This Week in Comics: Paper beats rock, rock beats scissors, scissors beats paper, and justice beats everything

Tom King is remaking Bane in Batman's image—a rebirth with tweaks to make the juiced-up Santa Priscan terrorist more or less appealing (your mileage may vary). In other rebirths, Bryan Hitch has written an issue of Justice League worth your consideration. Consider it, and if after considering it you are still interested, read it.

Batman News also got an early look at Valiant's forthcoming X-O Manowar relaunch, so when you're done considering (and reading) Justice League, there's more to consider still. And once you're done with that, perhaps consider heading to the comments and telling me whether or not I should stop using that word. And also: how was your week in comics?

Batman #18

Art by David Finch, Danny Miki, and Jordie Bellaire

I don’t like how King forces characters to fit into a mold they don’t belong in just so he can tell the story he wants to tell.

- Brandon (read the full review)

Break from the Bat #13: X-O Manowar #1

Ultimately, this issue does an excellent job of introducing a visually inviting world and an easy-to-understand conflict, without any unnecessary footnotes to outside material or complex emotions.

- Brian (read the full review)

Detective Comics, Vol. 5: Gothtopia

A strange conundrum of a collection: the narrative is uneven, with as many highs as there are lows.

- Jay (read the full review)

Harley Quinn #15

There’s so much going on in this comic. So much that my little pea brain is having a hard time keeping up with all of it.

- Elena (read the full review)

Injustice: Ground Zero #7

Art by Matthew Clark, Sean Parsons, and Andrew Dalhouse

Harley running a commentary on the absurdity of Superhero fights this go-round is a refreshing bit of self-awareness in an industry that seems to take itself way too seriously in most of its venues.

- Elena (read the full review)

Justice League #16

Art by Yanick Paquette and Nathan Fairbairn

If there’s a complaint, it’s about characterization of [Batman and Superman], but the fact remains that this installment reads a thousand times better than others, and mostly because of this dramatic improvement in dialogue.

- Brian (read the full review)

Nightwing #16

Art by Ivan Reis, Oclair Albert, and Sula Moon

Point blank, this issue has me torn. There’s quite a bit about it that I liked, and quite a bit that I didn’t.

- Jay (read the full review)

Super Powers #5

Have I told you about Lunch Lady Darkseid? Because I’m going to tell you about Lunch Lady Darkseid.

- Jay (read the full review)

Teen Titans Go! digital-issue #41

Vibrantly illustrated and capped off with a great punchline, this chapter ends up being a winner.

- Jay (read the full review)

9 comments

residentgrigo

March 3, 2017

The Walking Dead apparently decided to kill my favorite character. It and Flintstones are my books of the week, as usual.

Marvel also finally overtook DC is sales again -by 0,2 whole %- but they are the bigger publisher.
Meaning that DC publishes LESS product to sell! Even with all their non-cape brands they have... oy.
This "return" to the top also only happened due to Star Wars, where most of their A talent is parked.
Dat September reboot better be good, as i dropped books like flies. Only 3 post Rebirth ongoing by DC managed that though. This is the worst Marvel has been since the mid 90s, when they went bankrupt...
https://www.bleedingcool.co...

Mr. Warshaw
March 3, 2017
I keep waiting for Marvel to give me a reason to come back, but at this point, I don't think anything short of the return of the FF could do it. And even then, they'd probably screw it up.
1. residentgrigo
  March 3, 2017
  Fucking up is the only way the current editorial pool would pull of a FF reboot but they just have to get back in the game at some point. Continued number as this will force the corporate hammer down on them. NO way around that and the X-men war with Fox somewhat calmed down, so that line should see a form of resurgence. That whole Inhuman / AvX story truly proved to be a turd and i only read the 2 core X books, as i read every single issue since 1963/91. Can´t stop now...
  My biggest problem with them is that the somewhat traditional smaller books, the ones that don´t blindly wank of to diversity 24/7, are good. Moonknight and Logan are perfect examples but most of the core line is competently drawn rubbish. Spider-man´s current Clone Saga Redux-Redux, both Cap books, Avengers and the main Iron-man book about Riri are worse than any N52 editorial bullshit. Who is this for? WHO?
  September is supposed to be a "meat and potatoes" Rebirth for them and the Secret Empire story is only happening because it can´t be stopped now. We will see.
  Don´t hold out hope for a real FF book in this decade but the Iron-man comic about Dr. Doom is really good. The Thing and the evil Ultimate Reed are in it.

residentgrigo

March 3, 2017

DC is not going to shake up THE biggest ongoing comic in the industry. King even got to write the next part of the Watchmen crossover due to his crazy success, while Tec is being cited as an overperforming comic even by DC. Other books will try to cater to this audience more if anything, which the existence of the Bane maxi and the Batwoman ongoing proof.
Batgirl can personally suck it due to the current arc, but we will see how sales will shake out.

residentgrigo
March 6, 2017
Tec is pretty much nostalgia porn right now but King is shaking up the canon as much as he realistically can. A suicidal protagonist, a psychotic meta as a sidekick and a noticeable reliance on obscure characters speak for themselves. You don´t have to like what he or Snyder´s equally crazy All Star are doing BUT none of it is paint by numbers. The 2017 Bat-event will apparently focus on the Nth metal, which is completely new territory for the books too.
1. residentgrigo
  March 7, 2017
  I didn´t predict I am Gotham´s plot and i read every single Tec and Batman issue since December 1969, when he left the cave in the crossover.
  The problem with grounded Bat books is that they are proven to sell worse. The runs from the early 00s up to War Games were the last time DC went in that direction, outside of smaller arcs. Even the more down note Black Mirror had monster men and a mass poisoning plot. Batwoman´s seemingly street looking books are also quite crazy, so it´s fair to say that Bat-god is here to stay. Not that i wouln´t mind a new take on Gotham Central. Watch Gotham, i guess.
  1. residentgrigo
    March 7, 2017
    Black Mirror is Snyder´s best comic.
    Cape Comics before the mid-ish 90s had as many crossovers as they do today and the big charters as Joker were used a lot too BUT the arc were way shorter. Meaning that you didn´t got 6 issues about X then a big Joker story with tie-ins. Next a story about Y, maybe a "filler" in between and in comes the next big Joker story. 24 issues thus = about 1 year full of fights against the arch nemesis. A bit of a problem there.
    Dini´s late 00s Tec was a "smaller scale" book, certainly with shorter stories, but even that one ended up doing a big Hush mega arc by the end. Tie-ins were never far of either. Readers vote with their wallet and you see the end result. I liked enough of it that i don´t care but half year long rubbish as Civil War II (what does this even mean) is a byproduct.

Martinezxyz

March 3, 2017

Consider yourself considered.

Lorenzo

March 5, 2017

My week:
Batman: Amazing, let's see how well Bane does it next issue, in his walk through Arkham Asylum
Superman: Very good, finally an arc that looks promising after the dissapointment that was Multiplicity
Midnighter & Apollo: It was a good ending, but I was expecting more

residentgrigo
March 3, 2017
The Walking Dead apparently decided to kill my favorite character. It and Flintstones are my books of the week, as usual.
Marvel also finally overtook DC is sales again -by 0,2 whole %- but they are the bigger publisher.
Meaning that DC publishes LESS product to sell! Even with all their non-cape brands they have... oy.
This "return" to the top also only happened due to Star Wars, where most of their A talent is parked.
Dat September reboot better be good, as i dropped books like flies. Only 3 post Rebirth ongoing by DC managed that though. This is the worst Marvel has been since the mid 90s, when they went bankrupt...
https://www.bleedingcool.co...
1. Mr. Warshaw
  March 3, 2017
  I keep waiting for Marvel to give me a reason to come back, but at this point, I don't think anything short of the return of the FF could do it. And even then, they'd probably screw it up.
  1. residentgrigo
    March 3, 2017
    Fucking up is the only way the current editorial pool would pull of a FF reboot but they just have to get back in the game at some point. Continued number as this will force the corporate hammer down on them. NO way around that and the X-men war with Fox somewhat calmed down, so that line should see a form of resurgence. That whole Inhuman / AvX story truly proved to be a turd and i only read the 2 core X books, as i read every single issue since 1963/91. Can´t stop now...
    My biggest problem with them is that the somewhat traditional smaller books, the ones that don´t blindly wank of to diversity 24/7, are good. Moonknight and Logan are perfect examples but most of the core line is competently drawn rubbish. Spider-man´s current Clone Saga Redux-Redux, both Cap books, Avengers and the main Iron-man book about Riri are worse than any N52 editorial bullshit. Who is this for? WHO?
    September is supposed to be a "meat and potatoes" Rebirth for them and the Secret Empire story is only happening because it can´t be stopped now. We will see.
    Don´t hold out hope for a real FF book in this decade but the Iron-man comic about Dr. Doom is really good. The Thing and the evil Ultimate Reed are in it.
residentgrigo
March 3, 2017
DC is not going to shake up THE biggest ongoing comic in the industry. King even got to write the next part of the Watchmen crossover due to his crazy success, while Tec is being cited as an overperforming comic even by DC. Other books will try to cater to this audience more if anything, which the existence of the Bane maxi and the Batwoman ongoing proof.
Batgirl can personally suck it due to the current arc, but we will see how sales will shake out.
1. residentgrigo
  March 6, 2017
  Tec is pretty much nostalgia porn right now but King is shaking up the canon as much as he realistically can. A suicidal protagonist, a psychotic meta as a sidekick and a noticeable reliance on obscure characters speak for themselves. You don´t have to like what he or Snyder´s equally crazy All Star are doing BUT none of it is paint by numbers. The 2017 Bat-event will apparently focus on the Nth metal, which is completely new territory for the books too.
  1. residentgrigo
    March 7, 2017
    I didn´t predict I am Gotham´s plot and i read every single Tec and Batman issue since December 1969, when he left the cave in the crossover.
    The problem with grounded Bat books is that they are proven to sell worse. The runs from the early 00s up to War Games were the last time DC went in that direction, outside of smaller arcs. Even the more down note Black Mirror had monster men and a mass poisoning plot. Batwoman´s seemingly street looking books are also quite crazy, so it´s fair to say that Bat-god is here to stay. Not that i wouln´t mind a new take on Gotham Central. Watch Gotham, i guess.
    1. residentgrigo
      March 7, 2017
      Black Mirror is Snyder´s best comic.
      Cape Comics before the mid-ish 90s had as many crossovers as they do today and the big charters as Joker were used a lot too BUT the arc were way shorter. Meaning that you didn´t got 6 issues about X then a big Joker story with tie-ins. Next a story about Y, maybe a "filler" in between and in comes the next big Joker story. 24 issues thus = about 1 year full of fights against the arch nemesis. A bit of a problem there.
      Dini´s late 00s Tec was a "smaller scale" book, certainly with shorter stories, but even that one ended up doing a big Hush mega arc by the end. Tie-ins were never far of either. Readers vote with their wallet and you see the end result. I liked enough of it that i don´t care but half year long rubbish as Civil War II (what does this even mean) is a byproduct.
Martinezxyz
March 3, 2017
Consider yourself considered.
Lorenzo
March 5, 2017
My week:
Batman: Amazing, let's see how well Bane does it next issue, in his walk through Arkham Asylum
Superman: Very good, finally an arc that looks promising after the dissapointment that was Multiplicity
Midnighter & Apollo: It was a good ending, but I was expecting more

Batman News Archive

This Week in Comics: Paper beats rock, rock beats scissors, scissors beats paper, and justice beats everything

Batman #18

Break from the Bat #13: X-O Manowar #1

Detective Comics, Vol. 5: Gothtopia

Harley Quinn #15

Injustice: Ground Zero #7

Justice League #16

Nightwing #16

Super Powers #5

Teen Titans Go! digital-issue #41

9 comments

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