Comics! TMNT: The Secret History of the Foot Clan #2

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Secret History of the Foot Clan #2 

Story: Mateus Santolouco
Script: Mateus Santolouco & Erik Burnham
Art: Mateus Santolouco 

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Review
Why can't the regular book be like this one?

Trust me, I'm not trying to down talk the main book, but this mini just seems to capture something about the turtles in the art that has been missing in the main book for some time.

A few things of note - the soldiers are standing up in a limo. I noticed this back in an issue of Flash. Is there something about limos that are different in the comic book world? Also weird to note - Raph looks like he lands on the street when he jumps from the van onto the limo. It doesn't help that the limo is black, but from the angle of the art it really seemed like he hit the ground and not the top of the limo.

And heads up to acknowledging that the tracer that was placed on Dr. Miller would be obvious to spot. Honestly though, that was a little too obvious. No one would notice Dr. Miller carrying a back with a ninja star sticking out of it with a flashing green light as they traveling up the elevator to some floor of a huge building? Really?

And I'm liking that fish-eye view at the end of the book. It is like the view from a security camera as it watches over the turtles fighting the Foot.

The story is filled with a deep sense of history, providing as many answers as it does questions. Mind you, it hasn't answered the big question of the series, but it is supplying enough of a trail of crumbs to get to the main dish. I'm just thoroughly stoked to get the next issue.

Grades
Words: 9/10
Pictures: 10/10
General Feeling After Reading: Halfway through the mini and me. Wants. MORE.
Buy Next Issue: Done and done.

Comics! Nightwing #16

Nightwing #16 

Kyle Higgins: writer
Eddy Barrows: pencils
Eber Ferreira: inks

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Review
Interesting thing on the credits portion of the first page that I just noticed. Maybe it was there before, maybe it wasn't, but for how long as Nightwing's creation been credited to Marv Wolfman and George Perez? Would you think there would be a link to the person who originally created Dick Grayson? Interesting.

Any who, to the comic itself! One thing that has bothered me with the whole Death of the Family crossover has been trying to figure out where Joker had time to get everything together for our heroes. Taking a look at all the set up he had to do just for this issue of Nightwing, it is almost to the point of breaking my suspension of disbelief from within the comic book universe.

That one part aside, this is actually a really nice issue. Looking back, we really didn't need last issue's set up too much. A lot of that information is covered up right away. I could see how fans who have been reading Nightwing would want last issue's events to be shown, but if you are coming to the book just to see what Joker has done, this is the one issue that you need.

I've been down on the art before in this book, but it fits more here than in previous stories. The uneven perspective and angles of the panels fit with getting you into Joker's world. The light and darkness and the colors are done quite well in getting the mood of the story set. The look of Joker's mask is just creepy to get the nerves twitching. There have been some artists involved in the Death of the Family books that just don't seem to bring a sense of creepiness to Joker's mask, considering that it dead, carved skin held together by strings to some one's face. Barrows does a nice job of bringing the level of creepiness up, much in a similar way that is being over in Batman & Robin.

This is also the last issue that Barrows will draw in the pages of Nightwing. There is an in-house ad at the end of the book for Teen Titans where his pencils will being to shine there. Or will they? That pose that Superboy is sporting just looks awkward. It reminds me a little of Catwoman's pose from the cover to Catwoman #0 that was solicited but then replaced. Interesting.

The last page is to be expected at this point with all Bat-family books ending with Joker presenting something bloody for the Bat-family to see in Batman #17. So far, I gotta say that I like what this book has done with Nightwing's story thus far with regards to the whole Death of the Family crossover. I would almost say that this is the easily in the top 3 of Death of the Family issues itself. Excellent job.

Grades
Words: 9/10
Pictures: 8/10
General Feeling After Reading: Creeped out, intrigued.
Buy Next Issue: You know, I really am interested in what happens in this book after the events that just happened. I'll give it a go.

Comics! Creator-Owned Heroes #8

Creator-Owned Heroes #8 

Steve Niles, Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray, Scott Morse, Jerry Lando, Darwyn Cooke, Christopher Irving, & Seth Kushner

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Review
And so Creator-Owned Heroes comes to a close. Ongoing comics are completed, lots of interviews are posted, and a lot of potential and inspiration is shown.

I think it was Warren Ellis who recently said that if the book was called anything else but Creator-Owned Heroes, it might have had a shot at making it. So I let that drivel swirl around in my brain for a bit. Would there be a title that would still describe this book and possible make it sell better?

It would need something that shows it is an anthology type book or more of a magazine style title. Something akin to the Tales to Astonish title sound plausible. Stories to Inspire? Comic Book Folklore? Part of Ellis' reasoning for the statement was that the average comic book reader doesn't care about ownership of characters be it by the creator or some big conglomerate. I can see that, because I can look at the creators of Superman to see fan support of them vs. fan support of the monthly Superman book.

I imagine that coming up with a good title is hard, but when you hear one that makes sense, then it sticks. So I can see why Creator-Owned Heroes worked for everyone involved in this book.

Maybe Image Spotlight? Image Focus? Bring the idea for Image comics as the gateway for getting people in?

Image Icons? Image Anthology?

You know, this book has got me thinking. I feel the creative twinge echoing through my brain. My fingers are setting fire to the keyboard.

Wasn't that the point of this book?

Words and Pictures. A Comic Book Anthology. I think I'll go with that one.

Grades
Words: 10/10
Pictures: 10/10
General Feeling After Reading: Creative
Buy Next Issue: 

More Articles and Reviews at Capeless!

More Articles and Reviews at Capeless!

Hey everyone! Just letting you know that I've been doing some posting over at the Capeless Crusader website as well! For example, you can make with the clicky on the links below and be taken to articles about...

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Learn about how the court case involving the founding of Facebook led to being involved with the Superman copyright case.

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We start the countdown to the final issue of Chew, and the ride looks like it will be one of the best roller coaster rides ever in a comic book.

Review of Bedlam #3

This comic isn't for everyone. That's the sad part, because this comic is doing so good that everyone should be reading it!

Comics! Batman #16

Batman #16

Scott Snyder: writer
Greg Capullo: penciller
Jonathan Glapion: inker
Scott Snyder & James Tynion IV: back-up writers
Jock: back-up artist

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Review
Knowing how all the peripheral books have been ending their adventures in the Death of the Family story, I could easily take a guess at what would happen at the end of this book, or at least what silver object would make an appearance. But what about the adventure until that point? How does that fair along the way in this penultimate comic in the current story arc?

In general, I don't like penultimate chapters of anything. It doesn't really tie anything up with regards to the plot, it more or less just puts the pieces into place to set up the conclusion of the story. Blah to that.

This story does feel like Arkham Asylum the video game a little bit. Just remove all the henchmen and deal with just the main villains and here you go. I also get a memory of Azrael when the inmates appear with their flaming swords. I also get a couple of memories when we see Joker's man-made tapestry with the history of significant Batman/Joker conflicts. The Robin one is a easy to point to the reference. The one with Joker holding a baby reminds me of the time Joke held one at the end of No Man's Land right before he killed a major character. The others are a little hazy.

Being the head writer of Batman (Snyder has made it known before that whoever writes Batman guides the direction of the Bat-books), we get a sneak peek at who Snyder thinks are B-list villains that Batman can slice through in the matter of a few panels. (Interesting to note, one horse died with fire, the other with ice.) Then we get to who Snyder probably regards as the A-class villains. Not a bad line up, and considering that Riddler is the next villain that Snyder will be writing, I am intrigued as to what will happen there.

I gotta admit, the line about aiming for the right grin made me laugh. That was just spot on and hilarious.

The rest of the book felt like it was moving everything into place for the finale. The part with Bruce being electrocuted didn't sound right to me, but we will see what becomes of it. The villains are explained away as to why their presence won't be around next issue. I hope that Jock will still be around for art duties, either in the main story or the backup, either would be fine with me.

Capullo did another fantastic job this issue. In some regards I thought he was holding back. This issue felt like there were little droppings of goodness, but the main dish is going to be this next issue. My guess would be that we get to see Joker without his face on, and it will lead to some gruesome artwork. There was one thing I realized when I recently took a flip through Detective #1. When Joker's face was cut off, there were bandages on his nose and other parts since he was just in a recent fight. Why haven't those bandages been shown since?

I'm still of the opinion that Joker doesn't know who Batman really is. Unless something happens next issue that explicitly says it, I'm sticking with that theory. As for the lead up that this story was supposed to bring, it did it. Now let's just see this all wraps up.

Grades
Words: 7/10
Pictures: 8/10 - Only because I know Capullo's holding back for something spectacular next issue.
General Feeling After Reading: Let's slug through the other tie in books for a non-ending to get ready for this one. Not excited now, but maybe on new comic book day.
Buy Next Issue: Yep.

Comics! Batgirl #16

Batgirl #16

Gail Simone: writer
Ed Benes: art pages 1-10
Daniel Sampere: pencils pages11-20
Vincente Cifuentes: inks pages 11-20

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Review
It is finally there. A flashback to Barbara in a wheelchair. Taking some time to explore the lost New 52 chapter of her life in a wheelchair. But whatever you do, don't blink. Blink and it is gone.

Seriously, there were two pages to it that felt more of a focus on Batgirl that I could accept coming out of the New 52. I would want nothing more than for this to be a focus for a little while. But wait, we got some Death in the Family to focus on.

So my question about Barbara is this: what type of person is she? She was previously a rather fun character that we've seen in previous flashbacks. Then she was shot and her time in her wheelchair hardened her character a little. There are those moments in this book were she lets down whatever walls she has up and just goes batshit crazy on the villains. That kinda puts her into Batwoman territory with regards to personality. So where does she fit outside of that comparison?

I think that is some of my problem with Batgirl. I don't see where she fits in either with the other Bat-characters or just by herself. Look at it this way: with Batman books, you are reading it for Batman. Bruce Wayne is the mask. But in Batgirl, I would expect that Batgirl is the mask, and Barbara is the real person. And I felt that when she went all out, that was when we got to see some of the real Barbara.

It is funny. She goes about not wanting to be a victim again, but she puts herself in a victim status with the Joker. She knows first hand what he is capable of and goes in anyway. And then the end of the book just feels rushed in order to get people into their places.

It just didn't feel like Simone was ready for this. Barbara meeting the Joker has happened way too early in this book. This needed a little more time for the story to play out like it should. And I think that is what is really throwing me off. That and the art.

The art just feels crowded and rushed. There was a divide in the middle of the book with the art duties that just throws me off. No rhyme or reason for the change it seems other than we reached the halfway point and there it goes to the next artist.

I'm just indifferent with this book. It is what it is, it has its fans, but it just doesn't seem to pull together in a way that I find compelling or makes me want to stick around. So I think until the next crossover, or the next big specialty issue, I may just be skipping this book. Maybe next time it will come back around to my liking.

Grades
Words: 6/10
Pictures: 6/10
General Feeling After Reading: Indifferent.
Buy Next Issue: Nah.

Comics! Detective Comics #16

Detective Comics #16

Written by John Layman
Art by Jason Fabok
Back-up art by Andy Clarke

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Review
Oh, you want a Bat-book that ties into the Death of the Family books but didn't have Joker appear in the book at all yet still rock to the standards of the main story?

Bat-book quest resolved!

This book does a couple of cool things I was interested in. It used a lot of the Penguin background characters from earlier issues as a back drop for what was going on in this issue. It also featured a bunch of crazed people going haywire now that Joker was back in the public eye. They are all no-name characters that are all influenced by the craziness that is Joker, each group intent on howling praise or worship to him in some fanatical sense.

There is also some sadness here as one devotee takes it a bit too far. Batman's characterization of the throw-away character is spot on. In fact, most of Batman's narration through the book channels the mood for the issue perfectly. Batman has prepared for all of this chaos, but he doesn't have time for it.

The art continues to be consistent and shine through the main story and the back up. We get to see a new villain in this issue called the Merrymaker. I mention him here because the look he has reminds me of the Tally Man from Batman comics years ago, but with a realistic look that is Fabok's style.

Emperor Penguin continues his climb up the ranks of Gotham's criminal elite. My hope is that when he and Batman finally come face to face, if they do at all, then Batman is going to read Emperor Penguin's biography to him and throw one punch that will knock Emperor out, thus ruining Ogilvy's rise to the top of the criminal underworld.

I'll give Ogilvy this: he is smart to use the Joker backdrop to advance his own work. And here I thought that the Death of the Family tie in to the book so quick after Layman starts up would ruin things. Layman got quite creative with incorporating the elements from the main story and the crossover.

Grades
Words: 8/10
Pictures: 8/10 - I get the style for both artists and it is very good work, I want to see them step out of their element sometime soon and really deliver something that will hit the reader.
Buy Next Issue: Shut up and take my money!