The Official Modern Batman Thread

[TSwift25]

So is anybody jumping on board for The Dark Knight or Batman Inc? I've got them ordered and will give them a trial run, I just hope Finch can handle the writing and art duties better than Adams managed with Odyssey.

 

Also is anybody reading Return of Bruce Wayne? I read #1 and found it appalling so I skipped the rest. Did it turn out any good?

 

I'm also going to give them a trial run.

 

Return of Bruce Wayne is better than I expected. Not a must read, but I can't say that I've found it bad.

[kidcolt]

My biggest comic pet peeve is when DC and Marvel do these type of events where you need to buy a pile of extra issues, minis and one shots just to follow the main title....ahhh!!!

 

IMO Detective and Batman should run its own course. They shouldn't cross over into each other. I don't mind 1-shots as long as they are self contained like Vengeance of Bane.

[Ringfinger]

+1 to that!!

[itssmeeeeee]

im waiting for the trade for return of bruce wayne. Im definitely on board with Batman INC. ALso im buying the Finch book just to see how it is and to see his take on drawing batman. Im not going to hold by breath on the quality of storyline but for the art i will bite.

[Boozad]

im buying the Finch book just to see how it is and to see his take on drawing batman. Im not going to hold by breath on the quality of storyline but for the art i will bite.

 

I'm hoping it's a good book, and that Finch handles both duties like Tony Daniel did on Batman. Daniel's art wasn't as dynamic as in RIP, but it was still good, same with the writing. I really enjoyed that Black Mask/Penguin story and if Finch can deliver a product as good I'll be in for the long run.

[itssmeeeeee]

im buying the Finch book just to see how it is and to see his take on drawing batman. Im not going to hold by breath on the quality of storyline but for the art i will bite.

 

I'm hoping it's a good book, and that Finch handles both duties like Tony Daniel did on Batman. Daniel's art wasn't as dynamic as in RIP, but it was still good, same with the writing. I really enjoyed that Black Mask/Penguin story and if Finch can deliver a product as good I'll be in for the long run.

 

I TOTALLY agree with you where Daniel's art definitely suffered due to his writing duties. His art wasnt dynamic as it was in RIP or even back in teen titans. He also tried to go with a more cross hatching style which i dont like as much. But hes till the man. I enjoyed his run also as he took Batman back to his detective ways.

[Yannis]

My biggest comic pet peeve is when DC and Marvel do these type of events where you need to buy a pile of extra issues, minis and one shots just to follow the main title....ahhh!!!

 

IMO Detective and Batman should run its own course. They shouldn't cross over into each other. I don't mind 1-shots as long as they are self contained like Vengeance of Bane.

 

Well how would they get you to spend more money then if they didn't do cross-overs? I believe that Marvel is worse than dc when it comes to doing cross-over stories. For me though I have reached the age where I can only buy the main Bat titles and Action (from DC).I can't get involved with the hundreds of other titles coming out every week.

I hope a legend can take up the artwork for one of the Bat titles. I miss the Giordano, Aparo, Colan, Adams days. Yes I know Adams is doing the limited Odyssey run but id rather see him take up one of the main titles. And a few of these guys are before my time but their art is hard to compare to some of todays artists.

[Boozad]

Well it's a shame that Tony Daniel has left the pencils on Batman #703, I certainly hope it isn't for long. Cliff Richards' work was very basic, and the book just didn't feel anywhere near as good without Daniel's dynamism.

Fabian Nicieza spun a good story, a touching lesson for Damian who seems to be becoming more human with each passing month. While there may have been a few too many Robins in this issue, it still worked well. Having said that, it's obviously crossed over from Red Robin which I haven't been reading, and to touch on the points above that's one of my pet hates. I'm presuming that I missed the reintroduction of Vicki Vale over in Tim Drake's title.

 

So 'Bruce Wayne: The Road Home' is upon us next. I'm bracing myself fo rwhat could be a huge hit, or a massive flop.

[itssmeeeeee]

yea i opened up batman 703 and saw it wasnt Daniels artwork i kind of just skimmed it. Didnt care who the artist was and didnt read who it was. Also the art took me out of the story so i didnt really get what was going on.

 

Going back to red robin, you need to grab the last 6-7 issues or so cause it was Tim Drake vs Ras Al Guhl and was pure awesomeness! Yea Vicki Vale has been popping up here and there and she has officially put together the pieces of the puzzle and figured out each person of the bat family secret identity. She knows Tim is red robin thats why Tim tricked her to making her think hes paralyzed now

[Boozad]

I figured that's what happened, at least they leave enough bread crumbs in the Bat title for you to figure out what's been happening. I doubt I'll be picking up Red Robin anytime soon so thanks for explaining that Baoky (thumbs u

[OV]

Hello fellow Batman readers,

 

I just read the awesome "Heart of Hush" TB and thought it was a great read. In the story it led me to believe that Hush had a falling out with the Joker in another storyline set before this one. It mentions that the Joker had put a pacemaker into Hush in the story. Do any of you know what that story is titled, or which Batman issues I can find it in?

 

Thanks to Boozad for inviting me to post here (thumbs u

 

 

[itssmeeeeee]

Ive never remembered anything about a pacemaker. Maybe i just didnt read it well enough. Heart of Hush was excellent what i dont buy is that theres no way Tommy Elliot is capable of beating BOTH Robin + Nightwing in a fight and fighting with Bruce to a standstill

[Boozad]

In the story it led me to believe that Hush had a falling out with the Joker in another storyline set before this one. It mentions that the Joker had put a pacemaker into Hush in the story.

 

I'm going to have to go back and read this as I don't remember that at all. I know there is some Hush stuff I missed (after the #608 - #619 run) so I'll have to go catch up on that too. I may just buy Absolute Hush to make things quicker and easier. I was out of the loop between Batman #550 and #650 unfortunately.

[Yannis]

My biggest comic pet peeve is when DC and Marvel do these type of events where you need to buy a pile of extra issues, minis and one shots just to follow the main title....ahhh!!!

 

IMO Detective and Batman should run its own course. They shouldn't cross over into each other. I don't mind 1-shots as long as they are self contained like Vengeance of Bane.

 

It could be worse. Look how many cross-overs Marvel has done in recent years. By far more than DC from what I can remember. Honestly though, I am getting a little tired of Brightest night, darkest night, Crisis and Marvel's infinite corss-overs (dont know where to even start)..... it is time for every title to stay solo.

[Boozad]

it is time for every title to stay solo.

 

And ain't that the truth

[OV]

In the story it led me to believe that Hush had a falling out with the Joker in another storyline set before this one. It mentions that the Joker had put a pacemaker into Hush in the story.

 

I'm going to have to go back and read this as I don't remember that at all. I know there is some Hush stuff I missed (after the #608 - #619 run) so I'll have to go catch up on that too. I may just buy Absolute Hush to make things quicker and easier. I was out of the loop between Batman #550 and #650 unfortunately.

 

 

 

I re-read the trade and this reference about Hush fighting the Joker is in there. I have the Return of Hush trade and think there must have been another Hush story in between this one and the Heart of Hush story

 

I haven't bought a single comic issue of Batman since #619 I much prefer the trades, so thank you guys for helping me try to find out about this potential Hush story! I like the Hush character that Dini has fleshed out. (thumbs u

[TSwift25]

it is time for every title to stay solo.

 

And ain't that the truth

 

I think it'd be terrible if the titles became completely isolationist, but it'd be great if crossover "events" actually meant something.

[Boozad]

it is time for every title to stay solo.

 

And ain't that the truth

 

I think it'd be terrible if the titles became completely isolationist, but it'd be great if crossover "events" actually meant something.

 

Personally I detest the 'event' crossovers. Blackest Night had nothing to do with Batman, Final Crisis has nothing to do with Batman (except for the rushed insertion of Darkseid sending him back in time). A lot of people don't like 'events', but I don't think this is what Yannis was pointing out.

 

If you look at the storyline that's been running along since RIP/FC, it has spilled out into a lot of titles I have no interest in reading. I didn't even know anything was going in 'in the background' until I read Batman #703, when it becomes apparent that Red Robin has been plodding along in tandem, or at least carrying a storyline that has now crashed headlong into the main Bat title.

So, the main aim of a Red Robin title has been to get Batman readers to buy books they normally wouldn't if they want to know everything that's been going on. I don't like that marketing strategy to be honest, and I won't buckle to buying titles I don't want. So ultimately I'll miss out on relevant parts of storylines.

 

Annual events will happen, like it or lump it. Running relevant parts of stories (or in some cases essential plot devices) in second-rate titles is out of line.

[TSwift25]

That I completely agree with. I hate going through boxes of books, finding a random title, wondering why the hell I bought it and then remembering it was part 11 of a 14 part crossover.

[Boozad]

I think the whole Knightfall saga sums it up pretty nicely. At first it was contained to just Batman and Detective and was handled extremely well, but as it entered Knightquest, and later Knightsend, it spilled into God knows how many titles, and if I remember correctly it even found its way into Legends of the Dark Knight which was absolutely ridiculous.

Now Shadow of the Bat and LOTDK were actually pretty good titles in their own right, but once Knightfall touched them they lost their 'sparkle' for me. Plus we had to read Robin, Catwoman and so on. Just not good at all.

 

Then there's the flipside, take RIP for example. RIP was a self-contained 'story' in Batman, whilst over in 'Tec Paul Dini was writing one of the best runs on the title for a long time in 'Heart of Hush'. Unfortunately, the powers that be decided to slap RIP across all of the Detective issues in the run, they had absolutely nothing to do with RIP whatsoever, and Dini's tale was a far superior story.

I've often wondered just how much that impacted slaes on 'Tec, if at all. It's just the money grabbing wheels in motion yet again, they even applied the RIP moniker to Nightwing which was even further removed from the 'main event' itself. So people would have possibly been buying up these titles to get filled in on the whole story while in reality they needn't have bothered.

 

I don't know which is worse, having to buy titles you don't want to keep in the loop, or being duped into buying titles you don't need because you think you'll be out of the loop.