DC's Downward Spiral is Marvel's Gain?

Every day I come home from work and check my sites.  I start with Facebook, then my e-mail, and then I check out what comic and entertainment news is happening.  I must say, in these last few weeks a few things, what I have read make it seem like things may be going astray at DC Comics.  Since their New 52 relaunch last year, I've been turned off by everything except Batman, Green Lantern, and Aquaman.  As a long time Superman reader the only comic featuring the Man of Steel I still remotely enjoy resembles Tom Welling.  Now, new things have come to light that makes me feel like things are rotten in the state of DC.

First off, back in June, a much respected comic writer, George Perez, stepped down as writer of Superman.  Perez is most known for his 1985 mini-series, Crisis on Infinite Earths.  He is quoted in saying, "A lot of people were now making decisions.  They were constantly going against each other, contradicting, again in mid-story. I can’t wait to get off Superman. It was not the experience I wanted it to be.”  Perez also expressed frustration with Grant Morrison's Action Comics taking place five years before Superman.  “I had no idea Grant Morrison was going to be working on another Superman title,” he said. “I had no idea I was doing it five years ahead, which means … my story, I couldn’t do certain things without knowing what he did, and Grant wasn’t telling everybody. ‘Oh, my gosh, you’re deciding all these things and you mean even you don’t know what’s going on in your own books?’ So I became very frustrated.”

This all seemed a bit peculiar, but yesterday Rob Leifeld, former co-creator of Image comics and currently writing DC's Grifter, Deathstroke, and The Savage Hawkman, gave his resignation from those titles via Twitter.  "I officially got off the DC52 treadmill this morning,” he wrote, adding, “I believe in what DC is doing, but had to preserve my sanity. I walked off all three books. Can’t wait to see any attempts to spin. I have every email.  I lasted a few months longer than I thought possible. Massive indecision, last minute and I mean LAST minute changes that alter everything. Editor pissing contests… No thanks. Last week my editor said ‘early on we had a lot of indie talent that weren’t used to re-writes and changes … made it hard.’ Uh, no, it’s you.”

Ok, so maybe it's DC Comics and the New 52 staff that are getting frustrated with re-creating these characters and making over 50 years of stories seem cool and fresh.  But let's look at the final piece of this disturbing puzzle.  On August 14, Warner Bros. announced that it was shutting down it's direct-to-dvd company, Warner Premiere.  This company has made DC animated films like Batman: Gotham Knight, Superman:Doomsday, Green Lantern: First Flight, and it's current project, The Dark Knight Returns, based on the famous Frank Miller mini-series.  Warner Bros. said all current projects will be completed, but come Fall, the company will be no more due to the downturn of the home entertainment industry.

So what does all mean?  To me it seems like DC is in trouble.  Sure, The Dark Knight Rises made lots of money, but it didn't come close to beating The Avengers.  Sure, the New 52 campaign started out selling well, but has slowly dwindled and is being out shined by Marvel's Avengers vs. X-Men mini-series.  Their last film before DKR, Green Lantern, was a flop and they put the new Superman movie in the hands of their supposed savior, Christopher Nolan, in hopes of a hail mary pass to try and catch up to the their #1 rival, Marvel Comics. But everyone knows when you make ludicrous plays when the game isn't even close you're only going to fall more behind. 

With the money Marvel Comics made off of their early hits like the Spider-Man and X-Men franchises they invested it in their own studio, and started making their own films.  This gave them financial freedom to not have to pander to corporate executives who've never read a Thor comic book.  DC is still owned by Warner Bros.  One theory behind the failure of Green Lantern was that too many people had a say as to what should be in the film.  When Joss Whedon made The Avengers he wrote his own script, shot the film his way, and it was a blockbuster hit.  The only reason Nolan's Dark Knight franchise has succeeded is because Warner Bros. trusted him enough to make them money.  Too bad they couldn't have had the same faith in Martin Campbell.

As far as the comics go that's just gone.  The New 52 relies on today's teenage BOYS to walk into a comic book shop and like their Superman like they like their Edward Cullen, except everyone except teenage GIRLS hate Edward Cullen!  DC's has alienated readers like myself who have stuck with these characters for twenty-plus years.  Their best titles are the ones they didn't change, like Batman and Green Lantern.  Marvel Comics has gone the opposite way.  Avengers vs. X-Men is rewarding readers who have been with them since 2005's House of M.  Then, after AvsX, Marvel NOW looks like it won't be a reboot, but a fresh stew that mixes up the pot and brings the X-Men into the Marvel main stream after being out of the loop for so many years.  The more I read about Marvel NOW the more I think it'll be good, which is the opposite of what I thought the more I heard about DC's New 52.   If DC wants to get back in the game they're going to have to change their tactics.  Here are a few of my suggestions. 

 

1) Lois and Clark are DC's power couple, put them back together, NOW!

2) Tim Drake should be the Red Robin he was BEFORE he had feathers!

 

3) Marvel spent 5 films building The Avengers.  Don't follow their lead.  I suggest going backwards.  Make a Justice League movie with the relative unknowns: Green Lantern, Flash, Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman.  This will introduce these characters, and the most popular ones get their own film. Then, in the second JLA film, bring in Superman and Batman to draw a bigger audience. 

 

4) Listen to your Chief Creative Officer, Geoff Johns.  He makes a great story.  Just let him do his thing and stay out of his way.

5) Keep Scott Snyder on Batman.  I haven't enjoyed Batman comics like this in years.

 

6) Don't let Grant Morrison write anymore Superman comics.  I'm still trying to figure out how all of the Batman R.I.P. titles fit together.

 

7) People got to know Green Arrow through Smallville, now let people know other DC heroes through Arrow and see what the people like.

 

8) If you want to attract teenagers make a movie about teenagers; hence Teen Titans or Young Justice.  People know who Robin is!

9) Marvel let their writers help in the film making process, not studio executives who couldn't even tell me where Superman is from.  I'm talking to you Jon Peters!

 

10) You don't have to reinvent the wheel, just make it more round.  (I really don't know what I'm trying to say, but it sounds profound, and I wanted to get ten things in here.)

 

So will DC read this blog and contact me on how to save their jobs?  Probably not.  All I know is the facts I've read and the sales numbers I see.  I've been reading comics all my life.  So what do I know?

W4W's BEHIND THE COMICS: X-Men: First Class

Today Marvel and X-Men's fans were previewed to the cover of the new Brian Michael Bendis title, All New X-Men.  As part of the Marvel NOW campaign happening after Avengers vs. X-Men, All New X-Men will be about the original five X-Men coming to the present day Marvel Universe.  Bendis has been writing Avengers titles since 2004 and saw them through Avengers: Disassembled, Civil War, and Dark Reign, but now Bendis says he's ready to step into the X-Men world and mix things up. 

I'm not sure how AvsX will leave the mutant race, but I do know the original five have come a long way since their first introduction back in 1963.  I've always had a soft spot for the fab five.  When they started out they were just teenagers trying to figure out how to protect a world that fears and hates them.  And trust me when I say the drama in their lives since then has put Greek tragedies and soap operas to shame.  They've been government recruits forming the original X-Factor, school head masters and mistresses at the Xavier Institute, Avengers, and even the world's greatest threats.  One of the members is even dead, again.  So before Cyclops and the rest of gang meet their teenage-selves I figure we'd look back and see just how messed up their younger counter parts will think they are. 

HANK MCCOY / BEAST

Hank McCoy used to be a high school quarterback until the people around him discovered he was a mutant.  Neighborhood mobs then tried to kill him so he came to Xavier's school as an escape and too be accepted for who he is.  He started hitting the books and is now considered one of the smartest people in the Marvel U.

While taking a job in a corporate lab an accident left Hank with blue fur all over his body to complete his transformation into Beast.  With this new look came heightened sense, a descent healing factor, and the ability to run on walls and ceilings; kinda like Spider-Man I guess you can say.  But in recent years these side effects are becoming worse.  Hank feral/animal instincts are growing more and more like he's De-evolving and as a brilliant scientist he has yet to find a cure.

Because of his appearance Hank has had a lot of trouble with love.  Most women seem to not like a guy who will shed in the bed.  He had a brief relationship with his lab assistant, then a long term relationship with TV reporter Trish Tilby.  But neither relationship lasted due to the not only Hank's appearance, but his life as a superhero as well.  He's currently dating S.W.O.R.D. (Sentient World Observation and Response Department) director, Abigail Brand.     

In the last few years Hank has broken away from the X-Men, due to not being happy about how is longtime friend, Cyclops has taken the X-Men.  But Hank is back in Westchester, NY at the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning, ran by Wolverine and Kitty Pryde. 

BOBBY DRAKE / ICEMAN

Robert Louis Drake was barely in his teens when his mutant power first manifested.  He was then beaten-up by a mob so the sheriff placed him in jail for his own protection.  He was found by Professor Xavier and given a place where he could let his powers grow and be accepted.  Bobby, being the youngest of the original five, was always the prankster.  Whether he was throwing snow balls at his friends or make jokes at Magneto during a fight, he always lightened the mood.

Throughout the years Bobby has turned into an Omega-Level mutant using his ice manifestation to make himself stronger, have thermal vision, and moisture conversion.  He's also been known to team-up with other young heroes like the Human Torch and Spider-Man back in the day.

When Loran Dane joined the X-Men Bobby found his first girlfriend, but the relationship did no last and Bobby ended up leaving the X-Men to go to college and eventually joining X-Factor with the original X-Men. 

During M-Day, where most mutants lost their powers, Bobby was one of the fallen, but gained them back through still unknown means.  He's tried to live a normal life on several occasions; especially when his dad was almost beaten nearly to death for defending mutants, but Bobby knows, like the rest of his friends, he's a hero at heart.

Bobby is with Wolverine and Hank at Jean Grey's school, but when the AvsX went down he joined back with Cyclops like most mutants, but then has switched back after the Phoenix has manifested itself.  And right before this started Kitty Pryde planted a big wet one on him. Watch it Bobby, her ex is part of the Phoenix Five.

  

WARREN WORTHINGTON III / ANGEL / ARCHANGEL

As heir to a billion dollar corporation Warren had all the time he needed to save people from burning buildings and muggings after he first developing his wings.  Xavier soon recruited him into the X-Men and he started dating Jean Grey, who happened to be in love with another classmate, Scott Summers.  Warren soon gets over it and has had an on-again-off-again relationship with Betsy Braddock, a.k.a. Psylocke, for quite some time.

During his time on X-Factor, Angel was attacked in the Morlock Tunnels and his wings had to be amputated off of him.  Warren makes a deal with the villain Apocalypse to get his wings back so long as he served as one of Apocalypse's four horseman.  Warren soon becomes Archangel, an-evil-to-be reckoned with.  With the help of his friends and some inner strength Warren breaks Apocalypse's hold on him and becomes one of the good guys again.

Years later Warren shed his robotic wings again to regain his natural ones, but then again turns into Archangel years after, much like a man turns into a werewolf.  Warren is now suffering from amnesia after the Dark Angel Saga that almost turned him into the next Apocalypse, but broke him of his Archangel persona.  He is currently being watched over by his long-time friend, Bobby, at the Jean Grey school.

JEAN GREY-SUMMERS / MARVEL GIRL / PHOENIX / DARK PHOENIX / REDD DAYSPRING

She's had more names then Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, but she's deserved everyone one of them.  Jean Grey was Charles Xavier's first student and after teaching her from home for a while he convinced her parents to move Jean to his school in Westchester.  There Jean learned to grow her telekinetic abilities and even develop telepathy like Xavier.  Jean became so powerful that she was a host to the Phoenix force, the most powerful being in all the universe.  However, Jean's human emotions mixed with the Phoenix became a deadly combination, turning her into the Dark Phoenix.  After destroying an entire galaxy with billions of life forms Jean is sentenced to death by the Shi'ar Empire, but kills herself rather than risk harming anyone else.

At the time Jean was dating her long time boyfriend, Scott Summer, a.k.a. Cyclops.  She had always flirted with Wolverine, but her and Scott's psychic link made her believe they were meant to be.  Jean soon rose from the dead; because the Dark Phoenix really wasn't her.  The Phoenix replicated Jean's mind and body after bonding, leaving Jean's original body safely at the bottom of the Hudson River, and found by the Fantastic Four.  

Jean woke to a world that had moved on without her, as Scott was married to another woman and had a son.  After re-joining her friends in X-Factor Jean and Scott rekindled their relationship and eventually got married.  Years later, Jean started developing Phoenix-like symptoms again, but died by the hand of Magneto before the possible return of the Dark Phoenix.

Jean's been dead since 2001, not since Barry Allen has a popular comic book character been gone that long.  With the Phoenix back into play in the Marvel U I feel like Jean Grey could make a come back, and if not I'd hate to be teenage Jean and arrive in the future only to find out you died; twice. 

SCOTT SUMMERS / CYCLOPS / SLYM DAYSPRING

Warren Ellis was quoted in Wizard magazine in saying that when X-Men is all over it'll be Cyclops story.  Scott has been with the X-Men since issue #1 and has never left.  But he's had a hell of a tragic life along the way.  His parents died when he was young, forcing him into lots of bad foster homes away from his brother, Alex.  Scott eventually wound up at Xavier's where he became field leader for the X-Men and fell in love with Jean Grey. 

After Jean's death Cyclops took a leave of absence and met a woman Madelyne Pryor who reminded him so much of Jean, physically.  Scott married Madelyne and they had a son named Nathan.  When Jean Grey returned Scott felt confused, but then news broke that Madelyne was actually a clone of Jean Grey, created by Mr. Sinister to combine their DNA to create the perfect mutant child, Nathan.  Madelyne went nuts and sacrifices herself while trying to stop Apocalypse from infecting Nathan with a techno-organic virus.  She fails and Scott's only way of saving his son is to let his future daughter, Rachel, take him into the future to be raised by himself and Jean under the aliases "the Daysprings".  Once Nathan is almost grown Scott and Jean return to the present, with an adult Nathan following shortly after.

Jean and Scott get married and are happy for a short time, until Scott sacrifices himself to stop Apocalypse.  Jean and Nathan find a way to bring Scott back, but not entirely how he was.  Scott begins having a psychic affair with Emma Frost, the same woman who once helped turn Jean into the Dark Phoenix.  After Jean's death Scott and Emma run Xavier's school together, relocate to San Francisco, and Scott is now assuming the role of leader for the entire mutant race.  I have a feeling after AvsX Scott might not end in such a good position.

And this is just him and Jean.  His daughter Rachel is also back from the future and taking her mom's name, Marvel Girl.  His father who was dead turned out to be alive, and then dead again.  His brother Alex was good, then bad, and then good again.  Finally, he has another brother he never knew about who pretty much has tried to destroy the whole galaxy.    It's not easy being Scott Summers, and that's why I love him as a character.

I'm very interested to see what young Cyclops thinks of his present-day self and where Scott will be after AvsX is over.  Ellis said Cyclops is like the Batman of the Marvel Universe.  He's been training as a superhero most his life, so somehow, I think Scott will be OK; eventually.  

  



My Top 5 New Fall Shows to Watch: 2012 Edition

This past Wednesday, after the Olympics, NBC previewed one of their new fall shows starring Matthew Perry.  Go On is about a radio sports commentator who loses his wife and has to go to group therapy.  While there he meets some strange, and interesting, new friends.  The episode was enjoyable to where I may try a few more episodes, but it definitely had a Community vibe to it; which I'm not a big fan of.

So this got me thinking that it was time to break out my thoughts on this years new Fall shows.  Out of the five shows I picked last year only half are making it to a second season, and only one of those shows I am continuing to watch.  This year I have a feeling at least my top two have a better chance of holding my attention, but in this business you never can tell. 

5. How To Live With Your Parents (for the Rest of Your Life)

Scrubs alumni Sarah Chalke is back on the small screen after her new series last year with Jason Biggs didn't pan out.  This time she's playing a single mom who moves back in with her crazy parents, played by Elizabeth Perkins and Brad Garret.  They seem to embarrass her quite a bit, which of course always leads to good TV.

As a faithful Scrubs fan I'm just rooting for Chalke to finally make a show last after she left Sacred Heart.  The show is produced by the man who brought us Friday Night Lights and Arrested Development, Brian Grazer.  As always, I'm going to watch this first episode and see if I want to watch the second.

Premiere Date: TBD 2013, ABC

Trailer:  http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/how-to-live-with-your-parents

4.  Elementary

With Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law making the classic detective, Sherlock Holmes, cool again on the big screen CBS looks like they decided to cash in on the money train and try a modern interpretation on the small screen.  Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu star as Sherlock Holmes and Joan Watson.  Holmes used to work for Scotland Yard as a consultant, but was put into rehab for his "issues." Now he's out solving crimes in New York and his father has hired Dr. Watson to look after him as he does his thing in the Big Apple.

I always try to like detective shows, but can never seem to stay into them with each episode just about solving one crime each week.  I like Psych, Bones, The Mentalist, but even those are hard for me to keep interest in sometimes.  I want to like Elementary but only time will tell if it stays on my Tivo's Season Pass.

Premiere Date: Thursday, Sept. 27 10/9c CBS

Trailer: http://www.cbs.com/shows/elementary/video/2239231109/elementary-exclusive-preview

3. Animal Practice

Justin Kirk, or Andy from Weeds as I will always think of him, is Dr. George Coleman the best veterinarian in New York, but he also is a little unorthodox.  He loves his job and he helps a lot of animals while doing it, but his ex-girlfriend, played by JoAnna Garcia, is about to spoil his fun.  She's taking over Crane Veterinary Hospital and George either has to adapt or teach Ms. Crane a few new tricks, along with a little help from his strange staff. 

Seeing how Weeds is on it's last season on Showtime I'm rooting for Kirk to make a name for himself on prime time TV.  JoAnna Garcia is cute, and the supporting cast seems like they'll work well for this show.  Plus, who doesn't love seeing a monkey in a white trench coat? 

Premiere Date: Wednesday, Sept. 26 8/7c NBC

Trailer: http://www.nbc.com/animal-practice/video/animal-practice/1401480

2. Revolution

Ever since Thomas Edison sparked the first light bulb electricity has slowly taken over our whole lives.  Refrigerators, cell phones, Ipods, car batteries; what would you do if it was all gone?  That's the premise behind this new show.  New comers Tracy Spiridakos and Graham Rogers play siblings Charlie and Danny, who have lived without electricity for 15 years.  When Danny is kidnapped by militia Charlie must enlist the help of her estranged uncle, played by Billy Burke from Twilight, to get her brother back and maybe find a way to turn the lights back on.

J.J. Abrams is known for helping create really complicated and twisted TV series like Lost and Fringe, so I feel like this show could be fun to watch, but also time consuming.  Sword fights, arrows flying, and the lead character is pretty sweet looking.  I'm in!

Premiere Date: Monday, Sept. 17 10/9c NBC

Trailer: http://www.nbc.com/revolution/video/revolution-extended-preview/1412424

1. Arrow

Gee, what a shock, the show I'm most excited to watch is based on a comic book, I know.  Billionaire playboy Oliver Queen is shipwrecked on an island for five years and he returns home with a new view of the world and a few new skills.  He's looking to make amends of all the wrongs not only in Starling City, but also in his personal life.  But those closest to him may know more about what happened to him than they are letting on.  I say use them for target practice and let the secrets spill!

When last The CW network saw Oliver Queen, a.k.a Green Arrow, he was played by Justine Hartley on Smallville.  Although actor Stephen Amell's character has no relation to Hartley's character or world, Oliver's origins still seem similar to it's comic roots.  In the DC Universe Oliver was an only child who lost both his parents.  In Arrow, he still has a sister and a mother, which I think is a nice twist in this interpretation.  What good is a hero if he has nothing too lose?  I'm definitely not a fan of Starling City; I mean does Star City sound that corny?  In any event, just let his girlfriend, Laurel Lance, let out a Black Canary cry and watch me giggle with glee like a school girl.

Premiere Date: Wednesday, Oct. 10 8/7c THE CW

Trailer: http://www.cwtv.com/cw-video/arrow/arrow--extended-preview/?play=01313a67-8fc4-4cd7-b58f-1d0b6fe0c8a9



The Perks of Being Twenty-Nine

A month or two ago I saw a trailer for a new movie coming out soon called The Perks of Being a Wallflower.  It has Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, Paul Rudd, and all these other actors I know in it.  So I decided to do some more digging and read the book it is based off of.  Now, if anyone who really knows me knows I'm not a big book reader; just ask my wife.  Sure I read comic books and graphic novels all the time, but with books I seem to lack the attention span to keep reading something after 2 or 3 sittings.  Well I started reading this book last night and ended up finishing it in 24 hours; which I don't think I've ever done.

It's a coming-of-age story, which are some of my favorites.  Charlie is an awkward freshman who just lost his best friend to teen suicide.  He then befriends two seniors, Patrick and Sam.  Patrick is gay and is secretly dating the school's quarterback, and Charlie it totally infatuated with Sam even though she has a boyfriend. 

The book is all written in letter form, and each entry starts out "Dear Friend' and ends with 'Love always, Charlie'.  I read that from 2000-2009 The Perks of Being A Wallflower was the 10th most challenged book on the American Library Association's list of most banned or challenged books.  This novel touches on everything; gay prejudice, drug use, child molestation, domestic abuse, sex, love, and rock 'n roll.  Each character seemed to have some kind of tragic quirk that made them unique in this story.

Anyway, I just found the book interesting because it got me thinking about my own high school experience.  Charlie's perspective mirrored some of my own.  I never felt like I was appreciated in high school.  The girls I wanted to date never wanted to date me, my friends used me because I was too good of a person to not be liked, and everything I wanted to talk about just seemed weird or uncool to everyone else.  Then I got to college and realized it was ok to be myself.  In fact, I learned it was great to be myself.  I took classes where we talked about TV and movies all day, and made friends who knew just the 19-year-old version of me and not the kid who threw up on the bus in 3rd grade.  I guess what I'm trying to say is the older I get the more I find the things I thought when I was a teenager were ridiculous. The best parts of my life began after high school.

I keep hearing these teen suicide stories on the news and I just wish someone, anyone, would have just sat that kid down, looked them straight in the eyes, and said, "It gets better; much better. When this is over you're happy life will begin."  I mean if I could go back and slap the 16-year-old version of myself I would.  I'd tell him that Ashley Freshour (sure that spelling is wrong) and Johnna Kingery only said they'd go on a date with you just to be nice, but we both knew they never actually would.  Stop giving people rides and not getting any ass, gas, or grass out of it.  Don't ever do anything Brady thinks is a good idea.  Don't get caught up on some slutty girl who just made out with your two best friends, one behind your back, and one right in front of you.  I'd probably just say something like, "grow a pair son and stop taking every one's shit."

I know I make it seem like I hated high school, but I actually have a lot of good memories with Caleb, Kevin, and Mike. However, I feel my better ones happened at Vincennes with Shaun and Jason or at Ball State with Bryce, Andrew, Al, Theresa, and Lisa. With age may not always come wisdom, but with time definitely comes perspective.

So I guess what this whole rant was about how this book made me think about being a teenager; how it makes us appreciate the life that come after, and how we can't let it define us. Because in the grand scheme of it all it doesn't matter who you were growing up, it's who you are when you're grown.

TRAILER

http://youtu.be/n5rh7O4IDc0



GN REVIEW: Batman: The Court of Owls

The first of DC Comics New 52 graphic novels have started rolling out, a collaboration of DC's revamp/reboot/update on their titles, hoping to freshen things up and bring in new reader.  So far the titles I have enjoyed the most are the ones that have hardly changed; like Geoff Johns continuation of Green Lantern and the Batman books.  Barbara Gordon may have climbed out of her Oracle chair and back into her Batgirl costume, but not much else has changed in the Bat Family, except for everything Bruce Wayne he thought he knew was true. 

In Batman: The Court of Owls Volume 1 Bruce stumbles upon a secret society in Gotham City; the Court of Owls.  The Owls date all the way back to the founding of Gotham and has been pulling the strings ever since; even in Bruce's life.  The Talon, the Owls personal assassin, cages Batman in a maze for days, but Batman always has an escape plan.  Bruce soon discovers this Talon has somehow been dead for decades and is a descendant of his former ward, and brother-in-arms, Dick Grayson.  The deeper Bruce digs into the mystery of the Owls the more his life as Batman seems to unravel.  The book ends on a cliffhanger, promising that the Owls have a lot more trouble in store for the Dark Knight.  

 Writer Scott Snyder is most famous for his Vertigo title, American Vampire. Snyder has done a few Marvel one-shots and DC mini-series, but this is his first ongoing title tackle and I must say I'm impressed.  Speaking as a Superman fan, Snyder has captured what I enjoy in a Batman storyline; a great mystery with a dash of personal drama.  Batman stories that are all about catching the villain leaves me bored, but Snyder has made Bruce uncover something that has rocked his whole life's crusade.  

Aside from re-introducing readers to Batman's friends and foes Snyder also re-introduces Gotham to us from the words of it's citizens to Bruce talking about every part of Wayne Tower.  These descriptions really pull the story together as Batman and the Owls fight for the prize of Gotham City.

Artist Greg Capullo has been drawing Spawn for years, but now shows he's ready for the big time.  His art, mixed with Snyders words, go great together.  Cappullo knows how to keep the Dark Knight in the right shadows, help Sndyer bring Gotham to life, and does a great 2-page spread giving us a tour of the Batcave.  It's almost like I'm watching Batman: The Animated Series all over again.

It looks like the Owls aren't going anywhere, and hopefully neither is Snyder.  I haven't been this excited in reading a Batman title since Tony Daniel had Nightwing try to fill Bruce's cowl.  The team of Snyder and Capullo make Batman comics what they should be; a great detective tale with the colors to match.  If you enjoyed Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy and are interested in reading Batman comics this is a great jump-off point.  Bring on Volume 2!