The Comic Book Thread (spoilers)

[Heel Turn]

Spoiler: Click here to view

Batman gets sort of "killed off", but actually becomes a New God and someone else takes over as Batman. Unfortunately, the writers haven't learned their lesson from the time Azrael took over as Batman, because the new Batman is going to be......Jason Todd!

Originally, the plan was for all the big name heroes to become New Gods and their sidekicks take over their roles, but the plan was scrapped and only Batman is going to be affected.

(Got this from the Comic Book Resources site, btw)

[Your Mom]

I am liking Messiah Complex so far. Do the writers just hate the young kids though? I swear they only ever kill off New X-men

[Benji]

Spoiler: Click here to view

I'm hoping it's not Jason Todd, he's supposed to be taking the mantle of Red Robin, if Dick became Batman it'd go against what he's become, Tim's too young but is the most likely candidate, and Ibn/Damian just isn't Batman and is even younger.

Spoiler: Click here to view

It seems pretty clear at this point it is going to be Jason. Not saying that's a good idea, because it is so not, but it seems to be the direction they are headed.

As for Dick as Batman, if you can find it I would suggest reading Prodigal, which took place in all the Bat books in the 90's after KnightsEnd, which was the conclusion of Azbats. It explains in 9 or 10 parts exactly why Dick will never become Batman.

Spoiler: Click here to view

Uhm, I already said Dick will not be Batman >_> As for Jason, almost every media outlet I've read says he's becoming Red Robin, and he'd be a shit Batman in my book, he wasn't even a good Robin.

[Your Mom]

Spoiler: Click here to view

Why cant Batman just stay Batman? Is this because there is a new Captain America? Like DC needs to keep up? Because it sounds lame.

[TGC]

Spoiler: Click here to view

Why cant Batman just stay Batman? Is this because there is a new Captain America? Like DC needs to keep up? Because it sounds lame.

Spoiler: Click here to view

Same thing happened before. Replacing heroes for awhile sells. It sold for Cap the first time they did it in the 80's, sold with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern. The part of replacing Batman isn't the shitty part, it's Bruce becoming a fucking New God that's the ultra shitty part.

For Benji, I was offering up a story i thought you might be interested in reading maybe?

Oh and courtesy of Lying In The Gutters at CBR. He's usually pretty fucking spot on:

BAT PROMOTION

The last two LITG columns... this one and this one, have covered the death of Bruce Wayne, his ascendancy as a Fifth World New God, and his replacement here on Earth.

I can now tell you that the new Batman will be designed by Alex Ross and will see Jason Todd under the cowl.

Poor Dick Grayson. Don't you hate it when someone junior to you is promoted above your head?

This is all part of a cross-continuity, longform story by Grant Morrison and in terms of structure bears similarity to his “New X-Men,” but on a far wider scale. It sounds rather good.

[Benji]

I still think Morrison is currently the most over rated writer around right now, Batman has been sub-par and it's only with the cross-over of comics it's jumped up a notch, it's not down to the writing at all though, it's all in the concept. All-Star Superman I really don't get the hype behind, it doesn't feel special at all either.

Spoiler: Click here to view

I'd rather kill Bruce Wayne than see him as a New God, I'd rather go without Batman than have anyone currently available to be him, the Bat family is big and good enough to survive without their 'key member' for a while, if Cap can manage it with his cast, Batman could EASILLY do it.

[Vilge Duin]

Yeah, I haven't cared about comics for months now, but my local comic shop dropped all their prices down to the US cover price which is just damn sexy, especially considering they're having a sale (10th Anniversary Marvels looks sexy... Original Canadian price = $80, currently 30).

And in the spirit of things I picked up a bunch of stuff today. Namely speaking of Batman.

What's a good order to read trades of his various stories? I picked up Year One and The Long Halloween. I don't know a single thing about DC besides what I know from the DCAU, and considering how many Batman books I know are out there I don't know a proper "order" to read anything. So anyone have any suggestions?

Also what issue is Astonishing X-Men up to? I picked up the second and third trades but am uncertain what the most recent issue, and considering it's sporadic release schedule I don't feel like sifting through Diamond's shipping archives...

And as always, Fables and Walking Dead continue to be class.

[Heel Turn]

I still think Morrison is currently the most over rated writer around right now, Batman has been sub-par and it's only with the cross-over of comics it's jumped up a notch, it's not down to the writing at all though, it's all in the concept. All-Star Superman I really don't get the hype behind, it doesn't feel special at all either.

Spoiler: Click here to view

I'd rather kill Bruce Wayne than see him as a New God, I'd rather go without Batman than have anyone currently available to be him, the Bat family is big and good enough to survive without their 'key member' for a while, if Cap can manage it with his cast, Batman could EASILLY do it.

Edited November 25, 2007 by Heel Turn

[TGC]

What's a good order to read trades of his various stories? I picked up Year One and The Long Halloween. I don't know a single thing about DC besides what I know from the DCAU, and considering how many Batman books I know are out there I don't know a proper "order" to read anything. So anyone have any suggestions?

If you want to present a full list of what Batman you have I can help you to read them in Chronological order, but Batman Year One comes before The Long Halloween, and are to be read in that order.

And as for Morrison, I totally agree with HT. I have read Morrison's work for years and years, and I truly believe that he is this current generations most gifted writer in the comic book field. From Animal Man to Doom Patrol to The Invisibles to JLA to Aztek to New X-Men to Seven Soldiers Of Victory to Batman, he brings something fresh and new to every book he writes. You may not like everything he tries, I know I don't, but you can't say it's not daring and fun.

And HT, if you've read all of The Invisibles, I hope you've also read Doom Patrol. Many of the concepts, and even the characters, began in DP. While The Invisibles was creator owned and not a "part" of the DC UNiverse, that didn't stop him from brining two of his favorite created characters from DP over into The Invisibles with minor physical changes and a name change.

Edited November 25, 2007 by TGCVersion3Point0

[Benji]

Oh don't get me wrong, he's a great writer, but his current main DC books I just cannot fathom why they get so much praise, the concepts are nice enough but the writing (IE: Actual delivery) feels off.

Like HT said, it's probably down to something I just don't "get", I've never been the biggest fan of the Silver Age (that's not to say I don't love it, I just much prefer other eras), I tend to prefer Golden Age characters and read a lot of Golden Age and modern characters. To add to the fact, it's only recently that I've grown to enjoy Superman on any other level than mocking him

Edited November 25, 2007 by AC/Benji

[Vilge Duin]

What's a good order to read trades of his various stories? I picked up Year One and The Long Halloween. I don't know a single thing about DC besides what I know from the DCAU, and considering how many Batman books I know are out there I don't know a proper "order" to read anything. So anyone have any suggestions?

If you want to present a full list of what Batman you have I can help you to read them in Chronological order, but Batman Year One comes before The Long Halloween, and are to be read in that order.

[GhostMachine]

Spoiler: Click here to view

Batman gets sort of "killed off", but actually becomes a New God and someone else takes over as Batman. Unfortunately, the writers haven't learned their lesson from the time Azrael took over as Batman, because the new Batman is going to be......Jason Todd!

Originally, the plan was for all the big name heroes to become New Gods and their sidekicks take over their roles, but the plan was scrapped and only Batman is going to be affected.

(Got this from the Comic Book Resources site, btw)

Spoiler: Click here to view

Yeah, smart idea, kill off Bruce Wayne just as The Dark Knight comes out in theaters.

DC is so fucking horrible. Their writing is mediocre at best, their continuity atrocious, and artwork sub-par. DiDio should be fired and Geoff Johns lynched. The only worthwhile writer in the entire company is Grant Morrison, and he's basically just spinning his wheels on Batman while waiting for Final Crisis. All-Star Superman is good, but six issues a year just isn't enough. Marvel's doing some stuff I disagree with, but at Secret Invasion is shaping up to be an interesting crossover, and there's still some good self-contained titles like Astonishing X-Men, Daredevil, and Immortal Iron Fist.

[Heel Turn]

Spoiler: Click here to view

Batman gets sort of "killed off", but actually becomes a New God and someone else takes over as Batman. Unfortunately, the writers haven't learned their lesson from the time Azrael took over as Batman, because the new Batman is going to be......Jason Todd!

Originally, the plan was for all the big name heroes to become New Gods and their sidekicks take over their roles, but the plan was scrapped and only Batman is going to be affected.

(Got this from the Comic Book Resources site, btw)

Spoiler: Click here to view

Yeah, smart idea, kill off Bruce Wayne just as The Dark Knight comes out in theaters.

DC is so fucking horrible. Their writing is mediocre at best, their continuity atrocious, and artwork sub-par. DiDio should be fired and Geoff Johns lynched. The only worthwhile writer in the entire company is Grant Morrison, and he's basically just spinning his wheels on Batman while waiting for Final Crisis. All-Star Superman is good, but six issues a year just isn't enough. Marvel's doing some stuff I disagree with, but at Secret Invasion is shaping up to be an interesting crossover, and there's still some good self-contained titles like Astonishing X-Men, Daredevil, and Immortal Iron Fist.

[TGC]

As far as Gail Simone goes, so was her long run on Birds Of Prey.

As for the above spoilerish stuff....

Spoiler: Click here to view

Oh and Dead Batman/Todd Batman/God Bruce Wayne? So not happening. You can still expect a status-challenging new scenario, still expect Alex Ross covers and designs, still expect some intricately complex yet instantly entertaining Morrisonia, just, expect something else. Did Internet reaction affect this? Not one jot it seems. All decisions are taking place at a much higher level, and Warner Bros. have made their feelings known.

This is from LITG at CBR posted yesterday. Apparently DC is in all sorts of upheaval editorially since some of their big projects of the last few years, such as One Year Later and Countdown, failed to sell to expectations. It's pretty much an everyman for himself sort of thing happening there. Butr it's good that they have abandoned the horrible Godly Bruce story.

[Benji]

As far as Gail Simone goes, so was her long run on Birds Of Prey.

As for the above spoilerish stuff....

Spoiler: Click here to view

Oh and Dead Batman/Todd Batman/God Bruce Wayne? So not happening. You can still expect a status-challenging new scenario, still expect Alex Ross covers and designs, still expect some intricately complex yet instantly entertaining Morrisonia, just, expect something else. Did Internet reaction affect this? Not one jot it seems. All decisions are taking place at a much higher level, and Warner Bros. have made their feelings known.

This is from LITG at CBR posted yesterday. Apparently DC is in all sorts of upheaval editorially since some of their big projects of the last few years, such as One Year Later and Countdown, failed to sell to expectations. It's pretty much an everyman for himself sort of thing happening there. Butr it's good that they have abandoned the horrible Godly Bruce story.

Linky?

[DFF]

What's a good order to read trades of his various stories? I picked up Year One and The Long Halloween. I don't know a single thing about DC besides what I know from the DCAU, and considering how many Batman books I know are out there I don't know a proper "order" to read anything. So anyone have any suggestions?

If you want to present a full list of what Batman you have I can help you to read them in Chronological order, but Batman Year One comes before The Long Halloween, and are to be read in that order.

Currently own Year One, The Long Halloween and now Dark Victory.

I was looking into some Joker stuff, like The Man Who Laughs, The Killing Joke and A Death in the Family

Random stuff like A Lonely Place of Dying, Arkham Asylum and Hush Vol. 1 & 2. Plus that Knightfall storyline and No Man's Land always sounded interesting...

And have been trying to figure out the order of Ra's Al Ghul's stories... Tales of the Demon, Son of the Demon, Birth of the Demon, Bride of the Demon and Death and the Maidens...

They're just basic concepts and names I've picked up off lists (mainly from IGN), and I am unsure of the quality of any of it let alone if there's any decent order to tackle any of it... And money being an issue, with so much stuff I don't know what I should buy.

I love both Hush and Knightfall, both are very well written even if they do suffer a tad from 'DC Syndrome' (ie, LET'S GET AS MANY CHARACTERS INTO THIS STORY!)

Still, both are very good and particular favourites of mine. Especially Hush.

[GhostMachine]

Anyone know if Prodigal Son has been collected in a TPB? That's the arc after Knightquest where Dick takes over as Batman temporarily.

Oh, and just out of curiosity, any John Byrne fans in the house?

Edited November 27, 2007 by GhostMachine

[TGC]

Prodigal has been out of print for years.

And so Benji doesn't think I created this here is the spoilerish link http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/...cgi?column=litg

EDIT: Oh and I was a HUGE fan of Byrne's writing and art for years. Lately the only thing he's done that i thought didn't look shit was his issues of Gail Simone's The Atom. Otherwise he has become a sad old man who is a racist, an asshole, and a sad parody of the artist he once was.

Edited November 27, 2007 by TGCVersion3Point0

[Benji]

Prodigal has been out of print for years.

And so Benji doesn't think I created this here is the spoilerish link http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/...cgi?column=litg

I didn't think you made it up, I just wanted to know how reliable the source was

[TGC]

Prodigal has been out of print for years.

And so Benji doesn't think I created this here is the spoilerish link http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/...cgi?column=litg

I didn't think you made it up, I just wanted to know how reliable the source was

I was fucking with ya

And LITG is a rumor site that is nine times out of ten VERY accurate and corect. For example, comic book pros contact him a lot of the times when they aren't sure if the story they are getting is true or not. So yeah, rumor column that is spot on.