Holy Sidekicks, Batman!

Holmes.  Watson.  Daffy.  Porky.  Mario.  Luigi.  Frodo.  Sam.  Harry.  Ron.  Batman…

The concept of a secondary character in a narrative pre-dates American comic books and has, throughout its use, demonstrated characteristics (and oftentimes flaws) of our heroes.  We, as a reader, know Sherlock Holmes is a good man because Dr. Watson tells us so.  The introduction of The Boy Wonder in Detective Comics #38 in the Spring of 1940 was the first instance of a teen sidekick joining a pre-existing hero.  The function of Robin was to be a window into the world of Batman and to serve as an outlet for exposition for the hero.

I’ve always loved the concept of The Dynamic Duo.  And, while there have only been four “official” Robins, many characters have held the role over the past 76 years.  Here are (in my opinion) the Top Five:

Honorable Mention: Stephanie Brown

Originally appearing in Detective Comics #647 (August 1992), Stephanie is revealed in the following issue as the teen vigilante Spoiler.  Her father is a villain known as The Cluemaster, a retired game show host who intentionally leaves clues (but definitely not riddles) at the scenes of his crimes.  Stephanie learns who her father is and sets out to “spoil” his plans.  When Batman’s current Robin is forced to hang up his cape, Stephanie steps into the role.  She serves as Robin for only a handful of issues before being killed at the hands of the Black Mask during an event titled “War Games”.  Following the DC Rebirth event, Stephanie is alive and appearing as Spoiler in Detective Comics.

#5- Damian Wayne

The concept of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul having a son was first mentioned in 1987 and a version appeared in Kingdom Come in 1996, but it was writer Grant Morrison who named Damian and fleshed out his story.  Grant’s “Bat-epic”, spanning from September 2006’s Batman #655 (the debut issue of Damian) to Batman Incorporated #13 in August 2013, is one of my favorite runs in all of comics.  Different from the other Robins on this list, Damian started not as Bruce’s sidekick, but as Dick Grayson’s.  When Bruce is presumed dead (he was really just trapped in time, because comics), Dick takes up the mantle of the Bat and chooses Damian as his Robin.  When Bruce returns to the role of Batman, Damian remains as his Robin.  Interestingly, Bruce and Damian rarely appear together in present-day comics; Damian is more often found on his own.  It’s because of this lack of appearance together on the page that The Grandson of the Demon landed the lowest on the countdown.  Damian can be seen as the leader of the Teen Titans (currently being published) and teaming with Jon Kent, the son of Superman, in their forthcoming series Super Sons.

 

#4- Jason Todd

Three characters have altered the landscape of Batman comics in a monumental way:  Thomas Wayne, Martha Wayne, and Jason Todd.  And all they had to do was die.  First appearing in Batman #357 (March of 1983 and becoming Robin later that year in December’s #366), Jason was caught by Batman attempting to steal the tires off the Batmobile.  The introduction of this new Robin was not dissimilar from that of the original.  By 1983, the original Robin had moved on from appearing as Batman’s sidekick and become the leader of DC’s teen team, the Teen Titans.  Seeing a need still for the “window for the reader” a second Robin was created.  This new Robin was unlike the original in that he was more brash, he was hot-headed, and he was rebellious.  The fan backlash was overwhelming, it led to DC Editors allowing the fan base to decide the outcome of a comic.  “A Death in the Family” was a story published in Batman #426–429 in 1988.  At the conclusion of #427, Jason was beaten by The Joker and left to die in an explosion.  The inside back cover of the issue listed two telephone numbers that readers could call to vote for the character's death or survival.  The outcome was a slim-margin, but was in favor of the Boy Wonder’s death.  DC Editor Denny O'Neil is quoted as having said that hundreds of votes to the “Jason Dies” line came from a single person.  "I heard it was one guy, who programmed his computer to dial the thumbs down number every ninety seconds for eight hours, who made the difference".  Jason’s death would devastate Batman and would inform his mentality toward sidekicks for a period of time following this.  While DC upheld its mandate to not revive the character, the publisher relented in 2005 as Jason was reintroduced as the Red Hood, a murderous vigilante.  Jason’s rebirth effected Batman nearly as equally as his death.  The two characters would remain adversarial for several years before Red Hood would rejoin the Bat-Family.

#3- Carrie Kelley

The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller’s seminal work on Batman depicted a retired Bruce Wayne putting back on the cowl to defend Gotham once again.  Batman comes out of retirement to defeat a gang of mutants (it was the 80s…) but, as he quickly learns, he isn’t as capable as he once was.  His first encounter with the Mutant Leader ends with Batman being saved by a young girl with neon shades and a slingshot who was inspired to put on the Robin costume by the Dark Knight’s return.  Carrie helps Batman in his newly waged war on crime and helps Bruce Wayne overcome obstacles to become Batman once more.  Despite having the fewest number of appearances, Carrie is significant in that each of those appearances were in one of the most groundbreaking Batman stories of all time.

#2- Dick Grayson

With the most appearances in comics, movies, video games, television, radio, and animation, Dick Grayson is Robin.  Grayson held the title of Robin from his first appearance in the Spring of 1940 to his transition to Nightwing in July of 1984 - over half of the existence - making him the longest tenured character in the role.  Grayson serves as the shining light in the dark mythos that is the Batman universe.  Coming into Batman’s world following the death of his circus performer parents, Grayson’s acrobatic abilities made him perfectly suited to become Robin.  Due to his charming and outgoing personality, Grayson is viewed as a leader in the superhero community, oftentimes, more so that Batman himself.  Due to his iconic status, Grayson is considered by most to be the definitive Robin.

#1- Tim Drake

My personal favorite, however, is Tim Drake, the third Robin.  Tim earns the opportunity to become Robin after deducing the identities of Batman and Robin.  Being that Tim’s first appearance was in Batman #436, about a year after the death of Jason Todd, Batman forced Tim through rigorous, intensive training.  This was done not only for story purposes, but also to avoid the same backlash Jason received.  And evidently it was successful, as Tim went on to serve as Robin from 1989 to 2009 when he relinquished the role to Damian and assumed the new identity, Red Robin.  Tim is my favorite for sentimental reasons (he was the Robin of my adolescence), yes, but he is also the ultimate Batman prodigy, having been called “Detective” by Ra’s al Ghul, a moniker previously reserved for Batman himself.  Currently, he serves in the Red Robin role as part of Batman’s team appearing in Detective Comics.

Thanks for reading!

-Josh

Batman, related characters, and images in this blog are owned and trademarked by DC Comics, a division or Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc.

A Good Death? There's No Such Thing...

In 1986, The Dark Knight Returns was released to nearly overwhelming critical acclaim.  The near-dystopian future painted by writer/artist Frank Miller depicted an aged Batman, who had long since retired, donning the cape and cowl again.  This, unprecedented, prestige format, four-issue book influenced a generation of fans and made its mark on pop culture, being adapted, not on into its own animated feature, but serving as story inspiration for both The Dark Knight Rises and next year’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

In 2015, it is Miller who returns, this time as co-writer (along with Brian Azzarello), on a brand new outing featuring his take on the Dark Knight.  Available in comic shops today, Dark Knight III: The Master Race starts in a similar fashion to the original Miller story: Batman has been out of action, now he’s back.

This first issue reads quickly, but serves its purpose to set up the following issues.  The hallmarks of Miller’s Dark Knight Universe are all there: political commentary, talking heads, weird future slang, and neon lights.  Just as The Dark Knight Returns features Superman heavily, this issue features Wonder Woman.  I’m sure the role the Amazon Princess plays in this story will be fleshed out a little more in upcoming issues; her appearance here felt like nothing more than an action sequence.

One of the more cool things about this was that the middle of the book contained a small (pun intended) interlude.  A mini-comic starring The Atom is attached to the inside of every copy of Dark Knight III: The Master Race #1.  If you’re wondering what “master race” the title refers to, my thought is that you need look no further than this mini-comic.

The art of the book evokes Miller’s style quite well, despite being drawn by Andy Kubert.  A lot of this could probably be attributed to Klaus Janson (Miller’s original inker on TDKR and current inker on Superman), who joins the creative team on this book. 

Ultimately, I’d say that this will read extremely well in a collected edition, but with an event nearly 30 years in the making such as this, who could wait?  Head to your local comic book retailer and pick up issue #1 (and one of it’s 70+ variant covers) today.

Thanks for reading!

-Josh

Batman, related characters, and images in this blog are owned and trademarked by DC Comics, a division or Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc.

"Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated"

As it tends to do, life has gotten in the way recently.  Creative energies have been focused elsewhere (predominately on the web series that I’m in the midst of writing and kicking off production soon!), but there were entirely too many great comics I read this week to not do a few quick, spoiler-free reviews.

Batman #44

Cover art by Jock

I’m amazed at how this book has maintained its high level of quality since launching in September 2011.  With the same creative team (writer Scott Snyder and artist Greg Capullo) at that.  It is a testament to how well these guys mesh.  This issue, however, sees the artistic talents of Jock (one of my personal favorite Batman artists) filling in for Capullo.  The current ongoing story in the main Batman title centers around the replacement of Bruce Wayne by the Gotham City Police Department-backed Jim Gordon as the new Batman.  This issue in particular serves as a flashback of sorts and highlights part of the origin behind the villain with whom the new Batman is facing off in present day, Mr. Bloom.

I loved seeing Bruce back in the cape and cowl, even if it was a flashback.  Even at $4.99 (a dollar jump from the normal price), the sustained quality of the issue made it well worth the price of admission.

Star Wars: Shattered Empire #1

Cover by the always impressive Phil Noto

On December 18^th of this year, the dreams of many a Star Wars fan will come true, as the seventh installment of (arguably) the biggest cultural phenomena hits theatres.  Having only seen two or three trailers with maybe three minutes of footage total, I know I’m already pretty jazzed for it and I’m not even a Star Wars guy.

The Walt Disney Corporation acquired Lucasfilm in late-2012 and, already having Marvel Entertainment (a.k.a. Marvel Comics) under their umbrella, it only made sense to utilize a team-up of both of those entities.  Earlier this year, Marvel launched several new comic book series’ under the Star Wars banner: a main book simply titled Star Wars, Darth Vader, and two mini-series, Princess Leia and Star Wars: Lando, all in a post-A New Hope setting.  With the release of Episode VII: The Force Awakens looming, Marvel (and Disney) are setting the stage for the grandiose return to a galaxy far, far away with "Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens".  The multimedia "event" is a compilation of novels, children’s books, technical manuals, and… You guessed it, comic books.

This series, Star Wars: Shattered Empire, takes place during and directly after the end of Return of the Jedi.  Penned by superstar writer Greg Rucka, Shattered Empire will run four issues and lay the groundwork for the opening to The Force Awakens.  Like I said, I’m decidedly not a Star Wars guy, but this was an amazing book.  Looking forward to issue #2 in two weeks.

Action Comics #44 & Batman Superman #24

Action Comics #44

I’m lumping these books together because of the shared nature of the story.  Along with the main Superman book and Superman/Wonder Woman, Action Comics and Batman Superman are all telling various aspects of the same “Truth” storyline: Superman’s secret identity having been revealed to the world.  Writer Greg Pak, has wrapped up what seems to be the opening block of this comprehensive story in a great way.  I love how interwoven all four of the Superman-titles have been over the past couple of months.  Seeing the interactions between Clark and the new Batman, Jim Gordon, was fun, but ever so slightly forced.  That notwithstanding, the stage now seems to be set for the showdown between Superman/Clark and the true villain behind his troubles since even prior to his identity being revealed.

Batman Superman #24

Greg Pak, as I mentioned, is doing great, but Action Comics artist Aaron Kuder is killing it.  The addition of veteran artist Howard Porter to both Action and Batman Superman only made the reading experience all the better, in my opinion.  I have to say that, in all my years of reading comics, this is the first time I’m not only enjoying, but also looking forward to, Superman comics.

Star Trek Green Lantern #3

Not the greatest cover ever...

I don’t want to give a single thing away, so all I’m going to say is this:

The last page is the first time (I think ever) a comic book has made me say “oh shit” in anticipation of what comes next.

If you only pick up one of these books, my endorsement has to go to Batman.  But if you’re a Star Wars fan, Shattered Empire is an absolute must.

Thanks for reading!

-Josh

All characters, and images in this blog are owned and trademarked by DC Comics, a division of Warner Bros., Marvel Comics, a division of The Walt Disney Corporation, and Paramount Pictures, a division of Viacom.

SDCC 2015: Rounding Up All the News and Announcements

I greet each and every July with equal parts excitement and sorrow.  July is home to Comic Con International, a massive comic book and entertainment media convention held annually in San Diego.  The event has grown to gargantuan proportions since the first, one-day dry run in 1970.  Tickets sell out months in advance and hotels are booked to capacity.  Thus my sorrow.  Every year produces a cornucopia of news and announcements to get genre fans jazzed for the following year.  This year was no different.

The biggest thing coming out of Hall H (the main theatre at SDCC) was undoubtedly the debut of the new Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice trailer.

For someone who prides himself on skills of oratory nature and use of the written word, I am left speechless.  Granted, I am biased (DC over Marvel and Batman over, well, everything), but this trailer was simply amazing.  Since the film was announced, I’ve said that the “versus” part of this title will only last 30 minutes of the movie (maybe the entire first act), before the eventual team-up to take on the true villain.  After this trailer, however, I’m backpedaling ever so slightly on that claim.  The team-up is still inevitable, but I’m thinking our heroes will be at odds for longer than it takes for you to finish that popcorn and $15 Coke.  Either way, I can’t wait until March 25th of next year.

Supplemental information on Ben Affleck’s future as Batman is making its rounds on the rumor mill.  We know he will appear in Suicide Squad (a film that saw a trailer debut as well) in at least a cameo, but the new tidbit to speculate on is that Ben is co-writing alongside DC Comics writer Geoff Johns (Justice League, Green Lantern, Batman: Earth One) and will direct a solo Batman film with a targeted release of 2018.  If true, this has the potential to be the greatest Batman film thus far.  Geoff Johns would not be my first choice to co-write a Batman script, but Affleck’s writing is solid; look no further than Good Will Hunting and The Town.  The idea that he will direct the movie has me more excited than anything.  2012’s Argo, Ben’s most successful movie to date, garnered (no pun!) the filmmaker Golden Globes, BAFTAs, and Academy Awards in the Best Director and Best Picture categories.  I hope there’s truth to this rumor.
 

"Desert Batman" promo image released earlier today

From the comic book realm, both of the Big Two (DC and Marvel) made big announcements concerning their publishing lines for the upcoming months.  The biggest of which (in my book) was the reveal of a new series and a crossover event.

Batman & Robin Eternal, a sequel to last year’s Batman Eternal, will be a weekly series set to launch in October and run for six months.  The series looks to highlight all of Batman’s current (and some past) sidekicks.  October will also play host to a crossover event titled Robin War.  A five-issue event, the story will run through Robin: Son of Batman, Gotham Academy, We Are Robin, with two Robin War issues book-ending the event.  No details were available other than that, so I don’t know the premise of the event.  What I do know is that these two events are in celebration of The Boy Wonder’s 75th Anniversary which takes place this year (Robin first appeared in Detective Comics #38 in 1940).
 

The Evolution of Robin through the ages

Over on the television side, AMC revealed trailers for both Season Six of The Walking Dead and the debut season of Fear The Walking Dead.

Also shown in Hall H was the trailer for Heroes Reborn, the revival of the popular superhero show that ran from 2006-2010.

DC Comics’ shows on The CW had a great showing at the convention as well.  The Flash confirmed the debut of Jay Garrick (to be played by Teddy Sears) for Season 2 and revealed its central villain in Zoom.  Arrow welcomes the casting of Neal McDonough (who plays Dum Dum Duggan in the Marvel Cinematic Universe) as Damien Darhk.  Perhaps the coolest thing, though, was Stephen Amell taking the stage in Hall H to reveal Oliver Queen’s new costume and the fact that he referred to himself as the Green Arrow.

 

Green Arrow's Season Four costume

Back in the comic world, Marvel announced a crossover event for their Star Wars and Darth Vader books titled Vader Down.  The story, co-written by Jason Aaron and Kieron Gillen with art by Mike Deodato and Salvador Larroca, will feature the Dark Lord of the Sith being trapped behind enemy lines, leading to a showdown between Vader and the Rebel Alliance.
 

Cover art for "Vader Down"

Part of its initial slate, Marvel’s Star Wars line featured a Princess Leia limited series.  This was followed by a limited-series starring Lando Calrissian (simply titled Lando).  Marvel will follow this trend of launching a new limited-series when the other ends.  Chewbacca, written by Gerry Duggan and drawn by the incomparable Phil Noto, launches in October.
 

Chewbacca #1 variant cover by Phil Noto

One of the seminal works featuring Batman is Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns.  It has influenced the character in some way, shape, or form since its debut in 1986.  Miller, who was inducted into the prestigious Will Eisner Hall of Fame this past weekend, will finalize his trilogy with The Dark Knight III: The Master Race.  Co-written with Brian Azzarello with art by Andy Kubert and long-time Miller collaborator Klaus Janson, the edgy-titled series will have eight-issues, with no release date announced other than "Fall 2015".

Back in November, I got the opportunity to meet the iconic artist and legend that is Neal Adams.  When I asked Neal what he was working on at the time, all he would tell me is that he was working on a New Gods (a near-omnipotent race of legitimate gods in the DC Universe) book.  Over the weekend, the series, Coming of the Supermen, was announced.  Essentially billed as “Superman vs. the New Gods”, the series launches in October.  It will be joined by several other Superman related series- Superman: American Alien, a telling of Clark Kent’s formative years; Superman: Lois & Clark, an alternate Earth story spinning out of the pages of Convergence; also coming out of that event will be Telos and Titans Hunt, a series uniting the original Teen Titans.

Lighting round:

• Grant Morrison will return to the Bat-world with Batman: Black & White, a multi-issue series and a list of “superstar artists” attached.  It was also announced that Grant will pen several original graphic novels serving as sequels to his alternate Earth-spanning series, Multiversity.  These books will each have subtitles, but will have the umbrella title: Multiversity Too.
• DC Universe Animated Original Movies will release an adaptation of the classic Batman story The Killing Joke in 2016.  So excited for that.  Also, two new animated series were announced: Batman: Bad Blood and Justice League vs. Titans.  No other details on the series were available.
• Barnes & Noble announced plans to double their comic and graphic novel section in each of their stores across the country.  I’ll always encourage the purchase of books in a local comic shop to help support retailers, but the more available products are to consumers, the better.
• The CW will expand their comic book television shows to include a live-action Archie show.  If the series takes cues from the recently released Archie comic by Mark Waid and Fiona Staples, it’ll be astounding.
• Batman meets The Avengers (no, not those Avengers).  A crossover in the Batman ’66 comic featuring the British agents of the same decade.
• The previously announced Green Lantern film slated for 2020 has been revealed to be a Green Lantern Corps film.  That will be cool.
• Continuing the Earth One graphic novels (so far there have been three volumes of Superman, two of Batman, and one Teen Titans), two more OGNs were announced:  Aquaman: Earth One (by J. Michael Straczynski) and The Flash: Earth One (by Francis Manapul).  The Earth One original graphic novels serve as alternate origin stories for these characters.
• IDW Comics announced an “Academy” comic book series to accompany their current Star Trek line.  This new series will feature Kirk, Spock, and Uhura during their Starfleet Academy years on Earth with “familiar faces” appearing throughout.
• While Marvel Studios took this year off, 20th Century Fox did not.  The “final” trailer for August’s Fantastic Four was shown alongside debut trailers for X-Men: Apocalypse and Deadpool.

I didn’t cover even close to all of the news and announcements out of San Diego this past weekend, but the highlights are here.  I have to say that I am overly excited for the things to come later this year and into 2016 (and ’17 and ’18 and…)

Thanks for reading!

-Josh

Sources: Comic Book Resources; Wikipedia; Newsarama

All characters, and images in this blog are owned and trademarked by DC Comics, a division of Warner Bros., Marvel Comics, a division of The Walt Disney Corporation, and NBC Universal, a division of the Comcast Corporation.