Batman and Robin #1

From the random stack of unread comics.

Title: Batman and Robin
Issue: 1
Date: November 2011
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Peter J. Tomasi
Penciller: Patrick Gleason
Inker: Mick Gray
Colorist: John Kalisz
Letterer: Patrick Brosseau
Cover: Patrick Gleason, Mick Gray
Editor: Harvey Richards, Mike Marts

The opening teaser has one of the Batman's "Allies of the Bat" in Moscow attacked by an unknown ("I'm Nobody!") villain in an armored invisibility suit.

From there it's back to Gotham and the Batman's first official patrol with Damian Wayne as Robin. If you read my reviews, you may know that I am not a Damian Wayne fan. This story didn't help his cause. He was the same insufferable jerk that he always seems to be, and furthermore, he just isn't particularly entertaining.

He griped his way through Bruce taking him to Crime Alley to pay tribute to Bruce's parents, and then he proceeded to go all Jason Todd loose-cannon during a fight with some generic terrorists.

The action was solid, but there just wasn't anything particularly appealing about where the story is heading, and I don't have the patience to wait around for some moment when Damien Wayne stops being the most annoying character in the DC Universe.

Edit: Apparently, I had forgotten that I reviewed this one previously. It was that memorable. And gave it the same rating, so at least it shows I have some consistency. The previous review is here.

Rating: 4/10

Action Comics #6

I still have a lot of early New 52 books to read. I'm on the #5's and #6's with most of the titles that I kept following. I read up to #7 on most of those, and that was when I realized that the comics were stacking up unread again and I stopped buying them regularly.

Title: Action Comics
Issue: 6
Date: April 2012
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Grant Morrison, Sholly Fisch
Penciler: Andy Kubert, Chriscross
Inker: John Dell, Chriscross
Colorist: Brad Anderson, Jose Villarrubia
Letterer: Patrick Brosseau, Carlos M. Mangual
Editor: Wil Moss, Matt Idelson
Cover: Rags Morales, Brad Anderson

Superman gets some help from time-traveling members of the Legion of Superheroes to deal with a threat that is hiding in plain sight. This story had a lot going on, and a ton of plot twists. Some of the paths taken to get to the end were a bit awkward and overly complicated, but the good moments were really good, including a really awesome Superboy/Legion ending.

Backup story is another look into the past. This time, it's Clark Kent's last day in Smallville before heading to college. It's sweet and sentimental, with some amusing bits of dialogue.

This was worth the slogging through all of the time-travel silliness.

Rating: 8/10

Batman #8

More from the backlog. And more "Night of the Owls".

Title: Batman
Issue: 8
Date: June 2012
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV
Penciler: Greg Capullo, Rafael Albuquerque
Inker: Jonathan Glapion, Rafael Albuquerque
Colorist: FCO Plascencia, Nathan Fairbairn
Letterer: Richard Starkings, Patrick Brosseau
Editor: Katie Kubert, Mike Marts
Cover: Greg Capullo, FCO Plascencia

The Court of Owls sends an army of Talons to attack (stately!) Wayne Manor as the "Night of the Owls" begins.

I liked the opening sequence, as Bruce Wayne broods over his arrogance after failing to see the threat of the Court of Owls until it was too late.

From there it's all action as the assault on Wayne Manor begins. The pacing is good, and the Talons are presented as a serious threat. I wasn't too thrilled with the attempts at taunting by the Talons, which came off as somewhat halfhearted.

The main story ends in the middle of the fight, and then, oddly, the backup story picks up exactly where the main story left off (except with a totally different art style). I'm not sure what the point of that was. Maybe just a deadline pressure issue, or an attempt to get more artists involved in the big crossover.

Overall, though, this was a well-written and entertaining story.

Rating: 7.5/10

Action Comics #5

Title: Action Comics
Issue: 5
Date: February 2012
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Grant Morrison, Sholly Fisch
Penciler: Andy Kubert, Chriscross
Inker: Jesse Delperdang, Chriscross
Colorist: Brad Anderson, Jose Villarrubia
Letterer: Patrick Brosseau, Carlos M. Mangual
Editor: Wil Moss, Matt Idelson
Cover: Rags Morales, Brad Anderson

Variant cover is pictured.

This issue is almost entirely made up of retellings of bits of the Superman origin story. It's effective, but not terribly groundbreaking. There's some retconning, of course, but again, nothing that is all that shocking.

When we finally get into current plot, it's a messy time travel story that doesn't really go in any direction except toward the needlessly complicated.

Backup story is more Superman origin stuff, this time focusing on Jon and Martha Kent in the early years of their marriage and their struggles with infertility. It's generally good, although it very quickly goes down the path of "everything happens for a purpose" which is pretty much the least interesting thematic direction this could have been taken in.

All of that being said, there are some good details throughout the issue, and it does a nice job of laying seeds for future stories.

Rating: 5.5/10

Batman And Robin #4

Title: Batman And Robin
Issue: 4
Date: January 2012
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Peter J Tomasi
Penciler: Patrick Gleason
Inker: Mick Gray
Colorist: John Kalisz
Letterer: Patrick Brosseau
Editor: Harvey Richards, Katie Kubert, Mike Marts
Cover: Patrick Gleason, Mick Gray, John Kalisz

We open with our heroes (Batman and Robin, AKA Bruce and Damian Wayne) tied up in the front seat of a junk car and an abandoned drive-in theater.

Nobody (who, if you recall, is somebody; specifically, he's Morgan Ducard) proceeds to try to lecture the Batman about the foolishness of his code against killing.

And you know what? It's boring.

The moral dilemma of why the Batman doesn't just kill the Joker (or whatever other villain is sure to escape and cause more mayhem every time they are thrown in Arkham) was interesting around 1988 in stories The Killing Joke and Ten Nights of the Beast. It has ceased to be interesting, not because it's been resolved, but because it's obvious that it never will be. The whole thing is based on the patently ludicrous assumption that the legal system is incapable of ever keeping these psychos in jail, and thus the entire argument boils down to a thought experiment that has long since grown tiresome.

In this particular instance, the Batman really has nothing to say, and in fact makes the (valid) point that Ducard isn't worthy of an explanation.

Then things commence blowing up.

The Dynamic Duo makes it back to the Batcave and Damian argues with Bruce about the fact that Bruce is holding back information. Damian is probably in the right here (scratch that; Alfred sides with him so Damian is definitely in the right).

Damian leaves in a huff and displays a bit more of his cruelty to animals tendencies, although this time he's just squishing fireflies. On the bright side, Damian is actually taking a liking to his dog, and displays an interest in Shakespeare when choosing the name Titus for the pup. I'm hoping this will end well, but I don't think it's likely.

And speaking of not ending well, here's Nobody to try to seduce Damian over to the Dark Side. We end with the kid considering it.

Too much rehashing of old issues without any real creativity. A clever escape from the opening imperilment isn't enough to save this.

And Damian is still annoying.

Rating: 4.5/10

Action Comics #4

Title: Action Comics
Issue: 4
Date: February 2012
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Grant Morrison, Sholly Fisch
Penciler: Rags Morales, Brad Walker
Inker: Rick Bryant, Sean Parsons, Brad Walker
Colorist: Brad Anderson, Jay David Ramos
Letterer: Patrick Brosseau, Carlos M. Mangual
Editor: Wil Moss, Matt Idelson
Cover: Rags Morales, Brad Anderson

In the midst of a full-scale robot invasion, the people of Metropolis begin to realize that Superman is one of the good guys. I particularly liked Clark's reaction to the police who try to arrest him (As a huge robot looms over them: "Slap on the bracelets, boys. Otherwise, stand back and let me do my job.").

The alien force behind the robot invasion is the same force that "collected" Kandor. Now it's grabbing a significant chunk of Metropolis (including Lois Lane). Meanwhile Superman has his own problems in the form of John Wayne Corben AKA Metallo.

But Superman has some backup too. As it turns out, Corben isn't the only guy named John who can put on a suit of armor.

Steel gets the backup feature, and his introduction is handled in short-and-sweet style that integrates nicely into the overall plot. And references back to the original tale of John Henry are always fun in Steel's stories.

Rating: 7.5/10

Justice League #4

Continuing with the DC #4's.

Title: Justice League
Issue: 4
Date: February 2012
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Geoff Johns
Penciler: Jim Lee
Inker: Scott Williams
Colorist: Alex Sinclair, Gabe Eltaeb
Letterer: Patrick Brosseau
Editor: Darren Shan, Brian Cunningham
Cover: Jim Lee, Alex Sinclair, Scott Williams

There are really three things going on here. First is the introduction of Aquqman, who basically takes the attitude that someone has got to be the leader of the rather disorganized team of heroes that have banded together to fight the parademon invasion. And, well, he's the only one who's a king, so it might as well be him.

Green Lantern (still acting like an idiot) issues the "Really? What can you do that we can't?" challenge. The answer is a resounding "Talk to fish!" in the form of great white sharks jumping out of the water and nom-nom-nom-ing some parademons. Which is actually not all that impressive when you think about it. Lanter, Superman, or Wonder Woman could have done the same amount of damage with less effort and no endangered species in the line of fire. Still, the sharks plus Aquaman putting a trident through the head of a parademon prove sufficient to win at least a grudging acceptance.

In the midst of all of this is an attempt at comedy when Lantern just happens to "accidentally" have his hand on Wonder Woman's lasso and becomes a bit more truthful than he might have liked to be. So Lantern is consistently a sexist jerk. Yay for consistency, I suppose.

The other two big plotlines are the continuing origin of Cyborg, which is going about how you would expect, and the arrival of Darkseid, which is, well, big. As in two-page- turn-the-comic-sideways big. Nice job of making him impressive, but it will be next issue before he does anything more than announce his name.

Goofy fun, but this issue leaned a bit too heavily on the goofy side.

Rating: 5.5/10

Batman And Robin #3

Title: Batman And Robin
Issue: 3
Date: January 2012
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Peter J Tomasi
Penciler: Patrick Gleason
Inker: Mick Gray
Colorist: John Kalisz
Letterer: Patrick Brosseau
Editor: Harvey Richards, Katie Kubert, Mike Marts
Cover: Patrick Gleason, Mick Gray, John Kalisz

Bruce Wayne is busy upgrading the Wayne Manor defenses (like THAT is going to help), and he's not letting Damian go out on patrol (which actually would have been a good idea if he'd done that from the start).

He's also bought Damian a dog, and Damian is getting repeatedly outwitted by Alfred.

Eventually, Damian heads out anyway, lays a severe beatdown on a couple of muggers, and then gets mugged himself by Nobody (AKA Morgan; can you explain to me again why the we know the identity of a villain named Nobody?).

The Batman shows up, mayhem occurs and we end with Batman and Robin waking up locked in a junk car in an abandoned drive-in theater. No, really! The only thing missing was a narrator to tell us to tune in "Same Bat-Time, Same Bat-Channel!"

This was a lot better than the previous two issues, mostly due to Alfred, who was awesome in all the right ways.

Unfortunately, the attempt to humanize Damian is handled in a clunky and inconsistent way. The boy-assassin is suddenly hesitant when Nobody tells him to go ahead and finish off one of the muggers. Sorry, not buying it. Not the way it was handled here. Accusing Nobody of "cold-blooded murder" is just about the most idiotically out-of-character line that Damian could possibly be saddled with. I realize the objective is to get Damian to be one of the good guys, but it needs to be done in a way that is consistent with the character as established.

Some improvements here. Still a long way to go.

And did I mention that Damian is still annoying?

Rating: 4.5/10

Action Comics #3

So, of course, after a weekend of running bonus reviews to get back on track toward 365 in 2012, I get hit with a stomach flu and a major malware problem simultaneously. I'm recovering, and so is my PC. So onward with the reviews!

Title: Action Comics
Issue: 3
Date: January 2012
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Grant Morrison
Penciler: Rags Morales, Gene Ha
Inker: Rick Bryant, Gene Ha
Colorist: Brad Anderson, Art Lyon
Letterer: Patrick Brosseau
Editor: Wil Moss, Matt Idelson
Cover: Rags Morales, Brad Anderson

The third issue of the new Action Comics gives us our first look at Krypton, focusing on the destruction (well, shrinking, I suppose) of Kandor, rather than the fate of the planet Krypton itself. The scene give a few interesting new insights, including a link to some of the current villains in the main timeline, but it's also presented as something of a confusing jumble of telepathic chatter that detracts more than it enlightens.

Things get better when we get back to Clark Kent, who gets in some great lines ("You need to be the cop you wanted to be when you were a kid."), while making classic amateur superhero blunders, and questioning his own path in the face of an onslaught of bad press from corrupt media tycoon Glen Glenmorgan (doing his very best J. Jonah Jameson; all we needed was "Superman: Threat or Menace?" on the cover of the Planet).

Most awesome detail in this issue? A glimpse inside Clark's perfectly organized sock drawer! Ha!

The ending brings the issue full circle with the origin of Metallo and a robotic invasion all connected back to Kandor.

Everything worked but the opening scene.

Rating: 7/10

Batman And Robin #2

One of the leftover #2's that I originally hadn't planned to buy. Probably should have stuck with that plan.

Title: Batman And Robin
Issue: 2
Date: December 2011
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Peter J Tomasi
Penciler: Patrick Gleason
Inker: Mick Gray
Colorist: John Kalisz
Letterer: Patrick Brosseau
Editor: Harvey Richards, Katie Kubert
Cover: Patrick Gleason, Mick Gray, John Kalisz

Welcome to the world of Damian Wayne, where common sense is the most uncommon trait of all. You know, given that Damian Wayne's problem is that he was trained from in-utero to be the perfect killing machine, one would think that the solution would be to have him in art therapy or something, or at least to, you know, not continually take him into violent situations.

Apparently, this is not quite so obvious to the Batman.

There are only two ways this mess can end. Either Damian becomes a full-fledged villain, and the Batman looks stupid for putting up with him this whole time, or Damian really does turn into a good guy, in which case the readers still won't like him because this series has spent so much time making him unlikable.

I suppose that he could also meet a horrible demise, as Robins are wont to do, but that is probably asking too much.

And while I'm on the subject of logical plot development or lack thereof, does it seem a bit odd to give a villain the (dumb) name of "Nobody" and then reveal his identity in the second issue? Nobody, as it turns out is somebody after all!

In between Bruce bemoaning Damian's scarred soul and the big reveal of Nobody, there's, well, not much. A generic action scene followed by the revelation that Damian engages in cruelty to animals. Wonderful. That's really going to make us care about him. Not.

Can we have Tim Drake back now? Please?

Rating: 3.5/10

Action Comics #2

Title: Action Comics
Issue: 2
Date: December 2011
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Grant Morrison
Penciler: Rags Morales, Brent Anderson
Inker: Rick Bryant, Brent Anderson
Colorist: Brad Anderson
Letterer: Patrick Brosseau
Editor: Wil Moss, Matt Idelson
Cover: Rags Morales, Brad Anderson

Still in the "Superman Year One" mode. The military has captured Superman following last issue's train collision, and Lex Luthor is in charge of giving the Man of Steel a little taste of what Dick Cheney liked to call "enhanced interrogation techniques". In this case, it involves an electric chair. When Luthor is done with that, he plans to try some fluoroantimonic acid (Which is actually pretty cool stuff! Wikipedia it! I did!). And speaking of chemistry, Clark gets the best line of the series with this exchange:

Luthor: Does the word 'Krypton' mean anything to you?
Superman: Noble gas... Number 36...

Oh, hey! It's John Henry Irons! We also get to see General Lane (who gets a visit from his daughter, who's on the trail of the captured Superman). Also introduced is John Corben, who has some past romantic history with Lois.

Not surprisingly, the army doesn't hold Superman captive for long, but the story had lots of good details and little plot developments along the way to its inevitable ending. A major revelation about Lex Luthor sets the stage very nicely for some future storylines.

This was good. Superman is still "super" but a bit more limited than in some past versions. The young, inexperienced, and slightly cocky attitude is refreshing, while still maintaining the underlying potential to grow into the familiar heroic persona. The supporting cast had plenty to do and the action was fun and clever.

Backup feature is picture-essay with the creative team discussing character and prop design and it's a pretty interesting read, especially the revelations about their inspirations from very early Superman stories.

I've neglected to mention this in a few previous reviews, but all of the New 52 #2's contain a preview of the Christmas-themed Batman graphic novel, Batman: Noel. The artwork is gorgeous, but there isn't much you can make out as far a plot goes. It appears to be a variation on Dicken's A Christmas Carol.

Rating: 7.5/10

Justice League #3

I'm on the road today and looking through the comics I have on me, all I've got is #3's from the New 52. So here's a little jump ahead, as I look at Justice League #3.

Title: Justice League
Issue: 3
Date: January 2012
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Geoff Johns
Penciler: Jim Lee
Inker: Scott Williams
Colorist: Alex Sinclair, Hi-Fi, Gabe Eltaeb
Letterer: Patrick Brosseau
Editor: Darren Shan, Brian Cunningham
Cover: Jim Lee, Alex Sinclair, Scott Williams

Amazingly, Hal Jordan barely gets any lines here, but it only takes him one word four letters long ("Dibs"; his reaction to seeing Diana for the first time) to cement his place as as sexist jerk for this issue.

Wonder Woman herself is the major focus of this issue, with a rather clumsily handled attempt at portraying her as totally naive to the ways of human civilization. The problem is that there is a fine line between naive and dumb, and Diana spends a bit too much time on the wrong side of that line. That being said, the kid who introduces her to ice cream is adorable and should be a recurring character.

The main plot here is a large-scale attack on Earth by enough parademons to make the heroes look somewhat impressive fighting them, but not nearly enough to actually mount a successful invasion.

We also get some progress on Cyborg's origin, as well as the introduction of Aquaman (who gets a great first line). Dialogue in general was pretty sharp. Flash to the Batman. "You don't have powers? I thought you were a vampire or something!" Ha! There's a cute introductory exchange between Superman and Wonder Woman as well.

Art continues to be great. It's nothing all that daring or innovative, but it looks great, and as mentioned before, it's really exactly the look that a big and loud action-oriented book like this needs.

Rating: 7/10

Justice League #2

Title: Justice League
Issue: 2
Date: December 2011
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Geoff Johns
Penciler: Jim Lee
Inker: Scott Williams
Colorist: Alex Sinclair
Letterer: Patrick Brosseau
Editor: Eddie Berganza, Rex Ogle
Cover: Jim Lee, Alex Sinclair, Scott Williams

We open with a quick introduction of Barry Allen, then it's back to Superman vs. Green Lantern and the Batman. This is a pretty standard, fight-until-cooler-heads-prevail scene, but it's handled well. The Flash joins in as backup called by Hal Jordan and he gets a particularly fun sequence against Superman.

Hal Jordan continues to be written as an annoying twit, which is frustrating for me, so it must be extra-frustrating for people who are actual Green Lantern fans.

Other than that, the character interactions are good, including a nice scene between Victor Stone and his dad, a head scientist at STAR Labs.

The art team of Lee, Williams, and Sinclair continue to do a great job of giving the book the big, explosive look that a major superhero team book should have.

A couple of backup features give us some concept sketches for Batman and Superman, as well as a text piece that does a reasonable job of laying down the foundation for introducing Wonder Woman next issue.

The major flaw in the first issue was Hal Jordan, and he's still terrible, but now he's essentially a fourth of the team rather than half, which is sort of an improvement by subtraction. Everything else is simply an improvement.

Rating: 7/10

Batman And Robin #1

Title: Batman And Robin
Issue: 1
Date: November 2011
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Peter J Tomasi
Penciler: Patrick Gleason
Inker: Mick Gray
Colorist: John Kalisz
Letterer: Patrick Brosseau
Editor: Harvey Richards, Mike Marts
Cover: Patrick Gleason, Mick Gray

Introductory sequence introduces the new villain, Nobody (talk about a name with some epic potential!). Nobody can be best summed up by the words Tom Baker used to describe the monsters in an old Dr. Who episode: Big, bad, and invisible. Kudos to the art team of Gleason, Gray, and Kalisz for their handling of a really challenging opening fight scene. It still took me two readings before I figured out exactly what was going on, but I'm impressed they managed to successfully get it across at all.

From there it's off to (stately!) Wayne Manor and the Batman, who unfortunately has to share half the billing in this book with Damian Wayne. Damian manages to be both a liability AND a complete jerk for the entire book, which is just about par for the course for this character.

The problem here isn't so much the writing as the basic concept. And I freely admit that there are probably readers who love Damian. Those people probably also think Hit Girl is pretty awesome. I guess I'm old fashioned. Children as cold-blooded killers don't do much for me. Or maybe it's because I work with real teenagers in my day job. Heck, I didn't even like the Cassandra Cain version of Batgirl (Wonder where she'll show up in the DCNU? Teen Titans villain, maybe?).

So the writer isn't doing anything more than following precedent. Damian Wayne's unique talent for being both lethal and incredibly annoying is quickly becoming established tradition.

There are even a couple of decent moments. I already mentioned the opening scene that introduces Nobody. The bit with Damian lying awake on his bed waiting for the call to action was a great visual.

But the second half of the book is a generic takedown of random terrorists trying to steal nuclear material. Aside from the Batman's somewhat amusing solution to keeping the reactor from melting down, the only thing that distinguishes this from any other Batman/Robin brawl is Damian doing his loose cannon routine.

Can we just have Tim Drake back please? I'd ask for Stephanie Brown back (at least she manages to not be a jerk while she's being a liability), but they'd probably just kill her around issue 4.

Rating: 4/10

Action Comics #1

Title: Action Comics
Issue: 1
Date: November 2011
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Grant Morrison
Penciler: Rags Morales
Inker: Rick Bryant
Colorist: Brad Anderson
Letterer: Patrick Brosseau
Editor: Wil Moss, Matt Idelson
Cover: Jim Lee, Scott Williams, Alex Sinclair

The first Action Comics #1 since 1938! I'm still disappointed that the series won't go to #1000, but as I've mentioned before I understand how DC felt that the renumbering would only be seen as a true relaunch if they renumbered all their titles, including the "big number" books like Action and Detective.

I bought the variant cover version with Jim Lee's artwork, which is actually taken from a (really good) splash page in Justice League #1 (my review of that issue is here).

What we have here is a new take on Superman. He's younger, and clearly inexperienced. He's also got a solid case of cynicism for the legal system, and a cocky and arrogant attitude, particularly toward the Metropolis Police Department. Detective Blake: "We used to have laws in this town. Like gravity." Ha!

The opening scene has him pulling a Batman-style stunt of dropping a white-collar criminal off of building ledge and catching him just before impact to force a (clearly inadmissible!) confession.

Superman's powers have also been scaled back considerably. He's a lot more vulnerable to harm (although still tough enough to take a shot from a tank's main gun).

As for villains, we've got a decent (and pretty much by-the-book) portrayal of Lex Luthor working as a consultant for General Lane (Lois' father). Oh, and the other major adversary in this issue is a bullet train (emphasis on "bullet").

A lot of people probably won't like Superman's new cocky attitude. I didn't think I would. But I did find myself enjoying this portrayal of the character, particularly if the direction we're going in is toward a some growth and maturing. The villains were spot-on (bonus points for Luthor's reference to the brown tree snake and the cane toad!). I liked Clark's interaction with his landlady, who seems like a good supporting character, and I liked his vibe with Jimmy Olsen. There was also a fun scene where some bystanders came to Superman's aid against the military.

The ending sequence was visually pretty cool, but I was a bit lost on the logic behind the scene, which involved a bomb on a train for no reason that I could figure out. It looked like this was a case of trying to fit too much material into a limited number of pages. Something had to get rushed. The ending cliffhanger was still pretty effective, with an great visual.

Rating: 7/10

Justice League #1

Title: Justice League
Issue: 1
Date: October 2011
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Geoff Johns
Penciler: Jim Lee
Inker: Scott Williams
Colorist: Alex Sinclair
Letterer: Patrick Brosseau
Editor: Eddie Berganza, Rex Ogle
Cover: Jim Lee, Alex Sinclair, Scott Williams

And we're off! Here's the first of the "New 52" from DC. Justice League is taking a bit of a slow build, and a "Year One" type story that is set five years before the "present" in the new DC continuity.

Only three actual members appear in this issue (in costume, anyway), and Superman only shows up in the last couple of pages.

Up to then, it's essentially Brave & The Bold: Batman & Green Lantern. Except that Hal Jordan has somehow become an idiot in the new continuity. Don't they have Guy Gardner for that?

So the Batman is chasing a demonic-looking creature over the Gotham rooftops while an unsympathetic (but still horribly ineffective) GPD shoots first and asks questions later. Just as the demon/alien/whatever (I think he's one of Darkseid's actually, so I guess he qualifies as all three) is getting the upper hand, Hal Jordan shows up and has everything under control. No, really. He's got this. No problem. He's got the most powerful weapon in the universe, after all.

The Batman is all like "What? You mean this?" and swipes Hal's power ring like he's taking candy from a baby. Admittedly, this was a horribly contrived cheap shot, and I'd be up in arms if I was a raving GL fanboy. However, 1) I'm not a Green Lantern fanboy (in the words of Kurt Angle, "Green Lantern? Aquaman talks to fish and even he's cooler than Green Lantern!") and 2) As mentioned, this version of Hal Jordan is behaving like an egotistical idiot. So it was mildly amusing.

For no real logical reason, once the Batman and Green Lantern put their differences aside, they decide to go to Metropolis, because the creature they were fighting was an alien and they've heard that Superman might be an alien too, so clearly there must be a connection. This is a stretch even in the "Year One" context.

They show up and Hal decides that acting like a moron around the Batman wasn't enough. So he goes and ticks off Superman. You know how the song goes. You don't tug on Superman's cape and you don't spit in the wind. The result is about what you'd expect. Hey, come to think of it, if Superman had been dressed in yellow, Hal Jordan would probably be dead at the end of this book! Fortunately, they didn't go THAT extreme on Superman's costume changes.

Next issue promises Batman vs. Superman. I'm hoping the Batman pulls the "I've attached a bomb to a person somewhere and it will explode and kill that person if you touch me" trick. That one was pretty awesome the last time they rebooted Superman.

As for this issue, several pages of Jim Lee's art are pretty awesome: The first power-ring construct, a football scene involving Vic Stone, and the first splash page appearance of Superman are impressive.

Not much else in this book is.

Rating: 4.5/10