Comic Book Case

Batman #52 (The hell is up with this cover!?)

This our first book with our new writer with a dash of help from our lord and savior Scott Snyder. This story was honestly pretty harmless but served as one of the many childhood Bruce Wayne stories. What makes this different is that it is about people like Alfred and Leslie trying to help him get back on his feet after the death of his parents. At the same time we find this new criminal whose suit enables him to phase through objects and teleport. As interesting as it is it reminds me of something from Don Rosa's "Uncle Scrooge" books. We think that something Scrooge would value would be gold or jewels but instead it's something that reminds him of either simpler times of a promise he made to himself that set him on the quest. Here we see that Bruce Wayne's greatest secret treasure is ot only the book but the last page, a page that Alfred wrote on as one of the steps. Thourghout everything he's been through, all the training,  near death incidents have all been for that last page, the page that says his parents will always be proud of him. It's a fun book though I was hoping for something bigger, but I figured that would be saved for the new #1 coming next month. The art and writing will be used for the new stories coming out and I have to say I like it though the art took some time. But seriously, what is up with this cover?! Batman looks like he got caught by his wife looking at a dirty magazine.

Starfire #12 (everything in a neat little bow)

Kori's story comes to an end this issue as she leaves her new friends and family for new horizons. While not a lot of things are tied up, it does deal with issue like the love triangle with Kori, Sol, and Ravena and that was ultimately the best story here. Sol and Stella's stories are probably the best one in the series. Stella and Sol both are impacted by Kori with Sol getting over the death of Maria and Stella esssentially becoming more open, ultimately they get back to being themselves. Everything else feels kind of just by the book for this; a party, her job, colloquialisms going over her head, etc. My only personal issue is that Kori doesn't have a lot of story to herself save one or two mentions of the Citadel but it is a bit more liberating to see a character be a character. I'd be lying if I said the last few issues were the best but I have greatly enjoyed this book. I don't know if Kori's meeting Superman ultimately means anything but it is nice to see her with that connection to the rest of the DCU that isn't just Dick Grayson. If you are looking for a fun book to read I'd say give it a try but if you want something a bit darker or with more action, then I'd give it a pass.

Earth 2 Society #12 (that all we had to do?)

Protocol 12 is underway as Steel attempts to move to stop the fighting between the two cities. We get some interesting dialogue between Steel and Powergirl as Steel talks about taking necessary actions to prevent more people from getting hurt. Our resident giant green lantern decides to talk to Val Zo who is doing ......... nothing; for advice. What is possibly more interesting is Hawkgirl asking ot serve as ambassador for the Amazons and Atlanteans to keep the peace while Batman, Theodore, Red Arrow, and Hourman are on the move now. Alan Scott's decision to give up his ring to end the fighting is a great idea, not only does it provide power to the city but it also helps calm peopl'es fear of him as Green Lantern. I think the problem is that until now Alan Scott has been a bit of mystery since this new book started. He didn't get a "what's Alan been doing since we've arrived?" story. There was a question of if he was still human and I kind of wonder if that will be expanded on later on, especially with Val Zod still doing nothing. I kind of wonder why he didn't place his ring in the frst place, especially since it would not only stop the fighting but power up the cities while they try to find a new energy source. Eh who knows? It was nice to see Flash, Huntress, and Power Girl together, we really don't get a lot with them together.

Batman Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #6 (that was awesome!)

Batman and Robin clash with Ra's, the Shredder, and the Oozed out Arkham Crew. It honestly isn't going well but it kicks up when the turtles decide to arrive to help. We all kind of knew this was going to happen so what mattered was that it was awesome and it was. In a new suit our boy Batman takes on the Shredder and we get a nice Turtles vs. Ra's in a hilarious team attack while Splinter deals with the Arkham Crew. It's all awesome in a lot of ways but the best part is definitely Raph who has always been the more deep and complex of the Turtles. When Casey tries to convince them to leave instead of helping Batman, it is he who speaks up against it and later it is he who gives Batman his mask and saying that if he ever needs family, he has one in their dimension should he ever show up there. The story ends with Batman and Damian working together in the Batcave. Like Starfire, the ending of this book has it's strengths and weaknesses but where Starfire  seemed to have a problem with keeping away from it's characters story, this book could have used the padding. When I first had about this book I kind of figured we would have something with the bulk of the Batman (at least the Robins past and present) teaming up with the Turtles. Or possibly Croc meeting the Turtles. There was a lot of potential that was never reached and that was due to it being such a short series. This isn't to say what we got was bad but I really wanted big haracter moments from each of the Turtles in Gotham City. This was still a fun adventure and like Starfire is something I'd recommend if you want a fun quick story to read featuring two beloved franchises.