Much like the children in "Oliver Twist," I picked these up at the earliest opportunity (right after my shift at work), devoured them immediately and was left clamoring for "more, please."
The 45 minutes I spent with these three books was quite possibly the best 45 minutes of this week so far, and that is quite an achievement. And I guarantee that won't be the only 45 minutes I spend reading these closely. These three all have re-read value and are must buys.
Now that I've gone through my mad love for these three titles, let's dive in to them individually!
I wonder if Scott Snyder gets tired of hearing about how amazing a Bat-writer he is.
This book takes the reader out of rhythm right from the start, as it opens with a new take on a scene in "Batman: Year One." When I read through this initially, I thought it was a Bruce internal monologue, but then I realized this was a speech a member of the Court was giving. This is just indicative of how Snyder has managed to keep the readers guessing through this arc.
When Batman is finally seen, he is being revived by some girl who Snyder said on his Twitter is a new character. I will say this is one of two small criticisms I have with this book, as it's kind of jolting not having any clue what is happening and introducing a new character randomly in the middle of an arc transition.
My other criticism is how exposition heavy it became. I get that the faux-science of the Talons' near immortality needs to be explained, but this felt like a scene from CSI jammed into a few pages. That said, the revelations about Dick Grayson's past were incredible (sorry, I don't do spoilers here!) and it sets up Nightwing's role in this perfectly.
Getting into other mad love for this book, the art has gotten better each issue, and this is by far the best art to date. I completely was able to follow this and everything flowed perfectly.
Overall, the "Night of the Owls" prelude is next month, and I feel like this transitioned into the arc perfectly. I am pumped for the coming months of Batman.
Speaking of getting pumped for a "NOTO" prelude, Nightwing executed it by giving its best performance since the reboot.
Dick finally gets his big showdown with Saiko and for those who have been thinking that Saiko looked like one of the Talons, by the end of the book everything will become clear.
This issue has the task of ending a seven-issue arc while also transitioning into a prelude to NOTO, and it pulls it off perfectly. The scene between Bruce and Dick in the Batman book is done here as well, but mainly from Dick's perspective.
I actually prefer the Nightwing version because the exposition about the science stuff isn't there and it just builds on the pure emotion of his fight with Saiko and the betrayal he experienced.
I am glad to have been reading both Batman and Nightwing from the beginning because it is so satisfying to see it come full circle and both books finally meet in the middle, but those who haven't been following it can pick up these #7 issues and feel pretty confident they understand what is happening.
I'll briefly touch on the art, as it's absolutely brilliant. I don't really have anything negative to say here.
This could quite possibly be the best Nightwing arc ever and the conclusion was not only satisfying, but it almost requires a read in the next arc.
The other two books I reviewed were so strong it would seem like RHATO has no way to follow it.
LIES!!!
I read this book first to ensure that I didn't compare it unfavorably to Batman, but after going through all three it still stood strong in my mind.
This story comes back to the present, where Jason Todd confronts Essence, with whom he apparently had relations. Over the course of the story, there's a lot of background on Jason, and an element of loneliness is added to his character, showing a level of internal pain we really haven't seen him have to deal with yet.
It's an absolutely amazing trip into his character, and it contrasts perfectly with the comedic breaks from Arsenal. Meanwhile, Starfire is still dealing with being an outsider on Earth and is clearly the most aggressive of the three.
The best compliment I can give this issue is that this is the first issue where all three characters get written strongly in my opinion. This is the first time where I felt the writers had a grasp on writing all three at once and they each had a position on the team: Jason as the driver of the plot, Roy as comic relief and Kori as the badass (beats being... how did Yahtzee put it? "A big, fat nympho cock-slobberer waving her t**s about like maracas).
This issue does hearken back to Issue #1, but it's nothing too make-or-break toward understanding the story, and I'd say this is a good starting point because it sets up the next arc and why Jason is going to be in Gotham for the NOTO event.
Everything about this issue from the writing to the art was stellar and although it's not as knock-out amazing as Batman or Nightwing (at this point, though, what is) RHATO has become a must-buy absolutely.
One read of Issue #7 will show why there is an ever increasing (1,204 at last check) hoard of "Hoodies" assembling on Facebook. This book is finally showing its full potential and I'd advise those on the fence to get on the bandwagon quickly
I have a few more thoughts on comics before the next reviews come out, so stay tuned here!
What do you think about Dick continually being used as a punching bag in his own book and elsewhere in the DCU? Was the punch in the face the only way that the tooth could be revealed? No. Is Dick capable of dodging a strike like that? yes. Thoughts?
ReplyDeleteWait the man who trained Dick, probably has a file on how to Kill Dick if need be, threw a punch that he felt could(and did)reveal something important, that dick could dodge?.....are you sure?
DeleteThat CSI criticism is kinda shakey at best imo due to the fact I personally liked how batman was being the detective and explaining how a persona like Talon could exist especially being as old as this Talon is suppose to be but looks younger then Bruce.
ReplyDelete