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In The Beginning...

By: Andrew Hines

Though I haven't reviewed it in a while, I've enjoyed the last year of Stormwatch. It's a big picture title, which really pulls you in. They're not just there to save America or even the Americas plural. They exist in order to deal with big threats before they become a problem for teams like the Justice League. This issue deals with their entire history. It goes from the time that they were known as the Demon Knights and gives a new reason for the name change. In other words it tells us why they're called Stormwatch. The recurring characters throughout the history have been Adam One and the various Century Babies which seem to just be incarnations of Jenny Quantum.

Peter Milligan has given me plenty of reason to love Stormwatch in the few months. He began writing at #9 and has given us plenty of action. In this issue, however, action takes a backseat and the story takes over. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of action, it's just not (the comic book version of) "real time." Instead, we get to see some heavy-hitting past incarnations of Jenny Quantum and Adam One doing his best Benjamin Button impersonation. It's a new look at how to write an origin issue for a super team and frankly, it was an interesting one. I'm not typically a fan of "0" issues, so I was pleasantly surprised by this one.

Will Conrad has done a good job here on both pencils and inks. I say good and not great because at several points, both Jenny Quantum and Adam One begin to look like ReBoot characters a little bit. Overall, however it's a good issue, but those moments kind of stuck with me. There was slightly better work in regard to the effects generated by each version of Jenny. Along with that, the colors from Guy Major were a decent fit. The shading was a tad "off" in certain bits which didn't exactly help correct the ReBoot look.

It was a slightly above average issue in terms of art, but the writing was really what saved it. This one get's a "B-". My faith in the creative team's true potential is all that keeps it from getting a C-range grade.

Crusader in Training

By: Andrew Hines

I'm going to break my own rule and cover an actual Batman issue. I've made due the last few months by not getting  involved with a title directly involving the Caped Crusader. With that being said, this issue gives us something we rarely see in one issue, a glimpse into Bruce Wayne's path to becoming Batman. We all know his origin story, but this is a look at something more special: his training. We've seen a few glimpses from the old DCU and more in-depth in Batman Begins. What we get here is more specialized training with one of his many teachers from across the globe. We also get a new insight into Mr. Alfred Pennyworth in the side story in the back of this issue.

Gregg Hurwitz is another writer I'm not as familiar with. He did surprise me earlier this year with his run on Batman: The Dark Knight. He continues to make a name for himself with this issue, which could have easy seen Bruce bouncing back and forth between various instructors. Thankfully we see a singular instructor somewhere in the Himalayas. As is typical with the Dark Knight, he doesn't find a Mr. Miyagi type of instructor, but rather a cold and disciplined man.

As far as the art on the main story, Tony S. Daniel has done a good job so far. The same can be said for Richard Friend's inks and Tomeu Morey's colors. It's not as dark as the typical Batman issue, but only because that's not exactly who he is yet. The art is consistent from panel to panel. The only real downside is that .... well, there is no downside. It's a good issue from start to finish.

The backup story is just as good, with James Tynion IV as the writer, and Henrik Jonsson as the penciller, Sandu Florea and John Kalisz on inks and colors. We mostly see Alfred waiting for Bruce to return and another character that you need to see for yourself.

Both of these stories have good pacing and some surprising twists. The issue overall deserves an "A-". It's good, but come on, this is Batman we're talking about.