Upcoming Comics December 11, 2024

Welcome back to Upcoming Comics! I just started watching Creature Commandos, and I'm enjoying it so far. It definitely leans into Gunn's style of raunchy, irreverent humor and action which will certainly not be for everyone, but it has a lot of style and the characters are pretty instantly engaging. Hopefully the show continues to only get better as Gunn claimed it would during the NYCC panel.

Upcoming Comics

Batman: Dark Patterns #1

Set during the early years of Batman’s career, Batman: Dark Patterns delves into four mysterious cases as he attempts to cement his place as Gotham City’s protector while the city itself fights back against him. This is the Dark Knight Detective at his most stripped-down core, a man relying on his wits, his skills, and little else as he tackles some of the most twisted mysteries Gotham City and its protector have ever encountered. Case 01: We Are WoundedA series of sickeningly gruesome murders has sent shock waves through Gotham. Are these the random works of a serial killer, or is there something more sinister at play? Batman attempts to get to the bottom of the mystery before any more victims are claimed.

Written By: Dan Watters
Art By: Hayden Sherman

Thoughts: "Stories set in Batman's early years" is definitely a premise that's been revisited plenty of times, but a lot of my favorite stories come from it.

Batman News Critic: TBD

Batman and Robin #16

As the Dynamic Duo attempts to solve the mysteries of Memento’s recent attacks, Batman begins to fear that his bond with his son and partner is beginning to fracture. Is this simply teenage angst, or is Damian truly pulling away from his father? Meanwhile, Memento emerges from the shadows, and the stone-faced specter of atrocities past makes himself known in the Gotham underworld.

Written By: Phillip Kennedy Johnson
Art By: Miguel Mendonca, Carmine Di Giandomenico

Thoughts: I hope Damian's rebellion against his father is handled in a new and interesting way, because a lot of other writers have done the same idea.

Batman News Critic: Chris

DC vs Vampires: World War V #5

Green Arrow and his team successfully infiltrate the vampire strong-hold, but their victory is cut short when they discover the horrifying secret that’s long given vampires a lethal edge over the human resistance. The truth is greater and more terrible than anything they could have possibly imagined—and its shocking connection to the Speed Force is only just the beginning!

Written By: Matthew Rosenberg, Matthew K. Manning
Art By: Otto Schmidt, Acky Bright

Thoughts: I assumed the thing that gave vampires a lethal edge over humans was that they're vampires.

Batman News Critic: Akash

Batman - Santa Claus: Silent Knight Returns #3

We’re not going to sugarplum-coat it: the situation is dire. The Justice League is trapped in the Hollow Kingdom, hunted by monsters and skeletons. Innocents everywhere are falling to the Silent Knight’s sword…including a hero everyone was counting on. Right when Klaus looks to have an edge, he goes missing! TBH, the only way we see this turning around is if Zatanna pulls something really good out of her hat…

Written By: Jeff Parker
Art By: Lukas Ketner, Michele Bandini

Thoughts: "One way we could win is a magic deus ex machina" is a bold thing to include in the solicit

Batman News Critic: TBD

Beyond the Bat

Welcome to Beyond the Bat, where we take a quick look at the rest of DC’s comics coming out this week.

Gallery

Graphic Novel Watch

Sometimes you need more than floppies. Sometimes you want something that can sit nicely on your shelf that proudly displays your favorite stories. That’s when you turn to graphic novels. Let’s see what bat collections are coming out this week:

Gallery

Ratings

Most Excited: Batman: Dark Patterns #1- I trust Dan Watters a lot, and this has the potential for some really memorable stories.

Least Excited: DC vs Vampires: World War V #5- The Vampires series was only ever sort of interesting to begin with, and it's gone on for a very long time.

Wild Card: Batman and Robin #16- I'm still very up in the air on this series, and hopefully this first arc can solidify it as a winner.

Well that’s it for this week! Let us know in the comments what comics you’re looking forward to.

10 comments

Sara

December 7, 2024

I don't think you can overdo revisiting Batman's early years, and for this good reason: So many fans hate the direction he's taken since what they see as the fundamentals were set down in stories like Year One and The Long Halloween.

The Bat-Family is popular, but it's nowhere near as popular as Batman himself. And there's a lot of unabashed resentment about it, even among people who like individual members. When you revert to stories about Batman as a lone obsessive, learning the ropes and learning to work with adult peers like Gordon and Harvey, you get a different sort of story altogether, that can follow different trajectories. You can appeal to the audience that stops reading Batman or 'Tec because Catwoman, some Robin, or a wearying point-by-point break down of Bruce's aches and pains takes over some run. (How long before he's wrestling with the all important question, To Dye or Not to Dye?)

After Akash's scathing review of The Brave and the Bold #19, I had to read the Scarecrow and Zsasz stories. Honestly? I thought they were okay, and with some cleaning up they could have been really great. I'm not one to feel a need to defend Bruce's honor, though. I think he's more interesting as a morally compromised young crusader than in stories where he learns to baby-sit tweens. There is exactly ZERO dramatic tension in the Bruce/Dick personality conflicts in Batman and Robin: Year One. It's basically fan service for people who love that relationship, and especially for people who love the father/son angle on it. Bruce having to navigate the moral quandaries involved in dealing with the sorts of criminals Gotham is infamous for breeding up has more variety and potential for novel insights than Bruce trying to get to know the son he's known for freaking YEARS, or admiring Dick as the bastion of all that is best in mankind, or smacking Jason around and then waiting for Jason to forgive him because that's Jaosn's job (which is a real case of victim blaming DC needs to get called out for one hell of a lot more often, and would get called out for if Jason were a girl or Bruce left a visible mark and not BRAIN R4PE). These days stories like the Scarecrow and Zsasz deal have to appear in anthologies set in no timeline in particular or be set in the past. For me, they're a breath of fresh air, NOT the worst kind of Batman story. Not by a long, long shot. Gotham War is the worst kind of Batman story. Everything right now is about the Bat-Family, and every member is defined by his or her position in the Bat-Family. Dick and Cass each have a true solo and team book to unfold in. Everybody else is neck deep in the Bat-Bog.

Mingthemerciless
December 8, 2024
I would agree with you in the broad sense. A more stripped down Batman is the better read. Not the Tom King kind of "stipped down" but the street level, mystery solving, thug bashing, night creature Batman and day time Bruce. No Death of the Family or Gotham War but more Batman against a city convulsing with crime and corruption and his adapting himself to fight that fight.
i recall Denny O'Neal period DC came to the conclusion that Batman doesnt need to age because as writers come into play hes believed to be always in his mid thirties or so. The stories all take place in that decade of his career. But I think a salt and pepper Bruce using tech and physical enhancements to keep his edge would be bad a$$ as well so....no dye.
1. Sara
  December 9, 2024
  I think the first paragraph describes more or less what people are hoping to get from Dark Patterns. It won't be the hit that Snyder's dumb Absolute Batman will be, but it's getting a lot of attention for doing what people have been asking for. Batman? As a detective? Solving crimes? Unthinkable! (Almost, really, unthinkable in this day and age.)
  Bruce has to grow old and gray so that Damian can enter the dating pool. Or something.
Akash Sil
December 9, 2024
Glad you read the review! I won't lie, I'm really tired of this type of story which only seems to exist only to cause online debates and nothing else. And seeing two of them in the same issue - in one of which the villain escapes and in the other it is implied the victim is about to become like Zsasz - well, I was seeing red for quite some time afterwards.
1. Sara
  December 9, 2024
  I think the Scarecrow story made some fun allusions to Wizard of Oz that could have been great fun in a longer story. My only serious qualm about this one is that it required Bruce to be sort of stupid so the plot could happen.
  The Zsasz one was, I thought, one of the few times recently that a Bat rogue felt genuinely frightening. It's main issue, for me, is that it was like those Black and White shorts that pose provocative questions they don't have the time or responsibility to answer. The writer gets to walk away before he's properly done. The set-up is what makes it worthwhile to me. All the survivors felt gratitude to Batman, but also felt frustration. They represent a series of crimes that one man committed, and the one man who could stop him permanently, won't do it. It isn't Bruce's job to stop crime (he's a volunteer), and it's his stance that killing is wrong, full stop. He does what he can within this purview of voluntary, non-lethal crimefighting. But DC hasn't figured out a way to respond to the criticisms this inevitably brings up, like why Bruce (a man whose entire existence was shaped by an episode of victimization in his childhood), who refuses himself the right to kill, also refuses it to others. What morla grounding does he have? So along with its cop-out brevity, my issue with this one is that the question (why can't anyone kill Zsasz, Joker, or whoever) is left at the meta level. Some pat answers about becoming like the bad guys are tossed out, then it ends, and we're left hanging. What happens to the victim who fought back? Does anyone learn anything? We got the thesis, but where's the rest? Basically, yeah, we're getting a Tweet in story form (with good art). That deserves some criticism. But as far as asking what it's like to be a victim in Gotham, where there is a very effective vigilante but NO effective system to protect past and future victims? I liked it, with reservations. I certainly found it more interesting than the grade school platitudes about learning to get along with others typical of popular writers.
amphiuma33
December 9, 2024
Can I genuinely ask why you're still reading new Batman stuff if it all makes you so angry? Like, I've been a lot happier since no longer following a video game series I used to love but started to stress me out a lot.
I'm asking in good faith and not trying to be snarky or make fun of you. I'm just curious as a fellow Batman News comment section dweller who sees you more upset than not.
1. Sara
  December 9, 2024
  I keep reading out of habit. Yeah, it would relieve some stress if I walked away. But it's also a rush when something goes right, like Two-Face #1. I do leave positive comments when I like something.
2. Mingthemerciless
  December 9, 2024
  When youve spent years reading and collecting Batman- your favourite comic book character- and got so much enjoyment from the stories and art, you want to continue reading and losing yourself in that world.
  When you see the character and his world treated with disdain by sub par writers, King, Tynion, Zdarsky, Taylor, Fitznartin ad nauseam....writers who in many cases have actually expressed a dislike for Bruce's station in life, his dominion over Gotham as Batman, his use of violence against the criminals he has to stop, etc....you naturally will question DC editorial and ask why the drop in quality persists in the hope the character and world you love returns in the hands of writers and creators that love the character and deliver great stories.
  Perhaps Dark Patterns may deliver some of that?
Madeleine
December 9, 2024
My binge read of Bronze Age comics this last summer and fall broke my resolve to be patient and understanding with the present direction.
Year One and The Long Halloween are my foundations, yes, O'Neil and other Bronze Age writers perhaps more so today than these. Bruce Wayne as a "lone obsessive ," a "morally compromised young crusader ... having to navigate the moral quandaries involved in dealing with the sorts of criminals Gotham is infamous for breeding up" is my Batman.
I loved Watters' Arkham City. I hope for the same quality from Dark Patterns.
1. Sara
  December 10, 2024
  "I loved Watters' Arkham City. I hope for the same quality from Dark Patterns."
  You and me both. Watters was an odd pick for Nightwing writer, but Arkham City was priceless and he had probably the best run of Ram V's backups writers. Dark Patterns is highly anticipated. It should hit the sweet spot for fans of old school Dark Knight detective fiction that writers like Zdarsky sort of know exists but have no idea how to find.
  (I think you might like the Zsasz story in The Brave and the Bold #19, if you haven't read it. It's not quite a success, but it goes to those dark places and asks the hard questions. Its failing is in skipping out after it gets the pot boiling. Nobody finishes anything anymore, dang it.)

Sara
December 7, 2024
I don't think you can overdo revisiting Batman's early years, and for this good reason: So many fans hate the direction he's taken since what they see as the fundamentals were set down in stories like Year One and The Long Halloween.
The Bat-Family is popular, but it's nowhere near as popular as Batman himself. And there's a lot of unabashed resentment about it, even among people who like individual members. When you revert to stories about Batman as a lone obsessive, learning the ropes and learning to work with adult peers like Gordon and Harvey, you get a different sort of story altogether, that can follow different trajectories. You can appeal to the audience that stops reading Batman or 'Tec because Catwoman, some Robin, or a wearying point-by-point break down of Bruce's aches and pains takes over some run. (How long before he's wrestling with the all important question, To Dye or Not to Dye?)
After Akash's scathing review of The Brave and the Bold #19, I had to read the Scarecrow and Zsasz stories. Honestly? I thought they were okay, and with some cleaning up they could have been really great. I'm not one to feel a need to defend Bruce's honor, though. I think he's more interesting as a morally compromised young crusader than in stories where he learns to baby-sit tweens. There is exactly ZERO dramatic tension in the Bruce/Dick personality conflicts in Batman and Robin: Year One. It's basically fan service for people who love that relationship, and especially for people who love the father/son angle on it. Bruce having to navigate the moral quandaries involved in dealing with the sorts of criminals Gotham is infamous for breeding up has more variety and potential for novel insights than Bruce trying to get to know the son he's known for freaking YEARS, or admiring Dick as the bastion of all that is best in mankind, or smacking Jason around and then waiting for Jason to forgive him because that's Jaosn's job (which is a real case of victim blaming DC needs to get called out for one hell of a lot more often, and would get called out for if Jason were a girl or Bruce left a visible mark and not BRAIN R4PE). These days stories like the Scarecrow and Zsasz deal have to appear in anthologies set in no timeline in particular or be set in the past. For me, they're a breath of fresh air, NOT the worst kind of Batman story. Not by a long, long shot. Gotham War is the worst kind of Batman story. Everything right now is about the Bat-Family, and every member is defined by his or her position in the Bat-Family. Dick and Cass each have a true solo and team book to unfold in. Everybody else is neck deep in the Bat-Bog.
1. Mingthemerciless
  December 8, 2024
  I would agree with you in the broad sense. A more stripped down Batman is the better read. Not the Tom King kind of "stipped down" but the street level, mystery solving, thug bashing, night creature Batman and day time Bruce. No Death of the Family or Gotham War but more Batman against a city convulsing with crime and corruption and his adapting himself to fight that fight.
  i recall Denny O'Neal period DC came to the conclusion that Batman doesnt need to age because as writers come into play hes believed to be always in his mid thirties or so. The stories all take place in that decade of his career. But I think a salt and pepper Bruce using tech and physical enhancements to keep his edge would be bad a$$ as well so....no dye.
  1. Sara
    December 9, 2024
    I think the first paragraph describes more or less what people are hoping to get from Dark Patterns. It won't be the hit that Snyder's dumb Absolute Batman will be, but it's getting a lot of attention for doing what people have been asking for. Batman? As a detective? Solving crimes? Unthinkable! (Almost, really, unthinkable in this day and age.)
    Bruce has to grow old and gray so that Damian can enter the dating pool. Or something.
2. Akash Sil
  December 9, 2024
  Glad you read the review! I won't lie, I'm really tired of this type of story which only seems to exist only to cause online debates and nothing else. And seeing two of them in the same issue - in one of which the villain escapes and in the other it is implied the victim is about to become like Zsasz - well, I was seeing red for quite some time afterwards.
  1. Sara
    December 9, 2024
    I think the Scarecrow story made some fun allusions to Wizard of Oz that could have been great fun in a longer story. My only serious qualm about this one is that it required Bruce to be sort of stupid so the plot could happen.
    The Zsasz one was, I thought, one of the few times recently that a Bat rogue felt genuinely frightening. It's main issue, for me, is that it was like those Black and White shorts that pose provocative questions they don't have the time or responsibility to answer. The writer gets to walk away before he's properly done. The set-up is what makes it worthwhile to me. All the survivors felt gratitude to Batman, but also felt frustration. They represent a series of crimes that one man committed, and the one man who could stop him permanently, won't do it. It isn't Bruce's job to stop crime (he's a volunteer), and it's his stance that killing is wrong, full stop. He does what he can within this purview of voluntary, non-lethal crimefighting. But DC hasn't figured out a way to respond to the criticisms this inevitably brings up, like why Bruce (a man whose entire existence was shaped by an episode of victimization in his childhood), who refuses himself the right to kill, also refuses it to others. What morla grounding does he have? So along with its cop-out brevity, my issue with this one is that the question (why can't anyone kill Zsasz, Joker, or whoever) is left at the meta level. Some pat answers about becoming like the bad guys are tossed out, then it ends, and we're left hanging. What happens to the victim who fought back? Does anyone learn anything? We got the thesis, but where's the rest? Basically, yeah, we're getting a Tweet in story form (with good art). That deserves some criticism. But as far as asking what it's like to be a victim in Gotham, where there is a very effective vigilante but NO effective system to protect past and future victims? I liked it, with reservations. I certainly found it more interesting than the grade school platitudes about learning to get along with others typical of popular writers.
3. amphiuma33
  December 9, 2024
  Can I genuinely ask why you're still reading new Batman stuff if it all makes you so angry? Like, I've been a lot happier since no longer following a video game series I used to love but started to stress me out a lot.
  I'm asking in good faith and not trying to be snarky or make fun of you. I'm just curious as a fellow Batman News comment section dweller who sees you more upset than not.
  1. Sara
    December 9, 2024
    I keep reading out of habit. Yeah, it would relieve some stress if I walked away. But it's also a rush when something goes right, like Two-Face #1. I do leave positive comments when I like something.
  2. Mingthemerciless
    December 9, 2024
    When youve spent years reading and collecting Batman- your favourite comic book character- and got so much enjoyment from the stories and art, you want to continue reading and losing yourself in that world.
    When you see the character and his world treated with disdain by sub par writers, King, Tynion, Zdarsky, Taylor, Fitznartin ad nauseam....writers who in many cases have actually expressed a dislike for Bruce's station in life, his dominion over Gotham as Batman, his use of violence against the criminals he has to stop, etc....you naturally will question DC editorial and ask why the drop in quality persists in the hope the character and world you love returns in the hands of writers and creators that love the character and deliver great stories.
    Perhaps Dark Patterns may deliver some of that?
4. Madeleine
  December 9, 2024
  My binge read of Bronze Age comics this last summer and fall broke my resolve to be patient and understanding with the present direction.
  Year One and The Long Halloween are my foundations, yes, O'Neil and other Bronze Age writers perhaps more so today than these. Bruce Wayne as a "lone obsessive ," a "morally compromised young crusader ... having to navigate the moral quandaries involved in dealing with the sorts of criminals Gotham is infamous for breeding up" is my Batman.
  I loved Watters' Arkham City. I hope for the same quality from Dark Patterns.
  1. Sara
    December 10, 2024
    "I loved Watters' Arkham City. I hope for the same quality from Dark Patterns."
    You and me both. Watters was an odd pick for Nightwing writer, but Arkham City was priceless and he had probably the best run of Ram V's backups writers. Dark Patterns is highly anticipated. It should hit the sweet spot for fans of old school Dark Knight detective fiction that writers like Zdarsky sort of know exists but have no idea how to find.
    (I think you might like the Zsasz story in The Brave and the Bold #19, if you haven't read it. It's not quite a success, but it goes to those dark places and asks the hard questions. Its failing is in skipping out after it gets the pot boiling. Nobody finishes anything anymore, dang it.)

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Upcoming Comics December 11, 2024

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Beyond the Bat

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