Batman #97 Review

Leto’s Joker

Written By: James Tynion IVArt By: Jorge Jimenez, Tomeu MoreyLetters By: Clayton CowlesCover Price: $3.99Release Date: August 18, 2020

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Our most previous issue of Batman brought something that the title had been missing for several issues and that was fun. I had fun reading that issue and even though it was still haunted by the same mistakes that this book commits over and over, I ultimately gave it a pretty good rating because the fun outweighed the negatives for me. That being said, I really need something to finally happen in this book that has lasting impact. There have been small reveals here and there but most of them don’t really explain anything about what is happening in the story right now or provide a legitimate plot point that will be relevant for the entirety of the story. They’ve been providing nothing but context. Now, I like context. I like seeing how things are playing out because of events that are happening but when that’s all your book is, it gets kind of boring. So, while I may have had fun in the last issue, I’m ready for some good old fashioned story progression in this issue so let’s jump in and see where we find ourselves in this book.

Nightwing #73 Review

I Like Ric Better

Writer: Dan Jurgens
Artist: Ryan Benjamin
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: August 19, 2020

It's Joker War time, and that means all the Bat Books are joining in on all the clowning around!  I am not upset about that a bit, either, since this is the story that should finally give us back DICK GRAYSON!  To hell with that Ric nonsense forever!  So, do we see the light at the end of the tunnel and also get a good Joker War tie-in issue?  Let's find out...

Justice League #51 Review

Planet Sized Problem

Written By: Jeff Loveness

Art By: Robson Rocha, Daniel Henriques, Romulo Fajardo Jr., Tom Napolitano

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: August 18, 2020

It's time for another arc in our rotation of creators keeping this title afloat until it starts meaning something again and for this outing, we're going to see what Jeff Loveness brings to the table with his story of the Black Mercy planet, which could be pretty cool. Just the idea of taking something like the Black Mercy and upping the scale of it to a Mogo sized level should be pretty interesting, especially since our entire Justice League is going up against it........ Sadly though, our entire Justice League at the moment is just the Trinity plus John Stewart and Barry Allen. Let's jump into this issue and see what happens to the team that has everything. Let's check it out.

Teen Titans #44 Review

Robin On The Run

Written By: Robbie Thompson

Art By: Javier Fernandez, Marcelo Maiolo, Rob Leigh

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: August 18, 2020

The Teen Titans have a problem and it's one that isn't going to be easy to solve. Previously, we saw that Robin was the one who killed Brother Blood and is upping his game in taking down crime wherever it may roam and we saw this escalate from normal super-heroics to locking up criminals themselves, to magically mind-wiping them and now the final solution that Damian Wayne has in stopping evil once and for all. Hopefully, the Teen Titans will be able to get through to him so that he can change his ways, but I don't think that's going to happen before Damian is confronted by his father. Let's jump into this issue and check it out.

Metal Men #9 Review

When A Stranger Calls

Written By: Dan Didio, Shane Davis

Art By: Shane Davis, Jason Wright, Travis Lanham

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: August 18, 2020

The Nth Metal Man sure has been causing a ruckus in the DC Universe and most recently we've seen that not only has he given true life and sentience to the Metal Men, but it appears he's done this to Chemo as well and that big bag of chemicals hasn't been so kind with his newfound life. In the previous issue, we saw Chemo kill off the new Metal Mammals on his rampage through Manhattan but thankfully, the Metal Men, sans Gold and Platinum showed up to take on their old foe and now it's time to see if true life has changed our heroes for the better or worse when it comes to fighting evil. Let's jump into this issue and check it out.

Dark Nights: Death Metal: Death Metal Guidebook #1 Review

I Like to Watch

Writer: Priest, Vita Ayala, Becky Cloonan, Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Joshua Williamson, Chip Zdarsky
Artist: Becky Cloonan, Doug Mahnke, Dan Panosian, Khary Randolph, Eduardo Risso
Cover Price: $5.99
Release Date: August 18, 2020

I always have issues when it comes to reviewing big event tie-in books.  As a reviewer, you try to judge each book by its own merits, but these things always end up making me debate whether they are essential and worth buying, even if they are fun.  Now, sometime they're not even that, and that's when the shit hits the fan, and Grammarly asks me if I want to curse that much.  For the record, I usually don't swear as much as I want to, it's just Grammarly doesn't know me well enough to realize that!  However, sometimes I am pleasantly surprised, and the tie-in is fun and essential and leads to  cursing like, "Hell Yeah!" and "Shit Yeah!" and "Fuck Yeah!"  Listen,  I never claimed to be original!  So, is this a bad cursing or good cursing book?  Let's find out...

Catwoman #24 Review

Diamond in the Snuff

Writer: Sean Murphy and Blake Northcott
Artist: Cian Tormey, FCO Plascencia, and Tom Napolitano
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: August 19, 2020

I was surprised at how much I liked the first issue of this two-parter.  Not because I didn't have faith in Sean Murphy or Blake Northcott, but because I thought this was just a throwaway two-issue arc to waste time before Ram V starts his run with issue #25.  I am glad I was wrong!  Murphy and Northcott brought back Snowflame, mentioned Codpiece, and gave fans a Catwoman issue that had the right amount of Selina to boot.  That's a party right there!  So, was the finale as satisfying as the setup?  Let's find out...

Aquaman #62 Review

Boys in the Ocean

Writer: Jordan Clark
Artist: Marco Santucci, Romulo Fajardo Jr., and Clayton Cowles
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: August 18, 2020

It's time for a little Aqualad action, and I am never upset about that.  This time, though, it's pushing it a bit as the Mera Wedding had me on my seat's edge by the end of the last issue.  I guess I have to calm down a little and let Jordan Clark take me on a journey with a superhero teen and his AI grandfather.  Yea, that is something we've been begging for on our podcast since Black Manta first got his mecha-daddy back during the Year of the Villain.  So, was it worth the long-way-around wait?  Let's find out...

PREVIEW: Wonder Woman Annual #4

Writer: Steve Orlando
Artist: Jack Herbert
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: August 19, 2020

There's something evil afoot in the heart of the Amazon rain forest, and Wonder Woman is on a mission to save the innocents caught in the crossfire! As a mass of dark energy envelops a pocket of the planet, Diana must use her golden lasso to keep tethered to reality as she ventures inside, or face being corrupted by the energy herself! But there's more than just a battle with the Dark Fates at play here...something else lurks in the heart of the Amazon that will shape the future of the DC Universe for years to come...

PREVIEW: Teen Titans #44

Writer: Robbie Thompson
Artist: Javier Fernandez
Publisher: DC Comics
Release Date: August 19, 2020
Cover Price: $3.99

In this issue, Crush, Roundhouse, Kid Flash, and Red Arrow chase down Robin, who’s on the hunt for villains he thinks must pay the ultimate price for their crimes. With Batman also on the case, can the Teen Titans get to Damian Wayne before his father does?

PREVIEW: Nightwing #73

Writer: Dan Jurgens
Artist: Ryan Benjamin
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: August 19, 2020


The Joker knows Dick Grayson is Nightwing-and the plans the Clown Prince of Crime has set in motion in “The Joker War” will haunt Batman forever. Under the control of The Joker’s new henchperson, Punchline, Nightwing must battle the people he once loved most: Batgirl, the Robins, and…himself.

PREVIEW: Metal Men #9

Writer: Dan DiDio

Artist: Shane Davis

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: August 19, 2020

Back at the pit the Nth Metal Man came out of, something strange is happening! Is this a portal into the Dark Multiverse-or something worse? It’s up to Tina, Gold, and Nth Metal Man to go investigate, and along the way, they run into the Phantom Stranger! Back in Manhattan, the other Metal Men have to figure out how to defeat Chemo and get him out of the city before there’s a radiation reaction that could melt through more than just metal.

PREVIEW: Harley Quinn #75

Writer: Sam Humphries
Artist: Ngozi, Sami Basri, Emanuela Lupacchino, Joe Quinones, Riley Rossmo, More..., Nicola Scott, Ramon Villalobos
Cover Price: $5.99
Release Date: August 19, 2020

At last, it’s the star-studded roast of Harley Quinn! Nothing is off-limits, no topic is out of bounds, and no one-and we mean no one!-will escape unscathed. Harley may be the funniest person in the DC Universe, but how well can she take a joke?  Plus, in a backup story illustrated by superstar artist Riley Rossmo tying into “The Joker War,” Harley Quinn faces off against Punchline!

PREVIEW: Justice League #51

Writer: Jeff Loveness
Artist: Robson Rocha
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: August 19, 2020

Special extra-size anniversary issue! It’s the final chapter of “The Rule of War”-and all the rules are broken! On the alien planet Trotha, Empress Siddinx’s plan is revealed, and it’s nothing short of world domination-with the Justice League entangled in her puppet strings. But how can the team save a population that now hates and fears them? 

Like Uncle Jessie used to say, "Have (Black) Mercy!"  He also said "Watch the Hair!", but that doesn't work here.

PREVIEW: Dark Nights: Death Metal: Death Metal Guidebook #1

Writer: Priest, Vita Ayala, Becky Cloonan, Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Joshua Williamson, Chip Zdarsky
Artist: Becky Cloonan, Doug Mahnke, Dan Panosian, Khary Randolph, Eduardo Risso
Cover Price: $5.99
Release Date: August 19, 2020

Earth is turned upside down, shrouded in a realm of darkness after the Justice League's defeat by the cosmic goddess Perpetua. Now the Batman Who Laughs and his army of Dark Knights rule the planet, wreaking havoc on humanity and raining destruction on the world. As Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman, and other heroes fight to survive in this strange new landscape, one cloaked figure has been observing from the sidelines, creating a guidebook to this new world and its evil leaders in the hope of forming a plan of justice... and penance.

This issue showcases the new factions of Earth and explores the mystery of what happened to our heroes after their battle with Perpetua. How did Wonder Woman become the queen of Hell? How did Batman find the Black Lantern ring? And what happens when Harley Quinn takes charge of the Wasteland, and finds love in the process? All this and more in this jam-issue exploring the new world order.

I keep thinking this says "Cookbook" which would be pretty cool, with all the recipes being the fears of all the big chefs from around the world.  Actually, I guess that would just be real shitty food cooked awfully.  Okay, it would not be so cool after all!

PREVIEW: Catwoman #24

Writer: Sean Murphy, Blake Northcott
Artist: Cian Tormey
Publisher: DC Comics
Release Date: August 19, 2020
Cover Price: $3.99

The cat’s out of the bag! Everyone at Snowflame’s auction is there for the same thing: the list. But what is the market value of a list containing all the intel the world’s greatest crime-fighters have on super-villains? And who exactly is on the list? You’ll have to ask Catwoman to find out.

Like Rick James never said (but should have)... Snowflame is a hell of a villain!

PREVIEW: Batman #97

Writer: James Tynion IV
Artist: Jorge Jimenez
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: August 19, 2020

The Joker’s army is growing hour by hour, with weapons beyond anything the Clown Prince of Crime has ever used before. Batman must hold his mind together so he can strike the final blow and take back his city-but how can he heal the rifts he’s created in his life to get the help he needs? And while all this is happening, the villains of Gotham City are waiting out the carnage Joker has unleashed-and Catwoman assembles an army of her own! 

Batman better get a breath mint up in there!  I think that a lot of people have realized they have bad breath with all this mask-wearing going on... Oh yea, Joker War!

PREVIEW: Aquaman #62

Writer: Jordan Clark
Artist: Marco Santucci
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: August 19, 2020


In order to save baby Andy, Jackson Hyde made a deal with the devil-his father, Black Manta! Now Jackson must find a way into Xebel while everyone celebrates Mera’s surprise nuptials. What he finds there, however, will be darker and deadlier than he ever imagined. Welcome writer Jordan Clark (Bitch Planet Triple Feature) for the start of this two-part adventure!

It's time for some Grandfather-AI to bond with his real-life Grandson.  It's like a reverse Pinocchio...actually, it's nothing like that at all!!!

The Dreaming: Waking Hours #1 Review and Spoilers

Written by: G Willow Wilson

Art by: Nick Robles
Colours by: Mat Lopes
Letters by: Simon Bowland
Cover price: $3.99
Release Date: August 4, 2020



The relationship of the Sandman universe (which used to be just a weird corner of the DC universe, remember?) with William Shakespeare has always been an interesting – and fertile - one. As well as being a writer of 39 plays (more or less), the man from Stratford-upon-Avon has become a cultural symbol and a metaphor for the creative urge. It is in this context that Neil Gaiman used him in the original Sandman book. In that original run, Neil Gaiman devoted two complete issues to the great man (Shakespeare actually makes his first appearance in issue 13). The first issue (number 19), “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, deals with the first performance of that particular play and explores the frequently porous relationships between dream and reality, as well as the stark trade-offs between creative vision and personal sacrifice. It won a World Fantasy Award in 1991 and rightly so. It’s a playful, witty issue but has a darkly glittering thread of tragedy running through it, too. The second issue is the final issue of the series (number 75) as a whole – a thematic mining of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”, itself a meditation on a life devoted to exploring (and exploiting) the imagination from a playwright coming to the end of a long and commercially successful career who was about to retire to the country. It is hard to think of a final issue of any comic book series quite so well-produced and well-received. It’s just a wonderfully satisfying ending to The Sandman book.

Why go on about all this? Because, in The Dreaming: Waking Hours #1, writer G Willow Wilson returns the Sandman universe to the matter of Shakespeare and, in doing so, invites precisely the sort of potted contextualising I’ve just done for you. The question is, how effective is that return? Does Wilson bring anything new to the mix? Is that ‘anything’ worth bringing to the mix in the first place? All important questions, I’m sure you’ll agree. Let’s try to answer them, shall we?