Alan Rapp

Batman: Black and White #2

Batman: Black and White #2The final story in the latest issue of Batman: Black and White is worth the price of the comic on its own. Designed in the style of an old Fleischer cartoon, writer Michael Uslan and artist Dave Bullock produce the amazing “Silent Night… Unholy Night!” with marvelous artwork I would gladly frame and old-school spirit and adventure that seems long lost in the current version of the DCU.

Other highlights include Jeff Lemire and Alex Nino’s snowy tale of the Dark Knight battle the cold and memories of his father to rescue Commissioner Gordon and Rafael Grampá’s misdirection tale of how Batman lays a trap to catch a troublesome group of bank robbers.

Although I appreciated J.G. Jones’s art in Dan DiDio’s Man-Bat story, the hamfisted themes and Batman’s questionable morality at the end left me cold. In much the same way, I liked the art and idea behind writer/artist Rafael Albuquerque Limbo storyline more than the final execution. Worth a look.

[DC, $4.99]

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Beware the Batman – Instinct

  • Title: Beware the Batman – Instinct
  • wiki: link

Beware the Batman - Instinct

The return of Professor Pyg (Brian George) and Mr. Toad (Udo Kier) lead Batman (Anthony Ruivivar) and Katana (Sumalee Montano) on a merry chase to prevent three nursery rhyme crimes as the eco-terrorists target a model and a clothing designer. The villains leave each of the victims in complex death traps for what the pair believe are crimes of animal cruelty.

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Fairest #20

Fairest #20Prince Charming and Nayalani’s story arc concludes with some background on Singh, the former maharaja who is responsible for all of Charming’s recent troubles, and a final showdown between the pair that leaves the villain dead and Charming with a roguish pirate look.

From the epilogue it appears Nayalani and Charming are both staying together and sticking around. I’m looking forward to the pair heading to Fabletown, and an inevitable confrontation with Charming’s ex-wife Snow White.

Although I thought “The Return of the Maharaja” got a little bogged down in the middle issues of what I felt was an unnecessarily long six-issue arc (four would have done just as well), the storyline ends with a pair of strong issues and characters I will look forward to seeing more of in the wider Fables universe. Worth a look.

[Vertigo, $2.99]

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Hawaii Five-0 – A’ale Ma’a Wau

  • Title: Hawaii Five-0 – A’ale Ma’a Wau
  • wiki: link

Hawaii Five-0 - A'ale Ma'a Wau

Tim Daly guest-stars as a Texas Ranger who Five-0 believes is responsible for the death of both a limousine driver and mid-level drug dealer. The truth, however, is a little more complicated. Harper is actually threatening (not killing) his way across the island looking for his missing daughter (Kristi Lauren) who traveled to Hawaii with a friend (Brando Eaton) who has gotten the young women into all kinds of danger by agreeing to, and then messing up, a money drop with some very dangerous people.

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The Complex Phoebe Tonkin

The Complex Phoebe Tonkin

To help promote the CW’s new Fall show The Originals, Australian model turned actress Phoebe Tonkin sat down for an interview and posed for the October/November issue of Complex. In the interview Tonkin discusses her fans, doing scenes in her underwear, her enjoyment of a nice glass of red wine, her preference to stay in with friends rather than hit the clubs, and her love of 90s rap. You can find pics and video from the photo shoot inside.

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