Vigilante Business

Batman Inc. #4

We get a trio of storylines in this one. First, Batman and El Gaucho are duking it out — as long as one of them dies, three blind orphans won’t have to die. And Batman’s just learned a terrible secret Gaucho has kept from him, so he’s really out for blood. Meanwhile, Batwoman is tracking a crook called Johnny Valentine and runs into someone dressed as the original Golden Age Batwoman. And finally, we get a flashback to the rewritten-for-the-modern-era origin and story of Kathy Kane, the aforementioned Golden Age Batwoman. A wealthy daredevil widow, the idea of fighting crime with Batman and Robin appealed to her adventuresome side and she started a superhero career, as well as a romance with the Dark Knight. How did it all end, and what’s the connection with the Batman’s new case?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Yay, a new Batwoman story! The Kathy Kane flashback was better than I was expecting. It gets goofy here and there — Batman and Batwoman making out in the Batmobile, Robin complaining about Ace the Bathound wearing a mask — but in general, it’s a fun, exciting, sexy story. Oh, and Chris Burnham’s artwork is impressive and fun.

Green Lantern #64

While a small squadron of Green Lanterns heads out to arrest Hal Jordan for treason against the Corps, Jordan and the other unsanctioned ringbearers pursuing Krona run into some trouble with the terrifying Book of the Black — its vampiric keeper, Lyssa Drak, shows up and starts trapping all seven of them inside the Book. And the Guardians come under attack by Krona and the enslaved Entities — and once Krona starts bonding the Entities to the Guardians, it isn’t long before they and most of the Green Lanterns are under his control.

Verdict: Thumbs up. Wow, it’s been a while since I was able to say that. But this issue actually has some real plot happening and not just the usual aimless meandering. Hope they can keep it up for a while.

Today’s Cool Links:

• Hey, there’s still a need for volunteers for the Lubbock Comic Book Expo. Want to help out? Say “Yes, Scott, I want to help out, your will is my will, I am your lowly slave, here’s my paycheck.” Oh, yes, there will be another Expo meeting TODAY at 7 p.m. It’ll be at Awesome Books, 3009A 34th St. Please come out and help — it’s important that the show get enough volunteers to make sure everything runs smoothly, and it’s a lot more fun to help out with this than you’d expect.
• Mike Sterling invites us to closely examine the Giant-Size Man-Thing.
• This man is made of pure 100% turbocharged Awesomeness.
• “Duke Nukem Forever” is finally going to be released? Um, wait a minute…
• This may be the most head-explodey thing you’ll read today: A Wonder Woman story from the 1950s in which our heroine babysits a tyrannosaur in a baby carriage. And yes, it’s by Robert Kanigher, the maddest writer of the Silver Age.