DC

Gotham's pickin' up bad vibrations, buildings are getting excitations, Julia has a shocked sensation, and Hush is feeling such elation in this twenty-second installment of DC's weekly Batman yarn. The crazed suited terror, The Architect is back to his old "Got to destroy Gotham landmarks for my dishonored family's honor!" using what is essentially the Patlabor: The Movie scheme. Julia is shocked and dismayed that Bruce Wayne is, in fact, the vigilante called The Bat-Man, and Hush does another "stepping out of the shadows" thing that makes me think he's just desperate to ape Batman's style at this point. What's next, the Hush Signal?

Welcome to the jungle, we'll have... ehhh, one pretty good scene.

The mystic crap feels tired, Falsario's retired, a Lion is required, and Stephanie's inspired in this twentieth issue of DC's weekly Batman yarn, pack full of terrible art and story padding, but with at least a couple of really choice scenes that spare this thing from the trash heap. Frankly, though, I'm looking forward to some of these storylines consolidating, because most of them aren't that interesting on their own. It's starting to look like a weekly Bat book was a mistake because they're simply not holding my attention very well. Why do you think every review comes a week late?

The sewers are creepy, Jason is cheeky, and a toy shop is freaky in the eighteenth entry in DC's weekly Batman series. Jason talks Babs up as she falls into a trap, things get tense in Blackgate, we find out what happened to Killer Croc after Arkham War, and Batman is actually a character in this book again! What a week. Too bad the art is kind of... ehhh. Middling. It varies from page to page.

Vampire Hero hasn't been the same since the New 52 reboot.
 

Neither will be appearing in this issue!

Corrigan is trapped, a monkey is zapped, and Batman's old scrap in week 17 of DC's weekly Batman book, Batman Eternal. Even the combined efforts of Jim Corrigan and Batwing are no match for Deacon Blackfire and The Spectre doesn't seem to want to appear, while in Japan, Tim Drake and Harper Row try intimidating one of Batman's old teachers, and the only time we see the titular character is in a flashback to a storyline from decades before the New 52. Really, there's not a lot actually going on here, but let's see if I can dig something out, anyway!

Penguin wants to be King of the Jungle, Falcone's new empire crumbles, Jimbo's feeling quite humble, and Dr. Crane takes a slight tumble. In this fourteenth installment of DC's Batman weekly, Jason Bard seems to wrap up the whole gang war pretty handily. But will Batman's relationship with the "new Gordon" end before it begins? And what is Joker's Daughter up to in Arkham? And how many more pages is DC going to waste previewing other comics I'm only tangentially interested in at best? None of this and less is answered in this issue!

Jim's tempted by a son who's demented, Bard's plan is attempted, Steph's friend is lamented, and a comic preview's presented. Issue 13 of DC's Batman weekly book shows us that there's at least one cop as competent as, maybe even moreso than, Jim Gordon, with his plan to trick Forbes into whittling down Falcone's forces. We get plenty of Vicki Vale, just a little of Harper Row, and a minority character introduced and then blown up in the same page. Oh, DC.

Harper's laptop ignites, Batgirl feels a slight, the city indicts, and father and son reunite in this twelfth issue of DC's Batman weekly. We finally return to tolerable artwork, Tim meets the newest ladies in Bruce's life, and it seems like Jason Bard has a plan brewing to halt the gang war. There are also a few pages dedicated to previewing the new Batfamily comic, Grayson, and if you think you know Nightwing, you don't know Dick (actual DC product description), so that eats up some of the space.
 

This is how Funimation prevents simulcast leaks now.

It must be Father's Day in Gotham, because while Julia nurses her wounds, Alfred cleans rooms, and Steph watches her daddy fume, Barbara fights off a costumed goon in a country far south of Cancun. This is issue #11 of Batman Eternal and it guest stars little Red not so riding Hood and has bizarre imagery that's eerily reminiscent of Grant Morrison's Bat-run, of which I am not a big fan.

Yes, people talk like this, all right, in convenient exposition.

I haven't commented on the artwork of this series yet, as varied as it is. Mostly because, for the most part, it's been pretty good. It started off strong with Jason Fabok, who has done a few issues. Dustin Nguyen's unique style made issue #4 more interesting. Gillieum March has sort of a David Finch-ish quality to his work, which isn't a bad thing. Anybody else who's worked on this weekly has done a fair job, up until this issue.

Until Riccardo Burchielli.

Gotham gets just a little bit creepier in this installment of DC's ongoing Batman weekly, when it looks like one of the worst characters in DC history is leading some kind of limb-chopping cult and The Spectre is on the case.

"I use an Nth Metal condom when I screw Zatanna. Or, at least I tell her that."