Ah, December. Normally a month flooded with trades and one-shots and minis and… Wait, that sounds exactly like this month. Coming fresh off the heels of a November jammed with papers, December offers a two-part mini-series titled Batman: Orphans. Written by executive editor Eddie Berganza, this mini-series will be concluded with the release of part two on December 22.   The story opens with Robin dead in a pool of blood, rain pouring from the skies in the way that only seems to happen in Gotham. Immediately,…

Tags: bat-grotto, batcave, batman, batman: orphans, batmobile, bookworm, bruce wayne, chris ward, crispus allen, dick grayson, eddie berganza, francisco ramirez, gcpd, gotham city, jason todd, joker, krunch, lance, league of assassins, lexcorp, metropolis, monica, national whisper, nightwing, penguin, pulp fiction, ra's al ghul, renee montoya, roaches, robin, sam jackson, samantha locke, talia al ghul, tim drake

I don't know what's wrong but it seems like I can't escape the works of David Hine or Scott McDaniel. McDaniel was on Batman and Robin which wasn't exactly the greatest thing around and Hine has written this Detective annual! So going into this annual I had some pretty negative preconceived notions. As I was reading I wanted to hate this issue so bad but I had a really hard time, unlike Hine's previous Detective run Hine had me intrigued from…

Tags: agustin padilla, annual, batman, batman and robin, batman incorporated, bruce wayne, david hine, detective comics, dick grayson, jock, joker, nightwing, robin, scott mcdaniel, scott snyder

Alright, what we've all been waiting for…Grant Morrison writing what he said he wanted to do since he began, Batman Inc. However, is the comic worth the hype? Let’s take a look.   We start off is Mr. Unknown sitting in a dark room, with a voice coaxing him to wake up. When he does he finds that his hands are melting. He looks up to see a skeleton called: “Lord Death Man", this guy smacks Mr. Unknown in the face and it appears Mr. Unknown's…

Tags: batman, batman incorporated, bruce wayne, catwoman, grant morrison, japan, lord death man, mr unknown, selina kyle, yanick paquette

Yarasa Adam Bedmen (1973)   On one the most recent comic podcasts (see Episode 55), we were discussing an interview with David Hine that was reported, when I happened to bring up the fact that Batman has had other incarnations in other countries besides the United States over the years. So I thought with the recent release of Batman Incorporated, it might be a nice history lesson and a bit of fun to do some further research and discover these "Batmen of All Nations". So I am going to start a new series of editorials entitled, "Batman…

Tags: batman, batman incorporated, david hine, james bond, john barry, on her majesty's secret service, robin, star trek, star wars, wizard of oz, yarasa adam bedman

Not only have times been tough for Bruce Wayne under the guardianship of writer Grant Morrison, but what about us readers? We’ve seen Batman staked to the ground, attacked by hyperfauna, shot, burned and pronounce clinically dead for at least two minutes. And that was just during Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne. So would Mr Morrison let us take a breather from all this high tension time traveling with Batman Incorporated #1? In short, YES.   The era of Bruce franchising out the Batman brand…

Tags: adam hughes, bat-manga, batman, batman incorporated, batman: the return of bruce wayne, bruce wayne, catwoman, dr sivana, grant morrison, japan, jiro osamu, lord death man, mr unknown, selina kyle, tokyo, yanick paquette

  Batman: The Long Halloween #8 ($1.99)
We are now in the May portion of this iconic tale, but the Scarecrow is the featured villain! And Bruce is on the run from Gordon’s men.   Batman: The Widening Gyre #1 ($0.99) and #2 ($1.99)
First two issues of the Kevin Smith/Walter Flanagan title that will get a second volume pretty soon.   Birds of Prey, Volume 1 #84-85 ($1.99 each)
Concludes the 2005 Battle Within story arc featuring Oracle battling a tech virus and Huntress being brought back into…

Tags: alan burnett, batman, batman: the long halloween, batman: the widening gyre, birds of prey, bruce wayne, dc comics, dustin nguyen, grant morrison, huntress, identity crisis, infinite crisis, jim gordon, jla, justice league of america, kevin smith, multiverse, new gods, oracle, scarecrow, solomon grundy, superman/batman, walter flanagan

  Ever wanted to have a cameo in a Batman comic book? As long as you have Bruce Wayne's cash, this dream may be a reality.   Comic Book Alliance has teamed up DC Comics and eBay for a very unique charity auction. The winner will get to "star" in issue four of "Batman Inc", due out this February. Due to the nature of comic publishing, I believe that the book is probably mostly finished and the winner would just be penciled into…

Tags: batman, batman incorporated, bruce wayne, dc comics

This comic certainly lives up to its name. Out of the 80 pages only a handful are taken up by ads or previews, so there is a lot for fans to dig into. And with a long comic comes a long review, I’m going to look at each of this year’s stories individually. I’m also going to give each story its own batarang rating, with the final score being their average. Before starting the review proper, kudos to Dustin Nguyen and…

Tags: arkham asylum, batman, batman 80-page giant, brad desnoyer, bruce wayne, calendar man, catwoman, dustin nguyen, funland, garry brown, gotham city, hannibal lector, humpty dumpty, joe suitor, john stanisci, joker, killer croc, lee ferguson, livesay, mandy mcmurray, marc deering, matt southworth, matthew manning, peter miriani, riddler, ryan kelly, sandman, scarecrow, sean ryan, szymon kudranski, two-face

  Recently, there has been a surge of rumors that have hit the inter-webs that after, The Dark Knight Rises is finished, that Warner Bros. is looking to keep the Batmania alive with a live-action TV series.   Now, I encourage you to take this with a great grain of salt but the rumor is that Warner Bros. has put an unidentified executive in charge of overseeing the development and production of a new live-action TV series. The series is being described as a continuation…

Tags: adam west, batman, bruce wayne, burt ward, chris nolan, f/x, hbo, heath ledger, jj abrams, joker, judge dredd, karl urban, smallville, star trek, the dark knight rises, warner bros, young justice

An interesting preview posted up on The Source yesterday. Tiny titans is and always will receive my approval for great comics for kids to be introduced to the DC Universe. Here is a bit for Joker and his kids.      

Tags: archie, batman, catwoman, clayface, duela dent, joker, man-bat, penguin, robin, tiny titans, tiny titans/little archie