Snap Judgments: Reviews for Batman, Nightwing and House of Mystery

Short comic reviews based on initial, lizard-brain opinions. Arranged from BEST to WORST. Beware some potential spoilers.

Batman #680 gets a B from Degan
When this is all said and done, I'm going to re-read all the R.I.P. stories together in one sitting--because right now Grant Morrison's writing is not holding up with month long intervals. I'm finding I'm very lost--and none of the other R.I.P. stories seem to have anything to do with this story so there's no help there. Otherwise, Batman's charge against the Black Glove and the Joker is entertaining enough-creepy and... confusing. I just have faith that this story is actually better than I'm realizing.

Nightwing #149 gets a B- from Degan
The conclusion of Nightwing's R.I.P. story (which has little to nothing to do with any other R.I.P. story). The "twist" ending is another obnoxiously cliched treatment of Two Face's split personalities... basically, if you're reading any story with Two Face on one side of a conflict, and there's a mysterious "other" party on the opposite side... guess what, it's also Two Face. Surprise. However, Nightwing's fear toxin stricken battle with Batman's Rogues Gallery is awesome enough to keep this book from sucking. Plus, you have to respect any story where the hero fails. Oh the tragedy of living in the modern day DCU.

House of Mystery #6 gets a C+ from Degan
This book is hit or miss, usually depending upon the bonus story within--in this case, the back story of one of the House's occupants, the Pirate Ann. And it was pretty damn cool. So a "hit" in that regard-except the story of the House itself, which I usually enjoy more than the stories within stories, was pretty confusing. The main character behaves completely unlike herself leaving me to wonder if I missed an issue... but I'm pretty sure I didn't. Not sure if the character incongruities are intentional or just lazy--but it left me too confused to really enjoy it. Though the story may be leading to some interesting places... who knows... this book's hanging by a thread.

Panel Discussion: Scans from The Twelve #2, Detective Comics #841, Amazing Spider-Man #549 and More

Every week we at Geekanerd rip panels from our comics and put them on display here, recognizing the best, worst, and weirdest moments of the week. Click the pics for high res goodness, and beware some major SPOILERS.

Definitive Proof that Jackpot is Not M.J. - Amazing Spider-Man #549
Because Mary Jane is a supermodel, and this girl looks like the thing on the Elmer's Glue bottle.

Scans from The Twelve #2 and Detective Comics #841 after the jump...

(Mis)Adventures in Computer Coloring - Amazing Spider-Man #549
I don't mind a little integration of real world textures into my comic book experience. But for Christ's sake you've gotta make that shit work. Observe:

Good.

The reflection of the city is attractive, the warping effect is nice, and apart from the fact that no skyscraper in the world would have window panels that tiny, it's believable.

Bad.

The reflection on the left is a grainy, pixellated jpeg. In other words, ugmo. The panel on the right totally ignores all common sense you would expect an artist to have about the way reflections work. If you're looking straight down the side of a building, the reflection will be of the street, not the skyline. (He uses the exact same photo for another panel in the book, btw). Who does this joker think he's kidding?

Classic Gags - Detective Comics #841
The setup is this girl is the last member of the new Alice in Wonderland gang to try Bats after he whomped all of the others. This is such a characteristic Paul Dini joke, and that's why I love him. Hats off to artist Dustin Nguyen for communicating a perfectly condescending, skeptical, and kind of sad look through a cowl.

Attack of the Chin - The Twelve #2
Oh my God that is one monstrous chin. It's like Jay Leno mated with a T-Rex and this beast of a man is the offspring.

Saddest Moment Ever II - The Twelve #2
AHR here: While Albo was concerned with the shape of Captain Wonder's head, I was being brought to tears by his absolutely gut wrenchingly sad flashback sequence. Of course, scenes like this are pretty standard for time-travel stories, the scene in The Ultimates when Cap tries to hook up with his old GF come to mind. But this sequence from The Twelve pulls no emotional punches - I was already starting to lose it by the last panels of the first page, thanks to Chris Weston's excellent job with Wonder's tormented facial expressions and the knife-twisting emphasis on the tombstone's grimly ironic epitaph. I never stood a chance against that splash page. Good Lord.

Sweetest Reunion - Nightwing #141
Here's a sentimental chaser after the emotional gutpunch of those last panels. Anyone who's ever put off calling a friend way longer than you realized can relate to this.