Nicola Scott is also on top of her game this month, delivering clear action, faces full of emotion, and characters displaying a wonderful range of heights, builds, and designs. Thanks to Scott and the efforts of new writer Tom Taylor, this book hasn’t missed a beat since the departure of former writer James Robinson. I was worried for a bit, but Taylor has continued the expansive world building of this title while also fixing some of it’s problems, such as stilted dialogue. If you ever tried out Earth 2 but was turned off by some of its faults, now might be a perfect time to give it another shot.

Meanwhile, Batman Black and White 5 — this week’s other Batman anthology book — continues to feature a wide variety of Batman stories, but for me, the most interesting this month is probably Keith Giffen and Javier Pulido’s “Cat and Mouse.” Giffen’s story of a small-time thug’s run-in with Batman is pretty run of the mill, but what makes this story stand out is Pulido’s artwork, especially his use of shadow. For a book called “Black and White”, many of the stories haven’t seemed to pay much attention to their lack of color, either shading things with gray-tone or using lots of shadow, but Pulido’s work in this story is almost the exact opposite, existing mostly in stark white and full of negative space, with only a few splashes of shadow here and there. This all changes when Batman enters the scene; he’s bathed in nothing but shadows, like a dark specter. Not only does it draw the reader’s attention to Batman, but it goes a long way to demonstrate why Batman is so frightening to this hapless thug. It’s one of the best uses of the medium that I’ve seen in this title.

Unfortunately, I was somewhat disappointed with Len Wein and Victor Ibanez’s “Flip-Side”, which is a shame since Ibanez’s art — especially his depiction of Nightwing — is charming, and I’m always up for a Two-Face story, but I feel that Wein doesn’t completely understand the character. Two-Face is an agent of fate and chance, and he relies on his coin to make any decision, no matter how small or great. Yet Wein commits the cardinal sin of Two-Face and has Harvey — who wants to rob a bank and is unhappy when the coin tells him not to — reflip the coin until he gets the outcome he wants. That’s…that’s not how Two-Face works, and it undercuts not only his entire gimmick, but his entire characterization and inner struggle. Tommy Lee Jones’ Two-Face pulled this stunt back in 1995’s Batman Forever and fans are still upset about it; it’s not something that should be repeated.

Drew, where there any standouts in this issue for you? Any disappointments?

Drew: I actually liked most of this issue, which struck me on the whole as both more consistent and experimental than Detective Comics 27. I was particularly enamored of Ivan Brandon and Paolo Rivera’s “Hell Knight,” which follows Bruce as the batcave turns on him. That it was all an exercise put on by Alfred is a familiar twist, but Brandon adds enough interesting details to justify this story’s existence. I also appreciated the about-as-meta-as-you-can-get comic-within-a-comic “I Killed the Bat,” by Blair Butler and Chris Weston, and was charmed at seeing Bruce’s softer side in Jimmy Palmiotti and Andrew Robinson’s “Hope.”

Green Lantern 27 finds writer Robert Venditti putting the pieces in place somewhat inelegantly, but it’s hard to begrudge him the stage that he sets: Hal’s “do as I say, not as I do” policy has been laid before the entire universe, with immediate, violent consequences. I love the idea of turning the Green Lanterns — once lauded protectors of the universe — into a persecuted minority. Not only does it allow them to explore the other side of power-dynamics, but it gives their relationships with the worlds they protect some much-needed urgency.

I can’t wait to cash in on that set-up, but this issue itself is incredibly lumpy, veering wildly between Hal’s struggle to govern, Saint Walker’s loss of faith, and the Braidmen’s prison break. We don’t stick with any scene quite long enough for the emotions to really land, leaving this issue feeling little hollow.

Speaking of hollow set-ups, Batman/Superman 7 finally wraps up that wretched (and inexplicably sideways) video game arc. Not before cramming in another cliche (this time about a mom desperate to make her rent), and self-consciously lampshading more of the tropes going on. It’s a hot mess, but underneath it all, writer Greg Pak is still chipping away at some decent themes — the notion that these heroes are all of us (and vice versa), and the fundamental difference between Batman and Superman. Pak’s heart is in the right place, but his plotting is decidedly not. Were you able to enjoy some of this issue, Spencer, or did the conflation of MacGuffins (the angry destitute mom! The destructive-but-also-life-saving nanobots! Probably something about Mongul!) get in the way?

Spencer: I can’t really fault any of your criticisms with this issue, Drew, but I still ended up having a lot of fun with it. In a way, it reminded me of actually playing a fighting game — not exactly high art, but still an enjoyable way to spend some time. The harried mother is incredibly trite, but I loved the resolution of Superman finding a way to save someone from a lesser catastrophe (and the general focus on Superman’s faith in humanity in general). The specifics of Mongul’s plan and especially the way that Superman stopped them fall apart if you pick at them too hard, but I still think the idea of turning gamers into weapons is clever. Maybe it’s the excitement of that splash page of Superman and Batman decking Mongul tapping into the Shonen manga heritage embedded deep in my DNA, maybe it’s just Brett Booth’s always reliable and dynamic artwork, or maybe I am just a sucker for those rascally nanobots, but I had a lot of fun with this issue.

That said, it’s a book you probably want to turn off you brain to read, and I still don’t think it was necessary to print it sideways either.

Meanwhile, any “fun” to be had in Forever Evil: Arkham War 4 has to be completely unintentional, yet still rather brilliantly hilarious:

I’m still torn about the rest of this issue. On the one hand, I was frustrated by the lack of motivation for many of the players in the Arkham War. I can understand why some of the more prominent Arkham loonies want to divide the city up, but why are inmates like Firefly — a lovesick murderer, not a career criminal — and Ventriloquist — who is obsessed with obtaining fame — so invested in fighting Bane’s goons? Why do the thugs from Blackgate follow Bane’s lead? Shouldn’t all these guys be more worried about surviving the Crime Syndicate’s hostile regime?

On the other hand, though, I remain intrigued by Bane’s characterization and plans. Sure, plotting to gain control of the rest of the world beyond Gotham is a longshot when that means wrestling it from the Syndicate’s grip, but I can admire Bane’s ambition; meanwhile, I find myself impressed by the nuances of Bane’s plans, such as his protection of Gotham’s citizens and his intentions to return Gotham to the Court of Owls. Writer Peter Tomasi has seemingly put a lot of work into Bane’s motivation, which only makes it stranger that so many of the other villains in this book seem so one-note; I suppose that explains my split feelings about this book as good as anything.

My feelings about this next book aren’t split in the slightest; I’m all for it. Avengers World 1 expands Jonathan Hickman’s line of Avengers books, bringing in Nick Spencer as co-writer and Stefano Caselli on art; Hickman and Spencer have stated in interviews that their goal with this book is to take a closer look at the new Avengers who have been overlooked over in the main series, and so far they’re meeting that goal. The issue follows the Avengers — now coordinating with S.H.I.E.L.D. — as they split up and investigate a series of bizarre catastrophes across the globe, all seemingly instigated by one man who wants to challenge the Avengers for the world they claimed, Earth. Yet, these various Hickman-esque threats are all viewed through the lens of the various Avengers, whether it be an especially sardonic Bruce Banner, poor put-upon Smasher (who keeps interrupting Sunspot and Cannonball’s intense Star Trek debates), or Starbrand, who, more than ever, is showing himself to be just a typical, doofy kid who is seriously out of his element with the Avengers.

Much like its sister book, Avengers World still feels driven by plot, not character, but at least by placing so much emphasis on displaying its characters’ personalities it comes across as something different and refreshing. This is what I’ve been wanting out of Hickman’s Avengers for ages, so color me thrilled. Drew, you digging this one as much as I am?

Drew: Absolutely. I think you hit the nail on the head in suggesting that this is the Avengers story we’ve been waiting for — seriously, almost all of these threads were planted well before infinity. That is to say, while I enjoyed the format and the characters work just fine, I was much more interested in finding out what A.I.M. is up to, or what the heck happened to Validator, or any of the other Origin Bomb stuff. This issue only teases all of those, but it’s the first we’ve heard of them in months, so I’m totally on-board to learn more.

And actually, I only needed to pick up All-New Marvel Now! Point One 1 to get a better sense of what Avengers World might look like: the anthology includes a bit from a future issue, where Maria Hill and Captain America hash out the rules of engagement between the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D., while Cannonball and Sunspot head to A.I.M. Island on a hilariously comic-y mission (even cashing in on a favor from one of those A.I.M. party animals they met back in Avengers 11).

More of a marketing gimmick than anything essential, this volume offers glimpses into five other upcoming titles — Loki: Agent of Asgard, Silver Surfer, All-New Invaders, Black Widow, and Ms. Marvel — which is fun, but does little to sway my impressions of these series. That is, these previews simply confirmed my suspicions: Dan Slott and Mike Allred’s Silver Surfer is going to be a hilarious throwback, Al Ewing and Lee Garbett’s Loki is going to be irresistibly charming, James Robinson and Steve Pugh’s Invaders is going to be unapologetically space-y, and G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona’s Ms. Marvel is going to lean a little too hard on the put-upon teen tropes (this probably speaks more to my age than anything, but I find fewer things more cringe-inducing than a teen character asserting that her parents just don’t understand). Avengers World and Black Widow already have issues out, and their inclusion here adds some ballast to those first impressions, but again, is pretty disposable. All in all, it was a fun enough issue, but probably less fun than just waiting for the titles I thought I was going to like, anyway.