The Batman Starts Back At (Earth) One

By: Andrew Hines

We all know the story of Bruce Wayne/Batman. If you don't know the origin, then you really need to read this book. Geoff Johns scripts the Bat for the first time as a solo hero. Set in the same universe as Superman: Earth One from last year, it first reads like a re-imagining of Frank Miller's iconic Batman: Year One. This version finds the newly anointed Dark Knight taking a more vengeful path than Miller imagined 25 years ago. It also finds our beloved Alfred Pennyworth as a much more grizzled war veteran of Her Majesty's Royal Marines. Even Bruce and Gordon are somewhat different, as they are both quite embittered at this point. Even a well-known villain seems more ruthless and far more politically minded in Johns' version.

This is a perfect jumping-off point for anyone who needs a refresher course on the Caped Crusader. It covers both his parents' murder, giving a new culprit, and his first year as the Batman. We even get a look at a fresh-faced and fully sober Detective Harvey Bullock. Not yet the fat and cynical Bullock that many of us grew up with in the Batman animated series, he is much more optimistic and full of untapped potential. Oswald Cobblepot happens to be the mayor of Gotham City and we see Barbara Gordon before she dons her own cape and cowl as the original Batgirl. Aside form the faces we see, there are many differences between Earth One and the dwellers of Gotham we've come to know and love. It begins at a brisk pace and ends with a bang.

I know the last two have been written by Geoff Johns, but that's only because they were the best example I could give form the past week. This, however is the best example of a graphic novel I can give for the whole year. The pacing begins briskly, but it maintains a steady stride the whole way through. He writes established characters with a wonderful ease and introduces delightful new elements into their being. It's easy to forget that the traits weren't there all along because it fits Frank Quietly Gary Frank's pencils so well.

There's another man who has done well on this, Mr. Frank Quietly Gary Frank. Better known for his work with Grant Morrison on various Superman graphic novels, he lives up to expectations here, at times surpassing them. Jonathan Sibal's inks and Brad Anderson's colors fit the noir landscape of Gotham like a black velvet glove.

I honestly cannot find anything I would add or subtract from this book. It's full of the grit that Gotham is know for and with plenty of color in the right places. Full of realism and functionality, I have to give it an A. No other grade will do it justice, which what the Goddamn Batman (...I had to...)  is all about.

Editor's Note: Thanks to Marquis Samedi for reminding me that I screwed up. It has been edited to show what happened. My bad, I'll do better in the future.

Treasure of the Dead King

By: Andrew Hines

If you're new to the DCnU, then you probably aren't fully aware of how awesome Aquaman has become. Yeah, that's right, Aquaman! Not only has Geoff Johns made Green Lantern and the Justice League cool again, but he's also put a green ring back on Sinestro's finger and found a way to make Arthur Curry look like a badass. In the last few issues we've seen the group of "heroes" that Aquaman ran with prior to joining the Justice League. Dubbed the Others, they're an even looser group than the Justice League and Teen Titans have been this time around. In the last issue, Dr Shin revealed to Mera exactly why Black Manta despises Arthur so much, because Aquaman killed his father. Dun dun dunnnn . . .

This time, the focus shifts between six years ago and the present day. The surviving members have been drawn together to stop Black Manta from taking the last artifact and possibly destroying Atlantis and Arthur once and for all. At the same time, Arthur has been on a mad search for him waiting for the last member of the Others to make it back. The man called Vostok X, a super cosmonaut, has been alone on the moon for the last 6 years without any human contact, obviously. What are thou waiting for? I'm not telling you what happens. That would be spoiling everything.

Again, Geoff Johns' writing is pretty good. He has a way of pulling the reader into the story even though the character's history says we shouldn't care. He manages to weave awesome dialogue into what is already a fantastic story. He doesn't waste time on the right now, but balances between the moment and the bigger picture. Let's be honest, DC doesn't have a fantastic track record for larger arcs unless its some sort of universal event  for that year. Geoff Johns has been blasting that statistic into near-oblivion in the last few years since Green Lantern: Rebirth, joining the ranks of some of DCs greatest scribes, including Alan Moore, James Robinson, Grant Morrison and Neil Gaiman.

The art for this title has been fantastic since the beginning, as one of the few titles to keep the same creative team for almost the entire year. Ivan Reis' pencils, his brother Rod Reis on colors and with Joe Prado, Jonathan Glapion & Andy Lanning as the inking team have done a wonderful job. They've all managed to make the art fit Johns' script. That's a hard thing to do and they've done a sensational job. Big props to these guys. Doing the interior artwork is one thing, but they've also done some truly poster-worthy covers as well.

With this creative team, and Geoff Johns being DC's Chief Creative Officer to boot, how could this have been anything other than an A+? This one of the few comics that I have a hard time waiting the whole month for, but it's worth the wait every time.