Some spoilers included.
With Commissioner James Gordon arrested, you’d think that things couldn’t get any darker in Batman Eternal #3. The issue has the honor of re-introducing us to the likes of Stephanie Brown. It’s her first appearance and she almost gets killed when she discovers her dad is super-villain. In case you didn’t recall who she is, there’s even a spoon-fed clue when she mentions she’s going to try not to spoil her father’s evening.
Bats’ first stop is the Iceberg Lounge as he’s apparently confirming the Penguin has not stroke a deal with the returning Carmine Falcone. Or is he really there to warn the Penguin so that Falcone won’t catch him unaware? Either way, the point is moot – things have already been set in motion by the notorious gangster. Cobblepot’s weapons depots are going up in flames.
The Roman’s level of threat grows exponentially as he’s out to make Gotham into the criminal paradise it was before Batman and Gordon. He’s already in cahoots with Mayor Hady who’s quick to name Forbes as Commissioner. This doesn’t sit well with Captain Sawyer and Bullock. It’s going to be even worse for Batman. The gang war has started and he’s not getting any help. Forbes first act of business is to ignore all the emergency calls and focus the entire GCPD on one task: bringing down the Bat.
Recommended. I was a bit skeptic that Falcone was going to be much of a threat but he is Gotham’s old school crime business and that is gaining him the support of old corrupted figures who thought they couldn’t operate anymore. In other words it’s going to be pre-Batman Gotham City versus Batman and that’s something I want to see.
We move now to Injustice Year Two #8. It’s time for my usual rant on how DC should be doing things a little closer to the plot of this comic. The recent storyline on how the Guardians from OA new the destruction of Krypton was imminent and never tried to rescue its inhabitants is quite a hot one even outside of this What If? universe.
Hal Jordan presents his case for the defense of Superman’s recent actions to the Council of the Guardians. It does seem like they have made up their minds long before Hal is done – or perhaps they did before he even started and are just listening to him as a formality. Either way, the decision is to bring Superman to face trial in OA. Jordan is asked to hand over his ring – basically like a cop being asked to hand over his badge and his gun. He resists but it’s one Green Lantern against the entire GL Corps.
Recommended, not because I care about the stupid video game but because this comic has actually challenged every hero’s fragile ecosystem and moral fiber. It did that by putting them in the worst possible situations where things did not go “coincidentally” in their favor, just the complete opposite. It’s a guilty pleasure because you know that there’s no hero safe in this universe. In there lies the thrill.
We’re in Image territory as we check out Ghosted #9. Jackson Winters and not-so-grateful Nina are deep inside a jungle inhabited by the ghosts of the jungle. The fact that Nina carries the spirit of a Blood Crow seems to be keeping them at bay. Well, it was keeping them at bay. No more.
Wenona Blood Crow has decided to take matters into her own hands. Despite Trick’s protests, she shows up to make a deal with the Maestro of the Brotherhood. That means Jackson and Nina get rescued only to be brought to the Maestro with Wenona in full agreement. Jackson is hoping from help from Anderson – dead, ghost Anderson. Anderson is reliving Jackson’s memories of the heist he never talks about. She witnesses his former associates getting possessed including Juliet.
Back in the present, Wenona and Maestro have agreed to transfer the Blood Crow into Skinner. Oh, and Jackson gets sacrificed so everybody wins. Well, except Jackson. He makes a play by making Nina angry and releasing the spirit of the Blood Crow witch. And then she wants to kill him.
Heavily recommended as long as you don’t mind horror and gore. I love the art, the storyline and the entire irreverence of this comic towards the supernatural. Respect and law-abiding restraint be damned, we were out to get a score – now we’ll be glad if we make it out of this alive.
It’s the goriest one of them all as we end with Avatar’s Uber #11. We’re going to go from crazy to insane in one issue as two huge twists of fate will change the face of the war before this issue is over.
Battleship Sieglinde has arrived in London after a rather unconventional trip inside a V2 rocket. She’s razing down the city. Churchill orders the deployment of the Heavy Tank-men to stop her. The outcome is swift and brutal. Churchill’s only hope to stop the battleship is Leah, but she is not ready. Here’s a quote that chilled me to the bone because of the scene: “Get a move on, girl. We haven’t got all day.”
Meanwhile, in Berlin a depowered Siegmund has a meal in the presence of the Fuhrer. And I really don’t want to spoil what happens next.
Recommended if you can handle violence and gore at a huge degree. Sometimes it can be too much, and that’s its only weakness. However violent, it never tries to fashion war into anything romantic. The parallels between super-powered beings (there are no super-heroes in this book) and war technologies are well done.
That will do for now.
Never Think Impossible 