Dr. Claw's Judgment-O-Vision

Last time, I hypothesized that Countdown to Infinite Crisis was a "Zero Issue" to Infinite Crisis. Countdown and issue #1 of Infinite Crisis that it launches with a completely different status quo from where we left off last time. In fact, I felt so lost after reading this week's issue that I did some cursory research in my totally legit database that I swear to Zeus isn't wikipedia (full disclosure, it was wikipedia) and found out that Countdown wasn't the launching point for Infinite Crisis, but instead launched four six-issue mini-series that lead into Infinite Crisis. Even worse, last week's read is also referred to as Prelude to Infinite Crisis. Uh-huh. DC Comics, someone needs to sit you down and explain what the words "Countdown" and "Prelude" mean.

Foolish me. I was emphatically wrong. So much shit apparently went down betwixt

Yeah, if it seems like this revelation is abhorrent to me, then congratulations on your basic ability to pick up context clues. The fact that the issue which was supposed to launch an event actually launched four separate series that you need to read to follow what's going on here is on the one hand evil genius, provided the entire fanbase follows all the series and nobody is cherry picking their titles. On the other hand, it's a pretty dumb move. The four mini-series are six issues long and the main event is seven. That means this entire narrative from Countdown to the conclusion took over a year to tell. And keep in mind, that events usually drag the entire existing publication line with them. Cross-over exhaust can drive away an audience just as easily as bad story-telling... which tends to be a frequent companion of company-wide events in shared universe comics, surprisingly enough.

But on the other hand, this blog's mission statement is diving into the deep end with these giant events and trying to suss things out with as little additional reading as possible. So from that perspective, this is DC giving me a gift. We thank you for this bounty we are about to receive.

We start the issue with Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman arriving at the Justice League's lunar base, The Watch Tower, which has been left in ruins following attack. Like I mentioned, there has been six months' worth of stories between where we left off in Countdown, so as easy as it would be to postulate that this was an attack by Luthor's united villains (in fact one of the mini series leading up to this was called Villians United), until the story tells me otherwise, I'm just going to assume that this was the result of a structural problem, maybe even termites. "Termites on the moon" sounds like a hilariously awful B-Movie from the 50s that MST3K would have screened, now that I think of it.

Batman and Superman appraise the damage, and Batman finds the Watchtower's black box. They determine that Martian Manhunter wasn't on-site when the assault happened. They don't state whether anyone else was around, but to be fair, despite having multiple cover identities on Earth, J'onn tends to be treated like an extension of the Watchtower.

And yes, her cape game is slaying it. 

Batman and Superman are not pleased that Wonder Woman is in attendance, declaring that she doesn't belong there. I think they're going all "he-man woman haters club" because she's horning in on their cape game and out-doing the both of them, but the reason they cite for their hostility is because she kind of had this oopsy daisy moral event horizons in which she snapped the neck of arch villain and career manipulator, Maxwell Lord.

You'll remember him from my last entry as the man who coordinated the complete ruination of Blue Beetle's life, then shot him square between the eyes when he refused to join up with his clearly evil organization. I really don't think I'm going to loose any sleep over this.

They treat this like this was a severe betrayal of the ethics of the justice league and throughout the issue, there will be a lot of discussion between these three. Yup. The holy trinity of DC comics are going to spend the premiere issue of this major event going having the worst group therapy session. It's threaded throughout the issue, but the summary of it is that Bats and Supes think Wonder Woman has lost her way because she took a life.

Now, I do acknowledge that the popular conception of Superman and Batman is that they both hold true to the belief that they do not kill. That being said, both characters actually have killed. Granted, at least in the post-crisis instances, these weren't done lightly. But none of these instances were grounds for the other Justice Leaguers to subject her to a good old-fashioned Amish shunning and it only serves to make Clark and Bruce look sanctimonious and preachy.

In fact, I think they care less about her killing than the fact that she did it on live television where the entire world could see. One of the most legendary members of the League committing homicide for all the world to see is probably hell on their PR. I'm assuming the Justice League is a lot like the Avengers and whenever there is a major re-working of the lineup, there is a press field day and a public reveal, so more than likely they are just on edge at the thought of having to field pesky reporter questions about ethics and excessive force. Also, since I didn't read the mini-series that occurred in, I'm going to go out on a ledge and say that, being a poor man's Lex Luthor, Lord managed to do enough to provoke Wonder Woman without ever being publicly outed as a supervillain.

Then, still in the wake of this abysmal election cycle, I can't help but note that Wonder Woman is being held to a higher standard that Batman or Superman. It reminds me of how the Grand High Oompa Loompa was laughably unqualified to run around the block, let alone for the presidency (and the revelations since the elections have only made that clearer), whereas Clinton was basically put through the wringer basically because she was less than perfect. I really feel like that's what's going on here. Batman has had some really dark chapters and Superman has been know to kill as a last resort, too. And yet it is beyond the pale when Wonder Woman does it because girls are supposed to run around with their little lassos, play nice, and set a good example. Seriously, fuck that noise.

Still less damning that Trump's "grab 'em by the pussy."

Their discussion ends up devolving into just a general airing of grievances and they all decide the effort isn't worth it. Before they can all go on their separate ways however, they are ambushed by Mongul. I only vaguely remember him from Young Justice (which is sad in light of the fact that he was voiced by Keith David), but the general gist I got was that he is an alien conquering warlord type with a history of getting repelled by the Justice League. I didn't see the need to do too much research on him because honestly, he's really only here because the heroes need something to hit.

In another era, giving them a common enemy to vanquish would be a good way to bring them together towards a common goal and help them put their differences aside, but in this book, once the fight is over, they just resume their pithy argument. It's actually pretty Whedonesque how very little Mongul factors in once he's gone. He might as well have been a whack-a-mole that they could have knocked down repeatedly over the course of their spat.

Ugh. Action? Didn't anyone tell you this is a debate issue, Mongul?

For the sake of brevity (I know, I know. I'm working on it), the key arguments against each character is as follows:

• Wonder Woman has grown too hard-lined and alienating to the world.
• Batman's paranoid mentality has made him even harder to work with than usual
• Superman is too human and doesn't seem like the god-like optimistic beacon of hope he once was. 

The arguments on all three sides are heated, albeit contrived, but they abruptly stop for no real reason. They just say "we're done here?" Thus, they peel off. Again, a forced ending to a forced argument. 

The narration, mind you, is someone who has been watching this and everything else that happens as though he's watching in a room full of surveillance monitors and he's pretty disheartened that not only have the world's three greatest heroes found themselves in such a dark place at present but they've lost faith in each other.

This is the A Plot of the issue. Yup. The selling point of the for-real for-real launch of this major company-wide crossover is a passive aggressive peer review between the three biggest names in DC. All I can say is, shrug. 

Of course, there is a cohesive B Plot in the story, which I will get to in due course, but there is also a few glimpses we get of the rest of the DC universe that I want to cover first. Many of these things touch of the many ongoing plot threads as well as the results of the mini series that all feed into this narrative. 

My boyfriend has a lot of emotional investment in seeing
Conner's arms and this issue let him down so hard...

Conner Kent seems to be in semi-retirement at the Kent Farm, watching footage of the Teen Titans fighting an army of Lord's O.M.A.C.s and is almost tempted to fly off when he has a crisis of confidence and buttons his shirt back up. My guess is that the events of the Titans/Young Justice crossover, Graduation Day immediately preceded this. I haven't read it, but if memory serves, both teams lost a few members and ended up disbanding. I think the two teams to be to be folded in together and relaunched later, but for now Superboy is feeling to shell shocked and burnt out to throw himself back into the mix. His Aunt Martha (I find it very cute that he calls her that) is supportive of him and tells him, "the world needs a Superboy. And right now you're all they've got." 

Hmm... that doesn't seem like something to keep tabs on, does it? 

Elsewhere Supergirl and Nightwing meet up with the Titans. Mainly this scene serves to set them up on their respective courses. Supergirl and the Titans are off to recruit as many as possible to help save the universe (and remind the audience that Donna Troy has been newly revived) and Nightwing is off to do some street-level heroing. 

Do you mind, narrator? They're having a moment, here.

Again, that narrator sounds incredibly judgmental about Dick and Kory's on-again, off-again relationship. Who is this asshole just observing everyone from the shadows à la Dr. Claw and making incredibly judgmental about people's interpersonal relationships? What a dick. 

Also, lest we forget that we're moving on, the Titans are off the save the freaking universe. And yet this is only a sub-plot here. It pales in comparison to the thrilling story of Supes, Bats, and WW airing out their dirty laundry, right?

As Nightwing swings across the city, we catch a glimpse of a homeless man apparently being forcibly transformed into an O.M.A.C. then join a throng of others who are swarming in the skies above. This version of O.M.A.C. certainly does seem to be derivative of the Prime Sentinels from Marvel's "Operation: Zero Tolerance" storyline...

Elsewhere, the Green Lanterns are struggling to stop the fighting of the Rann/Thanagar conflict, but it's a struggle. It seems like the Guardians aren't as effective as they ought to be, according to the characters. I personally think the Guardians' leadership is about as useful as the Time Lords, the Watcher's Council, or the attendees at any town hall meeting on Parks and Recreation. Apparently, their home planet of Oa is no longer the center of the universe and that is effecting their ability to effectively aid in the crisis. I guess it's effecting their connection to the power source of the green aspect of the emotional spectrum. 

Nothing to see here, folks, we'll get you back to that
riveting pissing contest in a moment. 

Over in Gotham, the Riddler's latest showdown with the police gets upstaged by the Spectre, who has killed the wizard Shazam. The Wizard Shazam is one of the mightiest sources of magic in DC and the Guardian of the Rock of Eternity. He's a fundamental being in the DCU. Killing him is about on par with destroying gravity. Yeah, that's sounds like it has to be a fairly huge deal. And yet we only get a glimpse of that. Because Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman's rendition of the blame game is the real reason you shelled out the money for this issue, amirite?

Finally, we arrive upon the B Plot: the Freedom Fighters. In case you don't remember who these guys are, they are a team of heroes from a different reality who were folded into the main continuity at the end of Crisis on Infinite Earths. And they are led by Uncle Sam. Yes, the symbolic embodiment of the United States is a DC character. And he's one of the rare DC characters with ridiculous origins who doesn't have a newer, darker, edgier redesign in this era. He still pretty much looks like he hopped right off a military recruitment poster. 

A whole bunch of heavy hitters... and Dr. Light. I just don't get it.

Don't get attached to these guys because they are super doomed. Apparently, Uncle Sam got a hot tip about criminal activity going on in this dark and clearly secluded, closed in place that screams "TRAP!" Surprisingly to them, it turns out to be a trap and they are besieged by Lex Luthor's Secret Society of Super Villains. And the kid gloves are off. This entire issue keeps hammering in the fact that the modern world of superheroes is darker, more violent, and unpleasant and this fight does more to illustrate that than the pages upon pages of the Big Three constantly telling each other how they've lost their way. We see some pretty graphic deaths. Human Bomb literally gets pummeled to death by Bizarro. Phantom Lady gets completely run through by Deathstroke the Terminator (I don't know if "Sorry, darlin', just business," makes it better or worse). 

Giving his faceplate a smile only makes him
creepier.

The only two who aren't decisively killed by the end of this issue are Uncle Sam, whom we last see getting blasted by Sinestro, but not definitively killed, and Ray, who is psionically subdued by the worst piece of trash villain from the last DC Crisis I read, Psycho-Pirate. You'll remember him as the one villain in all of the multiverse who sided with the primordial villain who threatened to wipe out every single dimension in existence. He's an opportunist, sadistic, and a pathological narcissist, so while I'm displeased at the sight of him, maybe I'll have fun watching the shit beat out of him. 

*Correction: Uncle Sam is confirmed dead during the end of the triumvirate's squabble. Because that's where it will get the attention it deserves. 

I didn't even notice it on my first read-through. That's how poorly placed it is. It's only because reading on Comixology in the guided panel-to-panel format that I saw it. Now that I have, however, all I can say is, really guys? That's laying the symbolism on a little too thick, isn't it? Just as communication finally breaks down completely between the trinity, it is then that it is revealed that the living embodiment of freedom is dead. Oh, you guys are are just so clever. You wove that in like a quilt. Pat yourselves on the back. Then ram your heads into a wall. What? Did you all learn subtlety from the films of John Waters?

Speaking of Crisis On Infinite Earths, perhaps you were wondering who is his who have been omnisciently narrating the proceedings. Well, it turns out he is one of four observers and the consensus in the private extra-dimensional screening room is that the DCU has turned into a shit show and the only recourse is for some audience participation. To that end, the narrator begins punching the view screen. Ah, I can recall being but a wee bairn and not quite understanding that the cartoons I watched were only projections on a screen and wondering how I could get past the glass to join them. Fortunately, I never tried smashing my way through. I'm sure my mom is happy that I never needed stitches for that reason, at least. 

This character is more successful than I would have been and by breaking through the weird wall of view screens, he has burst through a dimensional barrier, bringing him and his cohorts into the main DC Universe and at last we see who our observers are, good old Kal-L, the elderly Superman of Earth-2, his wife Lois Lane, Alexander Luthor, the son of Earth-3's heroic Lex Luthor, and the Superboy of Earth-Prime. That's the Earth WE THE READERS live in, mind you. Yup. Shit's gonna get weird. 

Yup. Everything is going to pot and our supposed rescuer
just broke reality. That's a good sign

If you'll recall, for reasons that I cannot remember right now, these four were stranded outside reality in an effort to stop the Anti-Monitor once and for all from destroying the newly squished together New Earth at the ending of Crisis On Infinite Earths. Alexander Luthor used the remnants of his tapped out anti-matter powers to create a pocket dimension (and also managed to spare Lois-2 from being wiped out of existence) so that the four of them could have  a happy ending together. 

Of course, nobody said anything about them being forced to sit in a dark room and seemingly do nothing but watch life unfold in the main reality in their happy ending. And not only did they have to watch what was happening, they had to watch the 90s. Think of all the horrors they witnessed. The death of Superman. Bane breaking Batman's spine. So many bad battle armor redesigns... If you were Golden Age Superman, you'd think the 90s and 00s were the dystopian future you'd usually be called upon to save, too. 

I feel like this book had a lot of material to kick off an event, but they didn't have said materials in the right proportion. The story is overwhelmingly dominated by the defining rift that has formed between Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, but instead of dynamically dramatizing it, they basically just stand around talking and thus failing one of the crucial tenants of dramatic story-telling: show, don't tell. The book keeps weaving some interesting threads into the fabric of the story, but instead of following through with what could have been exciting, we keep defaulting back to the Bickersons on the Moon. Even the B-plot of this story would have generated more interest if we had seen more of it, as it isn't presented to the reader until fairly close to the end. What I'm seeing here, illustrated both in the two main plots of the issue as well as the sub-plots we touch upon, is that this event seems to be more or less the result of a lot of smaller events that happen to be happening at the same time, as opposed to in Crisis on Infinite Earths where there was one all-consuming plot that drove the over-arching narrative and whose subplots were either a by-product or a reaction to the driving narrative. This isn't horrible, but it also isn't very promising for the trajectory of the story-telling. 

BaTorpedoes are a go!

There is a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson that a teacher in middle school once taught me that I've always come back to and I believe Batman #637 is an unusually apt case to apply it. "For everything you have missed, you have gained something else." This isn't an issue that does a lot of heavy lifting. On a narrative level, there isn't all that much movement, nor are we given a wealth of new insight into the inner workings of our protagonist. What it does offer in abundance is action and .

PREVIOUSLY: Batman was busy brooding his way through a steak out, and was joined by Nightwing, aka Dick Grayson the first Robin, who rightly thought that his best friend could use some emotional caregiving. Meanwhile the current criminal kingpin in Gotham has a thorn in his side in the form of the mysterious Red Hood, who has been interfering with his operation. To combat this nuisance, Black Mask has taken on the services of unstable Arkham frequent flyer, Mister Freeze. Batman and Nightwing's mission takes them to Gotham Harbor where Black Mask's men are expecting a pretty large delivery. The freighter delivering it blows up and our heroes spot the incendiary, Red Hood, who leads them deftly on a chase across the rooftops of Gotham until they find themselves inside a warehouse. There, they are confronted with Black Mask's absconded delivery: A.M.A.Z.O., a homicidal android with the powers of seven members of the Justice League.

Which brings us to the top of this issue. This issue's cover rectifies all my complaints with issue #636. The image depicted actually reflects what happens in the issue. Again, the proportions are off, however this time it is quite clearly an intentional choice to emphasize the physical threat posed by our issue's obstacle. The obvious nature of playing with the proportions creates a heightened realism that both plays into the fantastic nature of DC superhero comics but contrasts with the pulpy realism of a Batman detective story. Overall, this cover feels incredibly dynamic and quite possibly the best so far in this run of Batman.

We open with a preamble in villain HQ. We won't see much of Black Mask this issue, but he basically book-ends this chapter in the story. In this overall story arc, he'll prove to be our tritagonist. However, in the first leg of the story, there really isn't all that much room for him since it is devoted to really showcasing how Red Hood is three steps ahead of everybody. And while it is admirable to attempt to keep all your important characters threaded throughout the entire narrative it is a bit of a problem that this first scene with him is a slight variation of what we saw in his appearance last issue. In case you didn't read that particular installment, it basically fell into the category of "wacky hijinks." Except this time the same basic bullet points are hit with Black Mask's latest hire in the room with him instead of down the hall.

Black Mask is sitting across a desk from Mister Freeze, flanked by his superego with a pulse, David Li  some nameless craggy-faced mafioso. Spoilers: do not  get attached. This scene really reads as an human resources or employee rights compliance manager's worst nightmare. Mask is playing it as cool as a cucumber, trying to play the role of the understanding authority figure in the hopes of keeping a modicum of control over Freeze, but Victor is clearly not on the same wave length. He's that guy who has read the manual inside and out, wants to do his job, and is pretty intolerant of the bullshit of workplace pleasantries.

This "Mr. Nice Boss" attitude adopts really rings true, not only to the readers who recently saw him essentially torture one of the Bat-Family nearly to the brink of death, but also to Freeze who really doesn't like being talked down to and has already gone through at least two of Black Mask's tech guys while they were constructing his cryo-suit because of perceived slights.

I think, "ghaaaah!!!!" sums up my reaction nicely.

With that in mind, we can conclude that the rando on Black Mask's left was born utterly without a sense of self preservation, when he opens his mouth to delivery a pretty snippy retort with all the bitchiness of an inter-office e-mail about properly labeling food in the break room fridge.
For his efforts, he is promptly and surprisingly unexpectedly turned into a mobcicle, courtesy of Freeze's brand spanking new mafia-issue cryo-gun. Because Freeze is a True Neutral gamer who gives absolutely 0 fucks (or 32 fuck Fahrenheit).

Now, as horrifying a way to go as being frozen to death in the span of a heartbeat, the art takes it one step further by lingering on this sight of our brand new human ice sculpture long enough for the guy's face to crack into a dozen pieces and fall to the ground. I'm not sure if it's come up in the blog thus far, but I really don't do well with body horror. It makes me squirm in my seat and makes me eagerly wish to be elsewhere.

So, as much as these Black Mask/Mister Freeze scenes feel like a big, blinking arrow pointed at the back burner of your stove, it does a neat little bit of character work establishing our villains' different temperaments and objectives.

Speaking of objectives. now that the sense of symmetry behind Black Mask's has been ruined, Li finally remembers to mention why he's in this scene. Apparently, Amazon's tracking number never confirmed the delivery on that giant killer robot-sized package they ordered, and I suppose opening a live chat to request a re-delivery still was a pain in the neck way back in 2005. Well, good thing they just acquired the services of an unfeeling, unstable, easily instigated cryomancer...

The bulk of the remainder of the issue depicts Batman and Nightwing's struggle against  Amazo. I'm going to forego a play by play of the fight, because it really defeats the purpose of a visual medium. Instead, I am aching to talk about what this kind of fight scene represents.

The first thing that becomes apparent when reading these pages is that instead of the sticking with Batman's internal monologue, as it was last issue, this time we are in Nightwing's head. Were this an ensemble title, switching between the various POV's of our characters would feel absolutely normal, but this feels like an odd choice to be proverbially guided through a solo title by someone other than the eponymous hero.

Still, reading the two issues back-to-back, there is a sense that Batman and Nightwing's internal monologue's complement each other. Last issue expressed a melancholy nostalgia, longing for the simpler days back when Dick was Robin and his constant companion. In contrast, Nightwing's narration implies both a sense of unceasing wonder at as well as a keen understanding of Batman. Nightwing has forged his own path and become quite a different hero and leader than Bruce, but his internal monologue all but states that he grew into the man he is today because even under Batman's fairly rigid supervision, he did allow space for him to be his own person.

In fact, I think Batman has lasted as long as he has because of it. If Batman hadn't allowed for Dick-as-Robin to be a buoyant quipster took the edge off Batman, allowed him to appear more as the more disciplined adult to Dick's boisterous child instead of the very alienating Batman who lives on a steady diet of brooding, tactics, and a thirst for justice. Batman molded Robin/Nightwing into one of the most socially/emotionally connected heroes in the DCU simply by allowing for Dick's personality to shine through, while Robin/Nightwing tempered Batman into the more... "friendly" isn't the right word, um... cooperative and morally accountable man who would end up not only the crux of his own local network of crime fighters, but also the master strategist of various iterations of the Justice League. Even in modern stories, when they team up together in the hands of a good writer, they still mostly only ever seem to bolster each other's strengths, and rarely ever diminish one another.

Batman's a badass, lest we forget... 

Last time, I mentioned that a character like Amazo exists to give a super-powered team like the Justice League a challenge to use their powers creatively or team up in unexpected way, being that he is a character who can do anything they can do. However, when a character like Amazo faces off against one or two heroes, neither of whom have superhuman abilities, you get to see a different type of fight that you don't get to see often-- no holds barred.  Heroes generally fight to subdue, not kill or maim. But that's with living, sentient foes. With a an android, particularly one that is programmed specifically to kill heroes  and is singularly equipped to do so, heroes don't need to pull their punches and what would come across as sociopathic violence against, oh, say the Riddler or Deathstroke is actually pretty satisfying when done against a kill-bot.

It's kind of like watching the X-Men rip a sentinel to shreds. It's a great way to demonstrate how utterly effective combatants our heroes can be while side-stepping the general taboo against heroes killing. And yes, Batman is that good. He throws a bunch of flash-bang grenades right in Amazo's face just so that he'll be too distracted to notice the exploding batarang Batman lodged in his leg. Which detonates and destroying all but the cybernetic framework of his leg.

Admit it, you feel ill just looking at that.

Nightwing stabs his fighting escrima into it's ears and Batman even stuffs his eyes with plastic explosives, so when Amazo accesses Superman's heat vision, he effectively burns out his own eyes. Again, this would be ruthless behavior if Batman used these kind of tactics on another living being, but because Amazo is a heartless murder droid, it negates those concerns and allows the reader to marvel at Batman and Nightwing's battle prowess and general badassery.

Of course being a R.O.D.O.K. [Robotic Obstruction Designed Only For Killing], all this does is slow him down. That's when it comes time for Batman to call in the the big gun. That's actually an odd yet apt word choice because Batman famously doesn't fight with guns. With the tap of a key fob, the Batmobile hones in on their location and reaches their destination. I'm sure it's using the same technology that UBER is beta testing. Now, of all the numerous toys built into the Batmobile, you'd think there would be EMP guns (actually according to the wiki, there's one of those on the utility belt, but I guess they needed the fight to last the length of the issue), flame throwers, or some other specific weapon designed specifically to target artificial threats (I imagine he has to take out a lot of gun turrets). Instead, do you want to know what we get? A torpedo bay mounted with four torpedoes pops out from the roof of the Batmobile. I told you he was bringing out the big guns. Torpedoes: they're the difference between a smart car and the ultimate BFG.

KIT never seemed the same after joining the NRA.

And yes, it's excessive, but boy is it satisfying for Batman to actually have a good time instead of standing around moping like he'd been doing in the first two issues of this story. We don't see the body, but he doesn't come back up for another round, which usually means in ongoing editorially driven narratives that he'll be back... eventually. But for now though, they have the ultimate question of who was that delivery, including a large cache of super villain weapons and a killer robot, meant for.

However, I can't help but view this less as a battle against a villain than as an obstacle du jour to be overcome. Amazo basically comes across as simply being the wind up murder toy this issue needs to occupy its heroes for the length of the issue. He doesn't have any clear objective other than, "destroy, destroy!" I'm not saying that a arch villain shouldn't utilize catspaws and underlings to carry out their aims, but Amazo is such a tabula rasa within the context of the story who doesn't even seem like he was a deliberate choice, but just an all purpose bad guy who popped out of the random villain generator. Our heroes could have been hitting a weeble for 22 pages, for all the impact Amazo has on the narrative.

Elsewhere, Black Mask is on the line with his supplier, presumably trying to get a refund or replacement for his order. However, the Amazon Customer Service Rep is being less than helpful. Granted, it's hard to justify re-crediting a buyer when the merchandise in questions has been stolen and/or destroyed, but it isn't as though Black Mask was culpable. Surely they had the tracking number, undoubtedly. They should know that he is not liable for the loss.

Supply and demand's a bitch, ain't it?

This all-too-familiar exercise in frustration is cut short when Black Mask gets a call from who else but the fly in seemingly everyone's ointment, Red Hood. This is such a clever reversal from the first scene, where we saw Mask being affable and patronizing of Mister Freeze as he conducted a business transaction, but is now on the receiving end of Hood who is being snarky and confident, knowing that he holds all the cards. And in these last few moments, we find out about something else Masky was expecting in that shipment that is absolutely a game changer: an entire shipping crate of kryptonite.

As I stated earlier, this isn't exactly a plot intensive installment in the story. If you pick up this issue hoping for heavy character work or a story that keeps you guessing, this isn't going to satisfy you. However, if you were looking for an issue that is a one big, fun extended fight scene that shows off just why Batman is a force to be reckoned with, this is exactly what you've been looking for.

Next week, we'll be checking in with Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur again. It's getting really hairy in that book. Thanks in no small part to the number of cave men in the story.

There's always room for Dick

A normal Tuesday in Gotham...

I vaguely recall the trade paperback of Batman: A Death in the Family being capped with the introduction of Tim Drake, who insists that Batman needs a Robin in order to keep him from getting too dark and crossing moral lines he oughtn't. On that note, Batman issue #636 opens up with Batman hanging a mook upside down.


Oh, I guess I ought to supply some context. Today we are returning to the pages of Batman with issue #636, the second installment of the "Under the Red Hood" story arc. We have mostly the same creative team returning, with Judd Winick writing, Doug Mahnke on pencils, Tom Nguyen on inks, colors by Alex Sinclair, and this time Pat Brosseau providing lettering. Additionally, the cover art was provided by Matt Wagner.

Once again, the art is amazing on the cover, even if I do have some problem with the proportions and perspective. He is dominating one half of the page, Facing and pointing his handgun directly at the reader. The other side of the page features Batman's cowl affixed to the wall with a knife. Below we see the sub-heading "The KING of Gotham City!"

It's striking to say the least, but I can't help but wonder if this is supposed to be seen from the point of view of someone with depth perception issues. The wall is supposed to be behind Black Mask and yet the cowl actually about as close as Black Mask. In fact the cowl looks larger than his own head. Also, his body language is a little off. He seems to be slouching his shoulders, which are at an odd angle, or maybe leaning over with his elbow tucked back but his forearm cheating forward so that it is facing smack center of the page. I can't help but feel like the artistic direction of this cover was changed mid-stream. The arm feels like a hastily inserted afterthought and Batman's cowl feels like an idea that could have been better on a different cover, but here is a bit of a square peg in a round hole.

My biggest problem with the cover however, is that in general I believe that a cover ought to offer the reader a hint at what they are going to see inside a given issue. Yes, Black Mask appears in this issue, but there is no confrontation between Batman and Black Mask. In fact, he very much takes a back seat in this issue. His scene is more or less limited to a discussion with his office manager. Not exactly the most engaging of scenarios, understandably. Considering what other fun things this issue has going on (Batman teaming up with an old friend, a thrilling chase scene, Mr. Freeze-related hijinks), the fact that this cover very falsely advertises what's in store feels like a misdirect and a bit of a cheat.

If you'll recall from last time we checked in on this arc, Batman got into a hissy fit after the events of War Games and kicked every one of his associates out of the Bat Cave and put a moratorium on costumed vigilantes other than himself in Gotham. Oh, and some foreign company bought out the R&D department, cutting off Batman's access to all those wonderful toys. Factor in the fact that a mysterious new figure styling himself as the Red Hood is currently muscling in on current kingpin of crime, Black Mask's territory and Masky has sought out the assistance of chaos gamer-turned-villain, Mr. Freeze to rectify the problem and Batman might have a few problems on his hands.

But like I said before, Batman works alone.

Once he is done playing a rousing game of human yo-yo with our nameless mook, he dwells on this newly-reasserted solitude. However, being Batman and having a chronic tendency to sublimate anything resembling affection by doubling down on being a Type-A personality, a pathological strategist, and frequent paranoid (it could seriously be argued that he's as effective as he is because of these three traits), he instead focuses on how exiling Barbara Gordon from the Batcave from Batcave is a blow to the operation, but one he finds necessary since he no longer finds he can trust his close-knit network of costumed crime fighters.

I've only read 2/3 of the preceding story arc, War Games story, but I can tell you it does hinge on a severe breech of trust by one of his allies... that was arguably instigated by Batman denying trust in the first place. It's also a story where Batman pushes his cohorts to the breaking point, particularly Barbara, so I wouldn't be surprised if things were said that couldn't be easily taken back, though presumably will by the next company wide crossover event.

Despite how impersonally he frames it, focusing on Barbara, who still has a larger role as a hero independently of Batman or even the Gotham vigilante scene in general. Whereas, Tim Drake and Cassandra Cain, the current Robin and Batgirl, respectively, both have closer ties to the operation. They were both trained by Batman before they took their mantles (Barbara's Batgirl tenure was far more independent), were explicitly trained to operate in tandem and subordinate to Batman in the field, and have costumed identities that are inherently tethered to the iconography and mythology of Batman.

Although, Batman's inner monologue focuses only on what her absence means to his crime fighting. Because thinking about what it means to have alienated a long-time friend would mean having to deal with emotions and Batman really sucks at them, especially when he can't contextualize them in terms of the mission.

However, Barbara Gordon feels like the right fit for him to focus on because while Tim is probably a more central role as Robin, Barbara has a longer history with Batman, is the only one to have truly suffered loss on account of being part of the heroism machine and managed to come back stronger for it. (Prior to the New 52) Contemporary DC has a much better track record than Marvel about letting its Golden and Silver Age teen characters mature into adulthood and Barbara is about on par with Dick Grayson. No, she slightly edges him out. For not only does Batman acknowledge her as a peer, but she makes him acknowledge him as an equal. I guess that's the benefit of fighting alongside Batman all these years without being ward/adoptive child/primary protege/all of the above. You get to come into your own on your own terms without dealing with Bruce's senior partner/junior partner bullshit.

Now that I have gone off on a Barbara Gordon tangent (it probably won't be the last time on this blog), I really need to get this ship back on course. Like Batman said before. He works alone.

Understatement: Batman kind of has the tunnel vision thing going on.

Oh, wait. Did I say he works alone? Yeah, apparently I was just joshing you because apparently, Dick Grayson is exempt from Batman's injunction. There's always room for Dick. He's like Jell-o, that way. He's in his guise as Nightwing, with a knee brace on from injuries sustained during War Games.

He's clearly trying to reach out to Bruce, not Batman, but Batman turns the most neutral of weather-related small talk into a reason to talk about the criminal element. Dick comments how easily Bruce made the connection between "warm night" and crime, but he has the wherewithal not to point out that his former legal guardian tends to retreat even further than usual into the Batman persona when confronted with trauma and complicated negative emotions.

Both in-universe and from a publication stand-point, Dick has always been a presence who serves to soften Batman's more off-putting traits. He was expressly introduced with the intent to make Batman less intimidating and get more kids reading. Tim was onto something when he said that Batman needs Robin because Dick set a good precedent of Batman's sidekicks being the ones who keep him from getting too dark. Tim was something of a morality pet, Jason was a lost soul in need of saving, Damian tends to accomplish it by completely inverting the dynamic, but Dick Grayson was the Boy Wonder who kept things light He moreso than the other Robins would be the one prone to crack wise and pun during their adventures. He defuses something in Batman that doesn't necessarily make him lighter in tone, but does make him ever so slightly less of a hardass.

Just like old times...

Batman acknowledges that Dick is here to check in on his emotional well-being, but doesn't vocalize thanks or rejection of his presence. Instead, he tells Nightwing he's working a case and won't stop him if he comes along. As they swing away on grappling hooks, Batman makes a slight joke (and a reversal of their initial dialogue, but when Dick expresses his amusement, Batman tells him to cork it, and he immediately responds "yes, sir." Remember when I mentioned that Babs generally does a better job at making Batman acknowledge her as an equal. Yeah, immediately falling into the big brother/little brother dynamic is probably why he generally has to move to a different major metropolitan area in order to assert his autonomy.

Sassy office banter can only lead to one thing...

Across town in the Black Mask's headquarters at Hanover Tower, the lab tech assigned to equipping Mister Freeze with a new cryo-suit makes the mistake of insulting Freeze's intelligence when he expressed concerns about how thin the armor feels. And while his reaction to the unintended insult is humorous, it is also telegraphed to the reader that this nameless tech is not long for this world.

That being casual murder. 

Sure enough, while the scene cuts to the other room where Black Mask and his number two guy, David Li, hash out the pros and cons of keeping a volatile psychotic (who has a tendency towards indiscriminatory destruction) in their employ when they are interrupted with word that Freeze has killed the lab tech. He stabbed him right in the chest with his own tool (soldering iron? sonic screwdriver?). And he isn't the first. As far as I can tell, this can't have been too long since the previous issue, maybe a day or two. How many can he have gone through?

Mask is amused by this, and calls him "spunky." He's already defending the hiring of an undoubtedly unstable element, citing that Freeze brings down destruction on all sides of him and that includes them, but I think Black Mask is only half listening to him because while he acknowledges that Freeze is a problem, they just need to make sure he is someone else's problem. Of course, you can't fault him for not listening to what Li says, considering he doesn't have ears, as far as I can tell.

I feel like this is Winick's attempt at infusing some humor into the book, but there are some tone issues here that don't quite work. Especially considering just in the previous arc, Black Mask pretty graphically tortured and killed a member of the Bat Family, depicting him as this riff on Dr. Evil complete with a silly plan and unmanageable henchmen seems like a really poor fit.

Li isn't too pleased with this, but also has some information on the new thorn in their side in the red helmet. It almost seems like this is when we're going to check in on our C plot, but instead we check back in with the Bat and the Bird on a docked cargo ship at the harbor, who are easily taking down a small contingent on armed goons in riot gear, interrupting their delivery. Batman's narration tells us something big was coming. Sure enough, it does look like it's about four square meters. I don't know what it is about that crate that makes me wish it was a velociraptor in there, but my knowledge of narrative convention in the DC universe makes me fairly certain it's not. So anything in there can only be a disappointment.

Batman might be my spirit animal.

This is the one section in which we get some of Batman's more personal internal monologue. You get the sense of not just camaraderie with Nightwing but kinship. Dick was the only Robin (before Damian, anyway) that Batman treated not only as a protege but also a surrogate son/younger sibling. He has seen Dick grow up, and certainly molded him into the man he is today. Whenever the the two have a latter-day team-up, there is a certain magic in the atmosphere, seeing just how well they click together. It must be magic even for Batman because even he gets the twinge of the nostalgic, thinking back to yo

Sidenote: Like Oracle, Nightwing grew up to be one of the linchpins of the DCU, albeit instead of IT prowess, his is due to his ability to form lasting friendships and loyalties. Ma and Pa Grayson must have really taught young Dick how to be a person because he sure didn't pick that up from the brooding Batman or the delightfully sardonic Alfred.

Once all the goons are either knocked out and/or hogtied with gatling wire, they get the crate to the ground and sadly I'm horrible at eyeing up measurements because this thing barely comes up to his waist. My guess is that it it shrunk because having had multiple jobs that involve loading and unloading things on pallets I knew what the dimensions are and they are not lining up. Oh! New theory! This box was inside the box on the pallet. It's like a Russian nesting doll.

Inside they find a vast array of multiple supervillains' accoutrements. Dick jokes about having some new trophies for the cave (actually, that's probably not a joke, just him chattering to make up for Batman's lack of chatter) when suddenly a "BREEEEEEEN' comes from the crate and they know what time it is: Get the hell out of Dodge time! A bomb planted in the crate blows the cargo ship up just in time for them to reach the safety of the dock, wet, albeit unharmed.

Cue the Benny Hill Theme!

It seems that the bomb wasn't something they triggered it was set off remotely by a figure whom Batman spots on a nearby warehouse rooftop.

And the art makes no bones about who the star of this issue is. Red Hood is absolutely gangbusters in this scene. Without him having a line of dialogue, the sense of movement and dynamism in his depiction. At one point we see him do a somersault that is downright Kirbyesque. It makes me really feel like this is someone a cut above the usual costumed crook. Also, the Kirby approach to depicting movement shows in a single panel all the nuances of a character's movement by using partially rendered figures for each motion, almost the way

Simone Biles level skill

They grappling hook their way up there and begin a wild goose chase over the rooftops of Gotham. Just like the flash forward fight sequence from last time, the chase itself gives the reader a chance to see Red Hood in action. But whereas last time, it was very combat specific, this time we see him in motion. He's acrobatic, and a natural at navigating the rooftops of Gotham, even managing to prevent Batman from snagging him with a batarang snare by slicing the cord before it manages to go taut. Something about him is very familiar to Batman.

Red Hood is a B.A.M.F.

Sidebar: the script has the word "taught" instead of "taut." Let that be a lesson to you kids, Spellcheck is your friend, but even friends let you do stupid things if it sounds okay on paper.

They ultimately track Red Hood down crashing down through the overhead windows of a warehouse. Do warehouses actually have overhead windows or is this just a convention of the medium? I will make allowances for Rule of Cool because I know how impressive it looks when heroes descend upon us from above, but I just want to know what to expect if I ever find myself exploring a warehouse.

It's dark inside, but only for a moment until the lights flicker on and Batman and Nightwing find themselves face to face with the real delivery they wanted to obstruct. Except it seems Red Hood has already taken Black Mask's new toy out of the box and wound it up, leaving our heroes to deal with Amazo.

Did you know steroids work on Androids?
#TheMoreYouKnow

If Amazo sounds like a very stupid Silver Age name, that's because you have ears and taste. Amazo doesn't really do the character justice, but on the other hand there isn't much to him either. Amazo is an android. Visually, at least in this instance, he resembles Namor the Submariner if he were a 'roided up gym rat. What he's capable is pretty much something that you saw a lot of super teams face in the Silver Age. He's the character who can take on the powers of an entire team of powered superheroes, forcing the team to get creative and show some ingenuity, demonstrating how a group can use their powers in creative ways in order to win the day. However, in case I didn't make it clear, he possesses the super-powered abilities of seven Justice League members. And Batman and Nightwing, highly trained and skilled or not, are baseline humans. This might be a little beyond their ken at the moment. And that's where the issue draws to a close.

So, now that we are two issues in, I'm noticing that this is well written, but a fairly light meal. Maybe it's because I'm typically drawn to very character driven narratives, but I'm not getting a sense of a lot to really sink my teeth into. Granted, usually what I mean by "sink my teeth into" generally means either "deconstruct and analyze" or "heckle mercilessly."

I guess it's part of the problem with decompressed story telling and a protagonist who goes the extra mile to compartmentalize, but I do find it troubling that even when we are in Batman's perspective, he is still a bit too emotionally detached for us to connect with. I think there is a strong temptation when writing Batman to make him just unrealistically adept at all things.  I do like this that tendency, but only when it is mitigated by one of two things: The first is to play up the argument that Batman's perfectionist tendencies might be the by-product of being a bit of a psychiatric case. The second would be to show a contrast between what he says and how he acts. One of the narrative functions unique to comics is the ability to line up thoughts and deeds next to each other and create a more nuanced understanding of the character.

The Black Mask and Mr. Freeze story is coming along, but for such significant threats, the writing doesn't seems to be certain whether they are serious or comedic foes. Yes, Mr. Freeze kills at a hat drop, but the fact that Black Mask thinks it's a hoot. I'm all for having fun, comical villains, but I question whether this was the authorial intent. Or whether it earns its place in the narrative. They're not here to move their sub-plot along, just to remind you it exists. I'm honestly wondering how much of their scene we could cut without losing any narrative cohesion. My guess is quite a lot.

Overall, this issue keeps the ball rolling from last issue, albeit slowly. The story definitely took things up a notch with Red Hood, which I am all for. Last issue we saw how he one-ups the criminals, this time we saw just what a wild goose chase he can give our heroes. He's shaping into quite a classic trickster god figure, like Loki, or Hermes, or Malcolm Reynolds.

Next week, we're heading back to Marvel for another installment of mutant dinosaurs, evil cavemen, and girl geniuses in the pages of Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur.