Batgirl and Robin: Year One

Writers: Scott Beatty and Chuck Dixon
Pencillers: Marcos Martin and Javier Pulido
Inkers: Robert Campanella and Alvaro Lopez
Colorists: Lee Loughridge and Javier Rodriguez
Letterers: Sean Konot and Willie Schubert
Publisher: DC Comics

What’s it about? 
This book collects the first year of adventures of the first Batgirl and Robin.

Robin is Dick Grayson, 13 year old (ish) ward of Bruce Wayne.  As Robin he is the Batman’s partner, bringing fear and justice to criminals across Gotham.  Robin views Batman as a father and is determined to win his love and approval.  When an encounter with Two-Face goes wrong, Batman reconsiders whether Robin has a place in his mission.

 

Batgirl is Barbara Gordon, aged about 18, the daughter of Gotham’s Police Commissioner Jim Gordon.  This story is set a few years after Robin’s.  Barbara works as a librarian, excels at her studies, and wants to be a copper - but everyone tells her she can’t.  Not one to accept other people’s opinions, she attends a costume party in a homemade batsuit, mostly to irritate her Dad, and finds herself stopping a heist.  Thus begins her crimefighting career.

Each story was originally published separately, but the Batgirl one was unavailable for a number of years.

Princess comics

Recently I have met a lot of young girls, baby through to toddler age, and have been reminded of the prevalence of the Princess story for young female children.  There's loads of traditional Princess stories out there - you know, about the passive beautiful sort who wait for a Prince to rescue or marry them and don't actually do much.

Thankfully, there are a few comics out there who challenge this narrative and create an entirely different sort of Princess.  These are:

The Princess - a webcomic about a transgender girl, her crushes, her wish to join the Girl Cadettes, her friends and her family.  It's full of sparkles and rainbows and cheerful art, and full of messages of support for trans kids.  It's called The Princess because the lead, Sarah, always wears a home made crown.  We reviewed it here.

JL8 - also a webcomic, this is a fan comic about the Justice League of America (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern etc) as little kids, all in their costumes and with all their powers.  It's really cute and funny.  Wonder Woman is of course an Amazon Princess and recent strips have been about her birthday party, with her Mum telling everyone she is a Princess.  Wonder Woman is not happy about this.  We reviewed it here.

Princeless - This is an actual print comic about a Black Princess who refuses to hang around in her tower to be rescued by a Prince, and instead befriends her dragon guard, steals some armour and sets out to rescue all her sisters.  It's relatively new and is in its second volume, or story arc if you prefer.  I recommend this to everyone and it's always been well received.  We reviewed volume 1 here.  You can get it in print from your local comic shop and possibly Amazon or Ebay, or buy it digitally from Comixology.

Please try these comics out!  They are fun for kids and adults.

Al images reproduced with kind permission of the creators.

Seen the movie? Now read the book - Batman: The Dark Knight Rises

The last of Christopher Nolan's Batman films came out a few weeks ago and, man, it was good.  It had everything in it that I wanted, and more.  It was more comic-y than the previous two films, which might be why I got so much out of it - but then my non comic reading friends who I went with also loved it.

So of course I now need to give you recommendations for books to read, based on the film.  I'll put everything below the cut because I really don't want to spoil the film for anyone. In short - go see it, it's fabulous.  Then come back here and find out which books you need to read to discover more!

Death in the Family

Batman: A Death in the Family

Writer: Jim Starlin

Penciller: Jim Aparo

Inker: Mike De Carlo

Colourist: Adrienne Roy

Letters: John Costanza

Publisher: DC Comics

Today's guest review is by Jimmy McGlinchey:

Posing as a mild-mannered accountant, the entity known as @JimmyMcG on Twitter is an enthusiastic DC Comics follower who has been collecting DC comics since 1989. Other interests include travel, cinema, television and trivia.  You can follow him on twitter @JimmyMcG.

What’s it all about?

In the 1980s, Dick Grayson had quit his role as Robin to Bruce Wayne’s Batman, moving on up to the persona of Nightwing. His role as Robin was taken over by Jason Todd, a young street orphan who Batman came across when finding Jason trying to steal the tyres from the Batmobile. Todd was a much darker incarnation than Dick Grayson’s Robin, prone to defying Batman’s orders and being rebellious.  In a comic before the “Death in the Family” storyline, it was implied that Jason caused the death of a serial rapist, who, being the son of a diplomat, would escape prosecution for his crimes.

Jason Todd as Robin was not popular with the readers and, with the availability of technology to poll readers, DC Comics decided to use this to promote a storyline whereby the readers decided if Jason Todd should live or die.

As “Death in the Family” begins, Batman makes the decision to bench Jason Todd, fearing his emotional state would cause him injury. Jason, while suspended, makes a discovery that his mother was in fact his step-mother, and that three possibilities of his real mother were located in either the Middle East or Ethiopia. Jason sneaks away to try and locate his mother. However, Batman is also on the way to the Middle East as a certain escaped lunatic has absconded there with a stolen cruise missile in tow….

Batgirl Showcase

Writer: Various, but includes Gardner Fox, Cary Bates, Bob Haney, Frank Robbins, Robert Knaigher, Mike Friedrich
Pencils: Various, but includes Carmine Infantino, Curt Swan, Gil Kane, Bob Brown, Don Heck, Neal Adams
Inks: Various, but includes Don Heck, Dick Giordano, Vince Coletta, Murphy Anderson.
Publisher: DC 

What's it about?
Batgirl, lady crimefighter extraordinare!  Barbara Gordon has a PHD, a brown belt in Judo, and she can best just about any criminal you put her in front of her.  She's the daughter of police commissioner James Gordon and by day she works as a librarian.  When invited to the police masquerade ball she decides to attend in a homemade Batgirl outfit.  However, a series of coincidences lead her to take up the superhero mantle.

The closest thing Barbara Gordon has to superpowers is a photographic memory. Mostly, her talent and ingenuity come from her personality and her athletic skill. As mentioned above, she's accomplished at judo and she's inherited her detective father's investigative nature. Using her Bat themed motorcycle to get around, she solves crimes and thwarts evil doers, on her own, without help from anyone else.

JL8

Little League
JL8

A webcomic by Yale Stewart

http://jl8comic.tumblr.com/

Edit - Since writing this review the comic has changed it's name from Little League to JL8.  Info in post is now updated.

What's it about?
JL8 is an all ages webcomic that takes DC’s premier superhero team, the Justice League of America, de-ages them, and places them in primary school. They attend in costume, and in character, bicker, make friends and encounter vile adversaries such as PE teacher Darkseid!

( From strip #18)

It’s a very simple idea, executed very well. 

Updated review information: Superman/Batman/Supergirl

We've updated the information on further reading in this Superman/Batman/Supergirl review.

Incidentally, did you know that story has been released as a DVD?  They changed the name and called it Superman/Batman: Apocolypse (presumably because the marketing people think girls have cooties) but it is the same story and it's really really good.  It's all ages so would be a great gift for the younger superhero fan in your life.

Justice League #1

Writer: Geoff Johns
Pencils: Jim Lee
Inker: Scott Williams
Colorist: Alex Sinclair
Letterer: Patrick Brosseau
Publisher: DC Comics

Regular cover on the left, variant cover on the right.  We recommend you buy the regular cover so you can avoid looking at a deformed and pin headed Wonder Woman.  The inside of the comic is exactly the same, just the cover is different.

What's it about?
It's the introduction to the new DC Universe.  In an attempt to boost sales and attract new readers to their books, DC Comics have recently undergone a relaunch.  Lovely, this is just the sort of initiative we approve of at New readers...start here!

The story is set 5 years in the past, at a time when the Justice League, DC Comics' premier team of superheroes, is just forming.  It is part of an ongoing story arc, which will probably be spread out over 5 or 6 issues.  This means this issue is just the first part of the story.  Apart from that I will tell you nothing else as it's only 26 pages long and I want to avoid spoilers.

Characters of Colour in superhero comics - the men (part 4)

Aaand we're back to our characters of colour series.  Showcasing the best, most interesting or most prominent characters of colour in superhero comics, and a few other genres besides.  You can read previous entries on women (part one) here, women (part two) here, men (part one) here,  men (part two) here, men (part three) here, the X (wo)men here, non superhero comics here, men part five and finally women (part three) and a Spider-man.

With this entry we're going back to DC comics.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold - The Fearsome Fangs Strike Again!

Writer: J Torres and Landry Walker
Pencils: J. Bone, Carlo Barberi and Eric Jones
Inks: J.Bone, Terry Beatty and Eric Jones
Colorist: Heroic Age
Letters: Travis Lanham, Pat Brosseau and Rob Clark Jr
Publisher: DC 

What's it about?
This is a Batman team up book for younger readers.  Based on the long running Brave and the Bold cartoon, the trade contains 6 issues, each of which sees Batman teaming up with another hero or group of heroes.

In this book Batman works with the Doom Patrol (a group of heroes who have had bizarre accidents leaving them with strange powers), Green Arrow (archer extraordinaire), The Great Ten (China's equivalent of the Justice League of America), Catman (a new character with similar skills to Batman), The Atom (able to shrink himself to fight crime), the Huntress (mafia daughter fighting for justice) and Adam Strange and Alanna (sci-fi adventurers).

They encounter yetis, tentacled many-eyed space octopus's, the moon gang, mis-named unbeatable nightmare mutants, deadly ninja and a force comprised of universe destroying anti matter.

Win a Batgirl comic!

So, there's a blog called Girls Read Comics and they are currently hosting a contest to win the Batgirl Rising trade.  I can highly recommend this book, it is on the list for review on this site and it's a great fun read. If you like the style and delivery of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV show you would probably like this.  Oh, and it's written by Bryan Q Miller who writes for Smallville.  That may or may not encourage you.  I can tell you that people who hate Smallville do like the Batgirl book.  You can read more about the book on Amazon here.

If you want to enter you just need to leave a comment on their post, with the words 'New reader', however I would encourage you to go to the post and read the full rules!

Winners will be chosen this Friday at 7pm EST.

So, if you are interested in getting a free comic, head on over to the Girls Read Comics post and leave them a comment!

NOTE: The competition is not on this site, leaving a comment here won't win you anything (except my appreciation)

Wednesday Comics

Credits:
BATMAN: Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso
ADAM STRANGE: Paul Pope, Neil Gaiman andMichael Allred
THE DEMON AND CATWOMAN: Walter Simonson and Brian Stelfreeze
DEADMAN: Dave Bullock and Vinton Heuck
KAMANDI: Dave Gibbons and Ryan Sook
SUPERMAN: John Arcudi and Lee Bermejo
WONDER WOMAN: Ben Caldwell
GREEN LANTERN: Kurt Busiek and Joe Quiñones
TEEN TITANS: Eddie Berganza and Sean Galloway
SUPERGIRL: Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner
HAWKMAN: Kyle Baker
SGT. ROCK: Adam Kubert and Joe Kubert
THE FLASH: Karl Kerschl and Brenden Fletcher
METAL MEN: Dan DiDio and Ian Churchill
Publisher: DC Comics

What's it about?
14 different short superhero stories, each one told over 14 pages and collected in an oversized, hardback book of 200 pages. All stories are out of continuity, fresh one off narratives that require absolutely no previous knowledge of the character or the DC Universe. It's sort of a love letter to comics through the decades, with the creators kicking back, having fun and developing something that can stand alone in an attempt to show the true essence of each character.

Batwoman: Elegy

Writer: Greg Rucka
Artist: J.H.Williams III
Colours: Dave Stewart
Letters: Todd Klein
Publisher: DC Comics

What's it about?
Batwoman is the latest person to take on Batman's mantle.  Real name Kate Kane, this is her first set of solo stories and is really a two parter - the first story introduces us to Alice, a psychotic woman who speaks only in prose taken from Alice in Wonderland, and the second story is Kate's origin - what events made her the way she is now, how and why she chose to put on the bat mantle.

Kate is a new and rare character, introduced a few years ago she is an out and proud lesbian from a military background.  She has suffered some tragedy but this is not what drives her.  In the costume she's confident and dangerous, out of the costume she's dedicated to the cause and is trying to balance her night pursuits with her personal relationships.

Halloween specials from DC

Usually we at New readers don't feature individual issues but on this occasion we will break with tradition and mention a few.  Here we go...

Each year DC put out special Halloween issues.  They contain several short stories featuring various characters having Halloween themed adventures.  If you wanted a quick and not too expensive way into each publisher's universe, you could do worse than picking up these issues.

DC's book is titled DC Universe Halloween Special 2010:

JLA: Riddle of the Beast

Writer: Alan Grant
Artists: Various
Letters: Kenny Lopez
Publisher: DC 

What's it about?
This is one of DC's Elseworld's titles.  The term Elseworlds refers to books where the characters are "taken from their usual settings and put into strange times and places, some that have existed, and others that can't, couldn't or shouldn't exist".

As for this specific book, it's a straight up fantasy epic.  Robin is a young lad living in Haven, an idyllic community based at the far corner of the world.  Up until 15 years ago this world had only known peace, but then the Beast arrived, bringing forth death and destruction. Once the Beast was defeated the people of the worlds found their trust had been shattered and so they retreated into isolated communities, never sharing news or conversation with strangers. But then Robin receives warning of the return of the Beast, and he is tasked with telling the world so that they can prepare for the coming battle.

Superman/Batman: Supergirl

Writer: Jeph Loeb
Artist: Michael Turner
Colours: Peter Steigerwald
Letterer: Richard Starkings
Publisher: DC

What's it about?
Most of you will have heard of Supergirl - Kara Zor-El, cousin to Superman, only other survivor of the planet Krypton.  You will probably have an image of her in your head, it may be this:

or this:

DC: The New Frontier, Volumes One and Two

DC: The New Frontier Volumes 1 and 2

Darwyn Cooke, Writer and Illustrator

Dave Stewart, Colorist

Jared K. Fletchter, Letterist

What's It About?
In a nutshell, DC: The New Frontier is a re-imagining of how the Justice League of America came to be.  Or, it is the 1950's re-imagined with modern-day sensibilities and social mores.  The reader follows the stories of dozens of DC heroes from the Silver Age of comic books during the mid-1950's, when superhero comics were losing popularity as they cope with both a changing world and a world-changing threat.

The book is a period piece, is heavy on the nostalgia and is set in the 1950's, just before the Silver Age when Golden Age (original) heroes were revamped and updated into the superheroes we know today.  In DC: The New Frontier, you'll see some characters before they became superheroes (such as the Martian Manhunter and Green Lantern) or when they were just starting out (such as The Flash.)  In all, this is Darwyn Cooke's starry-eyed homage to the heyday of the Justice League.

Worlds Finest

Writer: Sterling Gates
Pencils: Julian Lopez, Ramon F. Bachs, Jamal Igle and Phil Noto
Inks: Bit, Rodney Ramos, Jon Sibal, Jack Purcell and Phil Noto
Colours: Hi-Fi and Phil Noto
Letters: Jared K. Fletcher
Publisher: DC 

What's it about?
This trade collects the 4 issue miniseries titled World's Finest, as well as two singular issues of other DC titles, namely DC Comics Presents #31 and Action Comic's # 885.  These two extra issues provide backup stories giving a more in depth look to the characters featured in the main story (the miniseries).  This review will focus on the miniseries.

Traditionally, the World's Finest title is a Superman/Batman team up book.  This version is a little different as it features 4 different team ups between the Superman and Batman families, and so explores the relationships between the heroes.  There is Red Robin and Nightwing (Chris Kent, last seen in Superman: Last Son), The Guardian and the current Robin, Supergirl and Batgirl, and lastly Superman and Batman with everyone else.

Batman: Two-Face and Scarecrow: Year One

Writer: Mark Sable
Penciller: Jesus Saiz
Inks: Jimmy Palmiotti
Colourist: Chris Chuckry
Letterer: Sal Cipriano
Flashback sequence art: Jeremy Haun
Publisher: DC 

Quick note:
This book contains two Year One stories, that of Scarecrow and that of Two-Face.  Both will be recognisable to anyone who's seen The Dark Knight Batman film.  Each story is completely separate and as such, this review will be focusing only on the Two-Face segment.  This is primarily because I bought the Two-Face issues when they were originally released, but not the Scarecrow issues.  However, if you can get the trade cheap, it is worth buying just for the Two-Face story.  
When the Scarecrow issues are obtained, a follow up review will be posted.

What's it about?
DC's Year One books take a look at famous heroes and provide us with stories about their first year of crimefighting.  They usually give us the background of the character, deal with their first fights and provide us with the information and events that shape them into the established characters most DC readers are familiar with.

The character of Two-Face was, for me, one of the highlights of The Dark Knight.  Aaron Eckhart portrayed Harvey Dent's fall from grace with panache and clarity.  The special effects used to create Dent's damaged face were effective and horrifying.  This book provides the in canon story of how Harvey Dent became Two-Face.  It is similar to, but not the same, as the version presented in The Dark Knight.

Superman: Red Son

 

Writer: Mark Millar

Penciller: Dave Johnson and Killian Plunkett

Inker: Andrew Robinson and Walden Wong

Colourist: Paul Mounts

Letters: Ken Lopez

Publisher: DC Comics

Apologies for the delay in posting.  It turns out that accurately predicting the future is not my forte.  That said, enjoy the review.

What's it about?

This is one of DC's Elseworld's titles.  The term Elseworlds refers to books where the characters are "taken from their usual settings and put into strange times and places, some that have existed, and others that can't, couldn't or shouldn't exist".  In this story Superman's rocket from Krypton lands on a Ukrainian Collective farm in the Soviet Union, not a Kansas farm in America.  Subsequently he is brought up as a faithful Communist instead of the more familiar American icon.

His 'S' shield is substituted for a sickle, the Cold War takes a sharp new turn and America becomes the last bastion of capitalism.  Lois Lane never marries Superman and Lex Luthor becomes an American hero.