official. Of course, Nemesis didn't just want to kill everyone, he infiltrated the building and stole all the USA's international secrets, and then posted them on the internet. Morrow of course is too stubborn and driven to retreat or surrender, so he plots his revenge.

The Washington police set up a bait and switch. They set up a story about a little girl needing a heart transplant, and soon a donor is found and being transferred to the city. Knowing Nemesis is evil enough to intercept the transplant, they set up road blocks, SWAT Teams, and helicopters.

Sure enough, Nemesis makes his move, grabs the hearts, and begins to trek back to his base. But he meets an unexpected obstacle, the roadblock. Being the master of improvisation, he splits his car into a off-road hi-tech motorcycle, very similar to Batman's in The Dark Knight. After bypassing the block, the runs off a pier, and into the ocean, but not before taking down the helicopter with a handy rocket launcher. Now underwater, he swims into a sewer gate, a back route into his base. After a bit of swimming and climbing, he emerges from the sewer, and is met with the surprise of a lifetime: Morrow and his team. He heart was fitted with a tracking device, which led Morrow right to Nemesis' location. As Morrow and the SWAT team take Nemesis into custody, he begin to scream violently.
"You think I didn't plan all this?"

So far, I've had a blast with this series, since it poses an interesting scenario: What happens when the man who plans for everything, is angry, evil, violent? What happens is Batman became a criminal, one who's bent on destroying society all for defending his crooked family's namesake?
The results or those situations are horrible, but fun to read about.

Next issue, which will hopefully be out next month, will see what happens when you put Nemesis is jail. Did he really plan to be caught? Does he actually have an answer, a solution to everything? Who knows.

Comic Book Review: Batman #700

700 issues. Wow. In 1940 the first issue of Batman was released, at the small price of $0.10. Now, seventy years later, we get the 700th issue of the character we know and love. And who better to bring us this issue than the master of modern Batman, Grant Morrison himself? The issue is told in four parts: "Yesterday", "Today", "Tomorrow", and "And Tomorrow..." Each part is drawn by a different artist, the first, Tony Daniel, followed by Frank Quitely and Scott Kolins. The last two, Andy Kubert, tackling Batman of the future, and David Finch, taking us to the Batmen of the far future. The stories are separate in themselves, but they all connect, in one mysterious episode that spans across time. Spoilers:

YESTERDAY

Batman and Robin, Bruce and Dick, are surrounded by some of their most dangerous enemies. Joker, Riddler, Scarecrow, Catwoman, and Mad Hatter. Take note that the Mad Hatter is not Jervis Tetch, but the impostor Hatter with the mustache and beer belly who claimed to be Tetch. Not only are Batman and Robin surrounded, but they are strapped down to a chair, and connected to a Maybe Machine, a machine that generates visions of how things may have been in one's life.

The machine is the product of Professor Nichols, who is also present, but not as a villain, just a defenseless man who has no choice but listen to the Joker. The Joker tells the professor to to reset the machine, cause he's going to send Batman back to witness his creation, a moment that of course continues to haunt him. Batman warn that the machine takes three minutes to reset, and he only needs two to escape the restraints. Joker doesn't care though, and begins to flip though his Joke book, a collection of his greatest tricks and ideas such as Jokerfish and Jokerworld death parks.

As the machine is being primed, the doctor tries to explain that another round of the machine would kill Batman, as it does more than create illusions, it actually transports the person there, a time machine. Before the machine can be activated again, Batman has already escaped the chair, and he and Robin beats the crap out of the villains. As the rogues gallery goes down, Gordon bursts in with a SWAT team, and they begin to haul the villains away. Gordon says that he received a tipoff from Professor Nichols himself, which is interesting for a number of reasons. One is that Batman said after he escaped, he was going to use the machine to go back in time and alert the police himself. Another is that Professor Nichols, who is shaking with fear, does not acknowledge making the call, but he just tells Batman that he will clean up and "set things strait."

With Batman driving, Robin begins to rattle off a few theories that seems to be bothering him: Why can't Professor Nichols go back in time and stop the Wayne's from being murdered? If the Wayne's were saved, would the Grayson's still die? And what would happen to all the people that Batman and Robin have saved? Batman simply says that everything is as it is, and you can't change what has happened. In a small panel on the bottom, Professor Nichols in has lab on the floor, apparently clutching the Joke Book that was left there. That panel seems to tie in with Batman's last words, saying that the future will be revealed whether it's welcome or not.

TODAY

Batman and Robin, Dick and Damian, are called to the scene of a crime by Gordon, The victim, Professor Carter Nichols, shot in the heart by an apparent laser, a smile on his face, a maybe machine set next to him, in a room locked from the inside. Dick notes that Professor Nichols would be in his 60's, but the victim appears to be in his 80's.

Dick and Damian head to Crime Alley, and one the way, Dick tells Damian a little about the Professor. He says that Nichols became reclusive a few years ago, and he lost contact with the outside world. Dick was hoping the Professor would be able to help them find Bruce, but now his death will of course hinder that. At Crime Alley, Damian wonders aloud why they there, and Dick starts the creation of Batman speech. Damian of course knows the story, but Dick then clears it up. Every year, Bruce would leaves a black wreath at the spot where his family was murdered, and since he's not there this year, Dick is honoring the tradition.

After Dick sets the wreath, a young couple come running from around the corner, yelling that a group of "bad guy" are headed down their way. Batman pulls out his trade mark Robin staffs, and he and Robin quickly beat down the group of large men in a visually stunning scene by Frank Quitely. After taking care of that threat, Batman and Robin approach a pimp and some of his ladies, who immediately declare a truce to become Bat's new feelers on the street. Batman agrees, and the pimp's lady, named Serena, tell Dick of an underground weapons auction that Mr. Freeze told her about. Batman says the mutants will stay off the street tonight, and it can stay that way if the pimp continues to cooperate, which was already said. But Batman says that tonight is special, and the pimp agrees to lay off his usual activities for "Bat-Night."

Scott Kolins takes over the last few pages, as Batman and Robin have fun for a few overs, helping fix all sorts of emergencies, and even stopping for pizza. But the fun is interrupted for a moment, as Batman and Robin must crash the underground auction that is being attended by Riddler, Penguin, and Mr. Freeze, who were all set to bid for the Joker's legendary Joke Book.

After crashing the auction, and now set atop a building, Robin begins to brag about his crime fighting achievements for the night. He says that as soon as he finds the "locked-door killer", he will have proved his point that he would make a much better Batman than Dick. Dick contests though, saying that Damian would be the worst ever, since there is NO locked room killer. Dick says it was suicide, but Damian replies with the fact that there was now weapon.
"How am I supposed to follow you insane leaps of login?" he asks.
"Maybe when you do you'll be goo enough to be Batman." Dick replies. "Trusts me. It'll all make sense one day."

TOMORROW

It's New Year in Gotham, and clock is set to twenty minutes. Batman, Damian, is dragging a cyborg on the back of a four wheeler, a aggressive interrogation. He begins to explain: A madman named January is holding the city ransom. He request is the Joker's Joke Book, and if it's not giving him, he will make it rain a toxin, Joker venom, that will make everyone laugh them self to death, but not before turning into Joker zombies. In twenty minutes, the venom becomes permanent, leaving everyone to die. The cyborg that Damian has, knows the location of January, and of the baby and old man that was kidnapped by the madman as well. Damian's tactics still haven't broken the cyborg, whose name is Max, but the threat of being eaten alive by carnivorous rats makes Max want to sing. Max yells that the location is some place in Granton, so with the new info, Damian leaves the cyborg to die a painful and gruesome death.

With about ten minutes left on the clock, Damian has a nifty device analyze the Joker venom, that in turn will send to results to the lab and synthesize an antidote. He tell the computer to send the cure to Gordon, Barbara that is. Will the results processing, he personally calls Gordon, and tells her that a cure is being sent. She warns him that if she finds him, she will lock him up, but right now, he's her only help from the Joker Zombies.

Batman retreats to the sewer, where he is met by large Joker mutants. There's only a little less than six minutes on the clock, so with time to fight, Damian recruits Brother-I to use long range lasers, and take out the mutants.

Batman emerges from the sewer, in front of 2-Face-2, a Joker baby, and an old Professor Nichols. 2_Face-2 has a normal face, and a ugly mutant face that bulges from the side, and is speaking. The gag was has to do with duality and New Year's: Father time, Professor Nichols, and a baby, who supposedly has a twin. Batman offers up the Joke Book, and January attacks him with a robotic eye, an eye that belonged to the cyborg Max. Batman uses his grapple to knock 2-Face-2 unconscious, and another man appears, a young Professor Nichols. He tells Batman to rescue to baby, and he will take care of the rest. The rest involves murdering his future self, who is almost dead anyways, and the last part is going back and making a call to the police years ago, the call that happened in the yesterday story. With that, the Professor leaves, but not before leaving a note for Batman, that will supposedly explain everything.

So Batman rescues the baby, a baby revealed to be the child of Warren and Mary McGinnis. Batman leaves the book to burn in the house, a book he says that can only be read by the insane, a group that is too many. He injects the Joker/McGinnis baby with the cure, with only two seconds left on the clock, and he wishes the Commissioner a happy New Year.
"Tomorrow belongs to Batman." he declares.

AND TOMORROW...

Each pages is a different Batman, each of a different FUTURE era.

The first one, Batman Beyond, as Terry McGinnis fights while being instructed by an old man who watches on a computer console.

The second, a post apocalyptic world, where futuristic soldiers are chasing a young woman though a dump of some sort. But a raggedy Batman and Robin, wearing tattered suits, and brandishing heavy weaponry come to her rescue.

Third one, a Batman is a modern future, an english dialect that is hard to interpret. A Batman in a classic suit with modern revisions, walking around a "cave" that holds all the previous Bat suits. He prepares a gliding cape, and leaps out the window.

The final one, a Batman that is similar to the One Million look, fighting his way though bunch of clowns in a Japanese inspired city.

The last pages show Gordon lighting up the Bat signal on the roof. "No matter when. No matter where. No matter how dark."
Dick and Damian swinging across the page, in brilliant fashion.
TO 700 MORE!

This issue was a great tribute to the Caped Crusader, one that meshes most incarnations of the character together so seamlessly. Nows a great time to be a Batman fan, between Batman and Robin, Return of Bruce Wayne, Streets of Gotham, and all the other character tie ins. This issue is a must for any fan, a landmark, a milestone, one that won't soon be forgottenn

Comic Book Review: Red Robin #13

The winds of change sweep though Red Robin this week, as fan favorite writer Fabian Nicieza takes over the book, much to the delight of Tim Drake fans. With no disrespect to Chris Yost, whose constant use of flashbacks proved quite annoying, Fabian has proven that he can handle the world of Tim, especially after the arc he used to finish the title last year when it was still Robin. Fabian's return promises a much lighter tone to the book, very different from the dark, brooding Tim we saw for the past twelve issue.

Tim, Dick, and Damian set off on patrol, the first time all three have worked together in Gotham on friendly terms. As Batman and Robin go tackle a Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum problem, Tim goes off to respond to a Lynx disturbance. Tim reveals that after the organized the gang treaty months ago, some leaders have strayed, one of those being Lynx. As he eavesdrops on Lynx meeting with her crew, he begins to contemplate what action he should take against her.

That decision is one of many he needs to make, with this new direction of his life brings new questions, so he has complied a checklist to help out:
1) Figure Out Where to Live
2) Figure Out What to Do
3) Figure Out How to Do It
4) Figure Out Who to Do It With
and..
5) Figure Out Who to Do It Against

Tim meets with Lucius and Tam, mostly to discuss the engagement Tam announced to Vicki Vale a couple issues ago. Lucius knows that the engagement is a sham, but he warns the fake couple to be cautious of what they give to the press from now on, and everyone agrees. After the meeting, Tim tells a very embarrassed Tam that they need to talk about their relationship, possibly hinting at a future there...

Back on patrol, Red Robin scares one of Lynx's crew members into calling out the gang leader, to publicly challenge her to a fight, and damage her rep. Once Lynx emerges out, her and Tim engage in a quick, acrobatic fight. After Lynx gets in few blows, Tim wraps her up and takes her down, but things quickly turn more strange. Lynx tells Tim that she is a cop, a member of the Hong Kong Police Force, trained in gang infiltration. Tim ponders over whether to believe her or not, but ultimately decides that Lynx is best served behind bars, so her leaves her with the GCPD.

Upon returning to the Bat Bunker, Alfred and Damian question whether Tim's actions against Lnyx were appropriate, especially after the help she provided during Blackest Night, and Jason Todd's wars. But Tim argues that he knows what he was doing, that everything is a part of a bigger plan of his, showing them the large monitor of the computer with panels of notorious villains. At the bottom of the page, questions 2, 3, and 4 are checked off Tim's list, showing that he just needs to find a partner, and a place to live.

Tim Drake is definitely one of my favorite characters in the DCU, and I'm glad the new writer has such a firm grasp on the character, and his motives. The new, lighter direction that Red Robin is heading is really enjoyable, so I encourage any Tim fans who previously enjoyed Robin, to jump back on. Also would like to mention that Marcus To is getting better and better with every issue, with his clean pencils that make everything easy on the eyes.

Overall, I found this issue great, and this will on the top of my list every month. Thanks Fabian!

Comic Book Review: Brightest Day #3

Brightest Day continues to chug along this week, in the fourth installment (issue number three) of this universe spanning story. Summery:

Right after being teleported to the Anti-Matter Universe, Boston Brand confronts one of the most powerful DCU villains, The Anti-Monitor himself. At that very moment, the white ring decides to very inconveniently withdraw whatever veil was concealing Boston, making him visible to the Anti-Monitor. The Anti-Monitor is not happy at being disturbed, and is about to attack, when suddenly, the ring tells Boston to fight. So Boston thrusts out his ring bearing fist, and a white collage of the resurrected heroes attacks the Anti-Monitor, hurting him. Boston thinks he's finally realized his purpose: To gather the resurrected heroes, and together defeat the Anti-Monitor. The ring tells him NO, and as he listens, the Anti-Monitor stands up, and prepares to attack himself, but Boston, with newfound confidence in the ring, readies a counter. The ring fails him though, and the Anti-Monitor sends him flying into dark nothingness. With the ring letting him fall, Boston promises to be more careful, and the ring replies OK, sending a white safety net to Boston's rescue.

In Pittsburgh, Ronnie Raymond wakes up inside the University hospital, confused, with Professor Stein sitting by his bed. Stein goes on to explain the lab exploded after Ray Palmer successfully separated the Firestorm Matrix, landing both members of Firestorm in the hospital. The Professor warns that Ronnie and Jason must be separated from no one, and in Jason's room, he's getting a similar speech from his father. Jason's father is telling his son that he needs to return home to Detroit together, but Jason refuses to go, saying that he must finish his studies. His father demands that he return home now, and Jason replies with a angry comment regarding the death of his mother. Furious, his father exits the room, telling his son to do whatever he wants. Ronnie is now getting his things together to leave, and as he does, he begins to question why Ray and Stein have not been giving details, as they warn about the danger of being Firestorm, yet they don't provide any reasons. Ronnie, now fully dressed, exits the door, and he begins to angrily rant about the treatment he's been receiving from Jason, all caused by the actions of Black Lantern Firestorm. Ronnie says that he got another chance, and he's not going to waste it, so he walks out the door, and sees Jason crying on his hospital bed. Ronnie walks outside mumbling to himself: "You Should've Told Them..." As the words linger, a scene of Black Lantern Firestorm killing Jason's girlfriend flashes in his mind, hinting that Ronnie was either in control, or that he kept all the memories. As tears form in his eyes, Jason's dad drives by, yelling at him to stay away from his son.

Aquaman and Mera are standing in the shallow depths of the North Atlantic, as Arthur is attempting to use his powers properly. When Arthur sends out the telepathic signal, a zombie Shamu whale appears, and grabs Aquaman to violently drag him under the sea. Arthur quickly defeats the whale, and begins to contemplate why his powers have been acting so strange. As Mera follows him under water, she suggests that he return to Atlantis, so maybe the Atlantean scientists can run some tests. Arthur firmly declines, saying that he will not return to the people that abandoned him. Mera agrees, and tells him that the only home she needs is Arthur himself, so she smiles and goes in for a hug, masking the look of uncertainty on her face.

In Pearl River, New York, The Martian Manhunter is examining bodies of the family that was brutally murdered by their mother/hidden white martian. He looks into the bodies, that have had the skin pulled, leaving only the sinewy muscle, yet, he finds a lead: A hair of the family dog. J'onn locates the dog at a rescue shelter, and he begins to scan the mind of the canine, revealing the ugly scene of the Martian killing the family. Shocked by what he sees, J'onn is determined to fix the Martian problem, but he first sets off to leave the dog with the lonely, elderly daughter of Professor Erdel, only after wiping the traumatic Martian experience from the dog's mind.

A page here seems oddly out of place: A plane flying over the Bermuda Triangle is losing it's tower communications. In Silver City, New Mexico, the White Lantern begins to blink, and lets a flash of light explodes. Back in the Bermuda Triangle, the airplane is struck by a white streak of lightening, destroying it completely.

In the Peruvian Jungle, the Hawks are making their way towards Hath-Set, who is using their dead bodies for an unknown purpose. As the Hawks finally find the point where Hath-Set was, a portal is opened, a portal made from the bodies of the former Hawks...

What I previously liked about the book has now become somewhat of a hinderance in my opinion. It seems like the stories aren't progressing far enough each issue, leaving us with only a little for knowledge of the surrounding mystery. That being said, the story is still very intriguing, I just wish we could get a little more info every issue.

In a recent interview though, Geoff Johns promised that some characters purposes will become more clear in issue 7, so let's all hope that Brightest Day continues to entertain, and also for more zombie sea creatures, because those are just cool.

Comic Book Review: Batman - The Return of Bruce Wayne #2

Only two weeks removed from the prehistoric Batman story, DC has released the second issue of Return of Bruce Wayne today, an issue where Bruce tackles the Puritan age. This chapter picks up immediately where we left off, and shines a little more light on the mystery that permeates Grant Morrison's Bat titles.

Bruce awakens by the unnamed woman, and quickly springs up as the large octopus monster is about to attack. As he grabs a sword, he tells her to run, and then bravely and foolishly attacks the monster. The monster though, is way more powerful than him, and knocks him unconscious, leaving the girl to rescue Bruce. Bruce once again awakens, this time to the sound of an unknown tongue, and he sees that he's in cave. The woman, and her pet ferret, have been nursing Bruce back to health, and her attempts appear to have been fruitful. Bruce opens his eyes, and notices some familiar charms hanging from the woman's neckless: The symbols of Superman and Wonder Woman. He attempts to speak, but he's still disoriented though, so the woman tells him to quiet, as she says something almost prophetic: "A Great Dark God has set his hand upon you. But stay with me and I'll love you. Until the end of time..."

Booster Gold, Skeets, Rip Hunter, Hal Jordan, and Superman arrive at Vanishing Point, the end of time, where they are attempting to learn any evidence as to Bruce's whereabouts, but they are limited to ten minutes there, ten minutes before the station is lost in the end of time itself. Their guide at Vanishing Point is biorganic archivist, a mysterious creature with long ears coming from it's head, a glowing left eye, and whose body appears to be covered in a curly fur. Superman asks the archivist if he can continue to trace Bruce's omega trail, so they can locate the lost hero. The archivist tries to explain the difficulty of this feat, going on to talk about time's ability to move forward and backwards, creating multiple vibrations of time. Rip chimes in about a track of time that is perpendicular to theirs: Cube Time. Archivist detects an infestation of something called hyperfauna, and a picture of the octopus monster appears on his screen. Superman realizes that then are essentially playing hide and seek with Bruce, who is a needle in a cosmic haystack as he puts it.

Back is the Puritan timeline, Bruce has taken the identity of a man named Mordecai, a devout man of God, and an ivestigator of sorts for the small village of Gotham. He's currently visiting upon a Mistress Tyler, who had a bat nailed to her door with a large knitting needle. Miss Tyler believes the bat was an omen put on her by a woman named Annie, who she believes works for the devil in the woods. Bruce isn't so sure though, and begins to take notice of random clues, such as Miss Tyler's large needles that she uses, her missing iron ladle, and her missing husband's clothes which have been mended. All of this points to Miss Tyler murdering her husband, and as Bruce says these things, a man named Malleus appears, and demands that Miss Tyler be taken away for her crimes as a which, only problem being that he has no evidence of witchcraft.

Miss Tyler is being tortured by the Malleus, drowning in a small lake. But Bruce/Mordecai storms in, and demands she is released for with crimes, saying that if she must be prosecuted, prosecute her for murdering her husband. Malleus is not happy about this, and says that Mordecai was sent to them to help rid them of witches, yet he won't let any executions take place. Bruce says that he has saved his fire for foes who've earned it, and he heads off into the woods.

In the woods, Bruce meets Annie, the woman that previously saved him, who lives all alone due to being shunned by the community for thinking she's a witch. She says that Malleus is terrified of "witches" since they can discover his true name, an identity who he wants no one to know. Bruce tries to rationalize their fears, explaining that when people are scared, they turn to explanations that are hard to be explained. Bruce becomes distracted though, as he begins to wonder why his memories only stretch back ten days, but Annie tells him not to ponder it, and kisses him.

Later, Bruce is getting his portrait drawn by an artist named Martin Van Derm, whose job is to document the Gotham community in illustrations. Bruce instructs Martin to pay close attention to every detail, highlighting the sketchbook Mordecai was holding in the pages of Batman and Robin #10. As the two make small talk, Malleus storms in, and begins to inquire of Bruce/Mordecai, asking why he talks so strange, and why he feels the need to have a portrait made. Bruce brushes off the verbal jabs, but Mordecai was there for a more important reason: The Dragon, or devil they believe, has been spotted in the woods, so Bruce, Mordecai, and two others run off into the woods.

In the woods, a man relates his sighting: A dragon with seven heads and ten horns, similar to the picture painted in the book of Daniel and Revelations. Malleus sees this as evidence of the devil, but Bruce is still not convinced, saying that the creature probably has descended from Earth, and not from Hell. This infuriates Malleus, who sees it his duty to protect Gotham from the devil. He begins to rant about a supposed eclipse that is set to occur, an eclipse that will let the devil walk in the day. The word eclipse seems to strike a chord with Bruce, as he vaguely recounts the eclipse that occurred in his last life, leading him to the present.

Bruce runs off to find Annie, and tells her that the woods are not safe, as the creature he encountered when he appeared is stalking the area. He then is struck with another revelation: He realizes that he's not Mordecai, Mordecai was the man that was killed when he appeared; Annie just dressed Bruce in his clothes. Annie confesses that Bruce is not from the church, and says that she "called," and Bruce came. He demands to be taken to the location where he was found, and Annie leads him to some ancient caves, caves that were once inhabited by people called Miagani, which means Bat-People. Bruce comes to realize the bats as a theme of sorts, and he also recognizes the caves, "from another life" he puts it. He now understands that Annie somehow summoned him and the dragon, which made them both appear, killing Mordecai. She says that she asked the heavens to send her an "angel" to rescue the native people from the settlers, so she wouldn't have to fight alone. Bruce once again warns her that they must leave, since the creature is running amok. As the words leave his mouth, the octopus monster emerges from the bottom of the cave, and attacks again. He tells Annie to once again flee, saying that monster is his responsibility since he brought it there.

Annie runs back into the village, to warn that the dragon is attacking. Malleus though, sees this as an opportunity to capture Annie, alleging that she used the lord's name in vain, and deeming her a witch. Him and his men begin to take a frantic Annie to the burning post, as she tries to warn them of Bruce/Mordecai's danger.

In the cave, Bruce is fighting off the monster, cutting off a few tentacles, and then throwing a flaming torch into it's mouth. With the creature down, Bruce goes for the kill shot, and then yells to Annie that something is wrong.

At Vanishing Point, there is three minutes left until the end of time, an event that even Superman couldn't survive. Just at this crucial moment, The Archivist shuts off, and begins to speak of the point in time Annie died at. Archivist then apologizes to Rip Hunter, saying though, that he can't be stopped after what he's been though to get there. He touches his head with a wirey finger, revealing the face of Bruce. "It's not over yet." he says, "So you'll all just have to trust me."
Superman begins to yell back at him: "You've been booby-trapped! Darkseid turned you into a doomsday weapon and aimed you at the 21st century.If you go back, you'll kill everyone."
He warnings are fruitless though, as Bruce takes control of the time sphere, and leaves them stranded.

Back at the village of Gotham, Annie is being hung by Malleus, citing her crimes as a witch. She tells him he'll pay though, as she knows his real name: Nathaniel Wayne. She curses him and all his kin until the end of time, and is then dropped to her death.

A last scene of the Puritan age reveals that Gotham was fruitful after Mordecai killed the monster, and he became somewhat of a legend in the community. But it gives the ominous warning that the devil was not done with Gotham...

Bruce emerges from a large body of water, loudly yelling Annie's name. He stumbles onto the sand of a beach, right under the boot of Blackbeard the pirate.

The second chapter of this Bruce Wayne mystery brings a lot of new points and questions. How is Annie connected to the larger picture of events? Why did he have those charms of Superman and Wonder Woman? Why was Nathaniel Wayne so desperate to conceal his identity from the village of Gotham? How is Bruce at Vanishing Point, and why did he leaves his friends there? I'm sure these questions will be lingering throughout the whole series.

Another interesting note is that we now know Darkseid will have Bruce destroy the world somehow, which is why Superman and co are so desperate to stop him, yet we don't how Bruce can destroy an entire world on his own.

It seemed though, at Vanishing Point, Bruce already knew the situation, and he told his friends to trust him. So whatever craziness ensues within the next four issues of the game changing series, I'm going to do just that. Trust Batman.

Comic Book Review: Brightest Day #2

The second issue of Brightest Day was released today, featuring a beautiful cover with ominous connotations for our recently resurrected Aquaman. But the cover is quite misleading, as the issue doesn't deal much with Aquaman but rather The Martian Manhunter. Spoilers:

Firestorm is still is Professor Stein's lab, they are very confused though, as Stein and Ray Palmer say they have bad news, yet they don't give any details. They are told not to move, and Ray Palmer jumps into their chamber, dressed in some kind of fire-proof suit. Ray's going to jump inside Firestorm to attempt to disable the Matrix bonding them together, though he doesn't reveal why. Firestorm suggest they try to split naturally, but Ray tells them no, saying it's too dangerous. So Ray dives into the insanely hot Firestorm, locates the Matrix and attempts to push the subatomic particles apart to disband it. But something goes wrong, as Firestorm begins to share the same thoughts, and then suddenly catches on fire, eventually exploding...

In Pearl River, New York, a mother is preparing dinner for her three children who are playing Rockband. As she finishes setting the table, something suddenly overtakes her and she begins to udder a strange phrase: "A-Alive... He's Alive.
She grabs a knife of her table, and begins to brutally murder her children, afterwards pulling off her skin to reveal a White Martian.

In Denver, J'onn J'onzz is visiting the casket of Saul Erdel, the scientist that brought him to Earth from Mars. He finds a picture inside the hands of the dead scientist, a picture of him and his daughter, the woman J'onn saw in his vision.

The Hawks are still tearing through the Peruvian Jungle, hot on the trial of whoever stoles the bones of their first bodies. They storm into a strange lair, filled with pictures of them from every life, pictures of them while just being civilians, and plaster masks, molded from the faces of their previous incarnations. They soon deduce that the owner of the lair is Hath-Set, their original murderer. Infuriated by his obsession with them, with his continuing to murder, Hawkman decides it's time to find him, and kill him.

Back in Denver, J'onn visits Erderl's now elderly daughter, whose name is Melissa. He takes the form of her dead father, and flies her into the sky as he tries to discover information into her past. Melissa is quite senile tough, she just believes it all to be a dream, so J'onn's ability to read minds come in handy here. She beings to narrate the memories of her past: After finding a Aztec tablet as a boy, Erdel became obsessed with the idea of aliens. After he had a daughter, he would feed her these ideas, and eventually when she got old enough, she helped with his experiments. Erdel's first attempt to transport a Martian to Earth went very wrong, as he bought White Martian to the world. The White Martian destroyed the lab, and ran out after almost killing the scientist and his daughter. But that bad experience didn't stop Erdel's endeavors, as he now became obsessed with bringing another Martian to defeat the monstrous one. Thus, that's how the Martian Manhunter came to Earth, but of course this story didn't end well either. Erdel died saving J'onn from a generator explosion that destroyed parts of the lab again, and knocked Melissa unconscious as well as scarring her forehead forever. Erdel's last words to J'onn were: "save us from my arrogance... my recklessness..."
After reliving the memory, J'onn very touchingly tucks Melissa into her bed, as she says goodnight to her father. J'onn promises to return visit her as her father again, and he then leaves.

In Dubai, Boston Brand is still following Aquaman and Mera, but he's getting frustrated that they can't hear him. The King and Queen of the ocean dive into the water, and dead fish rise to the surface, but before Boston could do anything, he's teleported away by the White ring. He thrown to a dark, unknown land, where he is falling very quickly. The ring saves him, and then to Boston's confusion, it tells him to FIGHT. "Fight who?" he asks.
The last page is Boston in front of the Anti-Monitor, and he stares in bewilderment as he ponders what the ring told him to do.

One thing I really like about the book, is the array of different artists. Instead of DC getting some nobody artist to draw the series as quickly as possible, they used some well known DCU artists to draw different stories in the book. I really wish we could have had more Aquaman here though, since his story seems to be the most mysterious and destructive. But with that said, the ring teleporting Boston to the Anti-Monitor Universe was a great reveal, and I look forward to the fighting it out.

Comic Book Review: Batman - The Return of Bruce Wayne #1

Last January, in the pages of Final Crisis #6, Batman was seemingly killed by Darkseid. The Caped Crusader went down a hero though, weakening the villain with a bullet made of radian, so he could be defeated. Skeptics weren't sure weather Batman actually died though, with him arguable being the most popular character in comics. The skeptics were rewarded, with the last pages of Final Crisis #7, where we see a Bruce Wayne writing on a cave, a cave that is supposedly from the beginning of time. Over the next couple months, DC told us that Bruce would be coming back though, but they didn't tell us how. WIth the current Batman and Robin, Dick and Damian, discovering clues about the whereabouts of Bruce, they realize that he is stuck somewhere in time, and it's up to them to find and rescue him.

Today the first issue of The Return of Bruce Wayne was released, the first of six chronicling the adventures of Bruce as he works his way through time, and supposedly, to the present. But first, he must conquer the past itself, starting with the caveman era. I'm going to attempt to give an accurate summary of the issue, with the plot being mysterious and brilliant, but the caveman talk being hard to follow.

The issue begins with a group of cavemen inspecting a rocket that is jammed in the ground. There are three main cavemen here, who are main characters though out the story. There is one with black hair and a full beard, there is a blond one, and the dark-haired one's son, a red-headed boy. The group walk towards a cave, and when they approach the entrance, a large number of bats fly out. The dark-haired caveman throws a rock inside, and a shirtless Bruce Wayne, holding his utility belt emerges out. He speaks in muddled words, and is not quite sure what is going on. The cavemen explain why they are there: The dark haired man is there to meet his father, who will teach the red-headed boy about being a man. Bruce seems to be able to understand them, but they can't seem to make out his speech, so they begin to make fun of him, and laugh. After a hearty growl from Bruce, they apologize as he works his way to the rocket.

The cavemen walk inside the cave, where they see the wall that Bruce was inscribing symbols of himself and other heroes. The dark haired man finds his father, who is the old man that Bruce laid to rest during the final pages of FInal Crisis. They carry him out, and take off a white necklace his was holding to his chest.

Bruce is opening the rocket, where he finds what looks to be a broken bat spotlight, and Superman's cape. As he walks back towards the cavemen, a rival tribe is preparing to attack from above...

As night comes, a fire is lit, dinner is made, and the cavemen once again discuss where the mysterious Bruce could have come from. They decide that he is from over the ocean, and name him, the Man of Bats. As the cavemen continue their discussion, it is interrupted by an attack from the rival tribe of cavemen. Arrows begin to fly, headed right towards the red-headed boy, but Bruce dives in front, taking the shots upon himself. He drags the boy into the bushes, and they watch as the rival tribe brutally attacks the family, killing the dark-haired man. Bruce jumps out to help in the battle, where he attack the tribal leader, who is revealed to be Vandal Savage. Savage is first baffled by the attacker, deeming him a man-god, but he soon comes to his senses and has his tribe knock Bruce around, rendering him unconscious.

Savage has Bruce on top of a hill, right next to a giant bat that has been skinned and posted in the soil. Vandal addresses his followers as they eat member of the tribe they just murdered, saying that he will fight the man-god tomorrow in the presence of the light, where after defeating them, he will eat Bruce's brain. He has his tribe use stakes to rope Bruce to the ground, where he will await his fight.

After Bruce falls asleep, he begins to have a strange dream, but is soon awoken by the red-headed boy. The boy has made himself a shield with a bat symbol on it, as well as a domino mask of sorts, a prehistoric Robin. He cuts Bruce loose, so they can warn other tribes of Savage's attacks.

Savage wakes up from his tent, where he immediately wants to begin his fight. He goes over to where Bruce was tied down, only to see that he is missing. Savage gets angry, and is quickly startled when Bruce, wearing the large bat skin, jumps out and attacks. Using his array of utility belt tricks, Bruce easily defeats Savage as a solar eclipse occurs. The new/old Robin finds the neckless his father died in, but is terrified, along with all the other cavemen, of the eclipse, thinking that they have angered the sun. The few remaining members of Savage's tribe attack the new Batman and Robin, forcing them to run away, and then jump into a large waterfall. As Bruce and the boy hit the water, the briefly sink, the boy then comes up shortly thereafter. He waits by the water for "the man of bat" but Bruce never emerges, so the boy leaves.

The evil tribe kick Vandal out, having been defeated by the Bat, he is no longer a worthy leader. As soon as he's gone, a bright flash occurs, and Superman, Booster Gold, Hal Jordan, appear along with a time sphere. Superman says that he knows Bruce was there, but he is gone now. He has a ominous warning though: If Bruce makes it back to the 21st century on his own, everyone dies.

Bruce opens his eyes under water, where he is pulled up by a woman wearing old fashioned clothing. He can now speak in phrases, as he asks the woman what is going on, and where the boy is. The woman doesn't know, but she refers to him as "Master Demon" as she asks what kind of horse he rode there. Bruce turns around and grabs a sword, as he sees a large octopus like creature with very sharp teeth behind him.

With one of six chapters in the book, I may have more questions than I did going in. How is Bruce traveling from era to era? Why is Superman and the other looking for him? And how can Bruce returning to the present kill everyone? Only time will tell.

Comic Book Review: Batman and Robin #12

We were promised an Oberon Sexton reveal, and a reveal we got. I hope you sitting down for this one.

Slade is still controlling Damian, using him to attack Dick violently with a shovel. At first Dick is confused by Damian's attacks, but after the new boy wonder yells SLADE, Dick soon realizes that Damian can't control his actions, yet he fights back stunning Slade on the other side of the spinal link. Oberon once again warns the Dynamic Duo of the villains in the cemetery, but Alfred flies down in the Batmobile, and offers help. Still ignoring the villains, Batman realizes that Damian and Slade's nervous systems are linked, and he uses a form of electric knuckles to shock Damian, which disrupts the link.

In Talia's lair, Slade begins to feel the pain Damian is, causing him to tear off the link, releasing Damian from their control.

In the cemetery, the villains are once again attacking, but announce that they got what they came for, a stone tablet with a bat insignia on it. The villains run away, as Alfred shoots the water cannon from the Batmobile. Batman notes that everyone got hurt, and insists that Oberon should visit a hospital. But Oberon declines, saying that he needs to speak with Batman in his hotel, because it is just the beginning.

Alfred is tending the Dick and Damian's wounds, as Dick tries to explain what he saw in the tunnel that led from the mansion. He explains that he followed a length a railroad tracks to an underground river, and there was a statue with a tunnel behind it, which is where he found a casket. It is here he encountered a GIANT BAT, but the most peculiar detail, is that all the evidence has disappeared with the villains that attacked in the cemetery. As they think about their next move, Damian expresses disbelief that his mother would be so cruel to him, and says that he must return and confront her at the base. But Dick won't let Damian go alone, and says he will tag along after they analyze evidence of Bruce's return. Alfred points out that the mansion was built for Darius Wayne, by a designer named Nathan Van Derm, and when looked at from above, the building makes a W. But what's even stranger, is that when you connect the line segments of the past and present Wayne property, a Bat is formed. Dick insists that they need to retrieve the casket stolen from the underground tunnel, and with that, they set off for Talia's.

Batman and Robin punch their way through Talia's assassins, and make their way into the control chamber. It is here they meet Talia, and a shouting match begins between her and DIck. But Damian calmly insist that he must to speak to his mother alone, so they take a walk, while Dick visits a recovering Slade.

Slade is in a hospital bed, when Dick shows up to slap him around. He warns Slade to leave the Bats alone, threatening to take him down with minimal effort if needed.

Damian and Talia are walking down a hall, and Talia once again tries to convince Robin to leave Batman, and begin to accept his destiny to rule the world. But Damien declines again, admitting that becoming Robin is the best thing he's ever done. Talia says she anticipated a similar response, and takes him to a room that will supposedly change his decision. What Damian sees next shocks him, as he gazes at a baby being grown in a tube. Talia reveals that the baby is another Damian, one that will be ten years younger than the current one. She threatens to click a proverbial reset on Damian, saying that if he does not accept his destiny, she will start over with a new clone. It is here we see Damian for who he really is: just a little boy, wanting to be loved by his mother. He asks if his mother can just love him for who he is, to which Talia replies no. She banishes her son from her lair, declaring him an enemy of the House of Ghul, and a sad Damian accepts his new fate.

Back in Gotham, the villains from the Wayne Cemetery fight are discussing El Penitente's plans, while waiting for the train. On the incoming train, El Penitente, who we're pretty sure is Dr. Hurt, is sitting across from the sole remaining member of The Black Glove who is terribly nervous about the murder of the other members. They seem to know who the killer is, and as El Penitente slips on a Black Glove, he says he always finishes what he started.

Alfred, Batman, and Robin are exploring the underground tunnel, and Dick is startled to find no evidence of his previous trip down there. But they do discover something that confirms their theories: A rock with a crude painting of a sun on it, with a tattered cowl hanging from two deer antlers. Dick tells Alfred to alert the Justice League, as he realizes that all this craziness is leading to head, one that will take every ounce of brilliance to beat.

Back in Oberon Sexton's hotel, Batman and him are discussing the events that occurred, and Dick begins to push for Oberon's identity. He says that both he and Damian know something familiar about Oberon, to which Oberon once again denies being Bruce, while saying that Damien is not the detective his predecessors were. Dick agrees, and then reveals the clues he discovered about the domino killers murders. "It's all a routine, isn't it?" he asks. "They're all jokes." he declares, as Oberon pulls off his mask to reveal a smiling Joker.

This issue couldn't have been much better, as Grant brought his fourth story arc to a close with a incredible creative revelation. As we now know the identity of Oberon, we still don't know all his motives, and what his next move will be after his identity is compromised. It looks like the next arc will be pivotal in Dick's career as Batman, as it looks like we're headed for Batman vs. the Black Glove, round two.

Comic Book Review: Brightest Day #1

Last month, Brightest Day #0 set up the forward progress of the DCU. Today, we see where everything thing is heading, and the greater mystery begins to unfold.

Picking up right after Green Lantern #53, the white power battery is still set in the crater in Silver City, New Mexico. This is where Sinestro has brought Hal and Carol, to see if the Green Lantern can move the battery. The battery doesn't budge at Hal's attempt, and after seeing him fail, Carol brings up the story of the Sword and the Stone, noting that only the King, King Arthur, can remove the mighty sword from is stone sheath.

We are now brought to Boston Brand, the former Deadman, who reminds us that he no longer has powers, cannot been seen or heard while being left to the whims of the white ring. He is currently on a rusty ship in the middle of the ocean, and watches hopelessly as the child traffickers are about to abuse their crying prisoners. But the children don't get hurt, as Aquaman and Mera jump out to rescue the kids. They take out all the traffickers, with an impressive display of being bulletproof, and Mera's water-dragons. After beating out all the criminals, they realize that their is another boat with more traffickers on it, so Aquaman summons a unlikely creature to help out. With his call, an enormous octopus emerges from the water taking down the ship. But they realize something weird about the animal, it's dead. With another call, Arthur summons a zombie shark, and soon realizes that the animals are killing people instead of subduing them.

In Westport, Massachusetts, a butcher is slicing fish, while customers watch the news of Aqauman's return. One customer expresses his excitement for the return of the protector of the seas, and the sends the butcher in a blazing rage, using his knife to kill everyone in the room, and then running out the door.

In the Pittsburgh University lab, Firestorm in it's new combo os Ronnie and Jason, are arguing with each other, as the look for Professor Stein. After trading jabs at one another, the attempt to spilt into their regular forms, but it doesn't succeed and leaves them in great pain. After the failed split, Professor Stein speaks over a intercom from a room with Ray Palmer, where they reveal that can longer split, and that they have worse news...

On Mars, J'onn is moving the large block of ice he found underground, so he can melt it and create water to build back life on his home planet. As soon as the ice melts, a green stalk begins to sprout from the soil, and J'onn flies down to inspect it. He touches to little green plant, and immediately he holds his head as he becomes half black lantern. A vision appears in his head of his hands around the neck of Professor Erdel, the man who accidentally beamed J'onn to Earth. In the vision, he also notices a woman lying dead in the background. After returning to normal, he realizes that he was just a victim of a psychic attack coming from Earth, and sets off to the planet to find the girl in the vision he just had.

In the Peruvian Andes, the Hawks are being led by the Claw of Horus that was fused with Zamaron crystal. They now see the men in white snowsuits, who have the bones of the original Hawks incarnation, and chase them to a jet flying above. They break through the jet to take out the white snowsuit guys, and then discover the bones of their past selves, who perplexes them as they thought they were destroyed during Blackest Night. Before they can think about the discovery any further, a sneaky snowsuit buy send off a stun grenade of some sort, and with the Hawks distracted, he slips out with bones. As the Hawks rescue the unconscious guys with the falling jet, they realize that they're being targeted. The last panel of their story, is Hath-Set, who is in South America, holding their bones in the Peruvian Amazon.

The last pages are of the butcher we met earlier, as he watches his former shop explode, he walks into the ocean, only to emerge as Black Manta.

So with the second issue Blackest Night in the books, the mysteries kicks off, are there are many: The mystery of the white light, Aqauman's zombie issue's, Firestorm's splitting problems, J'onn's visions, and the Hawks bodies, it seems like there will be a lot to cover in twenty-weeks. While the issue was great, and the writing superb, a concern I have is the issue may have to many storylines for one issue. Even though the mystery deepened, we still didn't receive much progress on the stories themselves. Nonetheless, the book is sure to be entertaining to the end, and I look forward to discovering everyone's role is this new DCU.

Comic Book Review: Detective Comics #864

David Hine and Jeremy Haun are taking over Detective Comics for a couple of months, finishing up their work on the Arkham Asylum plot now that the Black Mask has revealed to be Jeremiah Arkham. The first part of this two issue arc, gives us great insight into the mind of Jeremiah Arkham, revealing how dangerous he can really be. Spoilers now:

The issue is told from the viewpoint of Jeremiah Arkham, as he attempts to explain his deranged actions as The Black Mask. He takes us back to the time when Hugo Strange was impersonating Batman, and the conversation that followed after he was taken to Arkham Asylum. Jeremiah talks about the confidence he had as a doctor, how he was in control of the asylum, as well as his destiny. But now, he's in an orange jumpsuit as well, wandering around the cafeteria of the asylum, seemingly with no control over anything anymore.

As he looks for a seat in his own cafeteria, he runs across a former patient named The Mortician, whose name stems from the fact that he would try to preserve him victims, making zombie like corpses. The Mortician himself looks like a zombie come to life, and he begins to tell Jeremiah about how the food always includes a certain bodily fluid provided by the inmates. Jeremiah does not take this info well, and we begin to see his insanity as he asks for The Mortician to swap trays. In very vivid detail, he describes how he will torture The Morticians grandson, his only remaining family, if the trays are not swapped. The Mortician nervously complies, as Jeremiah, who is fully aware of his actions, acknowledges his schizophrenia.

In front of the Gotham City Precinct, a man with a gun is holding a hostage, demanding Batman. Batman soon swings in, releasing the hostage, and roughing up the man with the gun. The man's name is Conrad LeBlanc, a corporate financier, and we find out his motives for the hostage situation. Before the Black Mask was arrested, LeBlanc has a bomb surgically implanted in his chest. The bomb has no timer, and can only be disarmed by a code known by The Black Mask. Of course like any good villain, The Black Mask is willing to give up the code, but only if LeBlanc uses his unique position to move money around into some accounts owned by him. LeBlanc realized he was running out of time, as the transactions he set in motion will go into effect in two days. Batman is of course willing to help, but not before LeBlanc reverses the transactions.

Back in the Arkham cafeteria, Batman, a security guard, and a freshly released Alyce Synner, are watching Jeremiah from above, as Jeremiah has quickly gained control of the asylum, with all the inmates surrounding him. Batman believes that Arkham is too dangerous to mingle with the other patients, saying that he should be put into solitary, with the other high-risk inmates. The security expresses disbelief that Jeremiah and Black Mask are one in the same, but Alyce notes that Jeremiah is a true schizophrenic, not carrying on any memories from one personality, to the other. Of course, we all know that Alyce is not so innocent herself, having been a pawn of The Black Mask during the takeover of Arkham.

After apologizing to Alyce, for the misleading intel that caused her incarceration, Batman then asks her for help in retrieving info from The Black Mask, to which Alyce agrees. So Batman gets a one on one with Jeremiah, where he begins to ask for the code to disarm the bomb. Jeremiah tells Batman he can't help, but in narration, he reveals that he's aware of his actions as both personalities. Batman tries to bait Arkham into getting angry, but Arkham of course is a psychologist, so he uses his carefully chosen answers and questions to get Batman to take him to the chamber of the Three Beauties.

Batman, Aaron Cash the security guard, and Jeremiah, are headed to the chamber of The Three Beauties, where Cash asks if this is a good idea. But Batman send Jeremiah is first, saying that Jeremiah has ten minutes to prepare the Beauties to answer questions. As Jeremiah walks in the chamber, he replies that Batman will regret this idea.

Inside the chamber, Jeremiah sees the Beauties and the mysterious Jester. The Beauties won't look or respond to Arkham, and the Jester reveals that The Beauties are disappointed in Arkham, but he soon gets the Beauties to quickly forgive the repentant Jeremiah. Jeremiah walks towards them, and he is quickly terrified and filled with rage, as he sees that his Beauties all have the face of him. Jeremiah grabs a knife, and stabs all his Beauties in the face, while The Jester watches, smiling in the corner. Jeremiah repeatedly yells that he will not the mocked, as Batman walks into the room. With the bloody mess at his feet, Jeremiah turns his anger at the Caped Crusader, asking why Batman did not stop the murders.

In great cliffhanger fashion, this is where the story ends, to be continued next month. This was such an intriguing penultimate chapter, to the very interesting Arkham Asylum saga, by the very talented Hine and Haun. Now in a recent interview, Hine say that in this two-part finale, we will found out who's beens pulling Arkham strings since the get-go. At this point, I'm leaning towards Alyce, since she's been involved with Black Mask for a while. But of course, we have no idea who this Jester character may be, but it almost alludes to the Joker being involved somehow. Whoever the puppet master is, it will be a great reveal in the final chapter next month.

Comic Book Review: Batman and Robin#11

Wow. So over the last couple of weeks, there's been alot of questions in Batman and Robin. Why wouldn't have Bruce known about the secret cave after the earthquake? Who is El Penitente? Is Oberon Sexton actually Bruce Wayne? So with all these in mind, let's dive into spoilers.

So in Mexico, El Penitente is fresh off whipping himself. Of course, El Penitente is spanish for The Penitent One, one who punishes them self. So he's getting dressed, while asking a father to bless him so he will be clean, so Christ will protect him. Outside, DEA agents are raiding El Penitente's home, shooting his henchmen. He walks through the gunfire, not very concerned at the shots, even as the priest gets killed. We now see his face, while not confirmed, he definitely appears to be Dr. Hurt, as he says the mask of El Penitente has served it's purpose, and it's time to go home to Gotham.

Dick is still in the secret cave, examining the painting on the wall, which appears to be new within a year. He's tell Alfred he's going to step on the bat symbol in the middle of the floor, which revels a door, but Alfred tells him to proceed with caution as he takes note of a commotion taking place in the Wayne Cemetery.

In the cemetery, Oberon and Damian are being confronted by El Penitente's men. They introduce themselves, and attack, which Oberon takes them all down, except one. Damian, still not entirely in control of his actions attack the remaining one, still worried that something is wrong with him.

Talia is now shown, wearing some kind of helmet contraption to which a team of doctors are using to link Damian's spine with Talia's movements. She begins to mention that this was just a demonstration, and the an old enemy of Dick's should administer the "Death Stroke," as a shadowy man in the back replies.

Alfred is still com-linked to Dick, and tells him about the scuffle going on inside the cemetery. Dick is now in some kind of underground railroad, no joke. He notes that Bruce must have known about all theses passages, especially after the earthquake. Alfred says that not all of the mansion suffered severe damage, but that he needs to intervene on the cemetery quickly. Dick discovers a large half man-half bat statue, which Alfred points out is called Barbatos, which is the name of the creature supposedly summoned by Thomas Wayne in 1765. Alfred begins to lose his connection though, as something is blocking out the signal. Dick finds a gate, and goes in...

Back in the cemetery, the henchmen are quoting things from some sort of mythology, particularly, Barbatos. Oberon takes the main one down again, and Damian begins to notice something peculiar about Mr. Sexton. Damian notes that Oberon claims to be a writer from England, but says that Talia's headquarters are in England, which means that Damian is quite familiar with accents. He says that Oberon's is fake, and is not who he says he is. He asks a question that we've all been wondering: Are you Bruce Wayne? Oberon doesn't respond, only saying that he's there to investigate the Domino Killer. But Damian won't give. "Who are you?" Again deflecting, Oberon asks for help opening this vault, saying that the henchmen are looking for something long buried inside of it.

Talia is still watching, and now has the shadowy man from before connected to the machine controlling Damian, which he then uses to attack Mr. Sexton.

Suddenly, Dick explodes from the vault, his costume in rags, while exclaiming that he found "it." Damian begins to attack Dick, all while asking for help realizing that his mother is controlling him.

The last scene is Slade Wilson shown connected to Talia's machine, controlling Damian, and asking for permission to terminate Dick.

Now that was a crazy ending. The mystery continues to deepen and more questions arise, such as: What is Deathstroke's role in this story?, and Who, Who , Who is Oberon Sexton? Yes I put triple who for emphasis, because that one is just puzzling. So the last question is What did Dick find in the vault?

The story is getting better, and the conclusion is sure to be spectacular, hopefully answering all our questions.