My Week in Comics Issue #1

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

My Week in Comics – November Part I

I don’t get a chance to read a lot of comics, being a college student and all, but when I do read I like to talk about them. So what did I get to read this week? I took on Batwing #25 and Nightwing Annual #1. One was a strong comic and the other was weak. So let’s start with the weak.

Batwing #25 To be fair I’ve been struggling with Batwing for a while now. The comic took some time to grow on me and when it did DC decided to up and change who Batwing was. Right now I’m just not feeling Luke Fox as Batwing. His character is missing something. He has none of the pain or emotion that David had before him. And frankly he lacks someone to talk to. Everyone needs an Alfred.

The fact that it was a Zero Year tie in comic also held back this issue for me. There have to many breaks in the speed and development of Luke as Batwing that I don’t think it would be good for the character to do another tie in. You had break from Villains month and now you have the break in the normal pacing to do this tie in and when it adds up I don’t feel like Luke is being given the chance for the audience to like him. And I want to like him I really do.

So this issue sets up a big baddie for Batwing, in the form of a high school friend who went super villain. This isn’t a bad thing since to some extent I think Batwing is lacking in a real foe. But the story pacing is really slow and I don’t feel like I’m given much reason to care about the kid. Then again I’m not given much reason to really care about Luke either. He beats up on his best friend in a sparring match (he was asked to go easy on him) and comes off as far far to reckless.

The sad thing is that I want to like this comic. I really really want to like Batwing. I used to love this title. Normally I would stop reading a comic book that hasn’t been working for me. But sadly, there is a lack of black characters in leading roles in DC right now. And thus I feel compelled to support one of the few titles in comics lead by a black man.

Overall I give this comic 2 Fro’s (out of 5). The story isn’t all that strong and in my opinion a bit on the slow slide. I really hope this comic picks up steam soon.

Nightwing Annual #1 Nightwing is one of my favorite comic book characters to follow. In my opinion Nightwing is one of the stronger titles in the new 52. It makes me wonder why it took so long for him to get his first annual. Going on two years? But I’m glad it’s here.

Normally I’d have no interest in an annual that features another character. My personal opinion has always been that the annual should just focus on the star of the comic. But in this case I’ll forgive DC. I’m willing to read any story featuring Batgirl and Nightwing together. And this one is a perfect story.

The annual picks up in after the events of Nightwings adventures in Chicago and Batgirls recent troubles in her own comic. So this little adventure has both characters at a cross roads in their lives. With Batman out of Gotham (likely due to the events taking place in Forever Evil) Nightwing answers the call of the Bat Signal.

He’s drawn into a case in which a famous actress is being hunted down by a masked killer called Fire Fly. She doesn’t trust the cops to solve the case but she is willing to trust the Bat family to get to the bottom of things.

Batgirl comes along for the ride (though not in her normal Batgirl costume) in this story. But it isn’t the case that makes this comic. Instead it’s the relationship development between Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon. There really hasn’t been much attention paid to Bab’s and Dick’s relationship since the new 52 started. We knew they had dated at one point but it really hadn’t been touched upon. Until now.

I can’t really say much about the development of their relationship with out spoiling it overall. But I will say this, we need more of this kind of development for both characters. It’s nice to see the characters be … human. If anyone deserves to be married in the new 52 it’s these two. Granted I’ve heard rumors that DC has no plans of allowing any of its characters marry in the near future but I hope it’s a policy that isn’t writ in stone. I assure you, it’s a match made in heaven.

So overall I give this issue 4 out of 5 Fro’s. The story is ok, you’re average catch the villain fare. What makes this issue shine though is the relationship development between Nightwing and Batgirl. It’s worth the read for that alone.

Pathfinder #11 Bonus comic!!! Pathfinder is a series based on the popular RPG Pathfinder. Done by Dynamite Comics, the book reads like your average table top session of Pathfinder (or any medieval fantasy rpg). In issue 11 we are picking up midway through an ongoing adventure that started in 10.

When last the crew was left, they had just fallen into a trap set up by worshipers of the evil goddess of monsters Lamashtu. Trapped in a dark, dank dungeon filled with dire rats, our plucky band of hero’s must find some way to escape what used to be a prison. Rats, illusions and statues oh my.

Sadly this issue was kinda slow. It’s like that night at the gaming table where you don’t make much progress on the overall story. You fight a couple of things but your party took so long to get to where the GM needed you to go that you end the night at the climax of the dungeon crawl. And that’s what happens here. The team fights its way through the dungeon and the story ends with them meeting the master mind that set the trap for them and his big …. bad ass … body guard. So right away I can tell that the next issue is going to be fun to read.

Overall this issue gets 3 out of 5 Fro’s. It’s a stand up series, so this may not be the best issue to jump in on. But next issue is likely to have an especially cool fight. And I do enjoy those.

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