Week of 5/29 Comics Reviews: Comics are Winning!
Detective Comics #1085 written by Ram V with art by Stefano Raffaele, backup story written by Alex Paknadel with art by Christopher Mitten
“...My endeavors were about something bigger than my own past.”
Batman’s revived crusade against the Orghams continues. He is picking up momentum and for the first time in the whole run, the Orghams are on the back foot as they struggle to hold their operation together. It’s clear now that the Orgham queen has come to blame Batman for the death of her son, Arzen, despite having murdered him herself. The clan’s mission has been built on a deluded sense of self-righteousness since the beginning and that utter lack of self-reflection will likely end up their downfall. As they discuss their plans, we’re given a hint of yet another strange object that may be crucial to their endgame. While they may be at a disadvantage, they have yet to play their last card. In the meantime, Batman strikes another Orgham facility. His suit has changed since the previous issue as he dons a metal breastplate painted with a twisted red bat, creating the impression of a demon prepared for war.
We’re given a bit more insight into Batman’s mental state after his experience in the desert as he walks Jim Gordon through one of his bunkers. Reconciling with his demons has given him a renewed sense of strength and vigor. As always it is unclear how much of that boost is psychological rather than mystical. As nice as data sheets and wiki articles detailing every aspect of a character can be, it’s refreshing to be reminded that stories, much like life, can be strange and don’t require a perfect understanding to be satisfying. This has been a strange book and Batman sitting in an armchair explaining everything that’s happened over the run would not be doing it justice. The important thing is that Batman has found some peace with his inner demons whether they are metaphorical or not. It’s given Batman, as Bruce, an opportunity to step outside of his trauma and see what his mission means for others as well as the power that his symbol has taken on. The result appears to be a more forward-thinking Batman who is not going to be so easily thwarted. The Orghams attempted to throw him into the fire but, rather than melting, he’s come out reforged and stronger than ever.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the opening scene with Selina and the Joker. She’s come to him for help, though it’s hard to imagine how she can expect anything good or positive to come from it. She’s worried that Batman and the Orgham’s are both forces of order and that Batman isn’t ready to face someone on his level. Of course, if there’s anything Gotham has in abundance, it’s chaos. The Joker, for the most part, appears disinterested in joining the fray, content to sit alone all by his strange self. Joker is a consistently inconsistent character and Ram V plays into that with dialogue that gives nothing of his motivations or feelings. He reacts to what Selina says with pleasure, displeasure, and sometimes something all together different, but there’s no sense of what’s actually going on in his head. The exchange culminates in one of my favorite lines from the issue, but I’ll leave that for you to discover yourself.
Despite Selina’s worries that Batman is purely a force of order, the reborn crusader does not seem to hesitate to tap into the city’s chaos. He first pays a visit to the obscure “Maestro” who he’d consulted with earlier in the run when all he had to go on was a strange piece of music. It’s here that he begins to verbalize his plan to strike back at the Orghams. It’s fairly straightforward in concept and it will be interesting to see what wrinkles appear between now and the plan’s execution. With that out of the way, he pays a final visit to Mr. Freeze. Freeze has been a dark horse of this run, helping and harming the heroes in equal measure. Batman picks up an unfinished conversation and makes it clear that Freeze will have a major role to play in the finale, though which side he’ll be on is anyone’s guess.
In contrast to last issue’s abundance of light, this issue is a return to the shadows. Of course, that’s hardly a complaint considering how amazing Stefano Raffaele’s Batman looks in the shadows. In most scenes, Batman is a walking shadow save for the demonic red bat painted on his chest. Black and red are such a good color combination for Batman that it’s amazing how rarely we’ve seen it outside of Batman Beyond. We get quite a bit of action in this issue too as Batman strikes Orgham facilities and later gets to duke it out with Mr. Freeze. Raffaele is nailing the action scenes and drawing a Batman that looks like a powerhouse when he’s flying through the air or breaking through a wall of ice. I sincerely hope we get more of his art before the end of the run.
The issue also features a Mr. Freeze backup story by Alex Paknadel and Christopher Mitten. Mr. Freeze visits an old friend whom he’d met during his early days as the costumed villain “Mr. Zero”. It’s absolutely delightful to see such a deep cut in comics history being woven into the modern history of the character. Freeze has gone through countless interpretations over the years, going from “loving husband” to “creepy stalker” to “good man in a bad situation” to “remorseless sociopath”. This story feels like a distillation of all those incarnations as Freeze speaks with his old friend, Magda, looking for a reason to save the city rather than destroy it. The old friend was a social activist Freeze met while on the run in his early days. Rather than turn him in, she gave him refuge and they spent the night discussing philosophy. Given their first meeting, it’s easy to understand why Freeze would come to see her as a moral compass. Unfortunately, Magda has left her activist days behind her and become a lobbyist. Based on the phone call she was having before Freeze showed up, she’s the last person he should be going to for moral guidance. Their conversation ends with Freeze making a decision which will surely have consequences in the main story and the issue ends with an utterly haunting image I’ll be thinking about for a long time to come.
At this point, if you’re not already in on Detective Comics what are you even doing? This run is absolutely fantastic and filled to the brim with fascinating Bat-lore. The stage appears to be set for the climax of the story, but it still remains to be seen if the players are ready to play their parts. Each issue has been a visual treat and #1085 is no different with action-aplenty. Do yourself a favor and check out Detective Comics #1085. It’s not every day you see a classic in the making.
Ultimate Spider-Man #5 written by Johnathan Hickman with art by David Messina
“...Everyone wants to be a hero until it actually costs something.”
Rather than picking up after the previous issue, #5 starts a year prior to the first issue with a conversation between Norman Osborn and his son Harry. Norman has long been considered to be Spider-Man’s arch-enemy, and it’s unclear just how much this Norman shares that DNA. If his conversation with Harry is anything to go by, he’s harsh and ruthless but “evil” might be a stretch. Of course, it doesn’t seem to matter at this point since, as readers of the first issue will know, an explosion killed both Harry’s parents in the middle of that conversation. From there, we are presented with the origin of Harry as this new, heroic version of the Green Goblin. The issue covers the key events for Harry from then until the present day, giving us a new perspective on moments we’ve seen along with more insights into the cabal running this hero-less world.
Within a year of Norman’s death, Harry finds himself in possession of Oscorp and, after a meeting with Wilson Fisk, the remnants of Stark’s company. After an intensive dig through Stark’s building, Harry discovers an array of Iron Man suits along with a collection of files explaining just what has gone wrong with the world. From there, his mission becomes one of revenge against the people who killed his parents and stole the world’s future. This, of course, leads to his encounter with the recently empowered Peter Parker and we finally get to see them having a drink together after their first meeting. The contrast between Harry and Peter is immediately made apparent in their conversation. Peter is a humble family man who felt something missing from his life and now desires to do good with the powers he’s been given. He isn’t motivated by tragedy or a personal failing like his mainstream incarnation. As a result, his goals are more altruistic but also unfocused. On the other hand, Harry is a man who has been raised to move mountains. He is accustomed to power and has the will and resources to use it with maximum effectiveness. He’s also driven by a very specific and personal tragedy in a way similar to OG Peter. He’s ready to take on the world and Peter is being dragged along in his wake.
Mainstream Harry has been all over the place on the alignment charts, but, more often than not, he tends to fall on the villain side. This Harry is ruthless and angry and as we see by the end, is willing to perform some dubious actions if it means achieving his goal. Of course, it’s hard to blame him considering the forces opposing them. It will be interesting to see if Peter can keep him from crossing the line and help him become a hero or if he’s doomed to fall into the same cycle as his original counterpart. It may not be too long before we find out as the next issue looks to be taking us into the heat of the conflict.
David Messina is filling in as guest artist this week. Compared to last issue which was entirely built around un-costumed people talking, this issue is far more action packed and he delivers in full. The Green Goblin suit looks great and is full of technological detail contrasting it with Peter’s simplistic and iconic Spider-suit. The action scenes look great too as we get to see Green Goblin sending a villain flying.
This issue was a quick read, but it’s filled to the brim with characterization giving us more insight into this new version of Harry Osborn. Hickman is continuing to play with the readers’ expectations regarding these characters and even though we may seemed teed-up for a familiar turn of events, it’s becoming increasingly clear that we’ll receive anything but. Ultimate Spider-Man continues to capture the essence of the character while telling a wholly original story and it’s got me more excited for a Spider-Man comic than I’ve been in the last decade. I whole-heartedly recommend checking out this book because it won’t be long before everyone is talking about it.
Dawnrunner #3 written by Ram V with art by Evan Cagle
Dawnrunner continues to be something wholly unique and fascinating as Iron King pilot Anita Marr continues to dive into the memories of Ichiro Takeda, a soldier from centuries prior who experienced the original arrival of the monstrous Tetza. He’s just found his children and is now trying to shepherd them somewhere that could even be remotely considered safe now that the world has gone insane. Throughout his journey, he now finds himself accompanied by a voice from the far future. Despite the time-gap, the two single parents easily bond over their feelings towards their children. Unfortunately, that bond seems to be having side-effects as Anita finds her consciousness integrating even more with the Dawnrunner.
Meanwhile, Andro Lestern watches events unfold from a distance. His motivations seem to be end-stage capitalism incarnate as the Dawnrunner’s performance wins the attention of the crowds and brings his competitors to his door hoping to make use of his technology. It still raises the question of how this technology has come to be in the first place. He seems confident that none of his competitors would be able to reverse-engineer it within a century which seems to speak to some sort of unique resource on his side.
The issue covers the span of nine weeks emphasizing just how much Anita is losing herself in the Dawnrunner. Her performance has skyrocketed as we see her dispatching a Tetza with far greater ease than her rivals, but it’s coming at the cost of her personal life as she realizes she missed the last check-up for her daughter, Ana, whose condition has taken a turn for the worse. It leads to her finally being able to have a heart-to-heart with Cat, her friend and technician, who tries to help her remember that there’s more to her life than the Iron Kings and the Tetza. It also becomes clear from her reaction to Anita’s comments about Ichiro that there may be more to their relationship than simply sharing memories. However, there’s no time to dwell on those implications as the massive portal known as Desgarron activates and something new and strange emerges. It may be a coincidence, but it seems likely that it has to do with the Dawnrunner, though how it could be affecting the portal is anyone’s guess.
Evan Cagle is a difficult artist to praise because he excels so much that it often ends up being the same comments of “amazing” or “fantastic” over and over. His work truly is astonishing though. This book has become increasingly mind-bending and his work portraying the overlapping consciousnesses of Anita and Ichiro is truly a sight to behold. The book is full of strange and unfamiliar visuals that fill each page, but they never feel cluttered or unfocused. In both writing and art, there is a deliberateness of storytelling that conveys a sense of something building as a monster slouches towards Guatemala, waiting to be born.
At the risk of repeating myself a third time, Dawnrunner is something wild and special. Each issue has demanded space in my brain to ponder over it in the months between. Comics are winning this week and you’ve got to check them out.