Comics

Nightwing #1

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nightwing-1-coverAfter being disappointed with Dectective Comics #1 and Batgirl #1 (and to a lesser extent Batman and Robin #1) this week seems to be the one where the Bat-books start to make their comeback. Dick Grayson is out of the Bat-suit and back as Nightwing but writer Kyle Higgins makes sure that Dick’s time as Batman wasn’t wasted.

The issue is broken into three parts. The first involves Nightwing taking down a low-rent thug while thinking over his return to the role of Nightwing. This works well to reintroduce readers to the characters as well as a pleasant reminder that Dick’s time under the cowl hasn’t been lost in the DC Reboot.

The second-half of the story, however, was the one that the most pleasant surprise. When I heard the first issue had to do with Dick returning to the circus I was less than enthused. Haley’s Circus returns to Gotham for the first time since the Flying Graysons last performance and Dick’s conflicted feelings about making an appearance remind us, for all his differences, Dick does have a few things in common with Bruce Wayne.

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Captain America #3

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The story picks up right where the last issue left off: Captain America is battling the Ameridroid (a giant robot with the brain of a crazy scientist, made to look like Captain America) while Sharon Carter has her own hands full with Baron Zemo.

Meanwhile, Codename: Bravo and his mysterious lady friend continue to work behind the scenes using the comatose Jimmy Jupiter to play havoc with reality and pull a certain patriotic super-soldier into the dream world.

Writer Ed Brubaker does a good job explaining the Ameridroid without pausing the action. And even if the character is insanely goofy, it works well as a real threat to Cap. The fight between Agent 13 and Zemo isn’t quite as exciting but it does allow Sharon to get a couple zingers at Zemo’s expense. (I also liked Sharon’s attempt to throw Cap his sheild, which, of course, doesn’t go exactly as planned).

With Cap locked in the dreamworld for the next issue I’m assuming the craziness seen here is only the beginning. Worth a look.

[Marvel, $3.99]

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Birds of Prey #1

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birds-of-prey-v3-1-coverFor the first time since 2003 the regular writer of Birds of Prey is not named Gail Simone. As part of DC’s New 52 writer Duane Swierczynski takes over a team that, quite frankly, has seen better days.

The recent run of the title never matched the heights of the first volume and, although I love Gail Simone, I wasn’t opposed to giving someone else a shot at the title. Sadly, this isn’t what I had in mind.

Not only does Barbara Gordon‘s return as Batgirl throw Stephanie Brown under the proverbial bus but it leaves a huge hole to be filled on a title that centered around her as Oracle. The comic was about the relationship between Babs and Black Canary, and started clicking on all cylinders with the inclusion of the Huntress (and great supporting characters like Zinda Blake).

Although Black Canary is present here (in another puzzling costume redesign that makes me nostalgic for any of other costumes – even her Justice League look), the Huntress isn’t part of the team and Babs is present only a token appearance.

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Batman and Robin #1

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batman-and-robin-1-coverOne of the relationships taken away with the DC Reboot was that of the Dick Grayson as Batman with Damian Wayne‘s Robin. In its place DC relaunches the title with writer Peter Tomasi who gives us the first issue of Damian teamed up with the original Batman, his father, Bruce Wayne.

Since we last saw him it appears Damian has devolved a bit back into confrontational character minus the progress that he had made over the course of the last year as a partner for Batman.

Tomasi does give us a couple of good exchanges between Batman and son but it’s going to take a while for this relationship to work itself out (much like the Dick/Damian relationship in the previous title). The challenge is both of these characters are sullen, and neither has Dick Grayson’s humor to balance the other out.

The rest of the story deals with Batman putting the demons of Crime Alley to rest and the introduction of a new villain named Nobody who wants nothing more than to erase Batman’s mark on the world.

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Daredevil #3

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daredevil-3-coverI’ve never been a big fan of Klaw. So when he was chosen as the first “big” villain to show up in the latest volume of Daredevil I certainly wasn’t expecting much. Although it’s not a great issue, writer Mark Waid gives me more than I expected in a solid story that pits Daredevil against the Master of Sound.

The issue opens with Daredevil captured by Klaw who has been fractured into separate pieces or “soundshadows” who are hoping to restore themselves into a solid form. Although the complexity of Daredevil’s confinement isn’t satisfactorily explained, his escape and defeat of Klaw on the streets of New York works quite well.

The real fun of this issue, however, comes in the conversations between Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson as the figure out a way for their client to win his case, talk with some attractive women at a local watering hole (careful, they might be super-villains), and decide the new direction of their law practice. Worth a look.

[Marvel, $2.99]

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