Catwoman (2002 Series) #26

December 26, 2003

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: A Knife in the Dark

Catwoman and Slam Bradley take on the Joker’s former thugs, while The Penguin and Zeiss follow a scheme of their own.

Writer: Ed Brubaker
Pencils: Paul Gulacy
Inks: Jimmy Palmiotti
Colors: Laurie Kronenberg
Letters: Clem Robins
Editor: Matt Idelson
Cover Art: Gulacy, Palmiotti & Kronenberg
Publisher: DC Comics

Ed Brubaker has taken a really interesting path with this comic book, casting Catwoman in a whole new role. She’s often been a villain and often been forced into the role of the hero, which she always played awkwardly because it didn’t quite fit her. Brubaker, instead, has made her not someone who fights crime, but someone who fights evil, which is much more logical for the character. Catwoman couldn’t care less if someone is breaking the law, but if that person is a danger to her little sector of Gotham City, there will be hell to pay.

This issue also fits neatly with current continuity – there’s a nod to the recent “Hush” storyline, where it is demonstrated that Catwoman now knows Batman’s secret identity. She’s not above learning from him either – she’s building a network of operatives of her own, and while it’s not likely that she’ll be calling Oracle for information anytime soon, she’s learning how to be a defender. She’s becoming more like Daredevil than Batman, and it’s a role that fits her very well.

Brubaker also gets major points for the way he uses Slam Bradley in this title. Most writers, wanting to give Catwoman a detective for a partner, would have tried to conjure up their own character, but Brubaker remembered the potential in this classic DCU character and brought him back – I’m always appreciative of a writer who shows love for and faith in old-school comic book characters.

Gulacy and Palmiotti do wonderful work on this issue, with hints of Phil Jimenez and Kevin Nowlan in the artwork. They give us a great fight scene in the rain, and they make the Clown gang look more pathetic than menacing, which is what they really are. The cover is great too – we get three panels of villains at the top flowing down into Catwoman’s cemetery battle at the bottom. A quote from the issue running along the upper edge into the logo in the far right corner really makes the cover pop out. Editors who subscribe to the current logic that you need a generic pin-up cover to sell a comic book should take a long, hard look at this issue – this is a comic that leaps from the stands, grabs your attention and gets you curious about the story without giving too much away. In short, it’s just what a comic book cover should be.

While I don’t think this will ever be one of my favorite titles, that’s only because I’m more a fan of the heroic characters than the anti-heroes. That in no way diminishes how good this creative team is making the book, or how original and well-done their take on Catwoman is. Die-hard fans of the character are already picking up this book, of course, but even casual fans should start reading it.

Rating: 8/10

Gotham Central #14

December 7, 2003

Quick Rating: Great
Title: Soft Targets Part Three

The Gotham City Police Department is faced with its greatest challenge – cut short the Joker’s sniper spree… and do it before the Batman does it for them.

Writers: Ed Brubaker & Greg Rucka
Pencils: Michael Lark
Inks: Stefano Gaudiano
Colors: Lee Loughridge
Letters: Clem Robins
Editor: Matt Idelson
Cover Art: Michael Lark & Matt Hollingsworth
Publisher: DC Comics

One of the best spandex-free books on the market continues as the entire GCPD is put to work trying to track down the Joker. The Clown Prince of Crime has set up a website with eight cameras showing various places around Gotham. A countdown is ticking down towards zero, when the Joker will supposedly pull off his next murder, and the cops are desperate not just to stop him before anyone else dies, but before they can get shown up by the city’s resident “urban legend.”

Rucka and Brubaker tell a great police story, with cops torn in multiple directions – trying to do the right thing, trying to protect their own reputation, trying to deal with an acting mayor more concerned with public image than with actually getting the job done.

This book also raises a lot of questions you don’t get in the regular Batman titles. While it’s true that Batman himself would never kill the Joker – it’s not in his character – it’s impossible to believe there aren’t a few good cops thinking that one well-placed bullet could end his reign of terror once and for all. Too bad you know DC would never kill off the character – not that I want him dead, but there’s just no suspense there.

I don’t know what else can be said about Michael Lark’s fantastic artwork. It may not be as clean or polished as a lot of artists, but it’s the perfect marriage of art and writing for this book. It’s like watching a great police drama on the comic book page. If you aren’t reading this book yet, you’re missing out. This may not be the best place to start reading – in the middle of a story arc – but if you can find parts one and two, you’ve got to get in. This is hands-down, the best book in the Batman family these days.

Rating: 9/10

H-E-R-O #10

November 9, 2003

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: A World Made of Glass Part Two

The small-time hood who found the H-device last issue continues his quest to become Gotham City’s greatest supervillain.

Writer: Will Pfeifer
Art: Kano
Colors: Jo Mettler
Letters: Ken Lopez
Editor: Peter Tomasi
Cover Art: John Van Fleet
Publisher: DC Comics

Last issue we were introduced to Anthony Finch, a two-bit crook who bombed out as a henchman for the Joker and somehow escaped with his life. This issue we watch as he continues to use the H-device (I keep wanting to say “dial,” but it’s not a dial anymore) to make himself into a supervillain. The great thing about this series thus far is how Pfeifer has shown that the device does not change anybody’s heart or mind when it changes their body and gives them powers. Some people try to become heroes and blow it. Some wreak havoc. Finch has no dreams bigger than to become another master criminal in a city already overrun with them.

Each story in this title, from the four-issue to the one-issue stories, has proven to be a wonderful character study. Like 100 Bullets, though, he as begun his series with a group of seemingly unrelated tales, only to introducing a unifying subplot. This issue we again check in on Robbie Reed, the original owner of the H-dial, as he jealously watches the series of superpowered beings tearing a swath across the country. As good as the individual stories are, it is the prospect of this story that has me the most interested in this series.

Kano’s art continues to impress, being perfect for this title, which in this issue delves a bit deeper into the DC Universe than it has in the past. It fits, though, for a book with a mystical superhero theme. I’m not sure how good this book is doing, sales-wise, but I don’t think it’s doing as well as it deserves. Read and enjoy.

Rating: 8/10

Gotham Central #13

November 9, 2003

Quick Rating: Great
Title: Soft Targets Part Two

Gotham City continues life under a blanket of terror as the Joker continues a sniper-style killing spree..

Writers: Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka
Pencils: Michael Lark
Inks: Stefano Gaudiano
Colors: Lee Loughridge
Letters: Clem Robbins
Editor: Matt Idelson
Cover Art: Michael Lark and Matt Hollingsworth
Publisher: DC Comics

Okay, you there – are you not reading this title yet? For Heaven’s sake, why? This title has been brilliant since day one and the current storyline is the best yet. Someone is firing sniper’s bullets into high-level people all over Gotham City, and all evidence points to the Joker as the culprit. This book is an incredible study of a police force in disarray, struggling at the same time to protect its city, to maintain its reputation, to correct its mistakes and to deal with its past. Each cop on the force has a distinct personality – none of them are just your stereotypical “cop” character. This is a mystery mixed with a crime drama mixed with just a dash of superhero action, and it’s a book that everyone who likes good comic books should be reading. Brubaker and Rucka have both done very good arcs in this series, but when they come together to tell one story, the stakes are raised and so is the quality.

Michael Lark is the only man who could be drawing this book. He has a gritty style that makes reading this book feel like you’re watching an episode of NYPD Blue or CSI, only with better characterization and the occasional spandex-clad perp. The muted color palette Loughridge employs only serves to heighten the tight, suspenseful mood. The characters in this book both look and read like real people, real frightened people, who are in the middle of a terrible situation that threatens to fall apart around them at any moment.

This is one of the best comics on the market these days, and is one of the books that really could serve to be a gateway into reading comics if it fell into the right hands. If you have friends who love those cop shows or cop movies but who have never read a comic book, get together any Gotham Central arc and share it with them.

And buy a copy for yourself too. It’s worth it.

Rating: 9/10

Detective Comics #788

November 2, 2003

Quick Rating: Average
Title: The Randori Stone Part One & The Dogcatcher Part Four

A convicted murderer gets juiced up with superpowers and begins cutting a path of destruction through Gotham City.

Writers: Paul Bolles & Rick Spears
Pencils: Mike Lilly & Rob G.
Inks: Sean Parsons, Dan Davis & Rob G.
Colors: Jason Wright & Guy Major
Letters: Clem Robins & Janice Chiang
Editor: Bob Schreck & Matt Idelson
Cover Art: Tim Sale & Mark Chiarello
Publisher: DC Comics

This title has felt essentially rudderless ever since Ed Brubaker stepped down from the writing chores, and this two-part storyline screams “fill-in” to me. It’s an average Batman story that does not appear as though it will carry any real changes or consequences to the Batman family. A man, jailed for the murder of his wife, somehow gets incredible strength and invulnerability but goes into a rage, tearing a swath through Gotham on his way to exact revenge from the people who put him behind bars. It’s almost like watching Batman fight the Hulk, only without the attention a crossover would get.

It’s an okay story, but it’s nothing really special or original, and it really feels like the title is just marking time until a regular writer can come aboard. On the other hand, Bolles writes a good interpretation of Batman, far more in-character then the one that Brian Azzarello presented us a few weeks ago.

Spear’s “Dogcatcher” backup story, which ends in this issue, is another matter. It’s been pretty amusing – a dogcatcher finds a dog he suspects belongs to the Joker, and is forced to put it to sleep, even while terrified that the crazed clown will bring down his wrath upon him. This short tale came to a very satisfying conclusion, although I didn’t care for Rob G.’s interpretation of the Joker – he looked even more cartoony, somehow, then the version we’ve seen in the animated series.

Rating: 5/10