Comics

Batman ’66 #14

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Batman '66 #14Although he never actually appeared on the 60s television show, there’s little doubt such a creation like the Batrobot (which we’ve seen in various forms over the years in different media such as most recently in Batman: The Brave and the Bold) would be right at home in the campy confines of this version of Gotham City.

In an issue that instructs the reader about advances in technology and their limits, Batman ’66 #14 features Batman creating a giant Batrobot to police the city giving the Dark Knight Detective and Robin a vacation. Despite the early successes the robot taking down the likes of Clock King, Louie Lilac, and the Archer, the robots limitations are revealed when it fails to handle the team-up of the illogical combination of the Joker and the Riddler. It looks like Batman’s job is safe for the time being.

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Grendel vs. The Shadow #1

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Grendel vs. The Shadow #1Finding himself sent back in time to 1930s New York after his encounter with an ancient artifact, Hunter Rose makes the best of the situation by using his well-honed skills and knowledge of the future to go about carving out a new empire in the name of Grendel during the waning days of prohibition.

Written and drawn by Mark Wagner, the comic begins in the black-and-white style of a Grendel comic before transporting the deadly Grendel into the past. Although The Shadow becomes aware of a new figure murdering his way through the various criminal families, the paths of the two characters do not intersect until the final page of the issue.

A fan of both Hunter Rose and The Shadow, the first issue of the three-issue mini-series is a joy to read. The double-sized prestige format makes the comic a little pricey, but it delivers in both story and style pitting my favorite of Wagner’s creations against a hero nearly as mysterious and deadly as Grendel himself. Best of the Week.

[Dark Horse / Dynamite, $5.99]

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Superman #34

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Superman #34Superman‘s joy over reuniting Ulysses with his parents is short lived when the two orphans find themselves battling the man behind the recent attacks on Metropolis. First The Machinist manages to take control over Ulysses pitting him against his new best bud, but the tragedy for the Man of Steel comes later when his new friend takes deadly action to stop the madman which only leaves an innocent dead. Well, I guess it could have been worse. I mean Ulysses could have completely ignored every other conceivable option and just snapped the guy’s neck. Right?

Next month’s issue will tell readers quite a bit of what Geoff Johns has planned for Ulysses and how Superman reacts to his new friend’s use of deadly force. (Zack Snyder suggests a high five.) Too by-the-numbers for my taste, “Men of Tomorrow” seems to have taken its expected dark turn leaving the continued bromance between the new friends in serious doubt. For fans.

[DC, $3.99]

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All-New X-Men #31

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All-New X-Men #31With the instructors busy with other business, the time displaced X-Men along with the returned Angel and X-23 (whose new relationship is cause of great interest for the entire school) set off to find and rescue a young mutant just coming int her powers. However, what the group doesn’t yet know is the type of her mutation and how her uncontrolled ability to open doorways to alternate dimensions will leave on member of the team stranded in the Ultimate Universe.

Although I think it’s very possible for these characters and this comic specifically to get time/space dimension fatigue beginning so quickly after wrapping up a storyline involving villains from the future, Brian Michael Bendis’ choice to bring Jean Grey into a universe he knows so well (he did help create it after all) does open the door for some intriguing possibilities as long as the arc doesn’t overstay its welcome (a problem the title has had issues with in the past). Worth a look.

[Marvel, $3.99]

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Usagi Yojimbo: Senso #2

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Usagi Yojimbo: Senso #2In the second issue of the mini-series set 20 years into the future of Usagi Yojimbo, the pair of wary warring armies attempt to deal with the unexpected arrival of an alien spaceship crash landing in the middle of the battlefield. It’s obvious from their actions, attacking both sides indiscriminately, that the squid-like aliens don’t come in peace.

The invaders’ hidden motives, technical superiority, and odd tripod constructed machines pay homage to H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds and we see Usagi’s life has gotten no less complicated over the years as writer/artist Stan Sakai continues to tease us with hints of our hero’s past and regrets regarding his son.

We still don’t know what the aliens ultimately want, but Usagi Yojimbo: Senso #2 certainly sells them as a legitimate threat which only someone like our own rabbit ronin might be able to handle. Worth a look.

[Dark Horse, $3.99]

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