« comic rec: Batman #588 - #590 | Main Index | I would make the most terrible eyewitness. »
05/27/2003: I feel like a sloth.
I didn't do anything today except reading comics, reading fanfic, and watching some tv. I didn't even cook a meal.
Anyway, as I was reading some Batman comics (in the broader sense, my recent reading were some issues of Batgirl, Batman, Detective Comics, Catwoman, Robin, Birds of Prey, and parts of mini-series like Arkham Asylum: Living Hell and the recent Titans/Young Justice crossover) I noticed lots of stuff and started to think about blog entries I might write, but instead of doing that I gave in to inertia and rather read some more comics, with the result that I forgot most of the interesting things I wanted to say. However a few things stuck with me, in no particular order:
- Batgirl #28 illustrated for me why I often find Spoiler so annoying, yet still like the character in a way. I liked the interaction between Cassandra and Stephanie, especially the scene where Stephanie talks about her issues with her dad, how nobody could understand how it is with a supervillain for a father, and then she asks Cassandra about her dad and finds out that it's David Cain. Their conversation finishes like this:
Stephanie: You've been listening to me whine about having the Cluemaster for a dad, when your dad's like...the scariest killer on the planet?
Cassandra: Yeah.
Stephanie: When my dad was mad at me he'd lock me in the closet--what did yours do?
Cassandra: Shot me.
(They both break into laughter.)
Stephanie: Oh, man. I can't beat you at anything.
And that's really the point: Stephanie is all about her awful childhood and becoming a superhero because of her dad's crimes, but really compared to what some of the other characters went through, it's blown out of proportion. Which in a way is realistic, because she's a teenager, and teenage angst is all about being wildly out of proportion, still it can be annoying. But at least in her less self-involved moments Stephanie realizes this. And I liked how she and Cassandra bonded over this, and started to become friends, especially since this was a really hard time for Cassandra with Batman still on the run, and the whole Shiva thing just behind her. But then a short time later Stephanie turns up again, and says that she won't be around for training anymore. I'm not sure yet what to think about this, because I haven't read yet what happens in the Robin title at that time, so I don't know what the "some stuff's come up with... Tim. And other stuff." refers to. It can't be the Spoiler related storyline in BOP around that time, i. e. Black Canary helping Stephanie / Spoiler to deal with her dad, followed by a pronouncement from Black Canary that she won't train her. As I understood it, those events led Stephanie to ask Cassandra to train her in the first place. Anyway, just from this Stephanie doesn't come across as very sympathetic in the way she treats Cassandra.
- I got the story that first introduces Giz and Mouse and how they became a couple (it's a subplot in Catwoman Vol. 2 #28-30, but I mainly got them for Giz and Mouse, whom I like a lot ever since reading Hunt For Oracle), and I wasn't disappointed, they continue to be my favorite minor characters, though they aren't quite as cool back then as they are in their more recent appearances. Still great though, and they have bigger roles there, which is a definite plus. And I really want to find some complete minor character issue index for those two, so that I can track down every issue with them and indulge in fangirl-like squeeing at Mouse, Giz and his squirrel Goober some more.
- I wish I would trust DC continuity more, but when the Joker appeared in the current Hush storyline in Batman (in #613 and #614) my first reaction was to worry how (and even if) they'd explain his sudden escape from the Slab, which after all recently got transported to Antarctica. I mean, recently they changed things in a way that the Joker's escape is a big deal, it can't be done in a simple "The Joker broke out of Arkham tonight." fashion anymore, and in the current Detective Comics storyline, Dead Reckoning, the Joker is still at the Slab. Of course Detective Comics and Batman stories aren't exactly simultaneous outside of crossovers, but still roughly at the same time, so I assume that Hush takes place after Dead Reckoning, and I really hope that Hush will give an explanation for the Joker's escape, after all it's not yet finished, and I truly enjoy the storytelling in both titles right now, though a bit more in Batman.
- The backup story in Detective Comics #776-780 is near the top of the list of the most awful and stupid stuff I've seen recently.
- I like the Montoya storyline about her being involuntarily outed at the PD that started in the two newest Gotham Central issues #6 and #7, though I'm apprehensive about its potential to turn into a very cliched story.
- The current Nightwing storyline is much more interesting and character driven than its advertisement as "Nightwing vs. Deathstroke" made me fear initially.
- I thought the art in Gotham Knights #41 truly sucked, because the style didn't fit the series at all. The inconsequential story wasn't much better, and the only explanation I can come up with for why they would postpone the resolution of the Alfred cliffhanger from Gotham Knights #40 for this is that the current regular artist team needed a break or something.
- The current art in Batgirl is much worse than in previous issues, I hope they'll change teams soon, because I'm starting to like the character, but I won't spend money regularly on something with art like that. Also Superboy is annoying, though I guess he's supposed to be.
