Category: DC

Clark Kent is an exceptional young man with a world of possibilities in front of him. A promising athlete, a gifted scholar, Clark is special, but how special most don’t know; Clark has extraordinary abilities, abilities that can change the world for the better or the worse. The last son of the dead world called Krypton, Clark is a young man struggling with the burden of isolating his true self and finding his true calling. When a malevolent alien force descends upon the globe led by the ruthless Tyrell looking to exterminate the last of the Kryptonians, Clark is given a choice: stay hidden at the chance for the normal happy life he yearns for, or unleash his potential before the world is destroyed.

I briefly talked about this story during my Man of Steel review and how a lot of this story went into the movie. Honestly, this was my first Earth One story and I couldn’t help but love it. Clark is made really relatable in the story and he feels like a regular college kid just trying to figure out where to go in life. The debut as Superman is really cool and there is some really cool action scenes towards the end. Tyrell is meh as a villain and I’m curious why they didn’t go with a more well-known villain for the first outing, which is one of my only real complaints. The artwork is really good and the book is written pretty well. In the end, I’d say this book is a good start for anyone wanting to try a Superman comic and as for me, I hope to read the other 2 books in the series. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Picking up where Batman: Earth One (V1) left off and the fall of sadistic mayor Cobblepot, the scum of Gotham grows weary of the legend of the Batman. With a new sense of hope, Jim Gordan begins anew, despite the trauma to his patner Bullock. The Dents, DA Harvey Dent and his sister, newly appointed Mayor Jessica Dent are bringing hell to the corruption of the city. But there’s a new threat, a heartless serial killer calling himself the Riddler that will test Batman’s resolve and his mind as he struffles to become the Knight we know…

I honestly enjoyed this story a bit more than the first and I can see a bit of this story going into the Batman film. Riddler was done really well; I have to admit I really like how Killer Croc was used in the story as a partial red herring and in this universe becomes a ally to Batman. Once Again, I loved Alfred and how he almost seems more badass than Batman. I liked seeing Batman evolve more as a detective and I like the debut of a better bat suit and Batmobile towards the end. The only thing that bugs me is how much of a straight up dick Harvey Dent is in this story; I never got the feeling he was a good man with issues, I feel he comes off as a overbearing dick that has some royal jealousy issues when it comes to Bruce. The third book is pretty interesting when it comes to the fate of the Dents but that’s for another post. In the end, I really liked this book and if you want a good Batman/ Riddler story, this one is worth your time. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

With The Batman finally hitting theaters soon, I thought I’d visit a series that seems to have been a big inspiration for the movie. While I was against this rendition at first, even damn near hating it at first, I cooled off and gave it a fresh chance. Was I wrong or simply proved right?

A new figure has emerged in the dismal city of Gotham, overrun with mob violence and crime on every street. This figure we know as the Batman, Bruce Wayne but far from the legendary detective and badass. Batman is a brawler in a costume with a lot of anger and not much else. His longtime guardian, butler, and trainer Alfred warn him he’s on the path to suicide as a nonlethal soldier in an impractical costume that relies on brute force instead of guns or weapons. Looking for revenge for his parents’s murders, the rising bat follows a train of clues, running parallel to broken detective Jim Gordan and superstar Harvey Bullock that bring him to the corrupt and sadistic mayor of Gotham: Oswald Cobblepot.

So I was pretty wrong in this case. After years and years of perfect Batman, this was a pretty refreshing if not really flawed look at Batman. I mean REALLY flawed. Alfred was a huge standout in this book; I love how he harbors resentment for Bruce and he’s bitter being strung along by duty and his own morality but he’s tired and he’s watching someone he ultimately cares about toss his life away fighting a war he isn’t even trying to win. I do love Penquin in this book and Colin Farrel is a spot on in The Batman so far as the Earth One version. I will saythe story itself is pretty standard and runs awfully close to Batman: Year One and Batman Begins so there is nothing really special there. While I love the reversing arcs of Gordan and Bullock, Gordan does come off as a sap in this book who just gave up which bugs me but at the end he sees the light a bit. The book ends with a nice cliff hanger that teases Riddler as the next big foe. In the end, it’s definitely a good Bat story that delivers on the characters and meh on the story but well worth looking into. May the gaming gods bring you glory.