Saturday Morning Batman: Detective Comics #36

Cover Date: February 1940

Plot Overview: Batman sees a man shot and when questioned mentions something about a strange fog. The police arrive and chase Batman thinking that he killed the man. Later, Bruce Wayne ponders what he heard earlier and realizes the man meant Hugo Strange. He also finds a list of Banks in a book he took off of the man.

The scene shifts to Hugo Strange as he begins his plan. The city becomes covered in a thick fog and Strange's men use it as cover to commit a series of bank robberies. Batman uses the black book and ambushes them at one of the banks. He easily subdues the men and leaves them for the police.

Strange realizes that Batman must know where he'll strike next so he plans a trap. Batman arrives at the next place and Strange has left a whole gang of men to take him out. Batman valiantly fights the men off until one catches him with a black jack. They take him to Strange and they tie Batman up. Batman easily breaks his bonds and uses a tear gas on Strange and his men. Batman chases Strange down and after a brief fight he captures Strange and leaves him for the police.

My Take: This is of course the first appearance for Hugo Strange. He comes and goes in the Batman lore but he does have the honor of being the first recurring Batman villain. This issue is also interesting because Batman has stopped using lethal force. A few issues ago and the amount of brutality to these fights would've been much greater. It seems with the new character model that they've lightened Batman up just a little bit.

I enjoyed this issue quite a bit. The writing was a lot better than usual and the grammar didn't seem to be as clunky as it usually is. The story was pretty simple and to the point and I think that is why it was so readable. They didn't try to get clever with it and they didn't use situations that were going to be hard to show with the art or the writing. Simple seems to equal better at this point. I would say this is the first of the golden age stories that I really enjoyed on it's own merits.

The art was pretty solid. The new Batman is a nice change of pace and the characters in general aren't as ugly as they were. The action sequences were also very good looking and I could actually tell what was going on.

I'd give this a solid C.

Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #8

Guy, Arisia and Killowag are heading for OA when Parallax restores the impurity to the rings. Arisia freaks out and heads towards OA. Suddenly a legion of GLC attack Guy and Killowag. Killowag helps Guy escape and then lets himself get captured. Guy reaches out for other GLC members and the only person to respond is Hal Jordan.

They meet up on a distant planet and brief each other on what they've been doing. Tensions run high and they start to fight. Hal and Guy reveal their true feelings for each other and fight until they realize it's Parallax causing the issue. They manage to take off their rings and Guy is a little shaken up as he realizes their bad blood runs deeper than he thought. The issue ends with them wondering how they're going to defeat Krona and the entire GLC.

My Take: So... we're in part 3 of the story and they've essentially done the same issue three times so far. GLC members freak out, survivors figure it out, then fight, then take off rings. I know the book is crossing over three series but you can really just move the story on. So far, they've done 3 parts, the story hasn't moved at all and they've spent a huge amount of time, rehashing what they've been building for the last year in the titles.

I know you don't want readers to be lost but sometimes you just have to push forward and let the reader be a little lost. This crossover is just bogged down right now and it makes me wonder how many parts this storyline is going to have. I'm starting to think there will be double digit issues with the pace so far.

I'm glad to see that Hal Jordan was effected by Parallax. I was really worried that this was going to be a "Hal Jordan is so kewl." storyline and I'm glad to be wrong. Right now, it's the 4 Earth GLs sans rings against the whole GLC. Wow, no pressure there guys. I wonder how they'll pull this one off.

I'm just tired of Green Lantern events at this point. I feel like I'm just going through the motions with these issues and I'm absolutely dreading what Flashpoint is going to do to the books I actually read. I really just need a break from event books at this point.

I'd give this a B-.

Saturday Morning Batman: Detective Comics #35

Cover Date: January 1940

Plot Overview: A man comes to see Commissioner Gordon. He received a ruby idol and has been receiving threats. One thing leads to another and a car cash later and a bunch of Hindus bump a body in the river. Bruce Wayne becomes Batman and follow the Hindus to a man named Sin Fang after they steal the idol.

Fang puts Batman through a series of death traps but he thwarts them all. Batman catches Sin Fang unmasking to reveal the man who they had thought killed earlier. The man pulls a gun but Batman hits him with the idol and the man falls out of the window to his death.

My Take: A couple of notes here. The artist style of Batman changed in this issue. He now looks a lot more like the classic Golden Age Batman that people know him by. He has blue in the costume and has the more classic cape.

This story was okay. There were a lot of grammatical errors and that was distracting. The story was pretty straightforward and simple. It was a very cliched story and I felt like I had read similar stories 5 or 6 times throughout my life. I would say compared to the other stories so far that this was one of the stronger ones. It still had a lot of the writing flaws but the story was interesting enough this time to overcome those flaws.

As far as the art. The book has really lost the mood that it had in the early issues. That creepy vibe has just faded from the book. The people in the stories are starting to look better and various other items as well. Batman is more stylized now and I think he looks better overall. It's a weird combination. It's more stylized but it's lost some of the crude charm that it had. It will be interesting to see what direction the art takes over the next couple of issues.

I'd give this a D+.

Green Lantern Corps. #58

Several of the Green Lanterns return from Qward just as Parallax restores the impurity to their rings. Most of the Lanterns head off but Kyle, John and Ganthet aren't as effected. Kyle and John begin to duke it out and Ganthet realizes what's happening. He uses his ring to remove the rings of Kyle and John. Ganthet uses so much willpower to do it that his ring explodes and takes his hand with it.

John helps to bandage his wound as Ganthet explains that they all survived because they had been infected by Parallax. He says that Hal, Killowag and Guy are the only other Lanterns that won't be as effected by the situation. They realize a search party is out looking for them so Ganthet sends them off. He tells Kyle that it was no accident that he received the ring and that he may be their best hope now. Ganthet tells them to do what they must and that so will he as the issue comes to a close.

My Take: Right off the bat here, why are John, Kyle and Ganthet struggling with Parallax when Hal Jordan didn't even struggle for a second with it. This still reeks of a wankfest over Hal Jordan being the greatest ever or whatever nonsense they seem to be pushing with it. I really don't want to sit through a crossover if it's going to be all about making Hal Jordan seem awesome.

With that aside, this was better than part 1. This has me looking forward to reading part 2 while part 1 was pretty forgettable. I still don't really like the mind control angle and I don't see how 6 guys are going to pull this off. I really feel like I'm just going through the motions on this issue. I was loving Green Lantern Corps. and this issue kind of derailed the momentum the series had built with the last 20 issues of so. I felt like this title was A+ issue after A+ issue and this is more like a B- for me. I'm really just not taking to this War of the Green Lanterns thing after 2 parts.

I think DC is playing a dangerous game here. Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps. were running on all cylinders. Then they introduces a third book and now they're doing yet another crossover. If they aren't careful, they're going to burn out the Green Lantern idea really quick. I mean, this is a concept that they've never really gotten to work. They finally pulled it off a few years ago and now they can't run it into the ground quick enough. I guess that's the modern comic book industry for you.

The art was great as always for this book though. Really strong issue from an art stand point. I wish the story could've been as good as the art here.

As mentioned earlier. B- for an improved part 2 that still isn't wowing me.

Walking Dead #83

Rick plans on getting out the town and goes back to how he and Glenn once escaped the zombies. By covering themselves in zombie guts they can walk among the zombies unnoticed. Meanwhile Michonne to the dying Morgan about how she really feels. It's not shown, but I assume Morgan goes zombie on her because she kills him as Rick starts to tear a zombie apart downstairs. Maggie decides to stay with Sophia so it will just be Rick, Carl, Michonne, Denise, Jessie and Ron walking among the zombies.

They depart and Ron urinates himself out of fright. This seems to attract the zombies and he gets bitten. Jessie tries to save her son and that leads to the zombies biting and eating her too. Douglas, at this moment is trying to commit suicide and sees the events taking place. He begins to shot at the zombies and yells for Rick to find safety. Jessie won't let go of Carl as the zombies continue to eat her so Rick cuts her hand off with an ax.

Douglas continues to fire away until a zombie bites him and he begins to fire wildly. Rick turns to see that half of Carl's face has been blown off by a bullet. Rick grabs up Carl and tells him to keep breathing. Carl gets to Denise at the hospital and tells her to save him as the issue comes to a close.

My Take: Interesting issue here. I don't know what I think of Carl dying. The number 1 rule of this series is that only Rick is safe in any given situation because the series is about him. If he dies, that's the last issue. Carl has been fair game from day 1, I think everyone has just gotten comfortable with his safety in any given situation over the years. I think it's especially jarring because the last issue was mostly about developing Carl as a character and helping to resolve the inner turmoil he had been feeling about some of the choices he's made during the long road of survival.

This issue also follows another main rule of the series. If the characters let themselves become a little too comfortable and a little too complacent, it's going to blow up in their faces in a really bad way. Take Rick during this town story arc. He was starting to reclaim a life. He had a love interest, he had a home and he had a job. He was allowed to be Rick Grimes, human being again. He and all of the survivors essentially put themselves into a death trap and how here they are. Scattered in various buildings and most will probably die trying to escape.

Back to Carl though. I'm not sure how the series progresses from here. If you go back through to even issue 1, Carl is what has kept Rick going. Rick has always survived for Lori and Carl. When Lori died, all he had was Carl. So what keeps Rick moving now? Does he just keep going because that's what he always does? Does Denise somehow save Carl and now he's deformed? Interesting possibilities for the future.

Really strong issue for me. Since the zombies showed up, I've been dying to get the next issue every month. As always, the book doesn't disappoint when things go horribly wrong.

I'd give this issue an A+.

Saturday Morning Batman: Detective Comics #34

Cover Date: December 1939

Plot Overview: Bruce Wayne encounters a man with no face and then a woman that is scared for her life. After things settle down, they explain that this man is trying to get money from them and even burned off the man's face. Bruce tells them he can't help and then later visits them as Batman.

Batman drops in on the man but is captured. They place him on this giant wheel to hopefully kill him or drive him mad. Batman escapes the wheel and ends up in this garden where the plants all have faces. Meanwhile the woman and the faceless man are captured. The faceless man is placed on the wheel and cries out for help until Batman saves the day.

The villain escapes but Batman chases him down in his Bat-plane. Batman and the villain struggle until Batman causes him to crash. Batman saves the girl as the bad guy crashes to his death.

My Take: This was a rough one to get through. It was really poorly written and the concepts were pretty ridiculous. It's really a shame too, I had hopes for some improved writing after the last issue seemed to read more coherently than previous issues had. This was a major step backwards. The writing seemed worse here than in any of the other issues.

Storywise, I didn't care for this. The faceless man was dumb and not believable. They burned his facial features off. Okay... it looked like someone took an eraser to your face. The plants with human faces were also never explained. It was just this weird little aside to the whole storyline.

Speaking of that part. Batman is in that weird garden and the bad guy has the girl and faceless guy captured. How freaking long was he sitting there getting creeped out by a bunch of plants. Seems it might take awhile to track down and capture your enemies. Batman seemed like he was loafing a bit in this issue. He could've wrapped things up quick but NOOOOOOOOO... he has to hot dog it and almost get the innocents killed. The recklessness of youth I guess.

This is a straight F.