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Batman (comics) questions/discussion

Started by madhair60, July 22, 2015, 10:04:25 AM

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Mister Six

Quote from: Kelvin on August 03, 2015, 04:34:00 PM
I was thinking last night madhair, that if you like Grant Morrison and want to explore the wider DC universe after reading you're current run, it might be worth trying his run on Justice League, which is very funny, light and wildly imaginative. Hardly a dud story in there.

Aye, although it's slightly scuppered by DC forcing fucking crossovers down everyone's throats with every second storyline. But if you can just roll with the random, unexplained changes (why does Superman suddenly have electrical powers?) then it's fantastic. Does "BIG SUPERHERO ACTION" better than The Authority, even, without scrimping on the lovely character work. Stellar stuff.

madhair60

I've been recommended that by some mates; is it gonna be effective intro to the Justice League, because my knowledge of them in comics is fairly limited.  I've watched the WB cartoon a fair amount (brilliant btw) and I've played Injustice (brilliant btw), that's about it.

Kelvin

Quote from: madhair60 on August 03, 2015, 04:50:18 PM
I've been recommended that by some mates; is it gonna be effective intro to the Justice League, because my knowledge of them in comics is fairly limited.  I've watched the WB cartoon a fair amount (brilliant btw) and I've played Injustice (brilliant btw), that's about it.

It's my favourite run on Justice League, and I wasn't reading any other DC stuff of that era, let alone the cross overs. You can just buy the trades and understand everything that happening. The only problem is that it's another long Morrison run, so you might want to try something by someone else to break it up after Batman. 

madhair60

Thing is, I don't give a fuck about, say Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern.  Don't give a flying fuck.  I don't know.  Completely apathetic about Justice League.

madhair60


Kelvin

It wasn't reviewed all that well. I considered buying it myself, but didn't for that reason. I've been meaning to read some more Superman myself and in a similar position. Where to jump in?

Revelator

Quote from: Kelvin on August 07, 2015, 08:50:10 PM
It wasn't reviewed all that well. I considered buying it myself, but didn't for that reason. I've been meaning to read some more Superman myself and in a similar position. Where to jump in?

Why not start with Showcase Presents: Superman, Vol. 1? (http://www.amazon.com/Showcase-Presents-Superman-Vol-1/dp/1401207588).
Gloriously decadent Silver Age insanity from the height of Superman's powers and popularity, when he ruled with petty omnipotence and his writers were free from having to strain for contemporary relevance. And if that's too rich, start at the beginning with Superman Chronicles Vol.1, the very first Superman stories, back when he was a populist superhero--modern Superman comics are attempting to recapture that vibe.

Kelvin

If I'm totally honest, I'd rather read something slightly more contemporary, initially. 80's onwards. I've been thinking of that recent Scott Snyder Superman story, or possibly the Superman: Earth One books.   

Revelator

Quote from: Kelvin on August 07, 2015, 10:01:27 PMIf I'm totally honest, I'd rather read something slightly more contemporary

Alright, but don't blame me if you have less fun. 50s Superman is the essence of Superman. Afterward comes a decades-long embarrassed anticlimax.

kidsick5000

Quote from: Revelator on August 07, 2015, 09:34:51 PM
Why not start with Showcase Presents: Superman, Vol. 1? (http://www.amazon.com/Showcase-Presents-Superman-Vol-1/dp/1401207588).
Gloriously decadent Silver Age insanity from the height of Superman's powers and popularity, when he ruled with petty omnipotence and his writers were free from having to strain for contemporary relevance.

Heartily agree with this. All the Showcase books are great value (these are thick tomes and complete fun. No continuity and similar to watching a bad movie.
But there's a refreshing, uncynical joy in these that would be impossible to recreate today with coming across as contrived. (maybe Axe Cop comes closest).
The art is great, the stories are nuts. You can see why kids used to rush to buy these. Modern comics will feel rather joyless and less inventive.

If you want a serious Superman story, get Kingdom Come and Red Son - two alt versions of the DC universe but two great stories that ask what would really happen if you had all that power

madhair60

I've read, erm, Red Son, and enjoyed it a lot.  Shocking that it's by Mark Millar, the patron saint of edgelord shit.

Anyway, I've read Batman and Son and R.I.P now.  Pretty fucking good, aren't they?  I'm sure there are references I'm not getting but it didn't detract from the story at all.

Picked up Battle For The Cowl (cheap in Forbidden Planet, surprisingly), then I've got Batman and Robin vol 1 to read.

Kelvin

Quote from: madhair60 on August 10, 2015, 01:36:08 PM
I've read, erm, Red Son, and enjoyed it a lot.

For my money, Kingdom Come is probably the best DC "Elseworld" story, so if you liked Red Son, definitely consider that. It's main focus is on Superman and Batman, too, so well within your remit :)

madhair60

That's the one with Alex Ross art and Shazam's enormous package, isn't it?  I'm not sure I could get through a few pages of that a night, his art is so insanely amazing.  Had that problem with Marvels.

I went into FP to buy Final Crisis and they actively advised me not to.  I was oddly impressed by that.

Spiteface

Current goings-on in the comics are... odd:

http://www.comicvine.com/articles/scott-snyder-discusses-mr-bloom-and-bruce-waynes-f/1100-153167/

QuoteCV: A bit part of this issue, as well, is that Bruce Wayne isn't the Bruce Wayne he once was. Are we dealing with a form of amnesia or is something psychological going on like repressed memories due to shock?

SNYDER: No, it's not amnesia. It's meant to be neurological damage in a way that it's not that he just forgot. Those memories don't exist anymore, in his head, so his brain has been re-landscaped. There's nothing he can relearn or reclaim. It's all a brand new mind.

CV: So everything "Batman" is gone and he's just regular old Bruce Wayne now?
SNYDER: Yeah, exactly. It's gone and he doesn't have the skills. He doesn't have the abilities. He's just a normal guy. He's not going to be in an alley and have flashbacks to his parent's death. It's not going to be like he gets mugged and starts fighting and doesn't know why. He really is just a new person.

Normie Bruce Wayne... I'm not sure what to make of this. I give it until next year and Bruce is in a cape again because the film's out, but I'm enjoying the ride...

kidsick5000

I remember when Desperate Dan was hypnotised to think he was weaker than a fly. They dragged that damn storyline out too.

There's a blog called Comics Should Be Fun. Pretty good rule to stand by.

And looking at the quality of the artwork... they are charging how much an issue?

MojoJojo

Quote from: Spiteface on August 10, 2015, 01:43:12 PM
Normie Bruce Wayne... I'm not sure what to make of this. I give it until next year and Bruce is in a cape again because the film's out, but I'm enjoying the ride...

So what actually happens? Do we just watch Wayne signing some forms and attending board meetings?

Spiteface

Quote from: MojoJojo on August 10, 2015, 09:21:01 PM
So what actually happens? Do we just watch Wayne signing some forms and attending board meetings?

Not even that, it seems. After Endgame, Bruce Wayne is seen working at a local youth centre. Jim Gordon as the new "Batman" is basically being funded by the Powers corporation, working with the police force[nb]This is the most interesting thing about the new dynamic - Batman is essentially a glorified cop, rather than a vigilante some of the cops tolerate[/nb], so Batman has almost nothing to do with Bruce Wayne now - the only real link now really is Julia Pennyworth (Alfred's daughter) has seemingly managed to get in working as part of the team backing up Gordon. What is bringing Bruce Wayne into this though, is that it seems "Mr Bloom" (the villain of the current storyline) has some kind of connection to Bruce's past, which means that at the end of issue 42 we see this:



This is also a big deal because neither the Powers Corporation or Gotham police have made it known that former commissioner Jim Gordon is this new Batman. Bruce is one of the few people he's told.

Yes, Jim Gordon no longer has a 'tache and has a Marine buzzcut.

Mango Chimes

Looks like they're readying Bruce to go to Iran, fly back some refugees, then have a shave ready to fight Superman next year.

That interview snippet is exactly (well, one of several reasons) why I can't be arsed with DCU / Marvel U stuff.  He's been IRREVERSIBLY changed to something completely removed from the character that he invariably must return to.  Which necessitates some massive stupid bit of deux ex bollocks to return the status quo.  "Oh no!  The Bruce Wayne whose brain was rewritten was a clone from a different universe, and we sent the original back in time, with a superhero who's temporarily a god, who's retrained him and restored his powers and now he's got a slightly redesigned outfit.  But AS A CONSEQUENCE THE JOKER'S COMPLETELY SANE AND WORKS IN A BANK let's go round and round again."

Dr Rock

There's a good list of articles I'm working my way through about retcons, unresolved debates and abandoned storylines here. 'Good' if you care about stuff like 'Is The Tinkerer An Alien Or Not?'

http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2011/12/01/the-abandoned-an-forsaked-archive/

Mister Six

Quote from: Mango Chimes on August 11, 2015, 02:39:34 PM
Looks like they're readying Bruce to go to Iran, fly back some refugees, then have a shave ready to fight Superman next year.

That interview snippet is exactly (well, one of several reasons) why I can't be arsed with DCU / Marvel U stuff.  He's been IRREVERSIBLY changed to something completely removed from the character that he invariably must return to.  Which necessitates some massive stupid bit of deux ex bollocks to return the status quo.  "Oh no!  The Bruce Wayne whose brain was rewritten was a clone from a different universe, and we sent the original back in time, with a superhero who's temporarily a god, who's retrained him and restored his powers and now he's got a slightly redesigned outfit.  But AS A CONSEQUENCE THE JOKER'S COMPLETELY SANE AND WORKS IN A BANK let's go round and round again."

I dunno, there could be a decent emotional story in it - happy, sane Bruce Wayne having to accept all his fucked up old memories to defend the city again.

Actually, thinking about it there definitely is a decent emotional story - it's the Doctor Who story Human Nature.

Mango Chimes

Quote from: Mister Six on August 11, 2015, 04:07:07 PM
I dunno, there could be a decent emotional story in it - happy, sane Bruce Wayne having to accept all his fucked up old memories to defend the city again.

Actually, thinking about it there definitely is a decent emotional story - it's the Doctor Who story Human Nature.

Alright, I'll give you this one.

kidsick5000

Quote from: Mango Chimes on August 11, 2015, 02:39:34 PM
Looks like they're readying Bruce to go to Iran, fly back some refugees, then have a shave ready to fight Superman next year.

Yeah. Some pretty blatant Afflecking there

Spiteface

#82
Quote from: Mister Six on August 11, 2015, 04:07:07 PM
I dunno, there could be a decent emotional story in it - happy, sane Bruce Wayne having to accept all his fucked up old memories to defend the city again.

Actually, thinking about it there definitely is a decent emotional story - it's the Doctor Who story Human Nature.

It may end up being that, but the way it is being presented, as Alfred explains it, to Clark Kent, is that Batman died, but Bruce Wayne came back.  Bruce, free of the trauma of crime alley, never learns the skills that would make him Batman. It's not even amnesia, it's more than that. His brain's been rewired or "fixed" with that stuff taken out.

An interview with Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo about issue 43. Explains some things better than I am doing now

I'm enjoying the fanboys bitching as much as the actual story, to be honest. As far as Jim Gordon goes, it's interesting that he's wanting to try and do things privately as Batman, aware that the Powers group are keeping an eye on him and may shut him down if they don't like what he does, results or not.

I'm wondering, if they stick to their guns and leave Bruce as he is for longer than people are expecting, if we get Dick Grayson as Batman again or something.

EDIT: There is a way I could see things winding up back to Bruce as Batman - Julie Madison. She's a part of Bruce's life now, she's the one who got him the rec center job, where he's happy.  Kill her off, setting Bruce onto a path where he becomes Batman, but is learning everything from scratch (remember, all the combat & detective skills, just aren't there anymore). Would be interesting to have a "green" Batman for a while. I know that's kind of the point about Gordon being Batman, but I mean in a more "traditional" sense.

Spiteface

Saw an ad on telly that they're doing this now:

https://www.eaglemoss.com/en-gb/comic-heroes/dc-comic-books/

I know there was a Marvel one, but this had my interest more, obviously because Batman's like the only mainstream superhero I really give a shit about, but maybe it's time to expand my horizons a bit more, and some nice hardbacks for a tenner each would be pretty sweet. I'm gonna start buying this.

The Masked Unit

Each time I see this topic I'm reminded of a peculiar phrase I once heard someone use to describe a person who was a bit away with the fairies - "You know what he's like - head full of Batman comics".

Gulftastic

I won't read Batman, or pretty much any DC mainstream title anymore, because I refuse to get dragged into any more shite crossovers. Convergence was fucking awful. And they ruined Earth 2 and World's Finest for it.

As a youth, I would read pretty much anything DC put out. Now I'm down to about 3 titles a month, and one of them is a mini-series.

Kelvin

Quote from: Gulftastic on August 19, 2015, 05:08:34 PM
I won't read Batman, or pretty much any DC mainstream title anymore, because I refuse to get dragged into any more shite crossovers.

Why don't you just read the myriad stories that aren't involved in the crossovers. I've read batman since the new 52 started and haven't read a single crossover story. They're really not that hard to avoid.

Gulftastic

Really? I'm surprised. I tried the 'Joker's back' one a few years back, and that went all over the place.

I might try some of the hardback trades that are coming out in weekly format. About half are going to be Batman stories.

Kelvin

Quote from: Gulftastic on August 19, 2015, 05:17:16 PM
Really? I'm surprised. I tried the 'Joker's back' one a few years back, and that went all over the place.

I assume you mean Death of the Family. But you didn't need to read any of the cross over stories. The main story, covered in "Batman" stood up totally by itself. Same for the Zero Year stuff. I only read the main stories and they were designed to stand alone.

The bigger crossovers like Convergence obviously do rely on a greater understanding of the other stories, but then I avoid things like that entirely, precisely for that reason. The one exception was Forever Evil, which I read the trade for and ignored all the related crossovers in other books. Even that stood entirely on it's own when I read the main storyline.

madhair60

I'm reading Snyder's "The Black Mirror".  It's really bloody good so far!  Got "Year One" in the post yesterday, will read that next, then it's onto Batman and Robin vol 2, then Return of Bruce Wayne.