Batman (vol.3) #37 (2018)

Batman (vol.3) #37 (February, 2018)
"SuperFriends, Part 2"
Script - Tom King
Artist - Clay Mann
Special Thanks - Seth Mann
Colorist - Jordie Bellaire
Letterer - Clayton Cowles
Assistant Editor - Maggie Howell
Editor - Jamie S. Rich
Cover Price: $2.99

Happy Valentine's Day, everybody!  What better way to spend the day... well, besides being with the one you love... than reading about the World's Finest Double Date?

This is the third Valentine's Day we're celebrating at the humble blog... if you're still in a lovey-dovey mood after reading this, feel free to check out the discussions for 2016 and 2017 by clicking a cover below!

Totally unrelated, but... this is the first time I'm discussing a post-post-Rebirth book here on the site.  I was surprised to see that DC has done away with "cover dates".  I mean, the dates are still there in the indicia... but, no longer on the cover.  I gotta wonder if this has anything to do with all of the insane delays over the past several months.  Marvel did the exact same thing around the turn of the century, and the prevailing internet "wisdom" was that they had done so to hide how late their books were coming out.

Anyhoo... that's neither here nor there, just something that stuck out to me because it messed with my "process".

Onward to the tunnel of love...

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 We open at the Gotham City Fair... and, wouldn'tcha know it, it's Super Hero Night!  The Kents and (soon to be) Waynes arrive for an evening of fun... unfortunately, they did so in their civvies.  They're sent away until they comply with the "dress code".  Hey, wouldn't it be funny if... Bruce and Clark swapped superhero costumes?

Well, they're going to do it anyway.

Lois and Selina also trade clothes... which, doesn't completely work for the story... but we're not going to let that stop us.  Selina gets in the geek's face an meows until he lets her in.  Couldn't she have just done that three pages ago?

Anyhoo, now we're inside... and, Hey, wouldn't it be funny if... they all stand around acting all mundane eating corndogs?

Well, they're gonna do it anyway.  They're gonna share some unnatural dialogue too.

It's here that Superman speaks... and I get this odd sense of deja vu.  He's speaking in ellipses and "y'know"s... did I write this?

Onward to the Tunnel of Love, for real.  Lois and Clark share a nice moment where they enjoy each other's company... Bruce and Selina mount each other.

Hey, wouldn't it be funny if... a guy in a Superman costume was getting it on in the Tunnel of Love?

Next stop, the Batting Cages... which we'll be coming back to later.  It's here that Bruce and Clark kinda razz each other about who might be a better hitter.  Clark again engages in, ya know... Chris speak for this bit.

Now, wouldn't it be funny if... Lois was carrying a flask, and she and Selina decided to get drunk while the boys were off playing?

Well, I can hardly believe it, but that's exactly what we're getting.  Really now, Lois carries a flask?  Does she need help?  Doesn't her husband have, ya know... x-ray vision?  Hopefully it's not a lead-lined flask.  Hell, that might actually be funny.

Superman and Batman continue their uncomfortable... and unnatural chat while batting... and by this point, Lois and Selina are like barely conscious.  Maybe there was lead in that flask!

Moving ahead a bit... a dude dressed like The Question runs up and steals Lois' purse... which, is where she keeps her flask... so, this is a pretty big deal.  After Clark x-rays the crowd, Bruce beans "The Question" in the head with a baseball... and that's that.

From here we get a few nine-panel grid pages of... like disembodied dialogue.  The gang is eating ice cream cones and talking... and the whole thing comes across as "try hard cute", if that makes any sense.  It's all very pithy, and self-referential... and, at least for me... totally misses the mark.

And so, our night ends... but not before Bruce and Clark settle up on their little baseball bet from earlier.  They swap into their own clothes and head to a nearby baseball diamond to see if Batman can hit a Super-pitch.  Before the ball is thrown we get some... weird catch-phrase-y taunts... did we accidentally wander into a terrible Saturday Night Live sketch?

Is there such a thing as a non-terrible Saturday Night Live Sketch?

The issue ends with Batman managing to hit the ball.  Wakka wakka.

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Well... I get what they were going for here and it's a cute idea, but I gotta say... I didn't much care for it.

Now I'll concede up front that I'm a little bit behind on my Bat-reading... but, I didn't recognize any of the characters here.  Their voices sounded alien... their interactions, artificial... and, really now... what the hell is up with Lois carrying a flask?  Is that a thing now?

Or... and I know I ran this bit into the ground, but... is the basis of this story, "Hey, wouldn't it be funny if...?" Because any time that's the driving factor of your story pitch, I feel like you need to stop talking right there.

It's a shame because this could have been a fun story if it wasn't trying so hard to be.  Sometimes it's fun to see the heroes in mundane situations... and having awkward interactions with one another... but, when that's all a story is?  Not really feeling it.  And again... what the hell is up with Lois carrying a flask?!  Talk about forcing a square peg into a round hole to facilitate some "funny" scenes.

I dunno... I don't think I need Lois and Selina to become "BFF's".  What's more, I don't think I need Selina knowing Superman's secret identity.  I mean, didn't we just put that genie back in the bottle?

I will say, the art here is really good.  I thought everyone at least looked great!  The superhero-themed background scenery was a lot of fun to check out... and seeing some interesting costumes in the crowd (there was an Alan Scott Green Lantern!) was a real treat!

Overall... wasn't a fan.  This didn't ring true to me, even if I just take it as a "one off".  That stinks because just by looking at the cover, I really wanted to read/like this.  That happens so seldom anymore that a cover can "tempt" me... that it's a shame when the insides don't quite measure up to my expectation.  Anyhoo, to go back to my own unfunny running gag... we'll ask Batman.  Should you go out of your way to check this out?

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 Ol' Beardy looks overjoyed to be wearing his Metal shirt!

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Batman (vol.3) #22 (2017)

Batman (vol.3) #22 (July, 2017)
"The Button, Part 3"
Story - Joshua Williamson & Tom King
Script - Joshua Williamson
Pencils & Inks - Jason Fabok
Colors - Brad Anderson
Letters - Deron Bennett
Associate Editor - Rebecca Taylor
Editor - Mark Doyle
Special Thanks - Geoff Johns
Cover Price: $2.99

Not much of a preamble today... just finished up my thesis, and I'm sort of in a daze.  Ya know, it's strange how things that have the power to take over your entire life just... end.  I hit the "submit" button... and then started thinking "Okay, what do I gotta do next?" and the answer came back... "Nothing."

Weird feeling.  Anyhoo, mo' Button.

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After a quick and dirty Flashpoint primer, we pick up where we left off, with Batman and the Flash find themselves in a very different Batcave.  They are also greeted by a very familiar individual... to both of them, Thomas Wayne... Batman!

Thomas sees his Son, and immediately thinks it's a trick.  He lashes out at the Flash... demanding to know what's going on.  Barry assures him this is no joke... but he's also pretty confused.  The Flashpoint Universe was never supposed to have been... it's an alternate history not world.  He deduces that there's something holding it together, just like the images he and Bruce saw on their way in.

He realizes he needs to fix the Cosmic Treadmill right away... and Thomas warns that time is not on their side.  At that moment, the combined forces of Aquaman's Atlantis and Wonder Woman's Themyscira storm the cave.

The Bats don their cowls to hold back the baddies while Flash rebuilds the mill.  They make relatively short work of them... which really doesn't say a whole lot about Arthur nor Diana's folks.  Thomas asks Bruce if he remembers what he had said when he had rescued him from the cave when he was a child.  At this point, it seems... the Bats realize that there is no joke, and they are Father and Son.

Flash completes the rebuild on the Treadmill... and not a moment too soon.  The Flashpoint Universe begins to unravel... as though whatever was holding it together just decided to let go!  Bruce informs Thomas that he is a Grandfather... and invites him to come back with them.  Instead, Thomas shoves Bruce onto the Treadmill.  Batman and Flash both reach out and implore Thomas to join them... but he refuses.  He tells Bruce to be a Father to his Son, and to let Batman die with him... 

In his last moments, Thomas recalls that time he'd pulled young Bruce out of the Cave.  That day he told his Son that Waynes never stay down... instead, they rise!  Gotta say, I was expecting something more poignant.

Back with Batman and Flash... they are on the Treadmill, when they are passed by... well, lookie here, Reverse Flash.  What's more, he's still holding the Comedian's Button... so, somehow they have reentered the timestream before Thawne "saw God (with a capital G)".  Flash calls out to him, warning him that he will die if he keeps running.  Thawne ain't hearing it, however... he claims to know who the "power of the button" belongs to... and he intends to face him!

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While this was still a tremendous issue, I can't help but feel a twinge of disappointment.  I was just hoping more would happen.  I mean, don't get me wrong, any story that wipes the Flashpoint Universe out of existence is a-okay by me, but I guess I'm just ready to see where this is actually going.  Patience was never a virtue I claimed to have...

For what it was, I did enjoy it.  I feel like the meeting between Bruce and Thomas Wayne was handled decently... even though I'm pretty sure we already had them meeting in Convergence.  Am I remembering that wrong?  Was that a different Bruce?  I dunno... I've eaten and slept several hundred times since I've read that.

The "whispered line" from Thomas to Bruce when he first rescued him from the Batcave?  A little less poignant than I was hoping for.  I thought it was going to be something heartwarming or profound... but, nope... just a "Waynes don't stay down" thing.  Okay.

I don't think I've ever hid my thoughts on how I feel about Flashpoint.  I wouldn't allow myself to enjoy the story/Universe because it was taking away everything I held dear about DC Comics.  I never revisited it... so, it's been (yeesh) six years.  I'm happy to see it wiped out, however... it kinda sucks that they're doing it just when something interesting is happening.

Overall, not a whole lot more to say... it's definitely not my favorite part of this crossover, however I suppose it was necessary in order to display the insane power of whoever is messing with the DCU.

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Batman (vol.3) #21 (2017)

Batman (vol.3) #21 (June, 2017)
"The Button, Part One"
Script -Tom King
Pencils & Inks - Jason Fabok
Colors - Brad Anderson
Letters - Deron Bennett
Associate Editor - Rebecca Taylor
Editor - Mark Doyle
Cover Price: $2.99

Hard to believe it's almost been a year since we saw Batman find that bloody button in the Batcave.  I don't think any of us saw that coming... and I doubt if anyone had any idea where it was headed.

Looks like we're about to find out.  

Should go without saying what follows the double-dashes is gonna be SPOILERY.

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Our story opens with some Arkham Asylum inmates gathered around a television about to enjoy a hockey game between the Gotham Blades and the Metropolis Mammoths.  A blonde inmate, who is probably Saturn Girl, begins to panic... something is coming, and nothing can stop it.  Everyone will die, including... the Legion?  We shift scenes to the Batcave, where it looks like Batman is finally about to start looking into the Comedian's button.

He's also watching the same Gotham/Metropolis hockey game on one of his monitors... a fight breaks out, and it is pretty intense!  Lotsa blood on the ice.  He sets the button down on his console right next to the mask of the Psycho Pirate... and there is some electrical reaction between the two.  It causes Batman to fall back, and when his fog clears, for a brief moment he sees his father... from the Flashpoint Universe!

Batman decides to contact the Flash to further discuss the button.  Barry tells Bruce that he's currently engaged, but he'll be there in about a minute.  Three seconds later, an altogether different Flash appears before Batman.

The Reverse-Flash introduces himself... then proceeds to spend the next several seconds beating the holy hell out of the Batman.  Like, really and truly... beating the hell out of him.  With Bruce on the ground, Thawne finds the note Flashpoint-Thomas wrote to Rebirth-Bruce.  He laughs... and gleefully tears it to bits.

As one might imagine, Batman doesn't really appreciate that... and so, he decides to start fighting back.  Initially, it's futile... Thawne's vibrations don't allow him to be touched.  Batman figures out a "work around" by plunging a batarang into the baddie's foot.

From here the fight is a bit more even, but Reverse-Flash still has the upper hand.  Batman finally slumps to the ground, at the very moment Barry Allen was to arrive.  Thawne picks up the Comedian's button... and blinks out of view for a moment.  Upon return, he proclaims that he'd seen God... all they while, his body degenerates.

The chapter ends with Barry Allen arriving at the Batcave.  He apologizes for his tardiness, and explains that the hockey fight ended in a fatality.  He is shocked to find the battered bodies of Batman and Thawne on the ground.

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Well, hell... yeah, this felt pretty big, didn't it?

I gotta say, between The Button and Superman Reborn, DC has been bringing it with the "event" feel.  I only wish there was more to read here... but, if the worst thing I can say about a book is that I can't wait to read the next chapter... we're doing pretty good, right?

This really felt like a proper follow-up to DC Universe Rebirth #1.  I will say that I was a bit trepidacious when this was announced without Geoff Johns in the writer's chair... but Tom King knocked this out of the park.  Jason Fabok... well, this dude's just a treasure.  Absolutely excellent work here.

When I started reading this today, I really wasn't sure if I was gonna dig the "one-minute" gimmick... but it totally worked.  It added a sense of urgency to the thing, and also served the nine-panel grid they were going with here.  I suppose if we're gonna play with the Watchmen, we oughta go all the way, right?

The use of the Psycho Pirate mask was a neat touch.  Back in Grant Morrison's run on Animal Man, the Pirate was institutionalized in Arkham because he could still remember the multiverse/pre-Crisis DC Universe.  So, if this story sets to weave disparate eras of DC Continuity together... or at least make them flow in an easy to swallow kinda way, it makes sense that the Medusa Mask would cause a reaction with the Comedian's Button.  At least it makes sense to me...

The use of Reverse-Flash feels like a way to help link Flashpoint into the mix, which is fair enough to me.  The next-issue blurb promises to reveal who killed Thawne, so I gotta wonder if we're gonna be seeing a whole lotta blue skin in the next few weeks!

Overall, if you read DC Comics, there's no reason why you wouldn't pick this up.  This is the first week in I-don't-know-how-long that one of the Superman books wasn't on the tip-top of my reading pile... and after reading this, I think I can safely say that The Button will be the first book I read every week for the next few.

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