Detective Comics #858 / Batman #692

Batwoman in Detective Comics #858: Writer: Greg Rucka. Artist: J.H. Williams III. Colours: Dave Stewart.
The fifth issue of Detective Comics featuring Batwoman proves again that this is the real gem among the new or revamped Bat titles currently pushed on the market by DC Comics. In the first part of an origin story, with flashbacks relating the childhood and early adolescence of Kate Kane and her twin sister, the art team again shows itself in peak form, alternating again between different art styles to get the story across: an old-fashioned looking, classic, well-ordered comic look for the flashbacks, and the contrasting, dynamic layout driven by a sombre colour palette offset by the bright reds associated with the Batwoman character. One simply brilliant page even relies on on nothing but text snippets to tell an episode. All in all, one of the best superhero titles out there. 

Rating: 5 of 5.

Batman #692: Written and Drawn by Tony S. Daniel. Inks: Sandu Florea. Colors: Ian Hannin.

With the arrival of Tony S. Daniel as writer/artist, the Batman title finally rises up from the mediocrity of the past few weeks. Daniel's stylish graphics (at times resorting to a classic film noir look) and the first convincing representation of Dick Grayson as Batman (all angles and shadows) make this series again worth its money.

The plot: Dick Grayson/Batman enlists the help of Catwoman to find the layer of Black Mask, and instead gets sent into the hands of the Falcone mob, while Catwoman pursues her own schemes. Black Mask meanwhile digs up even more villains to serve him.

The title's overall plotting is still its weal point. While Black Mask 'wins' over more and more of the Bat-verse's renowned villains to his side, Batman gets side-tracked again and again in his search for Black Mask. You'd think the title would start building up momentum leading to the final confrontation between the two, but instead there is the usual villain-of-the-week plotting, which probably means that the showdown will end up being rushed over a couple of titles a few weeks down the line.
Rating: 3.5 of 5.

Batman Unseen #2

Writer: Doug Moench. Art: Kelley Jones. Colours: Michelle Madsen.

Doug Moench's and Kelley Jone's run with the regular Batman title used to be a highlight for me. So I'm glad to see them back on a Bat title, and to witness the return of the foot-long ears, the yellow bat sign and the impossibly huge cape. Batman Unseen delivers all that in Jones' inimitable style and Moench's tongue-in-cheeck story-line about a mad scientist who turns himself invisible layer by layer, Batman who ponders his own apparent lack of scariness, due to too much invisibility while the Black Mask is hovering in the wings. All in all, this promises to be a great miniseries.

Batman and Robin #5

Writer: Grant Morrison. Art: Philip Tan, Jonathan Glapion, Alex Sinclair.

Having moved from the weird to the more mainstream, Batman and Robin's decidedly dark take on the Dynamic Duo continues to excel. Batman and Robin are pitched against the the two murderous vigilantes: Red Hood, whose identity is surprisingly revealed early on, and the rather scary Scarlet; and, as the laws of comics demand, our heroes are currently losing out to the two villains who are but distorted mirror images of the new Batman and the new Robin. Mysterious Oberon Sexton also puts in another appearance, being set up as maybe an important figure to come; while yet another new villain, the blood-thirsty Flamingo, reaches Gotham.

The plotting slows down a bit in this issue, setting up the players for the next act. The art is still dark and rather outstanding. All in all a very good read.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Batman #691

Writer: Judd Winick. Art: Mark Bagley, Rob Hunter. Colours: Pete Pantazis.

While DC Comics continue to provide quality comics with the recent Batman spin-off titles, it is amazing that the Batman title itself is allowed to run it's rather mediocre run. The writing is not at fault: while not at its most original, it nonetheless moves along nicely Dick's struggles as the new Caped Crusader and the intrigues of the Black Mask. The issue opens with Batman facing Two-Face inside the Batcave itself and ending up having his butt saved by Albert. Dick / batman is portrayed here as a man who still makes mistakes but attempts to learn from them. At the end, Dick breaks with one more piece of Bruce's past by clearing the batcave, and ends up finding an intriguing link to his own past.

Black Mask, meanwhile, lays his grubby hands on Two-Face, and the next issue will reveal if Harvey throws in his lot with old skeleton head.

The title's weak spot continues to be the art. It's better than it has been but is still below average. The colours are less garish than they were in the last issues, but still rely a lot on awful Photoshop effects. Next issue will see writer / artist Tony Daniel take over the title, which can only profit from this change.

Rating: 2 of 5.

Red Robin #5

Written by Chris Yost ; Art by Ramon Bachs.

I'm not a great fan of teenage sidekick comics, and I picked up Red Robin only because it promised to lead to the mystery surrounding the fate of recently vanished Bruce Wayne. The series started off with an epic, world-spanning romp involving an almost grown-up Tim Drake; and after the first two issues I decided to stay with the title. The series seems to be set out as a coming-of-age story for a character who has lost, within the span of a few years, his father, girl friend, adoptive father, and who has been recently deposed as Robin, and sends our newly brooding hero on a quest around the world to find out the whereabouts of that other brooding hero, Bruce Wayne. He soon becomes embroiled with Ra's al Ghul, also on the look-out for Bruce Wayne, and with the League of Assassins.

Issue #5 opens a new story arc which sees Tim saved by the League and agreeing to work with them to defeat their enemy, the Council of Spider. It sets up a new villain, the Wanderer, and establishes a potential love affair between Drake and one of the assassins, while also throwing one of Lucius Fox's attractive daughters into the mix.

Using a Lost-like time-hopping storytelling technique, writer Chris Yost keeps up the tension throughout. The art work is solid and adequate but not outstanding. The book has one big problem, 'though, and that is Red Robin's downright silly costume (daft even by comic book standards). Red Robin is a solid title with a promising, riveting story line.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Detective Comics: Batwoman / Batman and Robin

In the aftermath of DC's international headline grabbing decision to 'kill off' Bruce Wayne (well, for a year or so), they brought out a series of new Bat-related comics. While one can be sceptical about the commercially driven hiatus of the 'old' Batman, it is nonetheless interesting that this gives us at least two outstanding titles: the new Batman and Robin title, and the revamped Detective Comics, which now featuring Batwoman.

Issue 857 of Detective Comics finishes off the first story arc, Elegy, in the remarkable new Batwoman title. This title is a showcase of how well DC can do things if they are prepared to take risks. It's been a long time that they put some real artistic endeavour into the Batman-related comics (not since the 1990s, I think, since Kelley Jone's run with the title), but here, the artistic team of J.H. Williams III and Dave Stewart on colours are pulling off a one-of-a-kind approach that make the title rise above the usual superhero comics. Layouts and art are top-notch, and Dave Stewart's colours are brilliant - as ever, his colours add an extra layer of intensity to any book he works on. He has a tendency to make even mediocre art look great, but here the result is a stunning exercise in surreal storytelling - as befits a story line featuring a villain modelling herself on Alice in Wonderland. The writing is first class as well, introducing characters not necessarily at home in superhero books. The story arc ended maybe a bit abruptly, and left a series of open questions which will hopefully get answered in the sequels. Personally I like the Kate Kane/Batwoman character, along with the choice to make her a 'lipstick' lesbian. Anyway, this is a title that I highly recommend. Rating: 5 of 5.

[NB: Here is an interesting interview with JH Willam III on his work on Batwoman]

The second related title to warrant the qualification of 'outstanding' is the new Batman and Robin title. Again, DC took risks and it paid off, at least artistically (personally, I wouldn't have bought the title otherwise, having thought of it only as the product of a marketing ploy). The first three issues, written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Frank Quitely, veered towards the surreal, featuring strange new characters such as Professor Pyg, while Quitely's somewhat freakish and scary artwork supported this surreal approach.

With issue 4, the title edges back closer to run-of-the-mill superhero comics. Philip Tan takes over the artwork, which turns grimmer and less surreal. The new arc brings back the Red Hood (but leaving it a mystery if Jason Todd is still the man under the hood), who teams up with Scarlet, a character introduced in the previous story arc, to form a grim alternate 'dynamic duo'. Meanwhile, a mysterious new character Oberon Sexton appears on the scene, and Dick is still trying to 'educate' the new Robin, i.e. the insufferable Damian, who remains the weakest aspect of the title.

Personally, I preferred Frank Quitely's take on the title, but issue 4 is still a good read with first class artwork, and an intriguing set-up for a new story line. Rating: 4 of 5.