Tag Archives: Bruce Wayne

Jan 10 2013

Detective Comics 16

Alternating Currents: Detective Comics 16, Drew and ScottToday, Drew and Scott are discussing Detective Comics 16, originally released January 9th, 2013. This issue is part of the Death of the Family crossover event. Click here for complete DotF coverage.

death-divDrew: Batman, as an idea, is essentially a very elaborate scared-straight program. The whole reason Bruce Wayne dresses up like a bat is because he believes criminals — a superstitious and cowardly lot — will be too afraid to commit crime in Gotham. Sure, some criminals are too cocksure to fear him, or simply don’t believe that he exists, but pretty much everybody runs once he actually shows up. Joker is different. For whatever reason — that he doesn’t feel fear, doesn’t mind fear, or just that he just sees Batman as a guy in a costume who keeps insisting that everybody take him seriously — the idea of Batman doesn’t deter Joker from crime. In fact, modern interpretations of the character suggest that he commits crimes in order to gain Batman’s attention. That notion is what’s made their struggle such a fundamental one, and also explains why the Joker has so many fictional fans — if he can not blink in the face of terror, so can others. The idea that the Joker could be an empowering figure is a fascinating one, but unfortunately, Detective Comics 16 doesn’t take the time to do it justice. Continue reading →

Dec 14 2012

Batman and Robin 15

batman and robin 15 DoF

Today, Shelby and Michael are discussing Batman and Robin 15, originally released December 12th, 2012. This issue is part of the Death of the Family crossover event. Click here for complete DotF coverage.

Shelby: I have some friends who have a young daughter who has just reached the age of willfully not listening. The other day she wanted to use some scissors, which she never has before. Her mom told her not to, but she just didn’t listen. It’s ok, she didn’t get hurt at all; the point of the story is that her mom was looking out for her, trying to keep her safe, and despite that she wouldn’t listen to her. Even when it’s for their own good, once kids think they know better than their folks, there is no telling them otherwise; they only way they’ll learn is by being wrong. A lot of times, being wrong means getting hurt, and Damian is definitely about to learn a lesson about being wrong.

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Dec 13 2012

Batman 15

Alternating Currents: Batman 15, Drew and PatrickToday, Drew and Patrick are discussing Batman 15 originally released December 12th, 2012. This issue is part of the Death of the Family crossover event. Click here for complete DotF coverage.

Drew: Scott Snyder has stated that his first three pitches for Batman (The Court of Owls, Death of the Family, and the next arc) form a kind of triptych examining different aspects of Batman. The Court of Owls put Bruce’s relationship with Gotham under the microscope, revealing a great deal about both. Joker’s relationship with Batman is equally indelible (and worthy of scrutiny), but Snyder has dug much deeper with Death of the Family, taking on a much more fundamental — but often unexamined — characteristic of Batman: his leadership. Continue reading →

Dec 11 2012

Detective Comics 15

detective comics 15

Today, Scott and Patrick are discussing Detective Comics 15, originally released December 5th, 2012. This issue is part of the Death of the Family crossover event. Click here for complete DotF coverage.death-divScott: It can be surprisingly easy to convince yourself of something that is obviously not true. I had a crush on a girl in elementary school and then some years later, I retroactively convinced myself that she had been my girlfriend. I don’t know how exactly it happened, but over time I came to believe this to be true, and only when I really stopped to think about it did I have the sad realization that I never had a girlfriend in elementary school at all. I also more recently convinced myself that this story sounded cute, and not at all desperate and creepy, which again may not be totally true. Regardless, I can sympathize with the Clayface arc that dominates Detective Comics 15: discovering that a love you believed in never existed sucks.

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Dec 4 2012

Batman Incorporated 5

Alternating Currents: Batman, Inc 5, Drew and PatrickToday, Drew and Patrick are discussing Batman Incorporated 5, originally released November 28th, 2012.

Drew: Patrick once pitched me an idea for a comic designed to simulate the sensation of picking up a long-running, densely serialized series late in its run. Batman Incorporated is  already a fantastic example of the kind of comic mythology Patrick was aiming to lampoon, but with issue 5, Morrison flexes is own insane mythology muscles, dropping us into a future we know nothing about. Except for when we do. While Morrison’s Gotham of the future still relies heavily on hilariously vague, yet vast-sounding mythologies, it contains enough hidden rewards for longtime readers of Morrison’s Batman epic to set up some emotional through-lines for that future. Unfortunately, that same coherence can only make it more frustrating for newcomers to this series.

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Nov 15 2012

Batman and Robin 14

Today, Patrick and Drew are discussing Batman and Robin 14, originally released November 14th, 2012. This issue is part of the Death of the Family crossover event. Click here for complete DotF coverage.

Patrick: A few summers ago, Drew and I went to a screening of Rise of the Dead at the Winnetka theatre in the suburbs of Chicago. The event was hosted by Dan Tefler — a comedian who had stumbled upon the movie earlier that year with his wife. Tefler invited the film’s director, Will Wedig, and the AV Club’s Keith Phipps to talk about the extreme disappointment that Tefler experienced on his first viewing. Rise of the Dead sounds like it’s going to be a zombie movie, right? It’s advertised that way, and it has all the trappings thereof. But it’s really about the ghost of an aborted baby possessing bitches. When pressed, Wedig simply offered that he hadn’t set out to make a zombie movie, and Tefler very graciously owned his disappointment. Last month, Batman and Robin started to show us a sorta-zombie story, and I’m going to place the onus of my disappointment in the hands of the books creators.

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Nov 13 2012

Detective Comics 14

Today, Shelby and Patrick are discussing Detective Comics 14, originally released November 7th, 2012.

Shelby: Scott Snyder has spoiled us with his work on Batman. His take on the Dark Knight is complex and expansive, allowing for a lot of personal growth for the character as well as massive cross-over events. It’s gotten so that is what I expect from Batman; epic, sweeping narratives on a grand scale. It’s easy to forget the fun to be had in a simple Batman vs. bad guys story. That’s exactly what John Layman gives us in Detective Comics; Batman chasing the baddies, being a detective. While the storytelling is a little bit clunky, it’s still a fun little jaunt into an old-school Batman adventure.

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Oct 9 2012

Detective Comics 13

Today, Scott and Patrick are discussing Detective Comics 13, originally released October 3rd, 2012.

Scott: My former boss created a “Law and Order” cheat-sheet, a minute by minute breakdown of every plot point, twist and reveal that occurs over the course of an episode. Each episode follows this same format, almost down to the second. Even more impressive though, is that the show still manages to captivate, and even surprise the audience. Even though the format is totally predictable, they withhold just enough information that we still feel like we’re solving the crime along with the detectives, and revelations that we might have known were coming are completely satisfying. Withholding that information is key, and it’s also where Detective Comics 13 falters; what could have been an interesting mystery ultimately lacks intrigue because it gives away too much at the start.
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Oct 1 2012

Batman: The Dark Knight 0

Today, Patrick and (guest writer) Joe Picek are discussing Batman: The Dark Knight 0, originally released September 26, 2012. Batman: The Dark Knight 0 is part of the line-wide Zero Month.

Patrick: Batman’s origin is well known. So well known, in fact, that at this point, writers, artists and filmmakers should be able to assume their audience has a passing familiarity with the story. Even the details come readily to anyone that’s seen an action movie in the last couple decades. The string of pearls, the Monarch Theatre, Joe Chill – all pieces in a story we know by heart. Why, then, retell this story? Hm? I’ve seen this story more times than I can count; as evidenced by this review, I just read it again this week. And I suspect that this won’t be the last time, either.

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Sep 27 2012

Batman Incorporated 0

Alternating Currents: Batman, Inc 0, Drew and PatrickToday, Drew and Patrick are discussing Batman Incorporated 0, originally released September 26th, 2012. Batman Incorporated 0 is part of the line-wide Zero Month.

Drew: Up until the relaunch of Batman Incorporated, I had read the entirety of Grant Morrison’s Batman Epic in trades. At the time, I lacked the resources of a comprehensive guide to the entire run, so I didn’t exactly read the whole thing in order. I’d start in the middle and work my way in either direction; I’d hop to another trade and need to close the gap between the two. That non-intuitive reading order only exacerbated Morrison’s famous obliqueness, leading to some incredibly disorienting reading experiences. Since then, I’ve re-read everything in proper order, allowing me to understand the current run with surprising ease. I was happy to be conversant in what Morrison was doing, but a little part of me missed that sense of suspended animation, waiting for things to click into place. I was a little happy, then, to find a few fleeting moments of that confusion in this issue, though I suspect not everyone will be.

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